Description: You'll have to read to see the winner. It's inside! It's completely unexpected! OR IS IT? ( Winner: Hotaru )
Time for another Neo League bout for one Hotaru Futaba. Getting back into the swing of things has reminded her why she enjoyed the sport before, and meeting new people, seeing new styles in action, and learning a thing or two along the way has reinvigorated her interests in pursuing her career as of late. Training in between time spent studying for class, attending class, and teaching Kentou and other students at the YFCC, the occasional Neo League fight gives her a chance to test out what she's learned.
As well as a free trip to Greece this time around. The match has been arranged at some recently refurbished ruins. The setting looks almost like an old fashioned temple - a ring of stone walls and archways surrounding a pool of crystal blue water. Some of the archways support aquaducts that carry in flowing water, pouring off into the large pool of water as individual waterfalls. The fight itself is to take place on the platform that surrounds the pool, beneath the archways and columns.
Standing at the edge of the pool, the pig-tailed Kenpo artist has her hands clasped behind her back, her blue eyes staring out over the water, watching the constant ripples and waves caused by the dozons of waterfalls. The other end of the pool is so far off as to be a blur in the distance, and every thirty or so yards across the long body of water is a statue of some Greecian god or goddess.
It's an interesting sight, the air already comfortably cool, made even moreso by the mist generated by the water plunging out of the aquaducts into the pool. White, puffy clouds float by overhead on a canvas of rich blue sky matching the Chinese styled vest Hotaru has on over a white blouse. Her hair is done up in pig-tails, the style one that must have come to expect from the teenaged fighting phenomenon. Her opponent is a new name to her, though she's been told she's not new to fighting in general. 'Well then,' the Kenpo artist muses, her hands coming up from behind her back to tighten one of her red hair ribbons, 'this should be interesting.'
The occasional Neo League also gives a doll something to do in between the little missions and other things that keep them busy inbetween orders that Master Vega wishes. It is no surprise that they would wish to better themselves in order to become something greater, if only to serve him far better as well. It's expected almost!
But it's not like they don't have secondary goals in mind either, and Aprile has a few of those alright. They just have to hopefully come into play.
Around some ruins the doll finds herself, walking towards the battlefield as she looks about. Ooh. A platform about the pool, she notes, looking at everything above them. Of course, there is her opponent! Skipping forwards, the doll wastes no time in moving behind Hotaru and looking over the water, the pig tailed girl is extremely cute, as well, and she notes this, as well as she notes the fixing of the ribbon. Hard not to, behind her!
"HI!" She cries out, rather loudly, behind the girl, waving as she does.. she can't even see it. Or at least most of it.
"So are you the girl I'm supposed to fight?" She asks, harmlessly, holding the medkit behind her in both hands, the bag there as well. "Because you look a bit too cute to be fighting.. and you're supposed to be really good at it too.. Ooh." She notes, clearly having at least heard of her. A notion. "So what are you looking at?"
The cheerful 'HI' provokes a startled jump from the contemplating girl and in the next instant Hotaru spins around to face the owner of the voice, looking just a little flustered at having been so jarringly surprised. "H-hello," she stammers, nodding her head just a little, "I am Hotaru Futaba, pleased to meet-" she continues only to have her voice cut off when Aprile describes her as too cute to be fighting.
Cheeks reddening a little, her hand comes up to rest at the back of her head as she laughs lightly, "Why thank you. I, ah, do my best. I really like this sport." Taking a step to the side, she half turns toward the large pool, waving her right hand out toward it, "I was just looking at this remarkable fountain, picturing the people that built it thousands of years ago."
She glances up at the columns and aquaducts and waves her hand a second time to indicate them, "All of this - running water, plumbing, sewage... it was really advanced for its time. Of course now it looks all old, but a long time ago, all these stones would have been glimmering, clean white marble." The Kenpo artist and part time history buff giggles a little, lowering her hand back down to rest at her side. "Anyway, I doubt you want to hear about all that stuff. It's nice to meet you. Aprile, is it? That's a lovely name."
What, didn't she like it? Aprile thinks before she throws it away. Of COURSE she does! Smiling cheerfully, Aprile watches as the girl spins around, speaking to her! Oh the stammer won't do, but it does make her cute. "Hotaru? Ho-tar-u. Oh that's a different name! Never heard one like that before!"She pipes up. "And you tried hard so you became better... I'll have to follow that too." She finishes, peering behind Hotaru as she waves her hand.
Walking to the edge, the nurse leans forwards and looks out over it. "Oh?" And so the doll looks out across the pool, eyeing the fountain that's really.. really old. She stares at it for a while and then everything around her, turning in place, somewhat spinning as she glances here and there. White marble .. aged by time.. "Their master really needed to make sure they kept washing it then!" She suddenly adds, looking to Hotaru. "Whomever made it really must have not really cared for who they made it or it just wouldn't be like this." She comes to a conclusion, nodding. "Or whatever man took it over .. they weren't a good enough warrior to keep it." Nodding to herself, she turns to Hotaru. "It is? I never really though of that. It's just my name." She explains. "A name to an object." Whatever that means.
"Now.. Hotaru-ru." She adds the second part, as she turns away, and walks a bit.
Coming to a stop, she spins, facing her. "We came here for other reasons. Even if it was nice meeting you. And now I'll try that 'trying makes you better' thing!" She exclaims, saluting Hotaru.
Nope, she's not moving yet.
As Aprile repeats her name, Hotaru nods, "Nn, that's right," confirming the pronounciation. She speaks about trying better and the pig-tailed combatant grins sheepishly, "I- I think so, yeah. I mean, that I got better by trying. Not that I'm great. That is, ah, I mean," she brings her hand up, palm forward, and waves it nervously in front of her, trying to regain her composure. Something about the cheerful, energetic friendliness of Aprile seems to have thrown her off a little bit. It's not... usual in fighters. Makes her think of Hinata-chan a little.
Aprile responds to her brief history lesson by talking about masters, warriors, and the like, and Hotaru nods slowly, not really abel to counter it, even if the line of thinking seems like an unusual perspective for someone to bring up. All in all, she's probably right. She doesn't seem to react to the compliment about her name though, and Hotaru lowers her hand to rest against her side. "I see..."
As Aprile speaks her name again - kind of - Hotaru raises her hand, finger pointing up for emphasis, "Actually, it's just Hotaru. One... ru..." she grins a little at the correction before shaking her head, "But it doesn't matter to much." It's no big deal if the other girl finds her name hard to pronounce. No need for her to harp on it, she decides. She looks like she might be a European or American to the young Asian. It's understandable if her Japanese name gives her trouble.
Aprile brings up the purpose of their visit here, however, and the Futaba girl nods her head, glancing toward the cameras that have been mounted discretely on the columns around them. "Right. Well then..." she comments, walking away from the large pool of water, wanting to avoid falling in! Pausing, she turns toward Aprile, crossing her arms in front of her. A slow exhale accompanies her uncrossing her arms and shifting into a ready stance, one shoulder turned toward the other girl, her arms raised, ready for defending. A soft smile is offered, "I'm ready." The cue is clear enough, she's going to let Aprile start when she wants.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has started a fight here.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Hotaru takes no action.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Aprile has joined the fight here.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Aprile
Ooh! That's right, good. But Hotaru's act, or perhaps actual answer due to her personality, seems like an act to Aprile! Clearly a strong warrior would not actually be a cute girl, would she? Either way, as she corrects her, explaining one, Aprile responds! "Hotaruuu. Okay!" Maybe the Italian has to get better at such things. She isn't the communication focus! That's another doll.
But with Hotaru agreeing with her, walking away and then pausing to turn towards her and ready herself.. the salute falls from Aprile and the doll falls into place as well, seemingly just switching into the stance without thinking. She really didn't think! Mainly because it's so programmed it's like second nature. A non-warrior doll is a useless one. How can they serve otherwise?
She waits.. and the cue is given! "Oh, so we can start then?" It's been a while since she thought so. "Maybe you're as good as that card guy!" She adds, before she just barrels forwards at the Futaban warrior! It seems sort of a rather poor way of doing things, perhaps, but Aprile isn't the very strategic of the dolls. She's just the medic.
"Okay .. if you're ready .. then here!" Kicking off the ground, the doll mentions her assault before hand, flipping once and coming down towards Hotaru with her feet extended!
There will be a splash, either way. But the question is .. will Hotaru be involved!?
Meanwhile, Aprile is dressed literately like a nurse. The doll attire is under it .. although the hat is just inversed! It's skin tight after all.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Aprile's Heavy Kick.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Aprile
It's a curious outfit to Hotaru, recognizing the attire as that of a nurse. But isn't the point of medical staff to be on hand to take care of people that get hurt, not go around MAKING them hurt? She smiles faintly as she ponders it, deciding that it's not unlike her miko friend, Mizuki, who has become quite the fighter while sustaining her capacity to heal when needed. Perhaps this is the same.
She confirms that she's ready and Hotaru nods back at her, blue eyes never leaving the other girl, her mouth curled into just the slightest hint of a smile. Perhaps she's just too friendly for her /own/ good as a fighter. But compared to the angry thing she was months ago, she'll take this approach to fighting any day. The doll takes to the air, flipping forward, her feet extended out to try and crack Hotaru good and hard. But the swift girl slips to the side, avoiding the strike all together.
Her evasion is minimalist, just enough to not be hit without sacrificing ground by over compensating for how much distance she needed in order to be safe from the drop kick. Her posture shifts at the exact same time, just as fast as she had stepped to the side, she has dropped into a low crouch, her feet spread far apart, right foot forward, leg straight, left leg further back, bent at the knee, her arms out at her sides to maintain her balance.
The shift in stance opens the way to her next attack as she uncoils, stretching out, bringing her hands together and swinging them forward, aiming a double palm press toward Aprile's stomach as she tries to drive the other girl back just a little. "HA!"
COMBATSYS: Aprile blocks Hotaru's Medium Punch.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Aprile
Hotaru might understand it alright, but more importantly, she uses her own 'healing' for a far worse reason. Much of the dolls do. As Hotaru, however, curls into a smile and then slips to the side as the doll crashes down.. there's a SPLASH of water as she hits, and the girl apparently avoids the strike altogether. Looking down, Aprile nods.. AH.. just got herself wet. The white dress.. so wet!
But there is another problem she has to see coming, and that's Hotaru's .. stance? Aprile has just enough time to notice it before she watches a double onslaught of palms fly towards her! And that's just about when the hands crash against her arms. The nurse brings them up just in time, more splashing as she's driven back a bit, the watery fountain causing a loss of friction! But she stops eventually. She doesn't go more than a foot!
"Wow you're strong too." She comments, "And fast..." She adds in, watching at how simply she moved out of the way!
But then she does something odd. Reaching into the medkit she holds, the nurse takes out a syringe.. and injects it into herself in mid battle. Sliding it back in, the nurse staggers back a bit, smiling at Hotaru.
"There.. I think .. that'll help me a bit, don't you think?" She asks to Hotaru, smiling wide.
That's totally not right! Drugs aren't good! "I'll need a boost then, to even things."
Her hands slam out, but Aprile is quick to defend against the girl, keeping her from getting the clean hit she was aiming for. It gives Hotaru a feeling for how tough her opponent is, perhaps, that Aprile seems to take it so well. But she isn't taking chances, drawing her arms back, dropping back into that low stance, blue eyes watching the now dampened nurse carefully, glad she hasn't stepped into the pooled water over the platform herself. Raised in a well to-do home, she never really has adjusted well to fights that have her getting dirty or messy!
But Aprile backs up, feet losing a bit of traction on the portion of marble dampened by her landing. Giving the Kenpo artist compliments back, Hotaru smiles quietly and just returns it with a soft nod. She learned early in her career that compliments can simply be distractions, leaving her open to painful hits when her mind is on something other than the fight itself, so she's cautious about giving them too much of her attention.
The needle drawn out, however, DOES get a blink from the teen fighter. "I don't know... what are you-" Oh. She's sticking herself with it. The girl isn't sure what to make of that and her slightly confused look reflects her confusion. She's never had an opponent inject themselves with something mid-fight before, let alone whatever they do /before/ the match that she doesn't want to know about. She frowns just a little, "I'm not sure that's a good idea," she murmurs quietly, but then decides that her opinion probably wasn't requested anyway. "Then again, you look like the one that should know the best here..."
Aprile defended herself well against the palm press, but it's time for Hotaru to explore the capabilities of her opponent a little further. The girl bends her legs a little then hops forward, soft blue shoes splashing down in the thin pool of water around the nurse. And then she lunges, much like she did when she punched, leaning in hard, reaching out with both of her hands, trying to get a tight grip on the front of that nurse's dress. If her fingers clamp hold, she'll coil back, attempting to yank Aprile closer toward her as she uses her torso strength to try and move the doll off her balance and then trip her right over her knee to slam her down to the tiles hard on her back. Successful or not, she follows up by rising up out of her stance from slamming the girl and springing backward swiftly to put some range between them.
COMBATSYS: Aprile endures Hotaru's Medium Throw.
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Hotaru 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Aprile
COMBATSYS: Aprile successfully hits Aprile with Cut And Paste.
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Hotaru 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Aprile
Dirty or messy is just the same state as not to the doll, so it hardly registers. What does is how Hotaru's confusion registers to her. Honestly, the doll doesn't have a 'respect' for her body, so what happens to it is unimportant. Master Vega's energy keeps her as happy as she wishes.. it's ill effects will probably have a small, but registering effect later.. if she lives that long.
Smiling to Hotaru still, the nurse decides to speak clearly to the girl. That is, after the girl chases her into the water, lunging towards her, and then grasping her dress. The fingers grab hold alright, but Aprile moves with the throw, the doll coming off balance but not completely, being tripped and slammed down. Not entirely, however, does she fall. She moves with the blow.. but the injected drug fails to completely register.
It leaves her pained. Perhaps she will have to change again, to stop the resistance.
It still allows her to move, bursting with suddenly energy, and kicking off the ground, her back to Hotaru! "Oh no Hotaruuu. It's not good for me .. but I've got to even things. That's a drug! You know. And it helps me ignore my limits! You know, like when your body is hurt. I can't listen to it when he would want me to keep going." The doll adds, before she begins to blur, spinning around with the medkit, swinging it as a white trail follows the object, a red afterglow after that, before it fades completely.
But she may be too close to completely evade!
COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Aprile's Peleative Care.
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Hotaru 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Aprile
Aprile moves with the blow, proving adept at handling herself even when being tossed to the wet ground by the young martial artist. Hotaru had expected her to be down for a moment, for certain, but the other girl is back on her feet in an instant, invigorated it seems by the serum in that syringe. Her back is to Hotaru and the pig-tailed fighter isn't hanging around, using that spring in her step to put distance between her and Aprile, slipping just out of range as the med-kit comes spinning around in an attempt to smash into her, leaving a white swath of psycho power in its wake, laced with the red afterglow.
Landing on the marbled surface of the platform, Hotaru skids to a stop, exhaling softly at the close call. She knows from experience that it only takes a few wrong turns for a fight to spiral rapidly out of control into a painful disaster. So far she's kept her wits about her though. Aprile admits that the drug isn't good for her, much to the girl's suprise, blue eyes blinking back at her. "But won't you just hurt yourself worse by fighting beyond what you're capable of? This is just a competition, you... you shouldn't debilitate yourself from it." She sounds concerned, something doesn't seem /well/ with this woman.
But this is a fight and she needs to do her best as a professional, even if her opponent is doing things she finds a little distasteful. At least, well... at least they're not being done to herself? Hotaru springs forward aggressively then, leaning into her charge, closing the distance between her and Aprile, her hands close together. It seems at first that she might be trying to barrel into another palm press. But in the last instant, she goes for Aprile's wrists instead, trying to twist her guard open, prying her arms apart to leave her open to the flurry of rapid stomps right up the front of her in a swift assault. "Ya, ya, ya!" If she succeeds, she'll leap off of Aprile's shoulders to land behind her, sliding to a stop. Of course... while she definitely doesn't intend for it, her damp shoes stomping up the front of that nice, white dress might leave a little trail of footprints!
COMBATSYS: Aprile fails to interrupt Shin-Jou Tai from Hotaru with 10th Floor Transfer.
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Hotaru 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\0 Aprile
As Hotaru slips out of range.. Aprile comes to a stop-sans Taru. This is sort of bad as she's somewhat left dizzy, and in the end, as Hotaru mentions it, Aprile nods. "Yep. But I deserve it then!" She exclaims without a beat, smiling even, and still staggering a bit from the failed assault.. which is why when Hotaru comes towards her, trying to barrel into her and into that palm press.. she actually moves towards it.
But her assault is quenched before it even gets started, the nurse being stepped all over and then kicked away. Sliding, face first, into the watery section.. Aprile isn't doing too well, but she's sure not done. That comes a bit later.
"It's tingling." She responds, the water a bit red from the self inflicted wounds, and Hotaru inflicted wounds, of running into assaults over and over again.. it seems those things on her are a bit too heavy, yet she refuses to take them off! Staggering back to her feet, she still smiles, even if she's all wet, slightly red now, and being beaten rather badly.. but she has a plan!
Landing down from her hop from off Aprile's shoulders, Hotaru knows she avoided getting hit hard back there. Skidding, she spins around to face the other girl, eyes narrowing to check on her condition, perhaps to see if she's going to be charging back fast or not. But it seems she has a brief reprieve as the girl dressed like a nurse gets up slowly.
She tries to make sense of what Aprile said - about deserving what she gets, and the confusion in her eyes is impossible to miss. What's wrong with this girl? She pulls herself back up out of the dampness, looking a bit worse for wear, and Hotaru pauses briefly. She mentioned a 'he'. "Are you talking about your boss?" she asks back. "I-" She frowns a little, standing up straight. Exhaling, she decides that she needs to stick to it and give it her best. "Well, here I come!" she warns.
This time it's her turn to take to the air, the acrobatic girl leaping up, pressing into the side of one of the columns with her feet, before dropping right back down toward Aprile, foot first, aiming to give the other girl a swift jump kick from a sharp angle.
COMBATSYS: Aprile fails to interrupt Light Kick from Hotaru with Random Strike.
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Aprile
As Hotaru stops, trying to make sense of it all.. it's best not to think of it! But as Hotaru asks her, she nods. "Mhmm!" Is all she gets, however, before Hotaru takes to the air, and then slams towards one of the columns.. before the foot slams towards her, aiming to slam into her! But Aprile is watching Hotaru closely this time, and slides off that pack of hers before..
Being beaned, the sharp angle causing her to be launched a bit away, the doll sliding to a stop once more, this time on the ground. She doesn't seem to be hurt all that much from the assault, but she's certainly out of it a bit, staggering to her feet before she moves forwards.
"Really fast.." She adds. "But you see I just can't give up. Nothing's going to make me do that!" She responds, nodding, before staggering to .. mostly stay on her feet. The doll isn't the least bit caring how poor she is doing, Hotaru just striking her again and again..
But part of her is actually intent on just seeing about the girl. She'll figure something out!
Landing after her acrobatic jump kick, Hotaru rises back up to standing. Though she's had a couple close scrapes, she really hasn't been able to learn much at all about how the other girl fights. Other than that she likes to shove a needle load of drugs into her arm. Which is a little distressing. Maybe it's impairing her ability to react quickly as well? The Kenpo artist isn't really sure...
"Your boss would want you to be well, too, I think... Or else you have a really severe Chief of Medicine wherever it is you work." Her smile is faint, uncertain to some extent, as if she isn't sure what to make of the strange talking girl. "But you're right about not giving up." she agrees with a sharp nod of her head.
Still, it's her task to bring her best to every fight, out of respect for herself, her opponents, and those she tries to teach. Bringing less than her best would be letting someone down. Exhaling softly, the girl goes back on the attack, springing forward. She lands in her crouching stance a few feet out from Aprile, but she's only there for an instant before she springs out of it into a spinning, horizontal cartwheel through the air, aiming to try and grab hold of Aprile's shoulders as she spins by in order to twist the other girl back to the ground. She releases her grip quickly in order to land back on her feet, pausing with her back turned toward the nurse, her right hand on her left knee, looking over her left shoulder toward her opponent as she pauses for a moment, perhaps setting up for something else.
COMBATSYS: Aprile fails to interrupt Quick Throw from Hotaru with Random Strike.
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Hotaru 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Aprile
It's not really impairing her. Aprile is far from impaired by the drugs, and as Hotaru says those kind words, the nurse shakes her head, smiling, however much she does.. but shakes her head. "No. I am unimportant in the scheme of things." She says, cheerfully. "I am just a doll. One of his many." She uses the word almost like a badge of honor, happy for something.
"Right. I will not give up .. and I'll try harder." Try harder? Try what harder!? What she tries harder this time is trying to hit her, once more, with that bag! HARDER! But the chances are even worse than usual, and instead, as expected, she ends up grabbed by the shoulders, spun about to the ground, and crushed under Hotaru..
The nurse almost folds as Hotaru does such things, and she doesn't immediately get up this time. Pushing off the ground, Aprile is much weaker than before. It's showing. She knows she could turn it around .. but she doesn't attempt to. For whatever reason, she seems happy with her rather .. low chance of victory that she has given herself.
"After all. I will only have to keep trying."
Springing back from the red-orange haired teenager, Hotaru doesn't charge her again immediately, instead hanging off a little ways to observe her, to try and understand her, even if that's not a particularly good idea. Aprile describes herself as unimportant and the pig-tailed fighter frowns just a little, "Everyone is important- wait, doll?" One of /many/? Just what kind of creep does she work for?!
"Who is your boss, anyway? It sounds like he doesn't treat his employees very good!" the young fighter exclaims bewilderedly, hands tightening at her sides. Hotaru shakes her head then, trying to hold back her little burst of temper. "I'm sorry," she apologizes next, "I shoudn't butt into your business. It's just..." she smiles a bit sadly, "You seem very nice. I hate to see you working for someone like that."
But she needs to keep the pressure on, striving to continue to do her best as well until the match is called one way or another. Thus it is that the Kenpo artist springs forward, landing three feet away from Aprile in that crouch of hers, arms out at her sides, body extremely low, one leg out in front of her. It's all a setup for the aggressive attack that comes next, Hotaru springing up, swinging her arms in a windmilling fashion, attempting to draw Aprile's guard high to defend herself from the four rapid strikes. She twists through the air as she does it, doing her best to make herself a hard target to counter-strike, having decided that Aprile's manner of fighting must depend heavily on trying to punish her in the midst of her own attacks.
But the instant her feet touch the ground, she launches the real power hit, slaming her right hand forward, palm first, toward Aprile's stomach. Her left hand slams out in the opposite direction as counter balance. Into that single, solid strike, she pours all of her leg, torso, and arm strength, making it a very strong, single hit. "YAAA!"
COMBATSYS: Aprile fails to interrupt Soushou Shin from Hotaru with Spin Drive Smasher.
- Power fail! -
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Hotaru 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Aprile
As Hotaru observes her a bit, Aprile doesn't move much, just smiling as she pulls herself up. She is knocked down. She pulls herself up. Knocked down. Pull up.
"Far from it. There's alot of unimportant people. I'm more important than them, but not him. And my boss is a very important man. I can't even tell you .. " She answers, the white clothing torn to tatters. "Oh don't worry about it." She responds once more to Hotaru. "You're wrong about me being nice." She answers, and then watches as Hotaru springs forwards and about. Aprile .. doesn't actually move again.
However, as she lunges forwards, aiming to spring up and swing her arms in a windmill fashion, the doll attempts to take to the ground. It fails, simply, and there isn't even a flash of light.
She's just working through the strikes, all of them, before the right hand slams into her.. being followed by her left. Aprile moves into the assault, some how. The last strike sends her skidding, before she lays in the water once more.. and once more staggers to her feet, coughing up blood, staining the water.
"I guess.. I am not trying hard enough at this." She says, looking to Hotaru with a smile. "I have one more chance, though. Although I am not sure he likes such a failure. I do not mind what he does. It is deserved."
She's having a hard time standing!
Hotaru draws her arm back from the hard palm strike, her arm aching a little from the strength she poured into it, having given it her all. It's not her most infamous technique, but it is one of her more well known ones... Slowly she stands up straight, arms at her sides, mouth in a perpetual frown now as she watches Aprile crash to the ground once again, only to get up slowly, covered in blood.
That she's even standing at all is pretty amazing to the girl who knows that if she took the kind of abuse Aprile has taken thus far, there would be no way she could continue. She looks apologetic, feeling uneasy about this entire fight, not sure what to make of it. Is Aprile forced into these matches that she's not ready for? She saw some promise early on, some techniques with energy trailing behind them. But after that it's been a problem for her keeping up. Maybe she was just expecting her attempts to get through Hotaru's aggressive, high pressure, speedy style of fighting to get through, but Hotaru's own predictions of such attempts seemed to have carried her through all the same.
She's tested Aprile's abilities to contend with her grappling techniques, her striking techniques, her lunges, her jump kicks... There's one thing she hasn't tried on her and she picks this moment to give it a shot, drawing her right arm back, her forearm charged with a vibrant blue energy. The opposite of Aprile's power - chi. Pure, concussive force, no elemental properties to Hotaru's brand. Closing her eyes, she breaths in deeply as the power builds up, "I'm sorry that I have to end this fight now, Aprile... I worry that you were put up to this..."
But this is the end, in Hotaru's mind, the girl swinging her arm forward, unfurling her fingers, unleashing that built up chi to send it hurtling across the distance toward the combat nurse. "KYA!" The churning sphere of blue energy speeds across the distance toward Aprile, aiming to strike her in the chest, putting her down for the count - of that Hotaru is quite sure.
COMBATSYS: Aprile fails to interrupt Hakki Shou EX from Hotaru with Random Strike.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0 Aprile
COMBATSYS: Aprile can no longer fight.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-======|
As Aprile, already barely standing, looks towards Hotaru, she smiles, weak in her legs and knees, attempting to at least succeed in this once. She doesn't care about victory, but 'try until you succeed' just didn't seem to work with her, even if she tried it over and over again.
Aprile .. actually didn't 'stop' so much as she chose to stop. She's certainly ready, of course, but she had tried something over and over again with very little change. It was actually important for her to try this, for some reason or not.
She held no expectations, either, of getting through.
"I was not put up to this." She responds, simply, before swinging AT the blue ball of energy, throwing herself towards it. Of course, she's struck head on by it, and the bag doesn't do much to a ball of energy.
Crashing to the ground, she doesn't get back up. "What a liar... you are. You said if you tried hard enough it would work .. I tried hard and it didn't work... what a liar." She shakes her head, too weak to get up.. and soon after just stops fighting back alltogether.
Lowering her arm to rest against her side, the blue energy fading fast as she ceases to channel the power that drives her famous little chiball. She exhales softly, relaxing her arm, the tension bleeding out of her body, shaking her head slowly as she realizes she just can't understand the other girl. She's felt that way about Doctor Tran as well, but he's also not charmingly nice when he's being incomprehensible. Leaning her head to the side, she rests her hand at her hip, pondering quietly.
Aprile points out that trying her hardest didn't work out so hot and Hotaru blinks, caught off guard at being called a liar. Taken aback, she raises a hand in protest, "W-wait, that's not..." She stammers, lowering her hand, brow furrowing. "Trying hard for just a short bit isn't trying your hardest. You have to practice, time and time again." She brings her hand back up to rest against the back of her neck as she looks at the combat medic thoughtfully. "Perhaps it's my fault for not being more clear, but it's not that complicated," she mumbles in the end, feeling perhaps a little lame at such a simple confusion being her fault.
"Maybe you could find someone who fights like you do and learn some more from them..." She exhales a quiet sigh and turns to walk away, still rubbing the back of her neck, feeling all together unsettled about fighting such a strange opponent. Maybe she can look a bit more into this Aprile's fighting career and find out more about her... but perhaps she should just mind her own business a she told herself earlier on.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has ended the fight here.
Log created on 23:30:17 06/10/2008 by Aprile, and last modified on 06:00:40 06/11/2008.