Description: Angered at the situation that has fallen upon her teammates, Marisol has spent a lot of time on her own lamenting and brooding on her perceived weakness. Having caught wind of the circumstances surrounding the fractured Pacific Resistance, Tenma Kiryuu has taken it upon himself to stalk down the leader of his rival team and headbutt some sense into her. ...Literally. But will it work?
Marisol O'Connell is nothing but a failure.
Despite her efforts, she failed her friend. Her friends. Pás was subsequently hurt in the process, and for what reason? The fact Marisol couldn't stop Wellington Senior from stalking off into the night without so much as a shred of a clue to the whereabouts of her teammate.
Her friend.
Without a doubt in her mind, there's no way she can help the foul-mouthed Briton they've befriended and fought with. She tried - really, she did. She gave considerable effort, but for what? To have the imposing man simply walk away? To have the man ultimately beat up her friend and lord knows who else may have been caught in his proverbial crossfire.
Her friends, the people who mean a lot to her, the only REAL friends she has...have been hurt. Their team is broken, as far as Marisol can tell. How will it be the same, without the Briton? Will the team even stick together? Part of her wishes to believe it won't happen, but the reality she faces is particularly cruel.
Because of this, the half-Spaniard has remained a recluse, avoiding most if not everyone she knows. Sure, she has still attended classes when necessary, but aside from her academic obligations, she has been a ghost on campus. She needs time to think and lament, to dwell over her failure - no, failures. She's just not good enough.
Clad in a light, powder-blue pullover hoodie and a comfortable pair of dark jeans, the redhead sits by a pond, absently plucking at blades of grass. Though she looks out upon the glassy surface of the pond, gray eyes seem anywhere but fixed in reality. Lost in her thoughts, the girl just sits by her lonesome, ignoring everyone who passes by on occasion.
This situation? Unacceptable. Patently unacceptable.
After his encounter with the injured, lamed Pás, a curious feeling of disquiet has troubled the normally unflappable Tenma Kiryuu, and with it has come a certain resolution. He promised he'd help get Preston back; partially, to be sure, because of his attraction to the Brazilian girl, but also because he doesn't like the way things are now. Pacific Resistance scattered, the fight, the fire gone right out of them. Where's the fun in that? So it has come to pass that the leader of the Guardian Kings, fresh off of helping Pás regain some of her spirit, has formed a two-part plan to fix things. Part two is, of course, getting Pacific Resistance and his own team together and beating the hell out of this 'Wellington' guy and getting Preston back.
Part one starts today.
See, Tenma's been trying to find Marisol, which is fortunately not as hard as the redhead would probably prefer, given that she kind of stands out, and she's a little bit famous. It's taken him a few days to actually /find/ her, but find her he has, sitting there staring at the pond. The melancholy just about radiates off of her; Tenma, at this, sighs a little.
But it's not like long odds have ever been enough to turn Tenma Kiryuu away from whatever it is he's gotten it in his head to do; he hitches the cloth-wrapped bokken on his shoulder, then starts to walk up behind Marisol, counting on the fact that she's wrapped up in her own little world to conceal his approach. And then, when he's right behind her? She'll hear that distinctive voice say: "Hey, Red." And then his head attempts to collide with hers, hard.
COMBATSYS: Tenma has started a fight here.
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Tenma 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Marisol has joined the fight here.
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Marisol 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Tenma
COMBATSYS: Tenma successfully hits Marisol with Random Weapon.
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Marisol 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Tenma
In her own little world, Marisol is miserably content. She can beat herself up in secrecy, cursing herself for being too weak and pitiful to actually put up fight enough to stop Wellington from taking Preston and hurting Pás. Who cares about her own well-being? Her friends have been wronged, and there's nothing she can do to help it.
It hurts her inside, reluctant as she would be to ever fess up to the fact. She's failed her teammates. Maybe Wellington was the proof she needed? That she's not good enough to help lead a team of fighters to something ultimately great?
A frown passes over her lips, dark eyes gently hooding in the shadow the hoodie perched atop her head casts on her face. The blades of grass in her hands are released, falling to the ground lifelessly at her side. Sighing, the half-Spaniard sags her shoulders deeply, the material of her baggy pullover bunching against her arms.
And then, suddenly, Tenma reenters her life.
It begins as a voice, a familiar tone that resonates. Normally, it would immediately inspire feelings of rivalry and annoyance, the urge to leap up and punch the young man in his smug face. And yet, the girl's response is...half-hearted. Only when she begins to turn and look at him--
His head bashes into hers.
Impact sends the girl sprawling backwards, landing on her back with a dumbfounded look barely registered on her face, now red at the point of impact. Staring up at the Guardian King, the girl's features are clearly puzzled. What the hell is he doing here?
And then she turns her head, snorting. Pushing herself up off the grass, the girl says nothing. In fact, she doesn't even retaliate. Instead, she just dusts her bum off and begins to walk away without a word.
COMBATSYS: Marisol takes no action.
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Marisol 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Tenma
Clearly, this situation is more serious than Tenma thought; Marisol seems so... Lifeless. It's wrong. He doesn't like it. Not... Not one little bit. As Marisol doesn't retaliate, or even respond or anything, she just gets up and walks away, Tenma frowns. This is going to be tough. "Oh, so that's how it is now, huh Red? Lose a fight and wah wah wah, gonna go sulk like it's the end a' the world?" He knows it's worse than that, of course. When somebody loses their edge - gets 'the yips', as they say - they might never recover.
Tenma knows what Marisol, and Pás, must do: They have to face the one that did this to them, and overcome the feelings their defeat at the hands of Wellington caused. They have to overcome those feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness, otherwise... Well, otherwise they'll just go on like this.
And for various reasons, Tenma doesn't want to see that. So blood spatters from his hand as he bites his thumb, drawing the bloodied digit down the blade of his bokken, the cloth sheath having fallen to the ground. The lurid crimson light of that bloody aura surrounds the wooden blade, and Tenma looks at Marisol's back. He sweeps his weapon through the air, sending a crescent of bloody chi tearing towards the Pacific Resistance leader, hoping to really catch her attention.
"By the way, nice ass!" Tenma adds for a battlecry.
COMBATSYS: Marisol endures Tenma's Dharmapala.
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Marisol 0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0 Tenma
Turning her back to the one person she more or less swore from day one she never would, the half-Spaniard dismisses the arrival of Tenma with little more than a sigh. She was perfectly fine by her lonesome, miserably content, lost in her own thoughts when he had to come along and RUIN that. Normally, she would retaliate without so much as batting a lash. But today, well.
As he chides her in parting, the redhead lifts a hand up and absently tosses it about over a shoulder. His words fall upon deaf ears, and he is entitled to presume all he likes about the girl. For now...she would rather just be left alone, without someone like Tenma to heckle her.
And she keeps walking away, even as the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end, as Tenma lets loose with his chi along his familiar weapon. 'Just keep walking,' she tells herself. He's not worth the trouble. All he will do, she assures herself, is make fun of her for losing so badly. That's how he is, right? He'll kick her while she's down, to make himself feel better, won't he..?
From the bokken chi cuts loose, an arc of pure energy tearing a path straight for her back. And yet, despite the impending doom an attack from him may otherwise spell, the girl doesn't move. Instead, that burst collides into her backside, causing the girl to pitch forward, feet stumbling beneath her as a heavy exhale fumbles past her lips.
"What do you even care?" the girl asks, words quiet, but audible enough for him to hear.
"What does it matter to you that I sulk? That I'm angry at myself?"
Eyes widen, her expression briefly livid.
"You're supposed to be making fun of me! You should be happy, that my team is falling apart! You're supposed to be rubbing salt in my wounds, telling me what a loser and a failure I am! Not this!"
Her anger subsides, her expression shifting. Neutral, the girl lets her eyes hood, her lips pursed tightly before she scoffs. Tossing her head, the redhead just turns her back to the Guardian King once more.
"Let me 'sulk,' Kiryuu. It isn't that I feel sorry for myself," she clarifies.
"I feel sorry for failing my friends."
The half-Spaniard begins walking away once more, a hand clutching her back and gingerly applying pressure.
"Just ...leave me alone, Kiryuu."
COMBATSYS: Marisol gains composure.
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Marisol 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Tenma
"You wanna be angry?!" Tenma demands, yelling because that's what he does. "Be angry at that jackhole who did this to you an' your friends, that dad of your giant buddy's!" He keeps on after Marsiol of course, keeping up with her and her attempts to get away. "An' why the hell would I be happy, you dumbass?! You think I enjoy fightin' some random collections of idiots when there's a perfectly good group t' go beat up just over by your pathetic school?" To him, the rivalry isn't about legitimately wanting to 'win', to defeat Pacific Resistance and scatter them to the winds, to see them unable to ever fight again. To Tenma Kiryuu, the point of the rivalry /is the rivalry itself/. He can't get along with Marisol at all, that's a fact... And yeah, sure, he hates Luc's guts. But a world without Pacific Resistance would be incredibly boring.
Spitting on the ground, Tenma's face contorts briefly in a snarl at Marisol's back, and his knuckles whiten on the hilt of his bokken. What an incredibly stubborn woman.
"You're only failin' your friends if you keep hidin' and sulkin'," Tenma says. "If the giant idiot isn't dead, then you can get him back. All y' havta do is get the rest of your pals together an' go kick his dad's bitch head in. But I guess y'ain't gonna understand what I'm gettin' at until I beat it into you," the Gedo swordsman says, and he breaks into a run towards Marisol. "Or maybe..." he says, as he gets closer, swinging his bokken in a vicious two-handed overhead strike across Marisol's back. "...I should just make it so you can never fight again, so you can be a whiny little bitch all you want!!"
COMBATSYS: Marisol interrupts Deep Strike from Tenma with Red Clover.
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Marisol 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Tenma
When Tenma yells, Marisol's feet begin to slow, her steps less confident as he shouts at her. He has a point, she secretly agrees. She should be mad at Wellington, but...she just can't accept it. She can't accept it like that. She should be mad at herself too! Because she could have stopped it, couldn't she? She could have beaten him and gotten Preston's whereabouts from his father...
But she didn't, because she's weak.
It's not that which really affects the half-Spaniard. It's what comes next. All of it.
Her footfalls begin to stagger, her heels dragging lightly against cool grass, as if the burden of truth were weighing her down - and very likely, it is. But the truth isn't the only thing that bothers her. Tenma proves himself to be less transparent than she presumed of him. He's not happy at all, and admits as much. And part of her knows, down inside, that's how she feels about it. She doesn't legitimately hate him - not in a truly spiteful way. It's the rivalry. It keeps her going. It gives her reason to keep trying to push herself further and further...
And if she didn't have it, things would definitely be dull.
Slowly but surely, Marisol's feet still beneath her, her pace halted. And slowly, gray eyes shift toward the ground, toward her feet as she listens to him berate her. She's failing her friends because she's not doing anything proactive. She's just hiding from the problem - not solving it. Being angry at her weakness in that moment...
"Oh, I understand," the girl mutters. Behind her, Tenma suddenly charges forward, bokken held high.
"I understand it all, clearly now."
That bokken swings, ignited with chi energy as it cuts through the air, right for the girl's backside. And with its motion, it seems to hit cleanly. However...
...it becomes clear in an instant it wasn't a truly clean hit. The girl's arm has moved from her side, her body twisted slightly so as to catch the bokken in her hand halfway through its descent. She holds to it firmly, as the half-Spaniard turns to face him squarely. Her expression is stern and surprisingly serious.
"I'm not going to let you do anything like that," she explains clearly. "Try all you like--"
Shoving the bokken aside, the girl steps in, a fist swinging for his stomach. Impacting with his abdomen, the girl's lips suddenly pull, a broad grin crossing over her pink lips. "Someone like you, or that asshole--" Another punch is delivered to Tenma's gut, before her hands recoil, fists flaring up with yellow energy. Widening her eyes, the girl's once-dull and otherwise lifeless expression blossoms with newfound life.
"AREN'T GOOD ENOUGH!!"
And she punctuates this with two fierce, chi-laced hooks right across his face.
Well, whaddya know, it worked! Tenma gets caught by Marisol's chi-infused punches, staggering back from those hooks to the face, but... He grins from ear to ear, blood running between his white teeth, and over his chin. "Big talk from a sulky whiner," he replies, but it's smack talk for its own sake, and maybe to make sure that the redhead keeps her spirit up. In a way, he's relieved.
In a way, Tenma is happy.
"Tell you what, we'll go get you a big ol' tub of ice cream, an' you can go eat your bad feelings away, how's that sound, huh Red?" Plus, he does really enjoy giving Marisol a hard time. Which is exactly why he lunges at her again, aiming to crack her one right in the face with his chi-emanating bokken!
COMBATSYS: Marisol fails to interrupt Weapon Jab from Tenma with Snap Wind.
-* CRITICAL FAIL! *-
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Marisol 1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Tenma
"Tenma Kiryuu," the girl replies, shoulders rising and gently falling as she holds her ground.
"You are an asshole. You are the biggest jerk on the face of this earth. I love nothing more than punching you in the face. Making fun of you is a wonderful hobby and past-time."
Narrowing her eyes, those gray depths peer intently at the Guardian King, full lips twitching, daring to pull into a smirk. But for the moment she holds off. Instead, Marisol draws her lips tightly across her tanned face, observing the young man before her as she stands there.
When he moves, Marisol moves in kind, attempting to maneuver through that bokken to her face. Too slow, she learns in an instant; the result? The bokken cracks loudly into her face, causing the girl to stumble back, her feet very nearly failing her as her hands hurriedly rise, desperately clutching to her now-bleeding nose and the welts across her face.
"Even so," she continues, despite his offer to let her eat away her sorrows. What a jackass!
"And believe me, this makes me ill to say - even consider," she clarifies. "But..."
Turning her eyes elsewhere, the girl glares at the horizon.
"You're ...you...grrgh."
Her free hand curls into a fist, eyes pinching shut.
"Well...you have a point, Kiryuu."
"Yeah, well, you're an ugly bitch," Tenma says, though he doesn't really mean it; he thinks she's hot! She just... Really needs to talk less, in the Gedo swordsman's opinion. "'course I have a point, stupid. You were just too busy starin' at your navel t' see the obvious truth. If you get your ass beat, you just get back up an' return the favour. An' if you can't do it by yourself... That's why you've got friends, right?"
Tenma snorts, shaking his head. "Must be all that hair dye killin' your braincells."
He stands there, with his bokken slanted against his shoulder and his free hand at his side, thumb hooked into his pants pocket, projecting lazy indolence, arrogant disregard for Marisol and anything she might do... But of course, he's keeping a close eye on her. He doesn't expect her to just go back to walking away, after all. "An' since this guy is such a badass, I'm gonna help. Beatin' him ain't about one on one, it ain't about honourable combat, it's about kickin' his head in an' teachin' him not to pull crap like this again. Besides," Tenma adds, his grin returning in full force. "Beatin' you senseless is MY job."
COMBATSYS: Tenma focuses on his next action.
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Marisol 1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Tenma
Insult is met with a mildly cross expression, Marisol's eyelids descending lightly as her thin red brows knit. What the hell does that have to do with her point, she wonders. But before she can argue, lips parting and a breath of air slipping past her lips, Tenma cuts her short. Of course he has a point, he explains. The words bring an odd expression to her face.
Listening to the Gedo youth, Marisol's features soften slightly, her once annoyed features giving way to something far more relaxed and calm, despite his insults. And then revelation. He has a reason for stalking after her and bothering her in her self-loathing.
He wants to HELP Pacific Resistance?
Marisol gawks. Tanned features flush, her lips parting as she offers a bemused expression of disbelief. Yet she does not reply immediately; instead, the girl looks at Tenma as if he grew a second head on his shoulders. What the hell..?
Lips part, a soft croak of words as they begin to form. Then?
Marisol snaps her mouth shut.
Half-turning, the girl casts her eyes elsewhere, off of the Guardian King. "Your 'job' or no, as much as you like to believe you CAN," the redhead begins, sounding distantly confused by all of this. "Why are you offering to help, anyway? How did you even HEAR about all of this to begin with?"
Looking back to Tenma, the girl stares, waiting for his response, a hand gently rubbing at her face. Damn Tenma and his stupid sword, she laments secretly, coaxing her wounds better. AGAIN.
COMBATSYS: Marisol gains composure.
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Marisol 0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0 Tenma
"Nothin' better to do with my time," Tenma replies with a faint shrug. "As for how I found out..." Trailing off, he looks more amused than anything else. "Ahh, I think that'll just stay a secret." What a jerk he is, keeping something like that from Marisol! But then, it's not like he feels at all beholden to answer her, you know? Instead, as Marisol tries to rub the pain away from getting smacked in the face, Tenma charges at her, and once he gets close enough he drops low into a crouch, holding his bokken with his arm angled across his body...
And then he springs out of that crouch in a whirling motion, lashing out with his bloody weapon as he does so, aiming to take Marisol with him up into the air before knocking her away to fall back to the ground. "VAJRA!!"
COMBATSYS: Tenma successfully hits Marisol with Vajra.
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Marisol 1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\1 Tenma
"Clearly," the girl replies swiftly, eyes narrowing lightly in response to his shrug.
But when he dodges the subject of just where he heard of her situation, Marisol's lips pull tightly, her expression annoyed as she observes the young man. "A secret?" she asks, words laced with venom. A beat, and the girl scoffs, tossing her head lightly as a smirk crawls over her lips. "You only wish you could. I'll find out."
Already she has her suspicions.
And she doesn't really like them.
Again, Tenma moves, and again, Marisol looks annoyed. "Can't you stop already?" she asks, bracing herself for the incoming blow. But she miscalculates, and the bokken cuts against her, chi lancing across her front as she's launched up before swatted out of the air, to hit the ground hard. A groan escapes her.
"You..." Slowly, Marisol pulls herself up, looking angry. "Have a funny damn way...of offering help."
Clenching her fists tightly, the girl's lips tighten, eyes narrowing sharply. "All you're accomplishing here," she explains. "Is making me even ANGRIER about my situation!"
Pushing off her right foot, the girl lunches forward, swinging four hook punches swiftly through the air. And should they land, the half-Spaniard will recoiled, a fist loaded tightly at her side...before she thrusts forward, a fierce punch aimed for the center of Tenma's chest.
"DAMN YOU KIRYUU!"
COMBATSYS: Marisol successfully hits Tenma with Atom Smasher.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
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Marisol 0/-------/-----==|=======\=====--\1 Tenma
As Tenma lands after his attack, he turns his attention back to Marisol. He's just trying to make sure she's learned her lesson... Besides which, it's been a while since he's fought her one on one. He's kind of missed it, in a weird way. "Good," is Tenma's simple response when Marisol says he's just making her angrier. Angry is exactly what she needs right now, in his opinion. Anger turned outwards, instead of in on herself. So when she comes after him with those hooking punches? Tenma just stands there and takes it.
Bad plan.
The impact of the blows, driven by Marisol's fury, is far more than Tenma had anticipated... Especially the final thrusting straight, powerful enough to send the Guardian King /flying/ backwards, knocking him right off of his feet and sending him skidding along the ground. Someone has been eating her Wheaties. Or doing steroids. Be careful Marisol, that chest of yours might vanish!
For a moment or two, Tenma sort of lays there looking really surprised.
But then he's back on his feet, giving his head a shake to clear it. "Ha ha ha... Oh man, Red. Ha ha ha!" Tenma keeps right on laughing as he swings his bokken back behind himself, the red aura around the blade growing in intensity until it blots out the wood of the weapon entirely, making it seem like the youth is holding a sword of bloody energy. And then he explodes into forward movement, rushing at and /past/ Marisol in a running slash, only stopping once he's past her; if it lands, of course, Tenma's chi passes /through/ Marisol, disrupting the very flow of life through her body and stealing her vitality...!
COMBATSYS: Marisol blocks Tenma's The Sealing Sword.
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Marisol 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Tenma
Sadly, the feeling is mutual - even if either fighter would not DARE admit such a thing. It's not often she gets a chance to beat the crap out of someone like she does with Tenma, and when she does? Well, it's sort of a treat. In some weird, almost twisted way, he gives her a reason to keep pushing herself to train and become better, to get stronger so she can continue to humiliate the Gedo youth. It's one of many factors.
Charging in with a hollered curse of his name, the girl swings her fists fiercely. Four devastating hooks delivered, one after another in well-timed succession, intent on stunning the youth before she coils back like some angry serpent, before delivering a savage blow straight to the center of his chest. Empowered by her anger, her fist impacts with such great force the poor Guardian King is sent sailing back before he impacts with the grassy earth.
Drawing her fist back slowly, the girl's expression remains stern, even as he laughs. But when he rises to his feet and readies his weapon, Marisol's feet slide beneath her. She readies herself, for whatever comes. And then, with a vicious slash, he attempts to overwhelm her body with that odd, blood chi energy.
But she's ready. That slash crashes into her forearms, the girl's face and torso shielded from most of the attack. But it stings, enough to cause her arms to drop before she shakes them out. Wrinkling her nose, the half-Spaniard slowly but surely lifts her gaze, peering right at the young man. Full lips slowly but surely pull into a wolfish grin across her lips.
Lunging forward, Marisol swings a fist toward his stomach, attempting to stun the Guardian King. And should she get precisely that, the redhead will grab him by the skull, introducing it to her knee as she jerks it upwards before shoving him back, a leg swinging up to attempt a vertical kick right to the underneath of his jaw.
"HYAAAGH! YOU'RE AN ASS!!"
COMBATSYS: Tenma blocks Marisol's Chain Reaction.
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Marisol 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Tenma
Well, poop.
Tenma takes a moment to recover from that attack, which didn't go nearly how he would've preferred it to, a costly moment; but it's not so bad that he can't twist around and get his bokken in the way of that punch, the impact stinging his hands. The rest of the attack, however, doesn't really pan out, with Tenma instead slipping back out of the reach of Marisol's grab before the rest can connect. "I think you got some rage issues there," Tenma says, rather jokingly considering he deliberately incited this.
And then he kicks a rock at her head.
COMBATSYS: Tenma successfully hits Marisol with Thrown Object.
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Marisol 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Tenma
Her attack intercepted, Marisol's expression falters, a momentarily stunned expression crossing her features before she scoffs, eyes narrowing sharply. "And I think you've got too many issues for me to count," she retorts, her hand clenching tighter as he holds it. Snorting softly, she lets her lips draw back over her teeth. But before she can shout something--
--Tenma kicks a fucking rock at her. A ROCK. ROCK!
Stumbling back from the attack, Marisol's hand rubs at her forehead, a small trail of red drawing down her face, a cut formed just above her brow. "You're a real douchebag, Kiryuu," the girl replies, sounding weary. "Not only do you bring a sword to a fist-fight, you kick a damn rock. What is WRONG with you? Blaming me? When you STARTED this?!"
Again, Marisol lunges in, attempting to drive a straight punch right for his face. And should it land, the half-Spaniard will follow the initial punch with an uppercut straight to Tenma's chops.
COMBATSYS: Marisol successfully hits Tenma with Snap Wind.
- Power hit! -
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Marisol 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\0 Tenma
"Red, you're so stupid it'd take two of ya to count to ten," Tenma says with a rueful shake of his head. Always she harps on the weapon thing. He can't imagine anyone would be that thick! But once again, it seems, Marisol's anger gives her strength, as Tenma tries to dodge out of the way of the punch... And gets hit right in the side of the face, his head rocking violently from the blow. And /then/ he gets uppercutted, even worse! Staggering back, he wobbles on his feet, and actually drops his bokken.
Wait, what?
"Feel better though, don'tcha? That's the Marisol O'Connell you need t' be. Alive, full of energy, an' pissed the fuck off. None a' that mopey poetry-writin' sad mix tape shit." He grins, from ear to ear, his bruised face hurting something awful as he does so. But oh, he's pleased with this. It's a vast improvement. "One more thing though," Tenma says, lunging forward to grab Marisol by the front of her shirt, and then headbutt the holy hell out of her again.
COMBATSYS: Tenma can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\ <
Marisol 0/-------/--=====|
COMBATSYS: Marisol endures Tenma's Head Breaker.
[ <
Marisol 1/------=/=======|
"Shut up and fight!" the girl cries, lunging toward the young man with every intent on punching him in the face. Hard - perhaps too hard. Angry at her situation and now Tenma, the half-Spaniard pulls no punches and, as result, gets rocked. Holding her ground after the attack, the girl's eyes narrow sharply, her teeth bared as she breathes heavily. She's pushed herself a bit too much, she realizes.
But then, she usually goes a little too far when she's fighting the Guardian King leader.
Those gray eyes drift as the bokken falls from his hand. Watching it closely, the redhead's expression falters only slightly, mild confusion hidden beneath a mask of irritation for the young fighter. His question only serves to muddle her further, brows knitting softly before she lightly puckers her lips.
"W-what are you t-talking about?" she stammers, her face a soft shade of red with embarrassment. Gray depths narrow, as that grin crawls over his lips. DOES she feel better? She considers his words, secretly mulling over whether or not Tenma is actually right. And she concludes...
He is. It makes her a little annoyed.
"Bastard," she mutters, as she begins to half-turn away from him. But that's when she's suddenly snared by the collar of her hoodie. Eyes widen, her expression clearly startled as she looks at the young man...before his head crashes into hers. A headbutt?
Staggering back and away, the girl barely maintains her footing, woozy and winded from the sudden and wholly unexpected encounter with Tenma. Her hand lifts, pressing against her forehead as she tries to collect her wits about her. "Jesus Christ," the girl laments, pinching her eyes tightly shut as she tries to dull the ring in her head.
"...I fucking needed that."
Dropping her hand, the girl levels her gaze, gray eyes fixed on the Gedo youth. "So," Marisol begins.
"You want to help?"
COMBATSYS: Marisol takes no action.
COMBATSYS: Marisol can no longer fight.
Of course Tenma is right. That's a silly thing to wonder about at all. In the aftermath of the headbutt, Tenma staggers back, rather wobbly on his feet, while over where he dropped it the aura around his bokken evaporates, red mist trailing away on the wind. "Yeah, I get that from a lot of chicks," Tenma replies to Marisol's rhetorical statement about having 'needed that', immediately and entirely unprompted.
"I'm /going/ to help," Tenma then corrects Marisol, moving over to his dropped wrapon and retrieving it, slanting it against his shoulder. "Whatever that guy is, clearly he's no slouch. An' like I said, this ain't about playin' nice with others," something that neither Tenma nor Marisol are particularly noted for anyway. "So you an' what's left a' your bunch, an' me with mine, an' we team up and curbstomp Daddy Dearest then mail whatever's left back to Jolly Ol' England." As simple as that.
"Don't flatter yourself, Kiryuu!!" the girl sharply snaps, gray eyes widening. "I didn't mean it like that. Can't you think with something other than your tiny brain?" To emphasize the point, Marisol lifts a hand up, pinching her index and thumb closely together, peering out through the tiny gap between her two fingers. And then, when her point is made, she scoffs, dropping her hand before she folds both across her chest. She tosses her head, a mildly annoyed grunt rumbling in her throat.
Ass.
His correction and emphasis, however, draw her attentions back onto the Gedo swordsman. He speaks, and the half-Spaniard listens carefully, eyes slowly but surely narrowing as she hears him out. He's demanding things now? The nerve of him, to be so bold and brazen about it. It only furthers her suspicions about how he heard about Wellington senior.
And it makes her exhale and shake her head slowly.
"Fine." Turning away from Tenma, Marisol's hands drift, taking shelter in the front pockets of her pullover jacket, now ruined no thanks to Tenma and his blood-chi. "We'll see what we can do, when the time comes. I have to find where that fuck is, first." Pacing forward a few steps, the half-Spaniard begins making her retreat, before she pauses and considers.
Glancing back over a shoulder, the girl sports a light smirk.
"You're such an ass, Tenma." She says it with an endearing tone.
Laughing lightly, the girl lifts a hand and waves him off. "I'll come kicking down your homeless shelter door at Gedo when I have more information on his whereabouts, okay? Til then, you better not fucking puss out or die on me or something, got it?
"Later, Kiryuu."
"Hah," laughs Tenma under his breath, straightening up and lifting his chin in the air as he looks sidelong at Marisol. Calling him an ass with an endearing tone? Honestly. "Yeah, I know you're in love with me, Red, but, y'know, try not t' let it get in the way a' business, okay?" he says, because not being a jerk to Marisol is apparently functionally impossible for him. Go figure.
The expected 'poor' insults roll right off of his back, and Tenma turns completely away from the girl, starting to walk in the opposite direction. "Just keep your buncha crazies in line," he calls back to the redhead. "I'd be more worried 'bout you all goin' to have a good cry 'bout how you got your asses kicked than me 'pussin' out'." As if he would. What a bitch! But regardless, Tenma keeps walking, the grin on his face safely hidden by the fact that his back is to Marisol, whose back is presumably to him!
Log created on 23:05:43 02/02/2008 by Marisol, and last modified on 05:07:38 02/03/2008.