Description: Don't go down the path. Don't walk alone at night. Don't pause to listen. Don't turn to look. Don't stop running. Alexis learns that there are still things that stalk under the moonlight. She learns reasons to be afraid of silence. Can she fight hard enough to survive?
Things have gone fairly well today. First place in both floor and beam, though only second with her rhythmic gymnastics routine. Seems she'll have to step up her training a little bit in that, but that's something she can worry about in the morning. While other girls from the area have gone off for pizza to celebrate how well they've done, a lone gymnast has left the gymnasium where the competition was taking place, and has decided to take a shortcut through the park.
As she's been walking along the pathway, the sun has been rapidly setting in the sky. Moments before the park is blanketed in darkness, little path lights pop on. They're not very bright, and cast the oddest shadows along the path, thanks to benches, trees, garbage cans and other items laying around. The steady *creeeeeak* *creeeeeeak* of the old swingset can be heard as small gusts of wind catch it and send the seats swaying back and forth.
Alexis shivers a little, zipping up her jacket. Maybe this wasn't the greatest idea. Maybe she should have waited for her trainer to finish loading up some of the equipment he brought, so that she could catch a ride with him back to the school. Maybe she's got to get the idea that she's in some sort of live horror movie out of her head.
That's it! As the gymnast walks along, she starts humming a happy little tune, trying to break herself out of the mindset that there's a giant wolf or bear lurking just off to the side of the park. After all! This is the middle of the city. Fat chance that some wild creature is going to pounce and attack her... right?
Unwise by far.
Southtown is not, and perhaps has never been, a safe place. Crime is the rule of life here. Every street is ruled by one or another gang in an ecology of depravity and moral decay. Violence is a way of life; so common it is not unheard of for pedestrians to hurriedly step over a body on the way to work in the morning.
A young girl? Walking out in the park? At night? By herself? An open invitation for every last predator on Earth to simply take her. To say nothing of the ethereal dangers her mind conjures forth from this shadowy place. The tangible threats are very real. The chance of a mugger... Or far worse.. Lurking around every tree and shadow is far too possible.
She is right to be chilled to the bone.
For as unassuming as she is to these dangers.. She is also sadly mistaken about one crucial detail.
Not all Horror is fiction.
As the gymnast wanders through the park, the ambient sounds of the city can be heard very faintly. Small whispers like a broken radio just at the edge of her consciousness. Instead, the haunting wind playing with her hair is all she truly knows. The creak of the swing-set in the corner of her vision.
..The.. Singing?
"..Go down the path.. Go down the path.." The voice of a small girl is heard. A pleasant.. if unexpected sound. At a second glance.. It becomes clear the swing is occupied. A diminutive figure is seated therein. A schoolgirl.. Wearing a small black uniform. Her hair in pigtails, her eyes distant as she sings the lullaby to herself. Her swing timed to the rhythm of the swing, "..Go down the path.. If you have no errand don't gooo.."
W-what!?
Alexis snaps her head around to the swingset, having been /dead/ certain it was unoccupied. Peridot eyes widen at the small little figure on the swings, and when she realizes that the girl is dressed primarily in black, she figures she just missed her due to a trick of the lighting. It's dark, right? And the girl is small. So she likely just missed her as she passed.
But the gymnast is totally certain that she wouldn't have missed that singing at all, even if she doesn't recognize the tune. Swiveling around, she treks back to the girl on the swings and clears her throat. Hey, she's thinking it's a bit late and a bit spooky to be out on /her/ own, and she's older. She should probably do the right thing and see if the seemingly younger girl is okay. It's the heroic thing to do!
"Uhm... uh... hi there!" She offers a small little wave, making sure to step under one of the nearby lights so as not to startle the girl too much.
The child swings to, "...going is easy.."
The child swings fro, "..Coming back is scary.."
The young thing does not seem too aware of Alexis' approach. Singing to herself in a small, hesitant little tune. Legs sweeping back and forth with every full motion as her small hands grip the chains at her either side.
Only when the gymnast stands beneath the acute light does the swinging halt. Her small feet seem to not touch the sand beneath the swing, her momentum simply fades to nothingness. Even as the evening chill breezes through the low-slung branches of nearby trees and teases at your hair.. Those pig tails do not move.
A slow turn of her head. Dark eyes jittering about oddly before focusing on the youth before her.
"...You aren't supposed to be here.." Small lips whisper in a quiet, mysterious tone. If any expression could be discerned from that cherubic face.. It would be, sympathy?
No longer does the sound of the city reach her. Civilization itself becomes silenced.. Only that eerie little voice. A whisper so hauntingly close the gymnast can feel a chill at her neck with every word, "..Why are you here?.."
Oooookay! Things just got a whole heckuva lot more creepy with that, didn't they?
It's like that scene in a horror movie, where everything drops silent and a lone figure does the whole Exorcist-twist thing with their head. Maybe it's just the dark and chill breeze, that causes her whole body to shiver.... but that doesn't explain the hair standing up on the back of her neck, or the goosebumps she can feel creeping up and down her arms.
"I... uhh... well... umm..." Gulping, she quickly jerks her head to the side to peer over her shoulder. Nothing there but darkness, right? Breathing a sigh of relief, she looks back to the swingset, still creeped out by the stillness of the image before her. "Just walking home! Bit late to be swinging, isn't it?"
Nothing.
The swing waves back and forth, moved only by the unheard breeze. No movement, no sound. The child never existed here.
A handful of leaves loosen from wind-rustled branches. Passing before her view... And crumbled in withered decay before they leave the opposite edge of her attention. The park lamp above flickers. Shadows dancing at the edges of her vision, only the pounding of her own heart echoing in her head offers her vague solace here.
The light returns moments later, diminished. The gymnasts shadow looms beneath her longer.. taller.
A whisper.. More akin to physical chill than sound.. slithers across her ear, "..This is not your home.. Child." A woman's voice now.. Breath pouring over her skin like ice-water. A presence as close as her shadow.
...
Alexis is beginning to think that maybe, just maybe the day has gotten to her more than it should have. Physical exhaustion, too much daydreaming, freaking out about horror movies. Definitely has to be what it is. Either that or the girl just ran off when she turned her head briefly -- a nice, sound, logical explanation. Nothing to worry about at a--
The park lamp flickers.
Peridot eyes peek upward at it.
"Hello??" Yes, speaking to the nothing is going to help. Were she not actually /living/ this situation, she might laugh. After all, it's a classic horror movie. Creepy things happening. People that aren't there. A deserted park at night. A cute little blonde girl out in the cold, shivering and trying to talk to herse--
The gymnast leaps pretty danged high in the air as the voice is heard behind her. "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!" Once the shriek dies down, she spins around, trying to see if she's hallucinating again, or there's a real person there.
Eyes stare back at her.
Eyes that have nothing to do with humanity any longer. Golden irises, glowing faintly against the black. Slitted, serpent-like pupils narrowed and focused through the young thing. They loom above her, surrounded by a mass of slithering darkness in silhouette to the faded light above. A head taller than her. Darkness surrounding her in the form of an ebon, tattered robe.. a Kimono perhaps.
Something real is behind her.. But it is not a person.
"..Show me your heart.." The creature whispers. Plush lips stir with the words. Arms slowly begin to rise at her sides.. slender fingers visible beyond the folds of those sleeves, tipped by nails far.. far too long.
No immediate offensive gesture is given. This monster is unhurried in its assault.. Perhaps expecting no resistance? .. Or seeking it..
Menacingly holding her clawed hands forth, reaching for the child in a leisurely gesture. Stalking forwards in movements so graceful and veiled she seems to float over the park grass.
Blink.
Blink.
A nervous laugh rings out. "Okay, okay, you guys! Joke's on me. Haha... you had your laughs... what'd I do? Walk onto a movie set or something?" Alexis pops up on the tips of her toes and tries to look over or around the extremely frightening visage in front of her. "C'mon... enough's enough!"
Rubbing the back of her neck, she looks down at the arms reaching out for her and takes a swift, agile, and graceful step backward. Feet leave the path and hit grass, and as the figure continues forward she continues to step backward until she's pressed against the eerie swingset.
"O-okay! I... I really should like, totally be going now... this isn't funny anymore!"
The laughter dies swiftly on the wind, unrequited.
The creature stands tall. A woman.. She would be beautiful if not for the ghoulishness of her pale, milky skin. Eyes glowing with a baleful dim radiance, staring through through the small waif before her. Her kimono stirs not, untouched by the breeze. Unfazed by a sane world within which such a monstrous thing has no place. Nature itself seems to revile her presence. The leaves seem to fall away from her, borne by autumn winds that moan softly at her presence. Bare feet touches grass, leaving no print in their wake.
Clawed hands gesture slowly, twisting upwards in a beckoningly. The request is not restated for this bogeyman is not in the habit of repeating herself to children. Instead, a more direct method is employed.
The creature's locks pour behind her like an ocean of ebon ink. A black stark against the relative vibrancy of night. Shadows slither over her shoulders and around her sides like living things. Glistening like silk as they slip through the air, a quartet of these black tendrils. Seeking to wind themselves around the girl's limbs and roughly pull her closer.. Their force a shocking reminder that this ghost exists in the physical as well.
COMBATSYS: Marise has started a fight here.
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Marise 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Alexis has joined the fight here.
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Marise 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Alexis
COMBATSYS: Alexis dodges Marise's Medium Throw.
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Marise 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Alexis
Meep!
Things have gotten beyond that creep point now, where things can be passed off as a joke or a daydream hallucination. Whatever is going on is /real/, it's spooky, and it's trying to smother her in hair!
Alexis knows two things.
The first is that she really needs to get out of the way of those reaching black tendrils of hair (that are sure to give her nightmares for weeks to come). This she does by dropping herself into a side roll, and then leaping up onto one of the empty swings.
The second is that this is one of those rare 'fight or die' moments where she's not got enough time to mask herself. That really... sucks for her. As if showing that she could fight during the Miss Teen Southtown pageant wasn't bad enough, actually fighting some bogeyman monster...
Well, there's a chance she'll wake up, nice and snug in her bed at the dorm, and find out this was just a nightmare.
Why take chances though? Hopping off of the swing seat, she pivots her body to the left in a swift, sharp action. As she does, she cracks her leg out toward the creature-thing causing a snapping sound in the air around her, much like the crack of a whip.
COMBATSYS: Marise endures Alexis' Petite Fouette.
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Marise 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Alexis
The snapping kick catches the monster square in the head. The impact felt against her cold flesh, her face briefly tilted to the side as her tendrilous tresses flail slowly in the air in the wake of their missed target.
A brief pause. The ghoul's head remains tilted in the wake of the strike. Her lips slowly curl upwards in a slow, wicked smile, "Yeessss..."
So that's her heart..
In a surprising rush of motion, the Devil whirls about. Spinning in a flourish of silk and tattered threads as she thrusts out her opposite arm in a back-handed motion. Targeting the girl from a short distance away.
Her hand -shoots- forth. Extending on the length of her pale arm, stretching forth like an ivory python across the distance. Spread fingers seeking to clutch the girl by the head and -thrust- her clean off her feet, continuing on and dash her head hard against the tree-trunk a dozen paces away.
Why? Why does this beast attack the girl here and now? Why do things happen as they do in nightmares? Perhaps.. simply.. because they can..
COMBATSYS: Marise successfully hits Alexis with Maou Tsuke.
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Marise 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Alexis
"How 'bout, no?"
Alexis has absolutely no idea what the serpent-ghoul-thingy is saying yes about, but she's not about to agree to it! "Okay so like, what did you wa--"
The movements of the spooky thing are super-quick. The actual movements are lost in the whirl of tattered silk, and so the gymnast just stands there. Granted, she's not even completely certain that this is at all real (surreal, maybe), so there's every possibility that this isn't going to hurt at al--
*KATONK*
She's not sure what's just happened beyond her lifting off the ground, flying, and crashing into a nearby tree, but she's almost /positive/ that dream-trees don't hurt like that. The force of the blow is enough to cause a nice gash at her forehead which is now sending a small river of blood along the side of her face.
Horror movie indeed!
Dizzy though she is, the little blonde is most certainly going to try to fight for her life now! Reaching into the deepest pocket on her jacket, she extracts a cane wrapped with a shimmery satin material. With a quick flick of her wrist, the material comes alive as a beautiful silk ribbon. Four staggered steps back have the ribbon moving in a horizontal snake-like pattern. A soft blue, watery energy begins to form along the outer edges of the ribbon seconds before it's snapped forward and the pointed 'teeth' curve to 'bite' into the demon-being.
COMBATSYS: Marise blocks Alexis' Serpent de L'eau.
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Marise 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Alexis
For an insane moment, the girl stares down the length of that arm. Extended across the park like a pale shaft, straight as an arrow. Clawed fingers releasing the child's head as the slithering limb whips through the air, recoiling into the depths of the outstretched silken sleeve.
The devil advances, closing the distance between them in an unhurried pace. Watchful eyes remaining upon the youth, her smile gaining a predatory edge. Though, her expression shifts as the girl draws forth her weapon. Alien eyes following the girl's body, her black-swathed arms raising defensively even before the girl's aquatic chi becomes visible. The biting energy snaps at the creature's defenses. Earning a soft hiss as those teeth rake across the ghost's forearm, streams of smoldering mists rise from corpse-like flesh.. As if burned.
A small discomfort to this thing, but at least something gives this horror a moment of pause..
..But only a moment.
"... Is that all, foreign dog? .. Have you more tricks to show?" The whispery voice condescending, bordering on the dismissive as the creature's head tilts. A quick gesture, fingers flicking in the air rapidly like twitching spider-legs. Already the smoldering at her forearm begins to fade away. Wicked eyes pierce through the girl, the stare intensifying.. as if looking through her. Staring straight into her beating heart and divulging what secrets may hide there..
COMBATSYS: Marise focuses on her next action.
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Marise 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Alexis
Having hoped to keep the distance between them with the ribbon onslaught, a look of surprise comes over the gymnast's face when the thing (for she's seriously loathe to call it a woman) advances. "So you don't like that, huh?" Snapping her wrist backward, the blue of the energy fades away to nothingness, and the ribbon coils back around the cane. Dropping it into her pocket, she starts to reply, only to find the coppery taste of blood upon her lips from her head wound.
"Ewww," she murmurs to herself, wiping the back of her hand over the side of her mouth to brush the blood away.
Satisfied that she won't be suffering the taste of her blood as she speaks, Alexis asks, "What else don't you like?" Rushing feet carry her toward the voice and despite the throbbing in her head, she flings herself into a cartwheel. As her body rights itself she lashes her hands out to take hold of the creature so that she can pirouette around and fling her toward the nearest lampost.
COMBATSYS: Marise interrupts Quick Throw from Alexis with Onigumo no Dokubari.
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Marise 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Alexis
The Devil pauses, noticing the blood painted thickly upon her palm. Her intense gaze releasing the girl a moment to inspect this crimson mess as her fingers spread. A thoughtful murmur crosses her lips as she raises her hand for careful inspection beneath the faltering light of the nearby park lamp.
"What I... Don't like?" The creature muses. As her lips part, a long... looong tongue stretches forth. Cleaning her palm a good foot away from her face until only porcelain skin remains. As that dark crimson length retreats back behind her lips the monster's eyes flutter a moment at the sweet flavor. "..Is it not obvious?" The haunting voice echos faintly, disturbingly as if the atmosphere does all it can to muffle its wicked cadence.
Only then does the creature seem to take note of the acrobatic girl. Bounding towards her in an astounding display of speed and agility. Wicked eyes snap open, staring directly at the girl in mid-air.
Without a gesture, the creature's locks come to life. This time several lashing forth like slings, loosing forth a quintet of long needle-like locks as a modern-day manticore. The darts unerringly strike into the girl in mid-flight. Embedding themselves almost painlessly... at first. Until their wicked, soul-corroding venom begins to color the surrounding flesh an unhealthy purple.
The momentum of the girl is not halted however. But the creature seems capable of dealing with such a limber thing, as the girl's hands grab the Devil's blocking forearm.. The creature's arm simply twists about unnaturally. Giving and folding backwards and simply offering nothing but slack.. Giving the girl no purchase as she flings past. Leaving the ghoulish thing unmoved. The edges of her robes stirring at the child's passage.
"..You and yours. Poisoning my homeland with your filth.."
Oh, that is /so/ not going to look pretty in the morning -- providing this isn't just a dream!
The more she keeps coming back to that thought, the more she thinks about her horror movies. Definitely not her favorite, but she spent many a night at the Embassy huddled under a blanket hiding from the likes of Freddy Krueger to know that even in your nightmares, demons can actually hurt you. On the upside, maybe she'll just wake up with torn sheets. On the downside, maybe she should /really/ start to consider that this is a horrific reality and she should start paying attention.
Peridot eyes glance at the skin where the locks of hair bit into her flesh, and the purple markings make her grimace. "Me and mine? W-well, I'm not filthy, and last I checked it wasn't a crime to be an exchange student!" Poisoning her homeland? "But at least we're making progress! So what else do you dislike?" Strange tactic, but she's hoping it will distract, or at the very least /annoy/ the demon enough to make the stuff of nightmares go away.
Working with the 'distract' portion, she twists herself around in a fluid movement. Back to the demoness, she flips herself upward as she performs a series of back handsprings which draw her closer to the demon. Within reach, the last flip she angles her body so that she comes down feet first in an arc toward the 'enemy'.
COMBATSYS: Marise endures Alexis' Heavy Kick.
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Marise 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Alexis
And like the monsters of fantasy.. Precious little on this hallowed Earth seems to affect it.
If this is a dream.. The blood streaming down her cheeks feels intensely real. The burning sensation of those needles in her skin screaming to her that this is no fable.
Though it may have a grim ending all the same..
At the child's questioning, the creature does not elaborate. The less the girl knows.. the better. The purpose of this horror is not to educate. Her kind are beyond hope of eludication. Hers is only to entertain or feed the strong. The deserving.
The monster's backward-twisted arm snaps back into place with an unhealthy popping and squirming sound. Fingers flexing to test her elastic limb as she watches the girl commit to a series of hand-springs.
"..Knnnn.."
If the Devil was more distracted, the surprising charge might have confused her defenses. Should she choose to raise them. Instead, the ghoul does the one thing the bounding child would least expect. Nothing at all.
The monster stands tall as the girl's forceful kick -slams- directly into her upper chest. The impact sends a powerful quake through her whole body as even she is forced to stagger a single step. A strike that would have struck a fully grown man twice Marise's size to the ground.
Instead, wicked eyes glare up at the girl in a surreal moment as the youth's momentum forces her to actually stand just beneath the woman's neck.
"Hardly." Comes the single, swift rebuke. Progress? Keh.
In a shift of movement, the Devil's hands attempt to grip the girl's ankles before she can flip away fully.. And in a moment of horror that belongs only in the most twisted of fantasies.. The Devil's hair suddenly rises upwards in a tornado of shadowy movement. The dark mass seeks to sweep upwards and engulf the girl all but completely..
COMBATSYS: Alexis dodges Marise's Rebound Throw.
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Marise 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Alexis
Very realistic if it is a dream... but then, what avid daydreamer can't make things so life-like in their mind that they forget entirely about reality unless snapped out of it?
Blood upon her face as begun to coagulate and dry. Carefully, she pries a few strands of hair from the mess as her peridot eyes peer down at the creature-thing. "Tch! C'mon now! We're totally making progress!" From the corner of her eye, she catches the movement of the hair. As the mass of dark tendrils rise upward, she agilely twist-flips to the side in a modified roundoff. Shoed feet land softly upon the grass, leaving her facing her worst nightmare. "You hate me for being me, and I think you're the most grotesquely creepy thing ever! It's a total win-win situation!"
Chirpy though she is, there is a slight waver in her voice that indicates she's feeling anything but.
"So... uhh... do you normally pretend you're Wes Craven so that you can spook the heck out of unsuspecting blonde girls?" Though she speaks, she's already on the move again. This time, it's in the form up a straight leap upward. Arcing her landing toward Marise, the gymnast tries to land upon her shoulders (or wherever a close approximation of the spooky-creatures shoulders /might/ be). Should her feet make purchase, she utilizes the momentum of her leap to flip almost effortlessly backward in order to throw the creature away as her body twists into a sideways tumble.
COMBATSYS: Alexis successfully hits Marise with Backflip Full-Twist.
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Marise 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\1 Alexis
Children are such noisy things anymore. So many words, so little substance. And frustratingly agile.
The ghoul makes an annoyed murmur as the girl quickly whirls and twists through the volley of flailing silken shadows. The monster straightens slowly in the aftermath of the failed attack. Tresses slowly slithering back behind her as horrid eyes narrow. If the creature understands what the girl is blathering on about, she makes no mention. Instead.. Whatever distraction she held previously is evaporating swiftly. Whatever humor she possessed fades with the growing scowl on her lips.
And that was before the little blonde primate perched on her shoulders in a shockingly swift move and -hurtled- her end over end. The ghost spins through the air, a whirling chaos of shadows and darkness before collapsing a distance away in an odd heap.
"...Gkrnnmmm.." The low snarl rises from the shadowy pile as it slowly rises upwards. Returning to her feet in a bonelessly smooth movement. The ghoul is done talking.
A rush of motion. The shadow darts forth, leaning far forward into the movement. Her kimono skirts parting wide to give way towards her pale, rushing legs. Sleeves flailing wildly in the rush of movement as she shrieks a battle-hiss from curled lips. Fangs listening wetly in a flash, as the creature -pounces-..
COMBATSYS: Alexis dodges Marise's Combo Throw.
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Marise 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\1 Alexis
Annoyed murmurs do not go entirely unnoticed. The gymnast just /may/ be getting under the skin of the monster before her, if not by actually physically harming it, but by continually blathering on about silly things. Can this work to her advantage? It just might, but she's going to have to remain quick on her feet.
Kip-upping from her tumbled twist, Alexis focuses her eyes upon the creature-woman again.
And just like the imaginary animals that were lurking in the darkness, the kimono-clad demon pounces.
"EeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEeeeeeek!"
While the shriek doesn't help the girl get out of the way of the Tigger-esque pounce, the side-step, twist, and full run might. Bolting away from the attacker, she rushes toward the swingset once more. Feet leave the ground, her dainty little hands grasping the cold metal bar up above. Swinging back and forth upon it, she suddenly rolls herself upward and lands upon the bar on her bottom.
Peering down into the darkness below, she allows herself a moment (however slight it may be) to catch her breath.
Avoiding Marise is not easy, to say the least.
COMBATSYS: Alexis gains composure.
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Marise 1/------=/=======|======-\-------\0 Alexis
Not easy at all.
As the girl again leaps away with that confounding alacrity, the Devil's hands sweep the air. Clawing nothingness as she skids to a halt in a low crouch. Her ocean of black tresses furling behind her as her head jerks to the side, watching the girl bolt away unerringly, "You cannot run forever!" The Devil proclaims in a howl. Vaulting from her low stance into a dead-sprint yet again. Not catching up to the girl before she whirls and seats herself upon the bar... Instead taking a short leap..
..And landing on the swing itself. The momentum of her dash is carried through as the creature -swings- upwards. Balancing with perfection as the swing actually whirls high up above the perched girl.. Leaving the shadowy creature crouched upside-down. Looming there for a surreal moment at the very apex of the high-swing .. before vaulting straight downwards. Jerking the chains taunt as her hands lunge for the girl, attempting to tackle her clean from her position and -crash- into the ground below, directly upon her.
COMBATSYS: Marise successfully hits Alexis with Medium Throw.
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Marise 1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\1 Alexis
"Not running. Just catching my brea--"
Dang. This thing moves fast. Definitely not human. Can't be. Not with moves like that! Alexis would be impressed with the awesome vaulting movement, the acrobatic swing upward, and even the /awesome/ hang time the creature manages, were she not completely terrified and trying to move at the same time.
Sliding to the side, the gymnast thinks she's home free. She's got amazing balance, and while she's not running from this problem, she can certainly perch here all night and consider it.
Thankfully, it's grass below the swingset. Doesn't make it hurt much less when she crashes down upon it face first with a near sickening SPLUT noise, but it's soft enough that it just jars her skeletal system rather than breaking bones.
Wincing with pain, she inhales a sharp breath and struggles to get out from under the black-as-night creature. Arms and legs all flail in her attempt, and as she makes a sharp twisting motion of her body, her right hand comes up to simply BOP Marise upon the head.
"Get off!"
COMBATSYS: Alexis successfully hits Marise with Quick Punch.
- Power hit! -
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Marise 1/----===/=======|=======\=------\1 Alexis
As the Devil crashes upon the girl, the monster shifts over her. Her greater stature eclipsing the smaller girl utterly as she slowly looms over her shoulder, keeping her weight firmly upon her, "..You've run for long enough chi-"
*WHACK*
Even the gymnast couldn't have expected a better result from her wild thrashings. A confluence of events culminates as the creature leans down juuuuuuust as the small girl happens to be flailing her fist backwards in a panicked motion. Catching the creature square at the jaw and silencing her immediately. Her head recoiling with an audible crack as the beast arches backward. A hand gripping her jaw ackwardly and giving the little thing plenty of time to squirm away from under her.
The Devil suddenly jerks her hand to the side, her jaw making an audible 'pop' as it locks back into place. Fixing the inconvinent damage before slowly looking to the youth. The corner of her eyelid twitching as her lips slowly pull back, revealing rows of hideous fangs. A low, trembling hiss fills the air as the monster all but quivers in rage.
She. Has. Had. It. With. These. Damned. Kids.
COMBATSYS: Marise focuses on her next action.
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Marise 1/----===/=======|=======\=------\1 Alexis
"Oooooops! Well, y'know, I'd totally say I was sorry but..." Alexis wriggles her way free, wrinkling her nose a little bit as she considers the grass stains that are currently ruining one of her favorite gymnastics jackets. As she moves along the grass, she works her way free of the jacket, hand slipping into the pocket just as she tosses the article of clothing to the ground. Left in her leotard, she settles one hand to her hip as the other whisks through the air causing the satin ribbon to flow once more. "... I'm really not."
The exertion from earlier in the day, and that from defending herself has her drawing from her now minute reserves of energy. Yet, until things start to fall out of her favor, she's going to hold her ground. Sure, she promised someone that if things got bad, she'd run -- preserve herself and all that -- but that person has pretty much disappeared from her life at the moment and... with any luck maybe she can at least deter this monster from attacking another innocent person that's not so well versed in fighting skill.
Satin material glides through the air, looking so very out of place in the nightmare that the park has become. Each gentle swoop of the ribbon creates a looping pattern in the sky between them. Flicking her wrist, she jerks the ribbon back toward her, catching the end of it in her hand. Lashing the cane toward the demon like a boomerang, the gymnast focuses some of that remaining energy into the ribbon, causing the watery blue to flow down it...
COMBATSYS: Marise endures Alexis' Boomerang Throw.
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Marise 1/=======/=======|=------\-------\0 Alexis
As the cane crashes into the demon, the energy converges around it like a bubble before bursting forth like the crash of a wave. Once the energy is expended, she tugs on the ribbon so that the cane goes flying back into her hand.
As the monster recovers from the surprise blow. She rises to her feet. Stalking forth with all the menace of a thing that means business. The rage all but radiating off of her in palpable waves, her tresses and kimono fluttering from her in her authoritative movements. Grimacing lips pulled back with fangs in full view, eyes aglow with golden wrath, even as the girl powers up her elegant and beautiful assault.
Perhaps, the Devil's fury proves to be her undoing.. All but walking into the girl's spiralling wave of energy. The cane strikes the Devil hard, the energy washes over her like a wave of acid. Sending plumes of white smoke hissing from her flesh as the life-energy sears the ghoul, anathema to her dark being.
For a moment.. the shadowy creature stumbles forward. Perhaps.. moments from toppling as the true extent of the damage registers even to a undying thing such as her.
That is, until she utters a final shriek from the depths of the acrid mists. Hands waving away the smoke in violent sweeps before she -bursts- forth. Leaping across the distance once again in a truly relentless assault..
COMBATSYS: Marise successfully hits Alexis with Yomi no Junan.
-+- CALCULATED HIT -+-
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Marise 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\1 Alexis
..The rampaging ghost crashes into the girl. Once more tackling her to the ground as her clawed fingers dig into her shoulders. Her face a twisted ruin of pure, unbridled rage.. Which makes what happens next even more shocking.
The Devil's head darts down.. And she thrusts her lips forcefully onto the girl's own. A stunning, surreal moment.. But there is no affection in this bizzare motion. Far, far from it.
The girl can feel the ghost's cold mouth affixed to her own.. The strange sensation builds deep within her as the monster inhales strongly. Feeling as if.. Sucking the very air from her lungs. And more than that as she continues to inhale deeper and deeper... Drawing the very warmth from the child. A faint glow can be seen at the point of contact between them, a few motes of life-essence floating away before quickly sucked back into this monster as she's quite literally devouring this girl's very soul.
She can feel the warmth departing her, flooding into the hateful beast.. Violating her in a way human beings are not meant to be violated, at the deepest most spiritual level.
Kiss of Death... from demon-girl?
Alexis would shriek, but it seems entirely pointless to bother what with her mouth being covered by the freakish, life-draining kiss. Weakened already from fighting this thing, the Hoovering of her lifeforce isn't helping her to think logically. Hands press up against the beast, trying to push her up and off, but the struggles become continually pitiful until it seems as though the gymnast has absolutely no fight in her.
Has she given up?
Technically, the answer to that question would be a resounding 'yes'. The struggle stops, she lays there quite still. By all accounts, she should be hovering near Death's door at the moment. Her body and soul have both been damaged by the monster, but something in her is pushing her to fight back. It's the whole instinct for survival thing kicking in.
Kicking is what she does. Feet spring upward, but only enough to force the demon to break away from her attempted meal of spirit. Languidly she pushes up to her feet. Swaying side to side as she attempts to maintain poise and grace, the girl peers at her foe, knowing she's left with a final choice -- fight or flight?
Unfortunately, Alexis only has enough stamina left to do one or the other.
The smart thing to do would be to run.
But predators enjoy it when their prey panics, and how far can she really get before she just collapses from sheer exhaustion?
And so, crossing the fingers on her left hand and praying that luck is on her side, the gymnast begins a slow swirl of the ribbon around her body. Erratic rather than graceful, the ribbon begins to slowly take the form of a vortex of aquatic chi around her body. Cane thrusting forward, the spiral of ribbon lashes outward bursting forth a whirl of energy that spins toward the demon.
Watery wrath unleashed, Alexis drops to the ground with a whimper, no longer having the energy to stand upon her own two feet.
COMBATSYS: Alexis successfully hits Marise with Ribbon Whirlpool.
[ \\\ < > ///// ]
Marise 0/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Alexis
Ooooh so satisfying. Eating the life out of this foreign mongrel fills the Devil with no small measure of satisfaction. When she's licked every last drop of blood from this wretches body she'll shred it to pieces and litter the park as a warning to the next generation of children. The Devil continues to hungrily suck the essence from the girl's lips, outwardly looking like a predator swooped low, feasting on a kill.
..Except that this little warriors is not dead yet..
At first the illumination goes unnoticed, so distracted is Marise with her efforts. It isn't until the glow begins to burn terribly does the creature finally relent. As her lips part a small fountain of stolen energy spills between them.. Fading like candescent vapors as they float away.
The creature lets out a surprised howl, throwing her arms before her defensively before the aquatic radiation reaches a critical mass and -blasts- the monster away. Her shadowy symmetry fading away in the energy and hurling her through the branches of a nearby tree..
...Long moments pass. Of the creature.. there is no sign. Perhaps the beast got what she desired? Or perhaps the little warrior managed to fight the creature toe to toe and fight her to a stand-still? Regardless.. The night air seems a little warmer now. The shadows less deep.
COMBATSYS: Marise takes no action.
[ \\\\\ <
Alexis 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Marise can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\ <
Alexis 0/-------/-------|
Little warriors can be surprising like that, not dying when they're supposed to. Really, it can be quite annoying.
Though still alive (barely), Alexis hears the howl and flops backward. From the fact that the eerie visage of the monster is no longer bearing down upon her, luck was on her side and she managed to vanquish the evil that stalked her this evening.
At least, she sincerely hopes that's the case since she doesn't have the energy to move at all. Exhaling heavily, she allows her body to drop back onto the grass, ribbon spilling down upon her like shredded blanket.
Quiet, pained words drift off into the breeze before the sweet sleep of unconsciousness overcomes her. "C-can... I... w-wake... up... n-now?"
COMBATSYS: Alexis takes no action.
[ \\\\\ <
Alexis 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Alexis has ended the fight here.
Log created on 22:33:39 09/15/2008 by Marise, and last modified on 15:36:08 10/06/2008.