Description: A test of teamwork, coordination, and timing pits the prodigy, Adelheid Bernstein, and the persistant Hotaru Futaba against the enigmatic Rose and determined Mizuki Kamigawa in the Main Event for the week. All four are known for their impressive control over chi and psi, and in this battle, the energy techniques abound.( Winners: Adelheid and Hotaru )
The crowd is being whipped up with some amateur demonstrations, and the noise doesn't please Rose; that is why she is in the green room, having done all of her pre-fight preparatory meditation and the like, and being left, thus, with little to do beyond eat little cocktail weenies off of toothpicks.
She is gesturing with an uneaten little sausage to the young woman sitting near her. "This is always challenging," she says, "but don't let it deter you. I cannot in good conscience say it is /safe/ - but I will be there to support you if you should be in a dire situation. Don't be afraid to take a risk or two; you might be surprised at how well you come out from it."
Mizuki is a semi-seasoned combatant. To speak in terms of cured meats--she is like a fresh sausage, like a good Italian sausage, not a cured, hardened sausage, like, say, a hard salami. Ahem. Anyways. The redhead is nodding, slowly, thinking a bit about what Rose is saying.
"I've never fought Adelheid-san... but I have fought Hotaru-san before." Several times, actually. Mizuki smiles, faintly. "Pretty much every action one takes in battle is a risk, isn't it? But I understand what you mean. Some days, I feel like I'm always... I don't ever feel like the challenge for someone, always the challenger... if that makes sense at all?"
"I haven't fought Adelheid myself, either," Rose says with a chuckle. "But I imagine he'll be a ferocious opponent. I think that this might work in your favor, if you use your agility to keep yourself from suffering too much - he'll be expecting you to battle Hotaru, after all."
She bites the tip of the sausage, swallowing the spicy bit. She may be a well-cured salami, but that has its savor as well. "We all have bad days and good days; they are written in the stars." Then the rest of the sausage, which is swallowed and leaves her with a toothpick to gesture with - "But the stars only say what will be if we continue on our present course. The fate is up to us to decide!"
"I've seen some tapes... he's very skilled. As is Hotaru-san... I suppose it's inevitable, but I always feel like I'm playing catch-up..." A shrug from the miko, as she takes a cocktail weenie and bites half of it off, chewing slowly. Proper chewing is the basis for proper digestion, after all. Regarding the half-sausage left on her toothpick.
"You're right, of course... It really doesn't matter who I'm facing... all I can do is do my best. Whether my best is good enough that day or not... I know I've not had enough combat experience to really call myself a 'warrior' but... I've seen enough to know that nothing is certain in battle... no matter how skilled and trained and talented you are." Imitating her 'mentor', she finishes off the sausage, flicking the toothpick into the air and catching it as she reaches for a glass of water.
"I wonder if Hotaru-san is talking with Adelheid, like this..."
"You must learn, a wise man once said, to not even care about victory or defeat - only the fight!" Rose then reaches for another cocktail weenie. "I suppose they are. Perhaps they're playing with that delightful little pet of hers instead... It's a charming animal, from everything I've heard about it." Maybe a bit smelly, but is that so bad?
She nibbles the sausage lightly. "I suppose this is always the hardest part. Though, tell me - Have you always been living as devoted a life as you seem to, now? I do not mean to pry... I was a bit less dedicated when I was younger, myself."
And that's why the Czech Republic and Slovakia seperated.
"Itokatsu-kun is pretty cute. And so smart." It's like he's an intelligent being sometimes! But that would be silly. Another nod from the Miko. "Honestly, I know you're right. Mostly I worry about surviving..." Her voice trails off as she thinks back to a SNF from a few months ago, Hotaru still bugnuts and Katana puncturing her with those blades, repeatedly.
"... well, when the opponents are especially dangerous. There's something about bladed weapons..." Because bruises are less bad than bloody cuts. And internal bleeding doesn't show 'til you're about to die. "Ah? What do you mean...? Devoted...?" She blushes a little--maybe Rose means things that are not quite pure! Hey, Rose is older, she is allowed to have a dirty mind.
"I'm rather reluctant about fighting those with swords and knives myself," Rose says, before chuckling slightly. "Oh, I don't know - wanting to ride motorcycles, wear leather jackets... eat pork, skip school, date the boys at school... That sort of thing. Your schools here are mixed-gender, aren't they?"
She rises as she does, stepping over to the mini-fridge to get a bottle of water. "In Italy, of course, they are often seperate - the one I went to was private... It was quite an experience. I think you would recognize the uniforms!"
"... oh... yes, they are, but..." She shakes her head. "My biggest vice is shopping... that's it..." And she hasn't actually indulged that for a while, really. She's quite the proper little miko, which is probably what gets Ayame in such a tiff about her. "It's not really a problem here, I think..."
Well, teen pregnancies and such -are- on the rise, but.. "The uniforms? I might, yes... Really I'm not that familiar with... most of the outside world. I've only ever really been in Japan for any period of time yet... I'd like to travel, though! Maybe after school..."
Time for one of those rare chances to feature in a SNF Main Event for Hotaru Futaba. The arena is packed, the weekend crowd eager to see the big fight arranged by Howard's people this week. Team matches are always an interesting prospect, especially between those of differing levels of experience. With the enigmatic Rose and young prodigy Adelheid leading the two sides, it's up to Hotaru Futaba and Mizuki Kamigawa to carry their own weight in the match to support them.
Conditions have been leveled unbeknownst to the viewers, mandating that the two higher echelon fighters are to keep an eye out for their partners and not abandon them during the match. Under a premise of demonstrating their capacity to fight united with another, it remains to be seen how the stipulation bears out, if at all.
Fresh out of recovering from a painful match against the powerful M.Bison, Hotaru stands ready in the arena, on one edge of the stage, working her right arm a little to deal with some of the lingering stiffness. Occasionally she draws her foot along the thick tile, testing the traction her soft blue shoes will provide on it. Hers is often an acrobatic style, and being mindful of the ground she has to come back down to land on is quite important indeed.
Rose she has fought while partnered with another fighter, and Mizuki she knows well as her teammate and friend. Adelheid is a different sort, however, and being partnered with him brings back memories of a violent battle atop a besieged ship out in the ocean. He had been a soldier of some rank amonst those that had invaded the Suiryuu, and she knew nothing of him since then. It wouldn't be the first time SNF had her standing side by side with someone she had fought against out in the world, but that doesn't make it any easier for her to decide how she feels about it. "Hn," the girl grunts, her hands reaching up to tighten her right hair ribbon. In the arena he's simply a match partner, nothing more. At least that's what she's trying to convince herself. At least his violent kicks aren't being sent her way this time.
As she walks up the steps into the arena, Rose looks remarkably relaxed. Perhaps she has already foreseen victory (or painless defeat?) and has no anxieties about it, or perhaps it was the open bar in the green room.
She gives the young woman already waving a smile and a casual wave of the hand, looking back towards her own designated sidekick of the evening. "Now, then, we've already discussed strategy to a fine point," she says, folding her arms. "Is there anything else on your mind before we begin? There ARE a couple of minutes..."
She looks towards the other end of the arena again. Adelheid is, in her knowledge at least, the uncontrolled factor in this equation. Hopefully he will not be capable of casually destroying Mizuki - that would make her feel /horrible/, given her own recent semi-failures in mentoring in other fields.
Following behind Rose by a few steps is said redheaded miko, the one they call Mizuki. She looks... well, determined. Serious, even. Hotaru may be a friend, may be a teammate, but in this arena, for this night, she is an opponent, and so Mizuki will put her 'game face' on. That is, until Rose speaks to her. She doesn't -soooound- drunk... yet...
"Ah? Questions? No... other than the obvious question that we're about to ask our opponents..." That question being, of course, 'who is the better fighter--tonight'. It is the question that all the fans, and there are quite a few of them, probably swooning over Rose's chest or Adelheid's face, came to have answered. Mizuki... suspects her time will be brief in this fight. But she won't let that stop her.
And, truth be told, Adelheid probably IS capable of destroying Mizuki, casually. But she will fear not, for she does not walk alone through the valley of the shadow of death. Or... something pithy, of that nature.
Hotaru Futaba. Adelheid certainly does recall fighting the unusual girl aboard the Suiryuu, and it's hard to forget being taken as a prisoner of sort-of-war after, either! Of course, he's comes to learn that most of the world (probably rightly) has something of a punch first and ask questions later approach when it comes to affiliates of 'R' and its agents. Just where Futaba stands on that issue is still up in the air, but what fun is combat without a bit of a chaos factor? He knows the young fighter is at least capable - and their opponents are certainly an interesting pair. An unassuming shrine maiden resonating with an understated, just-tapped strength... and the enigmatic bastion of power that is the seer, Rose. Unusual crimson eyes track the latter first as Adelheid crests the 'mountaintop' last, scanning the battlefield calmly and tightening the leather half-gloves and etched bracers that cover his knuckles and part of his forearms. The young Bernstein's jaw clenches, and the black-clad youth looks to Mizuki, and then to his ally.
He simply nods to Hotaru... the last thing he's going to do is try to put off blame for the Suiryuu debacle on her. He even takes a couple steps forward as the match countdown looms short... Let's see if she has the same courtesy, "I guess we've both seen some of what the other is capable of." He's worked hard since then - and apparently assumes she has as well, "Stay on your toes, and let's keep them guessing." Improvisation. Who would expect it of a Bernstein?
COMBATSYS: Adelheid has started a fight here on the right meter side.
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|-------\-------\0 Adelheid
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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|-------\-------\0 Hotaru
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|-------\-------\0 Adelheid
COMBATSYS: Mizuki has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Mizuki 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Hotaru
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|-------\-------\0 Adelheid
COMBATSYS: Rose has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Mizuki 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Hotaru
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Rose 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Adelheid
Rose's wave is returned by the pig-tailed fighter in blue and white Chinese styled attire. And then as Mizuki steps onto the stage as well, Hotaru greets the red-head with a smile and nod of acknowledgement. Her attitude about the weekly competitions has shifted some in recent weeks given how she was at the opposite end of the spectrum. She's going to give it her best, stay focused, and push herself. But the look on her face suggests that she's also come to remember the fun side of facing the weekly challenges in these events as well.
And then it's time to meet her partner, a young man of remarkable talent as she remembers well. His nod is returned with a nod of her own, the smile she held for Mizuki slipping a little as she tenses slightly. But as he steps up, she does as well, raising her fist and pressing it into her opposing palm and giving Adelheid a traditional sort of bow, blue eyes studying the powerful youth. He speaks first between the two of them just as Hotaru was about to do likewise, and the girl falls quiet, giving him a muted nod, "Right."
Their last encounter feels like a lifetime ago to the girl, and while she started out suspicious, that suspicion begins to slip into a neutral regard as the seconds pass. She's been through a lot since then, grown up some, and gained a new perspective on a lot of things. And she's honed her Kenpo extensively since then as well. "Yeah," she adds after a moment, her reserved expression giving way to that quiet smile of hers. Two very adaptable fighters, time to see how they do teamed up. "I'll be doing my best." she states with certainty.
Turning to the side to face their opponents, Hotaru focus on Mizuki. The other girl has been practicing since they last faced each other in a match. Time to see what she's picked up since then! She starts off aggressive, speeding forward, a blue and white blur of motion. Her hands come together at first, suggesting an incoming palm strike, but at the last moment Hotaru goes for Mizuki's wrists, attempting to secure the other girl's arms and twist her guard open for a follow up series of rapid kicks up the front of the other girl before leaping off her shoulders to land behind her. "Ya, ya, ya!"
Rose narrows her eyes slightly as she can feel the tension in the air as the formal contest begins - it's actually a good two seconds before Hotaru moves first. She steps to the side and her eyes flick to Adelheid for a moment, then back to the approaching Hotaru. Damn, she's fast.
But, her job here is to make life easier for Mizuki, as well as to win. There are several ways to do this, and Rose goes with a simple one; she lets her scarf uncurl from her shoulders, down towards her arm, and whips it around in a slow arc. Blue and green light suffuses it, then, sending the scarf into a billowing wave of energized cashmere angled first behind Mizuki, then over her, aiming to catch Hotaru coming or going.
Contact with the scarf, of course, will feel like touching an electrical wire - and rightly so! Rose is also able to control its movement; it may come a fraction of an inch from Mizuki, but never to the point of touching her. Hopefully, the flickering sparkles of pastel light won't distract her.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Mizuki with Shin-Jou Tai.
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Mizuki 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Hotaru
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Rose 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Adelheid
Hotaru -is- fast. Really fast. Faster than Mizuki, in this moment. Hotaru's aggression is rewarded, amply; Mizuki twitches, nothing more, and then her guard is being opened, her body helpless before the quick assault of kicks that forces her backwards--and then the leap off her shoulder forces her to stumble forward. It's as painful as she remembers... Hotaru certainly hasn't let her skills flag in any respect.
A grimace crosses Mizuki's visage, quickly dispelled as she straightens up. Looking over to Rose, currently attacking Hotaru, she knows that she will have to occupy Adelheid's time, at least for the time being... though how long she can fend off the Bernstein Bear--that is, heir--is in question. At least, internally.
Though people are questioning it in the stands, too, a flurry of betting popping up... most of it against the young girl. Setting herself, she nods to Adelheid, and, speaking with only a trace of pain in her voice, "Guess I'm your opponent for now." So saying, she forces her body to move, lunging towards the Bernstein, stomping down and leaping upwards--and forwards--to try and land in front of Adelheid, feinting a high palm thrust before really attacking with a quick, snapping knee upwards.
COMBATSYS: Adelheid dodges Mizuki's Light Kick.
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Mizuki 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Hotaru
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Rose 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Adelheid
In an instant, much about the fight has already been decided.
Hotaru will trust her odd comrade. Rose will attempt to take Hotaru out of the picture, whilst Mizuki occupies Adelheid. And Hotaru will deliver a rather potent flurry for the proverbial first blood. The Bernstein heir observes these turns of events, these subtle alterations to the flow of the fight before him, with an almost too-calm intensity, cool gaze shifting here and there. He remains nearly motionless, muscles tensing, breath deep, feet steady beneath him. He is unmoving... but to presume him static would be a grave mistake.
Adelheid maintains his ready stance, an almost wry sort of smirk coming to his lips as the Miko hurtles forward. She has potential, but his interest in this fight is Rose. ... that, and he has little desire to find out how long Hotaru can hold out against the searing power he senses within Rose. A capacitor that is mirrored by the Prince of War, the platinum blonde veritably raging within, a centered storm of epic proportions gathering with a thundering, invisible rumble. To those sensitive to the ebb and flow of the currents of chi, this storm burns all the brighter in the instants of Mizuki's charge, her feint bringing a half-step back, and then Adelheid is airborne.
Flipping a full, graceful backflip, he touches down lithely, if harshly, on the rocky arena, "Rose! You're not looking after your charge very well!" He observes, flexing his right arm fiercely as he swings it forward, shoving back to his feet and reaving a cleaving, silvery edge of rampant windshear from the ether with near-effortless focus. A charge of power strong enough to get the Seer's attention, he hopes.
... and worst cast, it's a bad time to be in Mizuki's shoes. The ground itself rages with brilliant silver-white energy, a ragged maelstrom of fighter-devouring force, crashing forward in a miko-high wave. This is your wake-up call.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru blocks Rose's Aura Scarf.
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Mizuki 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Hotaru
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Rose 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Adelheid
Stealing in was easy - far easier when Vega no longer wore the clothes of Shadaloo, or the face that was known on the world stage. Easy enough, in fact, that he may try this again, going forwards. He pushes his way through the crowds watching the stage, hearing the screams of energetic fans demanding their favorite fighters do their favorite moves. He eases deeper towards the stage, using little hints of his power to tell him when to slide left or right, moving almost like a spirit. He settles a row or two back, pale grey eyes watching the goings-on, hands folded against his chest. In this, he may be one of the only people not cheering, throwing their hands up and shouting out - instead, he's simply here to watch.
Hotaru's attack is more than just swift, it's difficult to predict, the girl waiting until the last possible instant to spring the real intent, to disable her opponent's guard, and tear into them with all the momentum her charge built up. Even expecting it doesn't leave it all that easy to defend against. She continues with that momentum, springing down behind Mizuki after the last stomp, only to find herself being crowded in by Rose flailing that scarf of hers around. Turning her shoulder toward Rose, the girl braces, anticipating something painful coming her way.
The innocuous looking fabric cracks out like a whip toward the girl, but Hotaru knows better, having battled Rose before. Grounded, she doesn't play at being evasive, instead drawing her arms up, the fabric coming in contact with the bare skin of her forearms. Of course simply preventing a clean strike from the scarf isn't really what matters here, but rather fending off the energy that courses into her limbs from it. The experience is jarring, the girl targeted in a way she is less than experienced in dealing with. Teeth grit, jaw tightens as she fights back against Rose's brand of power in the end, exhaling a pained gasp as it finishes washing over her.
She isn't sure if Rose is going to stick around to pressure her further, or if Adelheid might draw her attention. Either way, the girl spins out of her sideways stance, aiming a swift, lower kick toward Rose's shin, merely trying to get her to backup a little to buy herself some breathing room.
COMBATSYS: Adelheid successfully hits Mizuki with Kaiser Wave.
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Mizuki 1/=======/=======|=====--\-------\0 Hotaru
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Rose 0/-------/------=|======-\-------\0 Adelheid
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Rose with Light Kick.
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Mizuki 1/=======/=======|=====--\-------\0 Hotaru
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Rose 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Adelheid
"Oh?" Rose calls to Adelheid. "Perhaps you keep yours on too close a leash. You see, we had the opportunity to prepare ourselves --" Of course, that preparation is going to be for naught if Adelheid blasts Mizuki into a fine mist of particles.
There is a brief wave of foreboding over Rose that distracts her momentarily as she prepares to leap out of Hotaru's way, leading her to stagger back after that kick and give Hotaru a reflexive and faintly cross look. It softens, being mere annoyance, and she doesn't strike back at Hotaru at all. Instead, she looks over, towards Adelheid... and reaches out.
Vega, in the stands, may recieve this transmission more clearly; he may even see an actual halo of light around Rose's head, although this exercise of mental power is not strong enough to produce physical light beyond a faint sparkle or two. 'Don't give up,' she says in Mizuki's mind, before easing a subliminal impression in - one which should, hopefully, let her sense what Rose is seeing without overwhelming her. Hopefully, this gentle boost will let her carry the day.
She reminds herself to try this with Alma, perhaps, or someone similarly blessed later.
COMBATSYS: Rose assists Mizuki.
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Mizuki 1/=======/=======|=====--\-------\0 Hotaru
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Rose 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Adelheid
Ah, it is indeed a bad day to be a miko. Her infighting technique dodged, Mizuki is already preparing to throw herself backwards--sensing, perhaps with some rudimentary danger sense, even before her more-refined sense of chi flow warns her--that Adelheid has something bad planned. Bad. Oh, lord is it bad. Her right foot barely touches down--the impulses to shift her weight, to force her body into a desperate lunge to the right--have barely fired off along their nerve paths... when Adelheid strikes.
Silvery chi explodes through Mizuki's body and she can do nothing but scream. It is a horrific scream--if Rose was hoping that Adelheid was -not- capable of casually destroying Mizuki, then that hope has just been dashed to the same sort of atomic construction that Mizuki feels like she's just been separated out into. Only she hasn't been vaporized--the flare of the impact dies down and Mizuki's body can be seen, tossed nearly to the edge of the fighting stage, tumbling like a ragdoll.
A twitch, a moment later, as Rose's mental message makes its way to a scrambled mind... and the miko responds. Her body is twitching--ghosts of pain flaring through her body, making her slow. But she rises. It's -hard- to focus... but she focuses. Internally. Adel's chi hits hard, physically and spiritually. She has to heal both types of damage. Her own chi rises, responds to her calling, slowly at first--blue-green power building above her head... swelling like a storm, then breaking into a literal fall of water-like energy, pouring down, dissipating just a mere two inches from the ground. Within that fall, Mizuki stands, hands clasped, raised up to chin level... perhaps she is only buying time. But she has to try.
Will to continue is all well and good, in Adel's book. Perserverence, they call it. Preparation, anticipation, a plan of sorts - good things as well, in many cases. However, "Focus too much on what you expected and you miss what you've got." Adelheid observes, as she shifts to that unorthodox method of encouragement, keeping Mizuki fighting. The miko isn't the target of Adelheid's fury this time, however. He twists to face Rose fully after Hotaru kicks her back, looking to blast her flank and send her staggering another direction - easy prey for Hotaru. Hey, if that's the way she wants to play it! Still, the Seeress is nothing if not a force to be reckoned with...
The Prince of War sprints forward a trio of steps, and then launches himself upwards, kicking a shearing lance of wind chi forward in a reaving edge which roils aboit itself, gusting wildly in a grey-silver gale. This strange woman and her miko ally are certainly not earning any breaks from Adelheid - but then, this is not a forum where hesitation or weakness are often well received. A few cursory glances are all it takes to confirm that Hotaru is, at least, holding her own for the moment. All they have to do is push... a little more momentum....
Her kick catching Rose on the shin, Hotaru obtains a brief reprieve, rather by result of her rather insignificant strike, or the distraction caused by a forboding presence. Her stance shifts, her striking leg landing then sliding forward as the girl drops low, arms out at her sides for balance. A glance to the side has her seeing what's transpiring with Mizuki... the other girl find out first hand just how powerful the young man is. The force behind that massive blast startles even Hotaru, the girl having only seen attacks of that calibur from the likes of her old teacher Ryo and other fighters of that level of experience.
But as Mizuki pauses to use her energy for her own recovery, Hotaru turns her attention away. She knows the red-head will be okay, able to mend the severe injuries incurred with her special gift. The break gives Hotaru time to follow Adelheid has he advances on Rose, intending to keep the pressure up on her.
Breathing in, Hotaru springs out of her low stance into a hop to take her closer to Rose, swinging her arms into a pair of open palmed, windmilling strikes aimed for Rose's side. Her motion is smooth and controlled, but still remarkably fast as Hotaru tries to come down out of her landing rihgt back into the low stance she had adopted a moment ago. It's blindsiding the woman a little if her attention is elsewhere, such as on Adelheid's attack, but considering how much experience she has in combat over Hotaru, it's probably not decidedly unfair.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Rose with Enryuu Banda.
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Mizuki 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Hotaru
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Rose 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Adelheid
COMBATSYS: Rose fails to reflect Reppukyaku from Adelheid with Soul Reflect.
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Mizuki 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Hotaru
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Rose 0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0 Adelheid
The incoming strikes combine themselves into something more brutal than the sum of their parts! Rose turns to face Hotaru, her scarf whirling as she's struck repeatedly, unable to interfere with the blindsiding attack as it sends her staggering off balance - at least, Rose thinks as she feels her ribs yield slightly underneath Hotaru's petite yet fierce blows, it's not a knife...
She twists around, raising that scarf towards the incoming burst of wind, but the angle is all wrong; she's struck, instead, as she seems to complete the technique enough to show her shoulder to the lance. She's struck, knocked staggering if not quite falling over. She takes a moment, to recover, feeling another of those unsettling twinges.
"Not bad," she breathes. "But was your timing a mere happy accident?"
COMBATSYS: Mizuki successfully hits Mizuki with Iki no Nagare.
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Mizuki 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Hotaru
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Rose 0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0 Adelheid
The thing about healing herself is, she's got to remain relatively still. The concentration involved in order to channel the energy into healing requires her to hold still--brief bursts are possible, but this technique is sustained over several seconds. For that reason, and perhaps that reason alone, for now, Rose stands alone... and is punished for it.
But she isn't unaware--her eyes are open as Rose takes the combination of attacks badly. "Sensei!" she shouts--it's appropriate, really, though few really seem to know about the connection between Rose and the YFCC--or maybe remember. And she lunges forward again. Yes, she could heal Rose... but Rose's own natural defenses would work against that effort.
And just healing won't win this fight... it'll just prolong it. Charging forward, as she does, she leaps, recklessly, and performs a most un-mikoish attack... she flies straight for Hotaru, in a classic, two-footed dropkick. Fortunately she is wearing the heavy hakama -pants- and not a skirt else she'd be flashing the room something fierce! Something's got to turn their way...
COMBATSYS: Hotaru interrupts Heavy Kick from Mizuki with Tanshou Shin EX.
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Mizuki 1/--=====/=======|=======\==-----\1 Hotaru
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Rose 0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0 Adelheid
Mizuki summons up an impressive charge of her own to rejuvenate herself for the fight to come... and Rose underestimates, or simply steps out of time with the pair of dangerous attacks levelled on her. As the elder fighter is knocked back, Adelheid flanks sidelong along the outer edge of the arena, away from Mizuki, his focus still centered on Rose. ... but that doesn't mean the miko is easily ignored. To do so would be inviting a sudden turnaround, to say the least. Crimson eyes narrow, and the Bernstein heir offers simply, "An efficient warrior must adapt to changing conditions. Synchronicity abounds." There's a vague sort of sardonic arrogance, or simple bemused irony in his tone. Considering the pair they're up against, the fight is far from over - but the Prince of War is confident, burning icily. It's nice to stretch his legs again, so to speak.
And that's just what he does, rushing Rose suddenly, accelerating from a dead stop to a blurring sprint in the passage of an instant, fired forward on his inner reserves, and wheeling around in an overhead axe kick designed to cleave the Seeress squarely in the forehead, and drop her hashly towards the stone.
Dropping into the low stance after he strikes connect against the veteran fighter, Hotaru prepares herself to spring into a second attack to follow the first, joining Adelheid in keeping the pressure on Rose. It's a sound tactic even if it is buying Mizuki a break to recover from the young man's explosion of chi. But the red-head has other plans, coming in to draw Hotaru off of the seer and leave her to Adelheid to contend with.
So focused on keeping speed with the much faster woman, Hotaru almost doesn't notice it, becoming aware of the potentially painful drop kick at the last moment. But when it registers to her that Mizuki is back in the fight to full effect, the girl shifts gears in an instant. Rising up out of her low crouch, she turns her shoulder into the drop kick, weathering the strike that way rather than getting crunched in the head. It provokes a gasp from the girl as she fights against her instinct to slimply try and slip out of the way, but she's been trained time and time again that evasion is not always the answer...
Retaliation comes swiftly as the girl rams her shoulder into the chest of the other girl before Mizuki can hope to recover from such an aggressive, risky move, the force enough to drive the red-head back from her, buying Hotaru just enough space to hop forward into a follow up strike, her palms slamming out from both of her sides, one slamming into the other girl's stomach, lending leg, torso, and arm strength all together for the attack; the other out in the opposite direction to counter-balance her momentum.
She's quick to try and draw her arm back, hoping to slip back into a ready stance to prepare herself for whatever might come next.
COMBATSYS: Rose blocks Adelheid's Medium Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Mizuki 1/--=====/=======|=======\=------\1 Hotaru
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Rose 0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0 Adelheid
Rose sinks to one knee /before/ the foot hits. How thoughtful of her! Except when she raises her arms, crossed together, to bear some of the striking force as she grunts once, the impact muffled by the energized scarf but not nearly enough for her liking. She curls her left hand's fingers as she rises, to make sure she still can.
"They really do," she says aloud, as she leans her head slightly forwards. "I suppose I have never mastered the same sort of efficiency as others - but," She extends her left arm out, the scarf whirling to a drill-shaped life around it, "I get by. Hah!"
The shout is complemented by a lunge forwards, the whirling swirl of light radiating out and hiding the scarf that's conveying it outwards. Rose herself combines her own moderate physical strength and the greater force of Soul Power to press forwards, slamming at the Bernstein heir if he doesn't hasten back.
'Mizuki,' she says to the younger girl, 'Don't give up. If they've driven you to the defensive, you're already beaten!'
Well. Something may turn out right for this combination of Mizuki and Rose... but it may not come in time for this fight. Mizuki's chance-taking proves to be disastrous--whatever minor damage she may have inflicted on Hotaru, Mizuki certainly took the brunt--once again she is literally flying through the air. It is only the last moment that she twists around such that she lands on her back--not her head, as she had been aimed to do--but the impact is still terrible.
She rolls to her knees after a moment, gasping. She could... she could heal herself again... then Rose speaks. It's true. But she's -already- beaten. She's taken more damage than a fighter rightfully should take--it's only her special ability, her whammy, that let her stay up this long... "I...I -can't-..." she gasps, almost herself. She's -already- beaten. And yet she finds herself struggling to her feet, as best as she can. She has... she has nothing else. Despite Rose's mentoring... she's afraid, once again. Outclassed, completely, by both opponents. She isn't operating on confidence, only the weak desire not to let her teammate down. But it's enough to get her moving, at least. Hotaru... Adelheid. She doesn't want to attack -either- of them. Her attempts at offense have been... pathetic at worst, bad at best. What can she do? The only thing she has is to bet everything she has, to force herself to ignore pain and injury, and lunge for Hotaru, single-mindedly...
COMBATSYS: Adelheid blocks Rose's Soul Spiral.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Mizuki 0/-------/-------|=======\=------\1 Hotaru
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Rose 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1 Adelheid
"So you do." Adelheid observes. More than gets by. As quickly as his kick is deflected, Rose is on the offensive - with impressive, unorthodox power and technique. Adel's kicking foot snaps to the ground quickly, shifting momentum to recover his footing, but he only manages one step backwards before the whirring column of scarf and Soul Power surges forward. Perhaps surprisingly, the youth's arms are just as quick on the draw, however - the platinum blonde flexes, braces, and all but slams his aligned guard back against the initial impact, a surging rush of his inner chi escaping in a volatile shockwave, a coursing windshear blasting in all directions as he's slammed backwards by the impact. Gritting his teeth, the Bernstein heir amends, "I've seen few who wield that Power with such strength and ease." He observes, emphasis in his tone implying some measure of awareness of exactly /what/ Rose is hitting him with. Though there's something.... unique in the energy, little more than a peculiar sense her strength leaves in the back of his mind.
Arms stinging, he shoves off and to the side, flanking Rose and taking a half-moment to survey the exchange between Mizuki and Hotaru. Pitched, indeed.... but the Futaba girl can hold her own, he knows that from personal experience... and so far she's done just that. So for the moment, an instant is all Hotaru gets - if he wants to help her, he's going to have to keep all of his attention on Rose, just now. A slight, wry sort of smile creeps across the blonde prodigy's features, and Adel observes, "You're the fortune teller. Tell me.... have enough of that power left to turn this around?" The /real/ curiousity, of course, is just how legit Rose's rep may be. He is, despite all things, still just a teenager, though.
COMBATSYS: Adelheid focuses on his next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Mizuki 0/-------/-------|=======\=------\1 Hotaru
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Rose 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1 Adelheid
COMBATSYS: Mizuki successfully hits Hotaru with Kouryuu no Ranbu.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Mizuki 0/-------/-------|=======\======-\1 Hotaru
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Rose 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1 Adelheid
Actually, Hotaru can take at least some of the credit--or at least the blame--for what Mizuki does next. It looks, initially, a lot like what Hotaru did to open the match--the redhead rushes in, grabbing Hotaru's arms, pulling them wide to open her guard. But instead of kick-stepping up Hotaru's body, Mizuki begins striking with her hands.
Straightened into rigid knifehands, they glow with her blue-white chi, amplifying the power of her strikes as her arms blur, working furiously for several seconds--pummeling her friend and teammate as hard as she can. After perhaps fourteen strikes, she steps back, then forward again, thrusting her left palm straight up into Hotaru's chin--an impact designed to literally launch her into the air.
Just thereafter, Mizuki leaps upwards, both arms glowing with increased power, and she yells, wordlessly, as she chops with both hands, sending Hotaru plummeting back to the stone flooring before she herself drops, landing crouched, panting... that takes a lot out of her even when she's feeling okay--to make her body perform so when she's already injured is even tougher.
Drawing back from her fierce strike, Hotaru slips back down into her low stance, watching the red-head carefully. She knows she hit the other girl fairly hard, but she also knows the miko is made of tougher stuff than that. Even after the massive blast of chi weathered from Adelheid, she'll keep going for now. The blue eyed Kenpoist merely holds her ground for the moment, letting Mizuki make the next move.
It comes next with the priestess charging, lunging at the last moment. Attempting to put her speed to use, Hotaru springs out of her stance, kicking backward a little at the last possible moment, hoping to elude the other girl, but perhaps having her own strategy turned back on her, she finds she can't predict Mizuki in time to cleanly escape. Her guard opened, she's left open to the knifehanded, chi-laced strikes, finding herself pummeled repeatedly in spite failing attempts to raise her guard.
Recovering, or so she thought, she's about to reel back into the other girl only to take the hard hit to the chin, launching the featherweight up into the air before being slammed back down to the arena ground. Landing with a grunt, the girl rolls out of it into a crouch for a moment, coughing once for breath as she wipes her hand across her mouth. "Heh," the girl grins a little in the red-head's direction. Mizuki's gotten a little tougher since the last time they've fought.
First instinct is to charge her back, deal out an attack just as strong in retaliation, but Hotaru spares a glance toward Adelheid for a moment to evaluate the bigger picture. While the emphasis of the match was on the higher ranked fighters helping the lower ones, that doesn't mean it isn't still a team effort... Decision made, the girl springs to her feet and sprints for Rose once more. A surge of power around the girl earmarks a big, incoming attack - one that isn't likely to catch Rose by surprise by itself... But the speed at which Hotaru moves just might make it a challenge to contend with all the same as the younger fighter slides close, into a crouching position, arms out at her sides before she launches into the attack itself.
A flip kick aimed at the torso of the seer, augmented significantly by the surge of blue chi that lends far more momentum to the small fighter than she could normally muster on her own as she goes for her strongest attack. "Ten-shou...!"
COMBATSYS: Rose fails to reflect Ten-shou Ranki from Hotaru with Soul Reflect.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Mizuki 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Hotaru
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Rose 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\1 Adelheid
"...Ranki!" The attack connects, the girl launching both her opponent as well as herself up into the air. Upon reaching the apex of her flip, the acrobatic fighter's descending trajectory takes her into a calculated dive back into Rose to take her back down to the hard tiled arena stage into a short sliding landing.
Kneeling over Rose's waist, the girl plants her palms at the woman's sternum as she draws a sizeable amount of swirling, blue chi up around her. It takes nearly all of her pent up strength to power and control it, the chi building up significantly around the girl, whipping at hair and loose clothing.
But when it reaches the limit of what she can control, she releases the energy to collapse back on herself, serving as a conduit as she channels all that chi into Rose. An invisible blastwave emanating out from the two stirs up the dust off the tile before everything finally settles and Hotaru begins to scramble back up to her feet to hop back and put some distance between her and rose in order to avoid quick retaliation. Wiping her arm across her forehead, she takes a quick moment to survey the situation.
Rose's power does have a different sensation to it; where the Psycho Power may leave one feeling burned or chilled, the sensation after close exposure to Soul Power is closer to a full body sunburn. "Perhaps," she answers Adelheid. "It's hard to predict a contest like this. And you know my power; perhaps, you will do what you would not do, simply to confound my vision!"
And confound her vision he does, if indirectly. Rose, after all, had been putting her attention on /Adelheid/ - and so when Hotaru attacks her, the channeling of reflexive force to try to counter the young girl's strike is a sad and emphatic failure, leading to a burst of light in the air and little else. She actually gives Hotaru a brief, slightly weak smile as she is slid down along the ground, her head nearly slammed against the arena floor. She then lets her head loll back as if to anticipate the inevitable and embrace the ensuing unconsciousness. The wave of Hotaru's force comes inwards -- and Rose's back arches as she lets out a wavery cry, the pain of it enough to leave her slumped and loose-limbed on the ground as Hotaru leaps back.
A second passes, before she rises upwards, as if being raised aloft by some invisible hand guiding her to her feet. "Hooooh," she exhales, slumping forwards slightly as she reaches an upright position, and then straightening. "I can see why they speak of you with terror, at times, Hotaru..."
She sends another short thought to Mizuki: 'Keep it up. She's off balance... And while you're at it, wish me a bit of luck, too?'
"SENSEI!" Mizuki well knows the terrible power of Hotaru's Tenshou Ranki, having experienced it more than a few times. The way the move is executed may invite jokes, but being at the receiving end isn't funny at all--although it probably hurt Rose less than it would hurt Mizuki, that's still got to be painful. Yes... yes, she could attack. Rose's suggestion lifts her spirits--that she is able to take such a hit and rise as if it were almost nothing...
Torn, briefly, between what she should do... she realizes that delaying further will only do one thing--ensure defeat. She must take her mentor's thought to heart.. and so she nods in Rose's direction, stepping forward, taking one, two, three steps before lunging into a full-out run again--seeking to close with Hotaru, feinting once more, ducking low and looking as if she wants to thrust pointed, stiffened fingers into Hotaru's stomach. But if she gets close enough... instead she'll slip her hands in between Hotaru's arms, and force them open. She'll assault the other girl with three chops to the torso--fortunately or not, not empowered with her chi--and then, assuming she gets that far.. she'll grip Hotaru by the shoulders and turn away, using the motion and momentum to to haul Hotaru up and overhead and down into the ground.
In the end, it's Adelheid who winds up prophetic just now. His attention firmly on Rose draws hers firmly to him - he is, after all, a rather dangerous threat, if he does say so himself! The youthful contender shifts his footing slightly, circling /away/ from Hotaru. Turning Rose from her adversary? Intentionally? Whether cosmic coincidence or not, it leaves the Bernstein heir at a rather different angle, and Rose's sudden shift of attention leaves her in trouble from the blonde's comrade, in her immediate future. In her long term portents? Well, she gets back to her feet, but Rose will have little time to collect herself beyond that, as the slowly flanking Bernstein suddenly charges. He doesn't accelerate physically, his strides more or less reaching a graceful, long-striding sprint immediately, a surge of wind in his wake as he rockets forward, leading himself with a ferocious right elbow, braced by a fiercely flexing left hand. A tremendous gout of silvery chi erupts in the last moments of the initial assault, the shotgun-spray of ripping grey windshear only a prelude, if Adelheid has his way.
The desire to ask more questions is forestalled by, well... all the cameras. Somewhere between intrigued and incredulous, curious and challenging, the combination of Rose's eerie reputation (and claims) and her undeniably intriguing power..... well. Calling out the psychic is an age-old process, but in the midst of an all-out assault may not be the best moment. Even as he speaks, and erupts in with that elbow, ideally, Adelheid flows evenly into a continuing motion, a twist bringing a destructive fist straight on in for Rose's ribs. The Prince of War is clearly looking to put the Soul Seeress down for the count here, holding nothing back, as he shoves forward, directing a booted foot sharply in a stepping low kick for Rose's shin, before following through into the intended finale: an axeing front kick that erupts in a brilliant, cleaving edge of ragged silvery chi, rending a cleaving edge along the virtually vertical path of his reinforced boot.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru blocks Mizuki's Hyouryuu no Koki.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Mizuki 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Hotaru
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Rose 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\1 Adelheid
As Rose stands and speaks, Hotaru is backing off quickly, remembering fully well from her last match with the veteran fighter just how painful her retaliation can be, should it come her way. But instead the Soul Power wielder refers to the pig-tailed fighter's reputation and were her cheeks not already a little red from effort and fighting back the aches of the hits she's taken, it would be easy to see her blush a little. "...If that's what 'they' are saying... I think it might be related to something else," she replies back, turning away from Rose to face Mizuki, her thoughts tracing briefly over the name she made for herself over the first quarter of the year and her violent tendencies during that time.
Mizuki closes the distance, much as Hotaru had expected, knowing the red-head still had fight in her after that powerful combination she had dished out on her a moment ago. But this time Hotaru's guard is ready, the girl turning to the side, her right shoulder closer to Mizuki, her arm bending and tightening up to keep her guard from being pried apart this time. The chops are deflected as the Kenpo artist shifts her forearm to intersect before she finally pries herself free from being tossed overhead.
Retaliation comes swift as Hotaru doesn't even take the time to slip away, striking back immediately, her right hand slamming back as a quick chop, her torso turning to follow the momentum. She follows through by leaning in low then rising out of the crouch with a left hand palm toward Mizuki's stomach, before stepping forward into one final palm strike aimed for the other girl's jaw. "Ya!"
COMBATSYS: Rose reflects Grosse Stob from Adelheid with Turquoise Soul Overdrive.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Mizuki 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Hotaru
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Rose 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\1 Adelheid
'Don't worry about me,' Rose thinks towards Mizuki as she faces the son of Rugal Bernstein with a steady gaze. She doesn't turn to face him, instead merely turning her head and remaining still, her arms not even raising up to fold. Is she simply accepting the inevitable and giving Adelheid the chance to distract himself against her relatively worn frame, to give Mizuki a few more moments of glory?
The wind stirs past Rose as she keeps her steady gaze forwards at the so-called Prince, letting her leg flutter back underneath that stepping kick, her bruised torso pulling back from his strike at her ribs, letting herself start toppling backwards. She then looks up as her scarf trails past her, seeing that axe kick and the formation of that wave of energy towards her. She shoves two fingers forwards then as a sea of dark blue sparkles seethe around her, rising up towards that gray light - and she hits at the perfect point of reversal.
There is an instant of tension before the conflicting forces erupt back at Adelheid, Rose herself falling back and onto one elbow as she cups her chin in one hand. "It's always so sudden, isn't it," she muses aloud, before hauling herself, arduously, back up to her heeled feet.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Mizuki with Fierce Punch.
[ \\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Mizuki 0/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Hotaru
[ \\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Rose 0/-------/------=|=======\======-\1 Adelheid
Blasted--that's all Mizuki can think, before she gets comboed out. Hotaru's chop strikes, unbalancing her for the rest of the combination--the other two palm strikes driving her backwards, and off her feet. She hits the ground with a cute little 'thud'... and yet...
...and yet. And yet she struggles to her feet... and despite all the odds, she's actually smiling. No one is quite sure why, though--she's just taken so many fierce strikes in this fight she must be punch-drunk. And punch-drunk she is...
But, not enough to not be able to command her own faculties. She staggers, once, then rights herself... setting her feet, clasping her hands together... banishing the pain for as long as she can... -concentrating-. Energy flows, surging up from underneath her, spilling out as a corsucating, undulating circle of power, the visual aftermath of the energy filling her tired body... not enough to begin to heal her, but perhaps enough for something else...
COMBATSYS: Mizuki gathers her will.
[ \\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Mizuki 1/----===/=======|=====--\-------\0 Hotaru
[ \\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Rose 0/-------/------=|=======\======-\1 Adelheid
All that power - all that focus... and Rose rises to the occasion indeed. It all explodes back on him, and as abruptly as he began his assault, the young Bernstein is erupted violently backwards, blasted by the torrential force of the Soul Power - and his own impressive chi. The power of it knocks him clean off his feet, sends him limb over limb away in a less-than-graceful tumble end over end across the unforgiving ground. The stone impacts jar him further, but Adelheid rolls up into a crouch at the end of his haphazard skid, nonetheless. One gloved hand presses to the rock, and he gasps a deep breath as his eyes snap back up towards Rose, "Now that..." he murmurs, the slight smile from earlier redoubled in entertained, mildly wolfish amusement, "was impressive!!!"
... and apparently, an invitation. Adelheid shoves upwards, suddenly forcing himself back to his feet in a surge of motion and strength. His arms sweep out to his sides, his fingers bent and gripping the empty space in his palms... until, in short order, nearly all of the tremendous hurricane of energy gathering within Adel to this point begins to surge towards his grip, gather in rampantly fluctuating, reverberating, expanding spheres of blue-silver power.
Time and again over the course of what can't be more than a couple of seconds, the energy waves, grows stronger, and then the platinum blonde /slams/ his hands around, crashing the gathered power together into a wild-edged wave that quickly bursts forth as if the thunderclap had increased its force exponentially. A coruscating, rough cleaving crescent of that same brilliant, icily burning gale carries all of that gathered intensity - Adelheid's answer to Rose's rather impressive rebuttal - straight at Rose, who suddenly may find her view of Adel obscured by a burst of chi that matches the height of the fighters themselves.
Her last strike delivered, Hotaru draws back, taking a moment to evaluate where things land, not aggressing immediately. The decision to hold back buys Mizuki the time she needs to get back up, power beginning to surge up around the miko. The blue eyed fighter allows herself a quiet grin at Mizuki's resolve to keep going. It seems she's come aways not just in being able to fight but in demonstrating resolve as a fighter as well.
A slight nod is given to the other girl, an acknowledgement of her refusal to quit no matter how hard the fight may be going. Speaking of things going rough, the girl hazards a glance to the side, watching Adelheid get a dose of that potentl power Rose has struck Hotaru with in the past. No light matter that, and it seems she landed quite a solid hit against the platinum blonde. But for now, the girl decides her focus is going to be on Mizuki still, leaving the higher tier fighters to contend with each other for now.
She goes on the offense then, closing distance toward the other girl as she prepares herself. A crouch from a little ways out leading into her Kenpo-signiture whirlwinding strikes as she takes three quick swings for Mizuki, aiming for her shoulders as she comes down into her landing, the last swift strike going for her strenum, trying to knock her back one more time...
COMBATSYS: Adelheid successfully hits Rose with Crown Prince.
[ \\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Mizuki 1/----===/=======|==-----\-------\0 Hotaru
[ < > /////////////// ]
Rose 0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0 Adelheid
Rose isn't perfect, despite the occasional good trick. Perhaps she sees the inevitable like a grue in the darkness, or perhaps she simply twitches the wrong way. She raises her arm as if to guard against the incoming glowing crescent of force as she tilts her head forwards, only to be overwhelmed with the raw force of the chi. She finds herself borne back, then, and aloft, floating for a moment when the blast's intensity fades above the surface of the Howard Arena - and several feet beyond its edge.
She doesn't try to make it back in the arena. She smiles, faintly, at Adelheid, and raises her scarf in salute - before it stiffens out, a bolt of that glittering light radiating outwards towards him with sudden speed, streaking towards him in answer to his earlier blow. The Soul Power is coming from quite a ways away, and it may be easy to dodge - right?
Rose herself is able to control her descent, landing finally on her back amongst some folded-up mats from a judo exhibition. "oof."
COMBATSYS: Rose can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Mizuki 1/----===/=======|==-----\-------\0 Hotaru
> /////////////// ]
|==-----\-------\0 Adelheid
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Mizuki with Enryuu Banda.
Glancing Blow
[ \\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Mizuki 1/------=/=======|====---\-------\0 Hotaru
> /////////////// ]
|==-----\-------\0 Adelheid
COMBATSYS: Adelheid reflects Soul Spark from Rose with Dark Barrier.
[ \\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Mizuki 1/------=/=======|====---\-------\0 Hotaru
> /////////////// ]
|==-----\-------\0 Adelheid
This time, the tremendous charge of Soul Power which Rose summons forth so naturally is not as surprising. This may be due, in part, to the fact that she's hurtling over the edge of the arena as she blasts it, but there seems to be little question in Adelheid's mind of how to deal with it. The aftermath of his ultimate technique may leave him sapped, but the prodigal Bernstein has more fight left in him, still. He shifts sidelong, facing the bolting blast that burns the air between Rose and himself, and his fingers splay, palm thrusting forward as a swirling shield of darkly crackling windshear whirls into being, the greyish barrier. There's a shockwave of brilliant light and reaving wind-chi as the spark of Soul Power crashes home, a rippling distortion rupturing outwards as the shield struggles to hold, and then aligns itself fully.
It's just like he told the Gedo girl who uses a similar power.... there are more ways than one to master energy. The polarization completes, and in a flash, the Dark Barrier erupts back inwards, the force of the Soul Spark blasting outwards in all directions, and brilliant lightshow of tremendous power dispatched into dismissed shrapnel. The force is directed away from Adelheid, and were Rose still, well... in the arena... she might be gifted with some measure of it in return. As it is the fireworks abate, and Adelheid's tensed arm visible relaxes, dropping to his side. A deep breath is drawn, then released, crimson eyes finally taking the moment to scan his surroundings more thoroughly. A hard fought battle, yes, "Indeed." He answers, murmuring towards Hotaru, and offering a slow nod, "Well fought."
Seldom a man of a great many words, the platinum blonde turns at that point, preparing to head away from the battle. There's a great deal to think about, from this fight - and not only in the stylistic, combative aspects.
She almost does it. Despite the speed behind that combination, Mizuki -almost- manages to avoid all the strikes, the whirlwind of Hotaru. But she misjudges the last strike--it thuds into her temple and she suddenly realizes... she's wobbly. Her body is telling her that she's done... but she can't give up yet. Rose just got gobsmacked by Adelheid, too, but she didn't give up. How can Mizuki do any less for her mentor?
Staggering, she braces her feet for one last go... pulling at her power, building it into a glow into her hands, blue-white... but she's already losing consciousness, as she throws her arms forward, sending a flare of her chi-power, that icy cold waist-high, at her friend, before she slumps over. The damage isn't too bad, all told, but it's enough... even being able to heal herself, the damage is never -entirely- erased, and the residuals build up... just one more reason that Mizuki can't heal the world...
COMBATSYS: Mizuki can no longer fight.
> ////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Hotaru
> ////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Adelheid
COMBATSYS: Hotaru reflects Hyouryuu no Fuki from Mizuki with Kobi Kyaku.
> ////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Hotaru
> ////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Adelheid
The swift attack manages to catch Mizuki just barely, as one of the swings finds their mark on the side of the other girl's head. After all the red-head had been through this fight, her capacity to move so quickly to still try and escape out of the way is admireable to say the least. The pig-tailed fighter's feet touch down and she releases a gasp, having pushed herself hard to stay constantly aggressive throughout the entire fight, not taking a break at any point.
Drawing out of her landing, she rises back up to full standing, sapphire blue eyes studying the other girl, trying to read the condtion of the pony-tailed girl. Resolve has taken Mizuki far, but even the most determined have their limits. But the fight isn't over until it's over, and the Kenpo artist is given no reprieve as Mizuki attacks her with energy of the unfriendly variety.
And thus it is that one of Hotaru's untapped abilities over the course of the battle comes to her rescue - that fine precision control over chi when in the stress of battle that allows her to defend herself from the icy chi that rushes toward her. A swift, reverse roundhouse serves as the delivery method, a swath of thick, powerful chi left in the wake of her kick as she spins around. The barrier forces the energy to crash around it, like a rock rooted in the bed of a river, leaving the teen fighter untouched in its passing as she turns back forward to face Mizuki, drawing her hands up in a clearly exhausted defensive position, the blue energy fading from the air around her.
But no further attacks are to be coming from the miko for now and the Futaba girl shifts her attention to the final exchange between Adelheid and Rose, only to see him defend himself with the same precision chi control that she accomplished herself, protecting himself from harm as well. That the fight has concluded becomes abundantly clear to the exhausted girl as she exhales a long sigh and lowers her arms to rest against her sides.
Adelheid is faced directly for a moment, the tired girl's eyes focusing on the Prince of 'R' briefly, a thoughtful expression on her face. Such an interesting fighter, that one - and who is he really? Nothing about his behavior in the match made her think of the young man leading the invading soldiers over half a year ago... Of course, she had little chance to get an impression of him at that time other than being kicked around hard, so perhaps what she was expecting was a bit skewed to begin with. Toward Adelheid a respectful bow is offered, hands pressed together in front of her. A second and third bow are each offered toward Mizuki and Rose before she turns to take her leave, hand coming up to rub her chin where Mizuki had knocked her clean off her feet. "Oof. What a match."
Log created on 21:45:51 05/30/2008 by Mizuki, and last modified on 15:33:27 06/07/2008.