Description: A long, drawn-out battle in Harrod's finds Kenji's advances rebuffed, and Hotaru coming out on top despite some close calls... (Winner: Hotaru)
A legend among legends when it comes to places to shop, tonight's SNF is situated beneath the ultra-expensive Herrods of London department store. Howard Enterprises must have had to pay a fortune to get this venue, closing down the normal operations of nearly every girl's dream store come to life, not to mention insuring the building that is essentially a landmark in London. One never knows what is going to get broken in the midst of a crazy SNF fight, after all.
The main floor has been cordoned off in the middle on the main floor. The ceiling is high enough to allow the more acrobatic styles to have the requisite space to maneuver. Most of the space designated for the match to take place is clear except for an elaborate water fountain in the center. Made of stone, it features a number of small, cascading waterfalls and crystal clear pools surrounded by small tufts of real plantlife.
Cameras are in place and each of the three 'groups' for this match have been started in one of the corners. Hotaru waits in her corner alone, hands clasped behind her back as she takes in the sights of the outlandish shopping mecca with a look of one who is somewhat overwhelmed by it all. Of course, like the other girls in the fight, she has no idea of the special arrangements made with regards to Kenji's 'bonus assignment', but the thought of being able to spend an afternoon strolling through the department store to shop to her heart's content is a bit of a distraction even for the normally self-disciplined girl.
Shaking her head, she glances around to the other two corners in which the her opponents are to get prepared. Kenji and Mizuki she already knows, and while this is the second time she's gone up against the red-headed miko in a SNF, this is the first sanctioned battle that will pit her against the hard hitting Gedo boy. Their last friendly fights had been close so the prospect of a good challenge brings a quiet smile to her mouth.
Of the fourth participant she knows nothing at all, somber eyes taking in the white-haired foreign looking girl. She knows she has some record with both the Neo League and Howard's SNFs, but the last time she had ever seen the girl personally was several months ago in Chinatown. She seemed like a nice person, Hotaru muses, getting to see her in a full battle might be an interesting experience. Taking a moment to tighten one of her hair ribbons and brush down her expensive, custom tailored Chinese styled vest, Hotaru mentally counts down the final minutes left before this large fight gets started.
Saturday Night Fights have already been good to Mizuki--not only did she (narrowly) win her last one, a solo effort, but she's already gotten to visit many places and see many things she'd not normally get to see. So the chance to -fight- in a place like Harrod's...
Well, Mizuki is probably more shopping-enthusiastic than Ingrid--almost certainly moreso than Ingrid--so the thought of being able to spend an afternoon here, shopping, is mindboggling to her. It's certainly a good incentive.
Mizuki--Kamigawa-san, to the SNF organizers--arrives a little while after Hotaru, taking the corner opposite her. Seeing the Chinese Kenpoist already here, Mizuki smiles and waves warmly to the girl--she hasn't yet had a chance to visit with Hotaru at her churchyard, she suddenly realizes, and that knowledge brings a blush to her face.
As she doffs a long overcoat--revealing, once again, the traditional white robe and red hakama that make up her 'official' fighting outfit, though without the gohei this time--she muses about the other participants.
Kenji she met only briefly, and didn't really get to introduce herself to him; Ingrid she knows nothing about. All in all... it should be pretty interesting, although Mizuki certainly will enjoy the ability to fight alongside someone else, again...
For Ingrid the lure of such a place isn't so much the actual stores, but rather the sort of people that inhabit it. Far more often than not they're quite happy to be there, whether shopping to buy or just walking around and seeing what's available. That isn't to say that she doesn't care about the opportunity to spend some time in the store, but she's just not going to be as excited as one might expect of a sixteen-year-old girl.
As far as her own SNF record... well, she's a little under 50/50 at the moment, but she's working hard to improve. She got to the department store sometime between Hotaru and Mizuki, and unlike the other competitors she knows nearly nothing about her opponents. She has met Hotaru once, but Kenji and Mizuki are complete unknowns. Normally she'd have gone and introduced herself before the fight was to begin, but she was unfortunately shuffled off to her corner and asked to wait patiently.
Luckily Ingrid is fully capable of standing and waiting, otherwise this could get rather boring and annoying quickly. The match looks like it's going to be two teams of one and one team of two, released into a free-for-all. She'll have to be careful, getting ganged up on in situations like this could lead to an early loss. Hmm, strategy, strategy.
This is... a man's problem.
While sure, he'd love to surprise the ladies with a surprise like this-- the spree, the dinner, all of the arrangements made by Howard Enterprises, there's stills omething that doesn't sit right with the young man. Why, it's just downright wrong! Toying with emotions just to win a contest-- it's like he's on one of those reality game shows. That, or the people upstairs are placing bets on how desparate he is... or how desparate the girls are.
A man's problem.
And so the young brawler from Osaka stands there in his street clothes; his nicest black t-shirt with more obscure red stylizing, his nicest pair of jeans, his nicest pair of sneakers, even with a polished up chain for his wallet to clip to a beltloop. His hairstyle is still rather messy.
And he smells -good-.
His arms hang at his sides, thumbs hooked into his pockets. A grin plays at his features. Sure, this is a man's problem, but that doesn't mean he can't enjoy the scenery. "Fuuutaaaaaabaaaaa~!" he calls across to the other girl, winking and waving his thumb and pinky finger next to his ear. Kenji leans then to the side, grinning lightly at Mizuki. He remembers her briefly from the fight on the galleon in Spain, though she wore her Justice High uniform for that one. So she's one of the super elite?!
"The miko look is quite nice on you." he adds-- and then the young man's attentions turn to Ingrid. Mysterious! That hair. Those eyes! That dangerous skirt. The Japanese teen sweeps his hand up under his chin, poised in the crux between his thumb and extended forefinger. His eyes closed, the young man seems to be basking in the moment.
Even if trickery and deception is involved, this is probably the greatest few minutes before a whole lot of pain in his life. Wait. Pas.
The second greatest.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has started a fight here.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Ingrid has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Ingrid 0/-------/-------|
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Kenji has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Ingrid 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kenji
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Mizuki has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Ingrid 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kenji
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Mizuki
Hair ribbons, check. Stretching done, check. Friendly greetings offered to the other participants indicating mutual good will and a well meant hope for a fun, clean fight? ... Mizuki's wave is returned with a smile and wave from the Kenpo artist, one hand clasped behind her back while her other one waves. A nod of acknowledgement is offered Ingrid's way, that look in her eyes suggesting that she remembers the girl from their previous encounter even if they have never had cause to meet up again since then. And finally there's Kenji calling out across the way which comes as no surprise. The boy somehow quickly swaps between quiet, unassuming student councilperson and loud, yelling, battle-charged punching beast somewhat unpredictably. The girl stands on her toes and offers him a friendly wave while rolling her eyes at his gesture that she should give him a call. Okay. Friendly greetings. Check.
The officials call out tonight's event, explaining the odd arrangement of a 1v1v2 for the audience to understand the nature of the match up. And then, just as it always is, it's time for the fight. Normally it's Hotaru's style to come out swinging, going for something swift to catch an opponent off guard with a bold, typically very risky attack. But for right now, she remains put in her corner, closing her eyes and clasping both of her hands behind her back. Bowing her head, it seems as if she's tuning out the entire fight.
Nothing could be further from the truth, however, as she focuses inward, blocking out the distractions of the audience, the lights, the cameras, the... shopper's dream store... And instead concentrates on her own style, abilities, lessons learned, and experiences given in the past. She'll be moving into full speed mode in a moment, but for as the match begins, Hotaru seems to be staying put.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru focuses on her next action.
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Ingrid 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kenji
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Mizuki
Without missing a beat, Mizuki turns to Kenji and favors him with a little, if warm, smile, as she draws her baton. "Thank you," she replies, her voice gentle and melodious. Yes, she is one of the 'super-elite', she just doesn't... advertise it much.
With the match not quite yet underway, she says, "Alma-kun seems to prefer to imagine me in 'sexy ninja gear'... I'm not sure why, I think he's been watching too much anime and j-drama. I'm not a ninja." With a rueful shake of the head, the young redhead notes the announcements being made and turns to face the opponents.
"This looks like it will be tough... but I'm hoping that the two of us together can be more than just the sum of our parts," she smiles. "Oh! Looks like we're on..."
Stepping slightly forward, Mizuki bows her head to Ingrid and to Hotaru, then... raises her hands to her chin, clasping them together, her eyes half-closing as she calls chi from the ground, up around her, swirling in a silver-blue helix that probably looks fairly impressive.
COMBATSYS: Mizuki gathers her will.
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Ingrid 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kenji
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Mizuki
Things seem to get just a little more amusing for Ingrid when Kenji arrives, though it may be hard to see the little smile that forms on her face from the opposite corners they've all been placed in. It does look like the other fighters are going to attempt some minor communication, however, and she gives Hotaru a quick wave at the nod, quickly turning to Mizuki afterwards and returning her bow with a curtsy. Kenji... well, he just sort of looked her way, so he'll have to share the curtsy, since he's in Mizuki's general direction.
The fight gets underway in a somewhat unspectacular fashion, Hotaru and Mizuki both choosing to prepare themselves a moment longer before entering the fray, though Mizuki's way of doing it is a bit more eye-catching. Ingrid appears to be following this trend, choosing caution over initiative and trying to get a better read on the situation before engaging. It might be unwise to rush in and attack right when her opponents are ready for her, and that only reinforces the fact that she tends to prefer a more prepared approach in the first place.
COMBATSYS: Ingrid focuses on her next action.
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Ingrid 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kenji
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Mizuki
At the distance they stand, it's quite hard to see the roll of the eyes from Hotaru in response to his call. But Mizuki? Well, even if his eyes are going one way, his ears are quite functional and quite unidirectional.
%Sexy. Ninja. Gear?
His nostrils flare as his other arm hooks across his chest, supporting his elbow as he continues to hold that pose. God willing, the young man could generate sparkles around him if he decided to start trying! It's all with the power of emotion! And a mighty imagination. "I'd say it's a fine compliment. I mean, cosplay isn't bad! I had to dress up as that pirate for that silly fight, remember."
So the fight is underway!
"So...!" the young man seems to be the only one moving ahead to take the offensive, his thumbs hooked into his pockets. His stride is casual and easygoing, and he walks right to the center of the battle area before looking between Hotaru-- then Ingrid.
( I know what Futaba can do... but this other girl! )
"SHOWTIME!"
The young man is off in a hearty sprint toward Ingrid, his right arm whipping away from his pocket. And then his voice rings out-- a firm, clear shout. It's the voice of a young man that knows exactly what he wants!
"HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--"
To scream at the top of his lungs!
Kenji stops running entirely-- then slides on the soles of his sneakers (for he has the best traction ever) with a squeal of rubber and his arm erupting into a bright aura of energy. It's bright-- -extremely- bright. There's a faint blue twinge to it, glowing like a massive limb-shaped sparkler-- and then as his hand swings up to grab Ingrid by the collar, all that energy surges into his hand-- and seeks to hurl the mysterious girl right up into the air. "HA!!"
And if it works? Well, he takes care of the flight. The landing is up to her.
Slowly Hotaru lifts her head, opening her eyes again to take in the fight from a new, focused perspective. She's ready now. The distractions of Kenji's teasing, the audience's low observational murmur, and the questions she has in her mind about what each of the participants will opt to do all pushed aside for now.
At first glance she considers Ingrid. But jumping into the fray and getting the attention of the team of two sounds like it might be kind of fun. If she gets both of their attention, it will definitely push her limits to stay ahead of them.
Kenji goes tearing off at an angle toward Ingrid and Hotaru's eyes fix on Mizuki. Remembering their prior fight she decides to test herself against the priestess again; she might hope to fare better than last time, but she knows the other girl has a lot of abilities she hasn't even seen yet... and there's only one way find out if she can use that interesting chi of hers for something besides mending.
Leaning forward, Hotaru charges, cutting directly through the center of the cordoned off area, hopping up to plant her foot on the edge of one of the pools of the large stone fountain center-piece in order to flip over it all together and come down into a swift landing near enough the red-head to get a grip on her arm and twist it to lock her in place long enough to deal a strong sequence of three well placed kicks to her shin, knee, and stomach, before flipping her over her knee. "Ya, ya, ya!"
COMBATSYS: Mizuki blocks Hotaru's Shin-Jou Tai.
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Ingrid 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kenji
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Hotaru 0/-------/------=|=======\-------\0 Mizuki
It isn't exactly the -way- she wanted to start things out but... well, Kenji goes flying off and that leaves Mizuki and Hotaru to contend right now. Hopefully, Kenji will come back--or this will be a very short match. Her chi flow disrupted by Hotaru's motion, the redheaded miko comes out of her power draw in time to twist and turn with Hotaru's kicks and the over-the-knee flip; of course, the impacts still hurt, but instead of landing flat on her back, Mizuki is able to turn it into an artful shoulder-roll that gets her back up on her feet. Oof. This is... going to be scary.
"G--gomen, Hotaru-san," she says... as she charges forward herself, switching her right-held baton to a 'reverse' grip... and lunging forward at Hotaru with a sweeping right backhand strike that is followed up with by a turn of the body and an uppercut with the baton.sp
It isn't exactly the -way- she wanted to start things out but... well, Kenji goes flying off and that leaves Mizuki and Hotaru to contend right now. Hopefully, Kenji will come back--or this will be a very short match. Her chi flow disrupted by Hotaru's motion, the redheaded miko comes out of her power draw in time to twist and turn with Hotaru's kicks and the over-the-knee flip; of course, the impacts still hurt, but instead of landing flat on her back, Mizuki is able to turn it into an artful shoulder-roll that gets her back up on her feet. Oof. This is... going to be scary.
"G--gomen, Hotaru-san," she says... as she charges forward herself, switching her right-held baton to a 'reverse' grip... and lunging forward at Hotaru with a sweeping right backhand strike that is followed up with by a turn of the body and an uppercut with the baton.
COMBATSYS: Ingrid counters Sky High Rocket from Kenji with Sun Upper.
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Ingrid 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Kenji
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Hotaru 0/-------/------=|=======\-------\0 Mizuki
Ingrid is suddenly quite glad she hung back when Kenji begins to show off his fighting spirit, launching right into the fray and charging her while screaming. She's not quite sure what kind of technique he's going after, especially when the aura of energy begins turning his arm into a lightshow. She isn't sure whether he's going to release it in a blast or try something else, and she's leaning a little towards the latter when the Gedo student begins screeching to a halt.
But then things change, and he reaches out to her shoulder. A little smile forms on her face; she knows she has him. She quickly leans forward and points, her choice to analyze her opponents rather than attack first paying off as a disk of golden energy forms in the air in front of her. The hands that reached out for her contact it instead, the disk suddenly disappearing, Ingrid flinging the hand she pointed with in a large upward motion that throws Kenji up into the air and lets him drop; nearly exactly the same thing he was trying to do to her, though she couldn't know it.
She backs off and looks carefully over towards Mizuki and Hotaru, making sure she's not about to get double or triple teamed, especially now that she's proven herself capable. Seeing that they're, for the moment at least, occupied with each other she leans forward and smiles to Kenji, who's likely on the ground at this point. "Ingrid Holmann; pleased to meet you."
There! He has her!! He has her!!
*zzzt*
He doesn't have her!! He doesn't have her!!
Kenji's eyes widen as the disk takes shape in the air and his sizzling bright energy colliding against that apparent-shield. And then he's going up. Up, up, up, up, and up! As he absconds from view with a shrill "WhAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA~!" and Ingrid takes to surveying the status of her other opponents, the young man flails his arms and legs hard as he drops, trying something-- anything-- to get his balance back, instead dropping flat to the ground and landing with a rather meaty *THWAP* and laying flat out with his arms and legs throw out in every direction. Staring straight up, his lips purse as fire fills his lungs and chokes him of breath. ( This was clearly the most inefficent strategy I could have come up with. )
His arms hook up behind his head, and rather than attempting to kip up to his feet, the young brawler just rolls from his shoulder and lands in a crouch on his knees, digging his toes up against the ground. Standing up with a grunt, his hands return to his pockets, his stance far too passive to be called -anything-. "Gedo High Student Council Secretary, Kenji Ashima."
"We should go out after this is over." And before he can say anything more, his right arm suddenly whips up from his side. His fist all too visible-- but his arm itself moves in a blur. His knuckles are aimed to lay right into Ingrid, and by the way: For his age, his fist feels like getting hit by a slab of granite.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru full-parries Mizuki's Fierce Strike!
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Ingrid 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Kenji
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Hotaru 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\0 Mizuki
Hotaru releases her grip on Mizuki's arm as the miko manages to come out of the brutal, rapid assault fairing much better than would have been the intent. But the girl doesn't seem deterred by that in the slightest. She managed to defend against it the last time they fought too. Very few people do. "Just as tough as I remembered. Nice, Mizuki-san!" the Kenpo artist laughs.
And then comes the attack meant for her but Hotaru seems to see it coming way in advance. While the miko switches her grip on the baton, the pig-tailed fighter rolls her right arm behind her, her forearm bathed in a brilliant, churning blue aura as she focuses a powerful amount of energy into the palm of her hand. It's only then that she notices the explosive light display over to the side where Kenji and Ingrid are facing off, causing the girl to glance their way, eyes widened slightly.
It's not that she's stopped paying attention to Mizuki, by any means, but that attack coming in is pretty slow by Hotaru's standards and it is with what may almost seem like minimal effort that she twists her body in order to slice out with her left hand and intersect the incoming elbow with enough force to stop the attack short. "Nothing to be sorry about," the girl speaks to the priestess, even though her attention seems to be on the skirmish between Kenji and Ingrid more than her own situation.
Her left hand staying there, pressing against Mizuki's elbow, the girl finally lets go in order to twirl into and around Mizuki, ending up behind her back, giving her a clearer shot... Her right arm rolls forward and that potent blue energy that had gathered there discharges, forming a small, pulsating ball of pure force directed off toward Ingrid. It's hard to say what drew her fire - perhaps she just thinks the Gedo boy might merit a little bit of cover after the devestating attack he took from the surprisingly dangerous opponent. "YAA!"
... unh. To have her attack deflected like that... it's a little discouraging! But with Hotaru turning away to face Ingrid, Mizuki finds herself sans attacker... and so she turns to Kenji, who looks, well, not as good as he did when he started. Still...
"Hotaru-san, someday you'll have to teach me how you did that!" It happens all too often to Mizuki, after all. Still... Kenji. Hmm. Rather than pursue Hotaru, or even attack Ingrid, Mizuki focuses on Kenji.
He might notice chi gathering above him--and then, 'breaking', like a stormcloud, raining green-blue chi like droplets of warm rain... rain that will soothe and heal, somewhat, any injury he may have.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Ingrid with Hakki Shou EX.
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Ingrid 0/-------/-======|===----\-------\0 Kenji
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Hotaru 0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0 Mizuki
COMBATSYS: Kenji successfully hits Ingrid with Missile Fist.
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Ingrid 1/------=/=======|====---\-------\0 Kenji
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Hotaru 0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0 Mizuki
Ingrid suddenly finds herself in an uncomfortable situation, and that's not because of Kenji's offhand comment about going out. The young woman has little time to decide what to do, and in the end attempts a full fledged evasion of both of the attacks coming her way. She attempts to jump up and over the both of them in one fell swoop, but the presence of mind with which Hotaru attacked her ends up thwarting her plans, the blue ball of energy smashing her backwards before she can get away and putting her in a perfect position to get hammered by Kenji's fist, which hit her dead on and fling her backwards hard enough to send her into the wall behind her, the Norwegian bouncing off of it painfully and falling in a heap onto her face.
She's down for a fair amount of time; that was a lot of pain for someone to take all at once. She pushes herself to her knees, and then shakes her head. "Go out..?" She continues her reply as she gets the rest of the way back to her feet. "I'm not sure that you have a, well... delicate enough touch for something like that."
She then moves back on the offensive, seemingly wishing to keep at a distance from Kenji, by swinging her arm in an underhand motion, a large ball of sparkling energy raising up into the air and then falling back down towards him. She just hope Hotaru's going to focus on one of the others for a moment...
COMBATSYS: Kenji blocks Ingrid's Sun Shot.
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Ingrid 1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\0 Kenji
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Hotaru 0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0 Mizuki
COMBATSYS: Mizuki successfully hits Kenji with Iki no Mizu.
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Ingrid 1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\0 Kenji
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Hotaru 0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0 Mizuki
The punch lands with more strength than Kenji had initially anticipated-- the strike from Hotaru granting the two of them a sort of 'beat back the Norse' special effect. But the brawler doesn't go chasing Ingrid down after the strike, instead standing upright and shifting his attention immediately towards Hotaru-- and after all the crap they've been through, she'll know that he's on guard for another attack.
Just not from Ingrid.
Turning his head back toward the shot screaming at his face, the young man's eyes widen to the size of saucers and his palms turn outward as if to catch the blast, his hands slamming back against his chest and driving him near-off his feet with a backwards stagger and his arms pinwheeling around. "Ow ow ow ow ow!!"
Rolling his shoulder back, the young man shakes his hands out hard-- as if he were just handling hot coals. "Shee!! Ow!! Jeez!!" And then-- is this rain? But it's nice. Warm. Comforting, even! The pain in his hands begins to ebb away, and he blinks vacantly a few times. "Awesome, Kamigawa!"
His lean frame twists again to face Hotaru and Ingrid-- so! Who wants some now?!
COMBATSYS: Kenji focuses on his next action.
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Ingrid 1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\0 Kenji
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Hotaru 0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0 Mizuki
"You bet, Mizuki," Hotaru speaks in reply to the request that she give her some insights as to how she managed to stop her incoming attack in a way that seemed to require so little effort on her part. There's a friendly, but somewhat distant tone to her voice, as if she's thinking about something else entirely, her attention still fixed on Ingrid. Her trained eye notes just how bad she seemed to get slammed by the dual attack from her and Kenji and to some extent she's a bit surprised. Very few seem to get crushed so hard by her little chiball... only Marise seemed to have such a weakness to it.
She notices Mizuki has switched to healing her partner and smiles a little. The miko makes a great teammate, she bets, always there to lend her gift to an ally when it matters. Still close to the hakama-clad girl, she could turn her attention back to her... but she wants to test out Ingrid some more, the white-haired girl definitely earned her curiosity now.
Leaning forward to finally sprint from the corner she's been in, she aggresses directly toward the Norwegian, flipping forwarrd into the air into an angled knee dive that comes swiftly enough as to be somewhat difficult to deal with. If she connects with the girl's shoulder, her other foot will swing forward, aiming to kick Ingrid's other shoulder, before the girl will flip backward off of her all together. "Kya!"
With assistance provided to Kenji--minimal if nothing else--Mizuki smiles at his reaction. So unlike Drake's scornful one... she knows her gift is just that, a gift, and something she's to be proud of. However, she can'[t just sit around healing Kenji all day; she's got a fight to do, too, and so... well...
Well, she'd jump in on Ingrid too, but that just doesn't seem fair, what with Kenji continuing to pound away at the girl, and Hotaru as well--so with a moue, Mizuki charges in again.
"Sorry, Hotaru!" she calls, as she races in as fast as she can, before leaping up and forward in a low arc, baton held in a 'front' grip and brought around in a descending backhand strike aimed for the blue-haired girl's shoulder. What's she apologizing for? Attacking from the rear, of course!
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Ingrid with Rengeki Shuu.
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Ingrid 1/---====/=======|=======\-------\0 Kenji
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|======-\-------\0 Mizuki
Ingrid takes in a breath and readies herself when Hotaru appears to be coming for her. Though it seemed effective, her attack against Kenji was only a partial success, and most of that was washed away easily enough by Mizuki's special power. With Hotaru coming at her directly, Ingrid attempts to sidestep away, the descending kicks catching her in the shoulder as she tries it, and getting knocked to the ground. She's feeling pretty beat up now, and rather than just picking herself up off the ground she tucks into a ball and rolls backwards, leaving Kenji and Hotaru in fairly close proximity with Mizuki rushing in to attack.
She's been getting attacked the whole time so far, so she's going to attempt to just take a quick little break and see if she can't catch her breath. Hopefully the three combatants being in such close proximity will keep them from noticing her off in the distance.
COMBATSYS: Ingrid gains composure.
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Ingrid 1/----===/=======|=======\-------\0 Kenji
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|======-\-------\0 Mizuki
Together, there's a great team in Kenji Ashima and Hotaru Futaba. They worked well in tandem against Hayato, even if they were met with a loss in the middle of their great battle-- that Burning Challenge-- and they worked together well now. And now he's been healed by his newest teammate, and he throws the girl a grin and a wink.
And while Mizuki turns her attentions to Hotaru and Ingrid steps back to catch her breath, Kenji grins. "I'll have you know that I'm the most responsible person on my team! N-Not that it means much, considering the guy I hang out with." he adds, slumping for a moment. "Seriously! We can go hit the greatest restaurant we can find in this town, and it'll be great. It's on me!"
COMBATSYS: Kenji takes no action.
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Ingrid 1/----===/=======|=======\-------\0 Kenji
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|======-\-------\0 Mizuki
COMBATSYS: Mizuki successfully hits Hotaru with Medium Strike.
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Ingrid 1/----===/=======|=======\-------\0 Kenji
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Hotaru 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Mizuki
Her strike against Ingrid is successful, allowing Hotaru to backflip away from the girl and land on her feet with a grunt. She's been pushing herself pretty hard to stay at the very limits of her speed in this fight, knowing failure to do so will result in her taking damage on way faster than she can handle.
Attacking from behind while she tries to recover ends up being a very effective approach, the girl trying to predict the direction of the swing without having the time to turn around and see it. Instead of making it out of the way, she gets clocked in the shoulder all the same, causing her to stagger forward a bit. Well, she decides, she has given Ingrid enough of her attention for now. And Mizuki seems eager to tussle. Ignoring her any longer would be rude!
Whirling around, she takes no time to rub the place she got bumped on the arm. A swifter attack, it wasn't as bad as a lot of things she's suffered before. For now, she'll be fine. "All right," she grins, "Apology accepted!" Hotaru steps forward with her left foot, planting it hard against the ground so that she can swing around with her right with a swift snap kick aimed for the other girl's stomach. Knocking her way will buy a little time for her to catch her breath. "YA!"
COMBATSYS: Mizuki fails to interrupt Light Kick from Hotaru with Fierce Strike.
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Ingrid 1/----===/=======|=======\-------\0 Kenji
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Hotaru 0/-------/-======|=======\=------\1 Mizuki
Mizuki has oft been accused of being too defensive--and it's true, her style... her personality, her methods, are all very defensive. But sometimes, she decides, it's best to take the initiative, which is what she -attempts- to do here--even as Hotaru is swinging around with that swift kick, Mizuki is attempting to bring her baton around for a second strike...
... just a fraction of a second too slow, as the kick to the gut forces Mizuki to stumble back and gasp with pain, her baton arm dropping involuntarily as she wheezes out her next breath. "... ow," she manages, her free hand coming up to her gut where she was just kicked. "... that hurt," she reflects, after a moment. She somehow doesn't think she'll 'survive' this fight... but as long as she gets to do her best, that's all that matters, right?
Ingrid definitely needed that little break. It wasn't going to put her in number one position, but possibly it would be just enough to keep her in the fight. Now that she's feeling a little better, it's time for her to go back on the offensive. She considers her options for a few moments. Kenji is currently being left to his own devises, and Hotaru and Mizuki are duking it out. She also knows that Kenji seems to have a pretty strong weakness to her energy, but he's the only one she's focused on so far. In the end, she decides to turn her attention to Hotaru, for two reasons. First off is that Hotaru seems to be very capable; she's handled herself very well so far. The second is a minor streak of revenge; let it be her turn to fight against two people at once.
So with her mind made up, Ingrid launches her assault, leaning forward and picking up speed to rush in quickly to the blue eyed fighter before simply hopping forward with one leg extended, a simple but hopefully effective kick in the back.
The Gedo student's devices involve bringing Ingrid into the flow of his conversation. But -- apparently his charms fall short on the strange girl, her attentions turned to Hotaru. The young man's head tilts back with a hard sigh, his hand coming up to scratch the end of his nose. "Man."
( Three girls that Tenma -hasn't- pissed off and I can't get anywhere. )
"Screw it." Charging ahead, Kenji runs in a slight arc to the side-- giving him a little breathing room and enough space to come in at both Hotaru and Ingrid at once, arms extending out wide and leaping like a massive human projectile. His intent is to effectively plow into and clothesline both of them-- and probably land flat on his face in the process, if not end up there in the first place. "ORIYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA~!"
COMBATSYS: Ingrid successfully hits Hotaru with Light Kick.
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Ingrid 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\0 Kenji
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Hotaru 0/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Mizuki
COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Kenji's Strong Throw.
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Ingrid 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\0 Kenji
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Hotaru 0/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Mizuki
Erk. Trouble from all directions now for the pig-tailed fighter. First Mizuki attempts to intercept her before she can strike her with her foot, but she manages to be successful in that endeavor... then she's got battle-worn but still going strong skirt clad girl jumping for her back and a desperate teenaged boy lunging for her from the front with his arm out at such an angle that she can't avoid both of them no matter which direction she takes.
In the end, she steps back into Ingrid's jumpkick, getting struck in the back as was intended by the leaping girl, but allowing her to lean juuuust out of range of the young man's grasping arm. "Tsk, tsk," the girl laughs at the lunging boy, "Getting a little greedy there."
And with that, the young martial artist reaches out to try and grab hold of that arm of his that was stretched out for her. If she can get a grip with both of her hands, she'll swing up with her legs to slam them over his chest... and either end up pulling him down to the ground and locking him in an armbar for a long moment... Or maybe he'll just manage to stay standing all the same in which case he'll have a Hotaru clinging to him trying to pry his arm back while also trying not to get shaken off herself!
... nnh. Ow. Well, she's had moderate success in attacking Hotaru--perhaps it's time to try her 'luck' with Ingrid. "Ingrid-san," she calls, as fair warning, the miko reorienting herself to face Ingrid... well, what she was about to say is cut off by Kenji literally throwing himself at the girls. Instead, she settles for a brief, almost amused, "Get ready, here I come!"
And then she's rushing Ingrid's position, her baton drawn back. Just as she reaches the platinum blonde, the baton glows with blue-green energy, and it remains so as she lashes it out for Ingrid's torso, maybe seven or eight times, before finishing with a thrusting strike to Ingrid's chest. Not one of Mizuki's best moves, maybe, and a risky one to try in light of what she saw Ingrid do to Kenji... but Mizuki does need to learn how to attack with abandon.
COMBATSYS: Ingrid dodges Kenji's Strong Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Ingrid 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\0 Kenji
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Hotaru 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Mizuki
COMBATSYS: Ingrid dodges Mizuki's Kouryuu no Renda.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Ingrid 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\0 Kenji
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Hotaru 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Mizuki
Eep! An angrily rushing Gedo student and a seemingly polite miko are coming at Ingrid two at a time. Luckily, they're both incredibly telegraphed attacks, Kenji's by the fact that he's screaming the whole way towards her, and Mizuki by the fact that she's actually going to warn her before her assault. First she has to deal with Kenji, and she does this by dropping down to the ground and doing a single roll forward, the clothesline swinging above her head. Next she pops up to her feet and begins frantically avoiding the glowing baton as it strikes out at her, seemingly easily at first but straining with effort towards the end.
A quick look to Hotaru shows that she's dealing with Kenji, so she turns her attention completely to Mizuki. "That was close- Mizuki-san, wasn't it? Here I go, I'll try my best!" If she's be given a warning, she may as well reciprocate, correct? Rather than a series of quick strikes as was sent after her, Ingrid simply raises her hands up and then swings them down and forward, a broad outpouring of sparking psi flowing out from her hands to attempt to engulf the priestess- or is it priestess in training? She'll have to find out.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has saved the state of this fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Ingrid 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\0 Kenji
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Hotaru 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Mizuki
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has left the fight here.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Ingrid 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\0 Kenji
> ///////////////////// ]
|=======\-------\0 Mizuki
COMBATSYS: Mizuki has left the fight here.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Ingrid 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\0 Kenji
COMBATSYS: Kobun restarts a saved fight.
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Ingrid 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\0 Kenji
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Hotaru 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Mizuki
COMBATSYS: Kenji just-defends Hotaru's Strong Throw!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Ingrid 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\0 Kenji
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Hotaru 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Mizuki
You know, Kenji Ashima has his moments.
Flying at the two girls with his arms outstretched in the attempt to tackle them both to the ground was misguided, yes, but he had good intentions. After all, what's wrong with being between two ladies when laying down?!! Still, fate sees fit to interfere harshly; the Norse girl ducks away and Hotaru manages to catch him by the arm. In one of the most awkward positions in the world, his eyes widen and he can see those legs coming around to introduce his chest to Lieutenant Painsville-- and he just can't have that.
The Gedo student's other arm comes around in a smooth motion, catching the incoming legs and seeming to defy physics by remaining in the air-- and his back bends backwards, his legs arching upward while he uses Hotaru's legs as a -pivot-, his held hand changing position to hold Hotaru's own and fling himself into the air-- and as his feet hit the ground with the squeal of sneakers in protest, the young man stands with his back to the martial artist-- and looking to drag her over his shoulder for a dramatic toss over his shoulder and plant her to the ground directly in front of him-- and should he be successful, a deep look to the eyes and the truest of smiles. "Dinner and a movie?"
COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Kenji's Strong Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Ingrid 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\0 Kenji
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Hotaru 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Mizuki
Latching onto his arm while he was in mid-air seemed like a great idea. No way could he possibly have the wherewithal to react to something like that with anything that could possibly be effective. But then the Gedo boy pulls off an incredible defense putting to shame fighters years ahead of him in experience as he manages to not just catch the girl in return but to use her own momentum to plant himself solidly back on the ground again.
That in and of itself was already far more than Hotaru had expected. But when he goes on to then turn the tables by getting a grip on her arm and flipping her right back over his shoulder. But the Kenpo artist has the presence of mind to react as well, spinning herself around such that when she comes down on the other side of him she's back on her feet practically no worse for the wear except for being perhaps slightly off balance.
His question is met with a vaguely amused smile, "You really picked a strange time to bring something like that up, Kenji. If you wanted that, we needed to defeat Hayato-sensei's challenge. Besides, we're in the middle of a fight here!" As if to emphasize the point, the girl turns her own hand back around on his forearm, fingers attempting to get a tight enough grip that she can wrench his limb around behind his back and send the young man stumbling back over to the other girls. It'll do good to keep his mind on the match rather than dating, she figures!
COMBATSYS: Mizuki blocks Ingrid's Sunbeam.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Ingrid 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\0 Kenji
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Hotaru 1/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Mizuki
Yeep! Well, she should've expected it... she really needs to work on her -physical- skills. For the most part, they are lacking--speed, power, accuracy. THough she's trained all her life, it seems as though most, if not all, of her skill just goes flying out the window when she's actually in a battle. She's not quite sure what to put it down to--nerves, inexperience... it could be any of those, for sure.
Ingrid's sizzlingly hot psi energy engulfs Mizuki, who does her best, with a strangled cry, to absorb it; she's forced back, her entire body steaming with residual energies, and she just kind of shakes her head. Once again... her opponents are out of her class.
Backpedaling a little, she says, loudly, "K--Kenji-san... if we're to have a hope of surviving I think we need to coordinate our--" ... wait, did he just... ask Hotaru out? God! This is NOT the time for that, is it?!? (Well actually it is but no one told -her-!)
"... can you -please- ask everyone out after the fight? I don't care if we win but that's just a little ridiculous...!" Okay, done backpedaling; Mizuki gets her distance, then shakes her arms out. "... sorry," she murmurs, softly, as she opts again not to attack, instead returning to calling energy from the earth, silver-blue spiraling around her, fading upwards into the sky.
COMBATSYS: Mizuki gathers her will.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Ingrid 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\0 Kenji
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Hotaru 1/-------/=======|=======\=====--\1 Mizuki
For the fact that it was at least partially defended against, Ingrid definitely makes note of the fact that her energy seems to be rather effective against Mizuki, just as it was when she counterattacked Kenji. She has just enough time to take a look over and see Kenji's magnificent defense of Hotaru's attack, filing that knowledge away in her mind. He's definitely capable of some startling maneuvers.
Her attention turns back to Mizuki as she speaks to her partner, and a slightly amused look appears on her face when she mentions waiting until after combat to ask people on dates. "You never know, Mizuki-san, he could be trying to distract us; if he caught us off guard it might give him the perfect chance to strike, wouldn't you say?"
And speaking of attacks, she feels that sitting back now would likely lose the initiative. "No need to apologize, but I'm not going to hold back while you prepare yourself." And to prove this she moves up to the miko and reaches out to try and grab a hold of her by one arm as she draws out energy, attempting to twist around and use leverage to toss her over her shoulder and slam her back first onto the ground. She's no expert on such maneuvers, but hopefully it'll be effective!
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Kenji with Quick Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Ingrid 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\==-----\1 Kenji
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Hotaru 1/-------/=======|=======\=====--\1 Mizuki
She lands! He laughs! And he does his best to shrug his free shoulder. "It's always worth a tryyYYYYYYAAAAAAAAI--"
Twisted hard, his arm torques the young man around in a circle and he stumbles, landing on his left knee not too far from Mizuki and Ingrid. Still grinning, the young man brings two fingers up before his face and winks. "Sorry, Mizuki-chan! I just can't help it." And Ingrid is going to try to take advantage of his teammate's moment of weakness?!
Oh, no sir.
Kenji is up on his feet almost immediately, lunging in at the girl and bringing his left arm (a rarity, considering how often he punches with his right) around for a stunning blow to the stomach. "WHOA now!"
And... Off goes Kenji! Hotaru is left behind to shake her head, smiling faintly, looking quite amused with his persistence. It took Jiro weeks to ask her out and it seems like young Ashima needs only minutes! And having sent him off toward Ingrid and Mizuki, the girl finds herself left alone again.
Which provides a nice chance to catch her breath. Breathing in deeply, the girl exhales slowly, taking in the whereabouts of the other fighters. Mizuki has backed off, perhaps pouring a little bit of her mild ire at the boy into her fighting spirit, drawing upon world around her for help. And it looks like all three of them are going to be stuck defending or attacking each other very soon. Maybe it's... best to let things just play out for a second.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru focuses on her next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Ingrid 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|-------\-------\0 Kenji
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Hotaru 1/-------/=======|=======\=====--\1 Mizuki
COMBATSYS: Mizuki blocks Ingrid's Strong Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Ingrid 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|-------\-------\0 Kenji
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Hotaru 1/-------/=======|=======\=======\1 Mizuki
It always takes a bit of effort for Mizuki to properly close out the lines of chi--testament, one might guess, to her inexperience. In training and in meditation she has the luxury of time. So she just barely manages, as Ingrid comes rushing up; there's no resistance as Ingrid grabs her arm, Mizuki already mentally focusing on what comes next. Upended, flipped around in midair, then dropped to the ground... she rolls with the impact, away from Ingrid, then up to her feet. She's smiling, even though it hurt; a smile of relief, if nothing else.
Kenji is incoming of course, so, speaking of attack coordination... it's time to get risky, one might think... or at least... to put forth one's best effort. That said, Mizuki crosses the distance between Ingrid and herself again, feinting several strikes--hoping of course to distract Ingrid from the incoming Kenji.
COMBATSYS: Mizuki assists Kenji.
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Ingrid 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|-------\-------\0 Kenji
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Hotaru 1/-------/=======|=======\=======\1 Mizuki
COMBATSYS: Ingrid parries Kenji's Gatling Break!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Ingrid 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|-------\-------\0 Kenji
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Hotaru 1/-------/=======|=======\=======\1 Mizuki
Ingrid is put in a bit of a predicament after Mizuki rolls away upon hitting the ground. She doesn't have much time to react with Kenji rocketing towards her. To make matters worse, Mizuki comes right back to her and starts trying to smack her with her baton. At least Hotaru is staying out of this, for the moment, right? The blonde begins ducking away from Mizuki, and then prepares herself. As Kenji's left fist comes rushing in she reaches out with her own left hand and neatly pushes it aside, causing the blow to miss wide and giving her a perfect opening, her right hand already swinging in an underhand arc with energy trailing behind it, the Norwegian making an attempt to fire a quick parting shot at Kenji before leaping backwards to escape both him and Mizuki. She'd be in serious trouble if they both kept gunning for her like that!
COMBATSYS: Ingrid successfully hits Kenji with Sun Shot EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Ingrid 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|======-\-------\0 Kenji
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Hotaru 1/-------/=======|=======\=======\1 Mizuki
It was perfect.
It was -perfect-.
It was -parried-.
Kenji's eyes go wide as his punch is knocked away, a sudden burst of energy and light blasting him right in the face. He reels backwards on his heels, staggering and stumbling hard on his feet-- but he still doesn't seem like he's going to give up. His jaw tightens up, his head hangs forward, his bangs in his eyes. It looks like he could fall over at any moment!
%But he doesn't.
"HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--"
Charging ahead, Kenji makes a hard run toward Ingrid one last time as his right arm sweeps up and backward, moving on what seems to be sheer -willpower-. He comes to a dead stop, eyes wide, and then his arm lashes forward one last time for a sturdy punch right to the center of Ingrid's face. And just like the majority of this excitable young man's strikes, his fist hits with the dull brutality of a sledgehammer.
"ONE MORE!!"
COMBATSYS: Kenji can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Ingrid 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\=======\1 Mizuki
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 1/-------/=======|
Well, being left completely alone isn't any fun either, Hotaru quickly realizes. So it's time to join back into the fray. All or nothing! Having stood back a ways, she's had a long chance to watch how things are playing out between Ingrid and the two other fighters gunning for her. All the way down to poor Kenji taking another blast from that strange power the girl possesses. Wincing, Hotaru doesn't think there's much chance for Mizuki-san's powers to get the boy back into the fight after that. There's something to be said for the foreign looking girl's ability to dish out the pain tough.
"Yosh," the girl clenches her fists, readying herself to charge back in to the battle, her right arm flaring blue with the same energy she drew upon very early in the fight. It seemed to do the trick against Ingrid when she hit her with it before, and so the girl decides to take her chances with a second shot. Sliding to a stop a couple yards away from the pale blond, the girl swings her arm forward, unleashing a small, shimmering projectile of concentrated force.
Unlike various elemental chi varieties, this little missile leaves no side effects when it splashes against a target, other than the sensation of having been kicked pretty hard. From a distance. "YAA!"
... ooh. Oh man. That looked... Mizuki frowns, as Kenji's blown away by Ingrid's power. Her chances at surviving this fight have just offiically dropped a -lot-. Then again... against fighters of Ingrid and Hotaru's caliber that probably doesn't mean much. And... well, she still feels bad about 'ganging up' on someone--it's different she's teamed-up but...
So while Hotaru goes on the offensive, Mizuki chooses to remain on the defensive. However, she's no longer offering commentary or warnings. Now the stakes are tilted away from her pretty heavily and she's going to need all her wits just to survive--she's not even thinking about 'winning' this fight.
COMBATSYS: Mizuki focuses on her next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Ingrid 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\=======\1 Mizuki
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Kenji successfully hits Ingrid with Missile Fist.
[ \\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Ingrid 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\=======\1 Mizuki
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Ingrid negates Hakki Shou EX from Hotaru with Sun Burst.
Glancing Hit
[ \\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Ingrid 1/-------/=======|=======\=======\1 Mizuki
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/=======|
It looks like it's again time for Ingrid to get ganged up on. Something about the blonde Norwegian must be either frightening or worrying her opponents. If that is the case, it's likely her power. As Kenji rushes back towards her, Ingrid doesn't feel like trying that same trick twice, and instead simply tries to jump out of the way. This time she's not so lucky, the fist smashing into her before she can escape, knocking her backwards and causing her to slide to a pained stop.
But that's not the only problem. Hotaru once again chooses a nearly perfect moment to fling a blast of blue energy across the room at her. She's on the ground, and hurt, giving her almost no chance to get up and escape. That coupled with the fact that Hotaru is in perfect striking position gives a very serious problem to the girl. Rather than standing up, Ingrid stays down, a flash of golden energy forming around her. She lifts her hands to her chin, and a small, dull little sphere of energy forms in her hands. She blows on this little sphere and it floats forward slowly.
Contact. The sphere hits Hotaru's energy, but not perfectly. It seems to just barely graze it, but then comes Ingrid's saving grace. The little sphere explodes powerfully, a large release that engulfs the chi as it rushes forward, just barely using it's power up before it can find it's target.
Ingrid lets out a small sigh of relief, and then picks herself up. That was far too close for comfort.
Knuckles, face-- yeah, he's used to it. Breathing hard, Kenji staggers a few steps back and away now that he's dealt such a striking blow to Ingrid, even if hitting girls in the face isn't the nicest thing to do. Holding his ribs as he falls to one side, it's hard to tell what his condition is until after he catches himself with his other hand and breathes hard.
"Sorry, Mizuki-chan-- I don't think I can keep this up..." he says, clinging hard to his injury. "Ow, ow ow ow ow ow ow..."
Having slid to a stop to release the Hakki Shou, Hotaru is in a prime position to watch everything play out. Ingrid being struck by Kenji's powerful punch then forced to deal with her own chi blast with an impressive sphere of power that easily dwarves the Kenpo artist's projectile. That the two end up wasting each other's energy out is a pretty big surprise to the girl as she expected to have to deal with that sphere coming back her way.
It seems at this point that Ingrid is on the ropes and Kenji is out of the fight. Hotaru hesitates for a fraction of a second, her blue eyes shifting back and forth between Mizuki and Ingrid. It's hard to guess what she's thinking as she eyes them both, but in the end she sprints toward the foreign girl in an attempt to deliver one more attack. After all Ingrid has been through, can she possibly handle another?
Moving into melee range now, Hotaru swings her foot out with a swift kick that moves so fast as to almost be a blur. But she hooks her foot back early, keeping it from getting the range that she could probably deliver... as the real attack is the swath of blue chi that trails out behind her kick, aiming to splash against Ingrid in much the same way her poor, swallowed chiball would have. "KYA!"
"I--it's okay, Kenji-san! You did your best!" And probably better than Mizuki, that's for sure. Still... she squares her shoulders. "Right," she murmurs, "time to get back into it..." Rather than attack Hotaru from the back, though, Mizuki opts to swivel around to be towards Hotaru's right side, adjusting for the way the blue-haired kenpoist runs up to Ingrid; she sets herself, then nods.
Subconsciously, she echoes Kenji. "One more!" she says--mostly to herself, again--then dashes forward, drawing her baton into a reverse grip again... and as she nears Hotaru, once again she swings outward, lashing the baton along a sweeping arc--planting her feet after the first lunge, Mizuki transfers her momentum into a spin and, the next attack is made at Hotaru's legs, seeking to sweep them out from under her.
COMBATSYS: Ingrid dodges Hotaru's Kobi Kyaku EX.
[ \\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Ingrid 1/-------/=======|=======\=======\1 Mizuki
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/------=|
Ingrid is only barely off the ground by the time Hotaru is in her face, and she reacts on instinct. She simply throws herself back to the ground, flinging herself sideways, the blue chi that's formed just a fraction of a second too slow to be able to catch her. From the looks of it, Ingrid's pretty near the top of her game, as if someone had to guess they'd probably reply that she was very lucky in managing it.
She rolls back up to her feet, and immediately pivots back to face Hotaru. The girl has been a thorn in her side all fight long, striking at opportune moments. Ingrid can't fault her for it, but she can focus her attention on her rather than Mizuki. Besides, the way things are the Kenpo artist looks to be the freshest of all the three girls left standing. And what other way should she attack than with another of those spheres of energy that just so recently saved her neck? They've certainly proven their worth so far!
A flash of energy forms around her, and she once again forms and blows on a dull sphere of energy, aiming it towards Hotaru and hoping that Mizuki's onslaught will distract her enough for it to strike true.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Mizuki's Fierce Strike.
[ \\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Ingrid 0/-------/-------|=======\=======\1 Mizuki
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Ingrid successfully hits Hotaru with Sun Burst.
[ \\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Ingrid 0/-------/-------|=======\=======\1 Mizuki
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/=======|
She's fast. It's about all Hotaru can realize as Ingrid manages to slip around the very swift, up close attack that would be difficult to avoid by just about anyone. Hotaru is starting to feel the burn of having pushed herself so hard to try and take down the girl. She's definitely over-extended herself and when the retaliation comes, she pays a severe price.
She sees the red-head coming from the side and manages to slip around the strike, but that leaves her stepping directly into the large sphere of energy perhaps just as Ingrid had hoped. The pain of such a blast is more than she could have possibly expected as she experiences a force she hasn't felt very frequently in her life. "Ayyya!" the girl cries out, knocked clean off her feet and sliding along the floor quite a distance away from Ingrid.
She rolls up to her feet a ways off, gasping for breath, one hand planted against the floor as she braces to react to whatever follow ups may come. But after having gone through the fight without too much pain, that single blast from the blond has almost single handedly taken the fight out of her. "No wonder Kenji had it rough." the girl mumbles, her hand not pressing against the floor trembling a little as she tries to force away the jolting pain. At least he had a healer on his side!
COMBATSYS: Hotaru gains composure.
[ \\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Ingrid 0/-------/-------|=======\=======\1 Mizuki
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/--=====|
Once again, she was dodged... Mizuki shakes her head. She can't give up yet! However, she's been hurting for a while now, and not just from nearly continually having her attack attempts nullified or just outright dodged. It's not fun to have your relative place in the fight be shown to you so clearly... at least not when you're the one at the bottom.
Mizuki takes a half-step backwards, then concentrates a moment... her chi building up around her. Possibly not as strong as Hotaru's, but, strong enough, as energy builds, and builds, then breaks over her head, turning into a luminescent, blue-green fall of energy that looks almost exactly like water, spilling down over her and leaving her not soaked, but refreshsed, literally washing away pain and injury...
There comes a moment in many fights where the fighters simply stop attacking each other and focus on themselves. At the moment, this seems to be one of those. And Ingrid, who is seriously ailing, is glad for it. She doesn't have the kind of power that Mizuki wields, and she's too hurt to try and draw herself up. She can, however, take stock of her two opponents and try to figure out a winning strategy. Hotaru took that sphere of energy really hard, so it seems that she, like her other two opponents, is just as vulnerable to it.
Slowing her panting, Ingrid draws herself up into her normal fighting stance, and sends glances to both Mizuki and Hotaru. "It seems that it's between the three of us now. Good luck to the both of you."
COMBATSYS: Ingrid focuses on her next action.
[ \\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Ingrid 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\0 Mizuki
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/--=====|
Waiting only for a short while to regather herself, Hotaru lunges back up into the fight swiftly, charging for Ingrid again. Mizuki's power she knows, she's fought her before, but the foreigner has her facinated. She's held her own against a long sequence of relentless attacks from everyone in the fight, and she's still going. Intending to stick to her... she only vaguely becomes aware of Mizuki taking advantage of the downtime to use her gift on herself.
The pig-tailed girl has no idea how such things work, but it seems to her that it would be in her best interest to try and not let her get away with it for as long as she wants. Feet sliding a bit against the ground, the girl changes course for Mizuki, pushing off into a spin, lashing her foot out for a swift jump kick for the side of the other girl's head as if to interrupt her concentration in the only way she can think to do so. "Ya!"
COMBATSYS: Mizuki successfully hits Mizuki with Iki no Nagare.
[ \\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Ingrid 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\0 Mizuki
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/--=====|
COMBATSYS: Mizuki fails to interrupt Light Kick from Hotaru with Deep Strike.
[ \\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Ingrid 0/-------/-------|=======\==-----\1 Mizuki
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/-======|
Nothin' Hotaru can do can -stop- Mizuki from healing herself--it's just the way things work. But well... she can certainly kick Mizuki in the head. Ever since her fight with Drake on SNF, her head has been the most popular target -on- the redhead. She hasn't had a single fight where at least one person hasn't tried to knock her brains out. And she is, frankly, getting -tired- of it.
But there's not much she can do at this point--she snaps out of her healing trance just in time to get smashed in the head, spun around, and dropped like a rock. "... ow," she murmurs, woozily, as she gets onto her hands, propping herself up. She will just be a moment.
Hotaru appears to have switched targets as Mizuki pours bluegreen energy over herself and makes a ton of the pain she's been put through go away. Ingrid, however, is keeping her current target. She's probably done as much harm to Hotaru as the other girl has done to her with her single attack, but that doesn't make her any less dangerous of an opponent. The young blonde rushes after Hotaru as Mizuki's retaliatory strike fails, moving in as quickly as she can to hopefully strike before she can be noticed. She raises her hands above her head, and then sweeps them down and forward, attempting to immerse her target in glittering energy much as she tried to do to Mizuki earlier, mindful of that sneaky energy kick but knowing she has to trust in herself and her power if she has any chance of victory. Besides, it seems to work well against Hotaru, right?
COMBATSYS: Ingrid successfully hits Hotaru with Sunbeam.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Ingrid 0/-------/------=|=======\==-----\1 Mizuki
[ \\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 1/-----==/=======|
Recovering from her jump kick against Mizuki, Hotaru lands back on her feet, evaluating the chance she took in going after the miko in light of Ingrid still being up and doing quite fine. Even though she starts to turn to face the other girl, feeling completely blind to the surge of energy that she can see with her eyes yet not sense in any other way like she usually can, she is struck once again, this time sent reeling head over heels at an angle. The girl hisses as she lands, rolling over onto her side, curling up for a split second before finally getting back up to her feet, gasping for breath. Eyes come to rest on Ingrid now, the blond having fully gotten her attention again.
Hissing to bite back the pain that would see her collapse to the floor, the girl charges back forward, lashing out with yet another kick like the one before toward the skirt clad girl in an attempt to take her down after so many failed attempts thus far. Another swift kick, slowed down now by the way she's barely on her feet anymore, followed by another taste of the chi she draws upon for her attacks. "KYA!"
... right. Back on your feet, Mizuki! The miko seems to be scolding herself for a moment--lately, in her quest to become a better fighter, she's actually become more risky. It's okay to take risks, but there's a time and a place for it! Both her opponents are wailing on each other right now, which is good for her... and since she attacked Hotaru last time, she decides she'll just switch to Ingrid.
So saying, Mizuki actually times her movements with Hotaru's--albeit inadvertently--dusting herself off, then dashing across the department store for Ingrid, at the last moment hopping up and throwing herself into a surprisingly acrobatic tuck and twirl--the goal being to strike Ingrid a passing blow with her baton as she flies overhead.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Ingrid with Kobi Kyaku.
[ < > ///////////////////// ]
Ingrid 0/-------/--=====|=======\==-----\1 Mizuki
[ \\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 1/---====/=======|
COMBATSYS: Ingrid endures Mizuki's Medium Strike.
[ < > ///////////////////// ]
Ingrid 0/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1 Mizuki
[ \\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 1/---====/=======|
A bit of hope begins to spring up inside of Ingrid when her quick release of energy catches Hotaru perfectly. It quickly releases, however, when Hotaru comes back at her with another energy-wall producing kick, her attempt to fling herself away not coming nearly fast enough this time, the chi striking her directly. It looks as if she's about to collapse to the ground, but then Mizuki comes shooting from overhead, smacking her with the baton and reversing her momentum.
Ingrid knows that she's now out of the competition. She can still, perhaps, sway the outcome, however. Mizuki's leaping through the air, and almost gone, but her attack has pushed Ingrid right back towards Hotaru. This calls for one of her less often seen attacks. With no spinning elbow smashes to precede it, Ingrid gathers herself up and gathers one final burst of energy, jumping into the air and bending backwards, her legs quickly following in a whip-like motion to strike out towards Hotaru's form, a trail of golden psi streaming out from her feet. "Yosha!"
COMBATSYS: Ingrid can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Hotaru 1/---====/=======|=======\==-----\1 Mizuki
COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Ingrid's Sun Arch.
[ \\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Hotaru 1/---====/=======|=======\==-----\1 Mizuki
The attack lands and Hotaru regains her footing after the aggressive chi-laden kick. She's barely standing, herself, the two blasts from Ingrid all but taking her out from this fight. There's really no comprehending it for the girl. A student of styles, she can't make any sense out of the blond fighter's technique though the pain behind it does bring back memories of darker times in a war torn country months back.
When the girl comes at her for a power charged kick, Hotaru desperately scrambles out of the way, feet almost slipping out from beneath her as she does so, the turn in her direction causing her to end up facing Mizuki straight on. The corner of her mouth curls into a faint smile as she gives the red-head a nod of acknowledgement, though she lacks the strength to say anything just now. Considering how well she knows Mizuki's gift has probably taken care of the miko, it's going to require pouring everything she has into her next attack if she wants to have any hope of catching up with her.
"All right," she finally gasps a breath, perspiration causing her hair to cling to the sides of her face as she keeps herself upright. And that's all the warning she offers as she leans forward into a charge for the other girl, only to leap into a forward roll and come out as close to Mizuki as she can manage. The chi-laden backflip that comes next packs an incredible punch, bearing not just the girl's physical strength, but drawing upon a the power she is able to weild in battle as well. "Ten-shou...!"
COMBATSYS: Mizuki fails to reflect Ten-shou Ranki from Hotaru with Kongou no Kagami.
[ \\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Hotaru 0/-------/-------|=======\=------\1 Mizuki
"...Ranki!" The strength of the flip kick is enough to take even opponents twice Hotaru's size off their feet. Only giants of men like Brian have managed to stay standing after a clean hit like she manages this time. And even when the few do manage to keep their footing after the flip kick, the teenaged missile that dives back down into them afterward tends to be enough to finish the job of knocking them over.
Which is how by the time the dust settles, Hotaru is kneeling over Mizuki, her hands pressed against the center of the miko's breastbone. "aaaaAAA!" Digging even deeper into her strength, the girl begins to withdraw energy not just from herself but from the miko beneath her as well, forming a very unstable sphere of power around the two of them.
"KYAAA!" Finally unable to build it up any further, the girl leans further more, pressing her palms more tightly as she funnels all of that built up power back through her, channelling it into the other girl through her arms. The collapse results in a small explosion of energy around the two of them, but as the sound fades away there is a quiet, exhausted sigh, Hotaru's shoulders slouching a little as she struggles to stay upright.
Wh--oh dear. Mizuki recognizes the surge of chi for what it is--and she attempts her own 'special defense'... only to catch the backflip right in the chin. To say it -hurts-, what Hotaru does, is to understate what happens. Mizuki is -destroyed-, plain and simple, utterly crushed underneath Hotaru's power. She is only in the vaguest sense 'still moving'... in fact, it's nearly five seconds before she even stirs, rising to her knees... then her feet... and god, does she look unsteady. Hotaru's chi may not leave a physical mark behind, but Mizuki's core feels sandblasted and hammered... and not in a good way. It should be cake for Hotaru to finish this...
Sometimes it takes dishing out an attack like that to catch back up in an exchange where she was quite sure she was a ways behind. Coping with two direct hits from Ingrid definitely dealt a substantial amount of pain to the pig-tailed fighter. Only by dealing an equally decisive attack on Mizuki could she hope to keep up with the spiritual girl's gift.
There is a long moment where all she can do is wobble, looking at the other girl with a faint smile. At least it can be said she's put her all into this fight. Group battles are such grueling affairs, and for a fighter who used to burn herself out remarkably fast, she's managed to adopt to pacing herself better these days.
But neither girl is finished yet, which means the fight goes on. Such is the way of things. Leaning forward, Hotaru moves from standing to going on the offensive remarkably fast, jumping into the air before flipping forward into a sharp angled knee dive aimed for Mizuki's shoulder. If she can connect, she'll follow up with a second kick with her left leg, before backflipping off in an attept to get back to safety with what little strength she has left.
COMBATSYS: Mizuki fails to interrupt Light Kick from Hotaru with Kongou no Kagami.
[ \\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Mizuki can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/------=|
Once again, Mizuki doesn't like her chances against Hotaru... and her dislike is borne out. She just wants to end the fight and she wants to have done something cool. In the end... she gets to end the fight. But she doesn't get to do anything 'cool'--she tries, once again, her baton-tip glowing as she describes -part- of a circle.
But then Hotaru's knee is crushing into her shoulder, before she can do anything, and she just drops. Her body knows when it's time to give up. Even though the blow wasn't to a critical area, Mizuki just--is out. Don't ask her to explain it--she's K.O.'ed. This time, she =will= have to have the medics look at her...
The attack was delivered at an angle that is somewhat difficult to defend from and attack against without a precisely timed uppercut. It's taking a chance, since a clean hit from the girl would more than do her in at this point, but she slips past Mizuki's defenses and delivers the two-striking blow before flipping backward to land on her feet, dropping into a crouch, propping herself up with one hand against the floor as she struggles to stay up.
But when the seconds pass it becomes clear that out of the four fighters who began this match, only Hotaru Futaba is still standing... er... crouching... er... not passed out on the floor. Pushing herself up slowly she breaths in deeply then exhales. That was a gruelling battle but she learned a lot of interesting lessons and has a lot of interesting things to wonder about with regards to the foreigner's own special gift.
Sadly, it won't come until watching the reruns that she'll learn of the special conditions on this fight. But it seems Kenji's advances were rebuffed, painfully so, denying the audience the special follow up reality show covering the shopping spree and subsequent date. Oh well... ._. Try harder next time, Ashima!!
Log created on 19:36:59 08/19/2007 by Mizuki, and last modified on 06:10:02 08/28/2007.