Description: Taking place in what is considered to be the largest candy store in the world, how could a fight be anything but spectacular in such a location? Sweet treats abound as Kula and Mary face off against Hayato and Kiyoko. (Winners: Hayato and Kiyoko)
Claiming to be the largest candy store in the world, Chargin' Charlie's' Crazy Candy Shoppe is located just a block off of Metro Square in the good ol' US of A. And at first glance, it looks like it might have just cause to make such a claim. A literal warehouse in size, the megastore looks like the strange result of cross breeding a giant hardware store with an elaborate mall-corner candy boutique. Tall rows of endless confectionaries are arranged in wall-like formation form a radius around a literal indoor park that may well have been lifted out of the Willy Wonka candy factory, with slides supported by twisting, colored candy canes and tries laden with wrapped up candies in place of leaves.
The entire building might just be flat out nauseating to anyone with even the slightest hint of insulin deficiency. But to one Kula Diamond, it looks pretty much like the Mecca of candy, a veritable dream come true for anyone desirous to taste test every sweet food known to the human race. Stepping foot into the cavernous building on time for the scheduled match, the auburn haired girl's eyes light up, gloved hands clasping in front of her as she starts to walk along one aisle after another, starting off with grabbing items until her hands are full, then switching to simply hugging bussles of candy in her arms right up to the point that she steps out past one aisle to view the candyland-like playground right in the center.
Mouth agape, she struggles with the conflict of wanting to run toward the slides or the tire swings made of giant, hollowed out peppermint-looking objects, or trying out the impossible variety of candy she's already gathered in her arms that would preclude being able to enjoy the park properly. Frozen in place in indecision, for the leather armor clad NESTs operative, the scheduled fight event itself is pretty much the last thing on her mind. "It really is the biggest one in the world," she murmurs softly.
Back here, she is. But the candy while sweet, is not the reason this woman comes here to meet.
It's the fight that had been planned. The last week fight that she had been involved in .. or perhaps that was a week longer away, had been in the same area, but they had been .. short notice replacements. So she, too, had been one. Stepping in, somewhat slowly, Mary makes her way into the warehouse.. and is definitely taking her time, her parasol like usual over her shoulder, and the woman humming this time.
It's when she sees the mass wall of candy that she is taken aback. Honestly, her 'candy' journey began and stopped when she found some gumballs. She's not even sure if this is actually safe to eat, before she takes just what she had before, and plucks one out of the packet, sliding a gumball into her mouth... of course it's with great care that it more or less just disappears under the parasol.
Moving towards the 'ring', Mary moves now with a skip, perhaps riding the little sugar rush she has gotten.. her tolerance to such things are incredibly low, due to the lack of exposure while she was young. Usually it was a rather ick.. healthy assortment. But it far from matters now, as Mary looks onto Kula, whom is stopped. Why, look at that girl, cute as a button!
Walking over, dressed in all white.. save the parasol, she speaks up. "You little darlin', now who are you? Oh you look so cute I could just eat ya'll right up!" The parasol is closed now, for the moment, revealing the incredibly pale skin .. and of course, her rather white eyes.. there's not really any color there. Just a slight discoloration of grey. Kula looks just .. darling!
For the second time in a week Kiyoko finds herself in the United States for a fight. Odd perhaps is that while that nation is rather large, both times she's found herself in Metro City- and very near the city square itself! The last time she was here she ended up being late, having miscalculated the time it would take her to disengage in tourist operations and head back to the square. Not wanting to repeat that little mistake this time she simply stayed close to gigantic candy store, heading inside a bit early just in case.
From the size of the building she'd expected it to be rather drab, with the main color coming from large rows of shelved candy and nothing more. Walking through the door she causes a minor back-up, stopping dead when she sees the vast expanse before her, centered around a park... made out of candy? "Woah." Slowly she walks again, head swiveling this way and that. She wanders slowly towards the center of the park, stopping to curiously eye a flower garden.
Peering at it with curiosity she looks around to see if anyone is watching, and upon finding herself to be relatively 'safe' she crouches down to pick one of the flowers. A quick sniff is given, and then she bites the flower off the stem. After eating the sugary treat she lets out a laugh, "They really went all-out on this place!"
Hayato is a bit old for candy to be counted among his primary vices, but that doesn't mean he's without an appreciation for sweets. And really, how can you come to a place like this without indulging at least a little bit? And so, as Hayato walks about the store prior to the match, he munches on the contents of a bag of peppermints. But not just /any/ peppermints. Even in this, Hayato is training himself. Curiously strong? Doesn't even begin to describe it. Just the scent wafting from the bag is probably enough to wake someone up from a coma. But Hayato manages to only have a few tears at the corners of his eyes, even if his face is a bit red.
Eventually he reaches the area set aside for the fight, giving him an excuse to set aside the pouch. "Phew!" Minty fresh breath indeed. The gym teacher rolls his neck a few times, looking up toward the ceiling and blinking until he manages to clear his eyes. He then takes a deep breath, ignoring the searing mint freshness in his lungs. "This place is really something, but I think I might be a bit too old to appreciate it."
Approached by Mary, Kula gives the pale featured woman a friendly smile. She's in a remarkably good mood, much to no surprise. Normally her scheduled SNF appearances are more gritty than this, leaving her just wanting to fullfill her responsibilities toward the fight and be on her way. But this time, she can't help but hope to linger around for a while after it's all said and done.
"My name is Kula Diamond." she answers the white clad woman, colorful, violet eyes peering back at her curiously. "Do you work here?" she asks. "I forgot to get a cart. Or a basket. Or a bag." she continues, nodding down at her armfuls of candy of all variety. "Though maybe a crate would be better. Do you have crates that can roll around? If not, that would be a really useful thing to add. Giant, pushable crates in which to put-"
Her really great idea gets cut off short as her right arm is suddenly gripped by an offiical eager to get the match underway, having little appreciation for the magical candy kingdom or the whimsical music that fills the entire place. Apparently they have no idea the fourteen year old looking combatant is a deadly NESTs assassin, or else they would probably not have just caused her to drop over half the candy she had gathered up into a giant pile on the floor. Of course, the way the girl flails her free arm, fingers outstretched toward the robbed sweets, her expression one of distress, it'd be easy to make that mistake. "I wasn't going to steal it, honest!" she protests.
The official speaks over the petulant girl as he drags her over to the starting point for the fight, reminding her along the way that the entire reason she's here is for a scheduled match that's going to fall behind schedule at this rate. Realizing that he's right, but not terribly happy about it, the young operative comes to a stop facing the opposing team, a frown on her face.
Folding her left arm over her stomach, the elbow of her right arm rests against it, holding up a sucker to her mouth as she settles into place. In terms of being combat ready, however, she appears to be anything but. "Hmph." To say that her mind isn't even on the fight at all would be a safe bet.
COMBATSYS: Kula has started a fight here on the left meter side.
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Kula 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Kula takes no action.
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Kula 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Hayato has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Kula 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Hayato
COMBATSYS: Kiyoko has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Kula 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Hayato
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|-------\-------\0 Kiyoko
COMBATSYS: Mary has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Kula 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Hayato
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Mary 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kiyoko
As Kula gives her a friendly smile, Mary gives her a nice wave in response. "Ya'll Kula? Nice to meet you.. names Mary, and it turns out you're my partner! What about that... And no I don't, darlin'." She exclaims, chewing the gumball that she has stolen, and doesn't have an interest to pay for. But a crate? ".. Ya'll want a what?" She asks, but that's about when Kula is grabbed by the match official. Or at least, one of them. Following along, Mary isn't in any hurry though.
Eventually they reach the starting point, and facing the other team, Mary comes to a point close enough to the young assassin, she makes a note to her, a shallow breath and a whisper, "Ya'll just need to .. break a bit of it. They can't sell it if it's damaged, so ya'll ..just need to damage some of 'em ... unintentionally, alright darlin'? .. I'll do that for you if you want." She's a nice, cute little girl. At least, she seems like one.
Mary isn't sure how she fights, but it seems from the look of Hayato.. she may be quite the warrior.
But as Kula moves over, and the ring is there, she assumes there would be no harm in starting what kind of sweet SHE prefers, and it's not the candy kind. "Hope ya'll have a sweet tooth!" She asks, before she grabs a few molt balls.. and untwists the top of her parasol. Tossing the top away, she pours the molt balls in ..
And then aims at .. Kiyoko!? "This'll be such a lovely game .. such a place to play it as well!"
You might wonder how well molt balls work as projectiles .. it's safe to say they work 'so so'.
COMBATSYS: Kiyoko blocks Mary's Quick Shot.
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Kula 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Hayato
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Mary 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kiyoko
While Kula has an official dragging her over to the start of the fight, Kiyoko is left alone, though for good reason. She's actually /in/ the designated fighting area, though she doesn't realize it. She might not be as enthralled with the location as Kula is, but certainly she's enjoying herself- enough so to only barely notice the presence of the other fighters.
Because of this it comes to her as a bit of a shock when out of the corner of her eye she sees motion- /fast/ motion. Her head turns towards it and... flying candy ammunition! "Eek!" She turns halfway away from the incoming barrage, holding an arm and leg up in a mostly ineffectual stance- one meant more for covering up than preventing real harm. The malt balls smack into her shoulder with surprising force for what they are, knocking her off balance and making her stumble slightly. "O-ow!" She didn't expect that to hurt!
So she turns towards her tormenter, "Hey, what's the big i...dea." Those cameras pointing at everyone standing around give her a pretty good answer, even if Mary chooses not to. "Ahh... oops!" A sheepish smile forms on her face as she recognizes those around, not only by their dossiers but from having watched them on TV herself. "I guess I'm late again, after all..." A quick look is given to Hayato, "Sorry about starting out so flaky, I'll hold up my end, I promise!"
And with that said she makes a break for Mary, not wanting to get anywhere near the still auburn-haired Kula even if she doesn't /appear/ ready just yet. Rushing in fast she ducks down low once actually close to the parasol carrying woman, her left arm swinging up and slicing through the air in a quick, decisive chop aimed at her wrist. That thing looks dangerous- it's probably best to smack it right out of her hand! "Yah!"
Hayato eyes his opponents. Petulant teenage girl with a lollipop and a pale woman with an umbrella. Often these fights pair up people of differing levels of ability, but it's not always clear at first glance. Hayato's looking for the best fight he can get, but he's not familiar with every fighter out there. So, which of his two opponents is the real threat, and capable of giving him a good fight? Hayato glances at Kula. Sulking off by herself with her candy. Then he glances at Mary firing... well, candy bullets from her umbrella. Which one seems like the bigger threat?
Hayato taps his shinai against his shoulder twice, then swings it into a ready position at the same time as he begins charging over toward Mary. It's not exactly subtle, but Hayato is fine with that. He's a fairly big guy, and he knows that seeing him barreling down toward you can be a bit imposing. For good reason, since the impact is liable to be like getting hit by a truck. Grinning widely, Hayato calls out to Kiyoko as he closes in. "Don't worry about it, just have some fun!" It certainly looks like he's taking his own advice, as he brings his shinai down in a full armed swing at Mary's collarbone.
And oh, hey, a fight just got started. But Kula doesn't seem to care. She wants back at the candy rows stat. But Mary has some good advice about trying to get some free candy out of this and the prospect seems to perk the young teen up just a little. "Even if you don't work here, you're pretty nice." she says, taking the sucker out of her mouth. And then her partner is off shooting candies at one of their opponents. Is she SURE she doesn't work here? She seems really into candy too!
Breathing in and then huffing, Kula glances off to the side longingly. She really would like to get this over with so that she can get back to the cornocopia of confectionaries all over the building. Of course, she muses, there's only two ways to get it over with quickly. Let those two opponents of hers beat her around some and give up quickly, which sounds painful. Or make them give up as quickly as possible, which should result in fewer bruises for herself.
Not really noticing poor Mary trying to hold the fight all on her own, Kula whips back toward the action, eyes narrowed with renewed interest. That's right, she'll take care of this quickly! A second deep breath is taken, but this one is followed by something far more interesting than a pouting grunt. White, shimmering energy passes over her form, leaving in its wake frosty, sky blue hair and a small flury of blue crystals of ice swirling about her.
Glancing back and forth between Hayato and Kiyoko, her instincts identify the weapon user as the higher priority threat, and thus it is with brute efficiency that she goes after him first. When she finally moves, it is with remarkable speed, rivaling that of many of the best fighters in the world. A spinning leap into the air is taken from a few yards out from Hayato's side as Kula seeks to blindside him without warning.
And when she snaps her foot out, it is more than simple force of impact he need contend with, but also a blade of sharp edged ice running along the sole of her insulated shoe as she tries to rake his ribcage with a swift, punishing kick.
COMBATSYS: Mary blocks Hayato's Fierce Strike.
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Kula 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Hayato
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Mary 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Kiyoko
COMBATSYS: Mary fails to interrupt Quick Punch from Kiyoko with Beg Your Pardon.
- Power fail! -
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Kula 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Hayato
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Mary 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Kiyoko
Of course, that's the big idea. Shaking her head, Mary is smiling. And boy, that's a nice smile to her. "Ya'll just a bit slow on the uptake .. but don'tcha worry about anythin'." The woman explains, watching as she turns around, Kiyoko finally understand. Late again? Well, she needs to keep her attention then! But it doesn't work like that, it seems, because Kiyoko is suddenly after her.. and boy, that's a quick one. It looks dangerous? Well, while Kiyoko comes towards her, Mary has other pressing matters.
Because it turns out that Hayato is charging towards her! And then the shinai comes down towards her.
Oh this is a sticky pickle.
The parasol comes about, being put between her and Hayate.. and she's smacked rather badly even through it, staggering backwards.. and aiming to plow towards Kiyoko .. but it fails to work that way, and instead, she's knocked aside.. the punch doesn't actually make her drop the weapon, mainly because she's moving with an odd trajectory already .. and that's against the wall, causing more than a bit of the candy to break, and her to end up in a pile..
"Golly gee .. that was goin' so well too ..." She'll be up .. maybe?
Kiyoko, well... she wasn't expecting Hayato to follow after her and lay the beatdown on Mary. But from the looks of things she's /really/ lucky he did. If not for the powerful shinai strike of the teacher there's no doubt in her mind that that whatever Mary was planning would have worked like a charm- much to the detriment of her own health.
But there also seems to be another little problem- Kula, having been given plenty of time to herself, has gone completely unchallenged. Giving someone with that kind of staggering power all the time they need to attack is not a great idea, as Hayato may soon find out. So it's with a soft gulp that she gives a little smile to Mary, and then about-faces and heads for the now blue haired ice flinger. She ran at Mary full speed, but against Kula she's more cautious, taking a few steps past Hayato and waiting for the ice-heeled kick to either hit or miss.
Her aim is to strike immediately while Kula is off balance, imagining that that's the only time she'll even have a chance against the superior fighter. At first she begins to come in low, but then decides to attempt an attack that's worked out very well for her in the past, lifting her right leg up and then striking out straight forward, trying to smack her heel into the side of Kula's knee. "Hah!"
COMBATSYS: Hayato blocks Kula's Medium Kick.
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Kula 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Hayato
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Mary 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Kiyoko
While he may have been focusing on Mary, just having his shinai blocked by a parasol isn't enough to make Hayato not notice Kula flying in from the side. He ducks and twists his body, taking the blow on his upper arm. Probably one of the better places he could have chosen, as the ice blade slices into his flesh. It hurts, but it doesn't strike anything vulnerable. Hayato quickly backs away after that, not wanting Kula to get in another kick with her other foot before she lands.
But in backing away, Hayato bumps into something hard. He glances behind him and sees that it's a fence made out of peppermint sticks. A thought crosses the Burning Phys Ed Teacher's mind, and he reaches back and with a quick motion snaps off one of the sticks, then flips it around in his hand. Grinning, he shifts his stance to one appropriate for a two sword fighting style. Is he really...? Yes, judging by the way Hayato twirls both of his 'swords' briefly about in his hands, that's exactly what he has in mind. Grinning, Hayato crosses his blades, then thrusts both of his arms out to his sides, waves of fiery orange chi radiating off of him.
COMBATSYS: Hayato gathers his will.
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Kula 0/-------/-------|=====--\-------\0 Hayato
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Mary 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Kiyoko
COMBATSYS: Kula dodges Kiyoko's Light Kick.
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Kula 0/-------/-------|=====--\-------\0 Hayato
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Mary 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Kiyoko
The swift girl in violet hued leather lands softly as Hayato backs out of range of a follow up strike, but she isn't left alone, it appears, as Kiyoko veers off from poor Mary to harry the blue haired teen. Her eyes, a hint of crimson to them now when contrated against her icy locks, fix on the other girl. She gives her a fleeting smile before skipping around the well aimed strike for her knee, her hands clasped behind her back as she does so. "Hee," comes a soft giggle as she slips backward away from Kiyoko, her feet seeming to glid with ease over the ground. She'll get to her later, she decides.
Right now her combat algorithms are still pegging Hayato as the one in need of immediate attention. He's got two weapons now, even if one of them is mighty tasty looking! But it isn't enough to keep the girl distracted, now that her mind is on the fight, her focus on dishing out enough strikes to wear her opponents down effectively. "Are you okay, Mary?" she asks the woman who took a nasty spill. But she doesn't see a need to move to her side just yet, with Kiyoko near her and the Taiyo instructor having backed off a little. Let's keep the pressure on, she decides.
Twirling around as she slips away from the Tai Chi artist, Kula focuses on Hayato himself, darting his way, taking a second leap into the air. Like the first, this one appears to be a kick, her foot laced with bladed ice aiming to dish out an injury against his chest.
Should she land cleanly, the spinning journey she took through the air will transition into a swift snap kick, her foot literally going up over the level of her head in demonstration of her flexibility. In the wake of the kick would be a field concentrated, icy chi, aimed to plow into him with crushing force.
Laying against the wall is nice for a bit, but Mary eventually recovers from her wall laden state.. it's not a very enjoyable one, at any rate, and draws herself to her haunches. Kiyoko stopped her assault, that's for true.. and while Kiyoko even yells at Kula, there's little else that she's going to bother with to such a degree.. she doesn't yell, and can't understand why the others decide that yelling .. really does much.
You must know, loud noises are not becoming of any lady at all.
But bringing the parasol upwards once more, she dusts herself off.. and makes a nice straight path towards Kiyoko. It's around some of the candy, but she's not really going to bother with it.. not very, at least. Not until she hefts up one of those oversized candy-cane like foods, and then decides to heft it up .. and then around, aiming straight for Kiyoko's back.
It's really that simple, truth be told. "Ya'll busy with the little one, ain'tcha, eh?"
Well, she has her own way to enjoy things. So taking a swing at this girl has to be something. It's not that she hates little girls, oh, far be it, it's just that she's the target at this time, and there's no better time than the present! There are .. actually no clouds, either, and Mary is making an effort to have no clouds as well .. else all the candy might melt, and that's something she just wouldn't enjoy at all! What a bother that would be.
"Alright? Darlin' I'm doin' just fine .. ya'll don't worry." She exclaims. Well, it's perfectly fine!
COMBATSYS: Mary successfully hits Kiyoko with Random Weapon.
Glancing Blow
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Kula 0/-------/-------|=====--\-------\0 Hayato
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Mary 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Kiyoko
The amazing run of luck for that silly little knee kick runs out for Kiyoko, as Kula seems to be able to slip away as easily as if taking a nice stroll. Or perhaps a nice skate would be more apt. It's just a little embarrassing for Kiyoko to see someone she's trying to fight able to avoid her with such ease, but she quickly reminds herself of the difference in ability between the two of them.
Normally Kiyoko is pretty good about maintaining awareness over the entire battlefield, but for some reason Mary seems constantly able to slip beneath her radar. So it's with surprise that she finds a large piece of candy-cane swinging in her direction from behind, no gasp given this time as she tries to dive down and roll away from the strike. She's half successful- still getting hit but her bent form only allowing the makeshift weapon to deflect off at a low angle. It drives her into the ground enough to abort her roll, but definitely didn't hurt her as much as it could have- something for which she's very glad.
So she pops back up to her feet, looking between Hayato, Kula, and Mary. "Okay," she states to the woman, "I've been pretty horrible about paying attention to you- but not anymore." A tiny grin forms on her face, "I appreciate that you tried to give me a sweet treat, but I don't want any cavities." Ok, now she's just being silly.
COMBATSYS: Kiyoko focuses on her next action.
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Kula 0/-------/-------|=====--\-------\0 Hayato
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Mary 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Kiyoko
COMBATSYS: Kula successfully hits Hayato with Ray Spin.
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Kula 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\0 Hayato
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Mary 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Kiyoko
There's a small spray of blood as Kula slices a shallow wound across Hayato's chest, completely ruining his white shirt. It's less painful, however, than the giant chunk of ice that gets slammed into his gut, sending him staggering backward. At least the cold numbed the pain a little bit! Doesn't do much for getting the wind knocked out of him, though. Even so, Hayato manages to retain his grip on both of his weapons, and even bent over after the impact, he still chuckles for a moment. "Pretty interesting... but can you handle this?!"
Suddenly standing up straight, Hayato lunges toward Kula, leading with a sweeping blow from his shinai toward her side, just below the ribs. A brief moment behind that comes the candy stick, brought down toward the juncture of her shoulder and neck. Hayato then swiftly raises both of his arms, bringing both weapons crashing down toward Kula's head to daze her. And then, finally, he takes a step back, then thrusts forward towards her stomach with the ends of both blades, which are conveniently around the same length.
COMBATSYS: Hayato successfully hits Kula with Scolding Slash.
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Kula 0/-------/--=====|=======\=------\1 Hayato
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Mary 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Kiyoko
The answer to his question is 'apparently not!' When Hayato counter attacks against the girl, she takes a step back, eyes widening, right hand raising, arm in front of her as she tries to evaluate how best to contend with the attack. The problem is she underestimated how good he could do with the two weapons, one being completely improvised. Expecting one or two strikes, she is slow to measure the full threat, getting caught in the side by the shinai with enough force to stagger her even if some of the impact was absorbed by her leather jacket.
The cane to the neck gets her hard though, betrayed by tasty candy as she starts to stummble forward, leaving the top of her head easily struck by the third attack. "Ow!" she exclaims, right hand tightening as she decides to retaliate on the spot. But Hayato's final jab to the stomach puts an end to that, forcing a pained gasp that has her taking steps back in rapid retreat.
A bit dazed all around, she isn't feeling particularly speedy at the moment. But she does have a way to stall, perhaps, until her vision clears, and it's that chance she takes next. Bringing her hand to her mouth, palm up, the girl inhales deeply before forcing a swift exhale, unleashing a blast of frigid air back toward Hayato. Powerful in its own right, the real threat is in the spinning rings of razor edged ice, or the needle-sized shards of frozen matter that threaten to pierce and scrape like sandpaper across any exposed skin. Given the wide cone of fire, she doesn't have to be quite so accurate to hopefully slow him down.
The weapon deflects a bit off, but really, she doesn't mind a all! It's not exactly how, but when she strikes through .. and to her this is just a good time as ever. With Kiyoko still getting swung at and then moving between the three.. and then .. well that's silly but at the same time, she doesn't generally seem bothered. "Ya'll have no trouble with that, that's for sure.. ya'll take your time. I'm sure you're used that." Some of the children certainly aren't exactly the quickest, that's for sure.
Looking over to see Kula get struck by the shinai, she can imagine just how much something of the sort stings. But then she .. just seems to stare at her. Well then, let her have such time, and such a look, but Mary isn't interested in just letting her sit there.. and exchanging looks. That's just a boring one out of the many other boring actions that could lead to a .. very boring and not at all interesting battle like the one she is within.
"Ya'll are just sittin' there.. not all too interestin'!"
And with that, she dashes towards Kiyoko, aiming to grab her with the bladed parasol and swing her around, swinging and swinging... bladed? Why yes.. the blades spring out at the last moment, and she's spinning it .. and herself.
COMBATSYS: Kiyoko interrupts Mary Maypole from Mary with Summer Squall.
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Kula 0/-------/--=====|=======\=------\1 Hayato
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Mary 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Kiyoko
Kiyoko is boring?! Well, sadly that may be so. While Hayato is wielding a wooden sword and a candy cane Kula is breathing out frigid air with nasty shards of glass, Mary is rushing in with now bladed parasol, and Kiyoko just sort of sits there eyeing Mary. Boring... but useful! "Not interesting? Hmm... Maybe you're right. Here, let me spice things up a bit!" And so she actually steps forward as Mary dashes in and tries to nab her with her most interesting of weapons. The snag is made, but Kiyoko doesn't seem too worried. The blades spring out and cut her... but to be honest? Kiyoko's faced down so many people with bladed weapons that she's starting to /get used/ to getting slashed up. That really can't be a good thing, can it?
Around and around she goes, but not in any benign manner as might be hoped for. As she's flung about she spins, using circular momentum to give her extra strength, her arms whipping out like a well-orchestrated dance to side and diagonal chop Mary about the body with every pass. After several of these strikes she decides she's been cut up enough, blood soaking into her Tai Chi uniform, and allows her legs to collapse, causing her to fall free.
Unable to quickly recover she rolls sideways and plants her hands, pushing herself up to her feet and immediately dropping back down into a low stance, "Was that better?"
COMBATSYS: Kula successfully hits Hayato with Diamond Breath.
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Kula 0/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Hayato
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Mary 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Kiyoko
Hayato attemps to hold his ground against the frigid blast from Kula, even going so far as to try to take a step forward... but in the end it's too much for him. His candy stick proves a poor shield, and after the cold blast it is left so frigid that even Hayato's grip is enough to make it crumble and fall to the floor. Wincing from his abraded skin, the teacher shakes his hand a few times to dislodge some peppermint shards.
Shifting his stance again, Hayato places one hand at the bottom of his shinai's hilt, gripping it normally with the other. He then takes several running steps toward Kula. A few more, then he leaps into the air with a twist. Reddish-orange energy pours out from his hands and weapon as Hayato begins spinning through the air, zooming in toward Kula like a human missile. And behind Kula... oh no! An enormous glass tube filled with jellybeans of every conceivable flavor! Whether or not Kula is hit by the attack, the aftermath is sure to be messy.
COMBATSYS: Hayato successfully hits Kula with Burning Windmill.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Kula 1/-----==/=======|==-----\-------\0 Hayato
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Mary 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Kiyoko
The powerful blast sent Hayato's way serves to slow him down and buy Kula a split second's reprieve. But that's all she gets. In the end, it helps a little as the Burning Phys Ed teacher comes barreling back at her at full speed, giving the NESTs operative time to wave her left hand through the air, leaving in its wake a fine, crystaline barrier of powerful ice. It's enough to take some of the momentum out of the incoming pain train, but not enough of it for her to muster further defense.
Arms cross in front of her as the human missle smashes through the barrier, but in the end she just doesn't have the footing to last against such a powerful impact, the force of the collision sending her clean off her feet. Her back smashes through the clear container and then she's completely out of sight, having been burried dead center of the container. A tasty drowning as any.
In fact, a good ten seconds pass before there's any movement at all. Maybe she's too dazed to recover and is done with the fight. Or maybe she's wondering if she just hides there if the shinai swinging man will leave her alone for a moment. Neither proves to be the case in the end, however, as at last there is a rustle of movement, some of the jelly beans spilling out of the opening in the tube.
And three seconds later, Kula launches out of the sea of candy, her right hand drawn back, a bright sphere of pure white energy encased over her closed fist. She's speeding toward Hayato now, and as she runs, she's got a dangerous amount of momentum herself. The energy congeals around her hand, forming a translucent sphere of material as hard as diamond except for when controlled by her.
And it is that ice Hayato needs to worry about as Kula slides to a stop a few yards back and swings her hand forward, the half of the sphere around her fist nearest to Hayato morphing into three lances of varying length, each of which she's apparently attempting to smash into him! For all her innocent appearance before the fight, there's really nothing cute to be said about how the girl does battle. She is as non-conversational as a glaciar, seemingly focused purely on trying to return the favor for the painful smash a moment prior.
As Boring.. but boring.
Mary is chopped at a few passes, and the strikes somewhat sting, despite them being simply strikes. One may wonder if there was not a better way, perhaps, but Mary doesn't wonder about such trivial things! As Kiyoko falls out of the 'assault', and drops into a low stance, Mary isn't slowing down, instead shaking her head at the response. "Ya'll .. starting to get better. But you ain't really the flashy type, nor are you really .. Oh bother, you're just going to be passed up is all. Sure he's not interested in a scrawny one like yourself, darlin'." And in that, she winds the parasol backwards.. and then runs forwards, seeming to 'slip' on the ground as she spins her parasol, faster and faster, intending on perhaps just knocking Kikyo into one of the walls with it! .. It's not bladed any longer, no, but it's certainly not going at a nice speed.
"Now, that strong man up there.. he has some style, what a darlin' .. Oh, YOOOOhooo~! Are you busy after this?" She cries to Hayato .. while spinning. It's just a rather .. fast spin.
Mary, as said before, just isn't going to use the clouds, for fear of making Kula said. "Ya'll alright darlin' Kula?" She calls out. Even if she's the one who was struck .. but that looked painful!
COMBATSYS: Kiyoko blocks Mary's Element of Fun.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Kula 1/------=/=======|==-----\-------\0 Hayato
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Mary 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Kiyoko
"O-ouch!" As Hayato and Kula were exchanging powerful blows, Kiyoko was trying to stave off one of Mary's attacks. Using her forearms to stave off the spinning attack, Kiyoko was somewhat unprepared for the power behind it. Wincing with pain and stumbling backwards despite managing to get hit on the tougher parts of her body, she looks to Mary with new respect. She hasn't messed up once so far, and yet she's not all that much better off then the woman!
She can't let that worry seep into her mind or she'll be in trouble fast, however, so she instead focuses on the feeling of being indignant. Scrawny?! "Hey! That's not a very nice thing to say, you know!" Even if it's true. The girl frowns to herself, and then steps forward towards Mary now that she's done spinning, rolling onto her hands in order to reach out with her legs, attempting to bind them tightly about the woman's neck before throwing her weight backwards, trying to lift her up off of her feet and then slam her back against the grassy ground while rolling back up to her feet in the same motion.
COMBATSYS: Hayato dodges Kula's Critical Ice.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Kula 1/-----==/=======|==-----\-------\0 Hayato
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Mary 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Kiyoko
Kula's attack, while sudden, is not without some warning signs. When Hayato spies a few jellybeans tumbling down the pile he knows that something is up. And so he's able to react just in time as Kula comes flying out of the scattered candy. Jellybeans fly everywhere, but Hayato is already stepping to the side as Kula's ice cold hand swishes by him. His attention is briefly distracted by the call from Mary, but not so much that he's going to let Kula recover from that miss.
Hayato reaches out with one hand to grab Kula by the arm, while planting his other hand on his back. He then spins about, pushing and pulling at the same time, and if all goes well he'll launch Kula as soon as he's turned 180 degrees, sending her flying face first back into the jellybean pile. The teacher then glances at Mary out of the corner of his eye. He likes to think of himself as a lady's man... but she's really kind of creepy. Maybe if he just pretends he didn't hear her...
COMBATSYS: Kula dodges Hayato's Medium Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Kula 1/-----==/=======|==-----\-------\0 Hayato
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Mary 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Kiyoko
The bladed ice that was intended for Hayato's chest slips past him, piercing nothing but empty air. To have someone get out of the way of one of her most brutal attacks leaves the girl at a bit of a surprise, crimson tinted eyes widening, mouth opening, "Impossible." she states. And in doing so, reveals the cause for her stalling in the jelly bean sea, with her multi-colored tongue suggesting that she sampled a good mouthful or two of the candy while the getting was good.
But now the getting isn't good, her arm extended, an easy grab for Hayato, her forward momentum so strongly committed to catching him with that vicious strike. But it's her ice that saves her there, the girl drawing her arm back, releasing the sheath that encases her hand and wrist, leaving Hayato simply getting a tight hold on that hemisphere of shaped ice that she just shead.
"Impressive," she states, giving the Taiyo teacher a slight grin for all the difficulty he's causing. The ice he got hold of will crumble shortly, rendering it useless for anything beyond chilling someone's punch... But then something else happens as Kula takes a further step back and breaths in deeply, narrowing her eyes in concentration.
And in that moment, all of the ice she had used for her attacks thus far becomes a fine, powdery dust, drawn through the air back toward the ice using girl. Extending her right hand, a large portion of it sheaths over her arm, a white guantlet that soon diminishes, seeming to be reabsorbed right back into the girl, renewing her strength, giving her more power with which to contend with this rather difficult opponent they've found for her.
COMBATSYS: Kula gains composure.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Kula 1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Hayato
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Mary 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Kiyoko
COMBATSYS: Mary endures Kiyoko's Harvest Moon.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Kula 1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Hayato
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Mary 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Kiyoko
As Kiyoko uses her forearms to prevent the assault, of course she might not see it coming! But it does comes, and Kiyoko ends up able to .. not particularly completely enjoy what comes from it!
But Kiyoko must understand what has just happened.. what? It's simply that Mary is having trouble herself, but not that she'll actually admit it! Oh no, far from it you see! Mary doesn't need to admit it, because the woman doesn't exist with such thoughts, and what she says, she says. "Ya'll think I care about what's nice, lil' one?" She asks of Kiyoko, a smirk behind it.. but the girl steps towards, aiming to bind her and her neck .. but while Kiyoko gets about her, she may slam her against the ground .. but she won't be getting back to her feet in that motion.
The chain is slid onto her leg as she flips back, and Mary pulls the J shape backwards, attempting to yank Kiyoko upwards with her, flick her this way and that, and then toss her straight up into the sky!
"Ya'll just need .. to enjoy it! Even the strikes.. it'll make a real nice woman out of ya!"
She enjoys it, perhaps for what she is, a little too much!
COMBATSYS: Mary successfully hits Kiyoko with Go Fly a Kite.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Kula 1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Hayato
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Mary 1/------=/=======|=======\===----\1 Kiyoko
The neckbind and slam seem to go as planned, but Kiyoko finds her leg being snagged as she tries to get up to her feet. This, she can tell, is very much not a good thing. She kicks her leg out, but isn't aiming for Mary. Instead she's simply trying to get her leg out of the hold it's in, shaking it loose so that she can try to jump away from Mary and her 'not very kind' ways. Unfortunately for her the attempt is in vain, and rather than being able to hop away she's hurled upward. An attempt to make a soft landing is made, but it too doesn't work out very well, the girl crashing into the ground and letting out a cry of pain.
Slowly she gets back up to her feet, and looks to Mary in a very exasperated way, "Don't tell me you're another one of those people that likes hurting people a little -too- much?" So many of them seem to have popped up, recently! A small shake of her head is given, and she decides that getting close to the woman isn't what she needs, right now. So instead brings her hands up and makes three slashing motions through the air, green chi flowing from her hands and creating three crescents of energy that merge together to form a single large blast of energy. It shoots forward towards Mary, and Kiyoko... well, she edges away even more. Crazy people!
One thing people could be forgiven for thinking is that Hayato is a sword fighter. Sure, many of his attacks involve his shinai, but he has plenty of brawling techniques. But Hayato's training is quite varied, so you'd better be careful if you start thinking he might be predictable. Case in point... With Kula drawing ice back into her gauntlet, Hayato comes charging in toward the girl. Nothing too unusual there, although some people might be wary of what she's going to /do/ once she gathers up that power.
But Hayato does have a trick up his sleeve. He comes in with the shinai raised up high to strike, apparently going for a strike to the top of the head from above. But what's apparent is not what's true, as once he gets in range Hayato suddenly plants his left foot firmly on the ground. Using his momentum and the strength in his lower body, Hayato twists about to bring his right foot sweeping up off the ground. He may fight primarily with his upper body... but that doesn't mean a good kick in the side of the head isn't an effective attack!
COMBATSYS: Hayato successfully hits Kula with Strong Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Kula 1/---====/=======|===----\-------\0 Hayato
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Mary 1/------=/=======|===----\-------\0 Kiyoko
Hayato is one of the more confusing fighters Kula has had to contend with. Her combat algorithms are good at narrowing down an opponent's style and then looping through routines to deal with them in a most effective manner possible. But the Taiyo instructor doesn't seem easily confined to one method of attack, proving to be extremely versatile, fast, and hitting like a truck. It's all around a difficult combination of problems for the girl to resolve and it doesn't get any better as he comes charging in with that feint.
Expecting the weapon use, as he had demonstrated thus far, she tries to avoid it, only to step into the solid, punishing kick to the side of her head. It's forceful enough to knock her clean off her feet to the ground with a pained crash. Catching herself with her hands, she shakes her head, hand coming up to rest against the side of her head. Ooo... yeah, he's a problem one. One of the toughest specimens the schools have produced for her to deal with, and even now her passive instinctual methods are trying to resolve a pattern to his behavior that can be turned into a weapon against him.
Slowly she rises, shaking her head again, too dazed to even really be aware of what's going on in Mary's land with Kiyoko. She was going to help the woman out more, but just keeping Hayato busy is proving perplexing enough as is. Breathing in deeply, the girl gathers a sizeable surge of white, freezing energy around her.... and then she takes to the air.
Her trajectory takes her into the air in a forward flip, the ice around her scattering out about her, only to be scooped up by her arm into a more concentrated form. In the end, she kicks it down, sending the entirety of it crashing down toward Hayato. A literally giant snow flake descending from the sky. Of course, it isn't harmless. It's covered in jagged edges, needle-like shards aplenty. And when it hits ground zero, it explodes, sending chi and ice flying in a wide radius, threatening to be difficult to avoid!
COMBATSYS: Mary fails to interrupt Vernal Equinox from Kiyoko with Cookiedough Creme Banana Cupcake!.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Kula 1/----===/=======|===----\-------\0 Hayato
[ \\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Mary 0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0 Kiyoko
As Kiyoko ends up sending a rather large amount of chi towards her, Mary runs straight towards it. "Nah, ya'll don't understand.. the violence ain't supposed to be the answer.. it's the fight!" She exclaims, as she barrels towards Kiyoko .. and unfortunately, is just unable to get through the assault, the woman staggering backwards after struck.
Then she's send careening towards one of the swings! And after that, she's launched, sort of due to the momentum, away and towards one of the shelves. There WAS clouds but those vanished rather suddenly as she ends up being unabale to pierce the chi ball this time around.
THIS TIME!
But staggering upwards, back to her feet, she's clearly ready to simply barrel through whatever else Kiyoko has.. without even thinking, too!
It's a bonus.
Kiyoko looks a little perplexed as Mary bolts straight toward the large blast of energy. On one hand, it could be very bad if she manages to power through it... but on the other hand -that- could also happen. Ouch. "Ehehe..." If nothing else, Mary doesn't seem to be one of those creepy 'please let scream for me again' types, which makes her much more comfortable all of a sudden. A quick look over to Kula and Hayato shows that their battle still rages on, Hayato with a seeming advantage- but one that could evaporate quickly considering the strength of his opponent if he's not careful.
But right now Kiyoko has a problem. While everyone else has made wonderful use of the sugary candy about them all, she's all but ignored it. The most obvious thing would be to grab a huge slab of peppermint that seems to be just about everywhere- but that's old and tired by now! Luckily she has a plan.
Mary was launched towards the swings, and so Kiyoko follows along moving quickly over there. But rather than hopping onto the swings she reaches up and /rips/ one of them down. Why? Because the ropes are made of red vines! And that is candy, and that is going to make this a very sweet assault.
Perhaps her last Neo League fight against the gestalt weapons master Van had gotten to her, but now she can be found leaping towards Mary with a rope of red licorice, seemingly trying to wrap it around her neck and choke her with it. ...of course she's not really well trained with weapons, so she's somewhat clumsy at it.
COMBATSYS: Kula successfully hits Hayato with Diamond Shoot.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Kula 1/--=====/=======|=======\-------\0 Hayato
[ \\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Mary 0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0 Kiyoko
How much could getting hit by a snowflake possibly hurt? Quite a bit, actually. First it lodges itself into Hayato's chest in the process of knocking him to the ground... then it explodes, covering him in a thin layer of frost, to say nothing of the concussive impact. The teacher is left flat on his back in a scattered pile of candy, staring up at the ceiling. It takes effort to blink, because his eyelids are frozen. A situation which thankfully doesn't last too long.
Sitting up, Hayato glances down at his chest. Several bloody spots on his shirt, but still nothing that looks like it'll be too bad in the long run, which means the fight continues! After climbing back to his feet, Hayato swings his arms for a moment, trying to get his circulation worked back up after that flash freeze. He taps his feet a few times, then suddenly dashes toward Kula, still with a grin on his face. Once he closes the distance he swings out with his shinai, aiming to strike the girl just beneath the ribs. If he wasn't wearing his track jacket, people would be able to see the muscles standing out on his arm as he puts his full strength into the blow, trying to hit Kula hard enough to send her tumbling.
COMBATSYS: Kula blocks Hayato's Fierce Strike.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Kula 1/-======/=======|=======\-------\0 Hayato
[ \\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Mary 0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0 Kiyoko
Landing after that destructive snow flake was unleashed, Kula rises up to standing slowly. Even though she just unleashed a distressing amount of freezing energy to power that last attack, there still seems to be a violent surge of it actively swirling around her, picking up more ice as it builds. She's getting ready for something big, that much is obvious, prepared to unleash the strongest attack she has to see if that'll do enough to stop the very well trained gym instructor.
When he comes to smack her this time, she's ready, her left hand raised, creating another ice barrier to block the way. The weapon breaks through it, but as it does, it is met by her right gloved hand, fingers clasping over the shinai just long enough to make sure that its momentum has been completely removed. And then the girl springs back, taking a leap through the air, putting distance between the two of them. "You are very talented. I will have to use my ultimate technique on you." she states, the frenzied flury around her growing in intensity.
Slowly she raises her hands over her head, the icy chi concentrating into a brilliant, white piller as she prepares to unleash everything she has. And then she drops her hands, extending them toward Hayato, and all that power explodes out from her. A literal storm of snow, ice, chi, and freezing wind blasts out, surrounding her and Hayato, hiding them from view for an instant in time. In that instant he will have to defend himself, as the ice seems to take on a life of its own, threatening to encase and crush the athletic fighter in a tomb. All around the girl, ice rains like heaven sent tridents, the worst of it all being focused directly on Hayato himself.
COMBATSYS: Mary interrupts Strong Throw from Kiyoko with Singing in the Rain.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Kula 0/-------/------=|=======\-------\0 Hayato
> //////// ]
|=======\-------\0 Kiyoko
COMBATSYS: Mary can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Kula 0/-------/------=|=======\-------\0 Hayato
> //////// ]
|=======\-------\0 Kiyoko
And it seems that Kiyoko is coming right after her! Well, it's obvious that Mary isn't going to take this one lying down, and instead of playing it safe, intends to barrel through whatever Kiyoko has.. so when she grabs a rope of red licorice and then comes at her, Mary decides that going around, or trying to escape, is childs play .. and aims, instead, to go right through.
It just isn't meant to be. At least, completely.
When Kiyoko heads towards her, of course, Mary is more than capable of defending herself! And it seems like she'll be collapsing in the end, anyhow.. but her goal isn't to just .. succeed. It's to just have as much enjoyment she personally can have out of it! And it happens in the blink of an eye... mainly as Kula begins to cause a rather .. .. well it's a centralized blizzard. She doesn't see a reason to protect the candy, suddenly, and the clouds spring to life.
"Ya'll got it easy on ya .. hehe.. wanted to keep this candy in one piece for the lil' darlin', but it looks like she's decided it ain't meant to be! So... Let's end this with a bit of fun!"
The J whips around Kiyoko's leg as she leaps towards her, and even if she's strangled by it, she rips Kiyoko off, spinning her around as the clouds appear, and spread out. But as she spins Kiyoko, she gets dizzy as well .. and letting go of Kiyoko, she collapses backwards, as Kiyoko may end up with a SPLASH ... of candy, and something much like dissolving acid... which the clouds rained down.
Kiyoko ice cream soup anyone?
And that's the price you pay when you try to strangle someone with licorice. Kiyoko is honestly not surprised at the turn of events, but in this case she at least survives the ordeal. Sure she's snagged, thrown skyward, and then dropped to the ground. Amidst a rain of acidic chi? Ow! Now that's not very fun at all, is it? And scrambling to get out of the stuff doesn't even really help all that, when it's raining from the sky, sticking to you and running like water, soaking into your clothes.
Finally the stuff stops burning, and she looks warily to Mary... who seems to have been strangled enough to be unable to fight any longer. Whew, at least her gambit worked! ...kinda. So next her attention goes to Kula and Hayato. ...oh my. The girl simply stands there, watching the blizzard unfold, shaking her head. How can he possibly survive /that/? As much as she'd like to help, there's no way Kiyoko could get anywhere near Kula to land a strike on her in that crazy release of power. "Um, good luck, Hayato?" She doesn't sound convinced.
COMBATSYS: Kiyoko takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Kula 0/-------/------=|=======\-------\0 Hayato
> //////// ]
|=======\-------\0 Kiyoko
COMBATSYS: Hayato dodges Kula's Freeze Execution.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Kula 0/-------/------=|=======\-------\0 Hayato
> //////// ]
|=======\-------\0 Kiyoko
One would have to be blind to miss the surge of power around Kula, and it's not something Hayato wants to stay and experience first hand. Discretion is the better part of valor, so Hayato turns tail and books it away from Kula. He's just in time, too, managing to leap away just soon enough to avoid having any of his body encased in solid ice. He tucks and rolls when he hits the ground, popping back to his feet after coming to a stop and quickly turning around to face Kula again. "Man, that was a close one."
Close indeed, as Hayato can see what happens to the space he was occupying just a short while ago. And that surge of power looks like it will keep Kula occupied for a moment... Hayato glances around and an idea comes to him. He runs over to what, at first glance, might be mistaken for a wall. But it is, in fact, a hugely oversized bar of chocolate. "I may not be able to do stuff quite that flashy, but..." Hayato rams his shoulder into the base of the bar, causing it to wobble back and forth. "...that doesn't mean I can't pull off something big!" Another good slam, throwing all his weight against it and the giant bar of choclate begins falling toward Kula. Tiiiiiiimber!
COMBATSYS: Kula dodges Hayato's Large Thrown Object.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Kula 0/-------/------=|=======\-------\0 Hayato
> //////// ]
|=======\-------\0 Kiyoko
Slowly the storm settles and Kula lowers her arms to her sides. A change has come over her, that frosted blue color of her hair having melted away, the crystals of ice that were swirling around her completely gone. She really did put everything she had into that attack, and now she is, quite simply, out of chi to fling around. Even she has her limits, vast as they may be compared to most fighters.
A violet eyed blink shows at first that she thinks maybe her attack worked too good. There's no sign of Hayato where he was standing. While she never intended to vaporize him, and she doesn't even know how that could happen with freezing energy, it frankly looks like that's exactly what did happen. But then she notices movement, the determined teacher going for a giant wall of chocolate, slaming his shoulder into it. She blinks again. That wasn't supposed to happen. He didn't get hit at all! Maybe she should practice a faster build up... Though it's hard to practice something that leaves you thoroughly exhausted after using it. A bit of a frown crosses her lips as she skips to the side of the chocolate block aimed for her, glancing at it over her shoulder as it lands hard. It DOES look tasty.
She looks to the side to find that her partner is no longer fighting. Whoops. She should have backed her up better, she muses. She wasn't very good at aiding her at all. Teamwork... isn't really something ingrained in the NESTs assassin. SNFs are her only practice at it, really. A glance is given to Kiyoko, seeing that she's still standing, and Kula wavers for a moment. Well. If this really is a two on one now, she should do her best to rectify that.
Breathing in, digging deep to keep on going, she runs toward the other girl. She still moves with great speed, though without the sliding, ice aided way she had moved earlier. It's rare she fights at all without energy aiding her attacks... she'll just have to make due with a good old fashioned punch toward the other girl, trying to knock her off her feet. "You must be really strong," she observes mid-swing, her gloved fist closing in fast.
COMBATSYS: Kiyoko auto-guards Kula's Medium Punch!
[ \\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Kula 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\0 Hayato
> ///////// ]
|=======\-------\0 Kiyoko
It's somewhat hard to believe, seeing Hayato shoot out and away from the dangerous blizzard that suddenly kicked up by Kula. The cold is powerful enough to cause Kiyoko to give a bit of a shiver, and she's nowhere near the epicenter. Kula, despite having exhausted herself, is able to move out of the way of a suddenly falling wall of chocolate. Part of Kiyoko wishes to one day see someone with the power of fire melt one of those as it falls on them, some day.
Unfortunately for the girl, it's not Hayato Kula goes after, but herself! Steps backward are taken as Kula rushes in at her, and her hands come up when the punch is sent her way. She reacts instantly, drawing again upon her green energy, coating her hands with it so that she can intercept the punch and dilute it's power to the point of not harming her when she blocks it- she's -hurt- there's no doubt in her mind even a normally guarded strike would be the end of her, this fight.
A little laugh comes from her at Kula's comment, and she smiles, "Maybe! Not as strong as you though, I think." But with that comment it's time for her to go on the offensive- and why let that pretty green glow around her hands go to waste? She steps towards Kula and begins swinging her arms in crisp, fluid motions, swinging her arms just close enough to let that green energy do it's potent work without her hands themselves making contact. A bit of sweat trails down the side of her head, half from exertion, half from the worry that Kula could step forward and impale her on a spike of ice at any moment.
Clambering over the shattered remains of the giant chocolate bar, Hayato frowns for a moment as he sees that Kula has escaped unscathed. It's not a huge deal, but he was rather hoping that would work. Oh well. At least her running after Kiyoko gives Hayato a moment to catch his bearings. Still, it wouldn't be good to leave Kiyoko to deal with Kula by herself for long. Hayato leaps to his feet, clearing the chocolate, then begins coming after Kula.
The Burning Phys Ed Teacher comes up from behind Kula while she's dealing with Kiyoko, and he reaches out with his left hand in an attempt to grab her by the shoulder. He pulls back, but the purpose isn't to throw her down. No, his real goal comes from his right hand, swinging up to deliver several quick punches to the small of her back, at the same time pulling her down and back into the punches.
COMBATSYS: Kula dodges Kiyoko's Summer Breeze.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Kula 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\0 Hayato
> //////// ]
|======-\-------\0 Kiyoko
COMBATSYS: Kula dodges Hayato's Medium Strike.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Kula 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\0 Hayato
> //////// ]
|======-\-------\0 Kiyoko
Kiyoko's use of energy to defend herself does leave Kula pretty impressed, the girl drawing her fist back quickly, finding that she made no traction against the girl. Interesting. It seems she isn't the only one that utilizes her chi in defensive ways. But she isn't going to hold still, either, crouching a little and springing back out of the range of the retaliation, only to whirl around and see Hayato reaching for her.
Springing back again, she avoids his attempt to get a hold of her, proving remarkably difficult to pin down even if she isn't able to fight back at her full strength. Her landing takes her to the side of Kiyoko, and then she's after the girl again, still determined to narrow the gap a little by taking one opponent out of the field of candy-... er, battle.
Her attack is a swift kick this time, up and then back down again, attempting to catch the other girl on the shoulder with enough force to drop her to the ground. She's still wary of Hayato, however, knowing full well that every second that passes is only giving him time to recover. But if she doesn't try her best, she won't make anyone proud back home, so she keeps right on trying!
COMBATSYS: Kula successfully hits Kiyoko with Light Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Kula 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\0 Hayato
> //// ]
|=======\=------\1 Kiyoko
This time Kiyoko's all out of chi, and that means no super-sneaky attempts at knocking away the incoming kick with a charged hand. So Kiyoko gets desperate, and attempts to jump out of the way. Jumping is the exact wrong thing to do right now, however, as the attack is coming from above. Even if she's moving backwards the raising motion is enough for Kula's heel to catch her in the shoulder, knocking the girl to the ground. Attempting to catch herself upon landing but failing she rolls sideways limply.
But hey, at least she didn't get speared, right? That's reason enough to celebrate. She can't, or rather won't let herself, leave Hayato to his fate, however, pushing herself back up despite the pain. She only makes it halfway, but it's enough. She charges forward towards Kula with legs pumping hard, pulling her right hand back. Fingers other than middle and index curl into her palms on both her hands and she strikes out, swinging hard for Kula's arms and legs, trying to jam her fingers painfully into pressure points in fast rhythmic motions, trying to bring the powerful young combatant down with her. And if she's not careful Kiyoko will actually plow straight into her as well, her legs giving out and causing her to flump chin first into the ground.
COMBATSYS: Kiyoko can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Kula 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\0 Hayato
Kula may have avoided Hayato's grasp for the moment, but she's still caught between two opponents... Until Kiyoko collapses, at least. And since Kula is attacking the other girl, that gives Hayato another chance to try flanking her and attacking. There's not much distance to close, this time. Hayato is already in close, he just has to position himself properly. And once he does, he makes use of his size advantage.
Rearing back, Hayato raises his right arm high, then lunges forward toward Kula. His intention is to slam his fist down into the back of her head, following through with enough force to drive the girl all the way down into the floor. Hey, at least there's candy scattered all over the place. That should make it slightly more pleasant... right? Well, unless something winds up in her eye or something...
COMBATSYS: Kula dodges Kiyoko's Vernal Equinox.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Kula 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\0 Hayato
COMBATSYS: Kula blocks Hayato's Counter Thrust.
[ \\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Kula 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\1 Hayato
Her kick connects against poor Kiyoko, putting the girl on her last legs as Kula draws back. She doesn't take her eyes off her yet, her right hand coming up to brush aside some of her remarkable quantity of hair as she backs away. Swift to react to the incoming strikes aimed for pressure points, she ducks, weaves, and then skips back out of the way just as the other girl reaches her limits to fight any further.
Whirling around, she raises her arms in time to intersect Hayato's strike for the back of her head. Without her ice to back up her defenses, just trying to weather out the impact is nigh stunning, Kula staggering back, her arms knocked to the side by the force Hayato brings to bear. Without her reservoir of chi to draw upon, she knows he has an edge over her. But that doesn't mean she's out of techniques just yet!
She tries for aggression neck, darting toward Hayato directly, dropping down into a slide kick for his feet, aiming to swiftly knock him over and leave it easy for her to spring back up to defend herself. "Whoever taught you must be really powerful." she observes mid-slide. He is someone she's going to have to face again sometime... his training is impressive!
COMBATSYS: Hayato blocks Kula's Slider Shoot.
[ \\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Kula 0/-------/---====|=======\=------\1 Hayato
Hayato is starting to get a bit worn down, but even after being frozen, sliced and stabbed he still seems to be in remarkably good condition. Granted, he's bleeding from a number of different wounds, but none of them look particularly serious. And Kula's next attack is relatively easy to deal with. She comes sliding in, so Hayato drops to one knee, bracing his leg. His lower center of gravity means that Kula slides into him, but doesn't manage to push him back or topple him over. "Oh, I've had a lot of teachers."
And it's true, although Hayato has been his own trainer for quite some time now. And most of the people Hayato's learned from had the skills, but lacked the physical power and athletic prowess contained in Hayato's body. Power that he now attempts to demonstrate by keeping Kula from getting up. Up and down goes the shinai, hitting Kula over and over while attempting to keep her from escaping. Then, finally, Hayato swings out with one leg for a solid boot to the torso.
COMBATSYS: Hayato successfully hits Kula with Burning Push-Ups.
Glancing Blow
[ \\\ < > /////////// ]
Kula 0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0 Hayato
Coming out of her slide, she's aiming to get back on her feet as quickly as possible to form a new plan of attack against the powerful fighter. The shinai comes crashing down and Kula rolls to the side, thinking that to be the extent of the attack, landing in a low crouch at a ninety degree angle of Hayato. But that wasn't the extent of the attack by any means, the next strike coming down catching her in the top of the head, driving her to the ground flat with a gasp. Hands plant down to try and buy her some distance but he smacks her across the back again, keeping her pinned for a moment.
Determined to not be taken out by the strikes, she rolls to the side, avoiding the kick meant to send her tumbling, and comes up standing close to Hayato. Close enough to attempt one last attack, her knuckled fist slamming forward, coming to a stop just shy of contact before her fist traverses that final inch, attempting to crush Hayato with a deceptively strong hit. It's all she's got though, having used all her techniques, all her chi, and all her strength to try and take him down.
Hit or miss, the girl gives up with a gasp, falling backward into a seated position on the ground, hands at her sides, releasing a long, exhausted exhale. "That's it. I'm done." No more shinai please!!
COMBATSYS: Kula can no longer fight.
> /////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Hayato
COMBATSYS: Hayato blocks Kula's One Inch.
> ///////// ]
|==-----\-------\0 Hayato
Kula's fist may stop short, but that doesn't affect the guard which Hayato brings up to intercept the attack. That final inch that brings up the actual blow winds up being a bit jarring, but Hayato's arm is still in the way, effectively protecting the teacher from the attack regardless. When Kula falls back and submits, Hayato lets his shoulders hang for a moment, taking a deep breath, then slowly letting it out.
Hayato glances around. Mary and Kiyoko both seem to be out cold... so it would seem that's it. And a few moments later there's independent confirmation as the fight announcers do their spiel. Hayato continues looking around the area for a bit, then grins at Kula. "Nice fight, kid. And hey... I bet they're going to have to get rid of a lot of this candy that got scattered. Maybe you should offer to help."
COMBATSYS: Hayato has ended the fight here.
Log created on 20:02:38 07/05/2008 by Kiyoko, and last modified on 17:37:11 07/07/2008.