Description: A great zeppelin's passenger cabin is backdrop for this Saturday Night Fight. What will come of it? (Winner: Nadine)
A blimp.
Not since the Hindenberg has a zeppelin of this size flown. These days, people tend to look at the Goodyear blimp and think that's what a zeppelin is like. No, not this one. If you've ever seen Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, you know that these things are large and are intended for long haul transport of people in amazing amounts of luxury. The dining cabin of this thing seems like the size of a city block, with tables and chairs all decked out in their finery. One of the very few times that lace and leather come together in something that's not porn-worthy.
Strangely enough, despite the upcoming bout, the tables have not been moved. There is a small dance floor off to one side, big enough for four couples to do the tango together, but barely, and they somehow believe that the fight will stay there. Oh, the sorry fools. A pianist, dressed in a tuxedo, sits behind a white grand piano. The gentle sounds of Sinatra classics waft through the cabin as his fingers tickle the ivories. A bar lines a wall a few feet from the dance floor, and there, sitting at the stool closest to the pianist, is a young Hawai'ian woman by the name of Leilani Ke'ekikolani.
The Blackjack operative hardly looks out of place, here amongst such opulence. Wearing an ankle length evening gown of black silk with a high neck and an open back, her hands clad in wrist-length gloves, a mink stole hugging her shoulders and gold jewelry adorning her neck, ears and fingers, one would hardly think she's here to fight. But the Shark is, stepping back out of the obscurity of casino operations in order to get the taste of blood back in her mouth. She raises a glass of Dom Perignon to her reddened lips, sipping gently at the golden liquid as she waits for her foes to get ready...
Amongst such refined elegance Kiyoko is completely, and utterly out of place. Not because she's a tomboy with poor manners or anything like that, but because she's sitting there in a martial arts uniform. If she'd know that the fight was going to be held in a place like this she'd have dressed up for sure, but as it is she's left looking like an eyesore amongst the casual elegance of the dining cabin. As such she's doing her best to go completely unnoticed. While Leilani could easily be just another one of the patrons on board the zeppelin, the Justice student is clearly the entertainment, and it's embarrassing. It'll be easy enough to put all that aside once the fight begins, but for now she's going to try and stay out of the way and just fade into the background.
Some other people look a little less suited to the opulence. Nadine's family has money - and a lot of it - but Nadine is not going to risk her good jewelry and her best dress in what she thinks is going to end up little more than a brawl. Most of the Saturday Night Fights she's been in have.
This means she is in only a /fairly/ good cocktail dress in a deep blue. Unlike her usual skirts, it's long enough to hide the thigh sheaths of her knives, making her look more or less like any other patron. She does not have an alcoholic drink because she's sixteen, and has obtained water instead.
She also looks bored out of her skull, but that isn't new.
The pianist stops playing after a little flourish on the keys. "Okay, ladies and gentlemen," he says, voice oozing with confidence and swagger. If it was just slightly insincere, it would be lounge-singerish. But it's so natural, it comes off well. "We have a special event this evening. In conjunction with Graf Zeppelin Airlines and Howard Industries, we present to you, the fifth matchup of tonight's Saturday Night Fight!" Polite applause from the combined crowd echoes in the cabin as Leilani sets her flute of champagne down and slides off her stool, strolling onto the small dance floor.
"Over here, dressed in a smashing deep blue number is the lovely Nadine Kennicot. Everyone give her a round of applause." The crowd dutifully complies, a few people whooping quietly. "In the gorgeous black dress, we have the ravishing Leilani Ke'ekikolani, a native of Hawai'i." The crowd seems divided here, with barely polite applause from some women and even less from their husbands, whom are getting the look of death. The single male staffers, on the other hand, and the few more secure couples are applauding deeper, with a few whoops as well. "And finally, coming straight here from her dojo, it's Kiyoko Fukakami. Give her a hand." More applause, followed by a brief musical flourish. "Whenever you are ready, ladies... you may begin."
Removing her stole, Leilani sets it on the top of the piano before stepping towards her opponents. "Good luck, both of you. Let's make sure to give it all we have."
COMBATSYS: Leilani has started a fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Leilani 0/-------/-------|
Kiyoko's face reddens. Straight from her dojo? Oh man, why did he have to add that on, it just makes it worse? A little sigh escapes her as her two opponents are introduced, and indeed are both wearing nice dresses. She figured that was the case, since there wasn't anyone else dressed as she was on the zeppelin, but having it confirmed is still a bit of a downer. "Oh well," She decides, "At least it isn't going to matter for the actual fight." Which she has no choice but to convince herself is what's really important, here.
She stands up from her seat and walks over to the small dancing floor that seems to have been designated as the fighting area. A slight smile is given to Leilani as she speaks up. "Yea! Same for you, good luck. I'm definitely going to do my best, so don't worry about that."
Finally, Nadine thinks.
She stands up, setting her mostly empty waterglass down to the side, as her name is called. She takes attention and appraisal as strictly expected and shows no real response to it other than a very small, very slight smile. Nadine takes the time of the brief walk over toward the dancing area to examine her opponents a little more carefully.
"Next time," she says quietly to the red-faced Kiyoko, "you might want to get some information about where you're going, before you go there. I'd hate to see someone make a fool of themselves again." The smile stays right where it is as she walks on past, into the far corner.
COMBATSYS: Nadine has joined the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Leilani 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Nadine
COMBATSYS: Kiyoko has joined the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Kiyoko 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Nadine
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Leilani 0/-------/-------|
Nadine gets to her spot in the corner. She waits an astounding one second. This may be an example of her patience when it comes to useless time-wasting; she /can/ be patient but sees no point in doing so when everyone is quite clearly here and ready to begin.
Then she acts, seeing as the man /did/ tell them to start already. Nadine edges forward slightly, trying to decide which one of her opponents is the bigger threat. Unable to make up her mind, as she's seen neither one of them fight before, Nadine darts toward the obvious martial artist, holding one hand in front of her. The hand and arm is surrounded by an aura of thickened air, and when she swings the arm widely, the pressure wave pushes forward hard.
COMBATSYS: Nadine successfully hits Kiyoko with Gale Press.
Glancing Blow
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Kiyoko 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Nadine
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Leilani 0/-------/-------|
he student of Justice High does her best to keep from looking even more embarrassed as Nadine passes her and warns her to be more careful. "Hai..." Okay, Kiyoko, time to put all that behind you! It wouldn't due to let a social mistake affect her in the actual fight, after all, and it's so close to starting time that she needs to focus herself. She takes in a deep breath and then slips into her fighting stance.
Not a moment later Nadine is coming for her with a strike of windy energy. Responding as quickly as she can manage the girl jumps away from the swinging blow. She's not able to get completely out of the way, but it's obvious that it doesn't impact her fully either, the girl stumbling a bit on her landing and looking somewhat wind ruffled.
The hop moved her away from Nadine, so that puts her in a bit of an awkward position if she wanted to strike at her, so she decides to focus her attention elsewhere. It's probably better to get Leilani involved right away rather than letting her sit back and pick and choose her targets anyway. A moment after she lands Kiyoko shifts her stance and jumps forward towards Leilani, extending one leg out to try and land on her, kicking off and jumping away if she manages to make contact.
COMBATSYS: Leilani counters Winter Snow from Kiyoko with Counter Strike.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Kiyoko 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Nadine
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Leilani 0/-------/------=|
Well, Leilani is more than happy to get into the mix of things. While it might've been more interesting to choose her primary target, there really isn't time for that. Instead, Kiyoko decides for her. And things are about to get a little interesting.
As the girl leaps at her with leg extended, the Hawai'ian slams her fist forward, a 3 carat cubic stud taking aim directly at Kiyoko's kneecap. Immediately as she feels it hit home, she starts a windmill with her upper body, avoiding the girl as her center of balance is overturned by the sudden and unexpected impact. Leilani's hand, now rigid, chops down on the back of the tai chi practitioner's neck, spiking her into the ground.
Hopping backwards in her stilettos (and amazingly keeping her balance), the Blackjack operative... begins to dance.
Seeing as everyone is moving away from Nadine, she sees no point in following them. Range is where she's best, after all; she doesn't need to rush forward and put herself in a vulnerable position if she doesn't have to.
Instead she backs up almost to the edge of the dancing area, and then takes one step past it. Someone behind her gets out of her way as she does, which she fails to pay attention to. One of her hands flits down for a moment, and it comes back up holding one of the broad knives liberated from its thigh sheath. Nadine passes it to her left hand, considers a moment, and then pitches it at Leilani with remarkable speed; a flick of her wrist makes it spin in the air just so.
Hit or miss, winds pull it out of wherever it stuck or from wherever it landed and drag it back toward Nadine's waiting hand.
Whoops. Looks like Kiyoko should have retaliated against the person who harmed her rather than trying to attack Leilani! Her kick is intercepted by a hard punch to the knee, which is then followed up by a chop to the back of the neck, which slams the girls face down to the ground, dragging a sharp gasp from her as she hits. "Ow..."
As Nadine is busy flinging a knife towards Leilani the Tai Chi practitioner is busy picking herself back up off the floor. She rubs the back of her neck and shakes her head a little, trying to clear it up. Part of her wants to go and try and fight Nadine rather than doubleteam Leilani, but she also wants to prove that she's not completely incapable of harming her.
So once she's back to her feet she reaches out for the Hawaiian, trying to grab her by the shoulders from behind, staying mindful of the knife that's still flying through the air, and use leverage to take her off her feet and slam her down to the ground with all the force her relatively small muscles can manage. It's not very graceful, but if she's caught off guard it could be effective.
COMBATSYS: Leilani just-defends Nadine's Medium Fling!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Kiyoko 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Nadine
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Leilani 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Leilani counters Strong Throw from Kiyoko with Kona Wind.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Kiyoko 0/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Nadine
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Leilani 0/-------/-----==|
Well, the rule of thumb apparently is to not attack the dancing chick. She is dangerous.
Seriously. A knife comes flying at her, and, without breaking her dance, she raises her hand and catches it. CATCHES it. Between her index and middle finger. And while the blade disappears as she releases it, heading back towards the thrower's hand... the Hawai'ian feels hands on her back. With little thought, she reaches up and grabs Kiyoko's hand. Spinning gracefully, she wrenches the girl's wrist around, locking out the joints of both wrist and elbow. A little leverage from the Shark forces the tai chi user to bend over, allowing Leilani to continue her graceful spin... by rolling over her back like a swing dancer. Hooking her arm around the locked limb as she rolls, the Blackjack operative ducks as she lands, using her own momentum and strength to combine with the body's tendency to move towards the path of least resistance... and thus slam Kiyoko into the hardwood with some serious force.
And as if she hadn't lost a beat, Leilani continues to hula.
Nadine picks her knife out of the air as it comes back, frowning. Apparently the dancer is a bigger threat than the martial artist, which is just strange to Nadine. Normally isn't it the other way around? She considers a moment while moving around the outside of the current area where the fight is - and then decides that what she needs is confusion.
Nadine backs up some more, then darts into the crowd. She's short, and would ordinarily blend right in, but as half the crowd was trying to /watch/ her and what she's doing, it ends up being more of a chaotic mess very shortly than anything else.
She vaults up onto an unused dining table for the ability to see over the crowd, throws one knife at Leilani, and drops back down. This knife is assisted by a sudden burst of wind that makes an audible crack in the air, accelerating the knife dramatically and causing it to swerve around obstacles to a limited extent.
As soon as Kiyoko tries to get a grip on the dancer, she spins around and grabs a hold of Kiyoko's arm and twists it in a very painful manner. That alone is enough to keep the girl from being able to do anything at all to her, but the pain doesn't end there. After a few more maneuvers on Leilani's part she's slammed back into the ground, face first. And all those locks are causing her joints to scream with pain as she hits the floor. This time it's going to take her a significantly longer amount of time to get back to her feet.
But she does get back up, now not only annoyed with her own performance but starting to get genuinely annoyed with the hula dancer. Nadine is all but completely forgotten, and the girl moves to round Leilani and then simply ball up her slam fist and try and plant it right onto the womans nose. The two fighters would probably have a better idea why the dancer is so much better if they knew she wasn't so much a martial artist as a high school aged girl who just happens to know Tai Chi.
COMBATSYS: Leilani blocks Kiyoko's Quick Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Kiyoko 0/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Nadine
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Leilani 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Leilani slows Zephyr Lance from Nadine with Waterspout.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Kiyoko 0/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Nadine
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Leilani 0/-------/---====|
The zeppelin, normally a very constant and smooth ride, rumbles a little. Strange.
The basic punch comes almost as a surprise, but the Hawai'ian recovers a bit to bring her hand up as she ducks low. The punch catches her square in the wrist, causing muscles and tendons to start twitching. It stings quite a bit. Rolling backwards after the blow, the Shark catches sight of Nadine hopping onto the table and she smiles, dragging two fingers across the dance floor.
The zeppelin rumbles violently.
Standing quickly, the Blackjack operative slams her fingers into the air. Suddenly, a section of the dance floor explodes upwards as a thin spout of the Pacific comes rushing up from the ocean below... 1,500 below the deck. The spinning water does catch the knife and deflects it to a degree... but it still manages to hit the dancer in the hip. Luckily, it hits hard but flat...
As the water dissipates, it leaves something behind. A gaping hole in the floor of the zeppelin, exposing wires and machinery. Moments later, klaxons begin to fire. The controls have been damaged.
And Leilani keeps dancing.
Well that was unexpected.
Nadine's knife does not come back immediately because her attention is rather taken with the /hole/ in the floor that shows water a long, long way down. Then again, it's all air between here and there - and isn't air what she's good with?
The crowd is dividing and largely trying to get out of the way, now, which means Nadine is visible once again, and quite clearly. She has her second knife in her hand, and makes a gesture with her other hand, bringing the first knife back to her.
Then she waits, standing just behind a table for partial cover, and watches. Things are going to change. She needs to judge how.
COMBATSYS: Nadine focuses on her next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Kiyoko 0/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Nadine
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Leilani 0/-------/---====|
Her punch is stopped, but at least she's not immediately crushed into the ground or joint locked. It's going to have to do, for now. Kiyoko's spent quite a while focusing on Leilani, and for all that she's managed to maybe cause her wrist to sting a little and gotten hurt rather badly herself. If that wasn't enough for her to decide to switch gears, suddenly there's a hole torn in the bottom of the zeppelin as water rushes up from beneath.
What the hell. "Oh my god!" She looks to Leilani, "Are you inane? You can't do that, what if someone falls through!" See Kiyoko. See Kiyoko getting as far away from that hole as she can. Luckily, Nadine is rather far away from it. Yes, she is. And hadn't she decided she should focus on her? Good idea! Getting away from Leilani as fast as she can manage, she rushes over to Nadine, who seems to not be paying much attention to her in the first place. Once she's close she rolls forward onto her hands and tries to wrap her legs about the other girls neck, hooking her ankles together before falling backwards. If successful it should rip her right off her feet and then slam her down onto her back, Kiyoko rolling up to her feet in one smooth motion.
There's a wide smile that the Hawai'ian flashes at Kiyoko when her sanity is called into question... and for the briefest moment, her teeth look less like those of a human and more like a set from a Great White.
Why should a shark be afraid of the water?
It would seem that the pair have finally decided to stop teaming up on her for the time being. This is good. It gives her time to breathe. To dance. To kick debris down the hole.
Meanwhile, the klaxons continue to blare. The passengers all hurry out of the lounge area, as staff and SNF crew try to clear the area in case things go bad. Wind whips up through the hole as the zeppelin begins to descend.
And the bartender and pianist quickly make their escape. It would seem someone forgot to inform the crew that they had a nutcase on board.
COMBATSYS: Leilani gains composure.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Kiyoko 0/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Nadine
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Leilani 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Nadine dodges Kiyoko's Harvest Moon.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Kiyoko 0/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Nadine
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Leilani 0/-------/-----==|
Any time Nadine looks like she's not paying attention, she really is, and probably more than if you notice her watching. She stands right where she is, both knives in hand, and looks around the battlefield, eyes flicking left and right even as people leave and Kiyoko approaches her.
All of a sudden, Nadine jumps, leaping over Kiyoko with a rustle of wind as her powers come into play again. Landing behind Kiyoko, Nadine levels a strong kick up in the small of Kiyoko's back, attempting to send her toppling over the table Nadine was half-hiding behind and send it flying.
She advances, afterwards, toward Leilani and the hole, even when the Zeppelin starts to shift slightly as it descends.
COMBATSYS: Nadine successfully hits Kiyoko with Heavy Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Kiyoko 1/-----==/=======|=------\-------\0 Nadine
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Leilani 0/-------/-----==|
Nadine's quick evasion of her attempt to snag her leaves Kiyoko in an incredible awkward position. She's rolled up onto her hands, and suddenly there's a kick coming right for her back. Really, she doesn't stand a chance, and the leg smashes into her and tosses her forward, the girl landing on the table and falling over it, her moving weight easily enough to flip it onto it's side as she goes over the edge, fine wine, silverware, glasses, and food all falling onto her.
"Nnnng..." Now she's -really- not feeling very good. But... the show must go on. She can't exactly give up now just because she's behind, can she? Getting casually tossed aside as she has been, a complete and utter non-factor in the fight, is getting on her nerves. Throwing the tablecloth off of herself she uses the overturned table to pick herself back up, and then moves up behind Nadine as she tries to get over to Leilani. Her hands are suddenly surrounded by green energy, and she begins swinging them in fast, circular motions, clearly a Tai Chi workout to those that have seen one. It's not her hands that would do the striking though, but rather the chi that surrounds them.
The descent is slow, but deliberate. With an injury to the ship's structure, they must be prepared to evacuate, which means pretty much landing on the water itself. Luckily, being that they're in the middle of the ocean, the chop is pretty light. But the airship is still hobbled, as the rudder controls have been severed by the Waterspout, which means that while the ship can continue to move, they have no way to steer. This is, of course, a Bad_Thing(tm).
Not that Leilani would seem to care, at least. In fact, she seems to be enjoying herself immensely, her dancing in rhythm with the red klaxons. But the dancing is the deception, and she's proven herself quite able already. So when her hula brings her towards a chair near the edge of the dancefloor, it may not be evident her plan until after she's snagged the seat. Spinning around with it as if she were in a hammer throw event, the Hawai'ian sends the chair hurtling towards the now approaching Nadine. While utterly unlikely, the thought of sending her out through the hole appeals greatly.
COMBATSYS: Nadine dodges Kiyoko's Summer Breeze.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Kiyoko 1/-----==/=======|=------\-------\0 Nadine
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Leilani 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Nadine dodges Leilani's Large Thrown Object.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Kiyoko 1/-----==/=======|=------\-------\0 Nadine
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Leilani 0/-------/-----==|
Nadine's aerial ability comes to the fore here. Nadine never stops moving forward, but she does a good deal of it in the air; the chair comes at her first, and Nadine half-catches it with wind, slowing it enough that she can vault over it and leave Kiyoko's martial arts maneuvers behind her. Some of the chi comes uncomfortably close, but is actually deflected by blowing winds - and how does she do that? It's a mystery.
Nadine almost glides in the air, moving over the hole without slowing down and descending much closer to Leilani. She comes down with both knives out, angling for a downward slash as the updraft finally gives out and she falls the last few inches a lot faster, adding momentum to her chop. She follows it up with a second, fiercer straight strike toward Leilani's dancing form, aiming at the center of mass because it moves a little less.
Whiff. Kiyoko's glowing hands miss entirely as Nadine sails away. Considering how mobile she's turning out to be, that's not a terribly large surprise. This really does lend to the question of exactly what she's going to do next, though. Nadine can get out of the way fast enough that she can't so much as touch her, and touching Leilani has two times out of three ended in large amounts of pain.
Everything her martial arts has taught her has thus far done nothing, so it's time to move into territory unknown. Leilani just threw a chair at Nadine, which is now laying broken on the ground. Hmm. Kiyoko goes to the broken chair and picks up one of the legs. She tests it's weight in her hands, and advances. Nadine is keeping Leilani busy, so Kiyoko circles around behind the hula dancer. Creeping up behind her poorly, she grips the chair leg in both hands and swings it as hard as she can towards the back of her head. The woman -is- crazy. Whatever she did with that water really seems to have screwed up the zeppelin, and thus, she needs to be stopped. Maybe a hunk of wood to the noggin' will do just that.
COMBATSYS: Leilani blocks Nadine's Fierce Strike.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Kiyoko 1/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Nadine
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Leilani 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Leilani fails to counter Random Weapon from Kiyoko with Counter Strike.
- Power fail! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Kiyoko 1/-----==/=======|=------\-------\0 Nadine
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Leilani 0/-------/=======|
All things must come to an end.
As Nadine floats over, trying to apparently disembowel the Blackjack operative, Leilani fiercely defends, somehow managing to avoid getting slashed up by deflecting the blows at the wrist. Her dress is slashed open, however, right underneath her ribcage, a nice eight inch gash in the silk pulled open by the weight of the material. She's got good abs.
But this knife attack has a secondary effect. For while the Shark hears Kiyoko approaching, she doesn't seem to get the timing right. Turning around to strike the girl down before she herself is hit... she instead whips her head better into the path of the incoming leg of chair. Only a sudden flinch saves face... literally... and lets the leg strike her firmly behind and under the ear. Not a good place to be hit. In fact, the force of the blow sends her careening towards the hole, and only the breaking of one of her heels stops her from falling into it. Down and thrown for a loop, the Hawai'ian makes no quick motion to return to her feet.
Three of the SNF crew rush back into the room, each carrying a parachute. They run over to the bar, tossing the packs against the counter and saluting the three fighters. Then, without a word, they rush off again. Looks like there's a way to escape if necessary...
There is always a way; it's just a question of whether you want to take it.
Nadine is not yet ready to jump for safety. For starters, it's only arguably safety; they could follow, or she could kill herself on the landing, even with an updraft to slow her fall. No, far better to make everyone /else/ jump and be the last one down.
Leilani is down for a moment. Nadine literally leaps, again, toward Kiyoko, one arm outstretched; if she does it right, she comes down with her arm wrapping around the other woman's neck, spinning around to her back while half-choking her and delivering a knee to the small of the back.
If she doesn't, she probably looks a little silly, but them's the breaks. "Doing fine?" she asks, quite pleasantly, as she does. It's fake pleasantness.
COMBATSYS: Kiyoko interrupts Savage Combo from Nadine with Vernal Equinox.
[ \\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Kiyoko 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Nadine
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Leilani 0/-------/=======|
Well, that worked. The likelihood was that she'd end up paying the price for such an action, but in the end it looks like Kiyoko is going to, for the present anyway, get away with smacking the Hawaiian in the back of the head with a chair leg. She lets out a few huffing breaths afterwards, and shakes her head. "I'm going to be really mad if this thing actually crashes because of what you did."
Meanwhile, she's allowed herself to get distracted, forgetting that Nadine is also a threat. This is reminded to her suddenly as she's grabbed onto and put into a chokehold. Struggling against it, she lets her chi flow through her body, hands lighting up with green energy once more. Managing to break the hold before the knee can be delivered, she spins around and swings her arms in wide arcs in front of Nadine. The energy hangs in the air as two large, crossing crescents and one final swing of her arm forms a third. It merges with the others and then the whole mass surges forward and crashes into Nadine.
Slowly, the Hawai'ian stands. Obviously rattled, she wobbles unsteadily for a moment before dropping to her knees. For a long second, she stays there, before she starts undoing the straps on her shoes. With a heel broken, there's little she can do with them on.
Each shoe is unceremoniously tossed down the hole as it is removed, and eventually she gathers herself enough to get back on her feet. That blow shook her to the core, apparently. Looking down through the hole for a moment, the Shark staggers back and drops to a knee again. Or does she? Her fingers extended, palm up, she makes gentle circles on the floor with her nails. These circles start slow, almost lazy... but start building up speed and deliberation until she once again stands, hand shooting into the air again... and the hole is once again spewing forth the ocean tempest. This time, however, it seeks to destroy, not defend. The mad rush of water crashes into the ceiling before cutting forward at the center, trying to collide with Kiyoko and make her hurt. And wet.
The airship lurches again... and Leilani, unsteady on her feet, topples onto her hands and knees.
Nadine goes flying from the last of the three crescents, hits the ground and rolls. She does not roll all the way out, having been going mostly the wrong direction, but it /is/ painful and it puts her quite some distance away - not to mention makes her slightly less inclined to get up for a moment.
Eventually she does, not being particularly badly hurt yet, just dazed from the impact and slightly dizzy from the rolling. She makes a sharp cutting motion with her hand, rising up, and the hole eventually stops spewing water.
This time it spews /air/, a blast rising up, hitting the ceiling with enough force to swirl around, and making a rather strange-looking upside-down tornado. Channeling the wind, Nadine brings it downward, catching some of the water as she brings it in a reverse spout toward Leilani.
COMBATSYS: Kiyoko fails to slow Waterspout from Leilani with Spring Blossom.
- Power fail! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Leilani 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Nadine
COMBATSYS: Kiyoko can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Leilani 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Nadine
COMBATSYS: Leilani dodges Nadine's Rolling Storm.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Leilani 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Nadine
Water shoots up from the hole again, and this time rather than intercepting a knife it directs itself towards Kiyoko. The girl responds almost automatically, drawing up more energy and swinging her left hand in a wide motion, a crescent of energy forming in the air and rushing towards the water. Only... it misses! It's hard to say how she could have messed up so bad, but simply put her aim is off. Who knows what may have happened had the energy collided with the water, but instead we'll find a green crescent of energy crashing into an overturned table and breaking it apart, just in case someone needs another hunk of wood to use as a weapon.
As for Kiyoko, she fares better if only because she doesn't break into pieces, the water slamming into her and thrusting her backwards and against a wall of the zeppelin. "Uh...ugh." She winces, and slumps slightly, unable to get back to her feet. She's going to take a few moments to rest now that she's out of this, and then go see if she's actually going to have to parachute out.
Toppling over apparently was the right thing to do, as it allowed the Hawai'ian to roll out of the way of the incoming tornado attack. "One down," she mutters to herself... but then notes her voice. It doesn't sound right. It sounds... squeakier.
Tiles fall from the ceiling, exposing another swath of damage from Leilani's attack... including the smallish hole in the actual skin of the zeppelin. Brown eyes trail to the wound in the airship, and they grow large. "Oh crap," she says, starting to sound a little more like one of the Chipmunks than an exotic dancer.
She looks to her opponents, and then glances to the parachutes. "I think it's time we book it, girls," she says, scrambling over towards the nearest chute. "This big ass balloon just sprung a leak."
It takes the Shark a few moments to fumble with the clasps before getting it all hooked in. Looking over to Nadine, she smiles, eyes still glazed over from the blow to the head. "Guess this one's yours," she says, while wandering over towards the hole. "Catch you around."
And with a quick wave, she slips through the hole and into freefall.
COMBATSYS: Leilani has left the fight here.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Nadine 0/-------/---====|
Nadine glances up as well, surrounding herself with an aura of air rather like her Gale Press attack previously. The advantage: she can breathe, even if she can't keep this up forever and feels a little strange doing it at all. All she needs, however, is long enough to get to a parachute and buckle it on, something she's not entirely sure how to do.
"Quite an unusual method for victory," she says, "but I won't complain." Kiyoko is totally on her own to get out; Nadine isn't warm-hearted enough to bother to save her, instead just jumping on her own.
COMBATSYS: Nadine has ended the fight here.
Log created on 14:42:23 12/15/2007 by Leilani, and last modified on 13:54:31 12/18/2007.