Description: After accepting Aislinn's offer, the two newest Blackjack members find out... they're not exactly accepted just yet. First, of course, there's a test... isn't there always a test?
The Place: Southtown Harbor, Blackjack's warehouse.
The Time: 7:30pm.
Aislinn waits just outside the warehouse, in front of the doors, spotlighted by the harsh white light of the security light that shines straight down. The area is dark, mostly, with just similar lights shining at warehouse doors; some warehouses are lit, some docks alive, but the ones around the Blackjack area... silent.
But Blackjack's will be open for business, soon. In fact, the lights are on, the upper windows glowing with an almost cheery light... belying what is about to happen in the large warehouse. The Silent Assassin has a few doubts about this--her own ability to test her new charges is going to be called into question. Unlike Elle's test of Reed and Aranha, Aislinn's is going to be more... straightforward, to say the least. After all, Aislinn's primary purpose is combat and that's her stock in trade. She'll ask Elle to deal with testing Ayame's stealthiness and ability to infil and exfil later... Elle is more accustomed to testing that. Aislinn's methods for doing so are her own and she doesn't feel qualified.
But in terms of gauging combat experience, she feels eminently comfortable... so, she waits.
Ayame has been in the area for a little while yet. Well before the 7:30 start time that was indicated. However, unlike last night, she's kept her distance this time. Spying on the warehouse, trying to get a feel for what she's walking into. Inherently suspcicious of everything that she doesn't have complete control over, she's still trying to weigh out the risks of going forward with this whole deal.
She's had a job before... but it was nothing like this, and in the end, she got betrayed by those she worked with. Taking a chance of that happening again? Well... she's met the woman behind this operation now. Something tells her that petty jealousy doesn't quite factor into things with Blackjack.
Still, for all her lurking around, she's going to be punctual. She doesn't approach from an obvious direction, opting instead to have secured a position on the roof of the building during the last short while. Aislinn may be aware of her being up top of the building all the same as Ayame peeked over the edge from time to time. Nn. Nothing inherently suspicious. Just the girl with the lavender hair waiting beneath a solitary light. If she can't trust Aislinn, then there's really no point in even going forward...
The girl checks her watch. 7:30. Breathing in, she swings herself down over the side of the roof at such an angle as to plant her feet against the wall about halfway down then kicking off from there to make the rest of the drop. She lands several yards to the side of Aislinn in a deep crouch before standing up straight.
"So we meet again," she states, one hand coming up to push her hair back over her ear, "You better have brought my knife back," she adds. There's no threat to her voice. Considering what she made off the trinkets Aislinn gave her last time, she's already replaced the token taken when they last met anyway. But it's the principle of the thing!
Unlike Ayame, Camille does two things wrong: the first, of course, is not coming early. She's running frantically toward that harbor door at 7:29, just barely mmaking the 7:30 'date'. She's never been very punctual or organized with her time, something that no doubt she'll probably have to fix in her work with Blackjack; most of them seem fairly well-structured. The second, meanwhile, is coming straight to the warehouse rather than scoping it out first.
She almost walks right past Aislinn, since she's in such a hurry; fortunately, that lavender hair is just distinct enough that she manages to mentally dial it back oh-so-slightly, put the situation together, and catch herself. Coming to a full stop, she turns around and walks back toward Ayame and Aislinn, hearing a little bit of the conversation about the knife; it's that girl, she thinks to herself -- 'Aurora.' Weird to see her in a place like this. How many organizations must be giving her that stern look right now, she wonders -- by all appearances, she's reasonably notorious for her antics.
Stretching a little, she forces a smile onto her face. "I wasn't expecting to see you here," she says to Ayame, before turning her attention to Aislinn; Doyle, unlike the other girl, gets no form of address at all. Really, Camille has no idea /how/ to address the young girl who seems to be her immediate superior.
Indeed. The knife. Well, it's not on Aislinn's person. She meets Ayame's gaze and nods in satisfaction. The girl's here. So now all that's left is Elle and Camille, and she is sure both will be here in their time... Camille is more important at the moment and, here she is.
"Good," says Aislinn, "You're both here." Without further ado, she opens the doors to the warehouse and gestures for the two to walk inside; she'll follow shortly. The inside of the warehouse doesn't look -exactly- typical... with some work it's been partitioned off into two clear sections. Lots of things are laying about--pipes, wreches, boxes, boxcutters... stuff.
Closing the door with a loud *clang*, Aislinn drops the locking bar across it. Her voice comes a little more commanding now, as she tries to inject it with authority. "You've both accepted my offer of a job. Tonight is where you prove to me--and Blackjack--that you're worthy of it. A Blackjack operative must be willing to go to any lengths to do their job."
So saying, she points to the first, most obvious area. "So get in there, you two, and show me you can fight." Seems simple, huh? Once the girls are in there, she'll close off the section though, pulling a large storage rack into place. It's about 30'x30', plenty of room.
"The gas canisters are not filled with flammables," she advises, pointing to the various small canisters littering the area, "but they will explode with concussive force... if used correctly."
Cue up awkward moment #1. Ayame glances toward Camille as the other girl approaches... and stares blatently for a moment before catching herself and shaking her head. What is she doing here? She works for Geese's people. Is there more of a connection here than she realized before? And is this at all related to the chance encounter she had with Camille just last week?
Recovering from her surprise quickly she offers Camille a very friendly smile, falling back on the amiable way the two parted company last time. "Nice to see you again..." Her tone is questioning even though she doesn't actually voice any inquiry. She glances toward Aislinn then back toward the Syndicate girl, "They call me Ayame here," she remarks with a bit of a shrug. After all, she told Camille that Aurora was her 'given' name... that she has some other alias for this group will seem normal enough.
And then they're lead into the warehouse. Ayame saw the interior last night. But things ahve been rearranged now. She already has the new layout mapped out as well, having been given access a bit earlier due to an offer made by Elle. What is going to HAPPEN within that layout remains to be seen, however.
Ayame is quiet as Aislinn goes over the introduction, reminding them of the expectations that exist on them. And then the first task is assigned. They need to fight. The blonde grins. She already sized Camille up the last time the two met. She doesn't think the other girl has a prayer. Of course, appearances can be deceiving.
"Okay," the girl remarks, shifting her focus toward the red-head. "Hope you're ready!" she states, because she's not going to give her any quarter to prepare herself now. The smaller fighter is on the offensive immediately, running forward to try and secure Camille's wrist with her hand, seeking to twist it hard and pull up behind her back. That's just a precursor to get into position, though, because once she's there, she'll shift to pulling one arm around the neck of the English gal before dropping down backward, attempting to drive her knees into Camille's back while simultaneously choking her.
COMBATSYS: Ayame has started a fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Ayame 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Camille has joined the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Camille 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Ayame
COMBATSYS: Camille dodges Ayame's Medium Throw.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Camille 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Ayame
Logical enough indeed. Following after Aislinn with a wordless nod at the mention of fighting, she glances around the warehouse, seeing it for the first time; Camille is definitely at a massive disadvantage when it comes to using the terrain in this particular fight, it looks like. Plus, she probably intends to get a lot more mileage out of those random objects lying about -- Camille only has one weapon, and usually does a lot better with it than with anything she might improvise.
The redhead glances to Ayame as she mentions that they call her Ayame here -- reasonable enough, she thinks to herself as she starts planning out her course of attack a little bit. "I'm definitely ready!" she declares as the Japanese girl declares her intent (or at least implies it); Camille definitely finds herself in a bit of a pickle when Ayame demonstrates just how fast she is.
As that arm comes in, Irvine recognizes the technique for what it is (a rare thing with her), and decides on a plan of action almost immediately. Her arm going back to the sword on her back, she draws it -- and in the same motion, pushes Ayame away slightly without having to turn and face her, giving her a little extra time to extract herself from that grab.
"This is going to be a /workout/," she says, with a little smile. "I have to wonder, though..." Whirling around and leaping forward, the Brit tries to press Ayame to the ground by catching her chest with her legs at high speed, hopefully /keeping/ Ayame on the ground by straddling her chest. "You can knock /things/ off, but are you really that good at knocking blocks off?" she asks, as she (hopefully!) beats the girl about the head with the hilt of that massive blade.
COMBATSYS: Camille successfully hits Ayame with God Save The Queen.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Camille 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Ayame
She gets an initial grip on Camille but Ayame underestimated how knowledgaeble the young woman would be about the type of sequence she was going to put her through if she had managed to secure that hold... Pushed back by the same motion that results in that heavy weapon being drawn, she tries to play hard to catch by going with the momentum and putting even more distance between her and the young enforcer.
To her dismay, however, Camille's chest level leg-takedown locks on, dropping the girl to the hard floor with a gasp. That in and of itself would be something the light weight fighter could cope with, but when she lifts that claymore up and starts banging it against the sides of her heads in spite her attempts to deflect it aside with her arms.
That isn't working at all though, and the blonde can't take the abuse for long and she isn't able to worm her way out from under the girl sitting right on her. "I guess we'll find out," the girl remarks after another painful strike to the side of her head as her arm lashes out, fingers wrapping desperately around a solid, three foot long pipe... In the next instant she swings it in for the side of the Brit's head. A bit of payback if she isn't paying attention.
COMBATSYS: Ayame successfully hits Camille with Medium Strike.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Camille 0/-------/----===|=====--\-------\0 Ayame
She /really/ isn't paying attention, evidently -- that pipe comes out of nowhere, clocking her solidly on the back of the head, and she goes down hard, falling off of Ayame and allowing her plenty of time to get back up. Deciding that it might be prudent to switch tactics oh-so-slightly now that her head is absolutely /pounding/, Camille puts that sword back on her back and takes up a slightly different stance -- a lower one, a classic grappler's.
However, this doesn't mean that she's instantly going to come in and put some holds on Ayame; she knows full well that taking a breather can often make or break a match, and as such, she decides to hang back. It's rare that she really finds herself feeling like she has any idea of how to handle an opponent short of taking some big risk, yet here she's starting to get the feeling that 'Aurora' shares a few things with her, at least as they apply to combat.
Why not take advantage? Irvine starts trying to puzzle out her stance, her methods of attack -- and more importantly, how to capitalize on them. It's a little out of her depth to think too hard about it, but she at least manages to staple together the basics... and her heightened focus on the fight itself probably doesn't hurt her, either.
COMBATSYS: Camille focuses on her next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Camille 0/-------/----===|=====--\-------\0 Ayame
The heavy pipe hits home, giving Ayame a break from the savage knocks upside the head she was getting. She may have got the young woman off her, but that doesn't mean she's feeling too great at the moment herself, a trickle of blood seeping down from her hairline over her temple. Twirling the pipe once, Ayame hops to her feet by rolling back half way then pushing off with her hands to jump back up, leaving little time to press attack before she's ready.
But for now it seems her opponent is holding back anyway and the girl decides to keep the pressure on. And while one pipe is good, two is better! Her left foot slips behind a wrench leaning against a barrel before kicking the heavy tool spinning up into the air toward Camille. It's mostly a setup though as Ayame charges forward as well, swinging the led pipe with her right hand, spinning around to grab the wrench out of the air, and swinging it around as a follow up with her left hand, both attacks aimed to clobber poor Camille in her upper arms... Perhaps the smaller girl is trying to reduce her ability to grapple, having taken a hint at the shift in stance.
"Might want to get that sword back out," she remarks with a grin mid-swing, after all a heavy weapon like that can really help against the meaty attacks she's throwing at the young woman.
COMBATSYS: Camille interrupts Fierce Strike from Ayame with Random Weapon.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Camille 0/-------/--=====|=======\====---\1 Ayame
Ayame comes in with that quick swing of the pipe and the wrench -- yet Camille is not entirely unprepared for this. She gives momentary consideration to drawing that sword again, but Ayame's -just- too close for it to be particularly effective... however, she does notice that there are two weapons, another lead pipe and a sharp-looking boxcutter, that would probably work a lot better.
As such, she lowers her body down, grabbing both weapons, and shoulders hard into the lead pipe, injuring her shoulder but avoiding the wrench -- and more importantly, taking Ayame off balance. This creates a massive opportunity, and one that Camille knows well enough to capitalize on /immediately/. She slashes the boxcutter upward, aiming to leave a hard cut across Ayame's side, and hopefully to get her to drop the pipe on the same side.
Wasting no time, she then rams the end of that pipe into the young woman's stomach, then -- with a final whirl -- swings it full-speed into her head. With lighter weaponry, it seems Camille is capable of somewhat impressive feats of offensive agility and prowess; perhaps the big blade isn't /quite/ what she's suited for, after all.
The whole time, Aislinn's been watching. Calculating. Examining. Things she hates having done to her. At least they didn't have to get hooked up with sensors and fight robodrones nude--that's not a pleasant experience. No, Aislinn is using more old-fashioned methods, though her analytical, cybernated mind helps. Hits, dodges, misses, blocks...
Aislinn is watching it all. She's not going to let the two beat each other into unconsciousness, of course--that would hardly fit her plan. And just now...
"STOP!" cries Aislinn, using a tone of voice she's not quite used to.. she is of the 'speak softly and be the big stick' type, but command demands changes. And she leaps well over the rack used to close off the area, landing between the two combatants.
"That's enough. It's time for phase two of the test," she says, in a more normal tone of voice. She walks over to a different storage rack and swings it outwards on one leg, revealing the next area--set up like the first.
"You have to show me that the two of you can work together." So saying, Aislinn gestures towards the second area. "For this part of the test, you will be fighting Elle. The leader of Blackjack. Oh, and Ayame," says Aislinn, as she waits to close off the second arena, such as it were.
"Elle has your knife."
"You have approximately ten seconds to get ready."
In comes the first swing and Ayame thinks she has the girl easily. The follow up is going to be the brunt of the attack anyway... But Camille isn't so easily bowled over as she had expected. The girl is well grounded for a fighter of her stature and her ability to lunge back into the smaller fighter even after taking the hit demonstrates that she knows how to use it.
The cut against her side stops the blonde short, eyes widening as she hadn't expected someone else to resort to improvised weapons as quickly. The follow up slam with the pipe bends her over and leaves her a sitting target for the final swing that cracks against the side of her head, easily dropping her back to the floor.
That one stung, laying the girl out completely it seems, both weapons dropped, her hand coming up to rest against the side of her head as she only partially sits up. There's definitely no risk of her jumping back to the offense against Camille before Aislinn calls for the fight to stop, since she was going to need a moment for her vision to clear anyway.
She was definitely going to fall back to a ranged fight against the enforcer, though, convinced that staying in close against someone who can swing that brutally hard was not a good idea. Shaking her head as the Blackjack member overseeing this test gives them their instructions, the girl rolls over and pushes herself up slowly, using the side of a crate for support. "Right," she murmurs, having a lot of the vigor just knocked clean out of her.
And now she's supposed to work with Camille? That sounds a lot better than getting her head bashed in, at least. Elle then. She saw the Blackjack leader for the first time the night before. She only has a vague idea of what she's capable of. This will be very interesting...
Leaving everything behind, she finally pushes off from the wall to follow into the second cleared out space in the room. Her mouth curls faintly at the mention of her knife before her expression becomes tight lipped. Some might expect that she'd be looking for an opening to stab Camille in the back after those savage attacks... Maybe the red-head better watch out.
COMBATSYS: Ayame gains composure.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Camille 0/-------/--=====|=======\==-----\1 Ayame
Quite the introduction by Aislinn, but where /is/ Elle, precisely? She's no immediately visible, In fact, it doesn't appear that she's anywhere in the building at all. The words hang in silence for a moment as the ten seconds tick down without so much as a single strand of odd white hair to indicate Elle's even around.
Tick, tick, tick.
Time's an interesting thing. When you want it, it moves too fast. When you're waiting, you have too much of it. All perceptions aside, it would seem that Elle's taking her sweet time, wherever she is. It's unusual for her to be anything but on time, though, and Aislinn would know Elle rarely dawdles or concerns herself with trivialities that would make her late.
But what is Elle capable of? That depends who you are. What most people that fight her know is that Elle plays for keeps, every day, all the time. She doesn't beleive in mercy or holding back, and will viciously attack anything that gets set up in her sights. Rumors of her overall durability probably float around the mercenary circles, too. But overall? Not a whole lot of information.
Time's up. The tenth second hits, and there's a short silence.
And then one of the crates used to seperate the second section from the first blows open with a powerful strike as a katar-bedecked hand smashes through. The razor endged punch knife shoots towards Camille's shoulder as the Blackjack leader tries to turn the claymore weilding Syndicate enforcer into a hors de'ourve. Trailing afterimages of the striking hand indicate some manner of power behind the strike as Ellepushes forward into the arena proper, black boots pounding against the ground ominiously.
She doesn't speak. She doesn't even introduce herself. She just seems to be going for the kill. And Blackjack members have to deal with her /every damn day/.
COMBATSYS: Elle has joined the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Elle 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Camille
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Ayame 1/----===/=======|
COMBATSYS: Camille has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Elle 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Camille
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Ayame 1/----===/=======|
COMBATSYS: Ayame has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Elle 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Camille
> ///////////////// ]
|=======\==-----\1 Ayame
COMBATSYS: Elle successfully hits Camille with Ace of Spades.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Elle 0/-------/-----==|=======\==-----\1 Camille
> ///////////////// ]
|=======\==-----\1 Ayame
Camille stops, and her instincts start to dip a little as Aislinn explains phase two; she's good at building up a head of steam, but she tends to lose it /extremely/ quickly -- so needless to say, she's not quite on her guard when Elle actually arrives to test the pair.
The woman's forceful swing comes in out of nowhere, and Camille throws up her arms and backpedals -- but it's far too little, far too late. That energized katar hits her square-on in the shoulder, and Camille drops her lead pipe instantly. The arm hangs limp, and Camille starts to genuinely panic for the first time in a while. She's been frustrated, sure. She's wanted to get out of a battle, sure. But this is downright scary.
She drops to one knee, taking labored breaths -- that's the hardest she's ever been torn apart in such a short time, and she has no idea how to recoup any sort of advantage. She hangs back for a few seconds, dropping her boxcutter to clutch at her shoulder, looking to Ayame... and then she decides to try something Elle will probably recognize from their last fight. Pulling out her sword and leaning on it heavily as she starts to recuperate from the forceful blow, Camille weakly stomps her foot into the ground repeatedly, locking her eyes on Elle. She looks to the younger girl only once during the process, jerking her head toward Elle as if to say, 'keep her busy for a second.'
COMBATSYS: Camille focuses on her next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Elle 0/-------/-----==|=======\==-----\1 Camille
> ///////////////// ]
|=======\==-----\1 Ayame
Moments pass and Ayame fidgets. She's not used to standing still for any length of time. An occasional side glance is made toward Camille. She thought she had sized her up properly, but now she's left wondering how she could've been so far off. Not such a wimpy young enforcer after all. At least, not when it comes to actually backing up threats with force, it would seem.
And then it's go time. Elle's entrance is rather shocking, even though she isn't even the intended target. "Look out!" the girl exclaims, in no position to affect the outcome of Elle's initial charge one way or another. Camille is struck hard, however, driven to her knees with a single blow. But in a single glance Ayame saw what she needed to know. Aislinn's reference to Elle having her knife wasn't just a passing remark. The woman looks loaded to bear.
And Ayame shifts gears to meet it. Her hand dips into the open maw of the black pouch afixed to the belt around her skirt and withdraws a short metal tube. Pressure applied at just the right point causes it to expand out rapidly, revealing itself to be a six foot long, hollow titanium pole. As Camille remains kneeling, Ayame moves between her and Elle, the long weapon held out in such a way as to make getting around her to land a follow up hit against the young woman highly unlikely.
And then the girl is on the offense... Charging toward Elle, the entire length of the weapon bathed in a brilliant white colored energy as the girl swings the staff around over her head with one hand to land a blow to Elle's right side, then steps forward, handing it off to her left to deliver another strike to the woman's left side before finally taking a step backward and lunging it out in a stabbing motion toward the Blackjack leader's stomach, putting herself at a full six feet away in the end.
COMBATSYS: Ayame successfully hits Elle with Requiem For Fallen Blossoms.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Elle 0/-------/---====|=======\==-----\1 Camille
> //////////////// ]
|=======\====---\1 Ayame
Elle doesn't take any time to admire her handiwork. The horrible damage she's smashed into Camille with isn't even given another moment's though. As single minded and driven as Elle can be, the sword weilder falls dead in her sights as she takes another step forward, the hobnailed boots ominiously cracking against the sawdust covered concrete floor.
Then again, sometimes being single minded doesn't pay off. As Ayame approaches, she's caught in Elle's blind spot. That means when the young theif swoops in to give her that three part smash even though Elle jerks at the last moment to defend herself against the repeated strikes. Energy laden metal crashes into her sides, and then rams her backward, tossing her off course from Camille.
Unpleasant to say the least, but now Ayame has Elle to deal with instead of Camille. As this is training, Elle is more interested in seeing what these girls can do, rather than murdering them. Her attentions move swiftly to the young girl, formidable aura already charging up.
The electrical glow in the palm of her hand is only magnified by the metal strips built into her gauntlet as she stows one of the katars away. The electricity dances insanely from fingertip to fingertip as the power bursts from her hand, the brilliant blue sparks ripping across the arena to ground themselves into Ayame's diminuative frame.
The older of the two teamed girls starts to step in toward Elle as she in turn comes in toward Ayame; it looks like she's going to indeed try to deliver that same punishing kick that she tried last time. However, this proves to be a feint as the woman leaps up high in the warehouse, doing a quick flip and trying to snag her new boss's head between her knees and bend her forward with that momentum, taking Elle's focus back off of Ayame at the very least -- and hopefully setting her up for a vicious attack.
From there, it's a classic (if somewhat drawn out) grappling technique for Camille. If she can keep that head gripped firmly between her legs, she grabs at each of Elle's arms, hooking her own under them forcefully in an attempt to keep those punching daggers from being too much of a threat during the maneuver. Taking one last deep breath, she readies herself to inflict the actual /pain/ of the attack, rather than just the lock-up.
Leaping upward, she drags Elle along with her, lifting the woman's whole body just slightly above the ground. She shifts her posture slightly, moving her legs so her knees are now /above/ the Blackjack boss's head -- and then comes the pain, most likely, when Elle's head is sandwiched between Camille's knees and the ground.
COMBATSYS: Ayame blocks Elle's High Voltage.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Elle 0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0 Camille
> ////////////// ]
|=======\=====--\1 Ayame
The three strike attack delievered, Ayame ends up a ways off from Elle, giving her time to react as she pulls her staff back. From both ends of the weapon risidual chi pours off, falling to the ground before vanishing from sight. It is with that chi laced weapon that she intersects the blast emanating from Elle's palm. The polearm absorbs the brunt of the attack, though the force alone sends Ayame's feet slipping back as she loses even more ground. Even though she only suffered from the small portions of the attack that got past her defense, Ayame certainly can appreciate the kind of voltage Elle can dish out a lot better now.
The cool, white chi bleeds off the staff but from her hands another color starts to eminate along it. An earthen brown tone, mixed with blue highlights a points. Ayame braces for a moment, hanging back as Camille tries to put Elle through the ringer... And then the moment she believes she has an opening, she charges in, slamming the weapon out horizontally at roughly head level - But it isn't to strike so much as it is to line up for what comes next as the agile girl tries to flip completely over Elle and pull that staff back hard against her neck - A strangle hold of sorts, coupled with the blasts of chi coursing through her weapon.
COMBATSYS: Camille successfully hits Elle with The Glass Ceiling.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Elle 1/------=/=======|=------\-------\0 Camille
> //////////// ]
|=======\=====--\1 Ayame
COMBATSYS: Elle blocks Ayame's Midsummer Fantasy.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Elle 1/-----==/=======|=------\-------\0 Camille
> //////////// ]
|=======\=====--\1 Ayame
The two attack blitz is impossible to escape, so Elle doesn't try. Instead she shows off the reason why she's considered a menace to those on even footing with her.
Her attention divided, Elle hesitates for a moment as to which attack to deal with first. The best bet is to steel herself against both of the attacks, and choose one to handle best. Ayame's is dealt with first. Jerking forward, she raises the weapon-covered hand, jamming it forward to catch the teenage wunderkind's staff in the tri blade, pushing it aside with considerable effort.
She then steps back, attempting to thread the needle and rush straight into Camille's attack to catch her unawares. Unfortunately for her, Camille is just a smidge to fast for her, and she ends up launched into the air, slamming down to the ground with a bone jarring crash.
That was fairly unpleasant, but Elle's been through situations that have been equally as nasty and walked away from them. Still, she's not looking forward to going through it again. Lurching upward, Elle's hands reach behind her with a smooth motion, stowing away her katar, and withdrawing her mace. The weapon whirls outward as Elel falls into a defensive mode, keeping her distance for a moment or two. Suddenly, the mace disengages, the head of her weapon extending on a chain.
The mace turned flail whirls overhead now, and Elle immediately strikes outward with the weapon. Once again, she alternates her target, the chain whirling to grab Camille by the arm. If it connects, she'll hurl the woman aside towards the back of the warehouse in order to clear a path towardds Ayame.
COMBATSYS: Camille blocks Elle's Medium Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Elle 1/-----==/=======|==-----\-------\0 Camille
> //////////// ]
|=======\=====--\1 Ayame
Camille finds her arm wrapped up just as she's about to retrieve her claymore yet again -- problematic, and something that keeps her from drawing that weapon she's so proficient with, but /not/ having it out... actually has at least one upside. Namely, she can move a little more freely; letting the momentum carry her rather than fully letting herself get whipped around, she comes out of the exchange somewhat sore but not completely torn apart, and certainly without anything dislocated.
Work /together/, Camille thinks to herself, as she considers the particular stipulations of this battle. The point isn't /just/ to beat Elle, but rather to display good teamwork -- set each other up well. Something Camille almost never considered when she learned to fight; she has good singles experience, but in a team? That's a whole other world.
Fortunately, Irvine gets an idea. Ayame seems faster... so why not come in trying to just slam through Elle's guard? Either Elle will be too focused on getting out of the way of those heavy strikes to pay too much attention to Ayame, or she'll soften her guard up enough that Ayame has an easy time of it.
Not /bad/ logic, at least in her head, and so Camille rears the fist of her good... or, well, 'less severely battered,' arm. Being careful not to step on any of the fun little toys on the warehouse floor, the Brit runs in full-bore, swinging her arm around once to wind up -- and then propelling it forward, trying to plow through any guard Elle might put up with pure force.
Elle manages to be pretty effective in stopping her incoming attack, driving Ayame back by shoving her weapon. The downside of such a sizeable weapon is that where it goes, she goes. But Camille manages to deliver a painful assault all the same. They might be wearing the leader down a little, in any case. Ayame's vision has started to clear from the assault she took earlier and she's getting to be a bit more on the ball. But she can't keep channeling energy into that staff without end and finally the last of the chi pours from off the bottom end of it to disappear against the floor, the girl finally slowing down a bit herself.
As Elle pulls out the mace, she braces herself, ready to go toe to toe against another solid, heavy weapon... But then the hammer of it comes off, revealing it to be a flail as well? Ayame... can't help but smile. She likes this woman's style. Dealing with something like that would be trickier with a staff, because it can whirl around it and pull it right out of her hands... Maybe she'll get a chance to find out how well she can do anyway.
Camille manages to deal with the attack, however, inspite not having her sword back in play yet. But she seems to be pretty dangerous even with out it. A good skill to have. Ayame, without her weapons, begins to break down quickly, on the other hand. Good thing she has so darn many of them.
Camille dives back in to try and plow Elle's defenses asunder and Ayame is right behind her, leaping up into the air /over/ the red-head, pulling her staff up and over her like an axe and bringing it crashing down at a sharp angle toward the Blackjack leader. "HAH!" comes the exclaimation as she brings the long polearm swinging down. If she connects with anything, she'll use the leverage to flip herself up and over onto the other side, potentially sandwiching Elle between the two of them afterward.
COMBATSYS: Elle blocks Camille's Power Of The Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Elle 1/----===/=======|==-----\-------\0 Camille
> //////////// ]
|=======\=====--\1 Ayame
COMBATSYS: Elle endures Ayame's Medium Strike.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Elle 1/--=====/=======|==-----\-------\0 Camille
> //////////// ]
|=======\=====--\1 Ayame
Well, enough of this nonsense. Elle's seen enough to know that the two girls have picked up on the idea of 'teamwork' faster than most of her longtime assocaites, of whome she tries to periodically pound some sense into, sometimes with fists.
The mercenary is better prepared to deal with the incoming attacks now that she's not being blindsided, and she sets up her motions so that she can compensate for the girl-powered assaults shooting her way.
First thing's first. Camille's seemingly rocket powered fist is caught by Elle, the powerful punch sending a jarring sensation through Elle's hand and causing damage through strain. Elle's lips twitch down an iota and her brows furrow visibly as she twists it out of the way, shoving Camille roughly aside as Ayame comes down on her head.
The staff crashes into her shoulder solidly, staggring the woman in the dual assault, and Elle's knees buckly slightly. She's tough, but she's not built to take this level of punishment forever. Time to get rid of one of these kids.
It happens in an instant. As soon as Ayame flips away and land behind her, Elle swings one arm in a haymaker fist. The problem is, Ayame's a good four feet behind her, meaning that Elle's fist has no hope of hitting the girl at all. What follows afterward is a little different, though, as her fist abruptly angles down, slamming against the concrete in front of her, sending a barely visible sonic shockwave through the ground. The rolling sonic field screeches like a million guitars as it ripples forth, chewing up everything in it's path as it tears across the floor towards Ayame.
Camille's gambit doesn't work even remotely as intended, as Elle shoves her attack aside relatively harmlessly and keeps coming dead-on at Ayame, a fact which frustrates Camille a little. Gritting her teeth as she sees her massive punch shoved aside like nothing, she glances to 'Aurora' and tries to put together a strategy. It's definitely not her usual way of doing things -- but then, she was told that that was what Blackjack was about, right? Bringing out the potential of its members?
Drawing that sword again at last, she once again closes that tiny gap between herself and Elle, spending only the shortest of moments considering just what trick to try on her. Her gut tells her to keep going with those hard strikes, and she follows it -- as Elle focuses on creating that massive sonic field in front of herself and injuring Ayame with it, Camille gives a full-speed swing of her horse-slaying sword right at the woman's back, crying out wordlessly. It's not a particularly /smart/ tactic, and leaves her guard wide open, but she seems to be committing everything to it -- a classic 'all-or-nothing' blow.
COMBATSYS: Ayame stops Black Sabbath from Elle with Weapon Jab.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Elle 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 Camille
> ///////////// ]
|=====--\-------\0 Ayame
Ayame has a certain nack for recognizing the build up of chi, let alone a very fluid control over the manipulation thereof. When Elle turns and gives the floor a brutal punch, the almost invisible field that comes broiling out from the powerful woman is hard to miss, even for someone who isn't sensitive to chi... Desperate leads the girl to taking a chance on a technique she's slowly been improving in recent months. A way to defend herself against powerful energy attacks that would be impossible to defend herself against by simply hoping her staff takes the hit for her.
The shockwave is like that. Wide, powerful, and LOUD. Bracing herself, the skinny girl begins to spin the long, titanium pole swiftly in front of her. The chi she poured into it earlier in the fight fills it again, though this time it has a strange, liquid nature to it - nearly clear yet reflective. And as she spins the weapon up faster, the chi begins to trail behind, glistening in the air, forming almost a round mirror the same dimensions as the staff. "YAAAH!" the girl yells, pouring all of her pent up energy into the defensive barrier as the sonic wave crashes against it.
The mirror holds long enough to count, the sonic wave splitting around the girl and destroying things behind her with a cacophony of noise. Even she loses ground, sliding back two yards or more before the collision of powers comes to an end. Having exhausted herself in the defense, the girl props the pole against the floor and drops to one knee, exhaling slowly.
COMBATSYS: Camille successfully hits Elle with Fierce Strike.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Elle 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Camille
> ///////////// ]
|=====--\-------\0 Ayame
As stated before, Elle is ridiculously tough, despite her frame. The horrible sowrd smashes down on her like a weight. Normally, it would cut any halfway normal person in half. Elle, however, isn't anywhere near normal.
The blow drives her down, a massive gash appearing in her black outfit, and she starts to bleed profusely. Nevertheless, the blood that leaks out doesn't flow like it should. Instead, it's a slow, oozing process. Elle reaches into her belt, and pulls out a thin knife. Ayame would recognize it. It's hers, after all.
Overall, Camille has the right idea. Attacking someone when they're busy recovering from watching their attack get absorbed is a good tactic. Unfortunately, Elle just doesn't die very easily.
The woman whirls around rapidly, a frown on her face the only indication that something is wrong. The damage is building, and she'll be reaching her threshold soon. However, if Camille wants true viciousness, Elle will be happy to oblige. The sharp knife is sent down in a stabbing motion to be jammed to the hilt in the soft part of Camille's neck just behind the collarbone before Elle turns her attentions to Ayame.
COMBATSYS: Camille dodges Elle's Medium Strike.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Elle 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Camille
> ///////////// ]
|=====--\-------\0 Ayame
Camille knows a potential grievous injury when she sees it coming. That is definitely something that looks like a potentially grievous injury -- and as such, she quickly brings that blade up to buy herself a little time, using it to deflect that tiny knife slightly and buy herself more time to pull away. She doesn't say anything about the viciousness of the attack instead focusing entirely on finishing this fast -- before /more/ vicious attacks like that come out.
Twirling that blade around, Camille decides to put it to use a little more than she did during her last fight with Elle, hoping to keep that unknown quantity factor in her favor. She moves around Elle a little as she comes in, specifically away from Ayame, using her offense less to really injure Elle herself and more to try to distract her from the girl who just nullified that massive sonic attack.
Holding that sword less like a sword and more like a baseball bat, Irvine comes in with one of her trademark hard, low slashes, seeking to further soften Elle up for Ayame by destroying her balance, ideally sending her tumbling to the warehouse ground with a fierce chop to the thigh that might -- if she's /really/ lucky -- send Elle into a pile of discarded industrial equipment.
Left alone for a bit, Ayame has time to slowly push herself back up to her feet, using the polearm for support for a moment. It was not trivial to bring the attack from Elle to a stop, but in the end she managed to pull it off, her strength pushed just shy of the breaking point. The blonde smiles faintly. They really like to play rough here. But at the same time, people probably really learn to fight well in groups as well. It's a foreign concept to her, but not one she doesn't think she could learn...
Camille pulls out the sword, turning this back into a three person weaponsfest. As the swordswoman closes in for another sweep, Ayame hangs back this time. She saw the glint of her knife in Elle's hand now being swung out for her partner's neck and the sight of it makes her seeth a little.
The staff still held in her left hand, Ayame's right hand slides against her belt, slipping out a single butterfly knife, flicked to the open and ready position nearly instantly. Time to get its partner back... Charging in, the knife user doesn't go for anything too fancy - a swift slash, horizontal in nature, leaning in to put herself at risk in order to land it.
COMBATSYS: Camille successfully hits Elle with Medium Strike.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Elle 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Camille
> ///////////// ]
|=====--\-------\0 Ayame
COMBATSYS: Elle fails to interrupt Quick Strike from Ayame with Metal Health.
- Power fail! -
> //////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Camille
> ///////////// ]
|======-\-------\0 Ayame
COMBATSYS: Elle can no longer fight.
> //////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Camille
> ///////////// ]
|======-\-------\0 Ayame
Sometimes you just can't get a break. Elle's struck from both sides by the attacks, which pummel the hell out of her. It's more than a little annoying. She wasn't able to really land anything past the initial assault. Granted, they worked better together than she had imagined, and Camille managed to stop her deadliest attack. That's enough to really eliminate any chance of success when it comes down to it.
Looks liek Elle has some training of her own to do.
Whatever the case is, her maneuvers are clumsy at best as she tries to get out of the way of Camille's initial strike. The attack cuts deeply into her leg. it doesn't sent her flying, so much as causes her to slam down to the ground, tumbling straight into Ayame, who tags her before she can get off a defensive shot.
Completely battered beyond the ability to do much more than attempt to stay concious, Elle's in a decidedly poor position to do any presentation. It's difficult to leave the mark of impression when your would be subordinates practically destroy you even when they're already injured.
Instead, she pushes herself off the ground slowly, shaking her head. "Well. So much for that," she says, muttering. "At any rate, it's pretty obvious that you both passed. I'm impressed. I though I'd at least have almost killed one of you."
"You almost /did/," comes Camille's reply almost instantly, her weaker hand coming up to her neck for a moment as her other arm puts that claymore away surprisingly effortlessly. That done, she plops herself down rather unceremoniously on some of the boxes in the warehouse, instantly regretting it as she gives that arm an unfortunately hard slam into said box. The most obvious flaw the girl has is once again laid bare: she's just /not/ careful.
She doesn't say anything else just yet save for a murmured, "Thank you," not wanting to offend -- at heart, she's still got /some/ of that upper-class girl from Britain in her, even if a lot of that has been lost in her first few months in Southtown. Irvine lists to one side a little, taking slow, deep breaths, trying to stabilize herself as she tries to figure out what she did /right/ there that she doesn't usually do. She's been learning a lot lately -- maybe, she thinks, she's finally catching up with the rest of the 'class.'
The little slash seals the deal, though Ayame suspects the damage Camille dished out over the course of several attacks had a lot more to do with it than anything she personally did. But she can tell when a fight is over - a test passed thanks to an interesting display of team work by two unlikely partners. She's selfish, been living like a pauper for years, and a manipulative, mean thing. Camille is easier going, has a wealthy background, and spends all of her money like it's going out of style. Hey, at least they both know what being broke feels like!
The fight is over though and Ayame flicks the knife closed, sliding it back into the horizontal sheath in her belt. The staff is collapsed with a press against a small button built into the frame near the center and the girl slides the now smaller tube into the pouch she had pulled it from earlier.
At Elle's remarks, Ayame simply nods a little. Passing the test... and having accepted the offer... it's a big step into a change of life for her. One she has no idea if she's ready for. But she hadn't really thought things out that far. Day by day, with the occasional minor goal is how Ayame gets by. Though that may have to change if she finds herself given real responsabilities.
And now? The girl is awkwardly quiet. She isn't really sure what's supposed to happen now. Normally when she beats someone, she finishes mugging them, mocks them, kicks them while they're down, then goes back to whatever she was doing prior to the fight. None of those normal fallback options really make much sense under the circumstances, and the uncertain look on her face might betray the confusion she's feeling at the moment.
It takes falling back on lessons that go way back for her. Practices she hasn't thought about for a few years. A polite, proper bow, hands pressed against her sides, her long hair falling down over her shoulders, as she finally speaks, very cordially, "Thank you for the fight and this opportunity." She straightens up, falling quiet again. Her head is still ringing from the hammering she took from Camille earlier and some pain killers would definitely help with the headache.
The mercenary nods. She's not big on talking. The wounds she carries aren't fatal, but they definitely hurt. She heals obscenely fast, however, and the damage will go away quickly after what'll probably end up being a few hundred stitches and some of Dr. Tran's Miracle Salve. Wherever the hell he seems to get that stuff.
Thoughts of messing up are pushed aside, and she makes another mental not to have her left eye examined again. It's starting to cause her problems, especially with a much larger blind spot than before. Although she's in no shape to fight, neither are they, and they likely don't trust one another yet to cause her any real harm. If anything, they saw what Elle can do when she /does/ land a punch. It hurts bunches.
"I'm not sure what Aislinn told you, so if I repeat what she said, then tough," she says, her voice flat as she takes a mental note of the damage. "I'm Elle. I run Blackjack. We do work for money."
"That's important," Elle says, her eyes looking at the pair through dark glasses. "I don't like to really explain a whole lot, so take this to heart. We do /work/ for money. We don't philosophize. We don't have moral conundrums. We don't ask questions and we don't argue with our employers. We do the job we've been hired to do, by any means necessary. If you think you're going to have a morality crisis over missions you're assigned, you bow out before the thing even starts."
Elle pauses, gauging reactions, looking for signs of confusion or uncertainty. "In return, you get the best support money can by. I am not the Syndicate. I am not Geese, Duke, or any other kind of raving psychopathic idiot who thinks that ruling by fear is the best idea since the invention of the wheel. Working with me is simple: do what I tell you to do, to the best of your abilities. I don't expect anyone to be a hero, nor do I expect anyone to die for me on my say so. This is business. No more, no less."
%She walks towards the foreman's desk, and pulls out a first aid kit. "Here. Take care of yourselves. I'll have Bobbo dig out your equipment and have it ready for you on your way out." The fight promoter lackey is already in the office, making preparations. "If you have questions or want to back out, do it now. Indecision is a fast way to get killed in this business."
This seems, honestly, more Camille's speed than Southsynd did. When she has to do something untoward, she prefers to just get it done, no ifs, ands, or buts -- and the option to back out before something even starts is a definite bonus. She might do things she won't be proud of, and she knows that, but at the very least she'll be able to skip out on doing things she'll hate herself for. That's a definite bonus. Between that and being able to maybe extract herself from her massive debts, she's sold.
When she hears Elle's last comment about questions or concerns or backing out, she shakes her head. "I'm in," she declares, taking her first aid kit as graciously as one can, and immediately setting to work dressing her shoulder wounds. She looks like she's actually decent at it -- not enough to get that instant healing that some fighters can manage, but it looks like she probably had to dress her own injuries during her training or something.
As a hasty afterthought, after she finishes with /that/ wound, she gives a respectful bow Ayame probably prompted that one, really -- if it were just her, Irvine would probably never have thought to bow. "I look forward to working with you -- you seem... really respectful," she says, at least /sounding/ very sincere about it.
Elle's words aren't just listened to. They're memorized. Line for line, syllable by syllable. Ask Ayame four months from now what was said this night and she'll rattle it off without having to even think about it hard. But there's more to memorizing than simply being a tape recorder. There's the /meaning/ of the words. And that... that takes some time to digest.
Moral compunctions aren't going to get in Ayame's way any time soon. She hasn't shown anyone a soft side for years. Some might question if she's ever been legitimately nice to anyone in her entire life. The girl isn't likely to waver when given tasks of the unsavory sort. The rest of Elle's message is just as important though, and Ayame takes it all in, making plans to ponder it some more later on. For now, though, she's happy to take the first aid kit, digging into it for the pain killers. She can't do much else for the nasty head bludgeoning she took earlier. "Me too," She remarks after Camille saying she's in.
The first aid kit is tucked under her arm. She doens't need anything else in it at the moment, but that doesn't mean she isn't going to stow the rest of it away at her abode. Packrat. "Guess I'll go talk to Bobbo then," she grins, lifting a hand up to her forhead to give Elle a snappy salute, her way of saying goodbye to her new boss it seems.
And with that, she turns to make her way out, popping a couple pills with ease mid-stride. Yeah, this is definitely going to be interesting.
COMBATSYS: Ayame has left the fight here.
> //////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Camille
COMBATSYS: Camille has ended the fight here.
Log created on 20:40:22 11/04/2007 by Aislinn, and last modified on 08:43:05 11/05/2007.