Description: Alice in Chains (1994). Yurika comes to the Seventh Circle looking for answers, and the only way to get them is to best Elle in combat. Yurika puts up an astounding performance, but still only manages to just barely scrape ahead of her opponent. Yurika gets the answer she's looking for... but it may not be exactly what she wanted to hear.
When Aislinn told her that Yurika wanted to have a match with her, Elle considered it carefully, like she does all things. After a while, she replied with an affirmative, and set the date. Elle rarely responds to challenges, but in this particular case, she'll make an exception. The Blackjack leader always has plans, and though the mercenary company has been quiet as of late, Elle never stops plotting. The amount of downtime only serves to give her ample room to work.
There's always new fighters to meet and assess. Ayame's been excellent about gathering data and submitting reports. Minor external threats exist for her to deal with, and there's always the fact that some of her employees are missing or otherwise running silent.
The time's come to move again, and Elle has an agenda that is once again wholly her own. Now that the casino is running and the Arena is performing whatever insidious purpose it's supposed to be performing, Elle takes another step forward where others rest on their laurels.
What part Yurika plays in all of this, if indeed she truly has any, is another question entirely.
It's rare that she fights in her own arena. Elle fights onyl when necessary. It's a tool to bring about results, and not something to be taken lightly. Still, Yurika's requested a match, and Elle's responded for her own reasons, meaning she stands resolute at the base of the concerete pit while her erstwhile personal assistant Bob (formerly 'Bobbo') rallies off tonight's matchup.
The daughter of a esteemed clan of ninja assassins. A hard boiled mercenary who clawed her way up from relative nothingness. It's the stuff of legends and makes for good copy as Bob weaves his weasel words, whipping the crowd of overdressed, overpaid, overfed moral degenerates into a frenzy. This isn't an SNF. It's not Neo League. This is the Seventh Circle. People demand blood, demand screams, and demand violence in it's purest of forms.
This is how Marise set up the arena, and how it has been maintained. Blood stains the concerete and the sickly stench of decay already fills the pit from the violent destruction that happens here regularly, made only more thick by the hot spotlights that roam above, focusing on the combatants below.
Elle is calm as ever, already set for combat. She doesn't say much, as usual. On one of her hands is a katar, ready for combat as a mace sits snugly in a holster at her hip and what looks like the butt of a pistol on the holster at her other side. As Bob wraps up his tirade about the deadly display that's about to occur, Elle has only one thing to say before the fight starts.
"This isn't your sandbox. You stepping in here means that you want to deal with adults. If you want answers, be prepared to negotiate like you mean it. I don't play games, and funtime is over."
COMBATSYS: Elle has started a fight here.
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Elle 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Yurika has joined the fight here.
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Elle 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Yurika
It wasn't an easy decision, the more Yurika thought about it during her flight to Metro City, the more she started to question it. There was no doubt in her mind that where she was going, she most certainly did not belong. The kind of fighting that went there obviously wasn't becoming to a lady such as herself.
But as she thought about it, it all pointed back to a simple answer- She didn't have a choice in the matter. If she didn't, she wouldn't get the answers she wanted. Not a lot was planned out, however, the only thing that was certain was that she couldn't go under her usual name, and so she had signed up under the alias of 'Y' (Why). She arrives at the arena clad in different attire, black pants and shirt slightly oversized so that it looks more like a dress, her shoulders exposed somewhat to show the fishnet beneath. The same color is her gloves and boots, and her usually curly hair has been shuffled around so that silver bangs sweep at either side of her face and a rather large ponytail is formed behind her. And of course a mask over the lower side of her face.
Needless to say, she's not pleased with what she sees, the floor is looked at with distaste. Perhaps it'd be best to just get this over with as soon as possible. Her dark eyes give Elle a bit of a hard look, and she swallows hard. In all honesty she was as nervous as she was displeased. "Very well."
And then the match starts, perhaps the best strategy would be to hit as hard as possible. She had only seen a tiny bit of Elle's newer moves in their last match and isn't entirely sure what to expect this time around. Once she's close, she sweeps her palm out to strike Elle under the chin. This is then followed up with three rapid punches with alternating fists to the gut. Fist fighting was never really her forte, but perhaps the element of suprise would be helpful here.
COMBATSYS: Yurika successfully hits Elle with Medium Strike.
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Elle 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Yurika
Elle's seldom surprised by anything anymore. Jaded doesn't even begin to describe her demeanor. Nevertheless, there's speed and reaction time that she has to deal with, and Yurika manages to cut things close. As a result, her initial strikes slam into Elle's chin and gun. The battle has been joined.
The mercenary steps back, adjusting herself. Closing in with fists instead of weapons means she's going to have to adjust her tactics accordingly. The weapon on her left hand immediately begins to hum with a startling amount of power as Elle channels a sonic burst through it.
The punching dagger blurs into life as she takes a step back. The motion is deliberate and mechanical as Elle's eyes flick around the arena,zeroing in on portions of the body that some would consider critical as she recovers from Yurika's initial strikes. With tremendous force, Elle hurls her arm forward, the punching dagger targeting between the ribcage and collarbone as she looks to pound a hole straight through the ninja violinist.
Should it hit, she'll also release a powerful bolt of sonic energy, which will frankly hurt a hell of a lot more than the dagger ever could hope.
COMBATSYS: Yurika blocks Elle's Ace of Spades.
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Elle 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 Yurika
Hmn, Elle didn't look all that suprised. Well that was well and good, since Yurika really didn't feel very comfortable with the technique anyway, plus it's more difficult to deal with Elle's weapons. But Yurika doesn't have her violin with her, what's her plan to deal with the katar?
Her hands slip at her sides like a blurr and there's a loud, musical hum when metal hits metal, withint Yurika's crosses arms are two long tuning forks, about a foot each, with pointed tips. The blade gets caught between one of the forks, and the musical hum generates enough musical energy for her to focus on using it to distill the electrical charge that follows a good bit.
Yurika bends at the knees, and rests her opposite arm at Elle's stomach. Assuming she doesn't slip away the musician, with a grunt, would heft the Blackjack leader a bit into the air, press her tuning fork to Elle's neck and proceed to twirl her like a gymnasts ribbon a few times, finalized with a sharp slam down onto the hard floor.
COMBATSYS: Elle blocks Yurika's Melancholy Air.
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Elle 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Yurika
It would have been something if it had worked. However, Elle's not going to stand around and ler herself get thrown around. As she's lifted, Elle twists her body feircely, pulling free from the grasp and hits the ground in a crouch, her face as impassive as ever. Yurika's not using her usual tactics. It's an attempt to throw her off. However, that assumes Elle's never seen similar tactics from anyone else.
Whether or not she has or hasn't is questionable. She's been around an awful lot, though. It remains to be seen if the mercenary has enough tricks to keep herself on top of things.
She doesn't stand immediately. One hands scrapes the floor as the other one is raised up quickly, electrical energy coursing from fingertip to fingertip, sparking across her gauntlets like a vicious, nasty animal. With a siple flex of the fingers, Elle commands the lightning to do her bidding. The snarling blue bolt hurls from her hand, streaking towards Yurika with considerable speed as she targets Yurika's shoulder again, attempting to tag and deaden the other musician's limb.
COMBATSYS: Yurika dodges Elle's High Voltage.
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Elle 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Yurika
Yurika doesn't doubt that the style the musician's currently using isn't anything Elle hasn't seen; in the times the two have met, it was clear to her that Elle is pretty experienced on the field but.. Yurika feels there's still enough uniqueness to keep herself in the game and keep Elle, if anything, on edge.
Her eyes narrow the moment the electrical energy crackles to life, and as the bolt streaks toward her shoulder, she simply shuffles to the left, leaving the energy to barely graze her. There's no wasted motion there, it's just enough to get out of the way and yet trail as close as she needs to. Her feet patter lightly along the floor and with Elle in striking distance she aims low, a sweeping kick toward the side of Elle's left knee.
COMBATSYS: Elle blocks Yurika's Light Kick.
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Elle 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Yurika
Elle's singularly unimpressed. The quick thrusting kick cracks against a turned shin, which is covered by her combat armor. The greave lets out a sharp crack as the foot collides with it, and Elle's just about had enough of this nickle and dime nonsense.
The ground beneath her feet seems to burst into a furious display as the electrical wire under the concrete jolts up under her feet. The power seems to attack her with vigor, feeding into her body with all the willingness of a hungry animal jumping at prey. it's only because that energy seems to know that Elle will use it to a devestating effect. Something about that power lives to cause destruction, if it could be called 'alive'.
In some respects, it's more alive than Elle herself. It's almost as if she acts as a conduit for the stuff moreso than it's weilder. Whatever the case, Elle's body is wrethed in power as she sets herself up in a defensive positions, readying herself carefully for what may come next.
COMBATSYS: Elle gathers her will.
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Elle 1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Yurika
Carefully taking a couple of steps back afterward, Yurika is perfectly aware of how cautious she's being; the past is a thing that the musician can very rarely, if ever, get over and the ghost that's haunting her this time is her record against her opponent.. Though it doesn't help that the atmosphere is making her similarly uncomfortable, and it's not until Elle's sudden display, the uproar of power that follows does Yurika realize that she hasn't been following her own plan at all. She's going to have to, at this point, do something she's simply not used to doing.
Be a little wreckless.
There's no need to focus harshly on tactics. Here, if she remembers correctly, pure power is going to be her ally. Yurika swallows again, unable to shake off her shivering, and she takes on whatever it is Elle is planning, head on. She holds her arms out like wings then crosses them, the tuning forks colliding togeather sharply and emits another deep hum. The musical energy comes to life, the air around her becomes blurred and distorted which is likely a technique she took from the musicians book. It looks harmless, but when Yurika gets close enough, the field of energy will try to pull Elle within it, and batter her without remorse.
COMBATSYS: Elle endures Yurika's Tragic Lullaby.
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Elle 1/---====/=======|====---\-------\0 Yurika
And here comes pain. Elle and it are acquaintences, and they pass one another frequently. Elle gladly takes pain in order to deal her own. Right now, it's hurting pretty bad. She doesn't recall Yurika doing this much damage before... but then again she really doesn't care. Other people have hit her with worse. Right now, there's not a whole lot hovering in her mind about discrepancy past the fact that she merely withstands the attack... and immediately starts moving forward, the excess power on her causing her to still spark. The pain from the hit makes her footsteps unsteady aft first. That wasn't exactly a light hit. Eyes are a little blurry. Still, she can see the overall shape of Yurika, and knows what she needs to be hitting.
One step, then another. Her steps become more certain the further she goes, and her katar is laready at full charge. The woman hurls herself forward at full speed, the weapon seeking to slam straight into Yurika's ribs. If she connects, Yurika will get another, and another, each blow causing shockwaves from the sonic chi being poured into the weapon.
COMBATSYS: Yurika blocks Elle's Ace of Spades.
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Elle 1/--=====/=======|======-\-------\0 Yurika
The musician gives a small smile, hidden behind her mask. She didn't expect Elle to take the full of that attack, and she just knows that it would send the Leader through the ringer, so to speak, as a result. It should be easy pickings from this point, there's no doubt in Yurika's mind at this point that Elle's nerves should be so messed up that she can hardly attack.
"That was a bad gamble.." she murmurs, twirling her forks like sai between her fingers, then clutches the handles to deal with the bladed attack the same as she did last time. The first bladed strike lands between the first fork, the blows that follow are redirected to the side, the constant hum keeping the electrical energy's damage to a level she can handle. With the final strike parried, Yurika takes a sweep backward, and then lunges forward with her palms pressed togeather, hammer-striking upward in an attempt to again catch Elle under the chin and knock her up into the air.
Yurika would leap up after her, her arms crossing, and then uncrossing to deliver 'x' slashes along the chest and stomach area, the blurred energy following her every strike. The combination is finalized with a downard strike to forcefully land her opponent.
COMBATSYS: Elle blocks Yurika's Tragic Waltz.
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Elle 1/=======/=======|=======\-------\0 Yurika
Bad gamble or not, Elle stands by her decisions. She's not dead yet, either, and is a long way from going down. More than a few opponents have written her off only to watch her simply get back up again. The fact is, if you have time to stands there and gloat? You have time to get caught in the face by something unpleasant.
Elle opts for causing unpleasantness.
As the incoming attack strikes out, the woman batters the hands to one side emotionlessly, and then bringa a gauntlet up to defend against the repeated strikes. The weapon tears along her arm. it hurts, but she's not anywhere near down yet. In the aftermath, Yurika's right next to her, and Elle's hand is already raised high to unleash all that power she's been storing up.
Unlike the sonic chi-imbued weapons she's been striking at Yurika with, this attack has nothing to do with a focus. The power at her fingertips isn't something that needs something to channel. All it needs is a ground. White hot energy immediately bursts forth from her hands, seeing to strike Yurika with all it's unpleasant fury. Elle's till got a lot more energy to spare, and all of it has the musician's name on it.
COMBATSYS: Yurika endures Elle's ACDC.
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Elle 0/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Yurika
Yurika believe she certainly needed that boost of confidence.. overconfidence tends to be a bad thing at times, but it certainly beats being intimidated. She holds one of her tuning forks upside down as she takes a defensive position, seemingly ready for whatever Elle has coming next. She didn't do as much damage as she had hoped, but she can work with this for now.
But what Elle unleashes isn't something she can readily defend against, but -can- work into her favor. The white energy, almost blinding, meets it's mark. All Yurika can really do is drop into a crouch and tighten her body, enduring the furious burst and waiting, just waiting for the right moment to strike back- Which she does just seconds before the technique tapers off. She reaches out to grab Elles leg (the one she struck previously), then rolls in the opposite direction in a somewhat awkward takedown. This would put her in a position to place an ankle lock, up on one knee as she twists sharply to the left and then to the right twice. Then as she stands up, she pulls the legs upward and drops to slam the knee into the ground.
COMBATSYS: Yurika successfully hits Elle with Medium Throw.
- Power hit! -
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Elle 1/------=/=======|=======\====---\1 Yurika
Well that was decidedly unexpected. As Yurika grabs her leg, Elle's tossed off balance. The sudden movement causes her arms to pinwheel, and she topples over, her head cracking against the concrete with considerable force. Under any circumstances, the attack wouldn't have hurt her very much, but the culminated damages is starting to take a serious toll.
She rolls back up again, trying to regain some level of focus and having a difficult time in doing so. Yurika's currently got the advantage, but Elle's not done yet, still. Nevertheless, she's been forced to take a moment to recollect herself. Normallt she's not one to stay on the defensive for too long, but right now she can't afford to make any kind of mistake.
The power that's usually used to attack is now used to defends. The electricity now flows inside to salve aches and pains, temporarily patch up damage and keep her running as she prepares for Yurika's next assault.
COMBATSYS: Elle gains composure.
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Elle 1/-------/=======|=======\====---\1 Yurika
Yurika of course breaks from the attack, and a small, almost relieved huff of air passes her lips. She rarely grapples, and is glad that worked, she's convinced that now she's created a weak spot for her to focus on. Brutality isn't her strong suit, she won't even pretend that much, but even someone like Elle has to cry 'Uncle' at some point, right? Just keep striking the leg and everything else will fall into place.
Yes, that would be her plan. It's no suprise to her that Elle doesn't strike back immedietly, it simply gives Yurika another opportunity to strike. She rushes low toward, and then past Elle, swinging her arm out at the last moment to smash the flat of her fork into Elles ankle, with enough force to trip her up yet again. Screeeching to a halt, she'd take the downed opportunity to backflip and stomp down on the back of the womans knee.
COMBATSYS: Yurika successfully hits Elle with Medium Strike.
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Elle 1/-----==/=======|=======\====---\1 Yurika
It's about this time when Elle's gotten to a point in the fight where she's just getting a little tired. She zigs when she should zag, and gets caught off guard. The foot comes down hard on her knee. The blow really doesn't do any more damage than it did the last time. Sure, it hurts, but Elle's used to pain at this point. It's teaks a hell of a lot more than what Yurika's been flinging at her to cause her give up.
Elle's just tough, and there's no two ways about it. But sometimes there's no accounting for bad luck. Elle hasn't landed a single clean hit in the entire fight, and that alone is going to be enough to put the kibosh on a lot of her tactical ability. So her entire focus is going to be spent makign sure that Yurika takes away the fact that Elle's got a lot more going on than just tactics.
Staggering up and favoring her less damaged leg, Elle once again calls on the electricity that's been powering her for the past few rounds. The energy in her roars to life, revitializing her and basically daring Yurika to try anything. There's no more fiddling about at this point. The next move Elleis going to make will be large and unpleasant for someone.
COMBATSYS: Elle gathers her will.
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Elle 1/-======/=======|=======\====---\1 Yurika
"Hmph.. Stubborn.." Yurika murmurs. But it's unsettling. Many fighters have great will, but with Elle refusing to cry mercy, it almost makes her wonder if she's wasting her time.. Maybe Elle's leg is a lot tougher than the musician gave credit for.
Or it could be all one big bluff, and because her opponent is difficult to read, Yurika simply just can't tell. Now that the electricity is roaring again, she finds yet another opportunity to strike, whatever plans Elle may have, Yurika is determined to end it before it comes to fruitation. The fork in her right hand slashes diagonally to the left when she dashes forward, and she twists with the motion to follow up with a high roundhouse kick to the jaw. Yurika pauses slightly, and rather predictably favors a lower strike, dropping to one hand, and thrusts the flat of her feet at the woman's legs.
COMBATSYS: Elle fails to interrupt Fierce Strike from Yurika with Wrathchilde.
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Elle 1/----===/=======|=======\=====--\1 Yurika
Elle's a little tired now, and it's getting hard to concentrate. Yurika just pounds on her relentlessly, and even though she gives Elle a huge opportunity, she flubs it. With a sharp motion, Elle moves to bring her mace into Yurika's face with a swift, decisive crash to the temple but ends up getting hit in the leg. It would seem that Elle's not getting a break.
Buit she's not gone yet. There's still some power left in her, and Elle refuses to go down without a fight, even though she's not exactly standing straight anymore.
Yurika sensed that something would be headed her way, but what exactly she wasn't entirely sure. What she does know is that considering the situation, fortune is really really smiling down on her right now. Once this was over, she would never have to do it again, she was sure of it.
How the crowd is reacting to all of this isn't something she's really thought about, and it wasn't her concern either, she doesn't enjoy playing to the crowd, some that she realizes in a moment of shock are quite formal looking.
Yurika strikes another defensive stance, but it's only for a moment due to Elle's tiring. It seems she's been granted another moment, and this time she intends to finish things off. She taps her tuning forks gently, runs forward, and then crashes the forks togeather more forcefully when she's closer. This time the air around her distorts more dramatically, if there's any glass in the vicinity it's likely to shatter. But that aside it's the same field as before, but this time if Elle gets dragged into it, the assault of sound is less forgiving, dragging her through the field and launching her out of the opposite side.
COMBATSYS: Elle blocks Yurika's Fatal Rondo.
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Elle 1/---====/=======|=====--\-------\0 Yurika
Elle may be losing, but she's not an idiot, either. There are some things she knows how to get around, and this happens to be one of them. When the attack comes in, Elle's more than ready, her eyes narrowed and her shoulder lowered.
Yurika's good with sound Chi, but Elle's mastered the stuff cold. When it comes into to cause disoreintation, she emits a short pulse, cancelling the sine wave and turning it into flat dead silence before the pain can start to get unbearable. She raises her eyes. Elle rarely speaks during a fight, but she sees fit to do so now. What she says is flat, and simple.
"I know how to beat you now. It's a little to late this time around. But you're not going to win next time." And with that, Elle's hand, still clutching the mace, moves into action. The weapon sweeps around, disengaging so that it becomes more of a flail than a mace. The energy she sneds down is electrical in nature, crackling along the length of the chain as she whips it over her head.
With a short motion, she sends the attack straight down the arena, the crushing head sprouting sharp clawlike spikes that seek to ram into Yurika as high speed, and then fill her with enough volts to light up the Christmas tree in Rockafeller center before Elle cracks the whip, launching her off across the stadium.
COMBATSYS: Elle successfully hits Yurika with Slayer.
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Elle 0/-------/------=|=======\-------\1 Yurika
Yurika's dark eyes narrow, and she frowns to Elle. Does that mean that she didn't know how to beat Yurika in the past? Or has there actually been an effective enough twist in her tactics to make things different...
Or is it Yurika is forgetting that in a subtle way, Kurow had been changing her to cause a shift of improvement in her style all along. Either way though, she isn't going to sweat it for long. "Unfortunatly for you," she says in a gentle and quiet tone. "I have no intention of showing up at this... satanic cult again. I'll see you in Japan when that time comes."
Now the mace.. The weapon swap reminds her a little of Ayame. Yurika crosses her weapons in front of her, and notices... Something. There's a second, a very small frame where she could actually allow that attack to smash her and lay the final blow. Unfortunatly she misses it completely, that small step she takes doesn't shift the blows momentum in any way and slams into her gut and forces her to double over as she takes the entire brunt of the shocking attack. Now it's her turn to feel her vision blurr drastically, her stomach rumble, and almost regurigitates. Almost, she's ironically saved by the whip that sends her flying across the arena and slams back first into it, a bit of a spiderwed forming behind her and knocks her guts back in place.
Yurika settles a hand on the wall as she stands back up and looks briefly to the punctures in her outfit, the black soaking up and hiding the bleeding fairly well. ".. Shoot. Well, this could still work.." she murmurs to herself, hopping up and preses her feet against the wall. She springs off of it to give herself extra momentum while racing toward Elle and she hops just an inch of so off the ground with another clink of her forks.
Yurika twists in mid-air, so she sails back-first toward Elle with a trail of blurred chi trailing behind her. She intends to, once close enough, smash her weapon into Elle's head, screech to a halt, and the energy she trailed rip into Elle's body as the, hopefully, final blow.
COMBATSYS: Yurika successfully hits Elle with Fatal Nocturne.
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Elle 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 Yurika
Satanic cult? What sort of bullshit nonsense is that? Elle takes a split second too long to think about it, and is tagged hard. The strike crashes into Elle's face, her head kicks back, and the mercenary pauses. In a split second, she goes over everything in her mind, and checks off exactly where she made her errors.
Yurika won't get a next time.
Still, despite Yurika's changes... it wasn't easy, was it? Elle's still a lot tougher than anyone gives her credit for, and frankly, she likes it that way. As she staggers, holding her head, Elle's got one last card to play. Her mace clatters to the floor, but the katar remains strapped to one hand. So far, Yurika's blocked every strike she's made with it. The idea that she'll be able to hit with it now is almost absured. but at this point, Elle's got nothing to lose.
With a lurching motion, Elle puts her entire body into the attack. The blade gleams with energy a final time as she shoots forward and tries to skewer Yurika in the gut before toppling to her side, forced to rest on the ground in a half crouch.
COMBATSYS: Elle can no longer fight.
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Yurika 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Yurika dodges Elle's Ace of Spades.
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Yurika 0/-------/-----==|
Should words like that coming from Yurika really be that suprising to Elle? She'd probably continue jabbering on like that if she really wanted to but.. She doesn't. No, Yurika has gotten extremely lucky to get through this as she has, she probably built up some sort of good karma and shouldn't do anything to blow it until she's out in the clear completely.
But it is true, despite it, it was still an alarmingly close match and she knows her own training still needs work. And more importantly she has the ace to deal with a final time and this time she doesn't use her weapon to catch it, but rather brush it to the side. She turns to see, however, that Elle isn't down and out.. Just down, and apparently barely so. Yurika doesn't know how a winner is announced or what happens in this kind of environment, but this is her opportunity to present the reason she came down her in the first place. She steps to the Leaders side, her forks slipped into her belt as she asks, "I thought we were on good terms, Elle. Is this no longer the case?" Referring to events that happened just only a week back.
COMBATSYS: Yurika takes no action.
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Yurika 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Yurika has ended the fight here.
Elle losing is a bit of an upset, and money changes hand furiously as people that bet on the 'sure thing' are forced to come to grips with the fact that just because Elle is a trained mercenary doesn't mean she can't get blindsided. Still, she doesn't answer the question immediately. The crowds are forced to leave and the cleanup crews come in to take care of Elle and make sure she's fine. Bruises, greenstick fractures, some nerve damage.
Looks like the usual. It'll take a while for her to recuperate, but she won't be dying any time soon.
She waits a good long while before she answers. The attendants don't look any more hostile towards Yurika, and neither does Elle. It was a fight, and she lost. It's not hard to come to grips with. As good or as bad as Elle is, she's grown to accept that failure happens. Still. Yurika's thwarted her twice. That alone does warrant a response.
"We were never on good terms," the response comes, flat and cold. "I know about you, but you never asked about me, never checked up on me, or ever even made a single attempt to figure out who the hell I was or why I suddenly appeared out of clear blue to talk to you."
"I'm a mercenary. I thought I made that clear to you a long time ago. I work for the highest bidder, and when I'm not doing that, I'm serving my own interests. But you beat me, and you question is an honest one. You've stepped into this world, and there's no getting out now. So don't think you can go run and hide in your girl's school anymore."
Elle's head is bandaged by a tall, rangy man who looks like he's recovering from cocaine addiction. The man checking her vitals is a massive bruiser who looks like he should be breaking legs instead of being an EMT. Similar attendants wait for Yurika, but they seem more focuse don work rather than being menacing. Elle's eyes keep a deadlocked stare at Yurika. The girl doesn't really have a lot of time to look at the people around her with Elle's attention focused only on her.
"I want Seijyunn High. Lock, stock, and barrel. It's got some opportunities in it, and nobody is using it to it's potential. Everyone ignores it. Laughs at it. It's a school for prissy girls and wealthy parents that want to shut their daughters away in a fantasyland, away from the rest of the world until they turn eighteen. In other words, it'll fit what I want to do just fine."
The cold voice never wavers once. "I dropped more than a few hints at you. I wanted to work with you. it's easy when you have a man on the inside that's willing to take the reigns. But what did you do? Waffle. You won an election. You have money, power, and influence, and you spent it piddling around looking to be elected a leader. I told you: if you want something, you take it with whatever means you have at your disposal. It's what I do. It's how I made myself who I am today."
The woman dismisses her employees, stooping to gather up the weapons. "But now that you're here, asking these questions, acting like you want to be treated as an equal, I'll give you the benefit of the right of first refusal. You can work with me, and you can still be my inside force, turning that school into something to be respected and feared instead of scoffed at and snickered at by every other school in the district... or I'll run you over. And trust me, I have enough pull in all the right circles to make sure I get what I want."
"Right now, you want professional courtesy, and I'm giving it to you. Welcome to the big leagues, Yurika. Make sure you make the right decisions from here on out, because if I don't get you? Someone else will."
Yurika is patient. She is feeling.. Well she's felt better, but Elle hadn't gotten the chance to administer any Kurow-amounts of pain onto her body.. Not today, at least. So she simply stands there, watching the people about her with a frown most of the while. And then finally the moment of truth comes.
Worries of some sort of ambush didn't occur to Yurika in the slightest, obviously because she had made a large mistake making the assumption that she did. The suprise in her expression, even behind her mask is that of shock. "W- Well.. I didn't ask, no.. I suppose.." she starts, feeling her cheeks get hot.
But that's just the beginning of the shake-up, isn't it? She looks pretty upset at the very idea of stepping into 'this world', it doesn't sink in completely that Elle is very right on that standpoint. But if that wasn't stomach turning enough, it just gets worse. Yurika feels slightly faint, in complete disbelief to the merc. It's really embarassing, she just didn't see any of this coming at all, if only she had brought up the situation to Kurow, he would have known, wouldn't he?
So the musician is a fine mix of embarassment, nervousness, and there's even a bit of fury in there, she doing her best to hold those back, only her fists shaking while Elle is bandaged up and the medics are cleared out. ".. How -dare- you.." she huffs, her dark eyes narrowing. "Y- You did nothing of the sort you tricked me! But doing what I have done has taught me one thing, Elle.. My year of 'piddling' has shown me something, it has shown me that I don't need to look like you, I don't need to use your methods, I don't need to -be- like you to get what I want."
Yurika raises a hand to her chest, for what exact reason, even she isn't entirely certain of. "I will not give you Seijyun. I am well aware of it's problems, and I will use my own methods to change them. My power comes not from 'brute force', it never has and hopefully never will.. Now then."
"I humbly request that you set your sights elsewhere. I am fine if you are not an ally, but it will be trouble for both of us if we become enemies. Not just me. Both of us."
As expected. Elle seems like she's listening, however, to the things that Yurika has to say. Tricked her? Not to her mind. Elle checks up on everyone she meets. She knows people. And if those people can't give her what she wants, she goes looking herself. Elle's boots pound as much pavement as those in her employ. Lead by example. Do as much work as your employees, and they'll soon follow suit.
Brute force yes. But hard work and integrity are part of it. Elle has a goal, and she focuses on it. She focuses hard, and without a moment's hesitation.
"Oh, you're not my enemy. I don't have enemies. I do have people that get run over on my way to point B," she says frankly. "I don't hate you any more than I hated you a minute ago, an hours ago, or a year ago." She shrugs. "Look, if you think you can cause trouble for me? Then by all means, go for it. That school's really not yours to give, is it? I just wanted your cooperation, but I've got enough help offsides to compensate for the fact that you're not game."
She starts to move away, limping slightly. "You've never fought anyone or anything that ever mattered, ever. You've always had other people fight your big battles for you. Now that you've gotten to the grown ups table, you're going to shakes your fists and stamp your feet and hope that your bluster is going to make the problem go away?"
She's not being overly condescending. Her voice has not a speck of contempt. it's cruel, harsh fact to Elle, and she speaks as if it's already been written down somewhere and she's just going through the motions. "I'm not going to wate my time jabbering about the benefits or drawbacks to what I do. Go home. Think it over. Before you start to fight me, start to scream and kick and say no just because you don't like my face or my attitude, think hard. You /find out/ who I am, what I do, how I do it. Look for the people that know me for what I'm capable of... When you know all there is that's out there to know, come back and sit down and talk to me."
"Until then," she says, nodding towards the retractable platform that leads out of the pit, "There's your way out. Think about what I said. Think hard. Then come back to talk to me. If you still say no after getting all the information? Well, then you have a serious fight on your hands."
Oh dear. While a mask hides a good portion of it, Yurika's face is a very bright red of embarassment.. Or quite possibly humilation. Of course she's just started getting into this, there's simply no way she could speak, barter, or act at the level of her brother, the truth of the matter is she for a moment thought she was making amazing progress, she thought she was becoming something amazing.
And just finds out that really she's really not that amazing after all. It hurts a little, actually, it's embarassing and it makes her mad. And yet this is the time where she really has to swallow her pride and think things through again. She needs to learn a lot more in time she isn't entirely sure she has.
So in the end? She just doesn't say anything to defend herself, she says nothing like that in fear of looking even more like a fool, but.. She does manage to smile. It's a forced one, but it's a smile nonetheless while giving a curt nod of her head. "V- Very well. Until then."
Her turn is sharp, whipping her ponytail about her then back, and is up the platform in little time. She's most certainly headed home.
Log created on 20:24:39 01/01/2008 by Elle, and last modified on 12:18:01 01/02/2008.