Description: Dovetailing from their recent explusions from the Strolheim Tournament, ex-Yin Yanger and psychic model Alma Towazu and ex-O+ member and questionably sane Naerose Delphine fight it out dramatically on the wave-swept rocks at Strolheim Castle's shore. The Neo League was lucky to get in on this one; the fight starts out with a bang and doesn't stop, and neither do the fighters. In the end, Alma's passion cannot be denied-- but Naerose more than earns her turkey sandwich. (Winner: Alma)
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "Remember to set cast"
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "I'll never defeat hotaru if you forget."
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "Shouldn't it be automatic when we both join a fight?"
Marz has arrived.
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "not to my knowleedge."
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "I approve of the teaching of Naerose."
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "Hmm, cuz I never add cast and it usually shows up anyway on my logs when we fight. But I'll double-check to make sure."
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "Why will it affect your defeating of Hotaru? XD"
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "I am trying to break her log count."
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "Oho. That /does/ sound challenging."
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "She has me beat like by 120 logs."
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "Or maybe even straight up double my logs."
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "Kind of life trying to beat Sakura on the f20."
[OOC] Marz says, "I will do it. One day. +_+"
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "Yes except I'm not trying to beat Sakura on the f20"
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "Hahahah. XD"
[OOC] Marz says, "2 down, 374 to go! >_<"
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "Dream big, Marz, dream big."
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "Want to know how sakura got that log count?"
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "Test-fighting admin in the early years, perhaps?"
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "Everytime she joined a group scene she screwed up and joined the wrong side of the meter. One hundred times. Amazing reallly. She's nly been in three fights."
[OOC] Marz XD
[OOC] Alma Rodeo laughs.
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "That explains a lot."
[OOC] Marz says, "It's all so simple now!"
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "Wait"
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "who is opening?"
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "On it."
Naerose has dropped a connection.
It wasn't easy.
Getting permission, that is, to host a Neo League fight on Strolheim territory. The process was laborious and involved penetrating the Strolheim 'bureaucracy', which is not so much convoluted as it is filled with strong-willed no-nonsense individuals who cannot be tempted by the usual means. But the effort was pitched as cooperative publicity between the Neo League and the Strolheim tournament, and it was pitched early on, as the League figured they could pick up the popular fighters that dropped out and pit them against each other for a last hurrah.
What also wasn't easy was the tournament itself, as Alma Towazu has found out all too recently. Still, for a young man who has been beaten in a tournament in which he had some very personal reasons for wanting to win, he seems as usual quite calm and satisfied. Standing atop the jagged black rocks at the fringes of the forbidding island that is Strolheim Castle, that formidable bastion that strikes such a notable yet somehow appropriate contrast from the lively village upon the shore, he stands straight and silent, the mild-mannered youth's white scarf flapping wildly in the strong sea breeze as the League cameramen struggle valiantly to set up their equipment in this hazardous environment. The beach of Strolheim Castle is more of a first line of defense than a place to relax, and, with jagged stone swept by breaking dark waves, the footing is nigh impossible for all but the very agile.
~ Frei... I'll be counting on you, now. ~
The YFCC will make it even without the earnings from the tournament. This Neo League itself will help some; he plans on donating it all to the community center of which he is the nominal head-- and that his erstwhile teammate and 'master', Igniz, played the largest part in temporarily ruining. That man-- he remains a nemesis of Alma's, and of Alma's close friends. But the young man has learned a great deal about himself in this short time, and about what it means to accept the darkness within oneself.
He smiles gently into a cold that lends a rosiness to his burnished-bronze cheeks and heightens his androgynous beauty.
Still, whatever his darkness may be, Alma is foremost a man of unrelenting light.
A lost like this cannot shake his faith even remotely.
Here, and upon his return--
His passion will not be denied.
...Now, he's fighting whom, again?
Naerose has reconnected.
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "You alright there, dude? XD You get my pose?"
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "Of course I got your pose what do you think I am"
[OOC] Alma Rodeo D:<
[OOC] Marz ooooooh, burn.
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "You can't talk to me like that. I'll show you."
~A jumble of thoughts~
For anyone who could just read thoughts at random, why would would even want to? If they could though. One thought, or thoughts, they might pick up would surely be too chaotic to decipher. What littler crowd the Naeo Lea- wait what? The scien has already been changed to the new lettering, a red crayon'd a added with a little ^ sign to indicate exactly where it needs to go in the lettering. This was clearly one of the notorious fights that were starting to gain some notice in the fighting world as being totally ridiculous. One thing they all had in common (so far) were that they always included the Red Witch Naerose.
Making an entrance from another part of the crowd, as if to hide her ninja style sign defacement - except wait, she's still holding the crayon and the red lipstick, did she take a bite out of it? No! How dare you imply. Well the crew have knowing looks anyway.
"Man you know what, I come to Germany, hoping for a vacation on the beach with swim wear and drinks, with the umbrella and the cherrys and and the plastic swords!" She's really adamant about this point. " But the ticket was one way! Oh imagine my surprise, the organizers said it was because they had no idea how long it would last, but, but , but still!" So Naerose was trapped here?
Here team too was out of the running, but that didn't bother the witch, her team was very silly to say the least, half of them hated each other and Naerose just didn't care. It would of been all wrong for a team that dysfunctional to make it further than they did.
[OOC] Alma Rodeo cracks up.
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "Wanna roll for first action?"
[OOC] ROLL: Alma rolls 1d10: 8
[OOC] ROLL: Naerose rolls 1d10: 5
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "prepare yourself"
COMBATSYS: Naerose has started a fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Naerose 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Alma has joined the fight here.
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Alma 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Naerose
Naerose has dropped a connection.
"..."
Wait a second.
Alma remembers /this/ woman.
Wasn't she the one that kept calling him gay while announcing his fight? Isn't she the one who runs around in that fish costume (?) with that rabbit (??) and causes inexplicable havoc? /She/ was in this tournament? She's still /alive/?
"...That sounds tough."
Alma, face gentle and impassive, regards the woman as he makes his way closer to her along the rocks, hopping from point to point with a steady grace, not taking his eyes from the red-haired witch as he goes.
No reason not to let bygones be bygones. She probably doesn't remember him anyway. And besides-- her aura seems a little different. Certainly as haphazard as it always was, but-- complete, in its haphazardness. She seems more of a whole person, now, someone with an internal consistency-- even if she must surely seem terribly inconsistent to others.
At least, that's the sense he gets.
"Ms. Naerose Delphine," he murmurs, the young man's voice carried by the light wind, his full lips still smiling slightly. "I am Alma Towazu. I look forward to our fight." One eye is shrouded by a single blond red-tinged bang, but the other hazel orb glitters warmly. "Please... do your best."
Yes, this will be an all-new experience. Better let the past go.
Still...
'Naeo League'?
The call to fight emerges from a raincoat-clad announcer, and immediately, Alma leaps to seize the initiative, hurdling over jagged rocks with utter confidence. Rather than pounce directly upon his opponent, however, he lands a little short, crouching low with remarkable poise and shifting his timing, renewing his momentum before he lunges forth with a blaze of glimmering white light around his fingertips. His right hand thrusts out, and with it comes a lance of soul fire, the ethereal force aiming to crush her will to fight even as it slams into her midsection.
COMBATSYS: Alma successfully hits Naerose with Self Expression.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
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Alma 0/-------/------=|=====--\-------\0 Naerose
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "starting off with a bang"
Midsection was the intent of course, because Alma is a generally nice guy. He helps old ladies across the street. He accepts box lunches (even if the person giving it to him can't cook). He lives and lets live. He smiles. He waves. He returns your phone calls. He writes thank you notes for gifts. He reads thank you notes. He writes thank you notes for thank you notes. Surely if he ever met another young man as polite and proper as him they would engage in an endless thank you note paradox the minute one of them had a birthday. So needless to say, that Alma is the kind of nice guy that wouldn't just go and hit you square in the face at the start of something. No. Not Alma. So why now is Naerose hit square in the face? Well because when Alma came and the air over her glowed (Dragon Lair for hit up on the d pad and initiate a jump style dodge) she panics and hits down instead, causing the Naerose on the screen to duck and get hit square in the face. Luckily for her it isn't skull and crossboness just yet.
"Ow. Hey what the. That really hurt!" cries the witch in frustration. Worst part here is that Alma is probably going to apologize. She totally knows it. She totally tries to hit him with a blast of white energy of a totally differently variety.
"En Criento!
[OOC] Nae Nae hit enter early.
[OOC] Nae Nae sighs.
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "We can go with it."
[OOC] Alma Rodeo laughs. XD "I can't get enough of your poses, man."
COMBATSYS: Naerose successfully hits Alma with End Creation.
-* WILD HIT! *-
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Alma 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Naerose
[OOC] Nae Nae says, ". . God."
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "Well then."
Seishirou has arrived.
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "That's the first time that proc has fired in more than a half dozen fights!"
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "And what better time."
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "It was almost destined."
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "Crit on Self Expression, wild hit on En Criento."
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "End creation"
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "Mav. XD"
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "She says nonsense but that's what it is called."
Naerose has reconnected.
"S... Sorry!"
Alma can't help but be taken aback. What-- she ducked?? Why did she panic? Is he really that scary? For a moment he considers a mild existential crisis, before recalling that, in fact, Naerose is just crazy, and nothing she does needs to make any sense.
It's probably for the best that he figured that out early.
But that doesn't make his moment of hesitation any easier on him. Alma, still blinking in mild horror -- because he does most everything mildly -- doesn't anticipate Naerose's quick recovery. For all of her eccentricity, she remains a more than competent opponent.
"Hrrnn!"
Second lesson learned.
Yet much as Alma's predictive abilities fail him, so too does his poise. The blast of energy takes him off guard and his feet slip upon the moist rocks, his precarious position lost as he stumbles backward-- just as a high wave rises.
*splash*
And then he is gone.
There is silence, save for the wind and the waves.
...
What's that sound?
"....rgrggGGAAAAH!"
Emerging from the depths with his war cry, Alma Towazu quite literally erupts from the sea around Strolheim, steaming with his passionate flames as the force of his soul buoys him up out of the water and into the air, not halting in his attack for even an instant as he cleaves right into his opponent, scything away with a series of flame-imbued roundhouse kicks. With a suitable impact, maybe he'll even find footing at the end of it.
Then again, it doesn't look like he has much trouble getting out of the water.
COMBATSYS: Naerose blocks Alma's Rising Fury.
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Alma 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Naerose
Alma has reconnected.
Alma has dropped a connection.
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "Forgot this coffee house sometimes gives me a hard time. :|a"
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "Should be fine though."
Splash.
That water looks really cold. Germany is a chilly place in the winter, depending on where you were in the country. Some places fairly mild while others were downright freezy, but anyway you slice it Alma went for a swim in cold water. Of course Naerose knew that training in water was good for you, it gave your mind a state of control that helped for other forms of fighting. In a word it was focus. Focus to ignore the cold, to keep yourself on the task at hand, your opponent, to ignore the stinging in your muscles, the ache in your jaw. It was vital for most fighters to understand control. Scratch that - Naerose didn't know any of that, she appeared to only watch Alma rather stunned that 'did I do that?' she dosen't say it, rather her expression says it and she thinks it, meanwhile the shock is replaced by an uneasy fear.
"He's gonna be so mad at me-!" she worries over, because the water and the rising fury certainly would lead someone to that assumption. On a plus not though, Alma sure was taking his time in getting this attack off. You know you lose your body heat 25 times faster in water and if not for the fact that Alma was so well versed in not wearing clothes (see: underwear model) one red witch might of recommended he get into something dry before continuing this fight, give her a chance to get a soda too. But the world is not so pleasant a place were Nae Nae's can drink soda willy nilly. She must defend herself and so does with her broom and on a slippery rock is sent back, toward the water with what would be a splash, except she doesn't want to get wet. In a panic the witch grabs a strand out of her broom, the strand a silvery coil of wire and flings it at Alma, the only sturdy thing around (that's what she said) and tries to give a tug, well .. that and a chi jolt.
COMBATSYS: Alma blocks Naerose's Threads of Fate.
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Alma 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Naerose
Naerose has dropped a connection.
Time for a little recoup, as Mr. T might say.
Alma's airtime always puts him at a mild disadvantage, given that he has less time in which to recover before his opponent strikes back, but he is well-practiced at graceful stance shifts. Landing neatly on his toes after slamming his blazing kicks into Naerose's broom, he twists fluidly, shaking off a spray of seawater as he does, and stares intently after his adversary with hair fetchingly dampened. Now that's style.
Sadly, no one's taking any close-up photographs, but his control of the situation does, at least, serve him well in combat. The thread is cast forth but rather than be ensnared by it Alma grasps it, twisting it and dragging it closer as he braces his aura against the surge of energy. With the wire temporarily wrapped around his own forearm, Alma seeks to forcefully bring Naerose in before she can release her own attack and pull her stumbling into attack range.
"Hmn!"
Continuing this relentless drive, Alma lashes out with a series of powerful jabs with his left arm, striking at Naerose's shoulders and body to deaden her limbs and weaken her resolve.
COMBATSYS: Naerose dodges Alma's Strong Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Alma 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Naerose
One must always wonder when dealing with Naerose, will it occur to her to just release the wire? It would certainly make life a lot easier to her when Alma decides to pull on it to get her back into range that maybe she should do just that. So she totally does. Avoiding this attack becomes relatively easy. Stay out of range, Alma can't hit you. It's only a pity this sort of simple response doesn't occur to her most often, but lets face it, the sort of thing that occurs to her more often. Still this out of range thing seems to be working out for her rather well. She'll keep trying it she thinks. The witch, having something of a brief upper hand, she thinks, decides to try skipping across rocks, rather deftly and even appears to enjoy herself. You know what they say, it's always fun until you fall splash into the water. And then she flings darts at Alma. This is more of a 'keep away' gesture than anything else, they'd hurt sure, like they were made of sharp icicles, but not nearly as serious an attack as her first one.
"Sagitta Minor," she says and continues, "Man, whose idea ws this place?" Probably Alma's or some sadistic organizer.
COMBATSYS: Alma dodges Naerose's Sagitta Minor.
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Alma 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Naerose
Alma doggedly pursues.
He is a 'Glory Hound', after all.
The icicles provide a fitting challenge to add to the already dangerous effort that is hopping from rock to rock, but if Naerose can do it, surely he can. And he does-- quite gracefully, as it turns out, leaning gently and precisely out of the way of each dart, slowly gaining on the woman with more and more ambitious and risky leaps but each time landing neatly and tilting just barely out of the way of every spike of ice, his gaze never once straying from his objective. The cameras devour it all-- but the chase cannot last forever.
Not with Alma on your tail.
Because, you see, if getting Wild Hit is a great excuse to get thrown into the ocean, getting a Sexy bonus to super gain is an excellent excuse to make yourself look good.
Er, where was I?
"It's quite exciting, isn't it?" he murmurs in response. Perhaps she won't hear; he doesn't need to be heard. But where Naerose may seem harried, Alma, though he is still dripping wet and no doubt frigid, is grinning slightly. There's no way he can't savor a challenge like this.
That passion can only be expressed through his actions, and it is thus that, with a final tactical leap, Alma lands directly in front of Naerose, cutting off her escape. Blurring immediately into action, he shifts into a series of graceful kicks, weaving a sinuous combination out of the attacks as though each move were a brushstroke, the final luminesence that trails the technique like the paint left behind. All the while, his stance is delicately poised, even atop such unforgiving ground.
COMBATSYS: Naerose dodges Alma's Autumn Rain.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Alma 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Naerose
Naerose wouldn't know anything about sexy. It was out of her pay grade. She knew things about other more down to earth (as far as she was concerned) things. This included, but was not limited to continuing to play keep away, cause while Alma might of decided to pull of a faery boy style dodge move and for some reason I feel like tossing Jazz in there, Naerose was playing hop scotch with rocks and in no mood to find how cold the water was that Alma seemed only too happy to get into, well before, that was then, this is now and now he seems less inclined. Who can say what caused her to decide to do next.
A sudden change in directly, is the hugable Alma suddenly less scary? Naerose seems to think so as she charges forward and tries to hit him with a single kick to the chiseled chest. His body like a hardened rock, marble that a sculptor decided to make a piece of art out of. That art was Alma. But little did the sculptor know that Alma was not just any art. He was man art. Underwear man art (so it comes to that again?). The witch was going to topple this model over.
COMBATSYS: Alma interrupts Light Kick from Naerose with Divine Intervention EX.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Alma 1/-------/=======|=======\====---\1 Naerose
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "Man what's with the crit and power hits?!"
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "Oh man. Chiseled indeed."
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "And you're still in the green. @#$#@"
Hardened rock, indeed.
Implacable in the face of Naerose's evasion and subsequent change in attitude, Alma's intent gaze does not falter when the witch's kick lashes out. Quite to the contrary, without even a flicker to his gaze the youth swiftly brings up his left forearm and unflinchingly lets the kick impact there, not seeming to feel the blow. The light rising within his eyes, the heat from the sea of flame within him gathering there, Alma reaches out to his opponent.
"Ha!"
With fire.
A beam of bright light streaks forth, by all appearances tearing through Naerose's abdomen. In fact the light is illusory, and certainly no hole has been bored, but the force of his Soul Power nevertheless will shake her to her very core-- and quite likely lift her off her feet.
There is nothing dangerous or fierce about his gaze, the calm young man seeming only serious and focused. But there is an oppressive aura welling up within him, matching the very ocean around him in its depth, as though the passion for the fight arising in his heart simply cannot be contained.
Alma is one piece of art not so easily supplanted.
Naerose has reconnected.
Fire is fought with fire. It becomes and endless cycle of hurt and revenge. Naerose's frustration blossoms. It wasn't entirely at Alma. But lets face it sure it was. The witch wasn't enjoying herself at this point, her smile was more of a take care of business, except he was the business. She was going to bring about a world of hurt and succeed or fail, it would be her one chance to really set things even and straight. Naerose sits up, having been knocked into the water and then being totally like what? Oh right, water. She looks around and is shocked to find herself all wet. Really and truly shocked. But she doesn't get out of the water, shivering as her red dress sticks to her skin and while most women would look sexy in this situation, Naerose in her insistence to be rated G, somehow manages to look well and proper. She doesn't wear satiny dresses and sometimes might even sport eighties style leg warmers (do they make those in red?). The witch slowly sits up, dripping, looks at Alma, waves her broom in a biiiig circle and begins to summon wave after wave of raining fire from the sky, ideally on Alma. Get knocked back as she did, by his chiseled Man-chest. In fact she was pretty sure that his name was Alma Man-Chest. Sort of like Mantooth from Anchor man and soon after Naerose saves her pet rabbit from the Polar bears he'll be forced to buy her lunch, first though she needs to placate him.
"Here it comes!" she cries, as if you needed warning to raining fire. Oh yeah, she does manage to negate the push back, mostly from just how much she rushes the gestures, circular gestures and.. raining fire.
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "I dare you to get hit"
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "I dare you."
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "Dare you dare you dare you dare you."
Marz has disconnected.
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "Very well."
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "I think it's time..."
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "To GO FOR BROKE."
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "I hope by go for broke yo umean get hit."
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "Since this is, after all, a..."
COMBATSYS: Alma fails to interrupt Star Fall EX from Naerose with Trial by Fire.
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Alma 0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0 Naerose
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "doh"
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "HOW WDID THAT onLY GET YOU in the YeLlOW!"
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "That was a level 10!!!!"
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "I just wanted to use double digits I admit."
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "Hey man, I took like 40 damage, be cool. XD"
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "Cause lets face it, double digits are sweet."
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "I can't deny that."
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "Fine, but you owe me a turkey sandwich!"
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "After midnight!"
[OOC] Alma Rodeo >:|a
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "Actually looking at the who list looks like someone got me wet."
[OOC] Nae Nae looks at Alma.
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "Turkey sandwich..."
Alma lowers his head, but not his gaze.
Time to shine.
She's pissed, but he's unfazed. That's what it's about; even someone like Naerose can be pushed to her limits, and that's always what he waits for. Maybe he could just take his time, try to pick his way through the rain of fire, keep away until her energy is drained; but he would not gain any momentum that way, and he would thereby give up any chance of grasping what he seeks in any fight, regardless of his opponent.
He plunges forth, and toward a clash of souls.
His fists ignite without his intending them to, his eyes blazing with the intensity of his resolve and the pressure being put on him. Naerose is putting her all into this attack, but he still is, at first, able to weave his way through her rain of fire with some success. He closes in again, closer, closer, until, teeth grit, he is close enough to touch, and he reaches out, fingertips afire--
When a meteor collides directly against his skull.
"Guhh!"
Concentration shattered, Alma staggers back, only to be hit in quick succession by a series of other fireballs, finally plastering him to the rock.
His effort was wasted, or at least so it seems. But, shaking his head slowly, he still manages to rise with a fair enough swiftness, signaling that he is far from finished yet-- and that neither his body nor his spirit have yet broken.
For Alma, no such effort is wasted.
That's why he's still grinning.
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "You've still got to earn your sandwich. :|"
Naerose has dropped a connection.
Man was that exhausting and.. OHMYGOSHWHATTHECAKEISTHAT?! Naerose almost gets hit by her own attack, realizing only a moment before it's too late to get out of the way and leave a bubbling puddle of water in it's wake. With the water being a little more warm, well not really, the power to heat the whole ocean would take way more than she's packing. Still this did even things out a little more. The witch had a chance in heck at this point, but she needed to take things very seriously, because Alma was no slouch, he was doing a good job of proving it. She was pretty sure they met before too, like maybe they fought once or twice.
"You're.. something else." The witch says while taking some heaving breaths, the kind of breaths that you take when you are afraid you almost burnt yourself with your own attack. Luckily.. well things didn't go quite that way and trying to keep the flow. The witch starts grinning again, almost like Alma is grinning.
"Here I come!" Don't warn him! And she tries to smack Alma with her broom stick.
COMBATSYS: Alma blocks Naerose's Medium Strike.
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Alma 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 Naerose
Alma blinks.
Something else, huh? That's not what he expected her to say. Alma's pursuit of what he calls the 'clash of souls' embodies his ideal that the boundaries between people can always dissolve, that they can be united through a shared sense of purpose and are always capable of understanding one another on some level. That belief relies heavily on his most basic faith that human beings all share something in common in their separate pursuits of meaning, however different each person might seem-- and that faith is tested in the face of someone like Naerose, who can seem almost unintelligible. And while this faith is itself unconditional -- because it has to be for it to work, if nothing else -- Alma, while he always /believes/ that someone /might/ reveal their inner spirit if given the opportunity, doesn't always expect it to happen.
He certainly didn't expect it from Naerose.
"Heh!"
Aura reading can't tell you everything.
"You too," Alma replies, as though it needs to be said.
But it can always hint at violent intent, and it is thus that, even without Naerose's own warning/war-cry, Alma is prepared for the coming attack, rising to the occasion as he thrusts her broom strike aside and sweeps low, a dangerous chance to take on the uneven and damp stone but a chance he takes-- and one, if it succeeds, that might be even more dangerous for Naerose, as he aims to take her legs out from under her and send her to the rocky ground.
[OOC] Nae Nae goes for broke.
COMBATSYS: Naerose interrupts Light Kick from Alma with Spellbinder.
[ \\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Alma 1/-----==/=======|====---\-------\0 Naerose
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "Oh dang!"
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "Nice move."
Now Naerose was sure about one thing. Compliments put people off guard, they got friendly, they might not kick as hard and they might buy you a turkey sandwich (she had a little ways to go yet to earn a plane ticket home). But she isn't done being nice yet. She still has a trick or two up her red sleeves (hope it wasn't paper because the water might of ruined it).
"Now I remember, you were with Li X, you know she's totally a friend of mine, she helped me get settled in southtown, infact we're on the same team. . . Except she hasn't come to any team meetings in literally years.. Well a couple at least." The witch acknowledges. But for her trouble Alma tries to kick her. Not very nice. Though to be fair she didn't exactly start talking at a polite time, it was kind of random and that was putting it nicely. In response to getting kicked Naerose loses a bit of chi with a flash, it comes with a blinding light out of her palm and while she has stylish shades on, Alma probably wasn't expecting it. And .. well she isn't going to flaunt an opportunity. Naerose hits him upside the head with a baseball style out of the ball park whack with her broomstick.
. . She would also very much like not to be pointed out how not nice that was.
Naerose has reconnected.
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "Ugh"
X-Xiangfei?
"X-Xiangfei?" Alma manages, unswayed by the witch's chatter until that very moment, just as he is about to begin his sweep. Startled by the mention of his long-lost fiancee, the young man's composure is not aided by the sudden flash of light, causing him to further fumble his attack and strike with much less force than intended-- leaving himself open to be totally walloped by a broom strike that takes him off his palms and sends him sprawling again onto the rock. Ouch.
That's right-- wasn't she with Xiangfei once? That was a while ago. That's something /he'd/ forgotten...
"Y-Yeah, I was," he manages, shaken more from the blow now than from the unexpected comment. He rises to a crouch, preventing himself from tumbling into the water or taking any more painful pokes from the rock beneath them, and when he looks up at her his gaze remains clear-eyed despite his fatigue. He pauses for a moment, and a ghost of a smile rises to his lips. "I'm glad Xiangfei helped you out..."
That flame kindles around his fingertips again, and with renewed spirit, his resolve replentished by a seemingly endless stream of energy from somewhere within him, the determined youth casts out a dart of raw soulfire.
"...she helped me a lot, too."
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "SEe when I brought up xianfie it was meant to pacify you not make you hit me with huge attack!"
[OOC] Alma Rodeo laughs. XD
Seishirou has disconnected.
Seishirou has connected.
[OOC] Nae Nae can't decide what to do really.
COMBATSYS: Naerose blocks Alma's Sacred Wave.
[ \\\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Alma 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 Naerose
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "The choice became clear."
Naerose has dropped a connection.
The hope was of course that mention of Li X would result in less abusive response by Alma and while he might lack in malice, that was part of the problem. The lack of malice was .. the whole nice guy thing. A nice guy fights for the art and does not fight to hurt someone, Alma likewise didn't seem to have a mean bone in his body, so what would he do with a Naerose who was being nice? He'd treat her respectfully, which meant that he'd take her seriously as an opponent and try to hit her with real, reasonable attacks. The kind of thing that you could reasonably expect to see land. This.. wasn't really what Naerose had in mind. She honestly had something a little different in mind, more polite (if by polite you mean not hitting her). She could show an opponent respect too of cousre, but more along the vein of, if I win, I get a turkey sandwich, kind of respect. It wasn't that she disrespected Alma, it was that she didn't want to get hurt. So the witch holds up her broom and lets the energy wash all around her like a bath of sort of suck. Yeah it sucks a bit, but she's going to soldier through it. Yeah.
"Did you.. Did you hear the part about her being on my team?" Naerose offers up, hoping that maybe this would gain her a different response than last time. Yeah dear, he probably did the first time you said it. And then with little else to do for it, Naerose sighs, and tries to ram Alma with her shoulder.. which requires a lot of splashing in water. Someone really owed her a turkey sandwich.
COMBATSYS: Alma dodges Naerose's Quick Throw.
[ \\\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Alma 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 Naerose
Look, just because he's a psychic doesn't mean he automatically knows you want a turkey sandwich, woman.
"What?" he asks, blinking through the seaspray as she charges boldly -- or perhaps just desperately -- through a wave in an effort to body-check him. "Sorry, I couldn't hear you over the ocean--" But there's no time for chatter anymore, not with her plunging forward. He has to put every effort into defending himself. To do otherwise would be disrespectful.
And Alma wants to be respectful, you know?
There's a tense moment as Alma weaves and teeters on the brink of the rock they are perched atop of, the cameras zooming in to see whether or not he will lean too far and take the plunge himself. But he deftly manages to circle her, just barely sweeping out of the way of the witch's rush, and as he moves his right fist blurs out, a lightning-fast jab to the back of her head streaking forth to collide with three impacts in swift succession.
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "Frankly I doubt this will work for my benefit, but hell, why not."
COMBATSYS: Naerose blocks Alma's Spring Shower.
[ \\\\\\\ < > ///// ]
Alma 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Naerose
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "Hah!"
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "Okay."
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "Oh dang."
Alma thought that Naerose would go down easily now, but he was wrong! So wrong. She had fight in her because something else was at stake. Now to be fair it isn't as though the witch could tell that Alma was a mind reader at all, so it is REALLY unfair that she expects him to get her a turkey sandwich. No such deal was ever made, no words spoken, nothing uttered, for whatever reason she just goes along with the assumption that Alma will get her a turkey sandwich, which he hasn't done and therefore she keeps fighting, mainly to stay conscious. In truth, if he falls and is like too sleepy to get her a sandwich (Read:unconscious) than she'll probably just borrow some money from his wallet. Because remember what we said about Alma being a nice guy? Well he was a nice guy. A really really nice guy. So while Naerose had a lot to consider, chief among those concerns being of course, how hard to attempt to hit Alma, one thing was for sho. She wanted to hit him hard. Well needed to, in order to win. Therefore the witch hops on her broom, taking the moment to let it carry her off the ground and shoots like a missile at the underwear model.
"Li X and I are totally friends!" she says, because, it worked a little last time.
COMBATSYS: Alma blocks Naerose's Delphine Charge EX.
[ \\\\\ < > ///// ]
Alma 0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Naerose
Oh Alma, how little you are aware of the danger you are in.
But whatever fate may befall him--
He will not be swayed from his course.
Somewhere, rising from deep within him, a surge of energy. The fatigue, it fades; the pain, it becomes inconsequential. The witch blasts towards him on her broom, and somehow steeling himself despite his precarious footing, Alma takes the hit in stride, the two fighters colliding with the sound of splintering and the crash of the waves.
"Then you must know, like her--"
The young man grins softly.
"--the importance of a fighting spirit."
However unclear Naerose's true motivations are to Alma...
"Hah!"
...that does, indeed, seem to be something she shares with Xiangfei.
With all the energy he can muster, Alma attempts to blur into a single powerful uppercut, striking her heavily under the chin while her broom remains partially trapped by his guard.
[OOC] Nae Nae needs luck
COMBATSYS: Naerose blocks Alma's Quick Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > / ]
Alma 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Naerose
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "heh.. heheheh"
[OOC] Alma Rodeo C_C
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "Th, this iron defense."
"The witch.. Is.. finally. .. Down. Alma has won. He shown her the importance of fighting spirit. With a brave upper cut. Naerose flys backward and then .. with a splash hits the water. Despite having used her broom to defend it. KERSPALSH. The witch is in water all slow motion, you can see millions of droplets run away from the witch, afraid she'll skimp out on the tip at their next meal, but gravity pulls them back, making them forever victims of her tip skipping ways. She is submerged completely in water.
And then the munchkins come out and start to sing and dance.
'Ding dong the witch is dead, the red red witch, the hungry witch, ding dong the cheapcase which is dead.' However their singing is all too soon, not to mention all in Naerose's head.. For all of a sudden, without warning.
"I AM INVINCIBLE!" cries Naerose as she emerges from beyond the grave, or at least beyond a really cold puddle of water, sending the droplets literally everywhere and an intense well grin on her face as she presses forward and tries to jab Alma with her broom.
"Thought you could beat me that easily? Well THINK AGAIN!" exclaims the witch. Yes Alma. Think again.
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "I'll give you a moment to just soak in the awesome."
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "Soaked it in yet?"
[OOC] Nae Nae defines awesome.
[OOC] Alma Rodeo laughs. XD
COMBATSYS: Naerose successfully hits Alma with Weapon Jab.
[ \\\\\\ < > // ]
Alma 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 Naerose
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "RAR!"
Alma blinks down at the waves, alone, bemused.
Maybe that was... a little too much fighting spirit.
"Ms... Delphine?" he calls out. "Er, are you--"
Whoa!!
"Whoa!!"
You said it, Alma.
Too far gone to spend much focus or emphasis on his psychic abilities, the model -- who does not merely specialize in underwear, by the way -- is taken entirely by surprise by Naerose's dramatic return, the jab heavily in the gut. He grunts and flinches, but this lights a spark of power within him again once more, and he finds himself able to reach in and draw out that unconquerable flame once more.
"Well, then," he manages, somehow grinning through the pain and exhaustion, good humor mingling with admiration in his mellow tone, "I guess I'll have to--"
He lashes out, bringing forth a gout of flame.
"--take you seriously!"
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "You're almost just as dead as I am how are you not taking her seriously?!"
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "alma was joking"
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "I truly think I'm at the end of the line."
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "But that's okay."
COMBATSYS: Alma successfully hits Naerose with Sacred Wave.
[ \\\\\ < > ]
Alma 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Naerose
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "I know what you mean. x_X"
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "Yep, tht was just too unlikely a dodge."
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "This has been a pretty outrageous comeback for you, dude."
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "But it's not over yet!!"
As amazing as Naerose's push on ward was, it had it's limits and her limits were one sacred wave. Though as Alma had the first word, Naerose was going to get the last, even if it was a rather slow attempt. Still the last word Naerose was going to be one we had heard before. She sticks her hand out, points her palm and Alma nd while this doesn't have range, maybe just the edges can kiss him enough to make the difference. She shouts "En Criento" which is Naerose babble for: End Creation. How she arrives at that is well. Anybodies guess. And the last thoughts of Naerose before turning them entirely to sugar plums (don't mind if I do). Is on. . . A turkey sandwich.
COMBATSYS: Naerose can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\ <
Alma 0/-------/---====|
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "Yeah as much as it's tempting to see a lot of health go and think 'fight over' you can do a lot with a little."
COMBATSYS: Alma dodges Naerose's End Creation.
[ \\\\\ <
Alma 0/-------/---====|
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "Definitely."
That was close.
The impact of his gout of soulfire gives Alma the time he needs to ready his dazed psyche and prepare for her final assault, allowing him to slip to the side as the energy passes and watch as Naerose finally -- finally! -- collapses to the rock. For a moment he just stands there, chest heaving, quietly regarding his fallen adversary as the announcer excitedly babbles to the audience at home toward the cameras.
What spirit.
He really can't just leave her like this.
Alma reaches up to rub his chin, gaze turning thoughtful.
There's no need for him to leave right away. And he did want to visit that village on the shore, after all; he hasn't visited, yet. He'll invite her to accompany him, once she revives.
Maybe he'll... get her a sandwich.
COMBATSYS: Alma has ended the fight here.
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "Excellent fight, man, thanks. XD I had a lot of fun."
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "Yep Naerose is something else"
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "But complete?!"
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "Completely nuts, maybe."
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "Come on she's still got a little work to do!"
[OOC] Alma Rodeo laughs. "She's a lot more 'complete' than when Alma first met her, though, I think."
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "They haven't interacted for a long time."
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "True."
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "Not since before Blackjack."
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "Hah, Alma considerse blackjack to be something that is helping complete naerose haha"
[OOC] Alma Rodeo stops the log to desc it, unless you have more to add?
Nae Nae says, "So what happens if you feed alma past midnight?"
[OOC] Nae Nae says, "Nah I'm good"
[OOC] Alma Rodeo says, "Well, Alma doesn't know about Blackjack, but she is reacting to her experiences, right? You were working on that little Nae-plot."
Alma Rodeo says, "Only one way to find out."
Log created on 18:28:30 12/16/2008 by Alma, and last modified on 12:15:49 12/19/2008.