Description: Or not.
Ayame is becoming quite the world traveller as of late. Off to Albania for some creepy kid's money, off to Thailand for a Blackjack mission, back to Southtown to resume business as usual. Somewhat. Extracting Elfa Bykova from the deep hole in the ground was pretty exciting, but the only fight there was against inhuman security devices. Cold, ruthless machines, determined to gun down anyone trying to get out at all costs. Well, they failed. Elfa seemed cooperative enough throughout the process, recovering her health from the likely months of being in stasis. Ayame didn't know what to make of her, but she didn't really care too much either. She was far more facinated with the new PDAs Elle gave her to replace the one that got shot.
Which is what she's tinkering with now at a work bench along one wall in the warehouse. Hunched over a dismantled PDA, with wires, tools, and small gizmos scattered over the surface of the bench, she labors away to install her own custom modifications to the electronics devices. Out of her 'on duty' outfit and back into the wardrobe she's more comfortable with, the girl is wearing glasses with only one lens over one eye that acts to magnify the tiny parts she's working with at the moment...
Somewhere not too far behind her is a thick, metal walled crate. Elle didn't really take chances with Elfa. Though the girl was cooperative, the mercenary leader seemed to view her more as property than a person. Upon finally making it back to Southtown, Elfa was bound up tightly and tossed in the crate, kept under continual guard around the clock. Ayame isn't part of that guard rotation. She just happens to be around. There is another reason for a more combat capable operative to be on hand though, and that's for...
"Hey, kiddo," remarks one of the scruffier looking fellows keeping watch over the crate. "Time to give her lunch." Ayame sighs, putting down her tools. She knows what that means. Sliding her chair back, she slips the glasses to the counter then turns to walk over to stand by the crate. Meal times are the only times Elfa ever gets unbound enough to move her arms around to let her feed herself. And protocal calls for a combat capable member to be on hand when that happens, just to be cautious.
Ayame saunters over, hand resting at her hip as she leans on the wall facing the crate, legs crossed at her ankles. "All right," she remarks, sounding bored as can be. The crate doors are opened, giving Elfa the first shread of light she's gotten in hours, and two men step in, one to undo her bindings, the other to bring in the food tray. Ayame only barely watches through half-lidded eyes.
Just to eat, to feed herself. Her legs must be half-dead, like lead. Her body must be stiff and sore from being held in one position for hour after hour. Her eyes must be unaccustomed to the light, the invasion probably blinding. How could she do anything other than just accept what is, to wait for the inevitable. She's realized now, that she's not going to be taken to her father - there is no 'grand rescue' coming. From whatever she was given by the people who first took her, now she has to deal with a second kidnapping, with something just as vile in plan for her.
She rubs her wrists as she is slightly freed, enough to take in another meal - how many has it been? She eats quietly, patiently, passively. Each bite is chewed time after time to settle it withinn her stomach. As she does so, slow breathing, quiet and focused, as if coming to a decision. Finally, she speaks, her thick accent being a little more difficult to be heard. "... You're not going to let me go home, are you?"
It hasn't been more than a day yet. Elle doesn't waste time. Ayame figures the woman is already looking into what to do with what they found. Speaking with those who might be in the market for such a find. Ayame isn't really too involved in that side of things, nor would she want to be.
"I don't know, not really up to me," grunts the man who deposited the tray before he backs up and leans against the wall, folding his arms over his chest. The other stays closer to Elfa. Neither look too worried about trouble. Elfa hasn't presented any signs of putting up a fight so far, and Ayame would be on hand if anything got too out of control, right?
In fact they occasionally cast weird glances toward the idle girl. Most people in Blackjack don't know what to make of Ayame. Which probably coincides with her not really caring about most people in Blackjack either. The strawberry blonde does nothing to answer Elfa's question other than breath in then exhale, sounding a mildly impatient. She wants to get back to tinkering.
Answer enough. It's enough that Elfa knows that they don't seem to care, and that their answers are as callous and cold. They don't think she was a threat, and have given her her hands. It's not enough to take all three - but it's enough to give her a chance. She's been watching, the time before she was given her hands. She knows how fast the two men are, and in the back of her head, moves are already going and playing over and over, a 'gift' from Shadaloo, in her mind. Training that she didn't have before, offering her a way to her own freedom. She didn't want to take it, but in the end, she probably has no choice.
She moves suddenly, fluidly - and the man closest to her takes the full brunt of her motion. Her hands grab the back of her chair, and she flips herself up and over it, breaking the forward legs of the chair, and taking them along. Her legs being bound to the wood just makes them heavaier, bludgeoning weapons. They flip back down, her knees landing on his shoulders, and there's a nasty 'CRACK' as she twists her body, snapping bone and severing nerves. She then rolls forwards, and lets out a strong exhalation, taking the suddenly nerveless body with her, flinging it forwards at the last second into the man nearest Ayame. She stays there then, crouched as he has to deal with the dead weight. Her voice is still calm, still certain - and eerie, simply said.
"My father needs me. I'll go through everyone here if I have to."
COMBATSYS: Elfa has started a fight here.
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Elfa 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Ayame has joined the fight here.
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Elfa 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Ayame
Things have a way of going from calm to out of control in the blink of an eye and right now is no different. The woman makes up her mind to the best chance she's likely to get any time soon and it looks like the poor employees in range are the ones to pay the initial price. The man is attacked before he can even put up a fight. These guys aren't quite fighter calibur. They come from different backgrounds. Elle has a way of finding a lot of folks down on their luck and putting them to work in whatever capacity they can manage. These two rated about on part with Dock Workers.
Ayame doesn't, though, the girl getting to her feet from the lazy position in the blink of an eye, brown eyes narrowing as she realizes she's dealing with something different than she had expected from the previously docile captive. The second guard is knocked over as his partner is flung into him, but he struggles backward, crab-crawling his way out of the crate toward Ayame. "Report the situation," the girl remarks coolly as she takes deliberate steps forward, herself, stepping right up to the entrance of the crate as she eyes Elfa.
"Your father...? What's the rush. If you play your cards right, you might see him again. If you make this rough, he might just read about your body being found washed up on some beach." Her hand slips down to her belt, pulling from a sheath a thin metal object that she flicks open to reveal a butterfly knife, it's blade gleaming in the lights of the warehouse outside of the crate.
"That's the only warning I'm going to give you." she states. In the next instant, the girl is darting forward, attempting to shove her left forarm into Elfa's throat and ram the girl against the side of the crate, bringing her right arm up with the knife in it to hold against Elfa's throat just above her forearm. "After this, it gets lethal."
COMBATSYS: Elfa dodges Ayame's Quick Throw.
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Elfa 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Ayame
This means reinforcements - this means trouble. Elfa isn't sure that these newfound skills that she has are enough to build up to 'escape'. She made her bed, though - and she's going to have to lie in it. Hopefully, it won't end up being six feet under. She almost quails as Ayame steps between her and escape, but in the end, she has to steel herself. She can do this. She /has/ to do this. "You're lying. You and yours.. they're just going to keep me he...!" She can't finish, because Ayame's already moving in, trying to get that slice of silver against her throat.
Elfa's hands come up, fingers stiff and aching - but she manages to get them against Ayame's forearm, to give her just a few inches of space. As her back closes in on the back of the container, she slides /down/, diving under Ayame's legs in a move very, very reminicent of a blonde, pigtailed street fighter. It allows her to come back up, and her hands go for a sleeper around Ayame's neck, trying to choke some of the fight out of her. "I don't want.. want to kill you. You treated me okay. But.. I'm /leaving/!" she says, voice full of tension.
COMBATSYS: Ayame fails to interrupt Rear Naked Choke from Elfa with Quick Strike.
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Elfa 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Ayame
It looks like Elfa isn't going to make this easy. Ayame realizes even mid-motion that the girl is on the move, dropping down to slip through her legs and come up behind her. She's over committed though, having expected that a quick slam against the crate would take the fight out of the girl, not quite sure /what/ sort of combat training she's dealing with here.
She gets a feel for it the moment Elfa comes up behind her to fold an arm around her neck though. In the first instant, the girl flips the knife in her hand backward and slashes out with a reverse swing, but the captive seems positioned well enough to keep that from working.
Caught off guard and strangled, Ayame struggles, pushing her feet up against the wall of the crate as she seems likely to try and shove Elfa back in a moment. No response. No words. Merely a struggle to breath as her strength is slowly taken from her.
Elfa's lucky. She didn't even /see/ the knife coming in until she'd gotten the hold in. Metal almost against her belly, she starts to pull backwards, trying to escape. She can't seem to make Ayame talk, nor can she make the girl give up. She's trapped in this move, just as much as Ayame is. Well, except for being able to breathe.
"If that's how you want it.." Her voice settles again - calm and dispassionate as she falls into that moment she can just feel at the edge of her mind - motion after motion playing through her head, giving her idea of situation and planning for eventualities. She hefts as Ayame pushes back, trying to change the motion, to add momentum to it, and to chuck the girl out of the back of the crate, and to follow up with the giant Elbow of Doom to the stomach. Focus on knocking her out, quick.
COMBATSYS: Elfa successfully hits Ayame with Combo Throw.
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Elfa 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Ayame
Her own momentum redirected, Ayame is helpless to avoid getting chucked out of the crate and onto the ground where she lands. The landing alone doesn't seem to phase her too much as she's already starting to roll to her side, her left hand reaching to the second sheath in her belt to pull out a second knife - only to get driven back against the ground by the elbow drop against her stomach.
That definitely gets a reaction from the girl not quite used to taking blows like that, her eyes widening, the breath knocked out of her, a sharp gasp that sounds somewhat strangled due to the lack of air to accompany it. Now she's /really/ at a loss from works, and looking a little sick judging by the palor in her face.
But she has Elfa in close now and two knives instead of one. Both of which she seeks to introduce the girl to with a double pronged stab toward her back and front at the same time, attempting to skewer her and hold her in place.
COMBATSYS: Elfa fails to interrupt Medium Strike from Ayame with Takedown Spear.
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Elfa 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Ayame
Outside the crate. It's a start. She's intent on following up on it, head whipping left and right as she does, taking in the area around the crate. Details might make a difference between life and death soon - any exits she can find are being looked for, cataloged. As she feels her elbow hit, she rolls away, to give her just a hint of space. Breathing room, as it were.
It's not long, though, Ayame already moving in again. Elfa's motions are smooth, quick as she tries to put her fist in the way of Ayame's attack, aiming a speartip hand right at the girl's throat. It's a good move, but a bad choice here, with Ayame having two melee weapons. The extra reach it gives means that her fingertips fall just short, barely brushing Ayame's neck as the two knives hit home, digging into the suit, and flesh beneath. "Aaaaaa!" Oh, right - Ayame said she'd get lethal. Hissing out as she tries to get away, failing as she's stuck fore and aft, she just focuses past it, grabbing whatever gift she was given. "Not.. lethal. You lie...d!"
The hand stab toward her throat didn't even get a blink from the girl, and as Elfa's fingers brush just shy, Ayame's mouth twitches into a glimmer of a bemused smile. "Three point seven centimeters shy," she remarks as if she had already measured out the probable range of Elfa's limb before sinking in her stabs.
And Ayame has her knives dug in now. She's not the sort to let someone off easy once she has a hold like that. Rather than pulling the knives out and going for a second stab, the girl merely stays in close, keeping both blades sunk into their positions, acting like twin hooks intent on keeping Elfa from getting away.
Pulling herself in even tighter, Ayame simply states, "You flinched," in reply to the accusation of her not aiming to deal lethal strikes. But she isn't about to let up either, her foot sweeping out to deliver a crushing knee to Elfa's stomach. "But I need you to stop doing that or this is only going to get worse for you."
COMBATSYS: Elfa endures Ayame's Light Kick.
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Elfa 0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0 Ayame
"Time to get longer aah... arms, then!" Sadly, Elfa does not have awesome stretching powers like Dhalsim. No, she doesns't have that skill, and is not really able to do anything to escape the intent of Ayame's attacks. The knives have dug well in, and moving too much is going to cause far, far too much damage for her to take over the long run.
As Ayame's knee comes in, Elfa steels up, taking the knee to her stomach and holding strong, her body jerking just an inch, enough so that new blood flows from the impalements of Ayame's tools. Her voice is strained, her pale eyes seeming even lighter. "No more.. flinching, then." She sounds very certain here, and she's internalized the advice. As well as Ayame's knives, yeowch! Doing more damage to herself, she moves, rotating with Ayame's arms as an axis point - letting her stay in close as she attempts to get her legs around Ayame's neck. There isn't a chance of choking her out like that - but if she can /hurl/ the woman away by twisting her body at the same time, the blades will probably come with. Probably.
COMBATSYS: Elfa successfully hits Ayame with Frankensteiner.
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Elfa 0/-------/--=====|=======\=------\1 Ayame
When Elfa manages to twist herself around some, at the cost of aggrivating the wounds, Ayame finally lets go, pulling the knives out and attempting to spin herself out of the way so she can get back up on her feet instead. She's comfortable grappling in close with opponents, but Elfa seems to excell in that area and the strawberry blonde haired girl is really getting the impression that she'll do better without such an in tight game.
She doesn't make it though as Elfa secures a hold on her neck, cutting the girl off from slipping away, then hurls her to the side, driving Ayame through a wooden crate against the wall, shattering it in the process. Flat on her back for a moment, she drops her knives then rolls over quickly, bringing her right arm up, her left arm reaching over to pull back the black cloth that covers most of her forearm, revealing a small, mini-crossbow affixed to her wrist.
"Not so fast." The device's 'wings' expand out as the cloth is removed and Ayame takes aim for Elfa before firing off the single bolt it had in it. The dart is laced with a numbing poison. Nothing that would take down a capable fighter, but it might slow Elfa down all the same.
After firing the shot, the girl is already pushing herself back up to her feet, intent on chasing Elfa down.
COMBATSYS: Ayame successfully hits Elfa with Sudden Fling.
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Elfa 0/-------/-======|=======\=------\1 Ayame
She's fighting Batman! Er, as much as any Russian girl would know Batman. She's fighting someone with a veritable arsenal in her pockets, and each new one seems to get tested out on the captured girl. She had half-turned, starting towards the water, able to smell it and know it's there. It's not enough, not close enough - and the dart catches her in the back of the thigh. She crumples that leg on the next step, going down and breathing hard.
"Had.. had enough?" she asks, rolling over to stare up at her approaching enemy. She reaches down, yanking the bolt free. Fingers knead the spot of the wound, trying to push or pull the poison out, to get some sensation back. It's slow, it's ineffectual, but she can't really focus on anything else at the moment. "I just want... to go home.."
COMBATSYS: Elfa gains composure.
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Elfa 0/-------/---====|=======\=------\1 Ayame
Bingo. Ayame can see that her bolt hit and that it's doing its job of slowing Elfa down. She needed that - the young woman is swift and Ayame is struggling to keep up with her after being tossed around, strangled, and elbow dropped. The cross bow only houses a single bolt, so Elfa is safe from taking another shot from that at least.
Hand slipping into the pouch affixed to her belt, though, Ayame produces a six inch metal tube about two inches in diameter. It's only those dimensions for an instant though, as Ayame applies pressure to a location only she knows and the weapon expands out into a full lengthed bo staff. At six feet long, it's taller than the girl holding it by a foot, but it doesn't seem to slow Ayame down at all. Made of light weight but sturdy titanium, it's just the tool she thinks she needs in order to finish taking down the fleeing captive.
"That's not really up to you to decide just now," comes the calm, composed reply. For all the trouble Elfa has been giving her, Ayame doesn't seem too upset by it yet. Stabbing the polearm out like a lance at Elfa's stomach at first, Ayame steps into a spin, bringing the long weapon around for a much harder second swing targetted for the side of Elfa's head.
COMBATSYS: Elfa blocks Ayame's Medium Strike.
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Elfa 0/-------/--=====|=======\==-----\1 Ayame
"It's my decision." Elfa says this with determination, or with shock. After all, she's lost a fair chunk of blood already, courtesy of the stab wounds and the shot from the crossbow. Her eyes are a bit unfocused, a bit out of touch with what's going on - but she still manages to move the palm of her hand. It's a deflection, catching and intercepting the blunt 'point' of the staff, shifting just enough to the side that it misses the stab wound, instead landing in her gut. She brings her other hand up and around, an attempt to catch the second swing on her shoulder. The THUNK of the metal on her shoulder is pretty loud, and it pushes her into a roll to the side.
And that was part of her plan. At the least, it was a motion to movement, to give her momentum. She needs that now, to keep the speed that she has intact, even through her wounds. She flips her feet around as she tumbles, trying to catch Ayame behind the knee with one leg, the other going for Ayame's kneecap with the heel of her foot. "It's /my/ decision!"
COMBATSYS: Ayame interrupts Light Kick from Elfa with Final Sunset.
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Elfa 1/-----==/=======|==-----\-------\0 Ayame
Elfa gets that kick in that she sought, but the price might not have been worth it. Ayame's feet seem well planted, defending her from the sweep as she hefts up the staff and spins it swiftly over head. The desperate captive is introduced to a new angle as the girl begins to channel an angry red aura into the pole, lighting up everything around her with bright light.
Her leg gives a little from the kick to the back of her knee, but before the kneecap targetted strike can come, the girl sweeps the staff down and to the side, unleashing all of the pent up energy she had channeled into her staff into a single crescent wave lashing out for the poor young woman while she's mid-strike.
Spinning the staff one final time, Ayame settles down into a defensive position, holding it at an angle in front of her, her mouth tight lipped as Elfa's words echo in her mind. Demanding it's her decision. Over and over... For once, Ayame can sympathize, if but only a little. The girl has fought a grueling life of her own to avoid being controled, to keep the power to decide in her own hands... that Elfa desires the same and is willing to fight for it... she can understand that. Unfortunately, this is just business in Ayame's mind.
She doesn't see it coming. At all. Instead, Elfa sees the hit she made, the perfect aim that is suddenly shattered by red energy and silver metal. And really, if she were asked later, that's the /last/ thing she sees. The impact catches her solidly, her position on the ground giving no way to escape, no way to avoid the crushing blow. Rocked against the ground, her head rattles audibly, bouncing once. She's not slow to recover though - and that's when things get odd.
Elfa's eyes open as the chi starts to dissapate.. and she reaches into it. The red energy that had washed over her seems to linger, coalescing around her body, as if a specter's shroud. She rolls away, to her feet - and that wreath of Ayame's power still holds around her. Her voice is cold as she speaks, her body seeming to show little to none of the effects of the fight. "You are not the Father. This is not his touch - You have been warned." With that, she rushes in, full speed. Her hands whip up and around, and she attempts to knock Ayame into the air with a dualfisted haymaker, the red energy she'd been 'given' fading out from her hands /just/ before the second of impact.
COMBATSYS: Ayame counters Spinning Devil from Elfa with Bright Renewal.
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Elfa 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Ayame
The sight of her chi being warped and even somewhat controlled by the dark haired girl leaves Ayame feeling a little uneasy. She's mastered a number of tricks when it comes to chi manipulation, but that wasn't something she'd seen before. She sounds different now and Ayame quirks an eyebrow just slightly. But she remains tight lipped and silent, mind trying to catch up with what she's seeing here.
Elfa comes for her again and Ayame is ready, shaking her head just slightly as she lances out with that staff much like before, but faster and harder this time, stabbing it against the captive's lower torso. It isn't enough to stop her completely, but it slows her down while also pushing back hard on the polearm.
But Ayame is willing to allow that to happen, letting it slip through her fingers at first... until most of its length is behind her. It's then that she whips her entire body around, gripping the staff with both hands and slamming it into the side of Elfa's head with all the force she can muster. No chi this time. Just pure, kinetic power.
"What are you talking about?! If course I'm not your father!" she snaps, the sudden shift in Elfa's communication seeming to trigger something in the girl. She doesn't like dealing with someone capable of being such a mystery to her.
She doesn't care that the impact failed. The fact that Ayame's stopped her attack is taken in and calculated, looked at with little to no care. In the end, all that really matters is that her objectives are fufilled. That they may take time to complete is nothing to worry about. Instead, everything is looked at as situational, planned and processed and prepared for.
As Ayame spins around, Elfa begins to follow the move, but is not fast enough to evade the crack of the staff to the side of her head. She drops like she's been axed, and crumples to a heap at Ayame's feet. She stays there for a second, two - and then she draws back upwards, moving disjointedly, as if joints and limbs are trying to move in ways that aren't quite human, more of a mannequin..
Or a Doll.
"This is your final warning. Another attack will invite countermeasures. Bring me to Father, or suffer." Her head twists, joints popping as she settles back into place - either unwilling or unable to attack again, having given fair warning, and expressing her orders. After all, were it the right time and place, that's all she would ahve to do. As she clenches her fists, the last bit of red light wink out, Ayame's former attack finally dissapated from her skin.
COMBATSYS: Elfa gains composure.
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Elfa 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Ayame
Ayame has never fought something like this before. She's fought a lot of different kinds of people. But they felt like people. Elfa is acting like something else entirely. A machine maybe. And the thing is, Ayame gets machines quite well. But normally they aren't making demands of her... and the only warnings they give are when programs are in the process of crashing.
Still holding her staff with her left hand, her right hand slips beneath the wristguard over her left wrist, pulling out a small kunai that she flicks in Elfa's direction with remarkable speed. Apparently she isn't daunted by the warning. Just put off by it.
"Save your breath. I'm putting you back in the box. I think you're defective. You'd just go get into trouble anyway - blue screen on your way into getting hit by a car or something."
COMBATSYS: Elfa dodges Ayame's Thrown Object.
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Elfa 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Ayame
Not a machine - machines do not goopy blood on the ground. Well, most machines don't. Elfa also probably dosn't weigh near enough. It's always a possibility, but in this specific case, she's probably still 'human', for various shades of the phrase. As human as chi-stealing schizophrenics can be, at least.
As Ayame whips the kunai towards Elfa, she's already moving. Turned into a spin, Elfa pirrouetes behind the weapon, letting it bury itself into the ground near where the girl is. She offers half-murmured words to the warrior, almost an apology. "What I am is my Father's Daughter." She continues the spin, fingers formed into a fist - once, twice, and three simple backhands aimed at the woman's head and chest, another one of the moves signature to Camille White - though oddly, without the burning blue and white aura that that Killer Bee used to show.
COMBATSYS: Ayame interrupts Triple Knuckle from Elfa with Harvest's Reaper.
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Elfa 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 Ayame
There's something unsettling about the way she identifies herself. She didn't call herself that before. Before she was Elfa, daughter of some Russian no doubt quite sad about his daughter missing. What she calls herself now doesn't quite seem the same. The kunai didn't hit and Ayame frowns faintly at that. She'll need to practice her aim and target movement prediction... Later.
Right now she's stepping forward, that staff of hers lighting up vibrant red a second time much like when she blasted the young woman with chi just moments before. But this time is different as she slams the entire staff against Elfa, swinging the end from low to high toward the captive's chin at the same time she takes a pounding double fist to the side of her head.
The blow to the head throws her off a little, but not enough to abort the rest of the combination as Ayame follows the momentum of her upward swipe with a leap into the air and a second upward strike, trying to knock the escapee off her feet.
Finally the staff is moved over head as Ayame positions it like an executioner's halberd, and then she slams it down /hard/ over her head, as if chopping with an axe, an explosion of that violent red chi accompanying the strike, sending energy sparking out all around the two females as Ayame drops back down to her feet in a crouch.
One hand comes up to press against the side of her head where she's bleeding now. She can't take much more of this. But if she can get the other girl down at last, she won't have to...
When people tell Elle to 'hurry' or 'come quick', Elle normally doesn't pay them a lot of attention. After all, if there's something that needs to be hurried to, Elle's already hurried, fixed it, come back, and is busy trying to dowload and burn the entire Metallica discography to CD. That means for the most part, she hears a lot of white noise as people wave their arms around and try to get her to react.
But on the rare occasion, people say key words that get her attention. 'Escape' is one. 'Captive' is another. 'Money' always gets her attention immediately. So when a thug crashes into her office like a deranged moose, screaming that the captive is trying to escape and that it'll cause her to lose money, Elle nearly tossed him into a wall on her way down to the executive vehicles.
She's not a flashy person, but the Acura screeches to a halt just outside the warehouse, and Elle is in the warehouse in a moment, charging on with all senses keened to high. The sounds of combat immediately reach her, and she shifts her footing, winding her way through the labrynthe of crates, boxes, and rope.
Elle's not stealthy. Her approach is loud and percussive, metal hobnails in her boots cracking across the ground, closing in just in time to watch Ayame nail the mystery girl in the head with her staff.
Now, Elle's a pretty bright person. A dumb person would shout 'Status check!', and demand details of the situation when those details are all perfectly clear: Ayame is trying to keep what was previously someone about as threatening as corned beef at bay, and having a rough time. Therefore, Elle ha sno need to know what's going on past the obvious. She does ay one thing, though.
"Fold!"
Codewords. Ayame knows them. She has the playbook. Elle rushes in like a leather clad female shaped frieght train, arm pulled back with the katar already shimmering and armed. Her focus? To pound Elfa straight into next week before she kills her teammate by ramming the vibroblade straight into the Shadaloo experiment's shoulder.
COMBATSYS: Elle has joined the fight here.
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Elle 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Elfa
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Ayame 0/-------/--=====|
COMBATSYS: Elfa endures Elle's Ace of Spades!
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Elle 0/-------/-----==|=======\=------\1 Elfa
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Ayame 0/-------/--=====|
She's not a Shadaloo expriment! Elfa's a REAL GIRL! Er, at least maybe. Kinda. Sorta. She's close enough for goverment work, and in the end, that should be all that matters. She's still standing as Elle comes in, and she prepares to slide to the side, to finish the opponent near her, Ayame.
But she never gets that chance. The energy that comes in is detected, and Elfa's head whips towards Elle, her distraction obvious. She /holds still/, watching the blade come in - holding still enough to let Elle's aim strike true, catching her in the shoulder with a thunk of blade hitting muscle and pushing through. That vibration that echoes through her rattles her - and then /again/, like before, her body reacts oddly. The waves and pulses of energy shimmer around her at the edge of sight, Elle's 'sonic chi' not truly visible. Instead, it expresses as feedback, a howl like holding a guitar too close to an amplifier. It grows as Elfa sinks to her knees, then puts her hand over the other woman's hand, holding her in place, eyes going completely pale. "You are not Father. Your touch is not his touch. Executing..." The rest, well - that's for Elle to ponder over, as Elfa just /stares/ right at Elle's eyes.
COMBATSYS: Elfa can no longer fight.
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Elle 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Ayame
To be perfectly honest, Ayame has never been so glad to see anyone in her entire life as she is to see Elle step in now. On legs trembling, fighting back blurry vision as a headache wracks her mind, the girl can barely see straight, let alone confidently combat Elfa any further. How someone turned from something easily controlled into quite the menace she has no idea. And what to do with it she isn't even sure. She'll kill Elfa in a heartbeat to save herself, Elle's money be damned. But she's also aware there's a bigger picture here and having the woman who's handling this whole thing step into the warehouse is relief Ayame has never felt before.
She doesn't glance toward Elle, but she knows the sound of Elle's boots perfectly well by now and she knows when she steps into view. It's all the girl can do to keep the staff up at a defensive angle in front of her, trying to control her breathing. She's over extended herself in delivering that last attack and it's catching up with her quickly.
When Elle barks out the one word order though, Ayame knows what's she supposed to do and there's no reluctance on her part to comply unquestioningly. Using the staff as a bit of a polevault, Ayame manages to jump forward and hop up onto a crate, putting her more out of harm's way, turning around in a crouch, ready to leap back to Elle's aid if the woman should call for it. For the moment though she's simply staying in place as ordered, watching Elle in action.
COMBATSYS: Ayame takes no action.
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Elle 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Ayame
COMBATSYS: Elle blocks Elfa's Your Worst Nightmare'.
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Elle 0/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Ayame
Elle's Worst Nightmare.
Funny thing, that. Fear doesn't readily register on Elle like with most people. There's concern and worry, and anxiety that comes with a big job. Elle feels emotions like everyone else, albeit in much tinier quantities. Half of it's her own personality, the other half a result of having her brain fried so often by psychic attacks, she puts off a very tiny empathic signature. Makes it hard for psionics to sense her intent. When you don't have strong underlying feelings, it's easy to avoid the prying mind of a psychic.
But there's fear. As the wave of psychic power hits Elle, the woman is nearly sent to her knees.
Doubtless, something there is trying to unlock Elle's most horrific life experiences. And what does it find? Elle's childhood: idyllic. Her fall from grace? All in the past. There's acceptance in that, and Elle lives for ten years from now. Regrets are few. Physical pain? As anyone can atest to, Elle grimly marches into every attack known to man simply to get at her opponent and smash them in the face. Elle hates pain, but fear and hatred are only connected on a basic level. She doesn't like brussel sprouts, either, but she's not terrified of them.
So what makes Elle afraid?
Nothing.
Specifically, lack of everything. Elle's a puppetmaster. Things dance at her whim. Though she's relatively 'weak' in comparison to the nastiest villains, the fact is that as long as there's things around her, Elle can occupy herself and make a situation turn to her favor. Giving Elle a single handhold in anything is a sure fire way to let her win. From the most basic of materials, Elle will scrape together a way to pick a lock, open a door, and manipulate a situation so that she falls back up top. It may hurt, it may take time, but she'll always claw her way back up and look for more.
But when there's /nothing/ to work with, then there's a problem. Blank sapce. Emptiness. Nothing to grab, twist, and force. Nobody to bully, belittle, or break. When there's nothing around to do her bidding as she pleases, Elle's forced to confront the feeling of hoplessness and helplessness, and it's the proverbial yawning chasm in the soul.
She slams to her knees, drawing a sharp breath, Katar clattering away from nerveless hands as her eyes roll back into her head behind dark glasses. A choking noise, then a pause.
Grim realization then sets in. The black space in her mind clears. There will never /be/ a situation where Elle has nothing. She knows herself. Knows her capabilities. The mere /idea/ that she'd ever be without a plan and resources is patently absurd, and it's almost stupid to beleive that anyone could ever take anything away from her that she doesn't want to let go.
It's never happened, and it never will.
The imagery of nothing is forced from her on sheer willpower alone, and she hacks out a cough. That was unpleasant, and the involuntary shaking is evidence enough. Mental assaults aside, she's bloodied but unbowed.
But there is one thing Elfa elicits from Elle that Elle rarely demonstrates. The mercenary leader stands, clambering up. Her lips are set in a thin line as she reaches for Elfa's battered form. Without so much as a word, Elle grabs her by the scruff of the neck, and smashes the girl's face into a crate. And then again. And then again. And again. And again. The normally emotionless, unflappable merc is /upset/, although it's not on her face. The raw anger radiating from her form is enough.
Elle won't stop before she draws blood, and perhaps teeth and a broken nose and a hank of hair before hurling Elfa to the concrete floor.
And then, only then will she turn to Ayame and speak.
"How're you holding up?"
Luckily, Elfa's dad is a hockey player. Missing teeth is almost a family tradition. The damage that's done doesn't register on her, the girl obviously out cold well before the beating commences. Later, well - Later will suck. For now, though - there's nothing more from Elfa, just a deep breathing, belying the injuries she's taken. Whatever hold the changes she's been given has on her, she's not going to feel this until several hours from now.
Mind, Elfa will probably feel a /lot/ at that point.
Elfa reaches out to grab hold of Elle's hand and Ayame stiffens. There's nothing visible to deal with. No attack to jump down and deflect. No grapple to spring Elle from. No chi to reflect or redirect. Just a touch. And Elle drops to her knees. The color drains from Ayame's face as the girl is faced with a situation in which she's utterly at a loss to understand how to deal with. Nothing to debug, hack, or break. Just her boss and an unconscious girl, and her boss looks like she's going through hell right now. Left with no options that make sense, Ayame stays back, watching from her perch atop the crates.
And Elle gets through it, rising back to her feet, only to make darn sure that Elfa is down for the count. Ayame doesn't even flinch at the repeated face bashes, maintaining a simply tight lipped, observant expression. To see a side of Elle she hasn't seen before is of interest to the girl. That's certainly making sure the job is done of putting the tricky captive down for a good while, to say the least. She almost wonders if Elle will just keep going until bone gives way to impacts and results in one more statistic in the world. But at some point, Elle finally stops and turns.
"I'll be okay," she states, having already forgotten the bleeding wound staining her hair a matted red on one side. Her head hurts something fierce, but compared to her facination with Elle, it's easily put out of her mind for the moment. The girl hops down off the crate, collapsing her staff down to its concealable length before slipping it away. She makes her usual tour of reclaiming her toys then - knives, expended crossbow bolt, kunai, returning each of them to their proper place, before coming back around to Elle.
"Sorry. She got out of hand during mealtime. I told Jeth to come get you, but Kaulg is out cold in the crate and I think needs serious attention." She glances at the fallen Elfa as impassive as she was at the outset of things. "At first she talked about wanting to get home to her dad, kinda like anyone would want to, but something changed..." She glances back to Elle then. Her boss stands over a half-foot taller than she does, and next to her Ayame seems a bit tiny in comparison. Falling quiet, she waits to see if Elle wants to be bothered with any more of the details at this point before she goes forward.
The mercenary nods. Any indication of what just happened to her isn't made. Elle's already shaking it off, the effects slowly fading. She has a headache like a truck just got parked on her head. Again, Elle's been through a lot. This is just item number infinity on 'list of strange attacks I have taken'. Still, behind her glasses, Elle's eyes are bloodshot, and her walk isn't as steady as she'd like it to be. It's important to put up an image of strength, not to intimidate her teammates, but to let them know everythigng is alright.
When Elle is worried, then everyone else should be. Just a rule of thumb for those in Blackjack's roster.
"Sounded like some kind of mantra, or a brainwashed preprogrammed response," Elle says, considering her own interactions with the Zero Doll and the data she has on that particularly deadly playtoy. "Either she came with that to Vega, or Vega pickled her brain and stuck a command in there. Either way, she's a psychic the likes that I haven't seen since Vega himself." The woman stares at the downed Shadaloo toy for a moment.
"Call the medivacs and get her packed in ice and tranqs. I want her dead alseep with enough drugs to down a rhino."
"I found a buyer for Brain Rape Barbie here, and that ought to keep us in the black for a good long time. The shimpment to NESTS should be by this afternoon, but this little monster is going straight to Rugal. He's been dying to see what Shadaloo's been hiding in it's basement for years, and now he's got his very own psycho bomb."
The mercenary considers for a moment, and then looks at Ayame. "No need to apologize. You did everything right. You held her down until I could get here. You didn't run. Good work."
Ayame nods her head as Elle seems to hit all of the key points of what happened. She doesn't need to explain anything other than to remark, "She had a strange reaction to energy. You probably saw it from your attack too. After I struck her with mine, it behaved in a way different than a simple impact. She manipulated it herself for a moment, literally drawing it around her for a few seconds." The girl half shrugs. It sounds like Elfa is about to become someone else's problem and they're getting paid. Those are two concepts she's very good at understanding.
At the assessment of her ability to handle the situation, Ayame nods her head, her expression tight lipped though there is a glimmer of something in her eyes that isn't as easily concealed. A bit of pride in a job well done that someone /else/ can appreciate for a change. Normally her best jobs only infuriate everyone else, leaving only her to appreciate the accomplishment. This is a different sensation for a change.
"All right," is her verbal response to Elle's evaluation, sounding a lot more indifferent than she actually feels. "I'll go make the call." And with that the girl turns on her heels to head back toward the desk she was working at when this whole afternoon went haywire to begin with. Now that all this is out of the way she can take some pain killers for her head and get back to modifying those PDAs - the latest line in AyameTech to come down the pipeline.
COMBATSYS: Ayame has left the fight here.
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Elle 0/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Elle has ended the fight here.
Log created on 20:45:35 11/19/2007 by Elfa, and last modified on 02:33:02 11/20/2007.