Description: Kula has sworn off candy forever! Caught in the midst of a mental breakdown from her horrible withdrawal symptoms, can Luc and Cherise stave off her delirious, candy lusting rage!? Will Kula be able to make it through her rehabilitation!? The answer is-- (Winner: Kula, but you're never a winner when you do drugs(candy))(NOTE: all or none of this may or may not be true)
The second that the call came down to her, explaining the premise of the fight she was going to be part of, there was a light in Cherise Bouchard's eyes that is hard to compare to anything other than "kid in a candy store." Her bag was packed, and she was off to the airport even earlier than she needed to be. She was psyched about this one, completely and fully-- and why shouldn't she be?
A fight like this, someone's going to come out of it hurt. Maybe even her, if she's lucky.
Flash-forward to now: Now, while the camera crew is getting things set up and security keeps the rabid onlookers that want to see the battle held back while some keep trying their best to bootleg the event on their cellphones and camcorders. The silver-haired girl standing next to the cage, her hands reached out to hold onto the metal that comprises it doesn't even seem to notice them, the lights, the sounds. She's in her own little world, staring into the empty spaces with a slight grin that just won't go away at all, even a slight tremor in her stance.
Make no mistake, this isn't fear-- this is anticipation.
The moment the staff opens up the cage to let her in, the French girl is bounding right on in, checking the air and their theoretical ceiling. She's getting a good grip of the dimensions, and looking to the belt slung around her waist-- the ammo-sized packs hanging on her belt with her spare wire held within. Pulling on a pair of black gloves with little-to-no fingers, the guitarist is thinking, just for a moment, how sweet it would be to mix violence and vicious tunes in a place like this...
Luc Schroedinger stares on with dull, green eyes as he leans against the cage, lips parting open as hooded eyes lift upwards. His brows knit, his lips pulling into a frown.
"Maaaaaaaan... this sucks."
The fact that Luc isn't punching some poor crew member in the face is a good indicator that he's not actually in that much of a bad mood.
Relatively speaking.
The nicely-dressed Pacific High student actually came around early today, a rarity for him. He's spent the rest of the time glaring at SNF employees or just generally seeming to be in a dour mood, as is his way. Crew members have learned to keep a respectable distance; the last few matches people tried to fuss with Schroedinger too much, someone ended up with a broken nose.
But for now, the angry German seems to just be... well, waiting. Rolling up his long sleeves to his elbows in anticipation, he rolls his neck with a series of cracks, looking blandly towards Cherise as she makes her arrival. He frowns.
"God dammit," he mutters unpleasantly, "I have to fight with a -girl- again?" Luc's not very good at reading match line-ups. Either that, or he thinks 'Cherise' is a boy's name. Both are highly likely.
"Ugh."
Six months ago, almost no one knew about the long haired, diminutive Kula Diamond. With match after violent match on worldwide television, however, that has begun to change. That someone so young could be such a menace, capable of holding her own against multiple fighters time and time again, came as a surprise - a young, high ranking combatant seemingly out of no where. With a background shrouded in secrecy, attempts to pry into the nature of her training or even her origin are constantly met with dead ends.
One thing is clear, though. Whoever taught her to fight made sure the young thing is absolutely not shy about putting her deadly ice manipulation to use. And this event seeks to capitalize on just that very fact. Situated in an underground club used for local, borderline ilegal pit fights, the steel cage the participants will be locked in is already dirty with dried blood of previous combatants. A history of pain, countless injuries, and who knows what else can be read in the plentiful evidence all about the dirty container.
Clad in violet leather, her hair a distinct, frosty blue, the young, thin fighter strides into the cage with a calm exterior that conceals the uneasiness she has at being locked up in such a tight encloser. Compared to the wide, majestic mountainscape she fought upon the previous week, this event does not appeal to her at all. Unfortunately for her opponents, it seems the quickest way out is to dispatch with them in as timely a manner as possible.
Walking to one corner of the cage, her gloved hands trace over the bars, crimson eyes narrowing slightly before turning around to face her two opponents. "I won't be holding back," she speaks up softly, her tone laden with warning, "But when you have had enough make sure to give up before you become injured even worse." she continues. If only she knew the extent either of her opponents are willing to go in the name of a good fight, she might have saved herself some breath.
Her hands rest against her sides, a point blank small flurry of snow whirling about her figure, the temperature immediately around her dropping a few degrees in spite the muggy, warm, dark interrior of the seedy location. Welcome to Metro City. The side Haggar doesn't want advertised so much. "I'm ready." She looks calm as a glacier, but barely contained beneath that cool exterior is a fount of power perfectly ready to be put to use in defense or offense. And with such narrow confines, there may very well be no where to run...
Is it the smell? It might be that, too. She might even fall to the floor and just take the deepest smell she can in this place, like those television commercials with the carpet cleaners. Letting her back lean in against the cage, her arms out to her sides, Cherise's chin lifts up a little and a playful smile comes across her face. She's not going to hold back? They should remember to give up?
But doesn't that contradict her entire attitude?
Pushing off from the wall and letting a bit of a laugh push past her lips, she shifts her gaze between the pair of fighters-- Luc, whenever he's in and ready, and Kula Diamond. With the same look to her, the same pace and happy expression as someone that seems as though she has no idea what's going on...
She lunges first-- on the strange boy in the cage, the one so well-dressed and yet carrying the air of someone so angry. She springs into the air, lulling nearly horizontal, and her left arm drops. A gold fleck screams through the air and just past Luc's head, a thin line of silver catching the light inside the cage. Her hands clamp tightly around it when she reaches the apex of her high jump, pulling hard-- and coming down at the young man with a whole lot of force.
"Yahoo~!" she cheerfully cries, all while trying to sink one mean axe kick down on the teenager's head.
COMBATSYS: Cherise has started a fight here.
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Cherise 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Kula has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Kula 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Cherise
COMBATSYS: Luc has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Cherise 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Luc
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Kula 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Luc fails to interrupt Stiletto Axe from Cherise with Aufruhr Kreuz.
- Power fail! -
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Cherise 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Luc
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Kula 0/-------/-------|
"Blah, blah, blah blah blah."
The words cut in from Kula's would-be introduction, accompanied by Luc making a 'gabby gab gabster' gesture with his right hand. The frowning German looks up, glaring daggers at the girl before him. Another girl. "What is it with you girls and talking? I came here to /fight/, not to be /talked to death./" Pushing up from the cage walls, Luc cracks his knuckles, black fire beginning to flare upwards in chaotic tongues from his hands.
"/Finally/--"
Which is about when Luc gets kicked right in the head.
It's a big startling, even for Luc, considering his opponent hasn't even moved yet. Feeling that sharp, red-hot pain lance through him from the skull down, Schroedinger lets out a surprised gasp, body being rocked -downward- into a forward lurch from the force and suddenness of the blow. Staggered almost to his knees, he only stops when a single hand plants on the ground. Green eyes look up, to see--
"What the FUCK are you DOING, you dumb piece of SHIT?!" Eloquent as always, Luc roars at Cherise in a mild sort of disbelief as he gets back up onto his feet. "Are you mentally handicapped or something?! They didn't put me with a goddamn retard this time, did they?! A RETARDED /GIRL/, FUCK /THAT/!" Luc swings a hand down, finger pointing pointedly at Kula. "We're fighting HER, dipshit! Even /I/ know that! Do you eat paint chips or something?! Get your act together or I'll kick your ass, understand?!"
And so was Luc momentarily distracted to rant at Cherise in an angry, swiftly becoming incomprehensible, tirade.
"FUCKING GIRLS!"
The censors are going to have a lot to work with.
For the first several seconds after Cherise makes her move, Kula is forced to wonder if she's somehow completely misunderstood the nature of the fight. Or maybe this is one of those 'haha, gotchas' SNFs like to slip in now and then to keep fighters on their toes. The gray haired girl takes to the air, swinging across the confines of the cage, not toward her opponent but rather right into her wouldbe /partner/.
The girl makes no move to interfer as Luc takes a painful kick to the head that just about drops him to the ground but for his valiant dedication to cussing up a storm in retaliation instead. Calmly, the girl stands back, eyes a little wide, a semi confused expression working its way into her features. What IS going on here? Focusing on Cherise as Luc oh so calmly elucidates her into the breakdown of the match. The profanity doesn't provoke much reaction from the girl. Angel has introduced her to a variety of not-fit-for-broadcast words already so there's not too much new material there.
Given all the time in the world to collect herself, the young fighter extends her right hand out to her side, collecting a menacing amount of white, swirling energy about her clenched glove. "He's right, you know. Let me show you." The speed at which she slips across the cage toward Cherise is formidable, her left hand snapping out, going for the wire user's throat in order to slam her head back against the sturdy steel bars that keep the trio penned in. The force she brings to bear is formidable for a fighter of her stature, her fingers possessing vice-like strength.
"But it doesn't matter to me." Her right hand comes forward second, palm forward, going for Cherise's face. Her intention becomes clear in a bone chilling instant as she attempts to smother the girl by leaving a thick coating of ice over her face, blocking mouth and nostrils in a bid to keep her from being able to breath at all. As if the grip on her throat wouldn't be bad enough!
COMBATSYS: Kula successfully hits Cherise with Strong Throw.
- Power hit! -
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Cherise 0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Luc
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Kula 0/-------/------=|
A crushing blow to the top of the head! A perfect one-- and boy howdy, is she proud of it. Stepping back, snapping her wrist and reeling her weapon back towards her, Cherise looks down on Luc with a raised chin and a haughty smile, a grin that combines well with widely-spread eyes full of amusement. She sees nothing wrong with this, and it's all for one very important reason:
"I wished to know the quality of the man I am to be teamed with. Of course, now I know."
But the same thing could be said of her, while Kula is suddenly moving in upon her. Her throat is pinned in the steely grasp of the NESTS agent-- and the ice, it starts to suffocate her. Perhaps better than the NESTS girl had expected, as her legs start to quiver and shake-- she starts to lose consciousness, her knees about to give way...
And then her hand whips upward. Gripping at Kula's collar, her left hand comes up to her face and literally -rips- the frozen mass away from her face. And ... more than that...? She's smiling. She's smiling wide, and her eyes just seem to become as large as saucers.
"... Hehehe... heh heh heh."
Her leg swings up hard for a kick between the legs, meant to stun her more than anything. Her left hand hooks in second, looking to drive her fist in for a kidney blow. Her right hand moves back from the girl's collar, acting less as a stabilizer at this point and more to drive a stiff, point-blank heel of the hand into her face. Hooking in one more punch to the solar plexus, the end of the combination comes in the form of a sharp, high kick with the intent of putting her toe across the side of Kula's head.
To make matters worse, each hit is accompanied with a strange burst of silver energy-- sharp, angry, and absolutely painful, even if guarded against...
Luc can't help but do anything more than laugh as soon as Cherise is gripped up and nearly frozen solid by Kula and her unusual powers.
"Haaaaaaaahahahaha! That's why you don't attack your teammate, dumbass!" Luc says, as if he has any room to talk. "That's just /kareemay./"
Odds are what he meant to say was 'karma.'
Not that it matters, because only a second later is Cherise suddenly giggling and, like a trooper, carries on to drive a sudden series of blows into Kula. Luc squints, body lowering and muscles tensing as fire flares up all around his legs. "Alright then..."
One leap is all it takes. In one leap, Luc is suddenly -flinging- forward faster than any person rightfully should, his muscles straining as fire ignites from his left foot like a sort of propulsion. His right foot? Extended forward, black-blue flames spiraling around the length of it like a corkscrew.
"LET'S SEE IF YOU'RE ANY FUN, HUH?!"
With a mighty roar, Luc Schroedinger will attempt to simply jump-kick Kula in the chest, releasing all that spiraled chi in a sudden, wave like expulsion of fire. "GRAAAAAAAAAGH!!"
COMBATSYS: Kula blocks Luc's Tyrant Strike.
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Cherise 0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Luc
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Kula 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Kula reflects Vital Striker from Cherise with Counter Shell.
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Cherise 1/--=====/=======|==-----\-------\0 Luc
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Kula 0/-------/----===|
Cherise wanted to know the quality of her partner to start with, but now she's stuck finding out the calibur of her opponent and to what lengths Kula is willing to go in this match that promised the audience 'Unmitigated Violence'. If her strangulation and face plastering takes Cherise out on the spot, it doesn't matter to Kula one bit. Lacking the fighter's zeal that most come to the ring with, she doesn't mind ending a match disturbingly fast if the opportunity presents itself. It just means her opponents were not up to the task or the fight was billed to result in brutal, onesided beating. None of it matters to the impassionate, cool tempered girl that holds Cherise against the bars with the intent to smother.
She can feel the capacity to continue fighting slip from the woman as she struggles. She won't go so far as to kill her. At least, not intentionally. Just to the brink of collapse, pushing her into the abyss of unconsciousness, then she'll let her go. But Cherise has other thoughts in mind as she forces herself to move all the same. The mask of ice is ripped clean off her face, freeing her mouth and nose to regain that precious need to breath, only to reach out and take hold of the collar of Kula's leather jacket.
The NESTs operative releases the girl's neck just then, partially out of need to defend herself. It's Luc wild assault that she fends off first, bringing her right arm up to intersect his chi-laced kick, provoking a soft grunt as she pushes back with her arm to try and shove him off balance for his landing. It's Cherise that gets the worst of the ice user's defenses, however, as Kula sweeps out with her left hand to bat side the kick meant to stun her, eyes narrowing, never having left the strange girl for even an instant, as if she read the intent of the incoming combination well enough to understand the savage combination meant for her.
"What's so funny," she asks as she smacks aside the next strike to come, judiciously avoiding contact with that energy present at the end of Cherise's limbs, aiming instead at forearms and shins. If Cherise thinks her attacks are funny, then Kula is going to teach her otherwise. Her right hand sweeping back in after bracing against Luc's kick, the girl sweeps a shimmering mirror into the air as Cherise swings for her solar plexus, giving Cherise a view of her own reflection.
The energy splashes against the barrier that proves strong enough to stop the strike cold. But that's hardly the end of it as Kula's left hand draws forward, gloved fingers pressing against the back side of the mirror to pour more strength into it. The barrier surges with newfound energy as several spikes lance out toward the wire user to skewer into her from all angles. Taking a step back from it, the girl stares back toward Cherise, brow furrowed, "You might be taking on more than you can handle," she warns before kicking out with her right foot in a sweeping strike aimed to shatter the mass of ice and send the piercing shards tearing into the French girl and slam her against the bars of the cage again. If there were any remorse in the girl for such a brutal attack, it would be hard to find in her distant, detatched expression as she whirls toward Luc with an expression that suggests 'You're next.'
For a moment, Cherise gets to get a good look at herself in a mirror hand-crafted from ice. For that moment, she gets to see herself with the massive smile on her face and her eyes full of life. She knows that things aren't exactly going the way she wants when the kick is smacked aside, but the 'mirror' confirms it-- and then shards of ice start to rip through her body, as well as scattering her energy faster than the French girl anticipated she would be able.
Staggering backwards, slammed backward through the air and hitting the bars of the cage, Cherise Bouchard grips onto them and manages to somehow keep her footing-- even with the bloody spots that start to stain her dress at the ripped and torn points.
Her head hangs, her knees shake-- and yet, still, she's ... laughing?
"Heheh heh... heh heh... he he he ... it's so-- heh heh... ahn~. Y-Yes... that's it... I see, t-the gloves..."
Her head lifts, the layers of her personality becoming more and more clear. "It's like 'him,' haha... you're like 'him!'"
"Ha ha ha ha HA HA!"
COMBATSYS: Cherise gains composure.
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Cherise 1/----===/=======|==-----\-------\0 Luc
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Kula 0/-------/----===|
*KRAK* goes the angry German's foot as Kula manages to make an intercept on his kick. The flames expell outwards with the lancing strike, but all seem to be buffered excellently. If Luc was a smarter man, he might wonder how such a young girl is so strong -- perplexed, perhaps. As it is, he just has one thing to say:
"HAHAHA! THAT'S GREAT!" Because regardless of how she's so strong, it just means Luc is going to get a good fight today.
Luc is forced back with the push, spiraling through the air and landing in an uneasy crouch, dirt kicking up from the impact. His green eyes, burning with life, look up just in time to see Cherise get rather unpleasantly skewered. His brows furrow. He frowns. Is he concerned?
"Stop being so useless, you piece of crap!!" Probably not.
But, any further yelling is cut off as soon as Kula levels that distant gaze on him. He blinks. He squints. "What? Why the hell are you staring at me, you crazy-ass girl? Are you some sort of stalker? How about this: how about you stop staring like a drooling idiot..."
Luc rushes forward. Despite how reckless it might be to attack someone like Kula head on, well -- he still does it. Because he wants to, if the grin on his lips and the wild look in his eyes is any indication. He rushes forward, faster and faster, before suddenly -surging- forward in a leap, launching diagonally through the air and aiming to bury one knee straight into Kula's nose -- accompanied by the sudden BOOM of a chi-laced explosion.
"... AND FUCKING HIT ME!"
COMBATSYS: Luc successfully hits Kula with Medium Kick.
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Cherise 1/----===/=======|===----\-------\0 Luc
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Kula 0/-------/--=====|
Cherise's voice provokes a glance from Kula, eyes narrowing back at her as she mentions those distinctive, yellow gloves of hers. For her own protection, to keep from freezing her own skin or slicing her fingers against her own jagged ice. They aren't meant to seal like K''s red twin, but the appearances are certainly similar and Kula knows of whom Cherise speaks in an instant. "You know K'," she states rather than asks, certain the French born fighter isn't speaking of K9999. The boy doesn't get out enough to meet someone like her! "Hn," she states, shaking her head as she whirls back toward Luc, the young man's shots drawing her attention his way, her expression already a scowl. She's used to fighters having fiery tempers but this kid is just way off the charts. Time to cool him down a bit.
He comes in foot first, twisting the strike into a knee that catches Kula faster than she can react, cracking against her nose with enough force to send her reeling. The chisplosion that accompanies it jars her even further, but she recovers before quite reaching the edge of the cage. Thoughts of Cherise and her association with K' are forgotten as the girl becomes focused on Luc, deciding that he needs to be the next to be summarily hurt in this fight. One hand comes up to wipe a finger across her nose, coming away with a small smear of blood from the trickle his strike provoked, but she's not in too bad of shape quite yet.
"Fine." She darts forward, not having far to go in the small cage, attacking Luc a few seconds after recovering from her blow to the nose. Her right hand closes, a long spike of ice forming in her hand almost like a dagger. It is with that Kula swings, aiming for a stabbing strike toward Luc's chest. Her left hand comes in next, a clenched fist with a mace-like block of ice encasing it, aiming to smash directly into the German's face to return the favor by trying to slam him hard enough to bounce his skull off the bars behind him!
COMBATSYS: Luc blocks Kula's Fierce Punch.
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Cherise 1/----===/=======|====---\-------\0 Luc
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Kula 0/-------/--=====|
Up against the wall, her weight sliding down it a bit, Cherise can only let a smile sneak past her lips. Does she know K'? What kind of a silly question is that? Of course she knows him, she knows him better than even he knows himself. She knows the smell of a predator, and perhaps that's what's kept her from really 'noticing' Kula until now-- until she was hit so hard that it suddenly all made sense.
She gives no vocal response through her chuckles... just lets her tongue drag across her lips like a hungry animal.
Looking to capitalize on the ice-wielder using Luc as a pincushion for her unusual ice powers, the French girl darts across the steel cage arena-- for all the distance she actually needs to travel-- and thrusts her hand ahead with her thumb braced in the crook of her index finger. If it hits, the blow is deep, powerful, and impressively stunning.
The largest thing to note with this strike is... the power behind it-- not just physical, but a thin, powerful bolt of silver energy is transmitted along the way...
"C'MON!! C'MON C'MON C--"
Luc's impatient demands are finally met only a few moments after his knee disconnects ungracefully from Kula's face. Pushing off just as Kula darts /forward/, he is intercepted in mid-air by that dagger-like encrusting of ice. Luc, while reckless, is not always suicidal; a sharp thing shoved through his chest is probably not going to do him much good.
So, in response? His right arm swings outward, impacting against the side of that dagger-hand with enough force to knock the thing off to the side, eyes alight with delight as he lands with a skid from the excess force shunted off on him from the sheer power of Kula's blow. "Not even /nearly fast enough--!"
The second blow comes in from the left, a swing of one heavy ice mace swinging down to bludgeon Schroedinger across the face. His left arm flares with a sudden surge of black and blue flames as he surges -forward- with a ripple of muscle and cloth, striking the mace with a chi-covered fist. Fire sparks against ice, and the impact dulls Kula's momentum, but not by much. Small chunks of ice sheer off; the impact is short-lived, lasting all of a fraction of a second before Kula's force overrides Luc's and knocks him backwards in a violent stagger, stopping only a faint distance away with a frown.
"... not nearly good enough...!" And then, he's off again, leaping forward just before Cherise, in an attempt to grasp Kula securely by the head. If he can? He's going to ignite her head in a fiery plume of angry blacks and blues, roaring all the while before leaping -away-. "HRAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!"
COMBATSYS: Kula dodges Cherise's Argent Rebellion.
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Cherise 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Luc
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Kula 0/-------/--=====|
COMBATSYS: Kula blocks Luc's Wutend Stob.
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Cherise 0/-------/------=|=====--\-------\0 Luc
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Kula 0/-------/-======|
Now that she's finally got both of the fighters gunning for her, it's time for Kula to pour on that speed that she's notorious for. No longer free to stalk about the enclosure and attack as she pleases, she needs to put her reflexes to work. Cherise comes in, swinging out with her hand, but Kula crouches then springs straight up, clinging to the top of the catch like a spider, her feet and hands tucked between the bars, her long hair dangling back down toward the floor.
She couldn't really sense the build up of energy behind that strike, but her instincts told her all the same that while Cherise's energy doesn't seem to resonate with her aura in the slightest, it's not to be taken lightly. The girl is there for only an instant before she drops back down, landing on her feet and whirling to face Luc. His reckless but sufficient defense has her combat routines trying to make sense of his approach to combat. Brute force seems to be a factor.
And that's precisely what she's forced to defend herself against as he leaps, his hands clutching the sides of her head as she's left unsure as to what he's even trying to do. She figures out quickly enough that whatever he has in mind it isn't going to feel good at all, however. She ends up shoving out with her right hand, creating a small wall of ice to force him off just before the chi infusion was to take place, leaving the NESTs operative mostly unharmed.
Still, his taunting seems to be getting to her because she stays fixated on him as she draws her hands back up. "Your style hasn't been so impressive so far either. You don't have much room to talk." she states back, her tone terse, as if she's on the border between irritated and unsure how to take his provoking.
She charges him then with an usually aggressive approach, both hands going for Luc's throat as she seeks to get a grip on him much like she did with Cherise moments before. If she has that hold, the girl is going to carry him all the way to the bars of the cage with her forward momentum, intent on slamming him against it, pulling him off, then slamming his back against the bars a second time before letting go!
Luc charges in ahead of her-- and he's all the more welcome to. Doing that would give her a little bit more of a distraction to hit the NESTS girl, and possibly deal a bit more damage than she's been able to for the majority of this fight. The aggressive charge looks as though it'll pay off-- and then Kula decides to deal with it by ... not being in the path.
Letting out a noise that may just sound like irritation as all of that pent-up energy is spent, scattered as it passes through the air without making contact, Cherise gets herself to a staggering stop before turning back toward the other two-- toward Kula and Luc while she defends against the German's attack and tries to shove him off toward the cage wall. Angling herself away from the pair, watching them intently, it seems as though Cherise's attention is being turned toward the subject of the pair's actual fight-- toward Kula.
The smile starts to return to her face while she unclips the small locks on the front of the pouches hanging from her belt. Pulling a length of wire from her bracelet, Cherise lets it fall to the ground as her arm falls to her side, bringing her other hand up to lick the tips of her fingers.
"Maybe if..." she murmurs to herself, watching carefully through those silvery bangs.
COMBATSYS: Cherise focuses on her next action.
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Cherise 0/-------/------=|=====--\-------\0 Luc
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Kula 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Luc endures Kula's Medium Throw.
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Cherise 0/-------/------=|=======\-------\1 Luc
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Kula 0/-------/-======|
"What kind of a lame comeback is that?! Your worse than psycho freakbitch over there! I'm not the one fighting two people at once, am I, shortround?! Idiot!" comes Luc's roaring response, looking more angry than anything else as he shouts the words out; because he really is just a mad, angry young man. Recovering from Kula's sudden knockback, Luc stumbles a single step and frowns, his hands clenching nice and tight as his left brow twitches.
"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S SUPPOSED TO BE STRONGER, SO LET'S SEE IT ALREADY!"
And so Kula does. Luc doesn't even acknowledge the fact that Cherise is still in the area, so focused is he on getting to see just how strong Kula /really/ is. That's why, when Kula grips onto him, Luc doesn't even -try- to move out of the way. The NESTS project grips him up by the throat freely, sending poor Schroedinger hurling backwards with him as if on a crazy roller coaster ride of pain. Smashing against the cage-side with the frosty chill of Kula's grip, Luc winces, lips twisting just slightly in pain from the shock of the blow. Kula releases...
... and Luc laughs. Loudly.
"AHAHAHAHAAAHAHAHA!! That's a bit better!! But--" Luc is cut off as Kula comes in for a second charge. It's about then she might notice the fact that Luc's hand is glowing, brightly -- and she's cutting right through his defenses and, subsequently, her own. "--ghhk! n-not--"
His arm swings down the moment that Kula slams his back into the cage wall again. A small, single lance of crackling black and blue strikes the ground... before it /explodes/ outwards just as suddenly, a gout of pure black fire swirling with deep hues of blue roaring from the ground to explode beneath Kula's feet and knock her straight away.
"--STILL NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!"
COMBATSYS: Kula blocks Luc's Uberlastung Lanze.
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Cherise 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Luc
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Kula 0/-------/=======|
First one slam, then the second, as Kula attempts to choke and bash the 'sense' out of Luc. But for all the effect his taunting is having on the normally passive NESTs girl, she isn't completely blinded to the attacks taking place around her. Unlike Cherise's power, the painful black flames the German keeps bringing to bear are a lot easier for her to sense. Which is why when his hand gesture to call down the lightning, she's prepared to react in an instant, stepping back, hands coming up, creating a thick barrier of ice between her and the ground zero of the considerable explosion.
The mixture of fire and ice plays out in Luc's favor in the end as the lash of dark blue swirl out and around the makeshift shield before finally consuming it all together. But the risiduals that finally make it to the girl prove to be just enough to scorch her jacket and leave her a little jarred at energy required to stave off his attack. Exhaling softy, approaching a state of exasperation with the young man, Kula fights back against her combat instincts that are shouting for her to take a stab back at Cherise before she has time to set up anything deadly. Right now she doesn't care. Luc has all of her attention, all of her focus.
Gritting her teeth, her jaw tight, the girl glares back at him with unusual vehemence, breaths coming harder not from the effort expended in the match but rather pure frustration at the loud mouthed Pacific student. Never one for verbal spats, she finds herself at a loss of words, which only annoys her even further. If only Angel were here. Angel would have something snappy to say. Yeah. Kula though? She has to be satisfied with just giving Luc an increasingly angry glare. "I'll show you what I can do!!" With her rising temper comes a surge in energy about the girl. Swirling, building rapidly, a point blank cyclone of ice, snow, and freezing cold, bright white energy. The ground at her feet becomes laced with building snow drifts as she readies herself. Again her instincts remind her about Cherise. The French girl isn't down yet. She needs to be. Again Kula shuts off that gut feeling, driven by the need to shut Luc up for good.
When she speeds forward this time, it is with savage speed, bringing all that surge of energy along with her. Both hands go for his throat again but the girl isn't aiming to take him anywhere but rather simply hold him place. "If you're lucky," the girl whispers as all the energy trailing behind her swirls in, threatening to encase Luc, caking over him and creating an translucent tomb of ice. Strong as steel and two feet thick in all directions. Should he be sealed within the suffocating chamber, the crushing experience would be immense.
"...this might not kill you." A harrowing experience, a claustrophobic's nightmare, lasts as long as the girl can sustain it, drawing her hands back out of the ice as it molds around her as easily as water before becoming solid once again. Both hands planted against the surface will sustain it as she will channel energy into it until she can't maintain it any longer and must at last let the block collapse.
COMBATSYS: Kula has left the fight here.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Cherise 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Luc
COMBATSYS: Luc has left the fight here.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ <
Cherise 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Cherise has ended the fight here.
Shihong says, "no"
As Luc screams, Cherise has to ask herself a question-- is he really angry or is he really happy? It's so hard to tell with some boys... though sometimes, it seems like people have a hard time telling what all of Cherise's hysterical laughter menans, mid-battle. Standing back for this long lets her get a whole new perspective on the fight, including getting a good look at just how much of that weirdo-freak energy that Kula can form into her icy powers.
Staying back a good distance, she's content to observe without a word. She's still smiling, oh yes, smiling as she waits for the NESTS agent to be in the midst of her own attack. This is when she decides to make her move, while Kula Diamond is putting all of her effort into maintaining the cold prison that she's trying to use to engulf Luc with.
Darting to the side, her right arm hooks low, her fingers fanned out wide. Sweeping her arm up with a slight grunt, ignoring the pain in her stomach, Cherise lets loose with three paper-thin blades of silver energy-- blades that seek to test the leathery body armor designed by NESTS best by trying to slice clean through it and deliver her attacks to the ice-wielder's body directly.
"Ha ha ha ha ha!"
COMBATSYS: Luc blocks Kula's Ice Coffin.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Cherise 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Luc
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kula 0/-------/=======|
"Tch, good," Luc remarks unpleasantly as he lands, taking note of Kula's stance -- the ice cracking away from her in the midst of her defense. He can guess what it means -- especially given that Kula doesn't seem to be much worse for wear. "Maybe now you'll shut the fuck up already and fight seriously."
And sure enough, Kula does. Whatever the case (and Luc would claim to not know how it happened, he's just /that/ oblivious), Luc has managed to earn Kula's ire. Which works out well enough for him; it means she's stopped playing around. The cyclone erupts, and Schroedinger's response is one fueled by pure instinct: flames roar around his arms as he intercepts the blast of sheer cold and snow. Ice coats along his arms, around his shoulders -- but not to the extent it might have. Schroedinger stumbles back from the force, relatively unharmed--
-- Just in time for him to see Kula right on top of him. "What the hell--?!" Kula grips onto him. Ice begins to solidify around the German rapidly, crushing at his legs, around his chest... just as a buffer of flames begin to form around him. His hands clench. Flames expand.
"What the hell..."
And then -RIPS- forward. With every ounce of strength Luc has, and with the aid of those buffering flames, Luc suddenly -moves-, ice shattering and ripping off of him; shards of frost cut into his body, blood flinging backwards through the air as Luc's lips peel back into a snarl of frenzied pain and life, like a rabid animal. He rips forward, stopping Kula's process short; he's damaged... but he's still alive.
"... MAKES YOU THINK THAT COULD KILL ME?! DON'T BE A DUMBASS!!"
And then he's just going to shove one flaming elbow into Kula's throat, because 'wanting people to stop talking' is always a priority for Luc.
"GRAAAAAAAAAAGH!!"
COMBATSYS: Cherise successfully hits Kula with Argent Claw.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Cherise 0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0 Luc
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kula 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Kula reflects Medium Punch from Luc with Diamond Shell.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > //// ]
Cherise 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\1 Luc
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kula 1/-------/=======|
Luc somehow manages to continue being the most infuriating thing Kula has ever fought in a sanctioned fight. If she spent any time thinking about it at all, she'd put him up alongside the loud mouthed K9999 as most annoying people on the entire planet in her book. She thought she had him with that technique, that intent to seal him away, to shut his mouth behind two feet thick ice. It would be impossible to hear his silent shouting and yelling like some kind of lunitic if she simply locked him up in that coffin meant to be the end of him. If it went too far, then that might just be too bad. At least she wouldn't have to hear his ranting and raving, taunting her like a crazed fool non-stop anymore.
But the infernally frustrating German refuses to be put away with the icy tomb she tried to bury him in. Ice flakes off him, the attack interrupted before it could be brought to its grim conclusion, as the chi charged youth charges back at the leather clad girl in a fit of defiance. Taking a step back, she finds herself being attacked by Cherise at precisely the same time - the French woman's carefully calibrated timing flawless to a fault. Unable to move out of the way, the young operative waves her hand to the left, creating a barrier of ice to try and stop it short.
It doesn't work. The thin blades of silver energy slice through the chi-powered ice barrier like butter and cut into Kula's arm and shoulder, digging deep through her protective jacket to cut her skin beneath. It provokes a soft gasp of surprise at the nature of the slashing pain but it also happens to provoke a gigantic amount of retaliation redirected back at Luc as he comes in swinging for her throat.
All the risidual ice, mist, snow, and chi lingering in the air after her constant attempts to put the boy down suddenly snaps back toward the girl, drawing toward their creator, coating her body in a sheen of silvery ice as she curls up, tucking her arms in, lowering her head and bending her knees. It lasts for an instant, a blink of an eye, before she stands back up, extending her arms, exhaling as she unleashes the shell as a gigantic backlash, smashing back against Luc due to his close proximity with a furious amount of force.
Lacking the spikes, choking face masks of caked on ice, or any other brutal side effects - the reflective technique is pure energy, radiating out from the girl in one giant explosion. Only Cherise's distance near the edge of the cage keeps her safe from harm, as by the time it reaches her, it will have reduced to a freezing chill that spreads throughout the proximity of the steel cage. "I underestimated you," the girl admits softly, her ire having been expended right along with the release of so much energy all at once. Her mouth curls into a faint smile, "That was the only reason you had a chance."
"Hehehe--"
There it is-- there's the blood she was looking for. There, she can see the girl can bleed quite well. It means she's not some freak robot from another dimension, and it means that she'll be able to do even more of that... if she's lucky. She lets Luc move in and take the rest of it, or at least, it's 'letting him' in her mind-- rather than follow it up with an immediate melee attack, she's going to try to play a smarter game... especially if she's standing on what may as well be her last ropes.
Still, as the burst of chill washes over her and spreads through the cage, Cherise isn't going to let Kula's words get the better of her. No, now the provocation has been put into play. Now, the French girl just wants to put another hit in and show the little girl just what she's capable of. Her posture drops, her legs spread, and muscles tighten and relax as suddenly she -bursts- forward, breaking into an immediate sprint even with all of the injuries that she's recieved.
Her right arm hooks through the air just beyond Kula's wrist, missing it entirely as she sweeps by-- and it's a feint, as she may well learn. It isn't the strike the gloved ice-wielder should be wary of, but the wire that tries to clamp down around her wrist. If it can snag that arm, the silver-haired girl will give it a harsh, unforgiving -yank- to pull her off-balance, throwing up her legs and never once letting go of her momentum. For a moment, Cherise defies logic and physics as she runs step by step on the cage's bars, using it to run as though to circle behind Kula and let the wire pull her along a little bit for the ride... and then she lunges in. If all goes to plan, her hand coils into a fist, and her fist seeks to plant into the NESTS agent's ribs-- and unleash a harsh, unforgiving burst of silver energy straight into her body that promises a whole lot of pain... as well as trying to knock her right off her feet.
Well. That's not good.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAAA!! THIS IS GREAT!"
--For most people, anyway.
Unfortunately, Luc Schroedinger is a bit too battle-happy to think of his own attack being stuffed, redirected and doubled in intensity is anything even remotely bad. In fact, he looks absolutely -delighted- as his elbow impacts against chi and ethereal ice instead of yielding flesh. His eyes widen, as if in shock; but it only lasts a moment before delight takes over completely. "What's this?! Are you finally gonna do something useful?! LET'S SEE!!" And so she does. All that energy is absorbed and then spit out back at Schroedinger in a gigantic backlash of pure chi. Raw kinetic force slaps against Luc's face with enough force to send it snapping with a spray of blood. Burning energy blooms outward in a single, furious explosion, knocking Luc off his feet and straight into a nearby cage wall. He strikes. Hard. "Gkk-!!" Blood dripping from his lips, clothes torn and shredded, body lacerated and bruised, he falls. But he falls laughing.
Striking the ground on his knees, Luc let's out a slow groan. He almost looks happy -- before Kula decides to speak again. His lips twist into an unpleasant frown, his grimace matched by the tight clench of fists as his right crackles with black electricity. "... Jeeeeez..." he grumbles out slowly. His left hand lifts, scratching at his ear with his pinky. "... why is it..." Slowly, Luc stands. Power crackles around him as, in his right hand, a small lance forms up. "... idiots, rejects and little baby -girls- like -you-..." Luc's hand lifts up. Fast. A final surge of motion throughout his body, straining his muscles far faster than they should given the state its in.
"... HAVE TO MAKE EXCUSES WHEN THEY FUCK UP LIKE THE IDIOTS THEY ARE?!"
His arm swings, and that lance impacts the ground, much like before. And, much like before, only a second later does the very ground beneath Kula erupt in a sudden, vicious gout of flames -- this time double the size of the previous. Roaring chi of black and blue pulses forward in a chaotic stream of fury. As for Luc, he collapses once again, letting out a long-suffering groan.
"Ugh... -stupid- -girls-."
COMBATSYS: Luc can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Kula 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Cherise
COMBATSYS: Kula dodges Cherise's Argent Striker.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Kula 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Cherise
COMBATSYS: Kula blocks Luc's Uberlastung Lanze.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Kula 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Cherise
Her shell chi discharged, the cage is surprisingly free of any ice, snow, or moisture lingering from any of Kula's previous attacks. As if she drew all that potential menace back into herself and unleashed it back out as pure, frigid energy with the degree of force she determined Luc would require to be stopped at last. It works, the girl defended against his strike while also slamming him back, only to provoke another round of his crazed laughter. Is he like Shenwoo? Who seemed only to get more amused the more she hurt him? The comparisons of Luc to other rude, obnoxious, constantly taunting sorts leave her holding back for a moment, staring back at him to determine if that really was enough to do the job. He's proven surprisingly rugged against her ice laden strikes.
Slowly he stands and Kula readies herself, crimson eyes narrowing. He's still going. And he's /still talking/! She was trying to put a certain stop to that! Her mouth tightens, her fists clenching as he surges forward, bringing with him the weight of another attack and the loudest, ear-ringing shout she's ever heard in a fight to date. And as if that wasn't enough to contend with, Cherise takes advantage of the moment to swing in and catch the girl from the side.
Truth be told, she barely reads the feint for what it is. It's a clever combination of misdirection and confusing tactics that almost works. It's almost happen chance that when the wire clamps down, it lands not snug over her wrist but rather on a bracelet of ice that she was creating as part of another weighted fist-mace to sock Luc in the nose with! The wire draws tight and the girl realizes the deceptive nature of the assassin's technique, quickly shedding the icey wrist guard and the wire wrapped around it.
As the French born killer swings in for a follow up strike, she'll find Kula isn't snared, and her guard isn't open, the NESTs operative slipping just out of the path of the energy charged hand, spared a savagely painful assault... Just in time to whirl around to face down a fearsome lance of explosve black flames. Her right hand extends to create the barrier necessary to ward off the worst of the conflagration but plenty of it rips around the ice shield, consuming it quickly, forcing the young girl to barricade herself behind her arms, drawn up to protect her face.
The slashed leather jacket and her own formidable aura are all that defend her from the remnants of the attack as she slips backward, back collding with the side of the cage, lowering her guard quickly to find Luc no longer able to continue. Releasing a sigh of relief that she doesn't have to listen to his insults anymore, she turns her crimson-eyed attention to Cherise next. "Both of your styles aren't one I came in familiar with," she acknowledges, lifting up her arm to examine the slash marks left by Cherise's silver energy, her cut flesh visible beneath the layers of clothing. Lowering her arm she glances back toward Cherise, a glimmer of a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, "Not a very friendly style, if I might say."
For the best, perhaps. It means Cherise understands the nature of pain and the infliction thereof. All the more reason for Kula to not feel bad about what she's going to try and do next. She sprints forward, springing into a leap for the girl, spinning around to strike foot first. Only it's a foot with a sharp blade of ice jutting out from the sole of her insulated boot as she attempts to slam Cherise against the bars one more time with a skewering strike!
COMBATSYS: Kula successfully hits Cherise with Medium Kick.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ]
Kula 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Cherise
She moves fast-- faster than she had anticipated her being able to... or more likely, she's got a rough idea-- she just can't do anything about it. Cherise's attack didn't pan out at all the way she ahd intended it to, and now she's about to pay the price for it. Her wires don't retract immediately, her footing is slick on the cold ground that's been getting the treatment from all of the coldness and ice all about... Most importantly, the girl in the leather body armor is a lot more powerful than Cherise would care to admit.
Her forearms come up and cross to catch the brunt of the attack, but the impact crushes her arms against her chest and allows the ice to stab in good-- better than even Kula may have planned for. She sails backward, blood spilling from just below her chest, and slams into the bars with a gasp of surprise and an emotion mixed somewhere between the horror of pain and absolute joy.
Lurching forward, a gout of blood bursts out, half-caught by her hand as it comes up to her mouth and only makes a bigger mess across her palm and of her ruined dress. The silver-haired French girl collapses to her knees, hand loosely draped over the injury. Her lips part, eyes wide and bloody smile just as big of a curve.
"... More..."
And then she pitches forward, hitting the cold concrete and feeling somewhere between the best and worst she's ever been in a long, long time.
COMBATSYS: Cherise takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kula 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Cherise can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kula 0/-------/-----==|
Landing, Kula touches down, the blade of ice on her foot shattering into fine powder. She rises slowly, hands coming up to rub at the thick gouges in her jacket, brushing off the scuff marks and scorched surfaces that came in contact with Luc's unique blend of black flaming destruction. She rises up to standing as she completes inspecting herself to make sure that she's faired okay as far as that bout went. The audience probably got more than they bargained for in the violence department but the now composed NESTs operative doesn't particularly fare one way or another.
What she does know is that with victory comes the sweet reprieve of a job well done and the time spent being praised back at the base for being just the vicious little killbot that the NESTs researchers and scientists made her to be. In the end, everyone wins. Except for perhaps the other two she had to fight. She doesn't offer a bow, no parting final words or taunts, but turns instead toward the exit of the cage, "I'm ready to be let out now." she states, her tone a little terse.
Released, she vanishes from the premesis as mysteriously as she arrived, shuffled off to some hidden base or other to hide her from any public scrutiny or investigation. Just another weekend of violence for one Kula Diamond.
COMBATSYS: Kula has ended the fight here.
Log created on 19:03:36 08/31/2008 by Luc, and last modified on 23:11:40 09/09/2008.