Description: Sakura infiltrates a skyscraper in the Metro City financial district, though it seems the alias she's picked just happens to be a good friend of the Shank Squad Captain she'd hoped to avoid...
Ah, the fresh scent of capitalism in the air! Though the mood is considerably dampened by the recent strife in Metro City, the Financial District is still bustling with activity. Town's gotta keep running somehow or another, right?
Her attitude dampened slightly by her recent non-victories, Sakura Kasugano still has a mission to complete. She's taken it upon herself to seek out all the Stinger missiles she can... and hopefully stockpile them for use against the Hinds swarming the city. But she'll have to make do with what she's got.
She wouldn't be easily recognized, though. She'd sacked one of the Shank Squad members out on patrol -- sure, they travel in pairs, but she is quick rike ninja when she needs to be. She'd even found a Squadder that looked kinda like her! Only... a bit more ugly. After a costume change and a few grease and dirt smudges on her cheeks, you'd never be able to tell the difference from the ID card she now carries... for all intents and purposes, she may as well be a Shank Squadder, right?
Except for her voice. She coughs a lot and mumbles as she walks up to the security guards at the ground floor of one skyscraper in particular. Sakura's idea -- if there's guards at the bottom, there's something useful at the top. So 'Wakaba Hiroguchi', as the Shank Squad man is named, walks up to the guards, nodding 'his' head up towards the roof as 'he' approaches the nearest guard. *cough* "Got directions for the folks upstairs. Hand-delivery only." She'd be convincing, unless someone happens to know Mr. Hiroguchi first-hand, of course.
And within this particular building the security is actually lighter then most of the others if 'Wakaba' had been paying attention- Oh heck, maybe this building was chosen -because- of that little fact. Most video game nuts would call this situation, 'temple of the final boss'. Thus far there hasn't been any commotion or word about any attacked Shankers so at least that much is in the clear.
The two bored looking guards glance to Wakaba, and one of them mutters something in arabic to his partner. The other responds with a shrug as they both glance upward. And seeing nothing just go back to looking bored. Apparently this is equvilent to a 'whatever'.
Upon going in the lobby is really your generically large kind of area. Marble floors, business desks, tables and chair everywhere, sort of like a bank lobby, but this isn't a bank. And it's actually very quiet inside, the only signs of travel at the moment would be the elevator at the other end of the hall. Citizens are reluctantly doing business here, the elevator clearly off-limits to them. There seems to be oh.. 5 or 6 metro citizens about, filling out paperwork at the lobbys main desk.
Grin. It was -one- of the reasons, yes. Though that could easily mean all the guards are -inside-, who knows. 'Wakaba' doesn't put too much thought into it though -- where better to hide than in plain sight?
Nodding curtly to the two guards outside, the sheep in wolf's clothing strides confidently through the glass doors... and stares at the elevator for a good, long moment. Guarded? Hrm. Shouldn't be a problem, right? ... Oh, there it is. Keycards. It's a good thing Sakura watched Tsukushi play a lot of tactical espionage action games, out of sheer boredom, because she then knows what she has to do -- reach into her breast pocket and withdraw a keycard. "Cakewalk," comes a low murmur, along with a slight grin, as Wakaba marches confidently up to the elevator and slides the card through. This'll be a snap, right? Wakaba adjusts the large black backpack upon his shoulder, glancing idly towards the other people gathered about while waiting for the elevator doors to open.
Thus far, no trouble.. No trouble at all for the crafty intruder, the card is just a little red card with a strip like a debit card. Nothing fancy about it at all. Once it's slid through, a number lights up on the LCD panel above it, coming from the 5th floor.
And that brings us to the occupant inside the lift. One of the smaller Shankers, Li Xiangfei walks about in a uniform similar to most, though her vest is a slightly darker shade of yellow and theres a medal on the vest. Her outfit is baggy, and a gas-mask is dangling from her neck, the gal having been taking a little nap inside and she blinks groggily when the elevator starts to move.. Wait.. Moving?? "Erk!" she sits up and then jumps to her feet, quickly securing the light brown, tinted-visored mask around her face and quickly tries to regain her composure by the time the doors finally open.
And when they do open at the lobby, 'Wakaba' sees the Captains back, whom looks back and forth in confusion. It's a double-doored elevator you see. She looks over her shoulder to see she was facing the wrong way, and quickly turns around, giving a nervous chuckle, ".. Eh-heh."
Wakaba thought this would be a cakewalk, but that sure doesn't stop her from being nervous as the elevator comes down from the fifth floor. It's not like Sakura -should- be worried underneath such a flawless disguise, but then again... she didn't really have much of a mirror when she put this stuff on.
Li-X isn't really recognizable at the moment though... for when she'd fought Karin, she was in a similar disguise. With her hair down, that's one strike. With the gas mask on, there's another. Sakura really doesn't have many clues as to this mystery soldier's identity, right?
Except for the fact that the soldier's apparent confusion at the door. Wakaba has to choke down a snicker at the expression, but is quick to hold it down for the 'superior officer' standing before 'him'. Bowing 'his' head, the officer named Wakaba snaps a quick salute, before stepping aside so that Li-X can stride past. Y'know, and make way so he can get on the elevator.
Mystery soldier? Most people know the spazztastic martial artist as one of their most prominent fighters! Though.. Even still it's hard to have complete respect toward someone who jams to Fatboy Slim and air guitars on top of a tank on her spare time. It's... Taxing.
The first problem is that Li is bowed to rather than saluted toward, but for someone like herself that's easily overlooked, "Oh! Hey, Wakaba," she greets in a slightly muffled tone, "You're timing's really great, I need uh.. Help with.. Something downstairs," she had to say -something- so she didn't look like she was slacking off right? Of course! So instead of stepping out, she motions the 'man' inside and hits the 'P' button.
... what.
Raising a curled hand before his mouth to cough, 'Wakaba' quickly lowers his head. "Mmm-hmm." comes the quick reply. Sakura's voice can get pretty deep at times, but since Xiangfei clearly -knows- Wakaba... no sense in chancing it. Meekly, 'Wakaba' steps inside -- can't disobey a direct order after all. Grumble, grumble.
Still... the Cap'n looks awfully familiar somehow...
Li-Li quirks an unseen eyebrow, and then grins to Wakaba's reaction. Truth be told, she really wished it were Nassir she bumped into instead, she doesn't really know many other people by a close-social basis. But Wakaba just happened to be one of the few people that was willing to trade snacks with her. The doors close and the elevator drops down to the Parking Lot level.
She feels a similar sense of familiarity though, but she feels it for a different reason; and she slips the tan visor up with her gloved hand, the slightly tan chinese girl's eyes upturning a bit as she asks to the lower rank, "Hey, have you seen Nassir at all today?" she asks, "I was supposed to give him a medal the other day, but I haven't seen him in a while now." For 'Wakaba', the revealing of her eyes and nose should be more than enough to recognize the girl with little uncertainty.
Well, this certainly isn't a -normal- superior-subordinate relationship, now, is it? Sakura's kicking herself now for assuming the identity of the -friendlier- of the two soldiers -- even if she does look a lot more like him now.
Though... the fact that Xiangfei pulls off her visor ought to be enough of a sign to Sakura that this person -is- who she seems to be. Especially since she's tossing out a name she knows -- Nassir. Gulping lightly, 'Wakaba' can't help but stare back at Xiangfei, frozen in the headlights of the commanding officer's stare.
... before tugging her eyes away for another rather brackish-sounding cough into a tightly wound fist. "N...not today!" comes the coughing reply, an overexaggerated shake of shoulders emphasizing the negative. Recognized? Sakura can only hope the reverse isn't true -- even if Sakura's muscle mass might prove to be -significantly- less so than Wakaba's, upon further inspection. Of course, Sakura hadn't counted on the consequences of turning 'Wakaba''s back to the boy-hungry Xiangfei, even if it was for a supposed cough -- and even if there is a rather shapeless black backpack there. Doesn't look to be Shank-Squad-issue, to say the least. "... I... haven't seen him. Think I'm gonna clock out early tonight after dropping this off..."
Meanwhile, Sakura's breathing a silent prayer she isn't recognized...
No. Not at all. But Xiangfei never was really the military-type, even though she was gradually getting more used to it. She seems slightly confused at first toward Wakabas reaction, and gives a slightly nervous chuckle, ".. What. What'd I do?" she asks, feeling she did something wrong, "You feeling all right? I bet you ate one of those nasty rations again, huh? I'd clock out early too if I were you," as she folds her hands behind her head. But they drop again once the elevator opens again, and it's obviously very deserted; there aren't many things around that aren't cars or jeeps or leaking pipes.
Xiang does pause again though, looking rather puzzledly at the black backpack, "... Oh.. really.." she replies, "Well I'm the head here, duh, why didn't you give it to me?"
Well, what do you -call- her? If Sakura called out 'Xiangfei', she'd have just as much chance of being wrong as if she'd called her 'Li-X'. Either might be right, but Sakura's trying to keep undercover here!
Which is a really tough job, apparently! "N...nothing! It... it was one of those rations, yeah. --Yes." How did that guy talk again? Uber-formal? Totally not? How's Sakura to know?
Straightening up at the question, 'Wakaba' seems a bit alarmed at the fact that, of all people, -Xiangfei- is in charge. Something's wrong there, clearly. Her coffee-brown eyes stare back at Xiangfei for a moment, flickering lightly as she thinks of an excuse... before hurriedly reaching into her pocket and nodding. "Oh, right... the orders. Straight from Rolento, but he said I couldn't read them." 'Wakaba' presses a small notepad into Xiangfei's hands, clasping both around it, before non-subtly placing a hand on Xiangfei's shoulder and urging her out of the elevator. "I'm serious, this... virus... stomach thing... it might be contagious, I don't want you to catch it. I'll just be on my way, okay? Thanks..." Hey, whoops, did 'Wakaba' accidentally push the R for Rooftop button in that process? Sure sounded like that from the bell-tone that rings out in the process... the doors aren't closing just yet though!
Li-Li again seems rather confused, Wakaba was acting a little odd.. Granted it was probably because of the rations, but her very look may tell Sakura that she's doing something wrong.
As if she'd be suprised. Of course the notepad is accepted, but when her shoulder is touched, she quickly slaps it away in suprise, her brows furrowing a bit. Clearly she wasn't disgusted by it though, most people know her as a touchy-feely type, but apparently that was something extremely uncommon here. The pressed button is ignored, but she makes her next command plain and simple, ".. Step outside."
COMBATSYS: Sakura has started a fight here on the left meter side.
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Sakura 0/-------/-------|
... Crap. Wakaba bites his lower lip -- though that's an expression that seems -really- out of place on such a face as his. "I can't do that right now. Don't make me do this, Xiangfei. I have orders to get to the rooftop, and they're -not- intended for you." Though... that last statement was made an octave higher than Wakaba's usual voice. Coughing lightly into his fist, his voice deepens once more. "... They're orders from higher up. Classified." Coughing once more, 'Wakaba' looks down, fists clenched tightly by his side, shaking with no small amount of anxiety. "I'm not leaving this elevator till I'm up there."
Xiangfei may have never seen either Sakura or Wakaba truly angry, but it should be clear that it's a shaky story... particularly since Wakaba's fists aren't known to glow a pale blue when he's been fighting civilians in the past, like they are now...
COMBATSYS: Sakura gathers her will.
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Sakura 0/-------/---====|
Li-Li's eyes narrow now, it would seem that those words wouldn't be enough to deter the mercenary. There were a number of things she could respond to the comments and the somewhat threatening warnings, but she's listening to Wakaba very closely. She raises a hand to her visor calmly enough, and it's apparent that she still doesn't recognize who the soldier -really- is.
On the other hand, ".. My name isn't Xiangfei," she replies in a slightly dark tone, "Identify yourself or I'll hit the alarm."
COMBATSYS: Xiangfei has joined the fight here.
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Sakura 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Xiangfei
COMBATSYS: Xiangfei focuses on her next action.
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Sakura 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Xiangfei
Identify yourself or I'll hit the alarm? Seems like a pretty straightforward answer, right? "S'pose I can't really hide much from you, huh?" Of course, Wakab---- Sakura is still -awfully- close to Li-Li, and rather of taking Xiangfei -out- of the elevator -- the fatigue-attired schoolgirl's hand rushes out sharply to not only grab for her friend's shoulder -- but loop her arm around her neck and pull into a tight stranglehold. "... Sakura Kasugano, age seventeen, senior at Taiyo High!" Oh, and the doors are shutting, too, since no one bothered to leave -- convenient!
COMBATSYS: Xiangfei blocks Sakura's Sakura Strangle EX.
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Sakura 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Xiangfei
"WHAT??" comes the muffled cry of clear shock from Xiangfei when the woman reveals herself.. Her heart nearly jumps out of her mouth as she presses her back against the close wall, and shakes her head in utter disbelief, "Wh.. What're you doing here??" her hands dart up so that her forearms are caught in the sleeperhold as well, taking off a good amount of the pressure, "Get out of here right now, you'll get into trouble!" while she isn't really all that psyched about beating up her friend she doesn't have too much choice, a ring of smoke forming around her feet and she shoots upward, her head tucked in as she flies upward and attempts to slam Sakura up into the ceiling.
COMBATSYS: Xiangfei successfully hits Sakura with Tenpou Zan.
- Power hit! -
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Sakura 1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Xiangfei
"Gnnh!" Sakura doesn't have anywhere to run in such confined quarters, so she's got little choice but to try and brace for impact!
... Actually she probably could have uppercut Xiangfei back, but the thought just didn't occur to her at the time. And besides, her back is now one with the upper wall of the elevator, shaking the whole car as it starts its ascent to the rooftop. "Kuh..." spits Sakura, her 'game face' a bit more obvious despite the smudgery as she splays both legs to the side walls. Wakaba's boots have a bit more grip than her sneakers, which is why she can brace herself there long enough to cup her hands together before her, and spit back in a hoarse whisper, "No can do, X-chan... what the heck do you think you're =doing?!= These guys are crazed -maniacs-, and they're gonna kill Cody! Y'know, buddy-buddy TEAMMATE from Strolheim?!" Of course, by this time, it should be obvious what's coming next. "Hadooouken!" Meter-wide Hadouken, enclosed area, point-blank range... the main reason it's -slower- is because Sakura's trying not to blow up the elevator car in the process! ... Taking out Xiangfei's radio might do though...
COMBATSYS: Xiangfei slows Medium Hadouken from Sakura with Nanpa.
- Power hit! -
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Sakura 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Xiangfei
"I'm not listening to you!" Xiangfei immedietly shoots back when Sakura starts to talk, "And besides, you know I -hate- Cody! And what sense does it make to defend one criminal, and then have the nerve to call us that, huh?" she slaps her hands togeather, hands giving off a light glow of her own and she thrusts them forward; it's enough to slow down the fireball thankfully or... Not so thankfully. Being in such close proximity, she ends up slamming back into the wall as well and groans as she slumps down onto her rear, momentarily in a daze. Truth was however, she didn't even know Cody was within their stronghold. Otherwise she would have went down and gave him a hard time.
Grr. "Start talking sense before I hafta beat it out of you, Xiangfei!" snaps Sakura, scissoring her legs shut and dropping low to the floor of the elevator, distributing her weight to minimize the rocking of the elevator. "And how'm I s'posed to know you hate him, huh? You never mentioned it ta =me= before..." she adds, scratching her nose with the back of her hand as she strides over to Xiangfei. "Look, Xiangfei, just pass out... I don't want this goin on any more'n it has to!" Sakura reaches for the dazed Xiangfei's collar, hoping to pull her up and into the stranglehold she'd tried just moments before...
COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Xiangfei with Sakura Strangle.
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Sakura 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\0 Xiangfei
How's she supposed to know, "So it's ok to assume that I -like- him instead?" she snaps back, and she's on her feet suddenly.. A slight pause, and then before she knows it, she's caught up in Sakuras hold yet again! However as one may expect, history is about to repeat itself. Grunting as she struggles in the high school girls hold, she sputters, "L., Look never mind, Sakura, you don't -belong-... Grrk.., Here.." she wheezes, "Please.. Just leave before you get in trouble.. I.. Nngh.. Don't -want- you to get caught.." POOF! the ring of smoke forms at her feet and it's -another- liftoff toward the already dented ceiling.
COMBATSYS: Sakura interrupts Tenpou Zan from Xiangfei with Shou'ou Ken.
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Sakura 1/----===/=======|=======\====---\1 Xiangfei
Of course Sakura doesn't belong here. That's why she had to come back so quickly! Of course... she can't really deliver an answer while Xiangfei's in the middle of delivering one of them funky kung-fu shoulder rams, now, can she? No. This time, though, Kasugano's learned her lesson: the best defense is a killer offense! In this case, the fighting fangirl drops to one knee, raising her forearm horizontally to accept the charge. It crams her against the -bottom- corner instead, but since Xiangfei's putting all her momentum into an -upwards- attack... it hurts a bit less.
And it also leaves Sakura a wide opening for a counterattack -- that being a riotously fast uppercut to catch Xiangfei right in the side. "SHOOOO'OOOU KEN!" she cries, her powerful punch multiplying Xiangfei's ascension, to the point that it's likely to make an even -bigger- dent -- Xiangfei-sized!
Landing from her punch, Sakura shimmies backwards, chestnut eyes focused on the Hip Hop Mercenary. "C'mon, now... don't play dumb with me... you guys all have orders to kill people. Geese Howard did, and I'm sure they're paying -you- enough to... I'm about sick of it, honestly! Just throw the weapons down and let the people live the way they wanna live!"
Li-Li wasn't expecting that, that's for sure, so when she hits the top again, she groans and crashes onto the floor- And while it hurt like dickens, the fear of the position she's in forces her to leap up onto her feet again with a light handspring as the elevator rattles from the shift of weight. Good thing they both don't weigh very much!
Holding her stomach, she shakes her head, "No.. I'm not killing anyone, I won't kill anyone," she gasps, and her body glows a familiar light blue aura, "We're not all the same! We're -heroes-!" she cries, she thrusts her left palm forward, a strike aiming to paralyze the schoolgirl briefly, "I don't agree with all their methods, but this will -work-, and then I'll be a hero!"
COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Xiangfei's Majinga.
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Sakura 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Xiangfei
The few seconds Sakura has to catch her breath seem to be enough for her to gather her strength back -- and it's a good thing, considering the palm strike headed her way! Gritting her teeth, Sakura stacks both her hands, one atop another, and slams them back at Xiangfei's palm, neatly catching it -- but Xiangfei's sheer strength is enough to force Sakura to backpedal until her back hits the wall of the elevator with a dull clang. Her hands glowing a faint blue from the exertion, it's quite obvious Sakura's had to use some of her chi to augment her strength, for this one!
"Xiangfei, Geese Howard almost MURDERED ME for this stupid cause! People have already died!" Shoving Xiangfei's palm away, Kasugano steps forward and makes a grab for the lapels of Xiangfei's outfit. "You're helping them commit murder, and that's just as bad!" And while Sakura's speaking, she's also hoping to shove Xiangfei back far enough that she can bring both steel-toed boots up, plant them on Xiangfei's chest, and boot her to the other side of the elevator, using the wall at her back as leverage! "And take off that darn mask already... you're not a hero! With them, you're just a thug!"
COMBATSYS: Xiangfei blocks Sakura's Sailor Shoot.
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Sakura 0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Xiangfei
"Shut up!" Xiangfei yells back, now starting to get really angry, unseen eyes starting to water, "Shut up, Sakura, you don't know -anything-!" too upset to be disappointed with the lack of overwhelming Sakura, and starting to get really confused. The most she does is lift the visor again to show the schoolgirl her furious, watering eyes, "This is a -war-, you dummy! It's a -war-!! People DIE in wars! If you're so angry Geese tried to kill you then -leave-! Just because I won't doesn't mean no one else will you... You..." And Sakura counter-attacks, the feet planted on her yes, and when she's shot back, the ring of dust explodes behind her, taking of a good amount of damage from the backlash. And then golden chi explodes from the smaller girl, swirling violently around her body as she yells, "You're a FOOL! It's your fault we look like the bad-guys!"
COMBATSYS: Xiangfei gathers her will.
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Sakura 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Xiangfei
"Here's a hint, Xiangfei -- you -are- the bad guys! Don't tell me you -believe- all that crap Rolento told you! Lemme put it another way -- when Rolento fought me, he didn't even -bother- asking me to join, 'cuz =he= knew I wouldn't go along with all this bad juju!" Gritting her teeth, Sakura curls to one side, fingertips wrapped tightly around a glowing white orb.
"You know I'm right... you -know- he blows stuff up when he gets mad! And he did -- what about that prison explosion, huh? C'mon, what's the worst you've ever seen me do, huh? Or any one of us fighting him right now? Maybe... take a chunk out of a building?" Sharply exhaling, she straightens her stands -- but still doesn't show signs of letting that fireball go just yet. "You really want all the kids in Metro City to remember how their parents die in buildings, falling apart from bombshells... is that it?"
Shaking her head in disgust, Sakura turns back onto Xiangfei. "Answer me this, Xiangfei... what side would Chun-Li take?" She's hoping to get enough of an opening to unleash the ball of blue flame in her hands, though... squeezing the basketball-sized globe off in a tight shot for Xiangfei's stomach. "Hadouken!"
COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Xiangfei with Small Hadouken.
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Sakura 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Xiangfei
Li-Li continues to get increasingly flustered and emotional, and she shakes her head again. It wasn't possible for her to answer that, or rather, she had always taken the easy way out that it was 'war', things like that happen! She doesn't agree about Rolento though, and it's that that causes her anger to override her confusion again. She throws her hands out to try to quickly lessen the impact of the fireball but it breaks her guard and sends her crashing into the back of the elevator again, the waitress wheezing as she slouches forward, "I.." The last question definatly hit her the hardest, but she whisper, ".. I don't know.. She'd make the right decisi- Grrrr.. SAKURA!!" with a brief moment of newfound energy, she storms forward, throwing her shoulder toward the schoolgirl, the combination is followed up witha double-palm strike to the girls chest, and then finally she lashes out with a nasty spinning kick; so conveniently when the elevator doors open as they reach the roof.
COMBATSYS: Xiangfei can no longer fight.
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Sakura 0/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Xiangfei's Chou Pai-Long.
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Sakura 0/-------/------=|
"Right!" chimes in Sakura -- but that's all she has time before the Chinese waitress-mercenary comes at her with that rushing shoulder. Gritting her teeth once more, Sakura thrusts her own shoulder back in kind, taking the brunt of the impact before stepping backward. The double palm punch is met with a lowered forearm, but that spinning kick is met by a quick sidestep, as Sakura lets Xiangfei spin herself right out the open elevator doors.
Of course, right after that, Sakura's on her like white on rice, kneeling down by Xiangfei's side with her hand at the girl's throat. She's not squeezing very hard at all -- but the light pressure should be more than enough to imply that Sakura's got plenty left where that came from. Panting lightly, Sakura's other hand reaches for the radio clipped to Xiangfei's belt, plucking it off with only a brief glance to the armed Shank Squad members standing around. "Radio silence until I'm two blocks away, or I'm kicking all your asses off the roof. Either way, you're dead once your benevolent master Rolento finds out." It's not clear whether she's issuing the 'suggestion' to Xiangfei or the four soldiers training guns on her... but there's certainly an uncharacterstic seriousness to her voice. Perhaps it's because she's still dressed as Wakaba. And the other soldiers might not know that she's really Sakura Kasugano. Besides, she's too close to Xiangfei for them to open fire... unless they're really wanting to kill their boss.
COMBATSYS: Sakura takes no action.
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Sakura 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Sakura has ended the fight here.
Li-Li was going to proceed with the fight yelling that it was -her- decision that was the right decision, but she suddenly completely loses her will and strength to continue- It's a bit uncharacteristic for herself, but as much as she was angry with Sakura, she was just as concerned for her safety; a very very awkward position to be in. She doesn't even put up any resistance when she's held hostage.
The Shankers on the roof seem rather suprised to see the Captain down for the count, and really neither of the options they're given seem to be very fun. The situation overall though is very confusing, why the hell would one of their own be doing something like this? ".. no good.." Xiangfei whispers to Sakura; and while the men are willing not to open fire, they're not going to do as they're told either.
They draw out knives instead, and waste little time in rushing at the 'traitor', moving to surround the girl. Common sense would tell them tht if she took down LiX, they would have more difficulty; but it seems it's being banked that the Captain wore her down enough.
As much as Sakura hates to do it ... well. "Forgive me," she whispers, hopefully so that the others don't hear. Wrenching the radio off Xiangfei's belt, Sakura then delivers a nerve chop to the base of Xiangfei's neck. If she wasn't out before, well... she's hoping that does the trick. By that point, though, Sakura's diving into a tumble, neatly rolling out of the way of the first wave of knives. When she lands back on her feet, though, she's gathered a nice bundle of energy together. "Well, ain't nobody sayin' you guys didn't go down fightin'!" Grabbing a good chunk of energy, she flicks her right wrist forward, sending out a volleyball-sized orb of blue chi to knock the first fighter over! "Double--" Then she thrusts her left palm at the second guy to take him down. "--Hadouken!" she cries, rising once more to her feet.
Staggering backward a moment, Kasugano shakes her head, clearly a bit woozy. "C'mon, you guys gotta be braver than that!" Of course, they are -- the remaining two charge at her! A high snap kick is enough to knock the blade out of the hand of the first, the followup crashing into his visored helmet and knocking him over. There's someone closing in on her opposite side, though he's clearly not forgotten: Sakura hops forward to level him to the ground with a fierce double-fisted hammerblow uppercut. "HYAAAA!"
And once that guy hits the ground, there's at least four people unconscious. Xiangfei? Hmm. "... think about it, X-chan," she says, tossing the radio to the ground by her head, and then smashing it into kibble with her heel.
"It ain't -justice- burning in these men's hearts," adds Sakura as she walks over to the heavy blanket, peeling it off to reveal the same model Stinger gripstock and missiles she'd found on the last rooftop. Packing them into her backpack, she glances back over to Xiangfei. "Do what'cha gotta do an' all, but you're not fighting for the team you think you are." Drawing in a deep breath, she finishes loading up the missiles, watching Xiangfei for sign of reaction.
Li-Li can't do much about the chop, but with her knowledge of stun strikes, even in her condition she's able to defend herself just a little from it, though she still blacks out. And as such she ends up missing a fun time of Super Sakura-style butt whooping..
Once the job is finished however, she groans slightly, starting to come too again, but still to weak to do anything irrational just yet. She slowly sits up as she looks up to Sakura, tearstains along her cheeks- The radio tossed, she just glances at it, and she feels even more crushed. She rubs the back of her head during Sakuras little speech, and she curls up her legs, ".. Sakura, you're not a fool, I'm sorry." she whispers, "I don't have time to tell you what's happened to me, but Rolento promised something great." she takes in a deep breath, and then a long, drawn out sigh, "I'll give you five minutes. In turn, you have to promise not to tell anyone about this." A bluff, really, but maybe Sakura would understand.
... Not that Sakura can do a whole heck of a lot about it either way. While she was turned away from Xiangfei, it should become pretty obvious that the schoolgirl's started to cry too. But she's got a job to do...
"... Promised something great?" Turning to Xiangfei, her eyes still damp, Sakura even smirks a bit. "... Y'know, you're right, I don't know what's happened. And I won't." She gives a bit more of an enthusiastic smile -- something she's more known for. "... But you were right when you said this was a war. People die in wars." Slinging the backpack on, she strides back for the elevator, waving to Xiangfei. "You have the choice to get out of it whenever you wanna. I'm... here because I wanna do what's right."
Ding. Sakura pushes the button for the ground floor, sifting her hair back into position, for the correct 'look'. "Five minutes..." she repeats, brushing the tears from her eyes. "... and I won't tell Chun-Li a word."
The doors slide closed, Sakura's hopeful, yet weary expression disappearing behind them.
Log created by Sakura, and last modified on 20:46:51 08/29/2005.