Description: Silly Shermie - asking Iori to be in the band! What were you thinking?
Spring has begun to dawn on Southtown, bringing with it a much warmer wind than it has the following months. But still, when you're nearby the water, even the warmest breeze can turn cool with the intensity of the sea's winds. The skies are relatively clear today, save for some scant, gray clouds which loom over the horizon of the sea, bringing with them the promise of rain. The wind here at the harbor today is intense, but relatively warm; it whips up sand, clothes, anything as it blazes through, a prelude to the storm that's to come. Still, though. It's nice. It's pleasant. And it's quiet.
The harbor is oddly vacant today, at least at one of the docks; there is no one here, and all is peaceful save for the whispering winds. It may just be that this area is so vacant because of the one person in question who still remains -- a redheaded young man, wearing black and white with strange, red leather pants that are, for some reason, strapped together. He seems to be in a somewhat gloomy mood, but that's not unusual. After all, anyone who knows Iori Yagami knows he is in a perpetual state of gloom.
Today he is alone, as is his preference. After the rather surprising results of his World Warrior matchup, he has decided to take to seclusion again. Today it's not to train, but rather to relax, and play his music; which is exactly what he does. Sitting at the docks, his base guitar rests on one leg as he strums at it idly with long, slender fingers. His single, visible eye stares out to the sea as he plays a simple, haunting tune. There's no name for it, really. It's just something to relax him as he thinks. There's not many times he can play in peace and quiet, after all.
His music calls to her almost as strongly as the Orochi taint in her blood is called by his. Shermie is drawn onwards, lured to the harbor by that tingle that starts in her fingetips like the sensation one gets when they lick a 9-volt battery. It crawls along her hands and to her spine, a shiver of .. something that goads and urges her on, to find the source of what drives her. It's the same sort of connection she has to Yashiro or Chris, but Iori's power always tasted different, the difference between ozone and lightning - the concept of power that hides within herself and her band-mates, and the explosion and expression of might that is Iori Yagami.
She'd followed him since she'd heard of his World Warrior match - and from what she remembered about him from the brief encounter of her band and his, well - she knew quite well his mood would be poor or worse. That doesn't stop her from coming, though - her boots a soft click-clack on the wooden surface of the docks, drawing her inexorably towards a confrontation of some sort. Her voice is low, soft as she finally speaks, the trademark smirk of hers in full bloom, though it's tinged with a bit of fondness. She knows what it feels like to play those sorts of tunes, in these sorts of places.
"You always did play well, Iori Yagami."
Unfortunately -- fondness or no, Iori Yagami has never had much care for those who interrupt him while he plays his music. No matter who it is, even if he happens to LIKE them -- a rare occurance -- he doesn't take kindly to his peace and quiet being disturbed. Which is why, as he plays, the very second that a voice pipes up his deft fingers come to an abrupt halt across the strings. Of course, he knew someone was here before they even spoke. As per normal, however, he had hoped they would gain an ounce of common sense and leave. But such is never the case, and as the voice perks up, it takes Iori a moment to register it before a frown crosses his lips.
"I play better when I'm alone." It's not meant to be a hint. The blunt manner in which Yagami says this is delivered in such a way as to all out imply he'd like the newcomer to leave. And if that isn't enough... his head turns, so that single, crimson eye stares at the person who so rudely interrupted him. "So you can leave now." But -- there's a pause. He knows this person, doesn't he? It takes him a while to remember, but then -- that strange band. The girl, the boy... and that blowhard of a moron that tagged along with them. The pause is brief at best, as that frown grows.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
No one said Iori was very fond of reunions.
Cold hostility, blunt anger - Shermie was expecting it. After all, she was an interloper into his quiet time, introspective time - and her she is, all pink leather and high-heels, tromping over the dandelions in his soul with nary a care to /his/ feelings on if he wanted to be bothered. She's mean, isn't she? Horrible and rude and uncaring. And as she's stared at by that single eye, her own attention focuses on him - through the blank wall of her bangs, a palpable presence of awareness as she focuses on him.
"You do a lot of things better alone, it seems."
There's a laugh, amused as Shermie starts to turn away - but she doesn't leave, oh no, just walks in a slow half circle behind him, hands clasped behind her back. She's thinking her next words, her next move and planning being shut off by the sudden screaming in her blood. Iori's ire is feeding her on, that same desperate anger that is built from his boundless .. er, rage? Annoyance? Something. It's making her lose her own cool - and in the end, well... it probably can't end well.
"I'm looking for a bassist. You know any that are any good?"
"That's probably why most people have enough sense to leave me alone."
That and Iori's terrible rage problems, most likely. He keeps his responses brief, returning his attention to his guitar rather than Shermie as the strange, pink-clad woman roams about. He remembers her. All perky and cocky. Though that Yashiro... that's the one that really both entertained and pissed off the last of the Yagami at the same time. An unusual combination of emotions, but Iori certainly didn't enjoy them. And he doesn't enjoy the new company, evidenced by the heavier strokes of those guitar strings, into music far angrier than before. Just another warning.
But then, she makes her very subtle, very clever request through that simple question. The strumming stops once more, and there is silence... before a scornful laughter barks out from his lips, head tilting back as he shakes his head. "/Me/, join /your/ band? Give me a break." This thought is dismissed with the wave of Iori's hand as he shakes his head. "Your little boyfriend is a clown. I'm not going to work with an idiot like that. If you're trying to convince me to join up with you guys..." His lips draw upwards in a smile, as he returns to his bass.
"... you're better off asking someone else and leaving me the hell alone."
Warnings, warnings, everywhere, and not a drop to dri.. er, no time to stop and think? Something like that. Shermie can hear it, can feel that tension that radiates off the guitar as Iori plays his little warning, throws down his little notice that he's full of serious business. And then - she ignores it completely. After all, she knows she won't get what she wants when he insults Yashiro. At least one of the things she wants isn't possible for now, possibly ever. But in the meantime, maybe she can ease the almost physical burn that's simmering her body right now from her closeness to the Yagami scion.
"make me leave you alone, then, Iori. I'll be generous - knock me off this dock, and you won't see me for at least a week."
It's a calculated gamble. After all, Iori's a nutburger. He's done crazy things before, and it could end with her being killed - or worse, broken and left in a state where she can't defend herself. But still, maybe she /could/ make him see the light. Prove interesting enough, and she'd draw him into that aspect of her life, and maybe she'd find out what those feelings that welled up, that urging to fight, to rage and lash out were from.
Is she really trying to GOAD Iori into fighting her? It seems that way, from her blatant refusal to leave. Iori strays from being violent when he /can/, but... it seems like this stupid girl is actually /asking/ for it. And she even goes so far to do just that. Iori can help but blink as she makes her proposition. Slowly, he grasps his guitar, settling it down easily against the dock. He lifts back onto his feet, brushing off his pants as his left hand slips into his pocket. "Are you serious?" He questions, staring at her. He can't see her eyes to gauge her reaction, and it annoys him. But still -- she made the challenge. "... fine. Whatever." As he speaks, purple fire crawls up his right arm, tongues of corrupt power reeking with the taint of the Orochi.
"It's YOUR FUNERAL."
That hand FLINGS forward in one, smooth motion. From it, sprouts a sudden, large gout of amethyst flames that tear across the docks -- straight for Shermie. If she doesn't get out of the way in time, or defend herself, she'll soon find herself blown backwards by a sudden explosion of Orochi-tainted fire.
COMBATSYS: Iori has started a fight here.
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Iori 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Shermie has joined the fight here.
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Shermie 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Iori
COMBATSYS: Iori successfully hits Shermie with Yami Barai.
- Power hit! -
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Shermie 0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0 Iori
"Of course I'm seriOUUUU!"
Shermie's not able to finish the word, the rush of power that comes off of Iori like a drug, an aphrodisiac that calls to her - and then she gets to see it. Purple Orochi's taint - the fire that calls to her and reminds her of 'home'. She moves to step into it, to accept it and try to ... try to draw it into her. It fails - her wide-open defenses leaving her vulnerable, the fire knocking her backwards onto the wood of the dock, flames clinging to her jacket and skirt as she tumbles. She's slow to get up, her head held low, breathing heavily as she tries to recuperate and recover.
"Hnn.. hnn.. I haven't felt like that in years.." she says, the blood burning even stronger now that Iori's fire has seemingly inflamed it. She then gives Iori a sick grin as she gathers her strength, stepping into a quick rush. She leaps upwards and forwards at him, trying to get a hand on his head. "I can't be the only one to feel so good!" she cries!
COMBATSYS: Iori fails to interrupt Spiral from Shermie with Oniyaki.
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Shermie 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Iori
As her hand grabs Iori's hair, she wrenches herself skywards, supporting herself with a single arm for a moment. And then down she comes, limber legs wrapping around Iori's shoulders and neck. She runs her fingers over his face, though it's not a lover's touch, oh no. That isn't soft and gentle, it's rough and seeking purchase on his cheeks. And then with a twisting wrenching motion of her hips and shoulders, she sends Iori spiraling up and to the side - hopefully towards the edge of the docks, to give herself some breathing room. As for herself, she lands in a crouch, grinning with an almost feral look on her face.
The plume of flames affects Shermie a little bit more thoroughly than Iori imagined it would have. But if he cares, it doesn't show. There's only a bland apathy on his face that is verging on the bring of complete annoyance. Standing completely still, he almost cockily waits for Shermie to recover -- perhaps a bit too arrogantly, at that. Because Shermie moves a touch bit /faster/ than Iori expects, and just as she rushes in, he begins a leap. "GU--" Only to be cut off as he suddenly finds slender fingers gripping firmly on his head.
Balance and footing completely off now, Yagami is a sucker for what comes next. Hefted and then tossed straight into the air, Yagami suddenly finds legs clasping uncomfortably around his neck before he's rather roughly tossed to the side. He lands with a crash and a bounce, but while in mid-air from that strike, he flips easily through the air, landing in a simple crouch and a cocky smile. "... At least you hit harder than that loser Yashiro does." But it doesn't seem like Iori is too negatively affected by the assault -- just thrown off by it.
"I have more to gain. If you lose, you're in my band."
Hey, wait - where did /that/ come from! Shermie's cheating and stuff. Or at the least, still trying to goad him on. After all, she hasn't gotten her fill of what he's throwing around just yet, and even though he's barely breathing hard, she's sure she can push him just a little bit more. In her own case, she's half-out of breath already, glad for her bangs that keep those eyes hidden - not letting the pain show as it comes through.
"But don't get up.. I like you laid out..!" As she shouts this she starts to close - getting up close and personal with Iori again. There's another attempt to introduce him to her shoes, though this time they aren't going to lock around his shoulders. No, no, she just flips forwards at the last second, letting her legs come in for a double-overhead kick to the crouched fighter!
COMBATSYS: Shermie successfully hits Iori with Shermie Cute.
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Shermie 0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Iori
Play in her band?
"... Whatever." He never made any agreement like that. Besides -- he has no worries about this fight. Even as he remains crouched, Shermie comes running at him. She comes a bit faster than expected, however, and that surprise flip-kick manages to confuse Iori enough that both feet crash into Iori's tensed body before he can leap out of the way. However -- the damage done is minimal, and the most Iori does is bend down further as the blow hits rather than falling completely to the ground. His teeth grit, his expression now angry -- and those comments of her aren't helping.
"As if you could beat me ANYWAY!" Roared out, Iori makes a sudden twist through the air, his right, clawed hand seeking to rake in a sudden motion from Shermie's right shoulder to her left hip. It is followed up with a simple, sudden spinkick, his booted heel intending to SMASH Shermie right across the face in a vicious motion. "GUUUOOOH!!"
COMBATSYS: Iori successfully hits Shermie with Light Kick.
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Shermie 1/---====/=======|==-----\-------\0 Iori
Play in her band, damnit!
So angry, good - she can feel the tension in his frame and the power in his slashing spin, hands intercepting his fingers before they can do more than tear at her blouse, but the motion leaves her open for the kick as it SMASHES RIGHT ACROSS HER CHEEK. Ow. She staggers backwards, to the edge of the dock, the heel of one boot clattering over and making her fall off-balance. She stumbles and catches herself at the end, drawing herself back up. She doubts Iori would care about her falling over now - he'd probably follow her into the water to finish what he started. But she's not going to do that.
"I can.. I will!" At that moment, the Orochi taint in her own blood swells to life, and she moves in an almost blur, crossing the dock in a rush of footsteps, her hands going for his shoulders as she tries to launch him skywards. "I'll SHOW YOU!!!"
COMBATSYS: Iori interrupts Lightning Leg Lariat from Shermie with Yumebiki.
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Shermie 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Iori
As she latches onto Iori's shoulders, she shows off her strength - there's a immense effort to launch him skywards, to keep him airborne. As he reaches the apex of his flight, she rages, throwing her head and hands back (suspiciously like Iori, one might say) and then launches herself at him. Around her knee, a blazing current of lightning forms, and it impacts Iori with an explosion - and in that second, that split second, Shermie feels alive. Every single cell in her body is on fire, energized and ready to go...
That's... that's interesting. Not so much the feeling of striking Shermie so directly and so harshly. That's just satisfying. Enough so that an easy smirk drifts across Iori's lips as he leaps backwards, landing in a brief slide until he hits the very edge of the dock. No, that's not so much what surprises him. What surprises Yagami... is the familiar tinge of energy that suddenly surges with life from Shermie. It causes his blood to burn painfully, a throbbing headache suddenly assaulting him with white-hot pain long enough for Shermie to grasp onto his shoulders. He's confused, and in enough debilitating pain that she can grasp and launch him straight into the air -- where a demonstration of that power begins. It is painful, at first, when that electrified knee strikes him. But when the pain of that familiar energy subsides, all there really is for him to feel...
"... DIE!!"
... is rage.
Overpowering rage, that causes him to struggle through that explosion of electricity. As Shermie thrusts that knee into Iori's stomach, she might feel a sudden, tearing sensation; clawed fingers RAKE across her gut, tearing through clothing and flesh and muscle in a most gruesome fashion. "DIE! DIE, ALREADY, YOU LOUSY PIECE OF CRAP!" And then, in midair, Iori twists, delivering a simple, brutal backhand across Shermie's face with enough force to send her plumetting back down to the ground below as Iori himself lands in a crouch, an expression of manic rage sprawled across his features.
Rage. Shermie knows about rage. She feels it too, when Iori does. Caught up in that struggle, that batering and melding of emotions, she's helpless to defend, throwing all her ability, all her skill into attack. And it's not enough. Even as she completes her attack he's clawing into her, blouse tattered and stomach leaking blood. The backhand sends her down, crashing into the wood with a heavy, dull thud, the sound so very akin to someone just dropping a sack of lifeless meat onto a floor before carving it up for a meal. Because basically - that's what has just happened.
But she felt it. She felt what she wanted to feel, what she /needed/ to feel. She touched a part of herself that she hadn't been able to before, and the experience makes her smile - battered, bruised and bloody, but she still smiles. Her head turns towards Iori, the smile suddenly tinged with blood as it leaks from the corner of her lips, and she turns. Unsteady, slowly, she pushes herself towards her feet. Staggering on her heels, she plants her feet on the ground, one arm protecting her stomach, the other held in front of her. "... C'... c'mon. Let's finish this, Yagami. Give... give me your best!" And with that, she launches herself towards him again, trying to get a hold of him any way possible, to bring him up and over, to crash him into the ground in a suplex..!
COMBATSYS: Iori Toughs Out Shermie's Clutch!
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Shermie 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Iori
There it is. Shermie's almost done for, and if Yagami was of a more rational mind, he might be surprised that she's still up. As it stands, through, the deal for their arrangement has not yet been met, so that may explain the WHY of the situation quite well for someone whose brain is so addled with rage and pain like Iori's is. As Shermie gets back onto her feet, the redheaded scion lifts onto his, instantly in a fighting stance. She's pushed him a bit too far -- perhaps a bit inadvertantly -- and now she gets to see what happens when someone does that.
"What are you?" The question cuts in clearly as Shermie launches herself forward. She gets a strong grip on him, yet as she tries to lift... she'll find she simply cannot move him. The grip is irritating at best, causing Yagami to curl his lips in obvious distaste. But that's all -- her suplex, such as it is, is simply OVERPOWERED by Iori's sheer, angry will. "What /the hell are you/?" Almost entirely disregarding her attack and his own question, his hand snaps forward to grasp Shermie by the face. And, if successful, he will lift her up as violet fires simultaneously consume her face in that familiar Orochi power. This is sustained for about two seconds before an explosion rocks out over them, one carrying enough force to knock Shermie off the docks and into the waters beyond if it succeeds. "HWOOOUGH!!"
COMBATSYS: Iori successfully hits Shermie with Koto Moon Negative.
[ < > ////////////////// ]
Shermie 1/----===/=======|======-\-------\0 Iori
There's another scream - really, she's going to ruin her throat for singing tomorrow night if she keeps doing that. To say nothing about trying to look hot when her stomach is ripped and her hair is singed, burned and ripped at. She doesn't try to answer, she /can't/ answer his questions. She doesn't have the answer herself - and if she did, she may not ever share them with Iori. After all, he's been quite rude to her. The explosion knocks her back, and this time she's not able to resist the embrace of the water, the cool chill embrace shocking her senses to overload. She's a scramble of pain and hurt, and it may take weeks to recover.
All is quiet for a moment, the waves peaceful after the splash.. And then there is motion from beneath the dock, Shermie attempting to answer Iori by grabbing his ankles /through/ the wood of the dock!
COMBATSYS: Shermie can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Iori 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Iori fails to interrupt Lightning Leg Lariat from Shermie with Yami Sugi.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ <
Iori 0/-------/----===|
"This is what I am!!"
It's said with conviction, Shermie's manacured nails grabbing on to and catching Iori's feet. She comes up out of the water, leveraging herself up through the wood in an explosion of shards. Without another second's waste, she hauls him upwards, and gives herself over to that boiling blood that burns inside her like bright blue fire - and that crackling electricity impacts once again, her knee rammed against Iori's face. If he's going to hit a girl there, well - he can suffer the fate of a shiner, too! He won't see her there when he comes down - no, that last blast took everything out of her, and she's sunk back beneath the wash of the water - to live or to die, who really knows?
That maneuver again. Unfortunately... this time, Iori doesn't see it coming. As Shermie bursts through the wood, those red eyes snap WIDE at the sight, purple fires starting to flare around his arms in response from the sudden surge of energy. "GET OFF--" But he's too slow. That energy that he's gathered disperses the moment that Shermie hurls him. And in that moment... he gets to feel that pain again, this time in full-force as Shermie's electrified knee CRASHES into his face with titanic force. The chi blasts him through the air, such that he goes flying backwards /away/ from the docks, landing in a heap some distance away. He bounces once, and then rolls to a slow stop, grumbling something under his breath as he drags himself /upward./ That hurt. But...
... There's no Shermie in sight. Is she lost in the water? "... Hmph." is Iori's response, hands digging into his pockets as he finally comes to a full stand. He could go find her, go help her. But instead? He turns around, and walks off. She promised she wouldn't bother him for a week. If she ends up drowning and dying, well... that just means she won't bother him at all, right?
He can live with that.
COMBATSYS: Iori takes no action.
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Iori 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Iori has ended the fight here.
Log created by Shermie, and last modified on 21:50:32 03/13/2007.