Description: The deck of a fishing ship at sea plays host to this battle between fisherwomen and their exotic, aquatic prey! While Kula contends with the Russian bear to begin with, the moment she turns her attention to Vanessa, the woman unfortunately manages to place where she's seen the girl before... ( Winners: Kula and Marisol )
Another week, another game of dress-up.
Oh, and SNF.
Standing on the deck of the sprawling SS Nautilator, Marisol O'Connell looks impassive at best. Clad in what appears to be a pair of old denim overalls with golashes and a big straw hat atop her head and a plain white teeshirt hanging off her form, one would almost confuse the girl for a fisher(wo)man...or maybe even man! ...if not for her chest. She's thankful for that, at least, and so are a few lonely deckhands.
Killing time, the half-Spaniard girl leans against a railing of the ship, peering uneasily into the moving, churning waters below. With one hand perched upon her straw hat, the girl idly chews on some bubblegum as she waits for the other fighters to arrive from below deck. Unmanned cameras have been set up at key points and positions atop the SS Nautilator, to capture all the FUN FAMILY EXCITEMENT while keeping things open for the fighters--and to prevent cameras from being destroyed.
Time draws near, however! A SNF crew member approaches the girl, waving her down and getting her attention before reviewing the match briefly with her. Two versus two, her partner, Kula Diamond. Again! . ..which doesn't seem to fuss her; in fact, the girl cracks her knuckles idly and grins, nodding her head in agreement. The man points toward the center of the sprawling shipdeck, where the fight-to-be will at least start. Lord knows what'll happen!
So, patiently she saunters over, hands in her big overall pockets as she approaches the designated 'arena' area in preparation. She can only hope the others opponents will show up..!
Off to the ocean for this week's SNF bout, Kula Diamond has had her wardrobe overhauled for the purposes of the match. At least, any of it that's visible, having managed to keep her protective, leather body armor equipped beneath the baggy, loose fitting attire. A pair of oversized, blue overalls are visible beneath the long, somewhat oversized, hooded rain coat that practically envelops the girl.
Her long, frosty colored hair drapes out of the hood, framing what is visible of her face from behind the hood. She's already in position when Marisol is brought back toward the center of the deck, weaving a little back and forth with the motions of the boat. "I wish we were fishing in an icy lake instead," the girl mumbles softly. Her normally pale features seem even more pale than usual. It seems someone hasn't gained an appreciation for sea-faring boats yet.
Turning toward Marisol as the boxer approaches, her face lights up a little, however, her hands, concealed with oversized, black rubber gloves, clench in front of her, "You again! Last time I was the boss and you were my assistant. You can be in charge this time." she declares. Her hand comes up to shift her hood a little as it starts to slip back off her head, "We can't let the fishy folk get the upper hand this time," she states, her tone quite serious, nodding in self-affirmation.
Suddenly: BEAR!
Looks like someone forgot to explain the exact meaning of 'aquatic life' to Zangief. Or perhaps the Red Cyclone just doesn't care. Bears eat salmon, which means they spend some time in the water. Fish spend time in the water. So bears must be water life. This is close enough for the Red Cyclone, and if you want to be the one to tell him he can't dress up like a bear. Well. You go right ahead.
The costume is... amazingly lifelike. A large black Russian bear, looming over the two small, unfortunate fisherwomen. For clothing, it wears a bright red pair of shorts, and big red boots over its paws. It is also wearing a snorkel. The snorkel is bright green, and at first... there is no sound.
Then there is a hideous, /hideous/ half-roar, half-growl. "GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHMNGH!?!!?!" The Bear howls demandingly.
Until it spits out the snorkel, taking a deep breath. One paw reaches up to rip off the plug from the end of the snorkel.
"Phew! HELLO COMRADES!" Zangief booms from his cunning disguise. "Looks like the Red Cyclone is going to capsize your boat, eh?!" Wow. That's... actually a pretty good pun, for Zangief. "BUT! Don't worry! I brought you something to make up for it!"
And it's true. He has. A bag is hurled down at the feet of the opposing team with a wet /slap/. And what's inside? But... a good dozen Russian Pollock. Ew.
Vanessa was worried about the fact that her costuming group seemed to have their own creative definition of 'seagoing mammal', until Zangief appeared dressed as a bear with a snorkle.
"Well," Vanessa says from behind the inevitable DRAMATIC REVEAL veil. "I guess that makes me feel better." The veil rises, to reveal Vanessa....
...dressed as a mermaid!? To her credit the tail portion appears to be a whale, but Vanessa herself is unclothed from the waist up except for a shell-and-pearls brasiere. The tail is set such that it looks elegant without impeding her ability to run, which is important because Vanessa's a very mobile fighter. Vanessa attempts to look apologetic, although she can't resist mugging a little for the cameras.
COMBATSYS: Kula has started a fight here on the left meter side.
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Kula 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Zangief has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Kula 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Zangief
COMBATSYS: Vanessa has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Kula 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Vanessa
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|-------\-------\0 Zangief
COMBATSYS: Marisol has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Marisol 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Vanessa
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Kula 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Zangief
When Kula arrives, the first of the three remaining fighters, she's greeted by Marisol with a grin and a little wave with a taped-up hand. Wandering toward the frosty fighter, she lets her grin bloom a bit more as the NESTS girl speaks. "Nah, no big deal!" she pipes up, grinning. "We're a team, so I don't mind helping out either way, y'know? Leader, follower; it's all the same to me in these sorts of fights." A loose shrug follows, eyes drawing shut.
"But yes, you are right. Let's kick some aquatic ass--WHAT THE HELL?!"
Suddenly a beachwear-clad BEAR arrives, startling the girl and causing Marisol to hop back. This must be Zangief, she decides, but...what the hell? It's an actual bear fighter? A glance is spared briefly to her teammate before she looks back, uneasy and uncertain of this ursine creature's motives. WILL HE EAT THEM ALIVE? The growl-roar seems to suggest that he will--!
But then all is well when he reveals he's really just a Russian dude dressed LIKE a bear. It's a little comforting...except for the fact he's kind of huge and muscle-y and massive. It's kind of intimidating--at first. Then Marisol decides, hey. It's a challenge!
"H-hey, nice to--" Cut short, the bag hits the ground at their feet, and immediately Marisol's gaze drops. What the hell..??
But, once again, Marisol is distracted with the arrival of a more familiar face to the girl. Gray eyes light up as she spies the redheaded woman dressed as a whailmaid (??) and like a fly to honey she buzzes over.
"H-hi!" she pipes up, grinning broadly. "I just wanted to say it's so great and awesome to meet another boxer-type on the fighting scene! And a woman boxer, no less! Er, granted...I think our styles are a little different in that yours is more traditional boxing while mine is more bareknuckle, but that's beside the point!" She's babbling. "I-it's still really, really great to finally get a chance to meet you!"
Sadly, time to get acquainted is cut short by a sudden blow of the ship's horn and a signal from the SNF crewmembers on the ship's deck. Frowning lightly, the girl takes a few steps back from the other woman boxer toward her teammate, giving the girl a glance. "Ready??" she asks Kula...
Before she takes off! Charging after none other than Vanessa, the half-Spaniard girl attempts to sock the elder woman harshly in the chin with a straight punch. "HYAAAAAAH!" At least she wastes no time.
As Marisol suggests that the two are on even footing for the purposes of teamwork, Kula cants her head to the side slightly, hand coming up to correct the floppy, yellow hood once again. "Well, okay... Then I'll be the leader if you don't want to be," she decides, pointing at herself with her thumb, quite convinced that someone has to be team leader even if Marisol says otherwise.
Beargief makes his entrance and the NESTS operative whirls around to face the roaring behemoth of a man, crimson eyes widening just a little. "Oh, that's Zangief. He brings with him the fury of Mother Russia," she states quite matter of factly, remembering the large wrestler from her match with him as a partner weeks prior. She rests one hand at her hip, wagging a finger back at Zangief admonishingly, "We're not going to let you capsize the boat. This fishing expedition won't be stopped by the likes of you!"
By then, Marisol has already taken off to greet the other boxer, and Kula is left to her lonesome staring up at the towering Russian. Covering her ears as the ship horn is put to use in announcing the start of the fight, the thin fighter springs back a yard from Zangief, feet slipping for a half meter before coming to a stop. "Ready!" she answers Marisol, a rare hint of enthusiasm in her voice. It seems as of late the weekly training matches have gotten more amusing for the girl, overcoming, perhaps, her traditional indifference to the sport.
A breath is taken in, then exhaled, visible as vapor in the crisp air for a fleeting moment. "Time to gut this fi-... bear!" And with that, young Diamond is on the offense, chosing to contend with the menacing bear...creature first. When she moves, she becomes a rain-slicker clad yellow blur, feet sliding over the surface of the deck as if she were ice skating. Unfortunately, her threat of gutting may be all too literal given her attempted attack.
A leap into the air takes her on a collision course with Zangief, however, her right foot snapping out to lead the way, a blade of ice along the sole of her foot threatening to carve right into him through the outfit should his boot-covered paws not provide sufficient defense. Her left foot would follow suit if she gets in the first hit, following up with another slashing kick before Kula starts to slip backward from him!
COMBATSYS: Zangief endures Kula's Medium Kick.
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Marisol 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Vanessa
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Kula 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Zangief
Zangief crouches a little lower as Kula comes at him. In truth, he hadn't really been paying much attention to what she'd been doing in his fight. Even when he watched it again. Because he was there, and he's far more exciting than some little girl. Even a little girl who can kick really hard. He laughs loudly, "OHOH! AND HOW ARE YOU GOING TO STOP THE RED--"
This is said as Zangief steps forwards. And then he's kicked. And the blade of ice slices clean through his costume, and deep into his gut. Stopping his words dead. The Red Cyclone looks... surprised. He hadn't expected it to hurt -that- much! That had really hurt! He was BLEEDING?!
Thankfully. Being cut and bleeding just makes Zangief angrier. Those big ole' paws of his come down hard, and fast. "GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!" He roars, finishing his statement with a bestial cry of fury. Yes, Zangief. That's right. Time to prove to the world that you... CAN BEAT UP A GIRL IN A FISHING COSTUME!
If he can grab Kula, the girl will find herself ripped up off her feet, and turned upside down. Opening with a good classic, Zangief intends to finish this quickly. Because he didn't feel like getting cut up any more.
He'll /leap/ into the air, with Kula's head positioned between furry bear-thighs, before coming down hard on the deck of the ship, and trying to make a nice new dent in it with Kula's skull.
RAR! ZANGIEF SMASH PUNY GIRL!
COMBATSYS: Marisol successfully hits Vanessa with Medium Punch.
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Marisol 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 Vanessa
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Kula 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Zangief
Vanessa tilts her head to one side, getting used to the feel of the sea air on her slightly more bare than usual skin. Creeeeepy. And then Marisol shows up, and the redhead grins a bit. "Well, you say that, but," she holds up her gloved hands - black, full-handed gloves, yes, but boxing gloves they ain't. "I don't use gloves much, myself. It's nice t'meetcha too, kid." Vanessa's about to offer her hand for a good ol' before-match shake, when suddenly THE BELLS TOLL. Or...horns sing, or, whichever, anyway Marisol abruptly pops her in the jaw! Vanessa tries to bring her arms up to block, but finds her movements hampered by the weight of the tail, which throws her off just enough that Marisol gets her shot in cleanly. Vanessa makes an unhappy kind of sound, and then while Zangief is off mauling Kula, the Boxing Queen surges in toward Marisol as best she can. She's still getting used to the weight of the outfit, so she can't move super-fast yet - instead, she aims to hammer into Marisol the old fashioned way: Slamming her with punch after punch after punch, shouting, "Body! Body! Body! Body!" as she hammers blows into Marisol's guard, and finally adding, "UPPER!" as she finishes the rampage off with a sharp crack at Marisol's chin!
COMBATSYS: Marisol blocks Vanessa's Machine Gun Puncher.
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Marisol 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Vanessa
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Kula 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Zangief
"Zangief from Russia?" the girl echoes, peering toward her blue-haired companion for the fight with a pensive expression. Slowly, gray eyes drift back onto the towering bear-like figure before her. He's so massive...she kind of assumed most people from Russia were scrawny, since it's cold and who would want to go out and train in that awful weather. No matter; shaking her head, the girl sports a lopsided sort of grin.
And then Vanessa totally distracts the half-Spaniard girl!
Smiling brightly, she seems more than cheerful when the woman receives her well enough, giving the elder redhead an eager nod. But soon enough they're all forced to square off against one another. How unfair! ...but fun.
"Good luck, Kula! I've got your back!" the girl calls to the NESTS experiment before she charges in, driving a fist into the woman's jaw. Naturally, the woman is going to retaliate; thus does Marisol hop back and drop her arms, keeping them held defensively at her sides. When she comes the girl lifts her arms and shields herself, those stinging, gloved fists slamming like a jackhammer into her arms as she weathers the blow. The uppercut is intercepted with her forearm as it drops, keeping her from taking it to the chin. Phew.
"Owww," the girl lightly groans, giving her stinging arms a shaking out before she lifts a hand up and rips the hat free of her head. "That was awesome!"
Dropping an arm to her side, the girl's hand splays, a spark of dandelion yellow energy igniting in her palm. It grows, flames swirling and churning, growing larger as the yellow chi energies swiftly begin to form into a sphere-like shape in her hand. Once it's roughly the size of a beach ball the girl's fingers hook and curl inwards, 'grabbing' the energy as she reels her arm back...before she tosses it forwards, to send it crashing toward the boxer lady. "HAAH!"
COMBATSYS: Zangief knocks away Kula with Screw Piledriver!
- Power hit! -
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Marisol 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Vanessa
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Kula 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Zangief
Her two kicks delivered, Kula had it in mind that getting distance would be for the best. Zangief has other ideas in mind, however, his temper raised by the unexpectedly sharp nature of her opening strikes. Eyes widen as he lunges forward, right foot pushing down against the deck in an attempt to skip out of the menacing reach of his fearsome paws. But she doesn't get far enough, underestimating the speed at which he can retaliate, and the raw power of those disguised claws.
Once caught, she's helpless to wrestle her way free from the vastly superior strength of her opponent, which leaves her bent, folded, hefted, and ultimately crushed against the deck of the boat hard enough to leave a Kula-head shaped dent in its surface. Rebounding from the impact, she lands hard, sprawled out from an uncontrolled crash, combat algorithms working over time to try and catch up with the frightfully unexpectedly punishing attack. She needs to not get hit again - that much is concluded as the vaguely seasick girl begins to feel even more ill from the punishing impact, eyes taking a brief moment to refocus on her fuzzy opponent, her left and rubbing at the back of her head. "Oh... this bear isn't nice at all."
Managing to get back to her feet, she drops back the hood all together, wincing a little as she rests her hand lightly against the upper back of her neck. A faint glimmer of blue energy heralds a small surge of energy before fading, as a wound opened by the impact is sealed by a small touch of ice. Lowering her left hand, her right gloved hand is raised next, palm up, fingers forward, resting at her mouth as the young girl takes in a deep breath.
Her vision solidifies back on Zangief as she exhales, a white pulse of energy coursing along her right arm, culminating in her hand even as her breath passes over it. And with that, the Russian will find a gale strong pulse of wind bearing needle shaped shards of ice, razor edged rings of frozen material, and a thick wall of sleet all meant to harm and slow his advance so that she can buy time for her combat instincts to resolve on a better way to deal with him besides 'getting smeared into the deck!'
COMBATSYS: Zangief blocks Kula's Diamond Breath.
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Marisol 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Vanessa
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Kula 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Zangief
Zangief growls low in the back of his throat as ice is brought to bear against him. The large man is angry. He hated projectiles, and this is no different! Stupid little girl and her... kick... that actually hurt him! And now she was daring to throw things at him!? This was unthinkable. The Red Cyclone brings one meaty arm up to intercept the shower of bladed ice rings as they scatter against him. He stands firm. He had fought in the middle of the siberian wastes, did she think ice was going to dissuade him?!
No. Zangief's blood was boiling now, and it shows. With a mighty roar, the massive Russian hauls himself forwards, stomping across the distance with a singular fury. He wasn't going to let her rest! He was going to SMASH her! He wasn't going to lose to a little girl and her fancy tricks! He was going to fight, and win! FOR MOTHER RUSSIA!
"NOT NICE?! NO! I AM A VERY BAD BEAR!" He roars, throwing himself at Kula again, he intends to demonstrate just /how/ nasty a bear he is. By scooping her up in massive arms...
And biting her as hard as he can. He doesn't even particular care where he's biting right now. Playing his role to the hilt, or just being a furious and enraged monster, who could really tell? Either way, Kula has seven feet of angry biting bear bearing (get it?!) down on her!
COMBATSYS: Marisol successfully hits Vanessa with Rolling Star.
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Marisol 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Vanessa
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Kula 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Zangief
Vanessa is having an off night, apparently. It's the freaking mermaid outfit! She knew she should've made them give her something she could move in!
Marisol hurls an energy blast at her. Vanessa isn't good at energy blasts, and begins to dart out of the way - but her feet catch on the costume again, and Marisol nails her square in the chest with the blast, earning an "AUGH!" from the Boxing Queen. Vanessa grunts in pain.
But then she moves again - she has to keep the heat on, has to keep fighting! The Boxer darts in toward Marisol, hoping to cover the distance fast enough that when she lashes out with a quick snap punch to the chest, it hits!
COMBATSYS: Marisol endures Vanessa's Medium Punch.
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Marisol 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Vanessa
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Kula 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Zangief
Leaving Kula to her own devices--however painful dealing with the Red Cyclone-turned-sea-faring-ursine may be--Marisol focuses instead on the Boxing Queen she's decided she'll square off against. So far her efforts have not been in vain, but she knows well that even her luck can run out at any moment. That's why she keeps distance--for now, anyway. She keeps the mermaid-esque redhead on her toes with a blob of fiery chi.
But soon enough the woman is coming in, not about to stand down! And neither does Marisol; instead of blocking against it, Marisol lets the fist come, a nasty punch striking the girl center of her chest that sends her staggering a step back. Damn she hits hard...but that's good. It means she's strong, like she'd hoped. That makes it even more exciting.
With a loud, guttural cry of "YAARGH!," Marisol swiftly reacts after the punch in an attempt to catch the woman off her guard. It starts with a lower blow, a nasty gut punch to stun the woman. Should it land Marisol quickly withdraws her fist, both arms snapping up and hands seeking to grab the woman by her head and drag it DOWN and straight into her knee before she shoves up and back, to push Vanessa away. But she doesn't leave it at that; she'll snap a leg up, a vertical kick aimed for the elder woman's chin as she's shoved!
COMBATSYS: Kula interrupts Kamitsuki from Zangief with Crow Bite.
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Marisol 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Vanessa
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Kula 1/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Zangief
The monsterous fighter does seem highly resistant to the snow storm the NESTS experiment has sent his way. Lowering her right hand from her mouth, she clenches it tightly. The cheap rubber rain-glove covering her fist, not designed for freezing temperatures, cracks and falls off, rendered brittle by exposure to young Diamond's frigid techniques.
She gasps as he declares that he is hardly the ideal house pet. "Bad bear!" the girl exclaims back, "You should learn some manners or it's back to the circus for you!" She tenses up as he charges, right arm alive with a sheath of white chi that solidifies quickly. She turns her left shoulder toward him, preparing for whatever he intends to unleash so that she can counter attack. He might find her strangely easy to grapple this time, enfolding the featherweight into his arms, provoking a soft grunt from her.
But when his bear-like maw descends to inflict biting pain on her left shoulder, his teeth strike a shoulder-plate of ice as solid as any diamond, protecting her from more obvious harm. "You want bite!?" she replies, pushing off the deck hard with her feet, twisting in his grasp to bring her right arm forward. The energy that was flowing over her limb a moment ago has solidified into a bladed, jagged gauntlet of spiked ice. "I'll give you a Crow Bite!" The armored arm serves as the means of delivering a punishing uppercut, the sharp edges slashing and cutting, digging into him deeply as Kula springs off her feet, escaping his hold.
She whips around after a few feet into the air, to smash both of her feet into his chest and force him backward, using him as a spring board before landing back on the deck with a graceful, controlled flip, arms out at her sides. She lands calmly, the sheath of ice cracking and falling off her arm into a pile of shattered ice on the deck. A quick brush of her shoulder discards the impromptu ice armor as well, leaving her ready to move quickly if needed, staring back at Zangief with a calm, leveled gaze.
Zangief is really starting to lose his temper, now. How dare this little brat speak to him like that?! Didn't she realize who she was dealing with?! Angry, he does his best to just bite on through the armor... and winds up taking the vicious blow head on. Zangief is literally lifted into the air, something that doesn't really happen often to seven foot of hulking Russian muscle. But sometimes you just don't have a choice in the matter! Something that he may have reflected on... were it not for the fact that the blow to his chest means that he hits the ground, hard. For a few moments, it even looks like he might not be getting up again.
But Zangief is nothing if not persistent. One fist slams into the deck of the boat, and he hauls himself back up to his feet. He wasn't going to let it end like that! What crazy world was this, where the Red Cyclone was faltering?!
"YOU THINK YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO STOP THE RED CYCLONE?!" He bellows, shaking his head in anger and frustration. His head was ringing, but that wasn't really important. It was perfectly healthy, really. To have your head ringing a couple of blows into the fight. Nothing at all to worry about! Time to respond... with some overwhelming arrogance! "I'M GOING TO BREAK YOU IN HALF, LITTLE GIRL! DO YOU HEAR ME?! I'M GOING TO RIP YOU TO SHREDS!"
COMBATSYS: Zangief gathers his will.
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Marisol 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Vanessa
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Kula 0/-------/-======|=======\======-\1 Zangief
COMBATSYS: Marisol successfully hits Vanessa with Chain Reaction.
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Marisol 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Vanessa
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Kula 0/-------/-======|=======\======-\1 Zangief
Marisol is skilled, keeping Vanessa more-or-less pinned, unable to really stop Marisol from simply unloading on her. But Vanessa can't afford to just stand around, here; the other boxer is tough stuff!
And is apparently a kickboxer!? Marisol lays into Vanessa once again, and this time there's no excusing it; Vanessa just didn't /expect/ the aggression with which Marisol slams into her guard and pummels her, slamming Vanessa's face into her knee and kicking her in the face, and Vanessa has to think fast--!
Gold glitters around her fist, and Vanessa emits a vicious snort, a boxer's kiai, as she slams one fist down toward the top of Marisol's head, trailing gold chi. She follows up by driving the other fist upward in an uppercut, yelling, "HELLION!!"
COMBATSYS: Marisol endures Vanessa's Forbidden Eagle.
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Marisol 1/----===/=======|=======\-------\1 Vanessa
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Kula 0/-------/-======|=======\======-\1 Zangief
She's not a kickboxer--she's a bareknuckle fighter--OLD SCHOOL STYLE. Or something; either way, she likes to kick now and then. It keeps things interesting for the girl, at least. And it gets the ratings--well, when she isn't dressed like Tom Sawyer.
Breaking Vanessa's defenses, Marisol charges in again and delivers a series of three blows, the last strike slamming into her chin and giving the girl SOME distance. It's brief and fleeting--because soon enough the other redheaded lady is coming at her with a sudden burst of strength AND chi, swirling energies slamming into the top of Marisol's skull, then into her chin!
Reeling back in pain, Marisol offers a strangled cry-grunt, biting down on her teeth before she pushes a foot fiercely into the steel surface of the ship's deck. A shimmer of energy swirls around her, dandelion-yellow fire slowly burning and shimmering around her like a heat haze. One hand curls into a tight fist, gray eyes wide as that energy burns and burns. She takes a step forward, a sharp and swift- -but deep- -breath inhaled into her lungs...before she drops and punches the deck with a fierce cry.
At first nothing.
Then?
A wide sphere of yellow begins to form atop the steel and wood surface, glowing brighter and brighter, until--
BOOM.
Wood, steel and everything else FLY upwards as a sudden gout of pure energy roars to life, aimed at an angle--and right for Vanessa and the skies beyond!
Her counter attack seems to have made angry bear even more angry, but Kula doesn't seem /overly/ worried about it. Tensing up, bracing herself, she watches him carefully, her algorithms kicking into overtime in the very selfish interest of self-preservation. He roars, righting himself and pumping himself up into a frenzy of potential violence, but the young ice maiden of NESTS simply stares back impassively.
"I am going to stop you." she declares calmly, exhaling softly, gathering her breath. "Even now your body has been the target of a number of deep slashes. Even the hardiest physique has to give up eventually. At first I didn't know enough about what you could do, but now I do. Roaring won't intimidate me. I've fought tyrants and monsters every bit as scary as you." She takes in another breath, exhaling slowly, the wintery chill of her freezing energy whipping up around her figure, a small cyclone of snow spinning around her.
She crouches slightly as he keeps his distance, "Even now, your hesitation is working against you, giving me more time to prepare, more time to build up for another attack. I have yet to show you the worst of what I can do. Prepare yourself." And with that, the child assassin takes to the air into a steep forward flip. The energy gathered around her when she was grounded follows with, and as she spins, it builds up into a more concentrated field of sleet, ice, and liquified chi.
A snap kick is all it takes to send the whole of it dropping down toward Zangief like an ice bomb from hell. Shaped like an inocuous snow flake, closer inspection would reveal the ridges of spines glinting as they threaten to smash into the costumed bear-man. And the moment the mass of energy connects with the deck, it explodes outward into a brilliant white hemisphere of brutal energy, all in an attempt to finish the Russian wrestler for good while Kula herself descends back down to land on her own two feet. In theory!
COMBATSYS: Zangief fails to interrupt Diamond Shoot from Kula with Ultimate Atomic Buster.
- Power fail! -
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Marisol 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\1 Vanessa
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Kula 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Zangief
COMBATSYS: Zangief can no longer fight.
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Marisol 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\1 Vanessa
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kula 1/-------/=======|
Zangief only listens to about half of Kula's rant. The fact is... he can't take it any more! Something was horribly wrong here, and he was far more interested in his own frustration about his inability to make a significant dent in Kula than he was in Kula's explanation for the exact way in which she was beating him down. He is the Red Cyclone! Zangief! The Pride of Mother Russia weighs heavy on his shoulders! He had to pull out all the stops, for the people who were counting on him to stand for their hopes, their dreams!
Even within his costume, Zangief manages to look... threatening. Pulling himself up straight, he is already surging forwards to meet Kula as her snowflake is unleashed. Dimly aware that she had analyzed the fact that he was hurting. But what did he care?! So what if he was in pain! He has more important things to care about. Like ripping her head clean off her shoulders!
Then there is a snowflake! Hah! SNOWFLAKE?!
What mere /SNOWFLAKE/ can stop the mighty RED CYCLONE?!
Zangief fully intends to solve this problem as he has solved every other problem he has ever run up against: By ripping it apart with his bare hands. Which is why the crowd at home is treated to the image of a man in a bear suit, leaping at and grabbing a snowflake. For a moment, it even looks like he's grabbed part of it in his TEETH! Snowflake against the fury of Mother Russia?! HAH! He would show them! He would show the world!
... And then the world explodes ...
The detonation of energy literally throws Zangief hurtling backwards. He hadn't even tried to prepare for it, because he had been intending to plough on through and vent his mighty Russian fury on Kula. So when it does go off... he takes the full force head on. Flung head over heels, it's a good thing that bear costume has a snorkel on it...
Because either a depth charge went off over there, or the massive spout of water flung into the air is the result of a large lump of unconscious russian muscle hitting the water.
... well, hopefully the SNF guys would fish him out again. Right?
COMBATSYS: Vanessa overcomes Shoot the Moon from Marisol with Gaia Gear EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Marisol 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Vanessa
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kula 1/-------/=======|
Vanessa's Forbidden Eagle hammers Marisol enough that the bareknuckle fighter has to back off, which is all Vanessa needed. She begins planning the next attack, trying to decide how best to counter Marisol's next move...
And then Marisol slams her fist to the deck. Vanessa doesn't now exactly what to expect, but she knows that generally one deos not do that as a precursor to a professional and respectful handshake, so she gathers her own energy, beginning to focus, focus--
The ball explodes into being, and Vanessa puts all her strength into it. She lashes out with one fist to guide her shot, and as Marisol's own blast flies at Vanessa, Vanessa screams something wordless as she lets her own blast fly - a hurricane-force blast of air and wind that rips right into and /through/ Marisol's attack!
The redhead distantly notices Zangief get himself punked. This just got bad.
COMBATSYS: Marisol endures Vanessa's Gaia Gear EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Marisol 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Vanessa
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kula 1/-------/=======|
Right now, Zangief and Kula are the last things on Marisol's mind.
Especially when Vanessa's own energies plow through HERS!
Blinking twice, the girl's expression pales a touch, gray eyes widening before, swiftly, they narrow. Those energies sail swiftly, threatening to catch the half-Spaniard in their wake. But she doesn't try to avoid it, or even try to stave it off with another block; no, Marisol does the one thing she knows best.
Take it HEAD ON.
Charging forward like a fool, the redheaded Pacific High boxer attempts to just run through the mess of cutting winds and pain RIGHT FOR VANESSA. Why? So she can swiftly punch her in the chest. It's nothing potent, but it'll hopefully do the trick enough to stun the elder woman!
Her explosive attack worked. The harmless looking snow flake proves, once again, to be one of Kula's more punishing techniques. Deceptive enough to catch the unwary or the berzerker enraged off guard, it works out to her benefit in this case as Zangief literally tries to grapple the thing and tear it to pieces. The destructive result... well, by the time Kula is standing up straight again, her opponent is testing the waters. Officials are already in motion to retrieve the bear-man, but it does mean that one of the fight's participants is literally out cold.
Exhaling softly, Kula whirls around to face Marisol and Vanessa, taking time to watch th exchange of attacks between the two - her partner's bright attack, Vanessa's powerful retaliation, overwhelming it to strike back... And for the moment, the yellow rain-coat clad girl simply stays put. Waves splashing over the rails of the boat fly past her as she begins to charge up her energy once again and the droplets that get to close become ice before they fall do the deck with a quiet rattle.
Smiling just a little as she watches Marisol contend with Vanessa on her own, Kula hangs back, leaning forward to plant her hands against the deck of the ship. Slowly but definitely, a slick begins to spread out from her planted palms, forming a smooth as glass surface that begins to coat the deck in an element that is far easier for her to navigate than anyone else. Unless the other fighters had the forsight to bring ice cleats. Only after the visible energy has depleted, being forced into the deck, does Kula stand up again, taking anewed stock in the situation between the other two female fighters.
COMBATSYS: Kula focuses on her next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Marisol 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Vanessa
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kula 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Vanessa blocks Marisol's Light Punch.
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Marisol 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Vanessa
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kula 1/-------/=======|
Vanessa peeks over at Kula. OK, she's...focusing. Focusing is bad, focusing is not time spent, for instance, running away in fear. Admittedly in this situation Vanessa's in a lot of trouble. She'll have to fight smart...but she's not going to give up. The show must go on!
Marisol charges right through Vanessa's somewhat weakened Gaia Gear attack, Vanessa's eyes widening in surprise at the sight. The redhead doesn't stop moving, though, and soon Marisol's punching again! Vanessa crosses her arms, taking the blow perilously close to her chest. But then she grunts and thrusts forward, shoving Marisol a short distance away, before Vanessa laughs, "WAHOO!" as she starts a rapid bout of weaving left and right, confusingly, and also somewhat painfully in that minimal bikini, before she suddenly shoots forward at Marisol, unloading a vicious straight punch!
COMBATSYS: Marisol fails to interrupt Puncher Weaving from Vanessa with Snap Wind.
[ \\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Marisol 0/-------/-======|===----\-------\0 Vanessa
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kula 1/-------/=======|
Marisol's punching again, because punching is what she knows best!
Or something.
Anyway.
Moving forward, the girl is somewhat surprised when she finds her luck has run out and Vanessa's has come back, finally! Her punch stopped, the half-Spaniard girl blinks once before she attempts to push back and distance herself from the elder woman. For good reason, no less; the woman quickly prepares the offense against the younger redhead, and that isn't good. But Marisol thinks she's ready for come what may--it seems like a good shot!
But it isn't.
Try though she may to punch the woman THROUGH the punches she cannot; struck repeatedly, the girl is battered numerous times before she flies back, hitting the ground and rolling thrice before she comes to stop on the upper portion of her back, with her rear dangling just overhead. Ow.
With a light groan the girl slowly begins to pull her body off the deck, gray eyes blinking slowly as she tries to refocus. She may have been overdoing it a bit, but she isn't out of it yet!
Kula isn't just focusing, is the problem. She's converting the battle field to be coated in her element. Watery waves convert to frozen sheets of ice as she concentrates on manipulating the energy all around her. She seems so calm as she does it, impassive to the frenzy of sleet and snow building up on the surface of the boat. No one predicted a winter storm, but right now, the trio remaining on the deck are being treated to one.
Her hands clench and unclench as she feels the forces flow through her, her body shrouded in brilliant white chi that grows even stronger with each passing second. Her crimson eyed gaze focuses on Vanessa then before the teenaged fighter leans forward, planting her hands once again against the deck. But this time, rather than building up energy, she's putting it to use. Ripping ice off the deck and out of the air into a point blank maelstrom of sharpnel and liquid-like chi, she grits her teeth in order to keep it all in check.
She waits until Vanessa has managed to smash Marisol back away before unleashing it all, careful no to catch her opponent in the mix of so much furious energy. But the moment the boxer from Spain comes to a landing, Vanessa is given one fearsome attack to deal with. All the energy Kula was building up erupts into a horizontal funnel of whipped, churning chi, exploding out toward her with violent speed. To the NESTS operative, it's simply a matter of fighting seriously. With little to no understanding of balance, honor, or mercy, she treats Vanessa like she would any other opponent. "This fishing expedition is concluded!" she declares as the storm of freezing cold energy targets the more veteran fighter.
COMBATSYS: Kula successfully hits Vanessa with Diamond Shell.
[ \\\\\\\ < > ///// ]
Marisol 0/-------/-======|=======\=------\1 Vanessa
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kula 0/-------/-------|
Vanessa unloads on Marisol. /That/ works out pretty well.
Ignoring Kula, it turns out, was pretty retarded. Vanessa finally remembers where she's /seen/ Kula before, just in time to get hammered with an icy bullet of raw horror, which rips into Vanessa before Vanessa can even try to just run into the damn thing.
"Now I remember you," Vanessa hisses. Her voice has changed - there is anger there, a deep-seated fury. "You work for /him/! And you show yourself in front of me...AND EXPECT ME TO LET YOU GO!?"
Vanessa sprints at Kula, every step killing her slowly. But she doesn't stop. She can't stop. She'll never stop. No matter what they tear off or destroy, Vanessa will always take another step.
For him.
Energy whirls around Vanessa's fist, a whirlwind exploding into being around her right arm, and she bears down on Kula, and she thunders like the very winds she commands, "WHAT'S THE MATTER, LITTLE GIRL!? /BORED ALREADY!?/" as she drives a straight punch strong enough to rip through walls into Kula's face.
Recovering slowly but surely, Marisol gives her head a ginger shaking out of, a hand reaching up to press flat against her temple. But when finally does the fog in her head clear, there's a rather curious and...unexpected sort of verbal exchange going on between Kula and their opponent Vanessa.
Kula works for who? Who is 'him?' And where does Vanessa get this idea? Kula seems okay to her!
Frowning deeply, the half-Spaniard--unaware as to what PRECISELY is going on anyway--shakes the last of her fuzziness out and pinches her eyes briefly shut. A moment later as Vanessa whips into action so too does Marisol; taking off after the Boxer, she attempts to straight punch the elder redhead in the back of her head with a straight punch to stun her! ...followed by a cross punch before she whips around and attempts to drive her heel into the woman's skull with a spinning hook kick! But only because she's going after Kula and not paying attention to Marisol and thus has her back turned to her. ...Honest!!
COMBATSYS: Kula blocks Vanessa's Puncher Finish.
[ \\\\\\\ < > ///// ]
Marisol 0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0 Vanessa
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kula 0/-------/------=|
Her combat profiling of Vanessa's capabilities suggested that she would be finished with that punishing technique. That that would be the end of the match and she could go home. Get a pat on the head or tasty sucker for good behavior even. She almost lowers her guard, she's so confident this is over. Her instincts are wrong. They underestimated what switch would flip on the moment Vanessa recognized her. Of course Kula knows exactly to whom she refers, and the way her crimson eyes widen just makes it even more obvious.
The girl takes a step backward, hands coming up. It's been a long time since someone called her out in a public fight over the Cartel responsible for her life. It hasn't happened since being repeatedly thrown into matches with that rogue project, K' himself. It catches her off guard, but doesn't mean her defenses are gone. In fact, the outrage only makes her play it even more safe as Vanessa sbolts toward her, a scream of energy in her wake.
Bringing both hands up, palms forward, she creates a shimmering barrier of translucent ice to weather the worst of the blow. It works pretty good, too, even though the force of Vanessa's strike is enough to powderize the material barrier. By the time it has, however, the well trained NESTS agent has crossed her arms over her protetively, allowing her leather-armored forearms to absorb the blow entirely, even though the force behind it is enough to send her skidding backward a few yards before coming to a stop.
"What do you expect me to say?" she replies, her tone calm, though it's clear she's fighting to maintain that impassive demeanor. She's uneasy now, not at all happy with what's developed. "You can't beat me, just like you can't beat him. Getting angry about it is useless..." She snaps her hand out to the right, drawing all the ice scattered across the deck at her feet into her palm, energy swirling about her as it solidifies into a thick glove of spiked, jagged matter.
"Accept your fate." And with that, she rushes forward, left hand snapping out first, attempting to draw Vanessa's defenses to the side, before her right hand, the one encased in spiked ice, slams forward next, for a punishing punch to the woman's gut as Kula hopes to end this match decisively now.
COMBATSYS: Marisol successfully hits Vanessa with Iron Whip.
[ \\\\\\\ < > / ]
Marisol 0/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Vanessa
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kula 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Vanessa fails to counter Medium Punch from Kula with Puncher Vision.
- Power fail! -
[ \\\\\\\ <
Marisol 0/-------/=======|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kula 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Vanessa can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\ <
Marisol 0/-------/=======|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kula 0/-------/------=|
Oh, Kula, Kula. Someday, you'll learn: Not all the loose ends are tied up. And every single one of those loose ends wants to kill you.
Vanessa's barely listening to Kula's response. The Puncher Finish slams through Kula's defense but doesn't pierce into the girl. Vanessa is too caught up in the moment. She will be reprimanded for this later - giving Igniz more fuel, lashing out so much in public. She has better control than this. They /taught/ her better than this. But in this moment, here, now, Vanessa doesn't care. Maybe if she gives Kula a little taste of just how deep the hatred runs, something will spark in her brain.
"No," Vanessa growls out, heated. "I came up from nothing to take you all down. And if I have to go even higher before I can succeed, then--*"
Vanessa doesn't even seen Marisol's attack coming. She's clobbered in the back of the head. FOCUS, YOU FOOL! Losing your head in the middle of a multi-opponent situation, what are you even thinking!? What kind of idiot are you!?
Vanessa doesn't even have the chance to yell at Marisol. She surges forward on muscle memory and guts alone, but her timing's off from what is probably a fresh concussion; she skirts up to Kula and right into the smaller girl's fist, and promptly falls to the ground like a sack of particularly ungraceful hammers.
A little part of Marisol feels bad for ganking the poor woman from behind. Really, two versus one seemed unfair! But...it is a SNF and as far as Marisol could tell, despite this personal moment, this was still a fight. And she had to fulfill her end of the agreement. She and Kula, they were a team here! She can't let her teammate down!
But damn if this all isn't VERY awkward suddenly. Take you ALL down, the Boxer warned.
And Kula seems to be working for someone..? Hell that could be anyone, right? If only Marisol knew.
Fortunately, she doesn't. So when all is said and done, however cold the NESTS ice princess may be toward the redhead presently as she's stabbed in the gut, Marisol offers the blue-haired girl a peculiar look. What is going on..?
The girl shrugs, eyes drawing shut as she tries to catch her breath briefly.
"I dunno what the hell that was about," she offers, glancing toward the sea before, slowly, she glances back to the blue-haired fighter. "But I'm not going to ask. Something tells me I don't like the answer I'd hear. Besides, you seem pretty okay to me...so let's keep it at that. But right now?" Exhaling loudly, the redhead sags her shoulders, heading toward the door to the ship's cabin.
"I'm gonna fetch a nap. I'm feeling a bit woozy." And seasick. And a little uneasy about this 'turn' of events...
COMBATSYS: Marisol has left the fight here.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kula 0/-------/------=|
Vanessa's roar provokes a blink from the impassive girl, and Kula takes a step back, bracing before slamming that fist out into the woman's stomach and ending the match with decisive, perhaps unnecessarily harsh force. And as she crumples, the frigid girl takes even a few more steps back, as if not entirely sure it's over. The boxer already surprised her once.
But no further yells, promises, oaths of revenge are uttered, and at last the young fighter lets down her guard, lowering her arms to her side. A slow exhale accompanies a transition, her frosty hair losing its blue color, becoming instead a damp auburn, and the sense of forboding chill ever present about her diminishing quickly. Marisol shrugs, turning to her, and Kula meets her gaze levelly, as if warning her not to poke into things she shouldn't know about.
As the red-head declares she doesn't want to know, a faint, almost apologetic smile tugs at the corners of the ice user's lips as she nods just slightly, hands coming up to push the yellow slicker hood back off her head at last. "Yes," she replies, agreeing with the sentiment of keeping things as they presently exist between the two of them. It's nice, for a change, to not have someone who knows all of her dark, horrible secrets. "I'd like it to stay that way." she finishes, turning away as Marisol retreats for a little bit of rest.
Kula pauses, glancing back toward Vanessa, knowing full well that her secrets are likely to get out should the older woman get her way. A soft exhale escapes her lips as she half closes her eyes and turns to leave the deck as well. It seems her ties are destined to get out sooner or later.
COMBATSYS: Kula has ended the fight here.
Log created on 20:11:32 11/30/2008 by Kula, and last modified on 23:57:35 12/01/2008.