Description: What do you get when you cross The Beast of Prey, an innocent icy clone and the Most Dangerous Woman in the World? Another suspenseful, tense and awkward SNF! (Winner: Chun-Li)
He had not wanted to see either of these two again, this soon.
Chun-Li he had encountered perhaps a month or two ago, and the circumstances under which she had met him had not been the most favorable. While K' wasn't one to care about Chun-Li's opinion of his morality or lack thereof, he was mildly concerned that the woman might let slip, on international television, his affiliation with Geese Howard. It was not something K' wanted Whip, Shurui, or anyone else close to him finding out about. Whip, he was reasonably certain, either knew or could discover Geese's true nature... and he wasn't sure how she would react.
Kula was an even more difficult issue. His killing, vengeful anger had transmuted to a cold stalk, and then-- with time and excessive, brooding thought-- that in turn had transformed into something else entirely. He had no idea how to quantify or even explain how he felt towards the girl now. She had refused, time and again, to finish the job she had been created for. He had given her a -chance- to do so, a mere week ago in Russia, and she had opted not to take it.
With all that in mind, one might question why he's even here at all. The answer to that is that there is likely no safer place to gauge potential enemies than in an SNF Main Event-- stuck right in the center of an arena under the eyes of the very world.
That... and K' forgot to read his card until the last minute.
Doubtless Kula is here with her little throng of NESTS handlers, and Chun-Li is swamped by fans. K', by contrast, is alone: his shades firmly ensconced on his face both to hide his unusual eyes, and to discourage people from approaching him. He's occupying a rather flimsy-looking folding chair in that space between the audience and the stage, tipping his chair back on its hind legs in defiance of its precarious construction and doing... not much of anything, not even warming up. It seems he won't even bother getting up until the other two fighters are ready and waiting.
Notably, he's within arms-reach of the people in the front row, close enough for them to touch. No one tries.
Kula never shows up to sanctioned fights without her keepers in tow. Scientists, doctors, researchers, analysts. There to monitor, watch, observe, and record data from tests conducted after the match. All part of their ongoing effort to improve and refine their little killer's combat routines; to make her more deadly, a better tool for the purposes of her 'nurturing' Cartel.
But out on stage, she is alone. Those that brought her here only watch from the sidelines as always, of course. Walking up onto the raised platform off to the side, her arrival is met with some fanfare. While she has absolutely no public presence outside the confines of her appearances in fights, it seems the strangely dangerous young fighter has started to attract a following all the same. With the way she doens't so much as glance toward the stands, it might be surmised that she doesn't really have an opinion on that.
Instead she stops a few steps onto the stone platform, combat ready. Her hair is a strange, frosty blue, and her body is covered almost entirely in violet hued, leather body armor designed to mitigate, to some degree, strikes that would severely punish her frail looking frame. Snow flakes dance lightly in the air in a small radius about her which seem strangely relaxed compared to the intense look she gives one of the two opponents participating in this week's Main Event.
Eyes, crimson in hue when contrasted against her bright blue hair, focus directly on the apparently lounging K'. The words of their last encounter, a secret known to no one else as best she knows, continue to echo in her mind. No one can make her do anything. Yet, she ponders, at last breaking her gaze away from him, here she is again, going about her days and weeks engaged in whatever bidding NESTs has in mind. A soft sigh escapes her lips, but she remains otherwise quiet, waiting for the woman she had met through a Neo League match to step forth as well. A powerful opponent, her kicks were serious threats. She'll have to put her speed to to the test in this fight.
While the likes of Kula and K' have their own, personal agendas here, the likes of Chun-Li, on the other hand, is here for one reason and one reason only: to fight and have fun doing so. The grudge between the surly K' and the weapon created to destroy him, and their past thus far together, are an unknown to the former-Interpol agent. The only thing that the woman is aware of is her run-in with the mysterious rogue NESTS experiment in the past.
The question is, will the Tai Chi Mistress compromise his motives and spoil whose employ he currently resides in on public television?
It remains to be seen for now.
With both fighters ready, and one on the stage, Chun-Li is the last to enter--for good reason. Swamped by press and fans, she spent ample time signing autographs and answers the thousands of questions that came pouring in from eager men and women. It had been some time since she'd fought in the public arena, after all!
And so, with a roar of the crowd, Chun-Li enters the stage wearing her trademark blue qipao and spiked bracelets, one hand aloft as she waves to the thousands and thousands of faces staring back at her. Daunting? A little. But her eagerness to see people smile and be entertained outweighed her worries or concerns.
Eyes settle initially on Kula, the currently blue-haired girl given a friendly smile and a light nod as the woman steps forward. "Nice to meet you again, miss Diamond," the Chinese woman offers in greeting, holding her head in a bow before she lifts her head and meets the young experiment's gaze. "Do your best, okay?"
As for K'..? The woman slides her gaze sidelong, toward the relaxed figure in leather. Rather than say a word, the woman offers the young man a light, almost knowing smile, eyes hooded playfully before she politely bows her head in greeting to K'. For now, the woman's mannerisms and gesture would suggest his 'secret' is safe with the woman.
Her hands move, clasping together before she drops them to her sides, giving both fighters a respectful bow, first Kula and then K', before she stands upright once more, still grinning. "Let's give them our very best." They're part-performers, after all! "I wish you both the best of luck!"
Blandly, K' turns his face towards the throng of NESTS researchers accompanying Kula. It's impossible to tell exactly where he's looking because of those obscuring shades, but the handlers should be able to infer rather clearly: K' is staring directly at them. He's giving them a hint, after all; the corner of his mouth has twitched up into a decidedly nasty smirk. It's the smile of an animal that's finally gotten out of the cage, and is not only relishing its ability to run around free, but rubbing its freedom blatantly in its former captors' faces.
K' doesn't waste too much time looking at them, however. Some of those researchers he recognizes as his own former handlers, and he doesn't have any particular desire to look at them any more than he has to. His attention soon turns back to Kula, standing solitary in the center of the arena. That insouciant look slowly drips off his face, replaced by a sombre scowling, and moodily he tips his chair back just a little farther. He's still wearing those shades, and so it's still impossible to tell exactly where he's looking; but his face turns to the girl, and presumably... he's returning her stare.
He's said pretty much all he has to say to her. He's told her nobody can force her to do anything she doesn't want to, and here she still is: carted off to fighting events like a pitfighting dog, whereas he's here solely of his own volition. A short, derisive breath eases out of him; he shakes his head, very slightly, and finally lets his chair fall back on all fours. The sound of its legs striking stone is loud even amongst the chatter of the crowd.
Pushing out of his seat, he starts a slow, leisurely walk up to the actual fighting area, lazy and prowling, uncaring of such things as expediency or respect for schedules, acting as if the only pacing that matters is the one he himself sets. And once he's joined the other two, he lifts his head. A brief glance is turned towards Chun-Li at her method of greeting: there is a pause, and then K' briefly tilts his head in a curt acknowledgement of that unspoken message. He acts as if Kula doesn't exist.
Afterwards, he looks away from Chun-Li. He turns his face towards a spot exactly between Kula and Chun-Li, making it impossible for either of them to tell which of them he's looking at at any given time. Chun-Li states the obligatory pre-fight preliminaries, and K' seems to meditate on the words for a moment. "Faster we start," he eventually states, breaking an hours-long silence, "faster we end..."
He coils, visibly, but it's still impossible to tell whether he's looking at Kula or at Chun-Li, and thus impossible to tell who he'll attack. Inscrutable behind his shades, he is totally unpredictable; at least, up until he suddenly twists and lunges straight at Chun-Li in a sharp snapped kick, answering the question well enough.
COMBATSYS: K' has started a fight here.
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K' 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li has joined the fight here.
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Kula 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 K'
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Chun-Li 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Kula has joined the fight here.
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Kula 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 K'
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Chun-Li 0/-------/-------|
Chun-Li arrives, bringing with her the loudest reaction from the crowd. World famous, the woman fighter has a reputation forged in years of top echelon level combat. A Tai Chi master, having perfected her martial art to an art form, she's a formidable sight to behold. To Kula, however, she's the pretty woman she fought before. She remembers her being polite, well mannered, and kicking like a mule. She'll have to watch for that one. As if fretting over K's violent flames wasn't trouble enough already.
"Hello again," she greets the woman, her expression shifting from the silent intensity with which she regarded K' into a friendly, girlish smile. "I will!" she promises with a chirp when encouraged to do her best. If she doesn't, she has to get lectured after the match. And that's never any fun. Whatever history she and K' have goes unknown to the girl, leaving her easily missing the exchanged glances and meanings behind them.
The sound of the chair clanging into place behind her draws Kula's attention toward K'. It seems he's deigne to join the other two now and get this show on the road. Drawing up her right hand into a clenched fist, the girl eyes him quietly, a halo of white energy forming over her closed hand. Chun-Li's bid for them all to have luck and to do their very best causes Kula to blink in the end, tearing her attention from K' to regard the Chinese fighter. She seems like someone who legitimately enjoys fighting. It reminds her of Sakura Kasugano. She can't help but wonder if the stakes for which people fight vary as much as their interests in participating in them. "Nn. Thank you." the girl declares toward the third arrival, only to be cut off as K' grunts about getting the match started so that it can be gotten over with. Hmph. Fine.
She expects him to come for her. So when those seconds pass, his eyes hidden behind shades, she has no doubt that she need ready herself for attack. That doesn't end up being the case, however, as he launches a kick at the the other woman, she's caught momentarially by surprise.
Well, that's not right. He's supposed to pay attention to her! Her hand closes into a fist, the halo of white solidifying into a translucent, thin glove of ice, with two spikes jutting out over the knuckles. This should get his attention, she decides, darting forward, leaning in a bit low, and slamming that fist of hers out, aiming for K''s side!
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li blocks K''s Minutes Spike.
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Kula 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 K'
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Chun-Li 0/-------/--=====|
Briefly the woman puts K' to the wayside, Chun-Li instead focused on the tiny NESTS experiment as the girl returns the kind greeting with one of her own. Like the Tai Chi Mistress herself, Kula's style is definitely an art form of its own, and she recalls fondly the pain the tiny, seemingly fragile-looking ice-wielder caused the older fighter. If Chun-Li kicks like a mule, well, the same could be said of Kula.
Sort of, anyway. The same could be said of K', too...
Her enthusiasm is met with a light and friendly chuckle, the woman's eyes drawing to a friendly close. Nodding lightly, the woman maintains a casual stance, hands laced behind her back and her weight focused on one foot. "I'm glad to hear. It's been some time since we fought, so like before, I do not expect you to go lightly."
But as K' approaches, the woman's posture becomes a slight bit more rigid, her arms dropping from behind to rest limp at her sides. Regarding the surly leather-clad youth, the Chinese woman can't help but crack a tiny, impish grin as he stands between herself and Kula. A wise decision..?
"So eager to end the fight?" the woman wonders, lips easing into a thoughtful pucker before she just chuckles. "Well that's no fun. I hope you at least try to enjoy yourself. I know I wi--"
Split-seconds later K' throws himself into the fight, a sudden and almost unreadable surge of motion as he delivers a nasty snap kick right for her body. Instantly the woman reacts upon instinct, arms flexing and sweeping from her side to shield her, absorbing the blow against her arms. It jars her to the core, arms humming with pain as she winces and takes a step back.
But the friendly, playful smile lingers.
Breathing a sharp breath in, the woman paces back a few steps from the fray, as Kula lunges in to deliver a blow unto the rouge experiment. Only after she makes her move does Chun-Li take a heavy step towards him, a two-handed palm strike delivered right for K''s side. "YAAA!"
COMBATSYS: K' endures Chun-Li's Medium Punch.
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Kula 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 K'
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Chun-Li 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: K' interrupts Medium Punch from Kula with Eins Trigger EX.
- Power hit! -
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Kula 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 K'
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Chun-Li 0/-------/-======|
Enjoy himself? Hardly. K' is here to fight, to practice: to stretch his claws like a cat, assess his ability, and then leave as quickly as possible to continue tuning himself up. His ultimate goal, after all, is to attain the kind of strength that will allow him to simply go straight for the head of the serpent. To decapitate NESTS starting from its top executives. If he pushes himself hard enough, he tells himself, he can get there; but judging from the raw force Igniz has displayed, he has a ways to go yet.
That was always his goal. Ever since he escaped, he's circled around that plan of vengeance. However, as of late, a new desire has surfaced, one of which he's only recently become aware. He wants the kind of strength that will enable him to defend what's his. To protect both his blood, and those few people who've shown him kindness rather than scorn or fear. Perhaps Seishirou's words weigh more heavily on his mind than he'll ever admit.
In the here and now, however, there's no time for his usual brooding. He started the match with his attack, and it seems his opponents are intent on taking him to task for the temerity. Whatever Chun-Li says only earns a severe, focused look as K' throws his attack and finds it guarded; still airborne, he snaps a look over his shoulder as a telltale drop in temperature and the sound of steps heralds Kula's approach.
With a surprising agility, K' twists and pushes -off- Chun-Li's block, gaining a little extra momentum and arrowing straight towards Kula's attack. His right hand tenses, a surge of fire searing down his arm, and Kula's cold finds itself abruptly opposed by K''s sudden heat. But K' hasn't stopped paying attention to Chun-Li, and he is aware of the attack that comes for him just as Kula completes her strike towards him. Figures, he thinks to himself, the woman would even be polite enough when fighting to wait her TURN to hit him.
He had intended to plow straight into Kula from the start, but Chun-Li's attack gives him an unexpected opportunity to mitigate some of the damage. He allows Chun-Li's strike to hit him dead-on, shifting him in the air just enough that Kula's hand is jarred out of its intended path and goes wide, only the ice grazing along his side. It also gives him the necessary clearance to twist around abruptly in midair and do something a little different than he'd originally intended; swiping in a wide arc, he slings the flames in a violent crescent, slamming the gathered fire into Kula's back.
Well, she wanted his attention. She got it.
It's ironic, for how little interest they have in the public arena of fighting - the sport, the crowds, the excitement meaning little to either... how often they keep getting pitted against each other. By now it would be hard to say that it's simply that fire and ice magnitism that has the officials wanting to match them up over and over. It's almost as if an alterior motive lurked in the recesses of such plans, as if one or more of the two young products of NESTs were being tossed into these matches, time and time again, to hone their skills against each other.
If that really is the case, it seems to be working. As K' proves with his effective retaliation against the younger clone. Kula's combat instincts only just barely begin to register what it is he's doing, turning Chun-Li's momentum into a means to unleash his flames against her. Already slipping forward into that punch, there's little she can do as her ice melts quickly and K' spins around her, unleashing a swath of those borrowed flames into her back.
The impact is too swift for her to create one of her defensive barriers to defend herself and Kula is forced into a forward stumble as she fights against the surge of flame on a deeper level. Her aura fights it off, keeping the flames from burning her further, and then she whirls back around, feet slipping over rough stone as if it was frictionless ice. Crimson eyes narrow toward K', jaw clenched. Perhaps she'll try Chun-Li out instead.
It saves her from having to move from her spot off to the side as she raises her hand to her mouth, palm up, fingers toward the fighting veteran. A shimmer of white courses along her arm in time with a breath she unleashes, charged with that frigid chi in the very act of curling off her fingertips. It is a wintery assault the likes of which one could only find in the most severe regions of the planet. Icy needles, razor edged shards, and crystals with jagged types spin through the blisteringly cold wind that rips through the air toward Chun-Li.
Kula is as calm as a frozen pond as she lowers her hand, her yellow glove encrusted with remnants of that chilly attack.
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li dodges Kula's Diamond Breath.
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Kula 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 K'
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Chun-Li 0/-------/-======|
With her blow delivered, Chun-Li steps a few paces back, as K' reacts to the strike by his own will, using it to slice into the poor icy experiment with an assault of his own. Flames roar, their strength enough to cause the Chinese woman to lift a hand up and shield herself from the heat as she holds her ground. The intensity of his flames feels awfully familiar, but she can't precisely place it...
Her thoughts are broken as the icy girl turns her attentions onto the Tai Chi Mistress, almond-brown eyes regarding the blue-haired girl before she offers a discreet smile. The girl raises a hand before she exhales, a swath of icy energy reaching out from her lips and across the void between them, daring to freeze the woman if she's not careful. The woman's eyes narrow, her legs visibly tense.
At the last second the woman leaps back, landing in a handstand before she leaps again, flipping once more before she lands square on her heels. Avoiding the potentially-deadly attack altogether, the Chinese woman abruptly exhales, shoulders sagging in secret relief. That girl's ice is dangerous, like K''s flames...
Inhaling swiftly, the woman focuses inwardly, eyes briefly shutting. Gathering her wits in that fateful moment, Chun-Li's eyes suddenly snap open and, with a swift dash forward, the woman attempts to close in on Kula. Her intentions are clear: should she get near enough her body will twist, leaning deeply to one side as her leg whipcracks upwards, a perfectly-executed vertical side-kick aimed for the waif experiment's jaw.
"YAA!"
K' and Kula have indeed learned a great deal about one another's fighting abilities. Even as similar as they are-- even as programmed as Kula is to be his exact opposite-- there is a distinct learning curve to be faced when struggling to deal with another person. Everyone has their quirks... and, for that matter, K' has deviated from the blueprints and records which NESTS no doubt used to construct Kula. Change and free choice. Those ineffable things all people deserve, and which K' has tried to communicate the importance of to Kula time and again. They're important concepts to him.
And thus, it's only by K''s own will that any of the blows thrown at him strike him. He permits one in order to preempt the other. Kula's stonefaced look in the wake of his quick retaliation against her draws little more than an inscrutable look-- one made even more unreadable by the continued presence of those shades. K' looks like he's happy enough to treat his obligation to fight her as no more personal than if she were a stranger.
It's likely, by this point, that Kula's given up on trying to predict him and has simply pronounced him the moodiest son of a bitch she's ever met.
Well, Kula wanted his attention, and she's got it. But now that she does, she doesn't seem to want it anymore, judging from how she's turning to try her luck against Chun-Li now. Standing off to one side as Kula just thins her lips and turns away, K' looks nonplussed for a few moments... and then, he chuckles quietly to himself, amused at some private thought, finally reaching up to pull off his shades. The pair of intense yellow eyes that are revealed are fixed on Miss Diamond's back.
He considers a moment as Chun-Li whips forwards, watching carefully as the more experienced fighter whips a sharp kick at his little antitype. Calmly, he slides his shades away into the recesses of his jacket... and then he blurs forward in a sudden advance, chi streaking the air blackly about him. How he attacks depends on where Kula ends up. Either she's airborne, and he reaches to snatch her out of the air and spike her clear into the arena floor; or she's not, and he attempts to snare her to pull her forwards and off balance, just before spinning to crack a sharp kick down at her exposed back.
COMBATSYS: Kula blocks Chun-Li's Medium Kick.
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Kula 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 K'
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Chun-Li 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: K' successfully hits Kula with Spot Pile.
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Kula 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 K'
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Chun-Li 0/-------/-======|
Chun-Li's quick evasion is noted by the ice princess of NESTs, the cold storm sent her way billowing out and then dissipating into a mist that drifts harmlessly off to the side. She'll have to more carefully weigh how she attacks someone with that level of speed. The woman is fast - one of the fastest she has ever seen. "Hm," she considers, holding her ground as the Tai Chi artist retaliates. Playing it defensivelly, the girl raises her left hand, waving it across the path of the incoming kick. A barrier of thick ice is left in the wake of her swing, providing defense against the powerful strike.
It doesn't hold, Chun-Li's kick crushing through it, driving into Kula's raised arms with enough force to send the young science project reeling backward, eyes widened slightly in surprise as her defense is shattered. "Ah!" It plays well into K''s attack from behind, however, as he yanks the girl off balance, overpowering what little remains of her balance to drive her to the ground. She rolls, attempting to defend herself in some manner, but ends up simply taking a foot to the stomach instead, provoking a pained gasp, her frosty breath escaping her lips.
Kicking her foot against the ground, she slides back a yard, rolling out of skid into a crouch. And there she takes her stand, remaining low, forcing her breathing back under control after having had the wind knocked out of her. Crimson eyes dart back and forth between her two opponents, and her right hand flares to life with a brilliantly white aura, energy easily visible even in the bright summer's day. Whoever she's attacking next... is probably in for it.
COMBATSYS: Kula focuses on her next action.
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Kula 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 K'
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Chun-Li 0/-------/-======|
Like the last time Chun-Li faced off against the icy NESTS girl, she utilizes her given chi element and, cleverly, forms a barrier of ice between the woman's kick and the girl. The majority of the Tai Chi Mistress' attack is absorbed, save for the sudden shatter of ice, her defenses--for the most part--destroyed. While the Chinese fighter doesn't quite capitalize on it, K' does, noted moments after the woman withdraws her extended leg and coils it at her side.
Poor Kula, caught in the middle. Such is life in these three-for-alls, but it doesn't make it any easier for the person pincer attacked. Still, it gives Chun-Li a chance to step back and gauge the situation briefly, almond-colored eyes fixed on Kula as she reels, recovering from K''s strike. For the moment, the younger woman is not of interest to the Tai Chi Mistress.
Her interests are on K', as her eyes slide his direction.
Taking note of his position post-assault, the nimble-footed Chun-Li dashes forward, a dead-run made right for the former NESTS assassin. But halfway her steps suddenly pause, booted heels skidding across the staging as she plants her feet, giving her the necessary 'oomph' to leap up and spin her body gracefully. Her goal is to leap over K''s head, her body twirling before she suddenly stops in the air and shoots both legs outwards, a double-footed kick aimed for the back of K''s noggin as the woman executes a sharp, guttural kiai.
COMBATSYS: K' blocks Chun-Li's Tenshin Shuu Kyaku.
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Kula 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 K'
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Chun-Li 0/-------/=======|
K' has no pity or feelings of remorse for how hard he's struck Kula. Nor does he have any compunctions about doubleteaming the girl. After all, didn't this fight start off with both Kula and Chun-Li attacking him at once? It's simply the nature of these sorts of fights; and, as K' would irascibly tell anyone who'd listen, the nature of life itself. It's brutal, it's unfair, and it's nasty.
And it's with that in mind that he retreats quite as quickly as he does after landing his hit; perhaps expecting both opponents to attack him again, or else just exercising the patient caution Geese has worked so hard to beat into him. Kula does nothing for the moment, simply hanging back and collecting herself; K' seems summarily to forget about her, his attention turning to Chun-Li just as the tai chi fighter locks onto him.
There is a moment of mutual staring, the two combatants frozen and gauging one another. Then Chun-Li attacks, managing an impressive leap over the six-foot hurdle that is a startled K'. Whirling instantly to keep track of the woman, K' finds himself faced with a kick: purely on instinct, he snaps a guard up to intercept the blow. He gives before her, skillfully slaking off the force of her attack; she is close in those few moments, and it's in those moments that K' suddenly addresses her.
"I gave him," he states sotto-voce, "your message." He's speaking far too low for the cameras, much less the crowd, but Kula might yet hear him given how close she is: even if the words don't really mean much to her. "Afraid he doesn't seem too interested." A smirk slices K''s indifferent expression open; but the smile is, surprisingly, not entirely malicious. It might almost be genuinely amused, even if not in a particularly warm fashion. "You probably expected that, though."
He retreats a few paces. A sudden fire consumes his wrists, flickering up to play along his arms and stream past his shoulders. The temperature around him rises, just as it plummets in Kula's vicinity.
COMBATSYS: K' gathers his will.
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Kula 0/-------/--=====|=======\==-----\1 K'
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Chun-Li 0/-------/=======|
Left alone for a moment, the girl has had time to collect her wits after dealing with three punishing attacks in a row. She hasn't the mindset to consider whether or not getting double teamed is fair. Honor is a tenuous concept to her - something she was raised without 'needing to know' and even since her exposure to the world at large, she hasn't really had anyone try to explain the concept to her. If she gets double teamed, she gets double teamed, even if it means the entire fight goes that way.
Of course, at least one fighter present looks at things from a different angle. And that fighter isn't K'. His outlook may have been developed differently, but the end result is the same. A fight is a fight and what works, works. If that means maiming or catching an opponent when their back is turned, that's how it goes. As the girl has hovered off to the side, remaining in that crouch, the temperature around her has dropped considerably. The glow about her hand has grown into a much brighter sphere as the seconds pass.
Her crimson eyes fix on the flames that ignite over K's forearms and curl over the back of his shoulders. Her icy chi reacts in turn, a faint, blue mist rolling up along her forearm, flowing over her shoulders into almost a cloak made of vapor. Kula takes in her breath, deciding to seize the moment, and bolts back for him. He caught her when her back was turned, but she intends to seize him when he's looking right at her. Let him see her, if he can. She doesn't seem to care.
The icy energy that had built up around the girl trails behind her, leaving a swath of deadly cold in her wake. Slipping over the ground at impossible speeds, the girl brings her right hand up, going for the NESTs project's throat, flames be damned. Seeking that hold, her left hand reaches forward next, for his leather top, simply to hold him place.
And then the real assault comes, the true danger made manifest. All that billowing, white chi draped out behind her curls up and over the girl, attempting to enfold in around K', solidifying into a large mass of ice all around the fire user. Looking as if carved right out of the side of a glaciar, the frozen coocoon threatens to entrap the young man in a harrowing experience of suffocation and crushing pressure from all sides.
The girl will channel incredible force into the icy tomb, sustaining it for as long as she can. But in the end she must release, drawing her arms back, cutting off that flow of chi, allowing the monolith of ice to collapse at last, forming a veritable mound of shattered shards. Her expression throughout is focused, her teeth gritting, her jaw set. No remorse to be found in her eyes for the inhumane method of attacking; a killer's intent through and through.
Without any doubt, Chun-Li is a 'third wheel' of sorts. The feeling is evident, as the icy and fiery fighters regard one another. They stare with fierce eyes, the two patiently waiting on one another while Chun-Li, the anomaly here, makes her moves as she sees fit. Whatever reason could the angry young K' have to hate someone as seemingly sweet and naive as Kula Diamond?
If only she knew.
Attack the Tai Chi Mistress does, legs whipping out and cracking forward at the back of the rouge experiment's head with precision. Quick as ever, though, K''s guarding arm shields the blow, while the Asian woman simply kicks off with a light shove, her body falling backwards gracefully before she tumbles and hops to her feet.
When she rises, K' addresses her directly, his words for her alone. Her expression hardens a bit, the revelation enough to set oft-warm eyes into a cold gaze, her irritation and angers not directed to K', but rather, his employer. The smile on K''s lips is noted, and swiftly is it returned by an empty grin of Chun-Li's own. Indeed--that was exactly what she expected of K''s employer.
"Well, I guess I just need to try harder," she muses, her cold grin easing into a light-hearted smile. She offers him a tip of her head thereafter, as her almond-brown eyes shift back toward the icy experiment nearby. And when she spies the young fighter, she makes her move--right for K'. And those eyes...
Biting absently at her lip, Chun-Li inhales sharply through her nostrils, breath held as she swiftly contemplates her options. With Kula attacking K', she can get in a quick and hopefully easy attack. With K' being assaulted, she could get in a quick and hopefully easy attack as well, what with his pooling of chi energy and all. Then there's the option of sticking to the sides, playing it safe and choosing her targets wisely...but there is no fun in that--especially not for the crowds. Their fans deserve more than that!
And so, with her decision made, Chun-Li swoops in. Jogging in behind Kula, the elder woman drops low, legs folding Indian-style as she lifts one arm and folds it neatly across her brow. At the same time, the other arm shoots outward, a tightly-clenched fist aimed for the middle of Kula's back, to drive a menacing blow straight into her spine with a shrill cry of, "YAA!"
COMBATSYS: Kula successfully hits K' with Ice Coffin.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Kula 0/-------/-======|=======\======-\1 K'
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Chun-Li 0/-------/=======|
The words he exchanges with Chun-Li are few and brief, but the distraction is enough for K' to fail to pay attention to Kula for just long enough. His slow back away from the tai chi fighter hadn't put him in a position either to watch Kula or defend against her; it's only the weird connection they share that alerts him to the approach of her inverted power. He hears her coming in the last instants before she's suddenly in his space, spinning around to face her with an audible skid-- but she is too quick and too close for him to defend.
This is something he hasn't seen before-- some mechanism to kill him he hadn't expected. As such, what defense he manages comes out entirely wrong, his heat focused too sharply to combat something that snares from all sides. The ice is thick enough to be completely opaque, denying the passage of light, denying outsiders any sight of what might transpire within; and yet K' isn't left in complete darkness, if only because the sudden freezing suffocation strangles his senses and flays at his body until everything whites out into flashes and erratic bursts of color.
For all the savagery of such an attack, it executes in complete silence. In sharp contrast to K''s chaotic and violent fire, which roars with every attack and howls from his veins when wielded, there's nothing to mark Kula's ice save the gentle, patient creak of crystallization: killing inch by inch, minute by minute. The loudest sound that issues forth is the sudden -crack- that gunshots through the air when her control folds, all that ice sundering abruptly along several vast breaks. Steam and smoke pour out of those fractures... and then, incongruously, licks of flame. The sharp edges of Kula's ice begin to soften.
When the ice finally flakes away, collapsing into heaps and piles of glittering shards in a neat circle, half of it melts before it ever reaches the ground. The rest is already puddling, succumbing to the immediate presence of an angry K': on fire, standing on pride and principle alone, and burning steadily with an unprecedented heat. Exhaling a long breath, leaning forwards unsteadily and shaking like a wolf to shed the last remnants of slush and icemelt-- no ice survives longer than two seconds in direct contact with him-- K' scatters steaming water everywhere. A moment passes, and then his head abruptly lifts. K' shoots a glare at Kula, visibly annoyed. Well, he's definitely paying attention now. His words come out a roughened, rasping growl. "You want to -play-, do you...?"
The K' of a year ago would have had her by the throat in the next instant, strangling the life out of her and otherwise exhausting his infinite capacity for violence and rage upon her small person. This K', however has the patience to wait to do it when it'll hurt -most-. "Fine... we can -play-."
COMBATSYS: K' focuses on his next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Kula 0/-------/-======|=======\======-\1 K'
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Chun-Li 0/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Kula interrupts Fierce Punch from Chun-Li with Crow Bite.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Kula 1/------=/=======|=======\======-\1 K'
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Chun-Li 1/----===/=======|
Chun-Li may feel an outsider to the conflict that clearly hangs in the air between the fire and ice user, the two of them bearing certain similarities with the cool way they regard each other, as if sizing up prey, or those distinct gloves on their hands; his single red one, her two yellow ones, that bear similar designs. But that doesn't mean she's going to be left out of the actual fight! The woman comes in behind Kula, aiming to catch her in the back while the girl is finishing with her crushing assault on K'.
The ice holds for a moment as she releases, but she knows full well that as it weakens, the flames it sought to contain, if but for a moment, will surge free in an instant. And it is in that window of time that she has need to defend herself, the young thing's hands lighting up with that white, slightly blue energy of hers, readying another use of that seemingly endless supply of chi she draws upon constantly.
Her left hand swings out as she spins to face the veteran fighter, leaving a swath of thick ice that serves to mitigate the severity of the powerful punch. It's her right hand that bears the menacing counter attack, however, as she turns her left shoulder into the strike to absorb the brunt of it. The energy along her right arm flares to life, a full arm-length guantlet of jagged, spiked ice. It glints in the sunlight like a mass of crystals or glass as the NESTs assassin draws herself down into a crouch that will lead into the fearsome uppercut to come, threatening to shread and thrash her opponent with no remorse, to tear into her torso or any exposed flesh with a thousand needles of pain.
It is in that very moment that she is swinging, pouring all of her body's physical strength into the attack, that something changes, however. The guantlet of ice shimmers then collapses into a sheath of white, cold chi right before the moment of impact as Kula punches the Tai Chi master into the air, her own rising momentum taking her along with her. Instead of flesh rending spikes, her opponent is subjected to an infusion of that potent, freezing chi along with the force behidn her clenched fist. It isn't painless, by any means, but it lacks the malevolent lethality of Kula's normal method of dealing the attack.
A swift spin kick in the air to knock the woman away completes the attack, her foot colliding with a frozen patch of ice left on Chun-Li's torso before spinning down to the ground to land in a crouch, rising slowly to face K'. In the back of her mind, she wonders at the last second change of her assault - why it is she didn't go for the same blood letting strike she was trained to. Her combat algorithms hold no clauses to account for 'friendly hits' or less severe versions of her assassin's techniques. She squints a little, a flicker of confusion registering on her face, before her eyes come to rest directly on the young man who had since obliterated that frozen coffin she had created for him.
Putting the question of her attack out of mind, Kula responds to his growl by raising her right hand, more energy coursing into her fist, forming a tiny blizzard whirling about her forearm, crimson eyes narrowed. The expression lasts a blink of an eye, however, before she relaxes just a little, a very tiny smile working its way across her lips. She has his attention again. Things are as they are supposed to be. He's not ignoring her now. Let her ice be tested by the flames he commands. She knows she's up to it.
In an instant, Kula unleashes considerable grief on Chun-Li.
At first the elder woman is confused; though her fist connects, the girl does not fall as anticipated; instead, she bears into it, turning in one furious motion to about-face and drive an ice-infused gauntlet straight into her body with a fearsome uppercut. It wouldn't be so bad, if not for the searing, painful chill of her chi-manifested ice. If this is Kula being 'nice,' the lord knows what she would expect if she got on her 'bad side.'
Still, it puts the Tai Chi Mistress in a world of pain. Yelping loudly, the Chinese woman is rocked into the air, her body prone as Kula leaps up and delivers a nasty kick to the frozen patch covering her torso. Ice splinters, a brilliant sparkle of shattered ice raining down as the woman flies back, her body free-falling before it touches down violently, her form rolling thrice before she comes to a halt, her face planted against the stage of Howard Arena.
Groaning lightly, the woman struggles to pull herself up, hands feebly planting on the stage to prop her body up and support herself. Only then does the woman grit her teeth and come to stand, the front of her qipao stained with now-melted chi-ice. Eyes--foggy--struggle to gaze at the two fighters before her, the surly K' and Kula; both fighters still eerily silent as they regard one another. What on earth..?
Another light grunt draws Chun-Li from the ground, eyes pinched shut as she comes to stand properly on her feet. Regarding either combatant, she keeps her distance for now; instead, she observes both keenly, to wait and see if any answers to the mystery of their relationship with one another come to light. Polar opposites in almost every imaginable way...it can't possibly be mere coincidence. Can it..?
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li focuses on her next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Kula 1/-------/=======|=======\======-\1 K'
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Chun-Li 1/----===/=======|
That little smile has the same effect on K' a mocking red banner would have on a bull. The boy bristles visibly, flames rising around him like the hackles of an agitated wolf, licking along his shoulders with an aggravated heat and fervor. As her expression relaxes, his tenses: his eyes narrow as hers open. He might have continued a semblance of a conversation with Chun-Li if not for Kula's interference; but as it stands, his attention is now wholly focused on his antitype.
Kula has likely never felt more purposeful and fulfilled in her life, now that the entire reason for her existence is staring daggers straight into her eyes.
"You want me?" K' straightens, standing to his full height in a rare moment of proper posture, his head tilting downwards slightly until his glower filters through long white bangs. "You have me." He starts a slow walk forward, his hand dipping into his jacket. It reemerges twirling his shades idly, the sleek black object weaving deftly between his fingers. "Just like you had me any number of other times. --here, hold onto this for me."
His fingers abruptly cease their motions concurrent with that sudden nonsequitur, the shades snaring between them: a sharp flick sends them shooting towards the girl, a little token by which she can remember the object of her fixation. He continues talking without a hitch. "But your problem is..."
He winks out of sight. His usual streak of black chi is almost entirely absent, suppressed down to a mere flickering disturbance in the air that cuts straight towards Kula. But his voice, when it resumes, doesn't help at all in pinpointing his precise location. When he's breaking the sound barrier, K''s voice has no easily-discernable point of origin. "You don't seem to know what to do with what you catch. You want me to show you? Just hold still..."
COMBATSYS: K' successfully hits Kula with Chain Drive.
[ \\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Kula 1/--=====/=======|===----\-------\0 K'
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Chun-Li 1/----===/=======|
Whether she holds still or not soon proves entirely irrelevant. K' is aiming to attack such that she -cannot- escape. He flicks around her with a startling speed until he finds the most unguarded angle from which to approach, and once he does lances in with the purpose of a stooping falcon.
As Kula spared no force in the execution of her earlier attack against him, he doesn't stay his hand at all now. The young man comes searing in out of nowhere, resolving back into the mundane vision of the audience only in the last few instants before contact, driving a hook at the girl with all the copious physical force he can bring to bear: as well as a healthy dose of the Kusanagi sacred fire. A veritable murder train of blows, all driven with equal force, follow: the boy strains every muscle in the assault, utilizing his flames to burn through her expected defenses. He strikes her from every conceivable angle, slamming her towards the ground only to follow by kicking her back up in range of his hands.
He stops not out of a sense of pacing or mercy, but because his knuckles have started to ache; there is a distinct pause in his rhythm, during which he leans in close, left hand ghosting moments from her chest, and then with a concussive discharge of snarling flame his hand fires forwards, impacting from an inch away and striking with sufficient force to send her skidding some distance back. He straightens, breathing hard, and backs away. He says nothing more, partly because there isn't anything more to say and partly because he knows he'd better save his breath.
Facing off against K', it's not like Kula isn't aware of Chun-Li rising back to her feet a little ways off. Her uppercut, punishing as it was, was hardly a finishing blow against a fighter as tough as her. Sure, it would easily devastate those with less experience, but she needn't consult her combat algorithms to know the Tai Chi master will be back into the fight any moment now. It doesn't matter. Not right now. Her eyes are fixed solely on K', her mouth closed, that flicker of a smile reflecting the satisfaction she has at having him focus on her, perhaps oblivious of just how bad that is going to be for her in a moment.
He asks if she wants him and she nods, just slightly, the glow in her right hand increasing in severity, sparkling flakes of ice falling to the ground, collecting at her feet. His hand dips into his jacket and then he sends that black token sailing through the air toward her.
She isn't ignorant of the opening distraction to his brutal combination of attacks. 'Someday, he is going to try this on you.' she had been warned by those who spend far too much time studying K''s fights to be healthy. 'He may throw his sun glasses. Don't look to them - stay focused on him.' the warning was given, the girl nodding her head in acquiescence.
Easier said than done. The flick of his hand sends that token keepsake her way and Kula takes her eyes off K' for an instant, left hand coming up, palm open, eyes widening as she readies to snatch it out of the air. Only an instant, but for what follows it may well have been an eternity. She doesn't see him move. Even if she had stayed focus, it would have been extremely difficult to. Distracted, it becomes impossible.
That opening punch catches her right in the torso on her left side, her raised left hand leaving an easy opening for him to leverage. It nearly crumples her by itself, only her supportive armor keeping her ribs from shattering. But the relentless assault is only just beginning as flame driven strikes continue to pummel the young fighter. Blow after blow is unleashed as Kula begins to form desperate, last ditch defenses. Her right hand is drawn back, waving into the path of a punch, a barrier of ice holding long enough to cause the blow to glance before the Kusanagi flames melt it into vapor. Her left arm moves into the path of a kick, her left glove closed into a tight grip, but without icy chi to reinforce it, the guard is for nought and easily battered aside.
Time and time again, she attempts to stave off the worst of the assault with quickly created barriers. Sometimes she's successful. Usually she isn't. Her desperate defenses come to an end as an overhead smash drives her to the ground, Kula landing hard, her cognizance lost, only for her to be kicked back up onto her feet, wobbly and unsteady as the final few blows are delivered. He pauses, power delivering for the final crushing blow, and she reaches forward with her right hand, attempting to grip his wrist and redirect the strike with what little awareness she has of the situation, but the impact lands all the same, driving the lithe fighter off her feet, leaving her to slide several yards before coming to a smoking, steaming stop.
She doesn't lie still. Coughing violently, the girl rolls onto her side and then into a crouch, right hand going up to rest over her mouth. Cuts and scrapes, and ashen burn marks mar what little of her skin is visible, and her leather armor is seared right through in places, the damage so extensive as to have burned right through the protective body suit she has on beneath as well. Another cough into her right glove before she lowers it from her mouth, glancing only briefly at the bloody smear left in her palm.
Unsteadily, Kula rises slowly, silent but for the coughs and haggard breathing gifted to her by that terrifying assault. At last standing, she takes in a deep breath and all the mist, all the vapor, and all the water left spilled over the stage from her previous attacks is drawn back toward her, manipulated by her precision control over that element into a medium sized sphere of liquid chi hovering over her right hand. The girl sustains it there for a moment before the sphere is drawn into her arm, the chi vanishing, returned to its creator, restoring her reservoir of strength and mending, in small part, the injuries inflicted primarialy by K' thus far. A second breath is taken, this time with more strength than the last.
And then slowly the girl opens her left hand, revealing the captured sun glasses there. Her right hand reaches into her palm, taking hold of the thrown shades, Kula Diamond blinking at them once. And then she does the only logical thing one /can/ do with gifted sun glasses.
She puts them on.
COMBATSYS: Kula gains composure.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Kula 1/---====/=======|===----\-------\0 K'
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Chun-Li 1/----===/=======|
Meanwhile, all Chun-Li can do is observe the two, watching from a distance as both K' and Kula, his antitype, square off with one another. The bad blood between the two fighters is more than obvious at this point, palpable in the air as either glares the other down. Awkward doesn't even begin to describe how the older fighter feels at the moment. Somewhere in her mind, the Chinese woman ponders taking her leave, but reminds herself that the fans would not like that.
And so, with that on her mind, she finds her resolve to stick with it. Maybe she's just over-analyzing things? At least the crowds gobble it up, evident by the roar of the gathered audience surrounding the three fighters. If they wanted a show, they've got it.
Pursing her lips lightly, Chun-Li's brow lightly furrows as she decides to again enter the fray. But just as her legs tense and her body lightly jolts...
K' unleashes his wrath upon Kula, horrible flames consuming the girl utterly as he lashes out. It gives the woman reason to stand back and stay at bay, a hand rising to shield her face from the heat that bursts off every explosion of fire. To get in the midst of that would be foolish--for now, anyway. So she waits. And when things begin to calm, and Kula recovers from the assault...
The Tai Chi Mistress dashes forward.
Maneuvering beyond Kula, her booted feet swiftly carry her for K'. Despite the distance between, the woman cares not; instead, she tucks her body and rolls with the forward momentum, tumbling once in K''s direction. And the moment her shoulders kiss the stadium floor, the woman unfurls like a coiled snake, long, muscled arms planting her palms firm onto the floor. She shoves, giving her body a sharp, practiced twist as she does so.
"SPINNING--!!"
Her body pushes upwards, her form still carried by her swift forward momentum. Inverted, both long, dangerous legs snap outwards, splitting forwards and backwards. Still her body moves, twisting with impressive, almost unbelievable motion as the woman defies the laws of gravity.
"BIIIIRD--!!"
She blazes a precise path right for the former experiment.
"KIIIIICK!!"
COMBATSYS: K' fails to interrupt Spinning Bird Kick EX from Chun-Li with Second Shell EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Kula 1/---====/=======|=====--\-------\0 K'
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Chun-Li 1/-======/=======|
Were K' aware of just how closely his fights and moves have been studied by NESTS scientists since he's left the Cartel, he would be shocked, disgusted... and somewhere down in his subconscious, just a little bit -gratified- at the sudden attention. Used to seeing that kind of obsessive study lavished upon the likes of Krizalid or Kyo, the fact that he could have even this minor commonality with the men that have defined his failure of a life would be a staggering thought.
Kula isn't particularly in a position to communicate this to him, however, even if she wanted to. Whether she wants him to or not, he's intent on giving her exactly what she wants: himself. And soon, it becomes clear that the definition of 'himself' is little more than sudden, focused force: a mindless violence, but only in the sense that it pays no heed to attempts at defense. Uncaring and relentless, he simply smashes clear through whatever guard Kula manages even in the midst of the assault.
In the aftermath, he retracts instantly, defensive, watching her with a distinctly predatory air: one that mirrors her own attitude towards -him-. He's still trying to catch his breath and find a moment to recover, and it's not just from the exertion of his attack. It's subsiding now, combatted by his innate heat and the sudden surge thereof that accompanied his fire, but it's nonetheless still clear to see: K' is still shivering in his leather from that terrible entrapment of ice.
He watches her recover her energy with little emotion, and when her left hand opens he looks to it as if expecting a threat. That expectation means he doesn't comprehend what she's actually doing with his shades up until the point the sunglasses-- a little too big for her face-- are sitting, slightly crookedly, on the bridge of her nose. He looks at her for a long time. His eyes narrow. And then-- he grins. Shockingly, he looks genuinely amused at the sight of his antitype sporting his favored accessory.
"Guess if you really want to be like me that bad," he rasps, lifting a shoulder, "you can fuckin' -keep- those to complete the look." Rubbing a bit of blood from the corner of his mouth, he spits the rest to the arena floor.
He hasn't forgotten there's a third combatant, of course-- but not forgetting about her and being able to -do- something about her are two entirely different things. He isn't sure, exactly, which of them Chun-Li will attack... and by the time the sound of her approach makes it clear the target's him, he's got precious little time in which to react. Letting out the same sort of muted sigh an exhausted student confronted with another load of homework might, he snaps to life, turning into Chun-Li's assault, attempting to cope with it how he knows best-- by breaking through it.
It doesn't work too well this time. Tired out from his massive expenditure of energy, he can't muster sufficient force to overcome Chun-Li's momentum. The gathering storm of fire about his right arm is preempted before it can even get off the ground, as Chun-Li veritably helicopters the bejesus out of K' before he can focus his flames enough to ward her off. The first kick that slams into him disrupts his balance, the second stuns him, and the third finally rips him from the ground, sending him skidding straight to the very edge of the arena. And for a few moments, he opts to just... lie there, not entirely eager to get back up and trudge back into the middle of the fray.
Slowly that recaptured energy restores a degree of the girl's vitality. She' still on the verge of collapse, but at least she can stand up straight and move at nearly full speed. The ice crystals that perpetually swirl around the child fighter build up intensity, picking up speed and intensity as she continues to catch her breath. It takes a moment for K' to react to that unexpected choice to don his discarded shades. His grin is met with a very subtle, almost imperceptible smile of her own as she brings her right arm up to rub across her mouth, taking with it another streak of blood. She remains silent, her smile fading swiftly, well aware that her actions are likely going to provoke a long questioning session from her handlers when this public bout is all finished. It'll be all right, she tells herself. They wouldn't understand even if she tried to explain.
As Chun-Li takes to the air with that renown, punishing technique of hers, Kula stays put for the time being, letting K' deal with her... or not, however he sees fit. It doesn't go well for him. Taking a step back to shake her head and clear her thoughts, her left hand coming up, pointing finger pushing the shades back into place after they've slipped into a funny angle across her face, the girl exhales. She has to get her head back into the fight. Crimson eyes fix on Chun-Li after the NESTs escapee is sent flying by the punishing assault.
Right. That woman is dangerous as can be in combat, even if she doesn't appear to share the same lethal intent as the two rivaled types. Time to wear her down as much as possible, the ice weilder decides, crouching down. Planting her hands against the platform ground, she keeps her face raised in order to keep the glasses from slipping right off her nose. Passive algorithms fix on the woman's trajectory as she lands from that whirlwind of kicks, predicting movements and possible reaction vectors...
It's all pre-planning for what's to come as white energy shimmers into existence, forming a ring of churning power around the girl. A ring that is suddenly drawn into her, channeled along her arms, and driven right back into the ground where her hands are planted. Across the way, where the more experienced fighter comes out of her attack against K', she will find herself given only a split second to react before a puller of brilliant white, frigid energy launches out of the ground at an angle in front of her. Ascending well over ten feet tall, it is only the first of four, as another pillar of white light shoots forth from left, right, and then behind the woman, trying to pen her in with a punishing infusion of that altered Kusanagi chi.
For her own part, Kula stays in position, leaning forward, hands planted, face raised, until all that churning energy around her has been expended. Only then does she rises back up to standing, releasing a soft exhale.
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li blocks Kula's Diamond Edge.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Kula 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 K'
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Chun-Li 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|
Over and over does the woman's body spin, Chun-Li's defiance of gravity and seeming logic carrying her into the former NESTS agent. Every strike is painful, each kick of her heels delivering a potent blow, the third strike enough to launch the young man and send him sailing. He lands most uncomfortably, temporarily out of the fray. But that does not mean he's out.
And neither is his polar opposite.
Long arms stretch downwards, as the woman's rotations slow. Fingertips skid across the smooth surface, aiding to slow her down before she simply presses her palm's heel into the ground. Letting her body twist, she swings it around and ultimately downwards, guiding her body into a seated position, legs folded. Another jerk of motion sends her tumbling, legs whipping upwards as she kicks back onto her feet, standing once more.
A light, airy sigh escapes her lips. But it isn't over.
From behind a roar of chi draws the woman's attention. Whipping her body around, the Tai Chi fighter spies pillars of icy energy thrusting upwards, daring to impale the woman if her footing remains careless. With precious little time to react, the woman lifts both arms, one arm angled to shield her face with her forearm, the other arm positioned near her upper body and chest, also angled. Leaning back, she tumbles again, arms sliced up. When she rises--another pillar, and the motions are repeated. Over and over again 'til the last pillar drives upwards.
Arms bloodied and numb with cold, the Chinese fighter merely narrows her gaze, eyes fixed and focused now on the frosty girl before her. K' is forgotten--for now, at least, as she darts forward, seeking to close in on Kula before she leaps up and flips forward, a leg whipping out as she comes down, to clip the girl atop the head with the back of her booted heel. "YAA!"
It is peculiar, isn't it, how K' and Kula seem to be getting along for the most part: especially given what they've just done to one another. You'd almost think their mutual attacks, for all their brutality and seeming lack of restraint, were thrown more in the spirit of curiosity to test themselves against one another than with any true killing intent...
For the time being, he lets her keep his shades: whatever that gesture might mean. And ill-fitting as they are on her.
It's not like he's in a position to really do anything about it right now, anyway. While Kula and Chun-Li square off, K' seems content to take his sweet time over at his corner of the arena, sitting up slowly and shaking his white head. Pushing a hand through his hair, he blows a bangs-stirring breath and focuses on the back-and-forth between Chun-Li and his antitype.
He watches it for a moment, straightening his leather, looking rather casual. Then, he finally decides he might as well get back in the game and finish things out proper. He hauls himself back to his feet, the motion accompanied with a sudden flare of flames along his arms and shoulders: fire bangling about his wrists. Whereas Kula can draw her expended chi back to herself to gather her strength and focus, K' must coax his fire out from his veins carefully to attain that same sort of centering.
COMBATSYS: K' gathers his will.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Kula 0/-------/-----==|=======\=------\1 K'
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Chun-Li 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|
COMBATSYS: Kula fails to interrupt Light Kick from Chun-Li with Ray Spin.
[ \\\\ < > ///////// ]
Kula 0/-------/-----==|=======\=------\1 K'
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Chun-Li 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|
From a distance, Kula observes Chun-Li's defense with a certain dispassionate detatchment, as if having the powerful technique primarialy thwarted didn't particularly trouble her. It gave her a chance to evaluate the woman's defenses, spot means by which she's able to contend with the technique. It's both an active and passive learning process, as her combat algorithms absorb additional parameters to be kept in mind for future uses of the attack and her active, curious mind gets ideas for how to vary it in ways that may make it harder to fend off in such a way. Her slow blinks go unnoticed behind the shades that precariously cover her crimson eyes.
When the Chinese martial artist comes back for her, however, the girl stops standing around and spins into action. Literally. A slight crouch, one hand coming up to her nose to press the ill-fitting shades back into place again, and then she leaps, twisting into a spinning kick, her right leg extended, her left foot angled down.
The intent is to collide with the Tai Chi master, but Chun-Li's leap has too much air on her and Kula ends up being too low to pull it off. The booted heel comes down atop her shoulder as she shifts herself into a last second adjustment to avoid a little of the impact, but the force behind it is still enough to send her twirling down to the ground a bit out of control, landing in a bit of stumbling jog that takes several steps to bring to a stop.
Releasing an exhausted exhale, the girl spins back around to take in the battle ground, her vision a little blurred, her glasses having slipped off one ear to rest right across her face. Wobbly, the young fighter corrects the shades again before taking several more steps over to the side, her left hand coming up to rest against the side of her head. "Ooo..."
She hesitates a moment, thinking heavily about falling down and just lying still, feeling like she's already done her fair share of 'chores' when it comes down to the lumps she's dished out and taken this fight. But a glance back toward Chun-Li causes her to pause. She told the woman she would do her best. Quitting now wouldn't count. Gritting her teeth, Kula turns back around to face the other two, readying herself to last a little longer.
Moving as swift as possible after weathering Kula's particularly nasty assault, Chun-Li presses the offense, not back down as she continues to keep both opponents on their toes. It wouldn't do to let up again--not now, anyway. She did that once before, and Kula very nearly made her pay for it. With her body aching and arms still aching from staving off the assault, she can't make that gamble. Both are dangerous fighters.
But in the midst of her efforts, it would appear Kula has every intention of trying to stop Chun-Li as well. Pressing the assault, the Tai Chi Mistress lets out a grunt as her heels swing down, a test of speed in that fateful moment. And with luck on her side--again--that booted heel thwarts Kula's attempts, her foot planting firmly against the girl's shoulder. A split-second later the woman leaps upwards and off, her body gracefully spinning midair before she lands in a deep crouch, long arms stretched outwards and backwards.
With her feet on the ground, the woman swiftly accesses the situation. K' remains passive, merely observing the two fighters as he pools that dangerous energy of his. Kula, on the other hand, is not as threatening, what with her attempts to regain her balance and fight off the dizziness. The girl even regards the woman, to whom the elder fighters a tiny grin between breaths, a light nod of encouragement. Certainly this is trying for everyone...
Again the Chinese woman moves silently, her motions marked only by the whisper of cloth on skin as she takes the initiative. Her feet carry her swiftly, right for K'--at least until she stops a few feet in front of him. A blur of motion, blue and flesh tones, and the woman delivers a sharp, guttural cry and...leaps vertically?
Her body twists, corkscrewing upwards as she inverts her form, long legs crackling with energy. Chi surges down her body, pale, violet blue hues dancing over her muscles as she rockets upwards, her arms pinned tightly to her midsection. And once her apex is achieved, maximum height obtained in that odd maneuver her legs suddenly whip apart.
Energy surges suddenly to her front leg, blinking before it reforms into a crescent of violet-blue as she descends right for K'. Impact, should it connect, is brutal; the energy explodes as her leg thunders down, to drop the youth flat on his face and into the stadium floor, to bring K' down with the most dangerous woman in the world.
COMBATSYS: K' interrupts Tensei Ranka from Chun-Li with Heaven Drive.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\ < > / ]
Kula 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 K'
[ \\\\\\\ <
Chun-Li 1/----===/=======|
COMBATSYS: K' can no longer fight.
[ \\\\ < > /////// ]
Kula 0/-------/-----==|=======\==-----\1 Chun-Li
Breathing evenly, standing off to one side as if content to just watch the fight come to an end, K' hooks his hands into his belt loops and narrows his eyes on Kula's attempt to preempt Chun-Li's attack. The more experienced fighter proves capable, however, of thwarting Kula just as handily as she thwarted K''s earlier attempt: and briefly, K' tracks the girl as she flies back. His yellow eyes narrowing further, K' presently returns his gaze to Chun-Li, considering the woman with an analytic attention. The careful focus he exhibits is something of which he's only recently become capable, thanks to a certain Howard.
There's little doubt his tactics are starting to alter from their earlier wild, aimless flailing to something a little more patient and deadly. Evidence enough of that is given just in the way he stands and waits for an attack to come, rather than recklessly throwing one of his own. An attack always does come eventually, after all; and soon enough, Chun-Li delivers. K' looks up as the woman leaps, watching her punishing descent carefully, his lean frame shifting infinitesimally as he waits for the right moment...
Though K' has turned more calculating than he was months ago, he'll never quite lose the savage violence for which he's become known. His fighting might be a little more measured now, but when he does act he truly still does exhibit the berserk brutality touted in the very description for this match. His stillness abruptly becomes a blur of motion once Chun-Li draws close enough, the young man striking with unrepentant force like a cobra that's finally within range to bite.
Chun-Li's kick slams into his right shoulder, driving it down... but before that energy can erupt, K' is leaning even further down with the momentum of the kick, his body chambering in a telltale way and his right arm pulling back farther. A sudden fire searing down his arm, from shoulder to wrist, disrupts Chun-Li's chi. There is a moment of stillness-- and then K' forces -back- against Chun-Li's kick, his hand clawing as it whipcracks up in sudden release, a sharp uppercut torn at a rising diagonal across the woman's body.
The first strike tries, very simply, to gain some space-- K' twists around sharply, and then repeats the motion, this time to cause -damage-, striking hard enough to carry Chun-Li back into the air, and himself along with her. In a fiery mirror of Kula's earlier attack, K' twists once airborne to crack a flame-ridden kick into Chun-Li at the apex of their mutual ascent.
His landing is far from graceful. He hits heavily, with none of his usual grace, almost immediately losing his balance to stumble to one hand and his knees. He's pushed himself about as far as possible, and can go no further; but aware as he is of his own inability to fight or defend himself further, and still wary of Kula, he won't stay grounded long...
Kula watches it play out. She is often known for her ability to draw endlessly upon chi, attack after attack... But K''s resources are no less impressive, even if they tend to build and be expended explosively compared to the more patient girl. That he still has that much in him after such a grueling match is impressive, and something to consider. The ice princess of NESTs hangs back, watching the Tai Chi mistress get carried into the flaming assault, remembering well her own experiences with that very technique in the past.
Exhausted herself, she draws her right hand up. It seems the match continues and it's up to her to keep going for as long as she can. She told the veteran fighter she would do her best and now, in spite her childish, and perhaps immature nature wanting to cop out and concede on the spot, she feels compelled to stick to her word on the matter. Another small shimmer of white around her hand transforms into a small storm of white energy whipping about her limb.
A breath is taken, giving her the strength to continue, and then she moves, leaning forward to sprint across the ice. She doesn't have the energy to slip over it like ice, creating her own slick surface with each step to allow her to glide like none other on a variety of solid surfaces. She'll have to settle for a good, old fashioned sprint. Her intent is to meet her opponent where she lands, arm drawing back before slamming forward, unleashing punch coupled with a small surge in that freezing chi.
"I can't just quit," she whispers to herself mid-swing, resolution unmistakeable in her wearied voice.
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li dodges Kula's Medium Punch.
[ \\\\\ < > /////// ]
Kula 0/-------/-----==|=======\==-----\1 Chun-Li
Just when Chun-Li swore she had the fiery K' pegged and down--
He surprises her, as usual.
Her leg makes contact, the chi lancing down her leg surging forward with every intention of sending K' flat on his face. Yet just as her leg tenses, K' startles her; with a sudden burst of flames down the connecting arm, he suddenly disarms the woman with a shove forward--and a painful, clawing uppercut executed from hip to shoulder. She lets out a sharp cry, but the roar of K''s flames cuts her out. But it isn't over.
Again he moves harshly, whipping around and repeating the action, earning him another startled yet strangled yelp from the Chinese woman as she's buffeted in the air a second time as K' lands. The Tai Chi fighter sails helplessly, hitting the hard stadium floor several feet from the rouge experiment, a nasty gash marring the front of her trademark cerulean qipao. She looks a mess, her hair disheveled, the material covering of her oxhorn-styled hair buns singed and frayed.
But she's not down. Not yet.
It's another struggle, for Chun-Li to pull herself to her feet. Groggy eyes struggle briefly, straining to see if K' himself stands. Is he still a threat, she wonders as she strains against her body's urge to just fall limp to the ground. Struggling, she pulls herself to her knees, a light croak slipping past her lips as a hand clutches her aching abdomen. First ice, then fire. But Kula, the icy princess, remains...
A glance is spared, to gauge the young woman--and Chun-Li is swift to learn the girl is barreling right for her. Calling on her reserves, the woman bites her lip and stands upright, assuming stance as she simply observes the girl's approach. And just as that chi-laced blow comes sailing forward, Chun-Li makes her move.
Dipping low, the woman stretches her arms before her body and behind for balance as she weaves gracefully around and behind Kula. From the crouch the woman leaps upwards and OVER the girl, legs coiled tightly against her body as she reaches the apex. Only THEN do her legs whip out, to smack poor Kula in the face with a double-footed kick and a sharp cry of, "YAA!"
COMBATSYS: Kula dodges Chun-Li's Tenshin Shuu Kyaku EX.
[ \\\\\ < > /////// ]
Kula 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Chun-Li
That Chun-Li has survived this long in this match involving two NESTs experiments that seemed to have a knack for violent, explosive, and deadly attacks, is a testament to her skill and tenacity. Kula's hand swings forward, timed to catch Chun-Li before she can recover from the fiery assault that K' was able to unleash before succumbing to the mortal limits that even the rugged NESTs escapee must obey.
Her hand zips through the air, missing the agile fighter, the chi meant for Chun-Li evaporating as she unclasps her hand, forming a small cloud of latent energy lingering even after she ceases to concentrate on it. That she avoids the next attack comes her way is entirely thanks to the passive algorithms - that NESTs engineering that can keep the girl fighting long after her conscious mind has become incapable of forming coherent battle plans or clever techniques. Reduced to the basest level of her survival routines, she evades Chun-Li's incoming kick in much the same way the flexible martial artist avoided her punch.
Twisting to the side, allowing her legs to snap past her face, whipping through her long, trailing hair, but failing to find contact with her jaw or cheek, Kula barely scrapes past the remarkably swift technique. It seems direct strikes aren't doing the trick. Perhaps something better suited to pinning the blazingly fast woman down will suffice.
It's her left hand that charge swith chi this time, white energy coursing over that insulated yellow glove, always present, protecting her from freezing her own skin into a bloody, raw mess. Her right hand snaps out first, trying to yank Chun-Li's nearest arm toward her the instant the woman lands, twisting her forward so that her back is to Kula... and then she presses forward with her left hand into her upper back, unleashing a point blank torrent of frozen energy, threatening to create another icy patch on the continuously elementally-harried fighter.
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li dodges Kula's Quick Throw.
[ \\\\\ < > /////// ]
Kula 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Chun-Li
Long legs seek their target, intent on snapping into Kula...
But the girl, much like the Tai Chi fighter, is swift.
A mildly startled expression seizes the Chinese woman's face, almond-brown eyes widening briefly before she furrows her thin brows, lips pulling tightly. Her legs immediately recoil, drawn inward as she nears the ground. Practiced timing and absolute precision are executed, as her legs snap out at the very last second, to cushion her fall and bring her into a deep crouch. Panting, the woman tries to catch her breath.
r But Kula acts quickly, attempting to snare the fighter by her arm. Again, Chun-Li is surprised, but her body--fueled by adrenaline and years worth of dedication to her art--force her to move. Her arm whips to the side, guiding her body along as she once more weaves out of harm's way with sheer grace, despite her body's condition.
But she's focused now. She has to be, if she wants to come out on top in the end. Every fight has to be her best. There's no room for slacking!
Another step follows, her heel planting firmly, parallel to Kula's as she moves. Swinging the other arm around, her knuckles clench and drive forward, a punch aimed straight for the anti-K''s ribs.
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li successfully hits Kula with Medium Punch.
[ < > //////// ]
Kula 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 Chun-Li
Her right hand strikes nothing but air, fingers closing just shy of getting the grip she sought. Keeping her left hand drawn back, energy swirling about her closed fist, ready to be put to use, the young fighter starts to take a step back, hoping to afford herself a bit of distance with which to guage how best to proceed.
But the veteran fighter's resolve keeps her going strong enough to strike back swiftly, her fist slamming out before the young fighter has gained the distance she sought, coming in from the side quicker than Kula can spin to account for the angle of the strike.
The blow lands cleanly, slipping through both her guard and her reflexes, striking directly on top of the burned spot left by K''s punishing opening strike when he last attacked the girl. Kula releases a sharp gasp, eyes widening as she feels her strength dwindling fast. She's about to collapse... but not before her right fist slams right back, attempting to catch the China born fighter in the side, returning the favor with a closed fist to the ribs...
But the real threat is from elsewhere. Kula's left hand flicks at the wrist, and the energy coursing over her forearm vanishes, only to reappear behind Chun-Li in the form of a solidified, angled shard of ice. Mouth trembling as she attempts to clear her focus, the girl brings that shard slashing at an angle toward the Tai Chi fighter's back, putting her reflexes to one final test, before finally dropping to her knees, head bowed, glasses sliding along her nose and slipping off to dangle from her ears beneath her chin.
It's going to take her a moment to recover the wherewithall to push them back into place. Until then, she's content to sit and breath, resting her hand against her side, applying cooling pressure to her bruised ribs.
COMBATSYS: Kula can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\ <
Chun-Li 0/-------/--=====|
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li parries Kula's Behind Slash!
[ \\\\\ <
Chun-Li 0/-------/-======|
It would seem that Chun-Li's perseverance pays off in spades. Whipping into action after avoiding the girl's grasp, the elder fighter's fist moves, driving a harsh path straight for the ice princess' ribs. There is no maliciousness or spite in her blow; it's merely mechanics, her body moving with the ebb of the fight, flowing with the natural motions she's trained her body to feel through many years of practice. Part of her just can't help but react.
And part of her just feels a little bad.
Withdrawing her fist from the girl's ribs as she gasps, Chun-Li takes a swift step back--before, suddenly, the icy NESTS experiment delivers one last attempt to snag the Tai Chi Mistress, to take her down as well. Almond-brown eyes widen as the girl's fist flies, seeking to seize the woman with a fist from the right. Immediately she whips a hand out, to gently redirect the girl's arm by the middle of her forearm.
The other and potentially greater threat comes by way of the left. Sort of, anyway. Her wrist flicks, a shimmer catching the Chinese woman's attentions. What..?
Behind?
Pivoting harshly on her heel, the Tai Chi Mistress dips low as that angled ice aims for her back, controlled by the young, blue-haired project. Bringing her wrists together, those trademarks spikes on her gauntlets catch that shard, again redirecting the blow from meeting its mark somewhere on the woman's body, pinning it in place. Will she attack again..??
Like K', the girl drops, a mess herself as she struggles for breath. Immediately the woman offers Kula a smile, her eyes friendly and warm--albeit exceptionally exhausted--as she peers down at the girl. "As I figured," she states, "You gave your best. That was a very difficult fight, for all of us. I'm glad we could fight again."
Still smiling, the woman stumbles as she turns, the crowds roaring with cheer and delight for their favorite fighters. Lifting her arms up, she gestures to both Kula and K', despite being announced the victor in the three-for-all. After all, the fight couldn't have gone on without them, yeah?
But uncertainty clouds the Chinese woman. Sparing a glance to K', she has to wonder:
What bad blood really does lie between the former assassin and a seemingly innocent, yet powerful, young fighter like Kula Diamond? Why do they seem so bitter toward each other..?
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li has ended the fight here.
Log created on 22:39:24 08/15/2008 by Chun-Li, and last modified on 22:27:54 08/26/2008.