Description: SNF at Halloween... what better way to celebrate than unleashing zombies in the Southtown Mall Food Court? Kula Diamond one more faces two opponents, and is once more forbidden to eat any sweets. Chae Lim and May Lee work together as a team to defeat the girl from NESTs, while in the midst of eateries and hungry zombies. Who will avoid being the zombie's next delicious meal? (Chae Lim also learns the valuable lesson of NOT teasing Kula with strawberry sorbet.) (Winner: Kula)
"They *really* said she can't have any candy? That's kinda wierd. Maybe she's hypoglyc.. hypnogl.. galuc.. a spaz on sugar?"
May Lee has heard of odder things - and she's been subjected to them before as well! Fresh back from her MYSTERIOUS TRAINING elsewhere, she'd placed herself up in Saturday Night Fights, just to get things going, and to prove to herself she was able and ready for a challenge or two! Being partnered up with Master Kim's other non-family student was just all the cooler. Ha-ha, get it?
"This is totally like 'Kamen Rider vs. Ambassador Hell', if you think about it. I mean, if SHOCKER troops were replaced with zombies, and if Chae and I were like, both totally *awesome*. Which we are gonna be. I hope." Talking to herself, yes - she's setting herself into the mental space she needs to be for a fight, and psyching herself up for the subsequent brawl-to-be. Around the food court, here and there, stunt-people in zombie clothes practice their shamblings, to the left a few steps, then to the right, a few alternating half steps with arms up - standard zombie things!
Shambling zombies in the food court looking for brains? It must be the Halloween edition of SNF. Chae Lim has been at the mall for a while, scouting around for potential sweets in the food court with which to taunt Kula. After all, it was so much fun to do at Wilford Walton's!
That... may not be very nice of her, but anything that can give them an advantage here will be great, considering that last time she was up against the little NESTs girl, she faced defeat.
Creeping out from behind one of the zombies, she steps right up behind May Lee and asks, "Totally like what?" Out of all the questions she COULD be asking right now, it has to be such a simple thing. Probably would have been better to ask 'where the heck have you been, May Lee?'.
The food court has been done up properly, as has the rest of the mall. Everything looks to be in a state of chaos. Poor Howard Enterprise employees shamble around, with makeup and clothing designating them as among the ranks of the undead. One of the food carts has been upturned by the zombie hordes, sending pre-wrapped sandwiches scattered across the large, normally sanitized tile flooring.
In the midst of it all, her violet eyes a bit wide at the sight of the mess, stands Kula Diamond. Occasionally bumped into by the zombies, she keeps spinning around to keep them in her sight. This proves easier said than done, given they come from all angles, holding their arms out, clearly hungry for human flesh. Of course she's been told she can't wipe them out, which wouldn't be too hard for the ridiculously dangerous NESTS project. And of course she knows, in the back of her mind, they're just acting. But the presentation is convincing, and not being able to just blast them away makes the entire situation all that more unnerving.
Ducking, she slips between a couple zombies in order to scramble up on one of the decorative planter walls, giving her altitude over the army and letting her take a better look in the direction of her two stalwart opponents. Of Chae Lim she remembers - especially the girl's tenacity against extremely challenging odds. Of May Lee, she knows nothing. One thing she DOES know is that she's been /excplictly/ forbidden from eating anything sweet. Denied candy treats? In a Halloween matchup? Now /that's/ true horror.
"Why do they keep putting me at places with so much candy but don't let me have any," she sighs, shaking her head. Her auburn locks brush against her shoulders, braided ends dangling down in front of her ears. A quiet sigh is accompanied by a shimmer of white that passes over the girl, leaving in its wake frosty blue hair and a small, persistant swirl of ice hovering about her figure. The braids are undone by the change, leaving her hair free to wave lightly, as if tousled by an unseen breeze.
Clad in her NESTS issue violet leather protective armor, she's ready as she's going to be. A glance back and forth is cast between the two girls, her eyes now a crimson hue when contrasted against her sky blue hair. "Well then." Her right hand is held up, clenching into a small fist, a flicker of white energy swirling about her forearm. "You had better be ready. In fifteen seconds I am going to hurt you." Such a courteous warning.
"Yaagh! Geez, don't *do* that!" May Lee chides the girl, good naturedly, her hand over her heart. "I almost had an attack! It's spooky, and then you come up all sneaky-like.." She could go on, but really, that's all she needs to say, isn't it? "What I was saying, is it's like this movie version of.. oh, great, I'm babbling again. Don't worry about it, we're just gonna do Master Kim proud, right?" She gives her teammate a thumbs-up with one flared-gloved hand.
When faced with her actual opponent, May Lee looks sympathetic. After all, not being able to have candy when it's just out there for the taking - that's a cruel thing, done by evil men! Which would probably make Geese Howard evil, but everyone knows he's just a really effective business man. Evil? Him? Naaah! "S'kinda rude of them. Maybe you can have some after - or we could slip you a piece or two in the brawl." she offers, sotto voce. The abrupt change and matter-of-factness that comes into her voice is a bit offputting, but she'll let it go - for now!
"Fifteen seconds of free hits, Chae! C'mon, let's go!" With a whip of her hand, the scarf around her neck goes flying behind her, a dramatic sweep of her hand as if her arm were the ticking clock of justice - and then she leaps into action, a strong set of straight kicks aimed at Kula's knee, hip, and thigh. "You're going down, evildoer!"
COMBATSYS: MayLee has started a fight here on the right meter side.
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|-------\-------\0 MayLee
COMBATSYS: Kula has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Kula 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 MayLee
COMBATSYS: ChaeLim has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Kula 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 ChaeLim
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 MayLee
The chiding gets a small laugh from Chae Lim. It's been a long time since she's been in the presence of another of Kim's students... that wasn't Choi... and she's already feeling like she's back with non-family family again. "Sorry! Couldn't resist." She'd probably go on babbling something about adaptability in a given situation, but then she hears Kula.
Where May Lee is sympathetic, Chae is not. She reaches behind the counter at one of those frozen treats places, and pulls out a container with strawberries depicted on the front of it. Tearing the lid off, she dips a little wooden taste-testing spoon into it and scoops up a glob. "Yummy," she teases, placing the spoon in her mouth to enjoy the sugary icy treat.
Okay, it's not like her to be THIS mean, but she remembers how much Kula hurts. Best to hurt her where it counts, right?
"May Lee? She'll probably eat to her hearts content after beating her way through us to the stands... and then beat through the zombies besides."
With the 'C'mon, let's go', she swings into action. No time to talk about challenges, and she's saying her abundance of 'GREAT JUSTICE' to keep Choi in line, but she can spare a few good kicks for this fight, all in order to do Master Kim proud. Twisting to the opposite side of which May Lee strikes, the other Korean girl also fires off a strong trio of kicks aimed at Kula's calf, thigh, and stomach. "What she said."
COMBATSYS: MayLee successfully hits Kula with Medium Kick.
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Kula 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 ChaeLim
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 MayLee
COMBATSYS: Kula dodges ChaeLim's Ryuusei Raku.
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Kula 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 ChaeLim
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 MayLee
As the two exchange words, Kula's eyes fix on Chae Lim unwaveringly, one eye narrowing as the other girl opens what looks from a distance to be, perhaps, strawberry sorbet. A bright blue eyebrow twitches just a little as Kim's student not only samples the contents thereof but goes on to comment just how good it is. Taking in a breath, Kula lowers her raised fist, both hands now clenched at her sides as she looks rooted to the planter wall, abjectly distracted entirely from the fight by Chae Lim's deviousness. She even looks like she might tear up any moment now. "That's not very nice!"
May Lee takes Kula's warning as an indicator that if they attack first, they can get some hits in before she gets to that 'hurting' she mentioned so matter of factly and the lone fighter's eyes widen just a little, suddenly reminded about the match about to take place. Glancing back toward May Lee, she protests, "I'm not an evildoer! I just do what has to be done!" She sounds a little annoyed by that moniker.
Not annoyed enough to get out of the way, it seems, as the well timed kicks connect home, striking her leg hard in three different places. It causes Kula to slip, nearly fallining off the retaining wall into the waiting zombies. But as Kula falls, the girl catches herself with her right hand, pushing off with it to spin out of the way of Chae Lim's incoming attacks, manging to come down into a landing on the corner of the wall, balancing on one foot.
"You shouldn't tease!" Her right hand snaps out to her side, palm closing around a shaft of white energy roughly six feet in length.
The energy solidifies into a pole of ice. Going after Chae Lim with a vengeance, the girl grips the pole in both of her hands once it finishes crystalizing. Out of the top end a glass-like blade extends, turning the ice weapon into a nearly real scythe. Going with the Halloween mood? Or just seeking to teach Chae Lim a lesson in why you don't tease crazy little NESTS projects? That remains to be seen as she sweeings out with the sharp weapon, attempting to strike the other girl hard enough to hook it into her side, then harm her worse as she pries the blade savagely free while simultaneously trying to kick the girl hard in the stomach!
Mental note: Do not tease the scary blue-haired girl. Admittedly, May Lee could theoretically be called a 'scary, blue-haired girl' as well, but she's not the one that is attempting to smack people with a giant scythe. She's out of the way of the attack, but is more than willing to toss a 'Oh, geez.. Look out, Chae!! Don't taunt her!!" towards her teammate as the scythe comes in. Ai-yai-yai!
"If you're not evil, you shouldn't be using scary weapons like that! Proven fact, only evil people use scythes!" May Lee takes a step back, stumbling into one of the zombie 'extras', a nsty goopy half-hand prosthetic suddenly on her shoulder. With a yelp, she pushes off and back towards Kula, coming in from the side with a kick at waist high, then one aimed at Kula's forhead. Somewhat of a one trick pony - at least until she gets into the right stance - that's what the Lightning Needle is for, after all. "YAH!"
COMBATSYS: ChaeLim full-parries Kula's Strong Kick!
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Kula 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 ChaeLim
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 MayLee
Teasing Kula is not looking like it's turning out to be a great idea... but, she really couldn't help it. The chances of TWO SNF's being in locations filled with sugary goodness that Kula is not allowed to touch just makes things too perfect. "You're right, I shouldn't," she offers to Kula. And she won't, seeing as how to REALLY get in on the fight she's going to have to put the pink icy treat down.
Which she does, right atop one of the shambling zombie's head.
"Oops! Sorry! Thought you were one of those food court carts!"
The poor person in that costume is going to suffer brain freeze.
She might be suffering brain freeze shortly too! That pole of ice doesn't look all that warm and inviting, after all. Dropping back into stance, she watches as it crystallizes and takes the form of a scythe. May Lee calls her warning, and Chae gives a simple nod of the head. She can definitely look out, and that's what she does. The weapon swings toward her, and the fashonista catches it with her right hand, just below the blade. Swinging it away from her, she spins to the side and smiles at Kula. Her left arm comes up to deflect the kick, and the smile just becomes wider.
"I have not forgotten what a challenge you are."
Her words are then followed up with a double overhead axe kick, trying to keep the NESTs girl in position for May Lee's kicks to strike true.
COMBATSYS: Kula blocks MayLee's Lightning Needle.
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Kula 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 ChaeLim
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 MayLee
COMBATSYS: Kula dodges ChaeLim's Neri Chagi EX.
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Kula 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 ChaeLim
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 MayLee
May Lee's warning pays off for Chae Lim, as the other girl manages to defend herself from the long range, deadly weapon. She catches it just below the blade before it can cause any harm, and even when Kula tries to kick her while she's potentially distracted, she manages to knock aside her foot early, before any harm can be done. Catching herself, Kula plants her deflected foot on the ground and releases her grip on the frozen weapon. It turns to fine, white powder the moment she's no longer in contact with it and the young girl kicks backward, escaping the axe kick just in time.
Whirling around, she brings her right arm up, using her violet-leather clad forearm to stop the first kick, ducking low to let the second kick aimed for her forehead to go wide. "A weapon isn't good or evil. It's just a weapon." she retorts to the caped wonder. Chae Lim has proven a problem thus far, having had a match already by which to learn young Diamond's ice-centric method fo combat. Leaning to the side, Kula comes back up to standing at an angle to May Lee, her right hand at her mouth, palm up, fingers stretched out toward Kim's other student.
An inhale is followed by a swift exhale, and what should be simple, harmless breath becomes anything but as it courses over her open palm, becoming charged with a violent quantity of swirling ice crystals, razor edged rings of frozen matter, and several layers of sleet as she tries to blast May Lee off her feet and, perhaps, into the shambling horde to slow her down for a bit!
COMBATSYS: MayLee blocks Kula's Diamond Breath.
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Kula 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 ChaeLim
> ////////////////////////// ]
|==-----\-------\0 MayLee
Chae makes it look easy! May might be a little jealous, were she not certain that she's still in Master Kim's good graces. May Lee herself has to try harder it feels like, but that's perhaps why she was on this MYSTERIOUS JOURNEY. As her foot batters at Kula's guard, May tries to push her way through the block, only to be stymied and faced with a blown 'wind' of ice and snow. In her stance, there isn't much she can do other than weather the blast. Luckily she wears long, heavy pants and not a skirt! With her leg chambered as it is, it would be chilly indeed! "Brrr-rr!"
When she looks back up, her frost-lined glasses have dropped a little down to cover her eyes, and she's been skidded a few feet backwards, put at a disadvantage to try and close with Kula again. This does not stymie her at all! She drops her leading right leg down only for a second, to tap it on the ground before she launches herself forwards, chaining the first attack to the second. It's a set of two kicks - but instead of being a wide sweeping thing, the first is a side kick, and then followed up by the trailing leg coming in a powerful forward kick, trying to send Kula upwards and into the air!
Kula makes a very good point -- a weapon is just a weapon, it can't be good or evil, as it has no morals and conscience. It is the wielder of said weapon that is good or evil, and Chae Lim is fairly certain that her teammate and fellow student have the NESTs girl pegged properly as an evildoer. Mind, she keeps this thought to herself, so that she can get into her more serious mode and focus fully on the fight.
From the corner of her eye, she spots a zombie walking by carrying plastic utensils. They make for a good prop, and they also give her an idea. Running to the nearest restaurant, she grabs the large plastic tray filled with spoons, knives and forks. Thrusting it in front of her, she hopes to cause a distracting shower of plastic so that Kula doesn't see what's coming. Forks and spoons rain down toward the floor, and suddenly through the midst of them comes a flying kick directed at the center of the icy girl. "HEEEEYAH!"
COMBATSYS: ChaeLim successfully hits Kula with Medium Kick.
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Kula 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 ChaeLim
> ///////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 MayLee
COMBATSYS: Kula interrupts Into Sky from MayLee with Crow Bite.
-*- DEVASTATING HIT! -*-
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Kula 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 ChaeLim
> /////////// ]
|=======\====---\1 MayLee
Lowering her hand, ice flakes crack free from her now encrusted glove, drifting toward the floor at her feet as the girl glances from side to side to find the zombies shuffling a little bit away from her. Something about her seems to suggest that if they get between her and her opponents, they could very well end up on the receiving end of one of her vicious ice attacks. She looked so harmless at first glance, too!
Clenching her right hand then unclenching it, she breaks the rest of the icy shell left over her glove from the freezing attack she just sent May Lee's way. It distracts her from Chae Lim's preparations, however. And in the next moment she finds herself turning into a small flurry of flying objects. A storm of forks and spoons batter against her and the girl raises her arms to ward off the storm... but as she lowers her guard, thinking the attack has ended, she opens herself up to Chae Lim's solid kick, provoking a grunt of pain from her as she slips backward, arms flailing for support.
She catches herself from falling by extending her right hand behind her, creating a pillar of support out of shimmering ice against which she catches herself. Huffing a little, her visible breath fading fast, the girl stands up straight, whirling to face May Lee as the young heroine takes her chances in trying to catch the leather clad girl off guard. From side to side Kula glances, bringing her left hand up, creating a shimmering wall to her left, obstructing the path of the kick for her side with timing so precise it's almost as if she reverse engineered the attack moments before it was even performed, her passive combat algorithms spinning into overtime trying to profile everything she can about May Lee.
Questions about her evildoer nature might be settled with how she ends up retaliating before the second kick can come, however. As the first kick sends a spider web of cracks over the blocking ice, Kula brings her right hand up, from low to high, as if pulling something out of the ground. And that's precisely what happens, a sharp spike of ice surging up out of solid ground, colliding bodily with poor May Lee with vicious force - not just to stop her, but to possibly even impale her.
The frosty haired girl draws her right arm back, fist closed this time, taking a step forward into a low crouch right in front of May Lee. A flare of white covers her arm before solidifying into an arm length, curved gauntlet of jagged, spike covered ice. The thick, bladed armor laden arm is the very limb she uses to crash into May Lee with force that just doesn't even seem natural for a child her stature. The force is the likes of which that might easily carry May Lee into the air with Kula...
At the apex of her ascent, she finishes the attack by whipping out with her right foot, a bladed boot encasing her normal, insulated boot, using the foot to drive the girl back to the floor. Standing up straight as she lands, the sleeve of ice shatters, cascading off her arm to crash against the floor. "Don't take me lightly." she states coolly. Just in case there were any doubts!!
She wasn't being taken lightly! May Lee is just kinda goofy in that way, taking and relating things to the obsession she has. What may seem like condescension is merely an effort to relate things to how her heroes would handle them - though the consequences for being misunderstood are apparently dire. Caught in the maelstrom of ice that is Kula's attack, the ice spike catches her unaware, smashing into her and making her dizzy. The ice 'punch' crushes through her guard, and as she's thrown upwards and then kicked back to earth, she takes a few zombies out with her, sprawled out and bleeding from the mouth, a few dark marks under her shirt where more blood's escaping.
"Nhh.. this isn't the end, Kula Di-diamond." May Lee slowly gets up to her feet, her hand on her knees to prop herself up. She's breathing in deeply, to try and suck in a few lungfuls of air through something akin to what feels like broken ribs - oh yes, it's been a while since she'd been in a knock-down drag out fight. Her eyes go over towards Chae Lim, and she gives the other girl a bloody smile.
"It really *is* like that movie. Kamen Rider 1 had t-to get Kamen Rider 2's help to finish a fight he couldn't. I trust you, Chae.." With that, her eyes go steely, and she gets herself to her full upright posture.
Her hand flips her scarf back, the dark red fabric fluttering in an unfelt breeze. Her hands come up, and then chamber in. She intones rather seriously, full of certainty through the pain. "It's too early to say that this is 'The End' for you, Kula. But I'm just going to say that this is time for.. The Hurting!" With a spin and a flash of gold chi from her right glove, she launches herself towards Kula, darting past the zombies in an attempt to get her hand on the other girl!
Chae Lim can only imagine what May Lee is feeling right now... and even just doing THAT is quite painful. As her teammate is caught in the maelstrom of ice, and the spike comes out of nowhere, she winces in an involuntary manner. Despite the blood, it seems like the other girl has survived. For how long? Well, it's hard to tell. Chae's just going to have to hope that she'll be able to get to her feet and fight on a while longer yet. Kula doesn't seem all that out of it yet.
"Keep going, May Lee! I know you can do it!" While she's not the type to wave pom-poms very often, when a friend needs a bit of a pep talk she can provide on. "I'll help you finish this challenge to the best of my ability, but I promise you even if we lose this fight, I'll get you out of here safely." Stout nod.
The zombies will more likely than not drag them to safety, but if she makes it out of here on her own two feet she'll definitely help May Lee out as well.
While the other Korean girl rushes past some of the staggering zombies, Chae bides her time. She waits only long enough to see what May Lee is up to, then she leaps forward with the full intention of wrapping her feet about Kula's throat, and then twisting over to toss the NESTs girl off toward a nearby pretzel booth.
COMBATSYS: ChaeLim successfully hits Kula with Kubikume Otoshi.
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Kula 0/-------/-======|===----\-------\0 ChaeLim
> /////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 MayLee
COMBATSYS: Kula dodges MayLee's May Lee- The End!.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Kula 0/-------/-======|===----\-------\0 ChaeLim
> /////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 MayLee
Kula suspects, on some level, that she might have finished May Lee with that single hit. Oh, sure, she might be able to crawl around a little longer, but those were no minor injuries and the young killer's mind is starting to write the young Korean off entirely. That is, however, until she speaks. Declaring that it isn't the end. Not yet. Whirling back around to face her, Kula's jaw is set, lips a neutral, tight line. "Tell me," she demands as the poor girl struggles for air against incredible pain. "You seem like someone who fights for more than just fun. Do you have 'ideals'?" The final word carries special emphasis, as if she's demanding something even more important than strawberry sorbet of the girl.
May Lee extends her trust to Chae Lim then stands tall, her cape flying out behind her, powered by unseen air currents. Crimson eyes narrow, identifying the chi building on the girl's hands. The trace energy elements give her a sense of just how big a deal the impending attack is and her defensive routines kick into full gear. Weaving her left hand through the air in front of her, the girl creates a mirror of ice well over six inches thick.
The wall is meant for May Lee's chi-infused fist, and the gold energy crushes it handily with the kind of power behind the girl's attack. But by the time she does, young Diamond has already spun to the side and out of the way of her forward trajectory, her right hand coming up to brush her long hair back over her shoulder as she studies the other girl. No. No hurting for right now. What she forgets is that there's a second party here - one that's coming at her from an angle she isn't paying attention to, her combat algorithms having gotten distracted by her question to the other girl.
By the time she whirls around, sensing the incoming attack, it's too late to do anything about it. Chae Lim's ankles wrap around her neck, producing a startled 'grck' noise, and then she twists over, sending Kula flying. The landing ends up being softer than intended, however, as the ice weilder comes down to land in a thick pile of spontaneously created snow rather than crashing into the stand. Not terribly phased, she sits up and rises out of the convenient drift, powdery snow falling off her form as she eyes her two opponents.
Her right hand comes up, clenched in a fist. A small portion of the snow at her feet swirls up, solidifying into ice around her clenched hand. And now she's charging toward Chae Lim once again. Going for something fast rather than savage like before, she slides in, slamming her right hand forward, attempting to smash the ice infused fist into Chae Lim's sternum solidly.
Crashing and crushing through the ice wall, May Lee misses Kula due to the slight change of refraction, the way ice changes how the view through follows. May Lee's fingers close on crystal dust, and what was going to be a powerful move is left to be nothing more than melting water, dribbling through her gloved hands. It's a conundrum, one which she would think over further, were she not in the middle of a very important fight. She's pleased when Chae cuts off the question that is asked - the 'grck' showing that Chae isn't anything to take lightly! After all, Chae's being more effective than she is, which gives May Lee a moment to actually *answer* Kula. It's easily done - for all her joking, all her dramatics, beneath a heart of Justice beats - and she'll share it.
"Of course! Ideals are important - without them, a person has no drive, and in the end, they're just going through the motions." She'll show that purpose and drive *right* now, thanks. She eases back, chambers her fist against her chest, and then launches herself fowards towards Kula again, hand glowing bright. "May Lee - LIGHTNING BLOW!" With it said, she throws herself fully into the fight again, no matter the pain. After all, ideals allow a person to exceed what they're capable of - how better to prove her ideals than to throw herself up into the fray again!
COMBATSYS: ChaeLim blocks Kula's Medium Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Kula 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 ChaeLim
> ////////// ]
|===----\-------\0 MayLee
The answer that May Lee gives is met with yet another nod. If she keeps this up, maybe they'll get the idea to franchise some Chae Lim bobblehead dolls down in SNF merchandising.
As for taking things lightly? When she sees something that is a REAL challenge, she takes the fight as seriously as possible. Every challenge should be met that way. Heck, every sparring match should be met that way as well. This seriousness will one day see her take out some GREAT JUSTICE on Choi Bounge -- well, if he starts acting up again. So far as she's aware, he's been behaving since their little deal.
All this aside, she's got a fight to concentrate on, and Kula is most definitely not a slouch. Her tricks with the snow are almost enchanting to watch -- were one not about to be on the receiving end of them. As the ice covered fist slams forward, it meets with her forearm in a loud 'thock' noise. Teeth gritting together, the Korean girl takes a step back and finds herself standing on something squishy.
Something squishy that's no longer shambling along like a zombie intent on eating her brains, but rather a zombie who's screaming as if she just stabbity'd it to death.
"Ack!"
Coming face to face with something that grotesque (even if it's not real), isn't exactly pleasant. While she's flailing about a little to get away from the zombie-man, she kicks herself around. Her knee chambers across her chest, her hip swinging as the foot lashes out toward Kula's chest. "YAH!"
COMBATSYS: Kula dodges MayLee's May Lee- Lightning Blow!.
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Kula 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 ChaeLim
> ////////// ]
|===----\-------\0 MayLee
COMBATSYS: ChaeLim successfully hits Kula with Kuu Sa Jin.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Kula 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 ChaeLim
> ////////// ]
|===----\-------\0 MayLee
Her fist strikes Chae Lim's forearm, leaving the girl in a poor position to follow up. She draws back, instead, getting ready to backflip over a wall of shambling undead in order to buy herself some breathing space... but she senses that chi build up being put to use behind her - May Lee's attack is coming in fast and there's no time for that intended leap. Ducking low, instead, she manages to let the caped girl whistle past her at remarkable, yet ultimately, in this case, harmless speed.
"Good," Kula answers May Lee. "Then I can fight you seriously as well." She hasn't stopped moving, and in fact is about to lash out for the back of the passing May Lee with a follow up strike. But Chae Lim steps in with a swift kick that brings Kula to a halt with a solid blow across her chest. Arm drawing back, she slides a few feet, shifting her attention back toward Chae Lim. She's proving just as tenacious as her friend is determined...
"And of course, I haven't forgotten our last fight... or your teasing a little bit ago." Her right hand comes up, clenched in to a fist, a pulse of white energy encasing her closed hand before solidifying into a translucent sphere of solid ice. Slamming her arm forward swiftly, the ice on the half of the sphere closest to Chae Lim morphs in its nature, becoming instead three punishing lances that skewer out swiftly, aiming to spear right through her if she isn't quick enough. She might stick her to the wall if the worst happens given the level of force she applies to that swift attack!
COMBATSYS: MayLee endures Kula's Critical Ice.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Kula 1/------=/=======|====---\-------\0 ChaeLim
> ]
|=======\===----\1 MayLee
Tenacious. Determined. May Lee and Chae Lim are both these things, and so much more. May Lee herself, in fact, is more than that in many ways. Foolhardy, for one. Crazy, for another. This is the curse of the girl who so boldly puts her heart on her sleeve, and her sense of duty and friendship before anything else. As Kula turns towards Chae Lim, May Lee is already recovering from her miss, skidding to a stop, hand sliding on the ground as she gathers herself. With Chae Lim suddenly in the 'line of fire', as it were, May Lee shows one of the other qualities that attracted Kim Kaphwan to training her.
Courage.
"Not this time!" May's voice is loud, almost a screech as she moves, a blur that stops with her deliberately between Chae and Kula's ball of ice. The spikes hit her - really, there was never any doubt of this. May *had* to be in the way, else Chae could have been hit. The bite of the lances of ice makes her sag, the chill sapping her strength, and knocking her to just this side of unconciousness. She's held up by those spikes, like a puppet with it's strings cut, held in the grasp of the puppetteer. But her eyes are still clear, staring at Kula. Her voice is raspy, but when she speaks, it shows the effort she makes with each breath.
"You can't say you're serious, and then step away. I.. I was saying that ideals made us strong.. And when the time has to happen - we give our all to our ideals." With that, her head falls forwards - and she focuses.
Around her, a faint glow shows up - and then through the ice, an afterimage of May Lee appears - and launches itself forwards towards Kula's location. It moves fast, no matter how broken her body may be, May Lee's spirit stands unbowed. And that, in the end - is her Key of Victory.
COMBATSYS: MayLee can no longer fight.
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Kula 1/------=/=======|====---\-------\0 ChaeLim
"I highly doubt you forget much," Chae Lim replies, falling back into stance and preparing to be impaled with the icy lance. Instead, as her foot falls backward, there is a blur that gets between her and the ball of ice.
Blinking, she watches as May Lee takes the hit meant for her. In all the time with her teammates and fellow students having dispersed and disappeared, this is what she was missing -- the heart of teamwork -- and it hurts more that she didn't think to protect May Lee earlier.
Prodigy of Master Kim she may be, but it would seem she still has much to learn.
Now, no matter what happens, she must give her all so that her friend's courage and determination aren't for naught.
Not wishing to interfere with the glowing image of May, she ducks around several of the rambling zombies that now seem to be forming a circle around the three girls. She moves quickly so that she can work her way behind Kula. Arms snap outward, an attempt made to take the ice girl by the waist and fling her toward May's attack.
COMBATSYS: Kula dodges ChaeLim's Quick Throw.
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Kula 1/------=/=======|====---\-------\0 ChaeLim
COMBATSYS: Kula dodges MayLee's Key of Victory.
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Kula 1/------=/=======|====---\-------\0 ChaeLim
The window of time in which to react is preciously narrow. At close range, the technique is one of her faster, more deadly attacks. Deceptive in its nature, it's easy to underestimate just how so many have fallen prey to those icy lances in the past. But not Chae Lim. Not this time. Kula swings her arm forward, confident in her ability to severely hurt the Korean fighter. And her attack does strike fiercely... but in the end it isn't who she was aiming for.
Those crimson eyes blink back at May Lee, the girl standing there, bloodied ice stuck through her, the trunks of the spears still connected to the sphere of ice around Kula's right fist. 'Not this time.' she declares defiantly, catching the young NESTS experiement completely off guard. How did she hit the wrong person? What went wrong? Did May Lee... did May Lee get in the way of her attack on purpose? "What are you doing," she almost hisses the words in a forced whisper. She took the blow for another person. "Why would you do that?" Sacrificing for another. Few had demonstrated the action quite like this, so undeniably in her face.
Her right hand relaxes, the sphere collapsing into large segments of ice that fall to the floor at her feet, freeing her up just as a rush of power, /purpose/, spirit speeds past her ice and directly for her. Startled, completely surprised, the NESTS asssassin is still as fast as lightning, reflexively darting away, not even sure of the nature of the attack. The image rushes by, a stiff wind in its wake that billows the young girl's hair about her shoulders for a moment in its passing. A close call, and the sheer presence of it warns the girl of the strength of the attack she narrowly avoided. She regards May Lee silently for roughly two seconds, a grave, solemn expression on her face.
And then she starts moving again. Whether by actively paying attention or reacting on instinct, Kula escapes out of the path of Chae Lim's attempt to get a hold of her, flipping backward into the air. The nature of her evasion becomes quite clear as she descends in an arc that would put her behind the grasping Chae Lim, dropping her right foot down heel first toward her back. It shimmers with a pulse of white that threatens to explode out with frigid power should she make contact. Otherwise she'll simply land, the energy difusing out from her foot harmlessly, leaving frost covered tiles at her feet. "Is she your sister?" the girl asks of Chae Lim the instant she has a chance to speak. It's the only possible explanation she can think of.
COMBATSYS: Kula successfully hits ChaeLim with Medium Kick.
# Disabling hit! #
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Kula 1/-----==/=======|=======\==-----\1 ChaeLim
Despite her best efforts to help May Lee at the end, Kula manages to avoid her grasp. Were this not a serious fight, she might actually stomp her foot on the ground in a frustrated manner. But while Kula is busy trying to make sense of what's just happened, Chae Lim glances around, looking for a way to get her teammate out of harm's way.
She's no longer worried about the icy one attacking the other Korean girl, but she IS a little worried that someone might land on her, or trip over her.
Distracted by the thought of helping May, she's not paying as much attention to Kula as she perhaps should be. As the NESTs girl flips behind her, sending an explosion of icy cold energy along with a stomp, it gets a sharp cry from her. "Aaaack!"
Chae Lim has now become a part of the floor, her body smashing against it in such a harsh manner as to leave a little crack in the tiles. The answer to Kula doesn't come quite yet, her body needing to thaw a little as she struggles to push herself up off of the floor. Coughing twice, she rolls to the side and starts to slowly pull herself to her feet. The movement isn't too far off from the odd staggering that the zombies are doing around them.
"She is a close friend, a teammate." And an injured one at that. With her own stumbling around, she motions to some of the faux zombies, to get a bit of help lifting May up. Obtaining the help of two very slow moving zombies, she gets May Lee directed toward the zombified medics standing off to the side of the food court.
Chae is REALLY hoping that these really are only fake zombies. If one were to reach down and try to eat May's brain, she's quite certain Master Kim would NEVER forgive her.
Once they are on their way, she clutches her stomach and takes a several deep, gasping breaths. That heel stomp to the back is killing her more than she'd like to let on.
COMBATSYS: ChaeLim gains composure.
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Kula 1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\1 ChaeLim
After she asks her question, Kula stays put. She knows she gave Chae Lim a solid enough crack to the back with that last strike of hers. If she wants to end the fight, she need only hassle the girl as she tries to attend to her friend. Or just kick her before she pulls herself up. Or strike her preemptively before she can even get back up off her feet. Or cut her answer short with another punishing attack. But she seems to relly want to know the relationship between the two girls. There's a certain connection there. She wants to understand. It leaves Kula to simply wait for the kicked girl to pull herself off the floor and then make her way over to May Lee.
A number of zombie actors, glad to be as far away as possible from the mayhem, help May Lee from the vicinity before Chae Lim answers the inquisitive killer. "A teammate," she repeats back softly as if the concept is novel to her. She glances to the side, thoughtfully for a moment, before shifting her crimson eyed focus back to Chae Lim. "That's neat," she declares in the end, offering a hint of a smile, as unnerving as it might be.
But the match isn't over. Kula isn't about to stop attacking just because something she's watched transpire has caught her ever curious attention. Breathing in, she suddenly darts for the other girl, both hands charging with white energy as she prepares her next attack. "You and she - have similar but different styles. Do you have the same spirit as she does?" She ducks low, sliding in as if upon ice skates that defy being seen. When she comes out of her, her right hand is going for the girl's shoulder, attempting to get a bone-chilling grip. Her left hand goes for the front of Chae Lim's outfit, seeking a tight enough hold to wrench her off her feet and hurl her back toward the center of the food court, directly into and through a wall of milling zombies.
COMBATSYS: Kula successfully hits ChaeLim with Medium Throw.
# Disabling hit! #
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Kula 1/----===/=======|=======\======-\1 ChaeLim
It's neat? Chae Lim just stares blankly at Kula for a second, then shakes her head. In a way, she supposes it is neat. To have a network of friends that you consider a second family. Friends that would put their lives on the line to ensure that you're okay, and to see that the less injured one stays that way long enough to retaliate with damage to the opposing party.
"I would like to think so," she replies, her doe brown eyes never leaving the other girl as her hands begin to glow white. Her focus is upon the hands though, and not the feet. She misses it when the girl starts to glide along the still icy tiles, and is unable to move in time to avoid the frozen grip. She shivers, unable to stop herself, and becomes the human-sized bowling ball for the poor zombie-pins.
To Kula's credit, it was a strike, and zombie-actors topple everywhere, leaving the Korean girl to crash into a sweets booth, breaking the protective barrier and sending sweets all over the floor.
Chae is hurting, and this time she doesn't make a show of trying to hide the pain. She pulls a piece of the counter from her arm, her head given a shake as though to clear it. Hands press against what remains of the counter so that she can steady herself. Eyes close.
"But it too is not EXACTLY the same," she says, speaking of her own spirit of course.
In what could be constituted as a display of her fighting spirit, Chae Lim pushes off the counter in order to leap forward. Kick after kick is fired off at Kula, the barrage of attacks seeming to be unending. Front kicks, thrust kicks, roundhouses. One, after the other, after another. Each swift movement is accented by a sharp, "Hah!", until she finishes everything off with a vertical kick and falls back into stance, looking rather winded.
COMBATSYS: Kula blocks ChaeLim's Hou'ou Tenbu Kyaku.
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Kula 1/---====/=======|====---\-------\0 ChaeLim
Upon releasing her hold on Chae Lim, Kula hangs back, watching the other girl go flying through the hapless zombie 'extras' before crashing into booth, sending treats and fixtures flying. She doesn't look sympathetic to the plight of Kim's student, her expression not malicious, but certainly far from compasionate as Chae Lim plucks a sizeable piece from her arm. Her answer - that her spirit is her own, provokes a slight nod of acknowledgement from the NESTS operative. "What do you fight for? Is it just for fun?"
Just as with May Lee, such a declaration of spirit is likely to be the herald of something impressive to come next. Kula is ready, her focus not wavering, her passive combat profiles constantly trying to predict Chae Lim's next course of action. In the end, it proves to be just enough. In comes the Korean girl with a storm of kicks that would challenge any fighter to stay ahead of. The violet-leather clad girl, her back a bit close to the wall behind her, is left with limited options to simply avoid the combination...
Instead she's forced to defend herself more physically. But it isn't performed with simply getting her arms in the way. With each kick, the young girl brings her hand forward, creating a small, thick ice barrier. Each one, in turn, is rebuffed, though the ice barriers rarely survive more than a kick or two before they shatter into fine powder. A couple kicks get through, catching the girl in the stomach, in the thigh, or shoulder, but while it drives her back against the wall with a soft grunt, it isn't enough to quite knock her off her feet.
In close quarters, Kula's retaliation comes quickly and without warning. A flair of white at her right hand solidifies into a small, translucent dagger. Something to draw Chae Lim's attention to... But when the attack actually comes, it's from her left hand first, the waifish girl's fist slamming forward, white, freezing cold energy spiraling into the shape of a drill that she attempts to slam squarely into Chae Lim's torso.
Only then does the follow up attack come - a flick of Kula's right wrist, her hand coming in swiftly, attempting to follow up the savage drilling with a horizontal slash across the front of May Lee's friend!
COMBATSYS: Kula successfully hits ChaeLim with Fierce Punch.
# Disabling hit! #
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Kula 1/--=====/=======|=======\==-----\1 ChaeLim
What does she fight for? Chae Lim slides into stance as the last kick breaks against one of the small walls of ice. Her lips curve into a smile even though her doe brown eyes still bear a serious slant to them.
"Justice," comes the answer, seconds before the icy wonder forms that translucent dagger.
Kula seems to be very good at the art of distraction, for when the dagger is formed it definitely catches the Korean girl's attention. Eyes narrow upon it, her body already beginning to shift to the opposing side. Which is right when the left fist of her foe drills into her abdomen. With a cry of pain, Chae skids back a foot or so. It's not quite far enough though, and the energy-dagger slices right down her torso.
With a wince, she drops to her knees. This is no worse than fighting Choi, is it? Except that it feels a lot more wearying to her. There's one thing Kula might not be counting on though -- as long as she can still pull herself up to her feet, she's got every intention of doing so.
With nearly every remaining ounce of energy she possesses, she pushes her feet against the floor. This not only pushes her back up to her feet (though she appears to be a little wobbly), it launches her forward for a long jump kick. What follows is another extreme barrage of kicks, chops, and one good palm-strike before a snappy vertical kick is angled at Kula's head.
When the whirlwind of attacks is complete (whether they've hit or not), Chae settles back into stance, breathing quite heavily.
COMBATSYS: Kula interrupts Kuuchuu Hou'ou Kyaku from ChaeLim with Behind Slash.
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Kula 1/-======/=======|=======\-------\1 ChaeLim
"Justice," Kula echos back, the second syllable lingering a moment longer, ending up sounding almost like a soft hiss. A split second later and Chae Lim has dropped to her knees, victim to the painful pair of piercing, slashing strikes. The spiral of chi surrounding her left hand vanishes as she draws her fist back, scattering as if it had been no more than harmless vapor. The knife held in her right fingers snaps back into position next, a hint of crimson along the bladed edge of it.
The girl drops it to the floor where the dagger shatters and she leans backward slightly, her upper back propped against the wall. While she hides it well, the fight has been taxing. Keeping up with both of the girls for a while as demanding, and surviving Chae Lim's determined lone stand is not much easier. "Why?" comes the question back. "What does Justice do for you?" The question is free of derision or distaste - she sounds more like she simply can't understand the pursuit thereof. "What has it ever done for you?"
She doesn't hestiate, however, when Chae Lim charges her again, determined to keep fighting with every last ounce of strength she has. The jump kick is long, and again Kula doesn't move, weaving into existence another ice barrier to halt Chae Lim's progress. It doesn't hold, the force behind that opening strike enough to cleave it in two, much to the frosty haired girl's surprise as she takes the blow to the top of her head.
The flurry of kicks that follows starts well enough for Chae Lim as the girl lands a few clean blows against Kula while the NESTS agent scrambles to defend herself, her vision slightly dazed by the first strike. But before the entire combination of attacks can be dished out, Kula strikes back - her right hand slamming forward into the Korean's stomach, clenched as a fist, preempting the palm strike just before it can connect.
"Is it even real? Justice?" Her mouth curls into a faint glimmer of a smile. "I wonder if only you think so..." Her left hand unclenches at her side, raising up, finger pointing toward Chae Lim before curling back into her gloved palm. Behind the Tae Kwon Do student, a short spike of ice is drawn forward to dig into her back as if to punctuate the cold girl's point before she pushes harder with her right hand, intending to brush her final opponent away with that unnatural strength her arm seems to possess.
Determination isn't all it's cracked up to be. A spray of blood from the slash across her torso spits out to either side of the Korean girl at the unexpected punch. The pain that roils through her body with it is bringing her to the brink of unconsciousness. It is only by sheer willpower that Chae Lim is even able to remain standing, and that's faltering quite a bit.
"E-even..." Coughing, Chae takes a deep, rasping breath. "Even i-if... I... a-am..."
Before she's able to get any more out, there is a sudden spike of ice jabbing into her back, not only punctuating Kula's point, but puncturing the Korean's skin. This on its own would likely be enough to cause her to cry out and attempt to rip the icy spike from her body. With the other injuries, however, Chae just falls forward, her face landing in a pint of strawberry sorbet.
*SPLUT*
She lifts her head just enough to finish what she was trying to say earlier. "E-even if I am..." Coughing, she wipes some of the pink goo from her face. "T-that... is enough... to m-make it real...."
Immediately afterward, she's falling forward again. The milling zombies wait just a few more seconds to make sure that she's not going to fight back against them before they begin to drag her off to the sidelines for medical attention -- or to eat her strawberry covered head.
Whichever.
COMBATSYS: ChaeLim takes no action.
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Kula 1/-======/=======|
COMBATSYS: ChaeLim can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kula 1/-======/=======|
Kula's arms lower to rest against her sides as Chae Lim falls. This time, she's quite certain, the girl has no fight left in her. There is no more need to defend herself or act with caution. Even if Kim's student took one last stab at it, it would probably be something Kula could avoid easily enough given the gap in the condition between the two girls at this point.
A soft exhale escapes her lips, her hair losing its frosty color and becoming auburn once more, the presence of frosty flakes swirling about her falling to the floor as tiny droplets of water. All the debris of her attacks throughout the match - the shattered dagger, the shards from the scythe, crystaline fragments from the various lances and armored gauntlets she had created, and even the spike in poor Chae Lim's back begin to melt rapidly to water-form.
"Really?" she asks as Chae Lim utters her words, resolve keeping her going just long enough to do so. "Maybe that's all it needs. A champion to make an idea real..." She turns to the side, not obstructing the zombified staff from crowding in around Chae Lim as she slips out of the way. "Maybe that's how you make your own ideal." she murmurs thoughtfully.
She turns around to watch Chae Lim helped out of the food court. The match is over. This means she's free to eat what she wants, she decides! Whatever didn't end up splattered on the floor, at least. Poor sorbet... Eyes widening, thoughts of ideals, goals, dreams, and purposes fading fast from her mind as she clasps her hands together in front of her, Kula eagerly glances over the food court booths.
Her joy is shortlived, however, as her eyes come to rest on the small parade of handlers from NESTS rushing in from the opposite side, ready to reclaim their young charge now that her weekly bout appearance has come to a close. "Awh, but I-" she starts to protest as her hands are grabbed and she starts to get firmly escorted out of the decorated food court. A soft sigh of begrudging acceptance seems to be her final response as she glances over her shoulder one last time at the wet, messy food court and toward the exit Chae Lim and May Lee were taken through. A team, she muses. /Neat/.
COMBATSYS: Kula has ended the fight here.
Log created on 18:50:42 11/02/2008 by ChaeLim, and last modified on 12:26:18 11/10/2008.