Description: History repeats. It repeats in new, interesting ways, just to keep things fresh, but it the end it's all the same. This time around, at the second Strolheim Tournament, Dr. Tran is the teacher to Hotaru Futaba and Mignon Beart. He tries to be reasonable, but it doesn't do him any good. When the dust clears, he's down and out and nobody's really learned anything. Hooray!
Strolheim is really a beautiful little area. With its lake and its mountains and trees and whatnot, it's just so picturesque. Dr. Tran is not a man who is so easily moved by this beauty. Far more important to man of his tastes is a taste of the local flavor, and before anybody makes the mistake of thinking that refers to the villagers, that's wrong. Completely incorrect.
No, it's the beer that counts, which is all a very long-winded way of saying that Dr. Tran is drunk and at the lakeshore. None of this should come as any surprise to either Hotaru or Mignon, because of the notes that were slipped under their doors at their complementary lodging at the castle. Each one scrawled and almost illegible, like any good doctor's note should be, outlining a basic time and place to meet up.
And that's why he's there and swaying gently and striking a miserable figure as he stares across the waters at Castle Strolheim, bottle clutched lightly in one hand. "Good ol' liquid courage. Maybe...maybe I should get more before they get here." Or maybe he shouldn't, since he's already talking to himself. Never a good sign.
The shock. The horror. The TRAN. Hotaru Futaba, fighting teen extraordinaire, was looking forward to this tournament. It was to be her first. All those prior she had been under qualified or over qualified for. At last, a chance to compete in the real deal. The exposition rounds had gone well for her, netting the young fighter with two solid victories. As the team listings were coming due, she couldn't help but wonder who she would be given as students...
/Naturally/ she expected to be the teacher. She regularly volunteered as an instructor for basic self-defense classes at the YFCC, and even had her own dedicated apprentice Kenpo student in training by the name of Kentou Ondori. What more could it take to be considered one of the Teachers of the Strolheim Teacher/Student tournament? Evidently, it takes something she doesn't have, because the girl found her name listed not as a teacher but as a student. And not a student of any of the world renown teachers like, say, Ryu... Chun-Li... Hayato-sensei... Raizo-sensei... No. She gets Tran. That's /MASTER Dr. Tran/ if the card that listed the teams was any indication. Who's fault is this, she had to wonder!
Still, a note was slipped beneath the door - a time and place to meet, presumably a chance to get to know her team. And the teen fighter shows up prompty at the designated time to find Tran already there and 'prepping' for the get together in his own way. Approaching him forthwith, the girl stops short a few feet away, pausing as she looks the team leader over from head to toe before leveling her gaze toward his head. "Hello again, Doctor Tran." she states, managing a civil, polite tone, masking her incredulousness at this entire arrangement.
Her right hand comes up to rest against her cheek, rubbing it idly. "A-ah," she glances over the bottle idly, "Getting ready for the opening events, I see," Hotaru observes, only a hint of dryness in her tone.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY.
Mignon did so well she was invited to participate even LONGER and that makes Mignon happy because then Mignon's hopes and dreams are not crushed and then that allows Mignon to always keep a smile on her little face!
And she packed right away, skipping to the terminal, and skipping every important class. Ah well, there's summer school right? She likes summer school. Or well.. Summer in school. It's so warm and easy to sleep!
But really, Mignon is currently out on a late night JUSTICE jog nearby Strolheim. Mignon has to stay in shape, because she also earned rather large victories... heck, Mignon didn't even think of any as painful, when they usually are.. but she believes that it was only because she was forced to use her magic like that, like when that woman assaulted her with sharp things!
She doesn't like them much.
And on that justice jog, Mignon reads the card again. MASTER Dr. Tran. He's a master he must be! And he clearly probably knew MAGIC.
Jogging along, Mignon is all skipping and hopping, pink as hell, as she arrives, likes some kind of demon infront of Tran.
Maybe next she'll demand his soul.
"HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII! Team! Mighty Mignon is happy to be partners with all of you! She's really warming up to this whole tournament things because Mignon never ever joined one before but now she did because she has a REALLY good reason and they hurt but no pain no gain and Mignon REALLY needs to gain and.." Mignon stops, glancing at Hotaru and Tran.. and walks forwards, as Tran seems... out of it.
"Oh..." Mignon frowns. "Maybe Mignon won't be able to after all... and Mignon was really hoping... that she'd get a really amazing Teacher who'd help her with magic and also what she wants to do.."
Almost wilting, Mignon lays against any chair nearby.
"I'd at least like it if you stopped drinking like a fish.. it's not really nice you know, especially when we came all this way."
That's right. Master Doctor Tran. Like a real doctor, except better. If only he had a beard that goes down to his knees, it would be perfect. But no. Even if Tran were that enthused about it, it's not humanly possible to grow facial hair of that length in less than a week. If he'd had two weeks, then maybe. /Maybe./
Besides, with a beard like that, Tran would have to stroke it constantly. He has better uses for his hands, like holding his beer, and rubbing at the bridge of his nose. It's part of his intial response to Hotaru, the final stage of preperation before he looks into the abyss. He breathes in deeply, exhales slowly and then turns to face the music. "Hotaru. I see you're st-"
Tran stops mid-sentence for a very good reason, that being the terrible Mignon, come to assault his senses and strip away his sanity. For a little while, it is very difficult for Tran to breathe.
When Mignon finally finishes, Dr. Tran, American Hero, tears his gaze away from her (it's like staring at the biggest train wreck you'll ever see) to Hotaru, the lesser evil by a mile. "I rest my case." Tilting the bottle back, Tran drains what's left in it and then hucks the bottle off into the lake.
"Alright. Alright." It takes Tran a moment to fully convince himself that Mignon can't be as bad as she looks and that he's hallucinating or something, but then he plunges forward full force. "I don't care about being nice, all I want to do is get through this as painlessly as possible, alright?" It's almost like Tran's acting like a halfway decent human being!
Hotaru turns toward Mignon, giving the pink-haired wonder a friendly enough smile, remembering her well enough from a SNF event of months past. To see the girl from that time show up at a fighting tournament /is/ a bit of a surprise to the Kenpo artist, given how she seemed newer to the sport at the time. "Mignon," she greets, clasping her hands behind her back, "It's nice to see you again. This is quite a big jump for you, isn't it?" She hasn't looked into how the girl's exposition matches went, but those could mean anything, really.
The girl calls Tran out on his drinking and Hotaru glances toward the team leader with a raised eyebrow. She /did/ have a point. Unless he practiced some kind of drunken kung fu, she had to think that he'd be less effective if he kept it up right up into their matches. He finishes that bottle off - perhaps the first of many for this nice little 'vacation' at the mountain castle, and Hotaru shakes her head just a little.
"Well, if you don't want to go into our match and just get beat painfully, we have to actually work together," she points out, folding her arms in front of her now as she looks at Tran levelly. "So, being at least somewhat amicable is going to go a long ways toward that." She does have to wonder at the levels of restraint he's having to summon to tolerate their company as-is. It must be the alcohol helping...
"Oooooooooooh yeah." Mignon goes on to greet Hotaru. "Hotaru! Mignon is so happy to see you! And ... it is .. Mignon's a bit scared with what she'll see but Mignon HAS to do it or else Mignon will never be what Mignon wants to be and then if Mignon can't do that then what good is being a witch if Mignon can't even accomplish that."
Leaning backwards, Mignon smiles however, "So that's why Mignon has came here, to show that she's not a weak witch and that she's not scared and that she IS NOT a family embarrassment no matter how many times sissy keeps calling her it!" She points out, rather strong on this point. She's hung on it for a while. "Just because Mignon doesn't act like a witch.. doesn't look like a witch not even CREEPY like a witch.. it doesn't mean she is NOT a good witch!" She tries to prove it again to air, as if Ninon was standing right there.
"So Mignon just had to come here." Space boots glow, humming pink, glittery magic energy bleeding as she jiggles the boots.
"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey. HEEEEY THAT'S JUST WHAT NINON WOULD SAY!" Mignon stands to her feet, all huffy, as she moves to Tran. Stomping a bit, the girl lets her somewhat frustrated side out on Tran. And in a mock Ninon voice... "OH, Mignon you are an EMBARRASSMENT. Mignon, I would like it if you just went away. Mignon, I wish you DIED. Well LISTEN HERE BUSTER. Mignon is tired of being treated like a failure and Mignon tries hard!" She stomps, and Tran will see the powdery pink puffs popping out.
Yeah, she's pink, a nightmare, and also manages to never stop with the cutesy magic.
"But .. Mignon really DOES want to work together." She backs off, finally, after getting into Tran's face. "Mignon doesn't like it when people get angry at each other because of no real reason! SO MIGNON IS GOING TO TRY HER BEST NOT TO!" she extends a hand upwards, and then blinks at Tran. "Uh.. from now on okay?"
Dr. Tran responds to Hotaru with a snort of derision. "If I didn't want to get my ass handed to me, I wouldn't be here of all places. Have you seen the kind of people who...are...going..." Tran trails off suddenly there is a highly energetic, highly pink witch getting all up in his grill.
A war erupts in Dr. Tran's heart. On one side is his natural impulse, his answer to all of life's problems. Punch the problem until it goes away or he passes out. It usually works /so well./ But this is the kind of problem that's not going to give up that easily, Tran can tell. He's stuck with it, so the only way to cope is to...to...
Well, to be perfectly honest Tran has no idea what he's going to do. He toys with the idea of throwing himself into the lake, but odds are he would just be wet and miserable instead of just miserable.
Refocusing abruptly, Tran winds up just kind of going with it all as best he can. "Fine, fine. I'm not making any promises, especially since you, YOU," he says, pointing very directly as Mignon, "Make my brain want to force its way down my neck into my chest and beat my heart to death with its bare hands and then try to burst out of my chest before the police come." He pauses, since that kind of got away from him. "But...I'll try to, to...y'know." Tran gestures vaguely.
Hotaru gives Mignon a friendly smile as the self-proclaimed witch greets her brightly, with sparkles and everything. There might even be a hint of a twitch at the corner of her mouth. But she's a tough one to crack, and her smile is maintained against all odds. "Glad to see you too, Mignon. It sounds like you really have something invested in this. I hope... you get what you came for," she finishes. "...By the way, I have to wonder... why do you always speak of yourself in the third person?" A deliberate attempt to be sickeningly cute? A hint of brain damage? Inquiring minds want to /know/.
She falls quiet as Tran speaks up again, letting the two girls in on the very /war/ going on between his various faculties as he struggles to keep them from breaking out into a organ-destroying skirmish. "That sounds painful," she murmurs as he finishes offering his vague... y'know... truce-like gesture. "But the effort is appreciated all the same." She shakes her head, "After all, we have to put up with you too." she grins faintly, taking a step back in case she's provoked him out of his truce to take a swing.
"But you're right. There's a lot of big time fighters at this event. We'll have to have some kind of semblence of teamwork if we're going to make the best of it. I admit I don't know a lot about your styles..." She almost seems to choke on the word 'style', because the word doesn't even really seem to apply to how she's seen Tran fight, "If we don't find time to practice together before the first match, we'll have to figure it out pretty fast on the fly." The girl's hand comes up to rest at her forehead as she takes a look out over the lake. Teaming her up with Tran has got to be Eiji's doing...
You know how there are some rubber balls that bounce? If Tran and Hotaru thought that Mignon was being happy, then they must not have realized she was currently on the downwards unhappiness spiral of actions, and being called a PROBLEM and all of that. She was downright sad.
But it's as Tran makes the promise that he'll do his best, and when Hotaru even goes on to agree to team work, that makes Mignon begin to almost literately glow.
Wait.. wait.. Alright. LITERATELY glow. The sugar filled magical Mignon glows, sparkles of magic falling off of her as she smiles wide and bright. Perhaps it was an overload from before.
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! Mignon KNEW she could count on you guys! GROUP HUG!" She beams, putting an arm around Hotaru and then another around Tran, or at least trying to. Considering this is a bit hard, Mignon is hoping to pull them slightly, yanking them juuust a tiny bit into grasp range.
And after that brief 'hug', Mignon tumbles forwards, sparkles following her, lighting up the darkish area. "OOoopsie-daisy!" And then kicks upwards, and turns around to face Hotaru and Tran. "OKAY! Mignon is going to explain everything!" Tilting her head, she throws a big smile, "Mignon says Mignon because Mignon is REALLY HAPPY all the time and hearing her name makes Mignon EVEN HAPPIER! SO if Mignon cheers herself on, then Mignon .. well LISTEN!" And then she leaps up and down, "Mignon did it, Mignon did it, HOORAAAY! GOOD GOING MIGNON!" She cheers and everything, throwing her arms around, sparkling pink energy all over!
And then she lands. "So Mignon cheers herself on! Oh Oh OH! And then Mignon should explain her style! Mignon is really good at this uh OKAY LISTEN! See Mignon is a white witch and that means Mignon is really really based more on protection and helping then combat but don't you worry, Miggy's a WITCH so she's got this great focus on throwing lots of MAGIC at people with spells like PZAT and PZOW and FIRE! But Mignon's also capable of healing people because she's a white witch and then there's sparkles which make people better and Mignon likes sparkles and you see Mignon's all about not getting hit so when Mignon is ever hit it hurts but Mignon doesn't know why her head tingles at times but she doesn't mind and it's usually when some energy hits her but Mignon is sure that it's a different kind of magic but uh Mignon's REALLY fast but not really strong with her hands .. or anything but that's okay MIGNON WILL DO HER BEST TO MAKE SURE SHE HELPS, YEAAAAAAH!"
She takes in a huge breathe of air.
Poor Tran, he probably wish she suffocated. By overtalking.
"SO! Mignon is capable of lasting REAAALLY long but Mignon might not be the best at hurting people so... uh.. If Mignon helps you two Mignon things Mignon can be a really good addition to your team! Heehee! So what do you think, Mignon thinks that we'll do well as long as we believe in each other because she's certain that EVERYONE CAN ALWAYS SUCCEED! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
ANd then she sits down, as if nothing happened, and smiles at Tran and Hotaru.
Dr. Tran is a man with priorities. There's a whole list of them, and it keeps getting bigger all the time. Avoiding hugs from schoolgirls does not appear on this list, because before today, it has never been an issue. A schoolgirl would have to be even crazier than usual to even think of pulling something like that. About as crazy as Mignon, as it turns out.
"Grou-what?! No!" Unfortunately, Dr. Tran is not really a master of drunk-fu, and Mignon is /extremely/ Mignon. She no doubt has much more experience hugging than Tran does in never getting hugged again, and so he gets pulled in.
Tran's entire body ceases all motion, eyes unblinking as he stares into nothing. Somewhere, subconciously, he registers Mignon talking, but the words flow over him like water off a duck's back. Slowly, his hands raise in front of him, forming a tense circle with the fingers, about as wide around as, say, a neck. Purely for purposes of comparison. After all, it's not like Tran's dreaming of choking anybody to death so that they can't hurt him anymore. That would be silly.
After ImagiMignon has been dispatched, Tran sort of snaps out of it. "Yeah, that's...that's great. Just great." Regaining enough focus just to talk is a battle in itself. "Nothing I do could ever compare to...THAT." Tran staggers a step or two away. "And there's two of you." The level of despair he says it with is staggering.
Hotaru should've known better than to ask. But she just couldn't help but wonder at the practice. And boy does she get an answer as Mignon explodes into a sparkly information spewing frenzy of speach. The words fly out so fast the girl is caught completely off guard as she finds herself hugged right against Tran by the estatic 'white witch.' She barely seems to react as she's pressed into him, too surprised at the exuberence to come to her senses in time to do anything about it. "I-is, that so," she stammers, stumbling a step away from Tran the moment they've been given a reprieve. From hugging. There's no break from the speaking, however.
Azure blue eyes widen as the girl stares back at Mignon, certain that somewhere in the information overload there's valuable information that she should be taking note of for the purposes of synergizing synergistically during the team matches they have to 'look forward to.' But trying to digest the data at the speed it's being launched leaves the teen fighter a little dazed for her trouble, and mostly confused.
"Oh, I see, so it's some kind of self-encouragement practice? I've never heard of something like that... but if it works for you..." Her voice fades out as Mignon shares with the two all about her roles in a team fight. "W-wait, you don't fight you make people better- oh, no, no, wait, you mean you do both when you're getting hit in the head- er, I mean, ah, sparkles are fast and Mignon is a witch..." Her hand comes up to rest at her temple, brow furrowed, not sure how much of it she was able to catch.
She glances over to the side to see if Tran has anything to offer, but the good American Doctor looks pretty much traumatized out of his mind. She gives him a wane smile of support before turning her attention back toward Mignon, lowering her hand to join her other, clasped behind her back, "Well, Mignon, it sounds like, ah, you have a lot of ideas about what we can do when we go into a fight. I'm glad." She smiles, looking no worse for the wear now that she's regained her composure, "I'm looking forward to it. I'm sure Tran is too. You have a lot of faith in this team. That should get us somewhere."
STATUS OF TEAMMATES : HUGGED.
There's nothing left to say but that, seriously. Mignon smiles as Tran seems to 'come around', and tilts her head as Tran begins to agree with her CLEARLY about that they'll help and they'll succeed and EVERYTHING WILL BE FUNTABULOUS! Looking to Hotaru, Mignon's hoping she sees it how she does!
Hotaru's attempt at getting in words edgewise was SOOOOOOOOOO cute! "YEEP! Mignon thinks she's got all the bases covered! In this game Mignon is almost to the endzone! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!" She leaps up before crossing her arms across her chest, nodding. "Mhmm! Even if they have big names Mignon is SURE if we put all our effort into it there's no way we could fail!"
She's happy alright, but as Hotaru goes on about the faith, Mignon thinks for a second. You can hear the gears grinding slowly on.
"I ... Huh? What's wrong with this team? Mignon is sure it was fine... so it's fine!" She doesn't understand the skill difference.
Meanwhile, Mignon's head is filled with NEW ideas. "Oh OH! It's only fair sooo.." She points at Hotaru and Tran, with one hand each to their own, before beginning to circle them, walking around slowly. "Miiiignon really hasn't fought with or against many of you so ... what are YOUR styles! It's only fair. Mignon thinks fairs fair and that's fair to ask!" Oh yes.
"Faith, huh." Dr. Tran, standing a few yards away and facing the other direction, seems oddly neutral on the matter. He's trying very hard to just let the situation flow over him, because honestly, he's still more or less completely lost. Adrift, unsure of where he should go from here. In this game, it seems like it's impossible for him to win.
Raising a hand to massage his forehead, he at least attempts to carry on the conversation. Kind of. Even if he refuses to actually look at his young teammates. "My style mostly centers around me curling up in a ball and waiting for someone to put me out of my misery."
As the pink-haired wonder speaks up, Hotaru falls quiet, giving the girl her complete attention. It takes a certain amount of focus to decipher the real meaning of what she's saying half the time, and if one isn't careful, they'll get lost and never catch up. Of this, the girl has learned by experience so far. When asked what's wrong with the team, the young martial artist glances from Mignon, to Tran, then back to Mignon, "Nothing," she says with a straight expression. "I'm sure our teamleader's experience will lend a lot to our success." Okay, that might have been sarcastic, even if the tone is laced with sincerity.
Mignon asks about their styles, and Hotaru blinks, then looks back toward Tran intently. She's just as curious to hear how he explains that crazy, seemingly random way of fighting she's seen him demonstrate in the past as Mignon is about both of their styles. Then comes his answer and even Hotaru's smile wavers just a little, "W-well, that's not what I've seen of you, Doctor Tran." She lifts a hand, waving it at her side a little, "I mean, I've seen you manage some impressive feats in your matches. You held the Contender's belt with the Saturday Night Fight circuit for a little while, and that certainly wasn't obtained by curling up in a ball."
She glances toward Mignon, shrugging a little, giving the other girl a faint grin, "He's just being modest, hm?" Hotaru brings her hand up to tap at her chin for a moment, "As for my style..." she slows to ponder a moment, "Well, I practice a traditional Kenpo blended with some minor influences from other disciplines. This means I lean heavily on striking with kicks and punches, but also know my way around a number of holds, slams, and locks. I'm also able to integrate chi, sparringly so, into some of my attacks." She closes her right hand into a fist. Ideally, this would be accompanied by a flare of blue aura to demonstrate her point. It isn't.
Mignon's response, from seeing it all, is watching Tran look away and then .. talk about how his style is curling into a ball and waiting to die.
"Mignon doesn't think that you're really a good team leader if that is WHAT you could do... so... MIGNON THINKS YOU'RE LYYYIIING! Liar liar pants on fire!" Mignon goes on to repeat, as Hotaru mentions that well.. he's.. going to lead them to success! .. Oh yes.
But as she also mentions that that ISN'T Tran's style, Mignon continues it. "See! Mignon KNOWS that's not the way you can do it!" And when Hotaru grins, Mignon's bright smile is followed by a nod. "MHMM! Mignon gets that! If he's so modest..." Mignon begins to creep up behind Tran, slowly.. slowly. But stops, turning to Hotaru as she explains Kenpo .. disiciwhats? "What...? OH Punching and kicks.. and other things and .. Oh my... WELL Mignon is a witch!" She said that already. So She raises her hand and POOF small flicker of flame. "It's really easy! Mignon's never ever ever had to try .. it comes naturally! And she can do all kinds of magic!" The fire turns to water, getting her hand wet and then..
Mignon turns around and leaps onto Tran, "HORSIE!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
"MAYBE IF MIGNON MAKES HIM FIGHT HE'LL SHOW ME!"
Certainly, Dr. Tran's experience will lend something. Probably not success, though. Maybe that's part of the point? Who can know why Krauser does the things that he does. Or Eiji. Whoever is responsible for this soul-crushing state of affairs.
Although Hotaru does draw Tran's attention a little. He peeks over his own shoulder for just long enough to say, "You saw that, huh?" He finishes with a little grunt of disgust, relating his opinion of that whole affair, and then re-turns. It's probably just as well, since it means he misses Hotaru FAILING IT.
Or maybe not, because, well. Mignon. Before she mostly made Tran miserable. Slowly but steadily, that's been shifting to her making Tran kind of pissed off. The doctor's omnipresent rage boils to the surface as he says, "Of course I'm lying, who could even fight like that? I was just...aggh." This time the grunt is one of frustration. It's probably better just to let it drop and move on, except then Mignon gets the drop on him.
If she was looking for a good horsie ride she'll probably be disappointed, because Tran gets knocked clean off his feet, doing a rather intensely uncomfortable looking faceplant. He mumbles something loudly and angrily, but it's mostly obscured because of how his mouth is a little bit mushed up against the ground. Shortly, it becomes very rythmic. Almost like he's counting down to something.
Having given Mignon her answer, Hotaru clasps her hands behind her back. Listening to the pink-haired girl's response to not just her comments about Tran's fighting history but her own style description as well, the Kenpo artist opens her mouth, severely tempted to just oh so casually inquire of Mignon just how old she is. But she ends up stopping herself, deciding that she doesn't really need to concern herself with the age of her teammate. The girl must be able to fight. She got into Strolheim after all.
Mignon starts to creep up on Tran who is woefully not paying attention to the approach, and Hotaru opens her mouth again, raising her right hand up from behind her back, this time about to recommend that she should probably not get any closer to the man than she already is, suspecting he could very well explode into violence at any moment. But it's too late. Mignon leaps into the air, tackling the unprepared Tran to the ground face first, resulting in her sitting on his back as he mumbles something into the ground.
Hotaru lowers her hand slowly, forced to really wonder at Mignon's age again. Given the natural ease of her chi manipulation, she must be extremely gifted with the stuff even if the rest of her nature doesn't scream 'prodigy.' "That's remarkable talent," young Futaba muses. "Not just elemental control, but multiple elements at that. Huh." She sounds genuinely impressed. It's a lot better than she can muster, with her brute force, concussive chi manifestations.
"Oh, yeah, you... might want to get off of him." she advises. "Unless you're trying to see his style in action. I think the best way to describe it is 'explosive.'" She might be his partner right /now/, but the girl remembers well the occasions where that wasn't necessarily the case. Those occasions hurt.
TIMBEEEEEEEEEEEER. Mignon rides Tran all the way to the ground, tilting her head as he just lays there, Mignon poking him too. "OH NO! Mignon didn't mean to kill him! Live! LIVE! Mignon doesn't want the team leader to be dead oH NOOOO WHAT DID MIGNON DO!?" She almost panics but then begins to 'hit' him. Which is not unlike two small pillows slamming against your back REALLY HARD.
Even if she's weak it's not going to feel fluffy. But she's not trying to kill the dude, that's for sure.
"Yeah! Grammy was a witch! So Mignon and Ninon are witches.. and Mignon tries REALLY hard even if she doesn't look like it! Mainly to make Ninon proud of her. Ninon doesn't seem to think she's a witch JUST because she doesn't dress black or take it seriously.. but one day Mignon will open that locket Grammy gave her .. stupid magic seal." She nods. Shrugging.
And then Hotaru goes on to mention... get off. "OOOH? Naaah. Mignon wants to see. Mignon wants to see!" She nods, grinning wide, now almost STANDING on Tron. "HERE WE GO! Mignon will be surfing the team leader to victory! Weeeeeeeeee~!!!"
Maybe she doesn't UNDERSTAND.
There is only so much that one man can take. Dr. Tran, though basically a superhuman whirlwind of ass-kicking, is still only a mortal. "Frmmph." He is not without limits. He has tried to be patient, tried to be, well. Not friendly, that would be too much, but at least not a complete dick.
Now we see how far that's got him. A young, pink horror is using his spine as a trampoline. "Mmm." Well, no more. If she doesn't have the common decency to just let Tran be unhappy in some corner somewhere, then she deserves whatever she gets. "Mwome."
One of Tran's hand jerks up, slamming on the ground palm-first. It quivers, with what is almost certainly rage. "Tife oof." In what is, indeed, best described as 'explosive', Dr. Tran pushes off violently, spinning about with the back of his other hand to try to club Mignon right off of him.
COMBATSYS: Tran has started a fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Tran 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Mignon has joined the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Tran 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Mignon
As Mignon emphasizes once again the witchiness of not just herself but seemingly her family line as a whole, Hotaru's brow furrows. "What do you mean by witches, exactly?" comes the logical question to that most illogical assertion. "I mean, like on the TV shows? Do you mean witches like at Halloween? From children's stories?" The questions come calmly while Tran is in the midst of counting down and Mignon is doing nothing to put a stop to the impending doom.
But when she notices the girl standing right up on Tran's back, Hotaru frowns a little, "Really, that's no way to treat our esteemed Team Leader." she points out dryly, shaking her head a little. "But if you insist on it, you better watch out." Her head cants to the side slightly as Tran begins to move at last, "Because I think you're about to get that demonstration..."
She brushes at her vest a little, staying off to the side, as Tran's hand slams down, the trampled Doctor getting ready to retaliate. "Though, really, if you two are going to trade attacks like that, we should take this chance to practice a little with each other. I haven't had a real fight in weeks!"
COMBATSYS: Tran successfully hits Mignon with Strong Punch.
- Power hit! -
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Tran 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Mignon
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has joined the fight here.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Mignon 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Tran
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/-------|
It's as Mignon looks down that Mignon gets a load of what's happening.
Well, for one thing, Mignon is surfing the Tran. But the Tran JUST GOT REALLY WAVY. "Ah it'll be fine! Mignon's made it out of the times before, and he's clearly okay! Mignon is GREAT at looking out! And yay! TRAINING .... uh Mignon's a .. witch. Uhm .. A white witch! good one! Like the Wizard of Oz!"
And damn look out for that .. "TIDAL WAAAAAVE!" Mignon flails, before the violent spinning hand clubbing Mignon through the air so easily, like some kind of rag doll. The Witch goes spiralling. She would love to respond to Hotaru, but with such pain, Mignon isn't able to really respond easily. Flying through the air, Mignon is downright in TROUBLE.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAIE MIGNON WANTS TO GO DOWN!" She notes, as she flails hopelessly, before grasping for anything.
Oh hey there's Hotaru. "SORRY!" She notes, before grasping for the Kenpo student..
With her legs, and aiming to rolldown.. and then LURCH Hotaru forwards too! "OOPSIE daisy!"
Dr. Tran's spin takes him all the way around so that he's facing the ground again, catching himself on both palms like he's about to do a push-up. It's like Mignon didn't even slow him, which isn't surprising considering the way she just went flying there. Dang.
Tran rises slowly, evidently in no hurry now that Mignon isn't trampling him. Does this mean they're even stephans, that everything's OK? Of course not. Tran turns, and it's like his eyes on fire. Taking slow, deliberate steps toward Mignon and Hotaru, Dr. Tran's anger is made manifest around him, a rippling aura of heated hatred. Despite this, his words are measured and calm. "Practice, nothing. I'm going to rip her lungs out."
COMBATSYS: Tran gathers his will.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Mignon 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Tran
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Hotaru fails to interrupt Quick Throw from Mignon with Quick Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Mignon 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Tran
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/------=|
The warning given, Hotaru is quite certain Tran is about to take a swing... What she doesn't anticipate is the force with which he sends the witch flying with that solid punch of his. Cringing, she half closes her eyes, wanting to look away but, like any rubber necker witnessing a wreck in progress, can't help but keep watching as Mignon just makes it worse while answering her question about what she means by witches at the same time.
"Really? That's neat," the girl manages, deciding that the witch-thing must be some kind of game the girl plays with her sister and grandmother. And who is she to dispell some childhood fantasy game within such a happy family? Her borderline inattention costs her, however, when the pink-haired sparkly girl's legs scissor around her waist as she goes flying by. "H-hey," she stammers, attempting to react by seizing hold of Mignon's ankles to pry her off preemptively.
To no avail as she's sent tumbling forward to land flat against the ground with a surprised grunt. Pushing up with her hands, the girl rises quickly to standing, dusting herself off, shaking her head and frowning back toward Tran, "You can't do that. We can't work together with that kind of hostility!" She waves her hands a couple of times, "She's not sitting on you anymore, there's no need for lung-removal!"
Mignon ends up flying through the air! And in the sight of it all, Mignon ends up crashing against the ground .. sort of. Albeit it's with Hotaru aiming to try and pry her off.
It doesn't really work! Mignon tumbles with Hotaru, before flipping off and landing on her feet, shaking off the rather icky icky feeling. "Ew... Mignon really wants to keep her lungs.. it's nice being able to breathe!" She notes, as Hotaru goes on to make a point that it's very true. No more sitting. "Mhmm. AND I PROBABLY WON'T EVER AGAIN! Heehee. You know you're not very comfy ANYWAYS!" She states.
"So as you stand there .. HERE COMES MIGNON!" And HOW! "FIRE!"
Extending her hands, the pink terror sends forwards an eruption of fire, blasting forth towards Dr. Train, spiralling, aiming to slam into his arms and BURN them!
Oh say can you see.. The Mignon rolling backwards? "AIEEEEEE THERE WAS A HILL THEEEEEERE!" She flails as she rolls.
COMBATSYS: Tran endures Mignon's Fire Ball.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Mignon 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Tran
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/------=|
"It doesn't matter!" Dr. Tran continues his inexorable advance, eyes locked on Mignon. Hotaru's there, but he doesn't care so much about her. Even when she's annoying, it's not like THIS.
"This is about more than the sitting, this is about more than the hug, this is...is.." And here Dr. Tran has to pause because Mignon just launched a big ball of fire at him. He doesn't stop. In fact, quite the opposite. Tilting his head downward, he charges directly through it shoulder-first. With one hand raised, he pursues the white witch, even through her, uh, rolling.
"I have been DRIVEN to this!" Leaping high, Tran tries to come down on Mignon, one hand grasping for her collar in order to hold her still, while the other dives toward her no-doubt open mouth. "Give me your lungs!"
In spite her initial attempts at establishing some kind of peace between the two, Hotaru finds that her teammates are dead set on this being a spar AND revenge for damage done all at the same time. Grimacing, the girl takes in a breath then exhales slowly, shaking her head. Trying to talk reason into the enraged Tran ends with failure as Mignon encourages him into retaliation with that ball of fire she just exploded his way. She really /is/ good with that chi of hers, the teen fighter observes. Good to keep in mind.
"Sorry," she snaps out of her quiet observation, "I can't let you extract the lungs of one third of our team," she states urgently before stepping forward, dropping down into a lower stance, arms out her sides for balance. At an angle to the side of Tran and Mignon, she can't exactly stop the good doctor's charge, but she might be able to knock him silly before he has the chance to make good on his threat!
The girl rises out of her low stance, left palm leading, aiming to strike Tran's shoulder to shake him up a little. Her right hand follows for the second strike, coming in lower, trying to knock him to the side solidly and free Mignon of perhaps her well earned organ extraction.
COMBATSYS: Mignon interrupts Strong Throw from Tran with Lightning Bolt EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Mignon 1/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Tran
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/------=|
As Tran continues to assault, eyes locked on her.. Mignon is staring in a different way. "Aww comon! Mignon did NOT make it that bad!" Mignon states, as she crawls up the hill, staring at Dr. Tran.. and he charges THROUGH it. And then oh god, Dr Tran is grasping for her collar as he grabs for her mouth FOR HER LUNGS.
"NO NO NO! THEY'RE MINE! .... THUNDER BOLT!"
What/ It might be pretty obvious that she's not just saying it because she can. Her hands are pressed against his chest, as she's leaped on. Suddenly, there's a buzzing noise, and a biiiit of a current. He would feel it. And of course, Hotaru is there too but.. Mignon is a GOOD witch.. she's also not happy when her lungs are in danger. "BZAAAAAAAAP!"
Rubbing her hands in a circle, she presses hard on Tran's chest. The palm strike is enough as Tran would be sent SKYWARDS. A bolt of lightning being emitted from her hands, as he would be left off SPINNING as well, launched in an arc while spinning, an arc of electricity, a bolt, following him.
Wiping her forehead, Mignon gets up unsteadily. "Wow.. what's his problem..!? Mignon did NOT deserve a lack of LUNGS!"
COMBATSYS: Tran fails to interrupt Fierce Punch from Hotaru with Dr. Tran Goes For Broke.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Mignon 1/-------/=======|=======\=======\1 Tran
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|
Just...just a little further...once he gets past that pesky esophagus, Mignon's precious lungs will be his for the taking! There's just a little problem with that, though. A couple problems, maybe. The first is that it's not going as fast as Tran initially thought it would. The second is that simply trying evidently makes his teammates >:( at him. Who could have guessed?
To make a long story short, Dr. Tran gets his ass handed to him. But we're not here for the short version.
Tran, rather focused on the task at hand, barely notices when Mignon presses her little girly hands on his chest. He kind of notices when lightning explodes point blank. It's not enough to send him flying, exactly, but he does lift off the ground, landing unsteadily on one leg. Tilting backward.
It's about then that he sees Hotaru coming at him, with a tenth of a second to react. Wobbling, he starts to lift one of his legs higher, but it's way too little, way too late. Especially since he's facing the completely wrong direction. She drives her little girly hands into him and he notices it right away, thank you, seeing as how he's sent sprawling on the ground, the wind completely knocked out of him. If he could really talk, no doubt Tran would be saying something foul right now. If you go based on his expression, anyway.
And just like that, Mignon is pressing her electricity-charged hands against Tran's chest as if she's trying to defib him out of crashing on a hospital gurney. Only, Mignon's intentions aren't quite so benign as she gives him a solid pulse of that chi of hers, only to dish out even more attacks from various angles. It's too late for the girl to draw back her pair of palm strikes, however.
One after another, the two strikes are delivered before she draws herself backward, standing up straighter as the abused team captain takes a fall. Looking toward Mignon with a slightly arched eyebrow, she shakes her head, her smile warming just a little, "That's an impressive display, Mignon. I'm really looking forward to you putting it to use against our opponents." Less so against Tran. Mustn't break Tran. ... Moreso than has already been done, that is.
"All the same," the girl continues, reaching out for Mignon, aiming to get a tight grip on her nearest wrist, "Let's see if you can get out of this!" The transition from grasping to yanking and turning, attempting to twist the younger girl to the ground happens extremely fast as Hotaru seems to have a handle on simple judo slams such as this. It's just another test of the younger girl's reflexes... so far she's done pretty good, but considering who they'll be going up against... important to stay sharp!
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Mignon with Ten Ranku-Tou.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Mignon 1/---====/=======|=======\======-\1 Tran
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/----===|
Watching Tran get beaten up pretty badly makes Mignon tilt her head and shake it afterwards. "Oooh.. he doesn't .. look so good." Mignon notes, nodding carefully. "But he deserved it.. I think .. OHHHH Mignon doesn't know this is too much!" ANd then Hotaru is after her, after complementing her. "OH! Mignon is happy you think it was nice! Mignon really does her best when she can an-AIEEEE!" Flailing, Mignon bounces off the ground, and then against the hand that is grappling her.
LEAP-SPROING. Uh oh. Spring effect.
Mignon's send back, pulled and swung to the ground. Mignon rolls to the side afterwards, eyes wide. "Augh.. Mignon .. didn't see that coming..." She notes, before shaking herself off. "Mignon'll .. have to keep her eyes open next time!" She notes, nodding. "And he doesn't look to good .. Aw..." She shook something loose. Hotaru CLEARLY did. "BETTER MAKE HIM FEEL BETTER!"
And raising her hands, Mignon points them towards Tran. "Magical... HEAAALING!" The sparkles, pink and pretty, erupt.. and then appear around Tran and spin spin spin.
And oddly enough, undo the damage!
"All better! And Mignon PROMISES to be quicker on her feet!"
COMBATSYS: Mignon successfully hits Tran with Magical Healing.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Mignon 0/-------/---====|=======\======-\1 Tran
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/----===|
Forcing his way up to his feet, Tran struggles to regain his equilibrium after that barrage of blows. Well, 'equilibrium'. It's no secret that Tran's a little unbalanced at the best of times. This is not the best of times. The doctor is moments away from tilting to a dangerous degree. Metaphorically speaking. Physically, he stands up nice and straight.
Unfortunately, he doesn't quite appreciate Hotaru beating the stuffing out of Mignon. If he were looking at this objectively, he would no doubt see this as a problem slowly correcting itself. Right now, it's more like kill-stealing. "Don't...you interloper! Don't get in my waaaaaarugh!"
Suddenly, Tran is surrounded by magical hearts. He cringes a bit, trying to cover his face with his arms in case he accidentally inhales any. They start to work their magic, swirling and healing and being completely /disgusting/. "ENOUGH!" Tran whips his hands around and steam follows, bursting outward, blowing the hearts away and preventing further (un)damage. He raises a hand, two fingers splayed at Hotaru and Mignon. "Both of you! Four! FOUR LUNGS FOR THE TAKING!"
COMBATSYS: Tran takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Mignon 0/-------/---====|=======\======-\1 Tran
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/----===|
Releasing Mignon's arm once she's flipped her to the ground, Hotaru takes a step back, giving the girl time to get back up to her feet. At least she recovered quickly, Hotaru muses with a faint smile. But now she's going to attack Tran again! Isn't this going to make things even- ... Attacking with hearts...
The girl pauses, mouth half open, about to suggest she lay off the man a little when the true nature of her chi manipulation becomes rather clear. She's trying to heal him. Well, she DID say she could heal her teammates, though Hotaru hadn't quite taken it to mean that she possessed a talent similar to her red-headed miko friend, Mizuki.
Of course, Tran isn't having any of that. Forcing away the healing energy with a pulse of steam, he raises his hand, indicating that he's going to carry out his threat on /both/ of them now. Apparently he's heard enough from them! "I'm starting to think that I'm going to need to issue a restraining order on you - effective any time we're not in a tournament bout." Hotaru declares, one eye narrowed slightly, having found a whole new appreciation for lungs and the having thereof.
"Careful, Mignon," the girl advices the pink-haired witch. There's no telling what Tran is likely to do next now that he's flipped his lid even further into anger. Taking a step forward, the girl decides to dash his dreams of a lung-stealing rampage by crouching slightly before kicking up into an arcing drop kick, aiming to bring her heel crashing right down against his shoulder as she lands out of the leap. "KYA!"
It's as Tran throws OFF the hearts that mignon frowns at. "No no NO! Mignon was trying to help and we can't be a team if you don't at least TRY!" Mignon exclaims, nearly stomping from anger. Infact she does. "YOU DON'T GET IT!" She exclaims, flailing her arms. "I try to be your friend and nice AND YOU ONLY DO THESE THINGS!"
She flails. "It's NEVER GOOD ENOUGH you're JUST like Ninon so MIGNON is TIRED of this and that's IT!" She finishes as she begins to run towards Tran. "Careful? MIGNON IS A FIGHTER FOR GOOD AND JUSTICE. If she's scared of him then MIGNON WON'T EVER HELP GOOD!" And suddenly Mignon is a running. And hitting the ground hard, Mignon kicks off the ground, spinning around mid air, before launching towards Tran, spiralling .. before trying to just STOMP on his head and then KICK KICK KICK him over and over before flipping away.
"NYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! MIGNON FALLING CAT STRIKES!"
COMBATSYS: Tran blocks Hotaru's Medium Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Mignon 0/-------/---====|=======\=======\1 Tran
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Mignon successfully hits Tran with Defoliation.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Mignon 0/-------/--=====|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Tran
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|
"A restraining order? On ME?!" If it were possible, somehow Dr. Tran seems even more outraged than before. Steam, already thick around him, starts to get even thicker, simply erupting out of his body at an alarming rate. It's like he is so angry he can't even hold it in anymore. "After she...and you...and, and, and..."
His teeth bared in a feral grimace, Dr. Tran takes a step forward into Hotaru's kick, raising a forearm to take the impact. He raises a hand, the steam around him sucks toward his fist, when...well, Mignon happens. Again. And maybe does a little irish jig on Dr. Tran's face, knocking him flat on his butt. It hurts. Maybe completely beyond words now, Tran raises his fist and then punches the ground. His fist and the ground both explode with chi, propelling him up straight up into the air, high enough for his feet to fail to reach anything solid even after he's straightened out.
"CAN YOU EVEN SEE WHAT I HAVE TO PUT UP WITH!?" Evidently he's not beyond words after all. Raising both hands over his head in a single, fisty lump, Tran stretches out as far as he can. He seems to float, for a moment, before he brings them both swinging down in a double-handed axe blow at the top of Hotaru's head, the steam thick and ready, just /aching/ to explode with his strike.
It's as Hotaru is launched after, that Mignon, bouncing off his head, and then landing behind him.. Mignon is READY FOR ANYTHING. And that's before THE FREAKING GROUND EXPLODES WITH CHI, propelling him up into the air.. and then STRAIGHT DOWN TOWARDS HOTARU. Mignon stares.
She thinks of butterflies. And happy kittens on a bright sunny day with flowers, pink and purple, all around and little bunnies and everything. Oh Mignon is just SO HAPPY.
Of course, then the happy place breaks because Mignon knows she has to do SOMETHING. She can't be a justice person if she FAILS to help justice. "AH Ah .. What do to Mignon, what to do .. AH... HOTARU LOOOK OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUT!" And throwing her hands into the air, Mignon sends a burst of air from infront of Hotaru, aiming to slow Tran down as he comes in.
It's .. not damaging. It's just an attempt to SLOW the steam down and dissipate it.
"MIGNON DOESN'T WANT TO SEE YOUR LUNGS GET STOLEN!"
COMBATSYS: Hotaru stops Here Comes Dr. Tran! from Tran with Kobi Kyaku EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Mignon 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Tran
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/----===|
The two schoolgirls descend upon Tran like something out of his worst nightmares. He rebuffs her drop kick, forcing her to the side, though she recovers quickly with her landing, whirling back around to face him, standing eye to eye with the decidedly short male. A side glance is cast Mignon's way - it seems she managed to tackle Tran to the ground where Hotaru had failed to slow him down. "Huh, nice work, Mignon." the girl states, not noticing for a moment that Tran isn't going to take this lying down. FOR LONG.
The exlosion of steam makes it quite clear where this is going, however, as the American self-proclaimed Doctor shoots up into the air, propelled by that chi of his that Hotaru had identified as his explosive style of fighting. Both hands clench together as he gets ready to drop the hammer on the Kenpo artist. Given the warning by Mignon, she spins back toward him. Hotaru's not about to take a hit from him if she can avoid it. Striking back with aggressive defense, she sweeps her leg out into a reverse round-house, leaving a swath of vibrant blue chi, bright against the dimming evening, before snapping her leg back down. "YA!!"
Extending her hand forward, she braces the chi manifestation, forcing it to solidify with a passing shimmer, becoming as solid as a wall for the briefest moments, causing all of that destructive force to crash against it, flying out and around the girl but leaving her unharmed by it. By the time she draws her hand back, the chi barrier has already started to collapse, leaving her frowning back at Tran. "There's not going to be any lung stealing!" she exclaims, answering Mignon's outcry.
Dr. Tran, now the flying physician, strikes Hotaru's barrier. It should come as no surprise that the explosion is huge, steam billowing out in every direction except Hotaru's, protected as she is by her shield. It encompasses Tran, shielding him from view for a moment. Was he done in by his own rebuffed attack?!
Of course not. Some like it hot, and Dr. Tran likes it the hottest! The steam is moving quickly enough that it's gone in moments, dissipating into nothingness, leaving Dr. Tran to nimbly land in front of Hotaru, panting. Not panting hard enough to keep from screaming some more, though. "Don't be stupid, of course not! WHO WOULD BE DUMB ENOUGH TO TRY TO STEAL SOMEBODY'S LUNG!?" Not even Tran would stoop to such a morally questionable, not to mention physically improbable practice that is removing another person's lungs with his bare hands. It's just silly, is what it is.
Far more sensible is the act of taking somebody's head, gripping it firmly in both hands whether they like it or not, and mashing it into your own head. Just like Tran tries to do to Hotaru! In this case, guess what, there is also an explosion in there somewhere, probably around the point of impact! It is kind of Dr. Tran's thing.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Tran's Fierce Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Mignon 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 Tran
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/----===|
The azure barrier of chi that kept her safe from Tran's strike falls apart, becoming mist-like for a moment then fading entirely, giving the girl a clear view of the Doctor. Or, rather, where he's standing. Because she can't actually see him through the thick cloud of built up steam around him. That is, up until it all clears, leaving an exhausted Tran in its wake. He exclaims, decrying her previous outburst as the shout of lunacy, and then goes for her again, and Hotaru blinks, "But you just-"
There's no time to argue. He's trying to give her a smashing to the face to remember him by. But such an attack, attempted with such malice, such seething hatred, is easily sensed before it quite comes to fruition. It's a face smashing she's not interested in receiving as she takes a step backward, slipping her head through his fingers just before he gets a tight enough hold, coming back up to standing a step away from him.
"You're even crazier than I remember you!" the pig-tailed combtant exclaims, secretly wondering what she did to deserve getting teamed up with the lunatic. "Why don't you save the vehemenance for our opponents!" She steps back in, both hands coming up, held in front of her, tucked near her stomach. It's a precursor to the double-palm press that follows, as the girl coordinates all of her strength into a powerful strike, aiming to shove Tran backward fiercely.
It's as Dr. Tran continues to assault Hotaru that Mignon gasps! .. "OH SHE DID IT! SHE DID IT!" Mignon cheers, flailing her arms. "And thank you! MIGNON REALLY TRIES!" She said this FIFTY TIMES. Maybe she really has something to prove? SOME DARK HISTORY OF LAXING OFF SO LONG THAT SHE IS NO LONGER A GOOD WITCH TO HER SISTER?!
Totally not.
Meanwhile, Mignon can barely watch.. but she does. And Mignon is TOTALLY happy, brushing off her forehead, "Phew.. I thought Hotaru was a goner.. " She notes. Good for her! "YAaaaaaaaaaay!.. WOAH!" Mignon's hit by steam. It hurts. :( But the scalding isn't SO bad, and Tran moves into it, striking out at Hotaru. Mignon .. can't even see. And it keeps going on like that.
"Uh MIGNON IS SORRY WATCH OUT SHE CAN'T SEE~! But she wants to help so here goes!" And spiralling, spinning, and SPIIIIINNING, Mignon calls FORTH! "DIVINE WIND SPIRIT!" Mignon exclaims out of everything, and sends a spinning tornado of wind RIGHT at ..
.. Well she's not sure.
It just so happens she is AIMING for Tran who is .. not Hotaru. So if Hotaru strikes.. Tran might be flung right into this trap!
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Tran with Strong Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //// ]
Mignon 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Tran
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Mignon successfully hits Tran with Windstorm.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ]
Mignon 0/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Tran
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/---====|
"If I'm crazy, it's all of you who drove me to it!" Tran doesn't seem particularly peturbed that Hotaru so artfully evaded his grasping hands, at least no moreso than he already is. It might not even be possible for him to be angrier at this point. Is there a cap? Modern science does not have the answer.
"And our opponents aren't the ones HOUNDING ME at every turn! They're not there, attacking me for no reason when I'm minding my own business!" Dr. Tran tries to wist to one side as Hotaru strikes, but it's not enough. Her strike lands solidly in Tran's stomach, doubling him over violently and making him grit his teeth in pain. Yet even through that, that's fight left in him. Not a lot, but it's there.
It comes out mostly as a gasp, but Tran's still going. "Most people aren't constantly in my face, acting completely crazy and retarded! Most people...graaaagh!" And then Mignon's windstorm blindsides an unsuspecting Tran. It's his own fault, really. She was yelling about it and everything, but he was just too angry to even pay attention.
Knocked to the side by the attack, Tran lands flat on his back. He bounces a little. With a strangled choking noise, he props himself up on one elbows. "And then it ends like it always does." The doctor collapses, unable to even keep himself up even a little bit. "Why do I...eugh...even bother? God damn." Not that he's bitter or anything. Heavens, no.
COMBATSYS: Tran takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Hotaru 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 Mignon
COMBATSYS: Tran can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Hotaru 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 Mignon
The two teenaged menaces end up knocking Tran back down solidly, taking the fight out of the enraged team leader. Tran flops onto his back and Hotaru draws backward, lowering her arms to rest against her side, exhaling softly. He's pointed out that they're the ones beating him around rather than any hypothetical opponents the unlikely trio is expected to face in the days ahead. "Right." Hotaru states, glancing to the side, looking just a little bit sheepish all the sudden but managing to maintain a straight face all the same, "I'm glad we had this talk."
She fixes her attention on Mignon next, giving the younger girl a supportive smile, "I'm impressed with what you can do. Did you know Doctor Tran can heal people too?" She pauses, then adds, "I guess that goes without saying. He is a real doctor after all." By that point she's smiling again, as if they hadn't just come out of a rousing game of 'Beat the Team Leader Up.' "This was a good chance to see what we can do!" Such a nice, positive way of looking at it.
She lifts her hand, waves it once, then lowers it, "All right, then. I haven't even been her long. I want to see more of the castle while we have time. Until our match, then, I suppose? I'll see you both." She keeps a nice safe distance from Tran. Just because he's down doesn't mean he might not explode at any moment. And as if hoping to not be around in just such an event, the girl turns and walks back up the path to ascend the hill toward the castle.
It's as Tran continues to be mad, Mignon gets frownier, shaking her head. "NU-UH! MIGNON HAS ALWAYS TRIED TO PLAY NICE! You're just GRUMPY!" Mignon states, before Tran falls over. "Well.. we have to work together later so you BETTER be there!" She notes, nodding. "Mignon is .. Well Mignon is COUNTING on you okay!" She states to Tran as she falls over, "But if you want to resist her help and stuff FINE!" She nods, and turns away, before turning away from Tran.
What is shame again? Mignon's never had it.
But as Hotaru turns to her, smiling, Mignon smiles back to. "Mhmm! .. WOAH! Mignon had NO idea that's amazing!" She notes, grinning brightly. "I had no idea.. and yeah! Mignon just wishes she'll be a little fast in the days to come. Mignon totally is going to try her best she promises!" Oh yeah!
And then she waves to the others, nodding. "Byeee byeeee oooooo~!" She states before cartwheeling down the hill. "WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee........." She's going on an ADVENTURE.
"GAAAAAAAAAAAH THE HILL IS REALLY TALL!"
Oh boy!
COMBATSYS: Mignon has left the fight here.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has ended the fight here.
Log created on 22:29:01 10/30/2008 by Tran, and last modified on 12:12:29 11/05/2008.