Description: "Dear Diary, One of the Ikari showed up on the radar today. Leona Heidern. I was sent out to evaluate her combat threat level. She didn't talk much. There's something just a little bit off about her. I wonder who will be next..."
It's only been a scant couple of hours since the scuffle at the doorstep of Pacific High, but Leona Heidern isn't going to let this "day off" become anything too out of hand, anything she can't handle. Yes, given, she looks a little more rough than usual, but ... the kid that she fought was wielding a freaking -oar-.
If you came out of that one looking immaculate, there's something wrong.
Still, she has a new cup of coffee, she's rested, and this time, she's actually able to -drink- it. On the way towards the mall now, she's partaken of a proper lunch and decided to pick up some of the essentials while she's thinking about it: Polish for her boots, and maybe a stop at the tiny Army-Navy store hidden away a few blocks down from that.
Blowing steam from the lid of the coffee, it seems as though the Ikari's day has finally settled down. No more distractions, no more worries, and absolutely no more fighting that would interrupt the vital bond between Ikari and caffiene. Given, the latter word is easily interchangable with "beer" with the company she keeps, but Leona hasn't gone as far as to start getting hammered with the likes of Clark or Ralf just yet.
Public disturbances are a great way to get noticed. For most people, this hardly matters. Notice isn't automatically a bad thing. For most people, even fighters, it just means getting your name out there. If you're a big enough name, maybe even some reporter or camera crew will make it to the site of the incident fast enough to catch it on film for fight fanatics around the world.
When you're part of a para-military group of elites, however, it can have its repercussions. Especially if someone is looking for you. Southtown is a big city. But not big enough to fall of NESTS' radar once you've ended up on it. As word got around about the random brawl going on near Pacific High, a few NESTS operatives in one of the Cartel's Southtown bunkers, sit up when word comes across the radio about one Leona Heidern out and about.
"Don't we have some old missive on her?" one of them mused, sitting up a little, rubbing sleep from his eyes. "Yeah, hang on..." the other yawned, tapping away at the keyboard in front of him. "Here we go. Let's see... Leona H." He hms, eyes half lidded. Life isn't very exciting at the downtown observation bunker. Not very exciting at all. "Yeah. Ikari Warrior. The same group of trouble that one girl Kriz's always having us check on joined up with." He leans back in his chair, arms resting behind his head. "Should we call it in?" he asks, his head rolling over his shoulders to work out a crick in his neck. "Yeah, might as well..."
Enter Kula Diamond, NESTS' most dangerous field operative. Capable of assassinations, spying, and other unlawful but oh so helpful activities, she finds herself dispatched once again. The target - a lone Ikari. Current mission - evaluate threat level for advanced profiling purposes. As she works her way quickly down the street, clad in a long, red and white coat that she doesn't really /need/, the girl weaves her way around the few people out and about. Leona is her focus and once she gets within a block, she never lets the young woman out of her sight.
She's glad the objective isn't to kill the girl in cold blood. After a rather distressing encounter with one certain YFCC director, the girl has new found reservations about that sort've thing. Not that she's going to let anyone in on that, if she can help it. Unfortunately, her mission /is/ to interrupt that bond Leona seeks to maintain between her and her invigorating beverage. The long haired teenager catches up, her pace far quicker than the Ikari warrior's unhurried one.
"Leona Heidern, you have four seconds to prepare yourself." the voice of Kula Diamond pipes up from a good ten yards behind her. "Then I will attack you." Her hand goes to her coat, ripping it off with a single gesture and tossing it aside, leaving her violet colored NESTS body armor beneath it. She wasn't really feeling the chill anyway. Sky blue hair is tousled by unseen air currents as crystaline fragments begin to swirl up about her. Though she stands relaxed, her arms resting against her sides, she is very much ready to do her job.
COMBATSYS: Kula has started a fight here.
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Kula 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Kula takes no action.
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Kula 0/-------/-------|
Unfortunately for Leona, it seems as though her day is about to take the turn for the worse... or worst. Glancing over her shoulder the moment her name is uttered, she eyes the girl in the red coat for a long moment. Then she rips it off, casts it to the side-- and then things become a whole lot more clear. Ignoring the fact that her hair has yet to be tied back into the usual combat-ready ponytail, the Ikari's already plotting the first move.
Turning around fully, the blue-haired Ikari Warrior flicks the edge of the lid with her gloved thumb. "Sending kids to do the dirty work?"
And then in that fourth second, her arm thrusts forward, letting the coffee cup fly out of her hand and toward the blue-haired NESTS agent, sending a steaming hot cup of one-cream-and-two-sugars death flying her way!
Amusingly, starting things this way reminds her of how her morning began...
COMBATSYS: Leona has joined the fight here.
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Kula 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Leona
COMBATSYS: Kula fails to reflect Thrown Object from Leona with Counter Shell.
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Kula 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Leona
Incoming ow! She expected a kick. A charge. Some kind've energy thrown her way. Anything, really. Instead she gets a cup of coffee. Clearly bewildered as evidenced by her expression, the girl seems caught off guard as she takes a half step back and tries to put an early end to the airborn drink. A sweep of her left hand leaves a swirl of ice in its wake. But she wasn't really sure what she was trying to deflect exactly...
And that uncertainty costs her. Her barrier is perfect at putting a stop to the cup, but the coffee flies right on through, splashing over the girl's face and jacket, causing her to stagger back a couple of steps, looking abjectly shocked. What is this acid. And why was Leona sipping from it for the last several blocks?! She shakes her head quickly, the burning hot liquid stuck to her face freezing solid in place.
Recovering from the sting, her expression shifts from one of pain to being a touch miffed. "Don't take me lightly!" she exclaims, gloved hands tightening at her sides.
Four seconds is what she gave her.
In four seconds, this is what she decided to do.
There's no smile or arrogant quip to add on to the coffee's strike, nor does she react further than a quirk of her blue eyebrow to the way it freezes on her skin and keeps her from feeling a whole lot more of the pain that she probably should.
Instead, Leona Heidern is taking this chance to pull a short elastic band from the pocket of her pea coat and tie her hair back into that well-known ponytail, to get it up and off her neck, to get the length to a managable position in order for her to fight.
As her arms lift and her legs spread a little more than shoulder-width apart, Leona begins to analyze things based on what she's already seen: Her powers are obviously ice-based. That means she can expect constructs to reflect this... spikes, blades, and other projections of the sort. Hopefully, Heidern's daughter thinks to herself, this girl doesn't have acute enough control to freeze internal moisture in her body. Then, the best choice...
"I don't take anyone lightly," she replies in a cool tone.
COMBATSYS: Leona focuses on her next action.
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Kula 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Leona
Given more time to herself, Kula brings her hand up, brushing the frozen coffee off her face, ignoring the still liquid stuff on her jacket. Let the cleaners back at the base worry about /that/! She still looks a bit petulant, as if put out by the nature of Leona's opening volley. But with a shake of her head, her hands coming up to brush her hair back over her shoulders properly, the moment passes and she regains her calm.
As Leona prepares her hair and adopts her stance, Kula studies her. She's coming into this mostly blind, bereft her normal pre-fight reviews. But she's a quick study, those engineered algorithms in her brain constantly at work to break down and defeat every style she comes in contact with.
When Kula moves at last, determined to close the distance that has kept them seperate for this long, she seems to skate rather than run over the concrete, achieving ridiculous velocity in just a couple steps. Her right arm becomes the weapon as she clenches her fist and a flash of white energy warns of the attack to come in the form of a translucent glove of ice, two sharp spikes jutting out over her knuckles.
"Good." she whispers in transit, slamming to a stop a foot from Leona in order to transfer that forward momentum into a single, direct blow with that spiked glove of ice.
COMBATSYS: Kula successfully hits Leona with Medium Punch.
- Power hit! -
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Kula 0/-------/------=|=====--\-------\0 Leona
The arm comes in, and Leona begins to bring up her hands to defend herself properly. The speed added to the girl with the sudden outburst of ... skating?! It adds an element of surprise, a mistiming that leads to Kula's fist, lined with a brutal spike of ice, to slam into Leona's stomach much harder than she would've preferred. Her eyes widen a little, and her footing is lost-- staggering a step back, and nearly falling to one knee. The coat seems to be the only thing that's kept her from being completely skewered on the girl's spike-fist, indicative from the bloody rip at her stomach.
Letting a hiss of air escape between her teeth, Leona's left hand snakes up as she stands, looking to grab Kula by the bangs and -pull-. Trying to drag her along for a few steps, her right hand becomes as rigid as a blade-- one so rigid that her hand thrusts up at the NESTS agent's throat with the full intent to smash her windpipe and add enough extra force to possibly send her right off her feet!
COMBATSYS: Kula dodges Leona's Leona Crush.
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Kula 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Leona
It's punches like that that let people know that for her stature and apparent age, the NESTS project is brutally dangerous. A centimeter off from a potentially life threatening blow, averted only by Leona's training and maybe a sliver of luck, the frosty haired girl draws her hand back, flexing her fist and causing the translucent glove of ice to crumple to the ground. She looks neither pleased or apologetic about the strike, as if she were observing something so detatched and uninteresting as a math lesson.
But that doesn't mean she stops moving for an instant. The grab for her bangs isn't quite avoided even though Kula begins to lean backward, reading grab as an attempt to sock her between the eyes. But before Leona can pull her forward, the girl slices right through her bangs with her left hand - the edge of her hand occupied by a razor of sharp ice that clips her bangs right off into Leona's hand before she can be pulled into the intended combination.
Wincing a little, she puts the state of her haphhazardly clipped hair out of her mind almost immediately. She learned two lessons so far: Whatever it is Leona drinks, you don't want it on your face. And secondly - the Ikari will go to any lengths to land a hit, attacking in ways most opponents would not. Good to know, and it emphasizes the caution the girl will need to exercise in dealing with her.
"So you know Whip, hm?" she asks, turning her right shoulder toward Leona as she shifts her posture just slightly. "Do you know her brother as well?"
The question is thrown, but there is no hesitation before she attacks as well. The ice weilder decides as she steps back one half step in order to clear way for her to kick. The strike in question comes in the form of her right leg snapping up in a demonstration of her remarkable flexibility, a trail of white chi evidence of the blade now fixed to the sole of her insulated boot. She aims to gash the girl with that kick and plow her toe into Leona's jaw with crushing force.
COMBATSYS: Leona blocks Kula's Medium Kick.
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Kula 0/-------/------=|======-\-------\0 Leona
That brutality, that ruthlessness-- that was what she learned from her father. Leona's fighting style isn't born from sport or or some desire to compete in tournaments or showcases, even if it does end up becoming a large part of their work or their lives. No, it was born from killing-- quickly and efficently. With the bangs between her gloved fingers cast away to float off on the breeze, Leona's now put upon her guard.
The Ikari swings her forearms in to buffer against the blow with a reasonable amount of control, letting out a slight grunt in the process. Kula's question doesn't go unnoticed-- and for a moment, the Ikari's eyes shift from the foot in front of her to the eyes of the short girl attacking her. It's a knowing look-- and the NESTS agent may just be able to take that look as a reply. Does she know her brother...? Well, no...
But there's no time to think about that now. Right now, she needs to stop this ice-wielding girl, contact the Ikaris, and let them know of what's out looking for them! To this effect, Leona takes a step in closer. Pulling her arms in close and high, she spins around on her heel with a slight hop. The twist puts a little extra momentum in as her elbow comes up, looking to crack that bony part of her arm across Kula's nose!
COMBATSYS: Kula blocks Leona's Strong Punch.
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Kula 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Leona
Kula doesn't get much in the reply, but she gets enough to confirm the first question before she's forced to defend herself again. As Leona closes that gap with a hop, the small NESTS operative tightens up, arms raised, hands clenched as she weathers it out, allowing the soldier's elbow glance off her forearms instead of smacking her in the nose. Crimson eyes narrow as she crouches slightly and skips back, landing three yards off as she slides to a stop.
Realizing that a fight is in progress as menacing attacks get thrown back and forth by the two, the sidewalk has started to clear of what little traffic it had to begin with. The usual rubberneckers are even staying clear of this area. Those who have seen Kula's fights on television know full well that no where in a near radius is safe around that girl and given the way Leona's fighting, it's not too hard to figure that getting in her way even accidentally would make for a very unfortunate experience.
"Do you know where they live?" One of the best kept secrets in all of Southtown - where exactly /do/ they live? Agents have tried to trail K' or Whip from time to time, but there's no discounting the extreme caution they've taken to ditching their tails before they reach their home. Kula brings her right hand to her mouth, palm up, fingers out toward Leona. "Did you know Whip was held by the Syndicate for a while? Treated her real bad."
She breaths in deeply, a shimmer of white chi coursing over her body from her feet on up to her raised arm, culminating in her glove at the same time she exhales. What should be a harmless breath becomes instead a brief, gale force burst of air, super-charged with blisteringly cold. Needles of sleet and small splashes of lingering, super-cooled liquid-chi explode out toward Leona as the waifish girl attempts to punctuate her questions with decisive force. "You Ikari going to do anything about that?" she asks, her mouth curled into a faint smile.
While there's no way to know, the questions are her own rather than part of her mission. She can't help but wonder about this 'extended' family her rival experiment has by virtue of his sister.
COMBATSYS: Leona just-defends Kula's Diamond Breath!
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Kula 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Leona
The question that Kula asks is met with a long stare. Does she? Well... perhaps. Whip and her "brother" are so secretive that even the Ikari isn't sure of her current location-- something that, perhaps, Leona prefers. If that's how Whip feels the safest outside of the compounds and walls of the Ikari Warriors, then she'll respect that...
So, when Kula baits Leona for a reaction, she gets one. She gets a stern one, as the icy needles of chi and sleet scatter toward her. The sudden whip of her arm through the air is a motion so swift and powerful that the chi that chases after her hand provides a suitable balance to it, a counter so effective it scatters the remainder of Kula's spent power over her shoulder and toward the ground.
The stern expression, the silent fury, it carries on as Leona suddenly opts to charge at Kula in a low sprint. Her legs surge, her powerful stride carrying her toward the NESTS ice-slinger in only a few steps. Her arm sweeps out in a sudden, broad swipe at the girl's legs before a follow-up -spring- into the air, her body whipping backwards into a backflipping kick. Not only does the kick have enough oomph to possibly knock the NESTS girl off her feet, but both her chopping hand and the kick carry that same odd cutting chi effect to it, looking to cleanly slice right into Kula's body!
COMBATSYS: Leona successfully hits Kula with Grand Sabre.
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Kula 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 Leona
Her incessant questioning seems to provoke a reaction all right. Even if it isn't remotely the one she was really hoping for here. Eyes widen slightly as Leona slams her frosty attack to the side, leting most of the chi and frozen particulates go flying over her shoulder before raining down to the sidewalk. Lowering her right hand, now encrused with ice after the contact with her frigid breath, the young fighter finds herself facing down a very fast, very aggressive Leona Heidern.
She aims to make her ice her defence, weaving a barrier in the woman's path before backing up a step and hoping that will suffice. It doesn't work so well when the pony-tailed woman crashes right through it, however, only losing a fraction of her momentum. Too late to escape the attack, Kula finds herself slashed and kicked, driven back to the side walk though not quite knocked to the ground as her feet find traction at the last moment to keep her upright.
A soft hiss escapes from between her teeth as she reaches down to find the slash cut cleanly through her armored jacket. A very unusual trait for chi and one she had better do better about paying attention to going forward. Okay, so Leona hates questions it seems. Kula purses her lips slightly, deciding she really needs to focus more on dealing with this woman than satisfying her endless curiosity.
Her fingers brush aside some of the blood making its way through the cuts in her jacket. The injury will freeze over shortly. But she needs to divert more of her energy into attacking the young woman decisively. Tightening up her stance a little, her right arm raised in front of her, the ice weilder advances at a steady pace, trying to not leave herself too terribly open.
But she takes to the air in a slow, graceful arc, requiring the time to build up for her next attack as she readies her chi for a more punishing strike. By the time she flips out of the arc and descends toward the warrior girl. It's her right leg that Leona need fear, for the flash of ice that solidifies into frozen form at her foot takes on the shape of a literal ax bit - one that threatens to carve right into Leona Heidern's shoulder if Kula has her way, the girl determined to show her what a threat she can be!
COMBATSYS: Leona blocks Kula's Strong Kick.
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Kula 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Leona
The speed of her attack, the velocity and the strength, it all does well to send Leona flying into the air with her arms thrown out for balance. With the confirmed hit, there's a little bit of the Ikari Warrior that feels somewhat vindicated-- better, now that she added that small punch to the NESTS agent. As she sails through the air, nearing the ground, she looks back to see Kula in the air now. Heading toward her, no less, with a literal axe kick-- and a head made of ice to boot!
Crossing her forearms again, the kick lands against the defensive pose and keeps the blade of ice from biting too deeply into her shoulder. Shallow, it licks just a little bit of blood rather than scoring a deep, life-threatening blow. Still, it hurts.
Springing backwards from this position, she bends back and propels herself off her hands, palms striking cold concrete and pushing off to get back to her feet. With a hand near her left ear, a distinct *shing* sounds while her arm hooks in an underhanded toss, a swift flick of the wrist sending the body of her triangular earring bouncing on edge toward Kula-- toward her legs, and then -exploding- at the girl in the form of a potent anti-personnel grenade!
COMBATSYS: Kula dodges Leona's Earring Bakudan.
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Kula 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Leona
As her axe-bladed foot meets resistance, Kula corrects for it in mid-air, pushing down harder to force her featherweight body into a backward flip, allowing her to land in a half crouch, fingers lightly pressing against the ground as she slowly brings herself back up to standing straight. The Ikari soldier is tough, the girl contemplates, not having missed how well Leona has done at defending from her attacks. But anyone's guard can be worn away with enough brutal ice thrown its way. Or so Kula has come to believe anyway.
"Your style is fierce." the girl states, trying to predict how Heidern's girl will come at her again. Last time she wasn't fast enough - she wasn't even really /ready/ given the circumstances. This time she'll do better. "But so is mine." And now? Now she's going to demonstrate. A burst of white flares up over her right forearm, congealing into a sphere of translucent, diamond-hard ice over her right fist.
The girl starts to sprint forward, leaning on that remarkable speed she demonstrated earlier in the fight, cocking her right hand out at her side, readying a strike. Her left foot slams down a yard out as Kula twists her entire body to the right, lunging her right hand forward... The sphere affixed to her hand morphs then, as three sharp lances spike out, each of varying length, threatening to skewer through the Ikari Warrior with savage force. The girl keeps pushing with malevolent force, pouring all her forward momentum into the attack, as she literally tries to spear Leona to the nearest wall. "If you don't like to talk, then we'll just get this over with...!"
COMBATSYS: Leona blocks Kula's Critical Ice.
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Kula 0/-------/---====|=======\==-----\1 Leona
The smart thing to do would be to get out of the way of the rushing Kula-- not even bother dealing with the attack face-to-face. But that's not how Leona Heidern reacts to a lot of situations: Calm as she is, analytical as she is, and as fierce as she is, there are a lot of moments where she stands her ground and refuses to back down.
Such is this case: One spike lances across her left leg, another tearing at the opposite shoulder. The threatening spike coming in dead-on toward her, however, she -catches-. The force applied by Kula is enough to cause her to skid backwards, pressed back by the force of the girl's strength-- not only physically, but the strength of her elemental manifestations.
"Hrrrrr-yagh!!"
Suddenly, her feet -plant-, stopping that advance. Leona's right hand comes off the spike and chops down with an impressive strength, that odd chi cleaving through the central spike and splitting it down the length.
The Ikari drops into a low stance and closes the gap between herself and Kula with a few swift, impressive strides. Rather than directly charge the girl, however, the blue-haired mercenary attempts to skid on the soles of her boots just -beyond- the NESTS agent, looking to pivot at the waist and drive a knife-like hand into the ice-wielder's side to stun her-- then hook an arm up and take her into a vicious chokehold, complete with her other arm trying to lock the grip down.
COMBATSYS: Kula dodges Leona's Strong Throw.
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Kula 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Leona
The girl applies all the pressure possible, intending to leave Leona stuck to a wall - three deadly spikes speared through her. What she gets instead is a very effective defense to fight against as Heidern's daughter takes the attack head on rather than trying to get out of the way like any SANE person would do. The center spike intended to deal the worst damage is the one she picks out to defend herself against, evidence of her split second thinking even with the aggressive shift Kula is trying to make against her.
As the lance is severed by that sharp chi, Kula draws her right hand back, knowing full well that time to react is preciously limited. The woman moves fast, and she hurts. Her anticipation ends up being just what she needed as the initial stabbing punch is avoided narrowly by twisting to the side. Against most opponents, she would be skeptical that they could even punch through her leather armored jacket, but after seeing what Leona's chi can do, she isn't about to find out.
Twisting to the side, the girl avoids the rest of what was intended for her, giving her an opportunity to retaliate. An opportunity she's not going to pass up on. Leona's charge puts the two speedy fighters within close range of each other - close enough to feel that bitter cold that orbits Kula perpetually. And if Kula has her way, she's about to get a nice dose of it as the girl attempts to return the favor, right hand going for Leona's neck, left hand going to shove her sternum.
The aim is to drive her backward, shoving her into the wall with a chi infused choke slam and maybe even leave her stuck there if too much of that liquid-energy is allowed to freeze into place before releasing and backing up to re-evaluate just how to deal with this woman's style of fighting!
COMBATSYS: Kula successfully hits Leona with Medium Throw.
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Kula 0/-------/--=====|=======\====---\1 Leona
It was a high-risk attempt, but Leona doesn't feel any anger or surprise when Kula dodges out of the way of her hand thrusting in, even the attempt to ensnare the girl by the throat. Instead, she finds herself put into the pinch as the cold girl's aura becomes more focused-- potent-- and then hands spear out and snag her by the throat, slam into her chest. Her footing suggests an attempt to dodge, to pull away from that grip and counterattack, but the NESTS agent is a little faster than she anticipated... and the grip is a little stronger than she had anticipated.
Slammed back into the wall of the building they stand near, she lets out a heavy grunt as the cold and impact play hell with her back and her throat. Kula springs back to get her bearings, take a good look at what's going on. Leona Heidern takes the chance to stop-- slow down, catch her breath, as she steps away from the wall and swipe at the freezing moisture sitting at her throat. There's got to be a way to properly cut through this girl's defenses. She's got good stance, and a presence to her that she can't put a finger on. The ice adds a degree of unpredictability, as well...
COMBATSYS: Leona gains composure.
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Kula 0/-------/--=====|=======\==-----\1 Leona
Giving Leona a moment's reprieve to catch her breath, Kula studies the Ikari more carefully. It's a very efficient style she's going up against. No easy openings, swift, brutal counter attacks. It reminds her of her own style on some levels. Ruthless and cold - nothing personal, just business. The problem is trying to figure out a way to get through that.
She detects, on some level, that Leona might be trying to figure the same thing out about her. Crimson eyes narrow slightly, mouth curling into to the faintest of grins as if acknowledging that shared moment of analysis. Neither of them are shy about violence or blood. It explains why she's finding herself so well matched. If all the Ikari are this tough, her mission is going to prove to be a bit more challenging than she normally likes.
Enough stalling. She told Leona that she would finish this and she intends to do so. Tightening up her stance, turning her left shoulder toward the young woman, the girl clenches her right hand tightly. Another surge of white courses over her arm as she starts back into a speedy sprint toward Leona. Churning, spiraling white, as cold as liquid nitrogen, Kula intends for Leona to get another dose.
She leads with her left hand - a simple glove-fisted strike, before she slams her right hand forward with piston-like strength in an attempt to smash Leona back and unload all that pent up energy into her. Her final stance leaves her leaning backward slightly, her right arm propped up by her left hand before she starts to relax and draw back into her ready stance once more.
COMBATSYS: Kula successfully hits Leona with Fierce Punch.
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Kula 0/-------/-======|=======\======-\1 Leona
Whether it's the tightness in her throat or the extent of the injuries she's taken in the course of this fight, Leona isn't looking too well. The first punch is a near-miss, the blue-haired woman's torso leaning harshly to one side-- and doesn't get far from the effort. The main strike sends her slamming back against the wall with a heavy gasp, eyes widening as she staggers hard, hand gripping the wall in an effort to at least, somehow, keep herself steady.
Twisting around in place, Leona's hand leaves the wall. Her body leans forward, and all of her speed and power are devoted to a single, low-angle -lunge- through the air. The Ikari's back arches as her right arm comes up high, and a sudden surge of glowing orange-- not blue-- gathers at her hand. In a sudden defiance of physics, Leona Heidern screams down toward Kula with a swift, broad-angle chop. Hit or miss, her arm sweeps back up in a matching angle to leave the trail of a massive orange chi "V" lingering in the air for a moment while she makes a light drop toward the ground. Powerful, cutting, and -burning- all at the same time, it seems as though the Ikari Warrior is finally pulling out all the stops against the NESTS agent...
COMBATSYS: Kula blocks Leona's V-Slasher.
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Kula 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Leona
Kula is quiet as Leona hits the wall, not pursuing immediately. She's found pressuring the woman doesn't tend to rattle her as much as it does other foes. Which means staying in her face isn't necessarily a tactical advantage and could very well result in her getting counter attacked worse than she's ready to deal with. As she slips out her arm-cannon posture back into a ready stance, she narrows her eyes slightly, anticipating a determined retaliation from the young woman.
Leona doesn't disappoint, taking to the air, Kula's face lifting to watch her trajectory carefully. Her right arm charges - a warning sign to the NESTS operative after having a painful encounter with the woman's slashing chi capacity once already. And so she raises her shields. Both hands lift, sweeping a barrier of ice multiple inches thick between her and Leona.
It isn't enough to stop her short, however, and as the ice barrier breaks, Kula is forced to defend herself, her jacket sleeves facing the worst of that slashing chi as they're cut right through in favor of her torso or face being struck. The space in time to create another shield is frightfully brief, but she barely manages in time as Leona completes the V shape, slashing chi, letting most of that savage, cutting force burrow into another plate of ice instead of her body.
The girl gasps, her breath visible vapor in the air as she staggers back a couple of steps, eyes widened just slightly before she shakes her head, expression hardening. "I'm not here to kill you." She tightens up her stance a little. "You should be glad." White energy begins to course over her forearms again, her hands clenched into gloved fists. "Because if I was..." She springs forward, leaping into a short hop from a short range out, body kept perfectly verticle. "You would be dead."
The white chi in her hands lingers behind, forming a circle of that frigid power surrounding the girl as she spins into a swift pirouette. Her feet plow through the lingering fluid-like chi, building up a dangerous presence of that power on each foot before she tries to crash into Leona with that spinning flurry of kicks. The instant her feet touch the ground, she'll swing her right foot up at a sharp angle in order to complete the combination and try to knock Leona down for good.
COMBATSYS: Kula successfully hits Leona with Ray Spin.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///// ]
Kula 1/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Leona
Would she? Is it a bad day? Is she really that much better? No-- there's got to be something to all this. There's got to be a way to punch through this girl's defenses, and give her a hard lesson in pain. There -has- to be a way...!
The broken ice is the first signal that things have gone horribly wrong. There has to be a way to break through her!
Kula's spinning flurry of kicks is met with a sudden resistance in the form of her arms pulling up into a defensive stance. The power added to them, the sheer ice, it rips away at the sleeves of her coat and knocks her arms away from their defensive cross. The next few rip across her clothing, and leave her in a bit of a bloodied mess.
That same blood that burns like acid is being pumped through her veins.
Seething as she skids on her heels one more time, Leona turns away from Kula and drops into a low stance, sprinting at high speeds towards the NESTS agent. Leona's hand goes absolutely rigid, and chi begins to course through the young woman's arm from shoulder to the tips of her fingers. Her fingers trail along the ground next to her, a blaze of orange chi chasing the tips of her fingers-- all the way to where she thrusts them at Kula's belly, almost as if she wants to literally stab into the girl with her bare hands. If it strikes, it'll be painful. If it strikes, her fingers will feel like they were made of cast iron.
If she strikes...
COMBATSYS: Leona can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kula 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Kula reflects Rebel Spark from Leona with Diamond Shell.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kula 0/-------/-------|
As Kula snaps her foot back down, she doesn't pursue Leona. She believes her point to have been made. That the young woman, for all her tenacity, for how tough and rugged she was, for how brutal her attempted strikes... she can't beat the best NESTS has to send out. She remains silent - the most mute opponent Kula has ever faced. There's something to be learned there about talking and the waste of attention span it tends to be in any real match. Maybe she should talk less too, she ponders.
When Leona doesn't stop, her intention to keep fighting made clear, Kula arches an eyebrow just slightly. She really should stop - a point Kkula would gladly make if she wasn't going to prepare her most powerful defensive reaction in her aresnal. Drawing her arms up, bracing herself, all of the risidual ice that she had been launching Leona's way is drawn back into her in a sudden snap, a rush of vacuum, covering her body with a thick layer of diamond-hard protection.
It brings the attempt to harm her to an undeniable stop, but the moment of contact seems to trigger an immediate reaction too as the shell suddenly explodes right back out, striking the young woman with an unpleasant dosage of freezing cold chi and frozen shrapnel from the barrier of ice. And at the center of that disasterous explosion, Kula relaxes, stretching her arms out to her sides and exhaling softly.
Letting her right arm rest against her side, her left hand reaches over to clasp at her elbow. The power she unleashed against Leona taking a lot of her reserves out of her as evidenced by the blue melting out of her hair and the temperature around her returning to something better understood to be normal.
She's quiet, staring back at the fierce woman with the killing instinct in her style. "Be careful about the attention you draw. You're strong, but there's stronger." She lifts her hands, brushing at her jacket where it was slashed into, frowning slightly. The blood from the chi-caused gash will thaw shortly now that she is no longer using combat level of energy. With her mission complete, the girl turns to stride off. Time to return and report!
COMBATSYS: Kula has ended the fight here.
Log created on 23:35:48 12/31/2008 by Kula, and last modified on 23:28:06 01/12/2009.