Description: Objective: A mild case of larceny. Obstacle: One proud student of Kim Kaphwan. Alias: Amy. Summary: If only Ayame was able to keep herself above petty revenge she wouldn't end up in half the messes she does. Case in point, an altercation with with a girl that's gone to great lengths to give the young miscreant the benefit of the doubt before. But Ayame won't have any of that as she goes out of her way to ruin the fashion designer's day. But it seems that she ends up ruining a lot of peoples' day, including her own!
It's time for clothes shopping, Ayame-style. Which really ends up being less about shopping and more about rampant theft. The store of choice is a rather upscale joint with a mixture of Fall fashions as well as a slowly building stock of winter styles for the coming colder months. The long-haired blonde isn't really looking for much. Maybe some long sleeved stuff, some pants... items that will be of more interest when it's December and even the days are far colder.
For this shopping trip she decided to pick something that would likely get her left alone. The distinct, well known uniform of a Justice High student. Known for being elitist, rich jerks, it's a uniform that draws attention yet at the same time encourages people to keep their distance. Sure, there's a few nice kids at that school, but all in all the reputation the school has works perfect for the girl who wants to be left alone to do her thing.
Her thing happens to be idly walking along the aisles and checking out different items of clothing. Each article is examined for how easy it will be to modify for her purposes. Slung over her shoulders, she'll do a pass to pick out the potentials, then slip into the changing rooms to take care of wiping all the security devices on the clothing, rendering them inert and make it easy for her to slip out of the store without sounding a single alarm. But all in due time. For now she's just enjoying the rare moment of pretending to be remotely civilized as she looks over the selections like some normal shopper might.
Several times a week, Chae Lim comes into the mall to watch the new displays being put out. Daydreams of her own clothing line being displayed in the storefront run rampant as she walks along the wide halls, checking out the new styles. Most people push by her in a hurry, trying to get their shopping done and get out of the mall as quickly as possible. For the Korean woman, this is actually relaxing to the point of being meditative.
This is not the only reason she's here today though. The Holiday season will soon be unleashed upon the world in full force, and she's come to see the mall manager about renting a small kiosk in the center of the mall where she can take orders and sell a few custom designs that she has been toying with. A portfolio tucked neatly under her arm, she makes her way into one of the more upscale shops. Doe brown eyes continually scan the aisles, trying to ascertain if they have made changes to their displays yet and picking up on the subtle nuances of color that the new Winter fashions are using.
Halloween colors catch her eye, seemingly out of place with all the blues and greens. Noticing that these colors happen to be attached to someone, it takes her just a few seconds to place the uniform. This time, it does work in Ayame's favor. Chae Lim stays back, browsing through a rack of thick down jackets and attempting to figure out how much it would cost to make something like that.
She's yet to actually see Ayame's face. If she had, it would be a different story.
Oh yes, this will do... and this shirt... and this belt... and... Ayame glances up idly, taking a casual scan of the store. She's not worried about people looking at her yet, after all nothing about her behavior has been anything suspicious. But she still likes to keep a passive headcount of who's around, so that she knows the likelyhood of witnesses trying to describe the likely thief in the aftermath.
And that's when she notices Chae Lim, recognizing the girl immediately in spite the change in attire to something less fighty and more casual. It's the girl from the Metro park. The one that got in the way of a very minor case of larceny. Hmn. Just flat out attacking the girl in the middle of the store is really tempting except that it doesn't really gain her anything but the satisfaction of trying to hurt someone who's gotten in her way before...
There are other options though. Slipping over to the jewelry stand near the center of the store, Ayame sets the load of clothes she had over her shoulder down atop the glass counter. "Can I get a closer look at this?" she asks, finger pointing down at a pair of fairly rich diamond earings. The clerk doesn't even look skeptical, probably expecting that Ayame is there shopping on her daddy's credit card anyway. The earings are slipped out, attached to their plastic case, and handed to the untrustworthy girl.
Ayame smiles thinly, glancing them over as if admiring their luster. "Can you bring me that necklace over there as well?" she asks, her tone firm, commanding almost. Rich brat. The woman tending the stand turns to go retrieve the necklace as well which is when Ayame slips her hand beneath the counter left open to slip out an even more expensive set of earings that she slides into her snakeskin bag, security device and all.
By the time the woman returns Ayame is shaking her head, handing back the original earings, "Nevermind. Too plain for me. Take them away." she states with a dismissive wave of her hand before backing away from the stand all together.
Running her fingers over the soft, water-proof material of the down jacket, Chae Lim makes mental notes about the arm length, how full the sleeves fill and when she notes the secondary liner, an assessment of what material that is. She's still ignoring pretty much everything else that's going on in the shop though.
Until Ayame speaks.
Swiveling swiftly toward the jewelry counter, her doe brown eyes narrow just a smidgen. Slipping the down-filled jacket off of the rack, she carries it with her to that exact same counter and spies the thief sliding the more expensive earrings into her bag. Sidling up to Ayame, she quietly remarks, "Return those earrings now, and whatever else you've taken from this store and redeem yourself."
Knowing full well that the thief isn't likely going to return the items, she's already sliding her cellular phone out of her pocket and entering the number for the police department.
The young fashion designer slips up next to Ayame but the unscrupulous girl doesn't react with sheepish chagrin at being caught in the act by her sharp eyes. Instead she looks shocked, her eyes widening, her mouth dropping open with abject surprise, "That wasn't the plan we agreed on! You weren't supposed to create a distraction until later!" the girl exclaims, anything but subtle with her volume, bound to draw attention very quickly.
It would appear that she hadn't much intention of making off with the earings in the first place, but rather just making a scene to embarass the one who is actually here for legitimate reasons just for fun. Of course she isn't going to let the police be called right away if she can help it, that would run her fun way too fast. Thus it is that her right hand snakes out as she tries to force the cell phone out of the other girl's hand by twisting her wrist in a sharp, painful way if possible.
"I can't believe you'd betray me like this! I thought we had a deal!"
Shock registers on Chae Lim's face at the exclamation from the thief. "What? What distraction? I came over to tell you to -quit- stealing from the shop, and if they check their security cameras, they'll see exactly what I'm talking about!" It's rare for the Korean girl to sound so utterly upset or distraught at anything. Being accused of something that is so wholly unjust pushes her over the brink though.
Attempting to catch the clerk's attention, she barely has time to press the send button on her phone before it's knocked out of her hand with that sharp twist. "I think I went entirely too easy on you back in Metro City. I thought you were just down on your luck, uhh... what was your name again?" She knows full well the name that was offered on their last chance encounter, but now it's time to see if the brigand was lying about that as well.
"The only deal we ever had was me willing to give you a chance to prove you weren't just a good for nothing criminal. Looks like the only one that was betrayed here at all was -me-!"
As Chae Lim gets upset it would be impossible to miss the amused sparkle in Ayame's eyes. She's eating this up. Even though her expression continues to display nothing but shock and betrayal, she's fighting to keep from laughing behind that mask. She isn't sure if Chae Lim got the send off as the phone drops to the floor and it does sound a bit of an alarm in the back of her mind that there might be complications in this amusing little prank if she /did/.
"Yesh, don't act like you don't know my name is Amy," she replies with a roll of her eyes and shake of her head. It's no surprise that the clerk is suddenly back over by the girls, looking at the both, stuck in the uncomfortable position of trying to figure out what is really going on and which of them is telling the truth. It's no surprised that she is probably more inclined to believe Chae Lim than the brat from Justice High though...
"This will teach me to trust some desperate plebian ever again," the supposedly elite girl rolls her eyes, raising her hands over her head. "I try to help some poor indigent down on her luck and this is the thanks I get. Hmph!"
Mall security might have arrived quicker, but the Korean girl didn't have time to open the portfolio to find the number. Actually, she drops the portfolio atop the counter and looks directly at the clerk, "Unless you want her to take more things, you might want to close and re-lock your jewelry display." Whisking open her portfolio, she points to the contract on the top. "I assure you, ma'am, I've got nothing to do with this one, other than a chance encounter where I -also- caught her stealing. I would never jeopardize this contract, it means too much to me."
"Amy. How much truth is there in that, I wonder? You lie and you steal and you expect me to believe that's your real name?" Chae Lim clenches her right hand into a tight fist, and then lunges toward where the cellular phone dropped. The jacket she was carrying goes flying up onto the counter, the buttons hitting the glass with a small tinking sound.
"Robbery in progress," she calls into the phone, regardless of whether police dispatch has picked up on the other end. Rattling off the name of the store, she hastily adds, "Hurry," before she kicks the phone under the counter to stop any chance of 'Amy' grabbing it.
Chae Lim's portfolio being slapped down on the counter is a pretty hard thing to counter for the pretentious 'student' and she does look somewhat caught off guard by that. It's no surprise that the clerk takes Chae Lim's advice and starts locking everything down, hand reaching under the counter to ping mall security.
Ayame recovers from that unexpected revelation with a firm shake of her head, "Well I never," she hmphs, hanging back as Chae Lim takes proactive action with getting the phone back to get the authorities dispatched immediately. But things are starting to escalate quickly and she can't push her luck any further.
"It's as real as it needs to be," she states cooly with regards to her name, her shoulders slouching a little as she slowly lets the faux elite High School student act go. It served its purpose for a little while, but it's clear that things are slipping out of control as Chae Lim pulled a card she had not expected.
"Welp, time for me to get going. You've all been a lot of fun." she beams, reaching out to snag her bag and Chae Lim's portfolio from off the counter. It's any wonder why she wants the latter... maybe to get an address? Only then does she turn around as if intending to simply just walk away.
Just like her mentor the great Kim Kaphwan, Chae Lim is all about justice. She's not about to let some pissant of a thief put a black-mark on her name just because it strikes her fancy. She nods courteously toward the clerk, a gesture of thanks that she was believed.
"So it's not real at all. Most thieves never give their real names because they're worried about getting caught." The Korean girl keeps her eyes on 'Amy', and the moment the other girl turns around she reaches out to grab for the snakeskin bag.
"Let's just see what else you've stolen."
As the girl starts to move away she finds her progress stopped - her bag has been snared it would seem, Chae Lim's hand gripping the other side of it tightly enough to keep the girl from yanking it away easily. Turning around, her own hand gripping the expensive designer bag tightly, her insinscere smile from a moment ago fades, replaced with a very cool, tight lipped expression.
She's sort've stuck though. If she pulls harder on the bag the thing is likely to just rip in half. It isn't really designed to be pulled on from two sides by two fighting females at odds with each other. And if it rips in half, everything she has in it will spill out on the floor. Some of it stolen, some of it her own stuff.
So she just holds it with enough strength to keep Chae Lim from pulling it away from her, hesitant to put more force into it. "If you don't let go, someone is going to get hurt," the girl replies, all of the various personalities she flipped through replaced by cold, callusness that suggests she isn't bluffing now, her eyes shifting between Chae Lim and the clerk as if leaving it up in the air with regards to who is about to get hurt. Nor does she take action, both hands holding onto the bag to keep it from being pulled away easily.
"Threatening me now?" Chae Lim is not about to let go of the bag. Not when she knows there's stolen items inside it. Yanking on it with the intention of pulling it out of 'Amy's' hands, she frowns. "Just return the items and I'm sure the clerk won't press any charges." Though if she does, the Korean will corroborate everything that's happened.
"You've got two choices, Amy. The easy way, or the hard way."
Ayame has to let Chae Lim take the bag. The young justice-doer has her there. When the Korean pulls again the blonde lets it go without any further resistance, as the seams were threatening to give way all the same. And for a long moment the girl just glowers, jaw set tightly, hands clenched against her sides. She looks miffed now. Annoyed even though she was the one that started the whole situation to begin with!
The handbag contains the earings, some odds and ends stolen from a neighboring electronics store, and an assortment of things that look like they're probably not taken from stores so much as carried as emergency resolution tools. Weapons. Sharp objects, a coiled whip, among other things. Careful though, those sharp objects are /really/ sharp, so sticking one's hand in the bag willy-nilly might be a bad idea.
But the girl only stands there seething for so long before she finally takes action. Her hands slip up into her jacket sleeves briefly only to come back out with two closed butterfly knives that are opened in the same motion with quick flicks, "Put that down!" the girl yells, charging forward to swing out with both knives directly toward the vexing Korean. The right hand swings high with a slashing motion while her left hand comes in straight with a stab toward Chae Lim's abdomen. It seems the girl gets really ticked when it's HER stuff being taken!
COMBATSYS: Ayame has started a fight here.
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Ayame 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: ChaeLim has joined the fight here.
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ChaeLim 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Ayame
COMBATSYS: ChaeLim dodges Ayame's Medium Strike.
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ChaeLim 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Ayame
Chae Lim tosses the bag to the clerk as soon as she obtains full ownership of it. "Dump it out," she says smugly, knowing that the earrings are in there. The rest of the merchandise she wasn't expecting to see, but as soon as she does she says, "Call the other store and tell them what they're missing." The weapons don't go unnoticed either, and she adds, "Be careful not to touch anything, you don't want to wind up injured." That and quite possibly the police will want to print it to see if the little thief-girl shows up in their database.
Knives not being friends, the Korean girl dives out of the way ducking around the thief. Spinning around quickly, she shoots off a roundhouse kick for the back of Amy's legs. She doesn't stop there, either. A second roundhouse kick is snapped toward her lower back and a third rapid-fire kick is sent careening toward the back of Amy's head.
COMBATSYS: ChaeLim successfully hits Ayame with Ryuusei Raku.
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ChaeLim 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Ayame
The uniformed girl's eyes widen as Chae Lim tosses the bag to the clerk with the instructions to pour it out, which the clerk wastes no time in doing, careful to avoid any of the less savory things that hit the counter top. A heavy weight of some sort. A rope. Some chain...
Kim's student has already weaved her way around Ayame's twin strikes, but the blonde is more fixated on the clerk, "Don't you - don't you touch that!" she growls right before she starts getting kicked right up along her back. The strike to her legs staggers her, causing her to crouch to recover, but then another snaps against her back, twisting her to the side, before the last kick impacts the back of her head and Ayame falls to the floor of the store, unable to stay standing after the assault. She hisses, feeling the pain of the three strikes, starting to remember that Chae Lim wasn't some push over back in Metro either.
"This is the last time you interfer with me!" the girl snaps, using her hands to brace herself as she sweeps out with her leg in an attempt to trip the dark haired girl to the floor.
COMBATSYS: Ayame successfully hits ChaeLim with Light Kick.
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ChaeLim 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Ayame
The Korean girl doesn't seem to care when Amy falls to the floor. That was the whole point, to knock her foe down and possibly incapacitate her until the authorities arrive. Chae Lim takes a step forward, attempting to grab the thief by the shoulders and just hold her until security gets here at the very least.
It backfires though, and she winds up walking right into the trip attempt.
Falling back on the floor, she's quick to spin her body around and send both feet toward Amy's face just trying to slide her along the aisle now.
COMBATSYS: ChaeLim successfully hits Ayame with Light Kick.
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ChaeLim 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Ayame
Her sweep successful, Ayame is only just coming out of the motion of spinning around herself for the sweep when Chae Lim wastes no time in retaliating. Catching the would be thief in the face right as the girl turns into the kick, she knocks the girl for a loop, flipping her over on her back to land on the floor with a somewhat stunned look on her now kicked face.
Her hand comes up to rub at her nose, checking to see if it's broken, but she seems to have made off okay. Scowling at the other girl, Ayame forgoes attacking Chae Lim all together, instead rolling in the opposite direction and getting up to her feet and charging toward the counter where her stuff was poured out. Both knives are flicked closed and slipped into the uniform coat pockets - it seems the girl has something else in mind. "Get away from my things, you idiot!" she growls at the startled woman who backs away out of fright at the sight of the aggressive girl.
Ayame starts moving her hands through the pile of belongings and non-belongings that were deposited, clearly looking for something.
COMBATSYS: Ayame focuses on her next action.
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ChaeLim 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Ayame
With Amy distracted by the belongings on the counter, Chae Lim spies the mall security at the entrance. Motioning them to come into the store, she advances on the thief again.
She's just not going to give Amy any break at all this time. She tried being nice last time, and the girl slipped right out of her grasp. Close to the counter now, she reaches out with both hands and makes a grab for Amy's shoulders. Once the hands make purchase on her little foe, she simply tries to fling her into a clothing rack hoping to tangle her up in it for a few minutes.
This might just give the mall security men time enough to get the aisle they're in and subdue the thiefly one until the police arrive.
COMBATSYS: Ayame fails to interrupt Quick Throw from ChaeLim with Harvest's Reaper.
- Power fail! -
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ChaeLim 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Ayame
Her hands move through the stuff swiftly, completely ignoring the clothing and electronics, brushing them aside for something else. Knives, cables, some metal widget that most people wouldn't even be able to identify as the end of a rope dart... Then she finds it. Ah hah! The girl's hand comes up with a half-foot long metal object.
...Only, Chae Lim is already there by the time she has done so. Her eyes light up as she gets ready to... get grabbed by her shoulders, "Ah-!" the girl gasps, only to be flung right off her feet into a coat rack, dropping the tube to the ground in the processes. She thrashes violently, starting to look far less composed as she struggles to get out of the entanglement.
By now the girl is looking frantic as security starts to pour in. She's messed with the wrong justice doer this time, it seems like, as everything begins spiraling rapidly out of control. Her foot comes down atop the tube before it can get rolled too far from her feet, but the look on her face suggests that she's actually getting quite scared.
Chae Lim is almost unrelenting. Now that she sees security is weaving their way through the clothing racks, she knows she's got to keep a close eye on the thief. Stomping her foot down toward the tube in an attempt to kick it away, she's surprised when she finds it's rolled away right toward Amy.
A frown creases her brow, and she spies the look of fear. Good, the thief looks frightened but she's still not seeming to be submissive which means if she were to just turn the girl over to the authorities, she'd wind up getting away.
Doe brown eyes settle on the girl, and she decides to advance once more. Balling her right hand up into a fist she leans as though going to swing it forward. Instead of following through with it, her left foot comes up in a sharply sliced vertical kick, another attempt at knocking Amy into a clothing rack.
If the Korean keeps this up, she's going to have to offer to pay for the damages, or at least to work them off.
COMBATSYS: ChaeLim successfully hits Ayame with Kuu Sa Jin.
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ChaeLim 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Ayame
The girl's foot slides to the edge of the tube before pushing down harder to force the other end of it up into the air a little. It's then that her other foot slides under and kicks the object up into the air, her right hand reaching out to grab a hold of it at about the same moment Chae Lim's foot snaps up to strike her in the chin, knocking Ayame right back into the rack.
The girl slumps a little this time around, some of the fight being worked out of her by Chae Lim's persistent strikes. But now she finally has the tube she was hoping to get all this time. Leaning back against the rack, unable to get back up on her own feet yet, the girl glares back at Kim's proud little student, applying pressure to a point in the middle of the metallic object.
With a hydraulic hiss, the tube expands outward swiftly, forming the staff Chae Lim had seen her use before. Six feet of titanium. Not the best to be fighting with indoors if one is concerned about breaking things... Ayame isn't too concerned about breaking things.
COMBATSYS: Ayame focuses on her next action.
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ChaeLim 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Ayame
Hearing the hydraulic hiss, the Korean girl frowns again. Without taking her eyes off of Amy, she suggests, "You may want to stay back for this, I do not want anyone getting injured by her." Should any of the security voice a complaint, she'll just point out that unless they want to get in the middle of things or happen to have a taser with them they should listen.
Knowing how much damage the staff can do to things, she rushes forward. This time, her left hand attempts to grasp onto the staff and twist it out of the thief's hands, with a derisive, "Bet you stole this too." At the same moment, she sends her right hand forward with a knife-hand strike angling in at Amy's shoulder.
COMBATSYS: Ayame fails to counter Jab Punch from ChaeLim with Bright Renewal.
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ChaeLim 0/-------/--=====|=======\=------\1 Ayame
Panting, teeth gritted, Ayame doesn't look to be in the mood to speak anymore as she just silently glares back at Chae Lim, so terribly frustrated with the trouble she's having dealing with the girl's techniques. It seems Chae Lim's talents for dealing with the unsavory sorts are certainly coming into play here. No doubt her teacher would be proud.
As the security draws in nearer, Ayame glances around at them all, turning to face them with that staff in hand, clearly intent on slamming it into the first person to get too close. Unfortunately, the first to move in ends up being far faster than she is ready to react to as the girl spins back around to face Chae Lim, swinging the staff down at a sharp angle to try and intersect the other girl only to end up delivering it right into her hand, leaving her open to the punch to her shoulder that sends her stumbling backward, the staff wrested from her grip.
"I didn't steal it," she snaps, hands clenched tightly, "I made it. It's mine!"
"I do not suppose it feels very good having your items taken from you." Chae Lim tosses the staff toward the counter, trying to keep it out of the thief-girl's reach. "Let that be a bit of a lesson to you. Other people do not like it -either-," she points out, still advancing upon the girl.
Her approach this time is something a little different. Having to move out of the way of downed clothing racks, she springs into the air. Descending toward Amy, she brings up her right leg in order to crash it down upon the girl's shoulder in a quick axe-kick.
COMBATSYS: Ayame fails to counter Neri Chagi from ChaeLim with Random Weapon.
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ChaeLim 0/-------/-======|=======\=------\1 Ayame
Her eyes follow the direction her staff is tossed, the long bo lengthed weapon landing with a metallic ringing noise. But now she has Chae Lim between her and the weapon she prefers most of all, putting it out of the equation for certain. The look on her face bespeaks the panic settling in as Chae Lim advances on her again. Yeah, she doesn't seem to take well to having HER things taken from her for as much as it serves her right.
When the Korean takes to the air, Ayame waits for a moment before finally reaction, her hand darting into the jacket of her uniform, pulling out an iron Japanese war fan which she opens in the same motion, moving it up to try and intersect the other girl's foot with the bladed edge, putting a stop to her attack early.
But her hesitation costs her dearly as the girl's foot cracks down on her shoulder at an angle too steep for her to intercept. The sharp cry of pain from the blow drives the girl down to the floor again, catching herself on her hands and knees, her long hair falling down over her shoulder, hissing from the pain of all the strikes that have been knocking her silly.
While down, she glances back and forth, trying to find a way out of this self-created disaster. It's all her own fault... she should've ducked out the moment she laid eyes on Chae Lim rather than just trying to embarrass the girl for her own amusement. And right now, it looks like she might be in a heap of trouble for it.
A heap of trouble may be the least of Amy's worries once the police arrive. Surely, other people have complained about a thief in the area, and they'll begin to look into those crimes as well.
Shoplifting does not pay.
Chae Lim speeds toward her foe again, still not having really taken her eyes off of the girl. Despite Amy's cries of pain, the Korean is not going to go easy on her. Justice needs to be done, and she's going to do her best to see that this altercation ends any troubles the thief might cause in the future. A little 'tough love' in order to teach the girl a lesson.
Drawing closer to Amy, she attempts to take hold of the girl by the jacket and hoist her up off the floor a little. Managing this, an attempt will then be made to fling Amy over her hip and to the floor of the shop once more.
COMBATSYS: Ayame counters Quick Throw from ChaeLim with Light Kick.
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ChaeLim 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Ayame
Down on her hands and knees, but not out it would seem, as the girl still has some fight left in her. Of course, right now, her mind is more dead set on getting out of this disaster than doing anything at all to Chae Lim. Panting, her reaction comes practically on instinct alone as she's barely cognizant of her surroundings anymore. Perspiration rolls down her cheeks as she tries to control her breathing.
And then she has Chae Lim advancing on her again but this time Ayame is quick enough, the young girl showing a last burst of spunk as she kicks out with one foot against the Korean's shin before spinning into a seated position to follow up with a quick kick against her thigh.
She finishes by rolling forward, coming up on her feet and then leaping head first toward the counter top. But she isn't going for her stuff this time, it would seem, sliding right over the counter to the other side to lunge out and grab the poor woman who had helped her in the beginning by the lapels of her jacket before quickly slipping in behind her and wrapping one of her arms around the womans neck.
"Stay back!" Ayame snaps. The serrated edge of the warfan is brought up dangerously close to the woman's throat as the wide eyed Ayame glares back at Chae Lim and the security guards. Her breaths are ragged and she looks like she might be ready to collapse. But driven to desperation, it seems as there's almost no low she won't sink to. And the clock is ticking down before the police arrive as well, driving her futher into desperation.
"Leave me to go and no one will get hurt," she continues, making her demand. Obviously trying to come out of this catastrophe with anything resembling a profit is out the window. Right now she's just trying to save her skin. Whatever she's afraid of being taken in for, there's a chance it's a lot more severe than shoplifting...
So sure she is that she's beaten the thief down, that Chae Lim is not expecting the swift reaction to her most recent toss attempt. The kick to the shin causes the Korean girl to cry out in both surprise and pain as it manages to hit a sweet spot on the bone. Reaching a hand down to rub at the injury, she gets to meet thief-foot again and this time it staggers her backward against a rack of jackets. It doesn't clatter to the ground, rather, it gets sent back a few feet.
Quick movements bring her forward when she sees Amy leaping over the counter. Figuring the thief is trying to make a break for it, she pivots her body around in a fluid motion ready to kick the thief in the head again when out of the corner of her eye she catches the blade at the clerk's throat.
Foot falling just short of slamming into the side of Amy's head, she clenches her fists. "Drop the weapon," she requests, her voice seemingly calm. "Let the woman go. You are already in trouble for shoplifting and who knows what else. You do not want to add murder to that list, do you?"
While she tries to talk reason into Amy, one of the security guards pulls out his gun while another radios to see how close the police cruisers are.
COMBATSYS: ChaeLim takes no action.
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ChaeLim 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Ayame
As Chae Lim's foot misses, the girl having only precious seconds to spare in creating a tense hostage situation, Ayame glares back at the fighter, yanking the poor, scared clerk back a little, giving her a bit more distance. Ayame pulls her to the side then, keeping the knife-edged fan close against her throat as the Korean tries to talk her down out of the stand off situation. "Che," Ayame replies, her arm trembling as she is almost having to use the clerk for support as she keeps the woman between her and Chae Lim. Though she makes glances towards the guards as well, aware that they aren't going to make this easy on her either.
"What makes you think it would just be /adding/ murder to the list?" she snaps back. "Don't test me." Maybe a bluff, maybe truth. She's remarkably hard to read now as she's focusing more on staying up than trying to present any particular demeanor. A sweat, beaten mess, a few of the bruises from Chae Lim's kicks are starting to become visible on her face. The girl looks to be a complete wreck.
Fortunately for Chae Lim, the standoff doesn't last too long once Ayame manages to scoot around to position her back toward where her staff is. "But maybe not this time," she smirks, giving the woman a shove to send her toward the heroic girl. And in the same motion Ayame backflips backward, hands landing against the counter, one curling around her staff, before she pushes off to complete the flip back to her feet, landing back on the open floor with a wheeze.
Her human shield surrendered now, however, she's a sitting target for shots to be fired at or anything else one might want to try. She doesn't stay still for long as she darts forward, headed for the back of the store in the opposite direction of the more tightly packed entrance. It would seem she's going to take her chances running through the back of the store to try and find her way out. One last burst of speed. One last chance to make a break for it.
COMBATSYS: Ayame focuses on her next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////// ]
ChaeLim 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Ayame
Guns train on the girl, but the guards hold their fire for now. They know the police are on the way, but they're obviously not about to let her attempt another hostage situation.
"Because I believe that people are inherently good. You are not necessarily a bad person, Amy, just misdirected." Chae Lim believes it to be more a bluff than anything. A murderer would never have let the clerk go freely when their own life was on the line.
"Be that as it may..." When Amy darts forward, the Korean girl runs after her. It may take security a minute or two to figure out what's going on and she -really- doesn't want to let the thief go again if she can help it. As she's lead on a merry chase through the shop, she springs up onto a display. The higher vantage point allows her to see Amy in the crowd, despite the thief-girl's shorter height. Diving forward off of the display, she twists her body as she falls forward and attempts to crack her elbow against the back of Amy's skull.
COMBATSYS: Ayame fails to counter Jab Punch from ChaeLim with Harvest's Reaper.
- Power fail! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
ChaeLim 1/------=/=======|
COMBATSYS: Ayame can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
ChaeLim 1/------=/=======|
The girl is aware that Chae Lim is on her tail, causing her to duck and weave, using the long polearm to pry her way through tighter spots. It will end up being more of a liability before long as the girl is going to need to squeeze through some narrow spaces if she's going to pull off escaping from the persistant heroine. Panting as she ducks around a couple more people, she glances over her shoulder just in time to see Chae Lim take a leap for her.
Bracing as she slides to a stop, both of her hands tightening on her weapon, the entire polearm flares a violent, seething, churning red color. "No you don't!!" Scalding hot, reflecting Ayame's on personality at the moment, the girl whips around, swinging one end of the staff up and at a sharp angle, attempting to smack Kim's valiant student right out of the air. But she's in no condition to pull it off and the weapon rips through the air right up alongside Chae Lim, failing to strike the girl at all.
With nothing to stop her now, Ayame's forehead is wide open to receive the elbow drop, which cracks against her something fierce. Her head bowed, the girl staggers backward, stumbling as she tries to keep going. But finally her hands go limp, the metal polearm falling to the ground with a rattle, and she drops to her knees, a glassy, lost look in her eyes, tears welling up at their corners as she feels herself slipping fast.
The girl doesn't last long in that position as seconds later, she drops forward, arms sprawled out at her sides.
Oh no she doesn't?
Apparently she does. Chae Lim is not going to give up until she sees this justice done! It may make her seem almost obsessive with her pursuit, but after she was bested by the thief in Metro City and nearly marked as an accomplice here, she's very determined.
Her intention was not to knock the girl entirely unconscious though, and to her credit the Korean girl does -try- to change her trajectory when she realizes that her elbow is going to crack against the skull of her foe. Sadly, she doesn't shift her body in time and the force of the impact has her doe brown eyes filling with tears. These are most certainly -not- for the thief, but are instead for the pain that jolts through her entire being as bone hits bone.
Not wanting to be fooled or tricked again, when she watches Amy drop forward onto the floor, she scuttles over and seats herself atop the girl. This gives the security guards enough time to make their way through the growing crowd of on-lookers who are attempting to see what's going on. Wiping her brow as she waits for them, she continues to speak to the downed girl.
"All you had to do was return the earrings, and you would not be in this predicament. I do not get why you are such a kleptomaniac...."
About that time, the guards catch up and one kneels down beside the girl called 'Amy'. "We'll get her medical attention, miss. You just need to get up off'a her."
Complying to their request, Chae Lim pushes herself up to her feet and dusts herself off.
COMBATSYS: ChaeLim has ended the fight here.
As Chae Lim plops down on top of the girl pretending to be a Justice High student, of all things, Ayame gasps a little, one of her hands tightening a little. Seems she's still vaguely conscious. Which means she's probably hearing Chae Lim's words this very moment, a fact backed up by the way her cheeks turn a dark red. Of course the girl is right. In fact, if she had decided not to make it personal in the first place, then she'd probably be off cavorting through other shops, taking her pick of whatever she wants.
But right now she's lying face down on the floor with a very determined student of justice sitting on her back. All of her weapons left back at the store are probably lost to her, as well as the device she was using to wipe the security devices clean... Yeah, she definitely needs to think about the risks of making it personal. It costs too much!
One of the guards picks up the titanium pole, holding it up with a skeptical look on his face. The toys kids come up with now days. His thumb must've come down on the wrong spot because from one end of the staff a foot-long blade extends out with a click before unfolding to become three blades at ninty degree angles to each other, like some kind of weird bladed cross. The unexpected blades are enough to get the guy to pale a bit, wondering what else the staff might do. "H-here Bob, you hold this," he mumbles, passing the dangerous weapon off to one of his partners.
Two others move over as Chae Lim gets up, bending down to heft the fallen girl up by her shoulders, pulling her arms behind her back to cuff them together. Ayame doesn't put up a fight, brown eyes only half lidded. Deadweight, the two start to drag her along toward the guard station where police will be convening with them in a few minutes. Another stays behind to get a report from Chae Lim while others are tending to the terrified clerk who found herself in the middle of the worst day of work she's ever experienced.
Being dragged away from the scene of such misery, destruction, and confusion, her eyes open fully for a moment as she quickly takes stock of the three guards with her. Closing her eyes completely, the girl can't help but smirk for a moment. The lock picking set hidden in the lower hem of her skirt is probably going to come in handy in a little bit...
Log created on 16:24:09 11/11/2007 by Ayame, and last modified on 00:19:32 11/12/2007.