Description: While the attempt to secure the YFCC as a foothold deep in Southtown was ultimately overthrown, it did serve to effectively bring a lot of the more powerful threats against the invasion out of the woodwork. Reports were reviewed, debriefings held, and new plans to recover from this setback have been put in motion. But part of locking down the city requires teaching those who fought back that there will be repercussions. Kula Daimond and her superior officer, Zero, have been dispatched to hunt down and deal with two of the larger threats to make their presence known: Kyo Kusanagi and ex-NESTS project, Maxima. Of course, with high value targets like these, the orders for the NESTS operatives are explicitly clear: Take those two alive.
Maxima and Kyo are having a picnic at the shrine. "Excuse me Kyo can you pass the grey poupon?"
Shizuka had insisted he stay longer at the Kusanagi household, but as good as her cooking and as kind as her hospitality are, Maxima couldn't find it in him to impose any further. Well, that and he was getting a little tired of all those undeserved dirty looks Kyo kept shooting his way: It wasn't Maxima's fault he had to help haul Kyo's ass out of a pile of broken glass after Vega had his way with the scion of the flames! In any case, Maxima slumming at the Kusanagis just increased the likelihood of a NESTS or Shadaloo attack on the premises that he would rather not be responsible for.
So, the Cyber-Canuck says his goodbyes and departs, ambling down the ridiculously-long stone stairway that winds down the mountain that the mansion sits perched upon. In the distance he can see the plumes of smoke, rising from the downtown core of Southtown. It looks like a news footage of a war zone.
Like most prideful creatures, one of the worst things that you can do in Kyo's opinion is to see him at a bad moment. It's like a cat; not only do they pretend that they fully intended to do whatever thing they screwed up, but they also give you that horrible death glare for witnessing them do it. So yes, while Kyo's mother proves to be an amicable hostess, the World Warrior champion himself can't help but wonder privately (and sometimes aloud) why Maxima couldn't have just taken him to some secret hideout or something. Seriously, there's a war on, you don't take a guy to see his mom in those circumstances.
By the time the Canadian finally manages to extricate himself from the situation, then, Kyo couldn't be happier to see him go. Sure, Kyo knows the situation that's going on out in the city, and it's entirely possible that he intends to do something about it... Not that he'd admit it aloud, though.
"So long, Sideburns," Kyo offers by way of a farewell, grouchily. "I seriously hope I never run into your lame ass again."
He's a sweetheart.
There is, in fact, a reason one should never go to family or loved ones during wartime -- especially one taken to their very homes, and especially when they find themselves a target. Kyo and Maxima enjoy heartfelt, quality moments at the Kusanagi estate, perhaps seemingly oblivious to all -- or simply looking to avoid and recover from the hell they have just recently experienced. Yet, one thing can always be certain:
There is no avoiding this kind of hell for men like them.
"Perimeter is secured," intones a dry, lifeless voice over the crackle of radio well off from the departing Maxima and the mansion he strides from. The mountains are currently home not just to the lavish estate of the Kusanagi family... but to a very different, far more distorted and corrupt (if such a thing were possible) group. There is not even the faintest signs of their presence -- they take pains to stay off the radar, from Kyo's senses, and even Maxima's sensors. After all--
--They know how their ex-operatives and experiments work.
"Agent Diamond," continues the dispassionate voice, "you have been designated target: Maxima. I will deal with the Kusanagi subject. Data has been resupplied for both targets' combat abilities." A long pause follows this, considerate.
"Engage in blitz assault... now."
The team was in place, the plans in motion. The defenses at the YFCC revealed who some of the main threats in Southtown were to things going as intended. And now it was time to deal with them. Once again both Kyo and Maxima have ended up prime targets on NESTS' radar. It was only a matter of time before the Cartel would try to sweep the both of them up.
"Confirmed." Kula's voice answers the radio command. Clinical, cool, she always felt more confident than other times when able to fight at the sides of NESTS senior leadership. They were in charge for a reason, after all. And in an organization like this, it wasn't just leadership skills that rocketed people to the top but their power. Her leader for this mission had that to spare. Crimson eyes watch Maxima's departure through powered binoculars. Statistics, abilities, fighting data all read across the view in tiny, green numbers and letters.
He was going to be a challenge. "Engaging." she adds crisply, lowering the lenses from her eyes and slipping them into a satchel of gear hanging from a small hook imbedded into the cliff at her side. She had seen Maxima before. He hadn't seemed a bad sort even though their last encounter was her trying to kill him until K' got in the way. But right now his name is on a list. And checking items off hitlists is one of her specialties.
Springing from the cliffside, the girl descends into a sprint right down the side, small patches of ice left with each footfall providing just enough friction to give her control over her descent as she speeds down toward Maxima, long blue hair whipping out behind her. White energy crackles over her right hand, evidence of the power she bears being unsealed for combat use.
Maxima might sense that surge in power, however, as the black-clad girl bullets toward him. Of course, Kyo's heartwarming farewell might just be too much of a distraction... then again, Maxima is used to K', so can anything really phase him?!
COMBATSYS: Kula has started a fight here on the right meter side.
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|-------\-------\0 Kula
COMBATSYS: Kyo has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Kyo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kula
COMBATSYS: Zero has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Kyo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kula
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|-------\-------\0 Zero
COMBATSYS: Maxima has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Maxima 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kula
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Kyo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Zero
Her feet will make almost no sound as she alights on the path behind Maxima. In two steps she'll be at his back, her right hand drawn, the energy that was once fluid solidifying into a small glove of translucent ice; two spikes jutting out over her knuckles as Kula wordlessly slams her fist forward. Warnings are for honorable fights among friends. Camaraderie has nothing to do with what's going on here though. Aiming for his lower back, the girl might have one of his kidneys in mind. If they're even in the same place as they are on most people... if he even has any at all?!
COMBATSYS: Kula successfully hits Maxima with Medium Punch.
- Power hit! -
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Maxima 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Kula
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Kyo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Zero
The Canadian pauses in mid-step, only halfway down the weathered stone staircase when his computer's early-warning system sounds a klaxon in his cybernetic brain, alerting him to a potential threat that is rapidly approaching him. Of course, even without fancy AI software, Maxima would have been able to feel the suddenly chill air that envelopes the area.
He exhales a bit. He had hoped that he would be able to enjoy the walk through the forest before re-entering the living hell that Southtown has become, but the devil's hands have been busy, and it doesn't look like they're going to wait for him.
Planting his feet as best he can on the stairway, the cyborg whips his torso around to regard the aggressor. By this time Kula Diamond has nearly reached him, and while Maxima manages to not get struck in the back like the ice maiden had planned... he gets nailed regardless. Blade of ice rend the metal plating that makes up his stomach.
"Nngh... you again. Man, despite that cute look of yours, you really aim for the weak spots, huh..." He says through wincing. While he was making that observation, and Kula still has her wolverine-claws stuck in him, he maneuvers both arms so that they're bowed, fists pointing at the sides of Kula's head. "DOUBLE VAPOUR CANNON!!" Cylindrical armcannon arrays pop out from around his wrists and deliver their payload: twin bursts of compressed gasses which strike with jackhammer-like impact.
The preparations by the attackers are effective, which just goes to show you what sort of an advantage proper planning can give you. Kyo's nebulous sense of the world around him isn't enough to give him any warning this time, leaving him quite unaware of the presence of Kula until she's already moving like a bat out of a very cold hell, like some kind of bizarro Meat Loaf album cover, and looking to put some serious hurt on Maxima.
Right in front of Kyo, of course, where he can't just ignore it happening.
With a mighty, weary sigh, Kyo Kusanagi shakes his head. "Always with this sort of crap," the Kusanagi heir mutters, already tugging on his gloves. There's probably more opponents around than just Kula; that assumption is simple common sense, when dealing with the guys who've besieged Southtown. But, the bitch of it is, at the moment? She's the only visible target.
So, as Maxima attempts to vapour her cannon, Kyo comes careening out of the front of the house in turn, having also taken a moment to put on his shoes, because come on, closing with the little frosty pixie of doom and aiming a fist directly for her head. Flames, naturally, trail behind the swung hand, with more set to erupt at the point of impact. "What's up, Sno-cone?" wonders the Kusanagi heir, fully intent on following up that initial strike with a second, bringing his other fist to bear with still more flame, before swinging a /third/ time, this in a punishing uppercut to the underside of Kula's jaw. "Fancy meeting you here!"
The bait is taken.
While Kula charges, her superior officer does not. Not out of any sort of cowardice -- it is planning. Preparation. Patience and consistency is what wins drawn out battles -- tactics. And that is exactly what he intends to use here.
First comes Maxima, falling prey to the surprise assault of the Anti-K'. The machine man attempts to pummel the defenses of the young woman through pure, pressurized air... but he's not the one that Kula's superior concerns himself with. No -- it's the one that comes after, broiling with the tell-tale crimson flames of the Kusanagi. They both come swinging, attempting to overwhelm her with numbers--
"Kyo Kusanagi."
But numbers aren't exactly on their side today.
The voice comes directly /behind/ Kyo as he delivers that final blow to the icy assassin. And if he should turn around? ... He'll fine nothing more than a swath of dark fabric and serrated, metal 'teeth' aiming to carve into his body with strength and speed that cut slice through solid rock like putty. The fabric suddenly snaps backwards, receding to a long skirt hemmed with sharp metal, and a single, dark-skinned man, staring directly and dispassionately at the Kusanagi heir.
"... Subject Alpha.
"You are coming with us."
COMBATSYS: Maxima successfully hits Kula with Vapour Cannon.
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Maxima 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Kula
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Kyo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Zero
COMBATSYS: Kyo successfully hits Kula with Aragami.
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Maxima 0/-------/---====|======-\-------\0 Kula
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Kyo 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Zero
Sinking the icy spikes into Maxima works out as intended. Diamond-strong, sharp lances skewer the older fighter's stomach. Nothing vital struck, but there's always next time. She just starts to retract her strike when he retaliates a step faster than she had anticipated. Last time his size seemed to let the nimble fighter get the better of him easily, but this time he's quick enough to act before she's free to spring away.
Her left hand raises, sweeping a weave of thick ice past the incoming attack before finally freeing her right hand enough to withdraw. It's too late. The compressed gas explodes through the defending ice, melting it into just more vapor as the heated matter blasts pound into the side of the girl's head with enough force to stun her into stumbling back with a soft hiss of breath.
Kyo's approach, normally something that would have registered under better circumstances, goes missed entirely as he swings in with chi-laced fist. The young assassin is struck cleanly in the head, dazing her even further. Her right arm comes up, a spine of ice along her jacketed forearm to block the second fist. The flames and ice mix, diminishing the damage for a moment thanks to her last second defense. But off balanced as she already is, there's no handling the final uppercut to the chin that takes the featherweight clean off her feet.
Landing on her back against the steps, she rolls over, kicks her feet out, and spins back to standing in the blink of an eye, though forced to take a moment to get her bearings back. Bleeding from her lip a little, her cheeks marred by an excess exposure to heated vapors and scalding flame, the girl isn't about to waver here. Her mouth opens, as if she has something to say, but by the time Zero closes distance, she's since changed her mind and sprung back into action. Her target remains Maxima as the girl anticipates Zero's closing distance will hopefully draw the Kusanagi heir who's blood is responsible for all this cloning nonsense in the first place off her!
Springing to the side from a few yards out, she avoids closing distance to engage Maxima in melee combat again, but instead brings her right hand to her mouth, palm up. A shimmer of white energy courses over her forearm at the same moment she exhales, infusing what should be a normal breath with gale wind force and a torrent of sharp, frozen shards of ice intent on slowing down the metal titan.
COMBATSYS: Maxima Toughs Out Kula's Diamond Breath!
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Maxima 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\0 Kula
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Kyo 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Zero
Well, that worked. Kula is thrown backwards by the combined strength of Maxima and Kyo's attacks, leaving the two unlikely partners to face-off against Zero. "I figured you wouldn't be far behind!" Maxima hollers over to the NESTS commander while removing two broken-off ice shards lodged in his stomach. The Canadian glances over at Kusanagi, giving him a slight nod of thanks, then charges up the stairs towards Zero.
Kula recovers from those vicious attacks dealt out to her quicker than Maxima anticipated: She's already firing off a small blizzard by the time he starts rushing at her superior, but he sees no reason to stop just because of a few snowflakes.
I mean, really, slow him down?! Did the cruel freeze of the Canadian arctic stop the pipeline?! Did the low temperatures of the homeland ever hinder the mighty Canuck loggers?! Maxima's sideburns bristle at such an insult, and he plows right through the hail of diamond breath, seeking to lay hands on Zero and hold him up, so that the scion of the flames can get some licks in for free.
COMBATSYS: Kyo blocks Zero's Ouga.
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Maxima 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 Kula
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Kyo 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Zero
Yeah, Kyo was pretty sure that Kula had backup /somewhere/, but he didn't really feel like sitting around with his thumb up his ass waiting for them to show, while Maxima got ground into back bacon by Kula. Not that he feels even the least bit obligated to the Canadian for making sure he didn't end up in the hands of Vega, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, of course. It was Maxima's fault he was even at the YFCC in the first place.
But anyway.
There's a certain grim satisfaction that comes from pummelling Kula with fists and sacred flame, a sense of well-being that can only come from viciously beating young girls. ...Wait, no, that's not right. The point is, Kyo is bereft of guilt or sympathy over having punched her in the face, since she went and attacked somebody on his lawn.
Okay, it's his dad's lawn, technically. Until Saishu finally gives himself a heart attack jumping around like an idiot and laughing like a pirate all the time for no goddamn reason. It's an inevitability.
But if Kula wants to be freed from Kyo's attentions, Zero certainly does the job; feeling the impending attack as Zero all but appears behind him, Kyo twists around and manages to deflect the worst of the slashing cape strike, the mysterious material of his Kusanagi gloves keeping his forearms from getting laid open. "Mom always told me not to go anywhere with strangers," the Kusanagi heir notes, matter-of-factly. "And, come on, you don't even have a white van with 'FREE CANDY' painted on the side. That's just /standards/." While Kyo elects to run his mouth, Maxima... Goes after Zero? Well, okay then.
Lunging in with the NESTS crazyperson hopefully tied up dealing with Maxima, Kyo aims to use the Canuck's grip to simplify the application of a peculiar throw of his own, simply slamming his arm and shoulder into Skirty McSkirterson hard enough to blast him /out/ of Maxima's supposed grip, and send him sprawling. "Hua-!!"
COMBATSYS: Kyo successfully hits Zero with Hatsugane.
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Maxima 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 Kula
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Kyo 0/-------/----===|=====--\-------\0 Zero
COMBATSYS: Maxima successfully hits Zero with Maxima Lift.
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Maxima 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Kula
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Kyo 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\1 Zero
"... Kula Diamond," Zero says shortly after his skirt retreats back to him, cold eyes looking towards the NESTS agent. "Execute plan C63."
Whatever this plan may be is left up to question as Zero is suddenly intercepted by the Canadian. Before he can even properly react, the cyborg grasps onto the NESTS commander with a mighty grip, hefting him up before the man can even mount a suitable defense.
It all happens in a blur; in one moment, he is being thrust upward. In the next? Kyo Kusanagi is shoulder-slamming him with more than enough force to /blast/ the NESTS Second-in-Command backwards like little more than a ragdoll. Crashing into the mountainside with a tremendous impact that blows off chunks of rock and mineral, Zero scrapes and rolls across the ground in the scattering of pebbles and debris, ending quite succinctly on his feet, in a crouch.
"... I see that you still require a glove," Zero notes idly to Kyo as he smears blood free from the flow at the corner of his lips. His tone is cold, yet delivered in such a way as someone who is intimately familiar with the control of Kusanagi's flames.
"Agent Diamond -- now."
As Zero speaks, Maxima might notice one, simple thing -- shadows have extended from Zero, /to/ him, shimmering black and blue hands extending upwards from the ground to grasp at his legs with a chilling, burning grip. The intent? To freeze Maxima in place with that shadowy chi, for Kula to capitalize on the moment... just before Zero himself drives /forward/ like a shot, seeking to drive his fists into the heavy android in a series of titanic body blows with enough force to stagger even the man of metal.
The girl lowers her hand, flakes of ice drifting free of her now-encrusted glove as she clenches her fingers slowly. Left to her own, she's given a reprieve from the powerful attacks both of their targets can muster. Vision cleared with the time she's bought herself, Kula watches Maxima keep on his intended path toward Zero. It's a risky gamble to turn one's back to a fighter as ruthless as her and as well versed in ways of striking weak points, but what makes it worse is Zero's call of action as he issues orders even in the midst of dealing with Maxima and Kyo at once.
The plan, just one of thousands programmed into her brain by rote repetition, is the perfect call to make in precisely the scenario all four fighters have ended up. She doesn't even have to think as she prepares, tightening her right hand, drawing more from that deep well of chi she commands into a churning wave of white down her forearm before it solidifies into a translucent sphere about her right fist.
The combination the two dish out on Zero is brutal and near flawless for such an impromptu moment of coordination. Her expression is emotionless, patient. Zero will pick a target in an instant, and then they will descend upon their victim with brutal force. The sphere of ice weighs heavily on her arm, the matter packed more densely than normal. It need to be, to facilitate the next attack to come.
And then a target is chosen, the NESTS leader's power put into use in trying to restrict Maxima's ability to move. The agile girl springs forward then, bolting in a direct line for the Canadian cybernetic brawler. Her right arm cocks back before slamming forward. From over a yard away, she's no where close enough to physically strike Maxima again. But she doesn't need to be. The sphere of ice over her right hand morphs as she stretches, and the half of it closest to Maxima melts into three long, excruciatingly sharp spears of frozen matter.
Each of varying lengths, the girl is aiming for vitals just as the cyborg will have to deal with Zero's power. Each lance is targetted for maximum damage, trying to skewer organs or vulnerable locations as Kula unleashes one of her more effective killing techniques on the double-teamed target!
COMBATSYS: Maxima endures Kula's Critical Ice.
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Maxima 1/----===/=======|=======\=------\1 Kula
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Kyo 0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0 Zero
COMBATSYS: Maxima interrupts Mabukousou from Zero with Maxima Missile.
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Maxima 1/--=====/=======|=======\=------\1 Kula
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Kyo 0/-------/----===|=======\=------\1 Zero
Momentarily frozen in place by Zero's bizarre technique, Maxima just cracks a wide, shit-eating grin at Zero, "When I get out of this I'm gonna... hmm." A small picture-in-picture window pops up on his heads-up display, allowing him a great picture of what might be his possible demise as Kula shoots towards him with a variety of spiky ice protrusions out in front of her. Zero soon follows suit, executing Plan C63: AKA THE NESTS SANDWICH.
The big Canadian doesn't see any way to escape this without having some severe damage inflicted upon him, so he does what he always does faced in situations like these: turn defense into offense. With supreme force of will, Maxima frees himself from the paralyzing chi forces, crouching down just before the NESTS commander reaches him. He times an upwards straight punch so it lands exactly as the first body-blow of Zero's assault strikes him, but instead of just socking the skirted warrior like he usually does, his hand flies open, grabbing Zero by the neck and pulling him uncomfortably close to Maxima's. The cyborg's other arm snakes around Zero's torso. HUG TIEM!!
Maxima and Zero's loving embrace assures that when Kula skewers Maxima multiple times, she also impales Zero when those wicked-sharp ice spikes come out the other end.
From this close proximity, Zero gets a good look at Maxima's PAIN FACE, though he may be too busy making his own. When Kula removes her spikes, now coated in two-tone Zero blood and Maxima.... fluid, the Canadian relinquishes his grasp on the NESTS commander, "Rrrnngh... guess you forgot that I remembered what Plan C63 is huh-" he mutters, moving a hand up to one of his wounds, "-It sucked even back when I worked for you guys."
COMBATSYS: Kyo has left the fight here.
> ///////////// ]
|=======\=------\1 Zero
There's few things as satisfying as shoulder blocking somebody so hard they go flying. Even when it comes as a result of some random spur of the moment comic book teamup. Seriously, all they need here is Wolverine, and they'd make a /mint/ on this miniseries.
"Hey, you know what they say, Fabutan. 'No glove, no love.'" And then, to be just about as crass as humanly possible, Kyo turns towards Kula, and he gives her a wink and a finger gun. "'course, I guess it's possible you've never gotten that far," the Kusanagi heir muses, as his attention turns back to Zero, and... Hey, where are they going?
There's honestly no time at all for Kyo to interfere in the NESTS agents' attempt to shikebab the Cybernetic Canuck, but Maxima... He's a tough guy, right? He can handle himself. Even Kyo, renowned the world over for being an enormous asshole, can't entirely suppress a bit of a twinge of his vestigial sympathy at what comes next. But he got Zero too, so there's that. Kyo will give him props, if only silent props that nobody else will ever find out about. Those are pretty much the only kind of props Kyo ever gives anyone.
He might pour out a forty for Maxima later, if he dies here or something.
Don't think that Kyo is out of the fight yet, though; there is an abrupt sensation of pressure, of something terrible coming just out of sight. It's a palpable weight, as power builds inside the Kusanagi heir, the ancestral power of that bloodline, forged and tempered over thousands of years to create Kyo Kusanagi. Flames rage around him, nearly obscuring him, and he watches Zero and Kula with a certain baleful air. "Just so you know, Fabutan... I'm gonna kick you right in the taint."
COMBATSYS: Kyo gathers his will.
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Maxima 1/---====/=======|=======\=------\1 Kula
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Kyo 0/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Zero
"Hmph."
It's the only grunt that Maxima is allowed to hear as that punch knocks directly into the NESTS XO's jaw with a single, deadened crack, the damage buffered by Zero's powerful build alone. Interrupted, however, the dark-skinned man is partially stabbed by Kula's own sharp spikes of chi. The man coughs up blood; but says nothing else, staring directly at Maxima with an expression that offers nothing but stoicism.
Zero, unfortunately, is not expressive enough to show the pain he feels.
Leaping backwards as soon as he is released, Zero places a hand to his bleeding torso, considering it only for a few scant musing seconds. Maxima's taunting receives nothing; unfortunately, he isn't a man so easily riled up. Instead, dark eyes roll towards Kyo as he gathers power to himself, those lips pulling into an even tighter frown. Zero continues to assess, considering the environment, and the skills and abilities of his opponents, before taking a single, calm step backwards -- in preparation.
"I do not fear anything from what amounts simply to an incomplete test subject," Zero speaks plainly, though whether to Kyo or Maxima, it's hard to say.
"There is nothing you can offer me that I do not know already."
COMBATSYS: Zero calculates his next move.
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Maxima 1/---====/=======|=======\=------\1 Kula
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Kyo 0/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Zero
Plan C63 hits a nasty hitch. Maxima plays right into it a bit too well. By the time the ice wielding killer realizes what his recourse is to be, it's too late. Sharp spikes of ice surge forward, potential energy already since turned to kinetic as the girl makes her move. The attack is no less vicious for it in the way it spears right through his hardened body armor and out through the otherside. But Zero's assault might see some issues with the way he ends up on the ice-kabob along with Maxima!
A surprised gasp escapes the girl's lips as she snaps back quickly, slipping her gloved hand from the sphere attaching it to the ice lances, crimson eyes widened slightly as she glances to Zero to check on his condition and to get a sense of what he might direct them to do next in this scenario. The NESTS leader may be wounded but his attention has turned back to the Kusanagi scion who has definitely not been given enough grief so far.
Hands clench, flakes of ice drifting to the steps before melting away as she relaxes her thoughts and allows the careful, highly tuned algorithms to direct her into her next course of action. Engineered into her mind by never ending 'lab time' when she's not out fighting for the Cartel, they neutrally evaluate the situation, prioritize targets, and help chose her next course of action while Zero prepares his next move.
Kyo's words go largely over her head as so often happens whenever he actually addresses her. But that doesn't mean he isn't a prime target; holding his ground, drawing power to him that is impossible to miss. The fingers of her right hand splay for a moment before tightening into a fist clasped around the end of a blade of sheer, translucent ice as sharp as any dagger.
A leap forward into a sprint brings her on collision course toward Kyo as Kula leans low and forward, ice blade out to her side. Unless otherwise impeeded, she'll shift her path at the last moment possible, slipping past Kyo instead of running into him, attempting to land a surface, glancing slash with the ice knife toward his rip cage. Potentially deadly, but the real menace is what risk exists should Kyo's attention be taken from the calculating Zero?
A preliminary damage report appears on Maxima's heads-up display. His critical systems seem to have escaped Zero and his minion's combined assault mostly unscathed, but that doesn't make it any easier for the big Canadian machine to get his feet back underneath him again. He can't recall offhand when he's been hit that hard in recent memory, although his computer helpfully offers to give him a list readout of "Most Catastrophic Damage Inflicted."
"Just need... a moment..." Maxima mutters through clenched teeth as he watches the two NESTS agents switch their attention to Kusanagi for the moment, perhaps thinking that the cyborg is out of of commission after that last barrage. He doesn't blame them.
COMBATSYS: Maxima gains composure.
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Maxima 1/----===/=======|=======\=------\1 Kula
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Kyo 0/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Zero
COMBATSYS: Kyo blocks Kula's Aggressive Strike.
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Maxima 1/----===/=======|=======\=------\1 Kula
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Kyo 1/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Zero
"See, now, that just isn't true," Kyo says to Zero, as he makes that declaration. Because, come on, that's just /begging/ for a smartass response. "I mean, I never even told you how I had sex with your mom."
Yeah, Kyo's a class act, all right. What else would you expect from him, though, really?
"Twice."
But there's other concerns to weigh heavy on Kyo's thoughts, as Kula comes shooting towards him at top speed. The little girl sure can haul ass when she wants to, huh? But Kyo has the advantage here, operating as he is from a strong defensive position. He sees Kula coming, tracks the l'il experiment as she closes with him, and when she comes at him with that blade of ice, trying to slide past him as she slashes? He punches it.
Just twists, then hauls off and smashes his fist right through it.
It hurts still, sure, between the freezing cold and the shards of ice that explode outwards as the ice blade shatters under the force of his mighty blow. "Sure is a far cry from you saving my ass during that fight with Lord Vegamort, huh, Sno-Cone?" Kyo wonders, brows raising curiously. "I mean, hey, we made a good team, right? Fire and ice, ebony and ivory, coming together in perfect harmony... And here you are working for this lame-ass excuse for a supervillain?" The World Warrior, demonstratively, jerks a thumb towards Zero at this. "Come on, he's like the retarded kid whose mom made him a super keen costume out of cardboard and old drapes for Halloween, but nobody had the heart to tell him he's wearing a skirt." Kyo pauses, thoughtfully, and turns towards Zero, hands cupped around his mouth.
"HEY, YOU'RE WEARING A SKIRT!" Kyo calls out, ever one to be helpful.
"I'll tell you what, though," Kyo says now, turning his attention back to Kula for a moment. "You sit tight right here, and I'll go finish with your boss, and then I'll make /extra sure/ to read you a nice bedtime story every night, after I put you in traction." A double thumbs up follows. "Okay?"
And then Kyo proves he can move pretty fast too. Rushing at Zero, Kyo seems to be completely reckless, heedless of the dangers of closing with the second in command of NESTS. The World Warrior, true to form, doesn't manage to shut up while he's doing it, either. "So what's the deal with that, anyway? Crossdressing and sending little girls to do the fighting for you? I hope your lameness isn't infectious, I wouldn't want to turn into K' or something." He punctuates these words, of course, with a fiery fist rushing blurry-fast for Zero's face, an explosion of Kusanagi power waiting to be unleashed. If that first strike lands, the followup is simple, as Kyo steps in and brings his other elbow /down/, in an attempt to bear Zero to the ground. If /that/ all works out, then Kyo strikes a third time, a downwards-angled punch to add insult to injury, and a final eruption of the sacred Ever-Burning Flame!
COMBATSYS: Zero reflects Aragami from Kyo with Hankyou.
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Maxima 1/----===/=======|=======\=------\1 Kula
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Kyo 1/------=/=======|=======\====---\1 Zero
His mother?
"Commentary does not make up for a lack of skill," is Zero's infuriatingly calm response.
What he is responding to, of course, is entirely up to question.
Zero does not do so much as budge as Kyo speaks. If he's attempting to get a rise out of the man, he won't get terribly far; Zero's reactions are of a man who seems to have expected the witty commentary -- bored and unphased like someone watching a film in endless repetition. His gaze lifts, and refocuses on Kyo. He frowns.
"Subject 'K'' was ultimately a failure."
Kyo attacks, but as he lifts up a fiery fist... he'll find the serrated edge of a skirt flinging upwards through his path, stopping him prematurely.
"But perhaps it is simply due to the genetic template that was utilized."
At a disturbingly fast rate, the force and fire that Kyo had pent up in his assault is suddenly gobbled up within the sharp 'teeth' of Zero's skirt, the hem of the strange fabric crackling with those pent up, mystical fires as the man spins gracefully through the air, reversing insult to injury by redirecting Kyo's own fire back at him -- at a downwards-angle, just as he had intended.
"Perhaps your flames simply cannot compensate for an otherwise flawed gene pool."
Kula slides to a stop several yards past Kyo, her hand stinging a little as a result of the weapon she had intended to cut on him with simply got shattered by the Kusanagi boy's fist. Shaking her hand a little as she whirls back around to face him, the girl has her eyes fixed on the young man as he starts running his mouth. And then talking some more. And more. Interested in avoiding a collision that results in Zero getting /speared/ again, she simply holds her ground though, letting the NESTS CEO make his move.
"This is just business," she replies with no where near the emotionless conviction Zero brings to the table. It's rationalizing to an extent, but it IS her job too. She glances back toward Zero to see if the insults flung his way phase him in the slightest. As expected, they don't. As Kyo glances back her way, she meets his eyes, jaw tightening, not seemingly thrilled with his offer in the slightest!
But he turns back to Zero, leaving her alone, and she exhales, her breath a visible vapor before fading as she turns her attention back to Maxima. Given a moment's reprieve, he seems to be doing better than she had anticipated. Her killing instincts had just about written him off as likely bleeding out by now... And if he were a normal man, perhaps he would have. Taking in her breath, Kula bolts toward the ex-NESTS-project now, putting her same surge of aggressive speed to use in veering back toward him.
Her gloved hands flare with that pristine, brutally cold, liquid-like energy as she skips down three steps then twists into a horizontal cartwheel. If Maxima doesn't duck in time, she might just manage to hook her legs around his neck and swing up to a seated position on his shoulders from behind. "Time to give up, Toy Man." she murmurs, attempting to grip the sides of his head and freeze those sideburns (and his entire skull!) over with energy cold enough to put liquid nitrogen to shame.
COMBATSYS: Maxima blocks Kula's Power Throw.
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Maxima 1/---====/=======|=======\==-----\1 Kula
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Kyo 1/------=/=======|=======\====---\1 Zero
Maxima's bitchin' sideburns repel Kula's ice witch black magic. Well, not exactly, in fact they get a bit of frost on them before the cyborg deems it necessary to do something before the magnificent slabs of cheek-fur get freezer-burned an further. "Ah! So they /did/ teach it to talk after all!" Maxima exclaims with feigned surprised. Meanwhile he's grabbed one of those legs Kula wrapped around his neck by the ankle, yanking her off of him with frightening mechanized strength. He refuses to relinquish his grip, holding the girl upside down in front of him, arm held up so that she's momentarily face-to-face with the Canadian.
Armor plating around his chest shifts and blossoms open, revealing the very source of the cyborg's power: An unearthly-looking ball of energy threaded with metallic tendrils that link it to every part in his body. It pulses and hums with a hellish power. "Sorry kiddo, you might act like a living weapon, but some of us here actually are one" he says with a hint of sadness tinging his words.
And with that, the blast wave from the MX-II Reactor's overload attack, the "Final Cannon" completely envelopes Kula's form. It's unlikely that Maxima will even be able to keep hold of her ankle once the torrential forces of the beam strike her. UNLESS...
Now, truth be told, Kyo saw that going differently in his head. But don't think this means the Kusanagi heir is down and/or out. No sirree. It's vexing, sure, the way the NESTS executive completely reverses his attack, but if Kyo were the sort of person to give up when the going gets tough, he wouldn't be where he is today.
Which happens to be 'getting ambushed outside of his home by a bunch of freaks', so maybe the whole heroic persistence thing isn't all it's cracked up to be.
The reversed blast of flame sends Kyo crashing to the ground with a look of surprise on his face, but reflexes kick in immediately, sending him rolling backwards over one shoulder to clear some space, enough room for him to get back to his feet without running into Zero's skirt again. "Gosh, that's a pretty dress," Kyo says, mock-earnestly. "Did your boyfriend pick it out for you?"
What Kyo needs at this precise moment, though, is time. Time to come up with a decent plan. Time to figure out the weakness in Zero's defense. There must be one; there's always a weak point somewhere. So Kyo keeps his stance, and doesn't attack straight out again, instead contenting himself with watching. "Of course, if you're so down on my gene pool, how come you spend more time trying to get my genetic material than your mom did?"
Kyo Kusanagi: Not afraid to go back to the well.
COMBATSYS: Kyo focuses on his next action.
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Maxima 0/-------/------=|=======\==-----\1 Kula
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Kyo 1/------=/=======|=======\====---\1 Zero
Landing fluidly as Kyo crashes, Zero snaps his skirt back into place around his body with the unnervingly pleasant jingle of metal teeth and the excess crackle of remnant Kusanagi flames that sparks around the sharp tips. He looks down towards Kyo as he rolls, his expression impassive. He expects a counter-attack. Instead...
... he gets more talking.
That suits Zero just fine, however; as Kyo's attention is taken up by talking and preparing, Zero is already reassessing his situation, going over varying scenarios in his head. The sudden surge of artificial chi and the blinding flash that ensues from Maxima catches Zero's attention. Mildly, he turns his head to observe, black electricity beginning to crackle around his hand. Kyo continues to talk, and then, almost idly, Zero cuts in:
"Your own mother is currently residing in this household, is she not?"
The lack of context to this sudden question is not explained upon as Zero lifts his left hand high into the air, that electricity condensing into a single point of deathly black light. Like a single shard of glass, it hovers in the air, beginning to suck all the warmth from the area out of air -- in a manner different from Kula's ice. It isn't cold, or ice. No -- it's absorbtion. His hand lifts, that shard crackles. The first clenches.
And instantly that single shard collapses into a massive, black vortex -- like a black hole ripped into being right beyond Zero's grasp.
Surrounded by a corona of violet, that vortex of chi hangs high in the air, winds carrying themselves powerfully toward it, as if drawn; in the air all around them, shimmering orbs of black, blue and white appear, crackling like a veritable army... before suddenly /swirling/ in towards that massive black vortex in the sky. Spheres of dark chi rotate ceaselessly, aiming to pummel into not Kyo, but -Maxima-, in an endless cessation, aiming to simply devastate the man without a single ounce of mercy.
COMBATSYS: Kula blocks Maxima's MX-II Final Cannon.
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Maxima 0/-------/------=|=======\===----\1 Kula
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Kyo 1/------=/=======|-------\-------\0 Zero
"Of course I can ta-" Kula retorts. Only to be reminded right quick why she really /shouldn't/ when engaged in grim business such as this. Distracted, she finds herself pulled clean off Maxima before she can complete her attempt to put a stop to his breathing or speaking or doing really anything at all due to getting a helmet of ice over his head and instead dangles in front of him, held up easily by one ankle.
Her first few seconds in this startled state of mind are spent flailing her arms, attempting to slash at the cyborg's face with ice-claws that form over her fingers, then literally trying to stab him with a rapidly elongating ice spear from her left arm that slashes through the air just an inch shy of doing any real harm. The attempts stop short the moment she's shown what sits at the heart of her target, however. Crimson eyes widen as he exposes a power core beyond the likes of any the normal world has any understanding of.
It's a risk, and one Kula would love to capitalize on, exposing his source of life so openly. But she's well aware that if she wastes one instant in defending herself, she'll never survive the outcome, whether or not she manages to strike his heart in time. His sensors might report it; that sudden outward manifestation of chi as Kula draws her arms back as if to bunker down, a thick shell of ice rippling over her entire body just before the blast hits.
She's sent flying all the same, the energy slamming the featherweight into the side of the mountain with a crushing impact. Rocks and pebbles spill down all over the stairway as obscurring dust and smoke passes, allowing Diamond to peel off the rockface and plant face down on the ground with a soft grunt. "Ugh." Hands shift, fingers articulating as she gets a grip on the stone covered ground and pushes herself back up.
A split second is taken to brush her long hair back out of her eyes, setting sights on Kyo again. A rush forward has her speeding directly for Kyo next as she can't even /see/ Maxima behind the wall of ebony chin created by her supervisor. A leap to the air takes her into a forward flip, the ice that protected her shedding off into a concentration of ice all around her. A concentration that she whirls forward and kicks through to send the entirety of it hurtling down for the young man down below.
Halfway through its arc, it solidifies into the form of a giant snow flake, each ridge lined with razor sharp spines of ice that threaten to shread flesh and piece the body of Kyo should he be too close. A detonation upon hitting the ground may still catch him as frozen shrapnel will go flying in a hemisphere!
COMBATSYS: Kula successfully hits Kyo with Diamond Shoot.
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Maxima 0/-------/------=|=======\====---\1 Kula
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Kyo 1/----===/=======|-------\-------\0 Zero
COMBATSYS: Zero successfully hits Maxima with Hakura Messhou+.
[ \\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Maxima 0/-------/--=====|=======\====---\1 Kula
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Kyo 1/----===/=======|-------\-------\0 Zero
Maxima has more time to prepare a defense against Zero's chi-vortex then he did against the NESTS sandwich, girding his feet in the rock of the stairs while putting up his dukes, ready to fend off the swirling balls of energy sent his way by the NESTS commander. Even with his defenses in place, the attack plows into him, each impact rending metal and machinery into worthless scrap. The damage is more superficial than Kula's icicles, but combined with all the other punishment he's taken in this fight, and the huge expenditure of energy from the Final Cannon, it's enough: His computer weakly informs him that he is on emergency reserve battery, to last only a minute, or less.
He better make the most of it.
In his usual, self-sacrificing way, the Canadian charges straight for the man who just laid into him, his kamikaze attack fueled by reckless use of the compressed-air jets in his boots. He can only hope that Zero is temporarily drained from the impressive technique he just executed as he cocks one arm back, getting ready to.... HUG ZERO AGAIN! Instead of whacking the NESTS agent in the mug like he ought to, Maxima tries to hook an arm under Zero's shoulder, then let his momentum carry him behind the guy and lock in a full-nelson grip. In his rapidly-depleting state, who knows how long this will last. "What are you waiting for?!" He calls out to Kusanagi. "DO IT!!"
COMBATSYS: Maxima assists Kyo.
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Kyo 1/----===/=======|=======\====---\1 Kula
> //////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Zero
COMBATSYS: Maxima can no longer fight.
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Kyo 1/----===/=======|=======\====---\1 Kula
> //////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Zero
Things have started going downhill for Kyo Kusanagi... Though, as it happens, these are the sorts of times where he tends to excel. Except... You know, for those times where he doesn't. But his back is to the proverbial wall, here, and even the ever-arrogant heir of the Kusanagi clan can acknowledge that. Privately.
The sudden eruption of ice from Kula's direction is noted, even obvious - it's kind of hard to miss - but Kyo miscalculates. He attempts to get out of the way, and manages to go in exactly the wrong direction at the wrong time, leaving himself wide open to get blasted off of his feet by the icy projectile. Oh, that little genetically engineered scamp. What follows, though, proves to be more pressing, as Zero goes to finish off Maxima, and the big cybernetic lug... Tries to hold the NESTS executive in place so Kyo can return the favour? Well, hurrah.
"Tch. K' sure is surrounded by a lot of bossy idiots," Kyo mutters under his breath, feeling a rare - and brief - twinge of sympathy for his 'clone'. Already, even as he says this to himself, Kyo is rising to his feet. Already, Kyo is wreathed in the ancient power of the Kusanagi clan, the sacred flames covering his body, rising off of his shoulders in tendrils of fire and power. Already, Kyo raises his right hand.
What's Kyo waiting for? Hmph.
"It's bedtime for you, Skirts," Kyo informs Zero, as full of overpowering confidence as he is the might of his bloodline; it pours out of him right along with the fire, as he suddenly lunges forward, sweeping his upraised right hand back, the flames flaring brightest there. "EAT--" Kyo's right hand comes forward, moves across his body in a wide arc. From it, the flames tear forth, the fire on his body peeling off to join it, bolster it, turn it into a massive wave of destructive power. The Ever-Burning Flames of the Kusanagi rage in a hellish storm, seeking to envelop Zero and destroy him utterly. "--THIS!!"
COMBATSYS: Kyo successfully hits Zero with Orochinagi+.
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Kyo 0/-------/-------|=======\====---\1 Kula
> // ]
|=======\-------\0 Zero
Everything is considered in Zero's variables as he assesses the situation. Maxima has been felled -- even with the time to prepare for the assault. Zero's pummeling energy is buffered by not nearly enough, as the man spreads his hand open wide... and that deep black vortex begins to deteriorate into nothing, heat returning to the skies.
"Your specifications have not changed nearly enough to be a threat," Zero notes calmly. "You have been neutralize--"
And then, despite Zero's expectations, Maxima lunges /outward/, not to attack... but to distract. Maxima moves too slowly to get a firm hold on Zero; the NESTS executive is still in too good of shape to be taken so easily by surprise. As Maxima lunges, Zero leaps to the side, /just/ out of the way of Maxima's grasp. He lands in a crouched impact, metal teeth jingling around him... just in time to notice the swell of heat. He frowns. It wasn't an assault. It was--
Zero looks up just in time to see that he has put himself in the path of the Kusanagi heir's tidal wave of flames.
"Hn," is all he manages to say before crimson flames engulf Zero completely and utterly like a deluge of heat, burning away everything in its path. When everything fades, there is nothing more than a smoking swath of destruction. Obliterated? Most likely not.
But Kula Diamond certainly is alone, now.
COMBATSYS: Zero takes no action.
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Kyo 0/-------/-------|=======\====---\1 Kula
COMBATSYS: Zero can no longer fight.
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Kyo 0/-------/-------|=======\====---\1 Kula
Landing out of her flip forward, Kula stands up straight, her right hand occupied briefly by brushing her hair back up out of her eyes. Even in the midst of her attack, she had sensed it; the incredible menace unleashed by Zero's formidable power. And by the time she's given a chance to survey the environment, she's far from surprised at the outcome. Maxima's systems must be damaged beyond the point of continuing by now. Determination and resolve can only take one so far once he's hit his mechanical limits like a brick wall.
Her crimson eyes shift over toward Kyo, ignoring the cyborg's last attempt to corral her superior into the line of literal sacred fire about to be unleashed by the Kusanagi heir. There's no hope to be found here. Their struggle gave the two ambushers a rough time, but ultimately things will resolve as planned. Kyo just needs a little motivation... Holding her ground, a hemisphere of freezing cold begins to expand out from the young weapon. The stonework at her feet slicks over as the area of influence expands rapidly outward.
Currents of wind whip at Kula's hair as she prepares a technique fitting for dealing with the legendary Kyo Kusanagi. But that rapidly expanding area of bitter cold encounters a hitch the moment it draws too close to the flames rippling over the figure of Kyo. A soft gasp of surprise escapes her lips as she realizes the counter force against her Kusanagi-gifted ice is the culminating point of that fearsome technique. From this range, there's nothing done about it besides complete her own attack, however. Even if she were closer, even as confident as she has been in her abilities to cope with the furious heat of K', she isn't so sure about fighting that force directly.
Silently, she watches the wave of unleashed flame explode toward Zero. The NESTS leader's shaken confidence noted in that soft grunt barely heard before the inferno washes over the suited man. And when it passes, she's left alone to complete the mission. Gritting her teeth, she draws more heavily upon the ambient energy around her than she had originally planned. Little concern is spared for the now missing Zero. While his confidence was often inspiring, she felt no link with him like she did others at NESTS.
A column of white, pristine chi spirals up around the girl, sending ice and small flakes of lingering snow drifting down around her as the attack builds. Raising her hands up over her head, she escalates the churning energy to a breaking point until at last Kula lowers her hands out toward Kyo. All the cold, ice, frozen matter, and a torrent of freezing cold chi explode out from her position on a collision course for the Kusanagi boy. The world around him will flash white for a moment, and in that instant he is forced to defend himself or face being burried in a sudden avalanche!
COMBATSYS: Kyo blocks Kula's Freeze Execution.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Kyo 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Kula
Yeah, that's what Kyo is talking about. The massive wave of flames takes Zero out of the fight - even if it didn't wipe him off the face of the Earth, which is a shame, it at least caused him to do a runner - which leaves Kyo alone in dealing with the wrath of Kula Diamond. "One down," the World Warrior champion says, straightening up and snuffing out the flame that still burns in the palm of his right hand, turning to look towards Kula and...
...What the fudge is she doing?
There's only a split second more of a bemused look on Kyo's face before Kula unleashes her fearsome, frosty assault, and then that storm of ice is bearing down on him and... Kyo's arms come up, Kusanagi flames flaring forth once again, and the torrent of frozen power smashes against him. But, in this case at least, Kyo stands like a bulwark, remaining in place and on his feet through sheer force of will, his own tremendous power, and the reassuring heat of that ancient fire.
He's getting kind of sick of NESTS as a whole, you know.
"Guess it's just you and me now, huh Sno-Cone? If you want, you can run for it. I won't tell anybody, scout's honour," he says, holding up his fingers in a Boy Scout salute, despite the fact that a) he's never been a Scout especially since b) HE'S FROM JAPAN. He just watches a lot of television. He doesn't figure Kula actually /would/ try to get away, though... If her template really is derived from his in some way, after all, she probably inherited the Kusanagi stubbornness. So instead, Kyo, still dripping frost, closes the distance between himself and Kula as fast as he can. When he gets close enough to the girl? He just rears his right fist back, and tries to sock her one hard in the face.
COMBATSYS: Kula dodges Kyo's Strong Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Kyo 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Kula
Her arms lower to her sides, a frosty breath escaping her lips as Kula looks along the length of her attack hoping, and perhaps expecting to see the young man soundly dealt with. Not many could withstand the brunt of all of her power being expended at once, after all. Legend or not, everyone has a limit to what they can endure. But what she missed - what she couldn't see in that blizzard she sent flying his way, was those traces of flames coursing over his limbs. A perfect counter to absolute zero and one that ultimately kept him safe.
And now he's offering her some gesture that seems pretty much not to be synonymous with him about to collapse and inviting her to run. Setting her jaw, her leather gloves creak as the girl tightens her hands. The success of the mission rests on her. But she can't allow herself to be captured either. A sideways glance is cast toward Maxima to make sure that the metallic titan is still out of commision. "One down on your side too." she replies as she shifts her focus back to the young man. "Though I might not hold the same enthusiasm for this operation now that my boss has had to retreat." she admits almost distantly. It's not like she's that eager to turn these two over to the Cartel.
Having spent so much effort with her last attack, the girl isn't moving at first as Kyo closes the distance between them. He means to engage in melee combat with her then. It's an area that she's no less deadly in. Her passive combat instincts trace the route of his fist, predicting that he would take a shot for her face before it had even slammed forward half an inch. Stepping around it all together requires trivial effort on her part.
Her right arm surges with that white energy of hers as she never stops moving. Portions of the chi solidify into a slurry of concentrated power focused around her fist... A concentration of power that might be of special interest as she slams her hand forward, attempting to strike Kyo in his ribcage where his punching arm might have left an opening. Should she connect, the pent up energy along her arm would explode into a stunning blow possibly capable of knocking him away!
COMBATSYS: Kyo counters Strong Punch from Kula with Nue Tsumi.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Kyo 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Kula
"Tell me about it, I won't be hiring from /that/ temp agency again," Kyo quips, as Kula brings up the subject of the fallen Maxima. Since his own victory is clearly inevitable, the Kusanagi heir thinks past the end of the battle to just how in the hell he's going to get that big metal palooka out of here. Ugh, so many bothersome people making his life difficult. At the moment, though, the one making themselves the most bothersome is, of course, Kula Diamond, as she manages to completely avoid his strike, forcing him to try to recover quickly enough that she can't...
Of course, she goes for the opening. He'd do the same thing, and he isn't even a brainwashed trained assassin or anything.
The bitch of it is, though, that Kyo has /two/ hands, and as he tries to pull his right back to cover the opening he's left from punching, his left slips in, rushing into place to meet Kula's striking hand halfway, catching it before she can do him any harm. "Then get lost, Sno-Cone. Your boss /ditched/ you--" Kyo informs Kula as he swings his right fist in a wide, hammering arc for the side of the girl's head, Kusanagi flames erupting in a powerful explosion as his fist strikes home. "--And if you keep coming after me, I'm gonna get all sorts of grouchy. I'm not like your little buddy K'. He's just a blurry photocopy. I'm the /real goddamn deal/."
She spots his other hand intercepting moments before he secures a tight grip on her clenched fist. The energy meant for his ribs discharges harmlessly, doing little more except perhaps applying a threatening level of frost. She tries to pull back but his counter strike is swift and the force behind it severe. It's enough to send her falling to the ground, catching herself with her hands even as she slides another yard before coming to a stop. Vision dazed, the girl shakes her head, slower to react than she had been earlier in the fight.
The friendly encouragement to scram is inviting, perhaps, and as she drops onto her side into a roll to take her another meter away from Kyo, it seems she might be giving it some serious thought. She huffs, left arm wiping across her bloodied lip, glaring back at the young man with a certain level of frustration. "He's not my buddy." the girl retorts. The fact that she was never really prepared or focused on /dealing/ with Kyo crosses her mind, but she can't let details like that stay her hand.
With just over six feet between them, the girl brings her her gloved hand to her mouth, palm up. "And it's a waste of time to threaten me. I can handle you. I'm not afraid of a little fire." The deep breath taken heralds her signiture technique - one unleashed as she exhales, sending a gale-force burst of ice-laced wind back toward Kyo. Her instincts rebel against her spark of temper and for a moment she struggles to stay focused on the fight at hand. Of course, any hesitation comes after a hostile amount of sharp flying ice is sent Kyo's way!
COMBATSYS: Kula successfully hits Kyo with Diamond Breath.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Kyo 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Kula
"Yeah, yeah, I know. You guys are locked in a life-or-death struggle, yadda yadda yadda," Kyo gestures vaguely, to further emphasise how little he thinks of this whole situation. He knows /all about/ people wanting to kill you for no particular reason other than the circumstances of your birth, so the back and forth between Kula and K' doesn't faze him too much. He wasn't even sure, before, just what the beef was between the two of them, though now he's pretty sure he's got it figured out, given Kula's allegiances and K''s single-minded hatred of everything that's brought him to his current existence.
When Kula goes to /breathe/ on him, Kyo is pretty sure he's on top of things, but on occasion he's a little overconfident, did you know that? He stands his ground against the attack, bringing up his arms in an attempt to ward off the worst of it... Only to have the surprising speed of the icy breath blast right through his guard even as he raises it, sending him sprawling with a look of surprise on his face, and an unfortunate buildup of ice on his jacket and small cuts through his poor, formerly pristine, white t-shirt.
Okay, she got him that time.
"Ha ha ha, you really are full of surprises, Sno-Cone," Kyo says, picking himself up off of the ground and dusting himself off. Some of the dust is, in fact, frost, but nevermind that. "Guess I'm gonna have to get serious on you. Last chance, kiddo. Turn around and walk away now, no hard feelings. Keep coming at me, and I'll have to show you why your bosses were so keen to copy me."
COMBATSYS: Kyo gains composure.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Kyo 0/-------/----===|=====--\-------\0 Kula
His dismisal of the circumstances she and K' find themselves in provokes an odd, faint smile from the ice wielder. That is, after all, what she wants the world to think. Any plans she had in killing the young man she was crafted to contain died under a year ago. But if Igniz ever figured it out... The expression fades quickly, her attack having done its job of making her point for her.
Everything about her way of fighting was made to counter those flames K' possesses. That they might give her a shot against Kyo is just an uncalculated byproduct but one the Cartel clearly hopes to capitalize on today. She tenses up as he invites her to run again. "It seems to me," she replies, leaning forward a bit tiredly as she plants her hands against the ground, "You should be the one running..."
Ice spreads over the surface of the rock, a rapidly expanding, frictionless slick that sends cool vapor into the air around the girl as she creates her own ideal field of control. "Why aren't you?" she asks calmly as she pushes herself back up to standing, now firmly situated in a field of ice roughly ten feet in radius. "Is it your home?" she asks, casting a glance toward the house.
"You have a lot more on the line here than I do, I think."
COMBATSYS: Kula focuses on her next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Kyo 0/-------/----===|=====--\-------\0 Kula
See, that just proves K' isn't as good as Kyo. When Kyo has someone trying to kill him, by goodness they keep on trying to kill him, ad infinitum. Look at Iori, that guy isn't going to give up any time soon. Kula's just a /quitter/.
"Why would I run?" Kyo asks. It's not even a sarcastic question; he genuinely doesn't understand why he should flee. "I mean, Tons o'Fun over there," he jerks his thumb towards Maxima, "is a pain in the ass, but he helped me out, so I'm not gonna throw him to the wolves or anything." See? Look how magnanimous Kyo Kusanagi is. Everyone should aspire to be as gracious and noble. "And yeah, this is my home, so there's that. I dunno what you'd do to it, though. My mom would have you sitting at the kotatsu drinking hot cocoa before you could even think of whistling up your little Frosty the Snowman mojo."
Actually, that's kind of a cute visual. Maybe he'll capture Kula and take her home to meet Shizuka. NESTS conditioning wouldn't stand a chance.
The expanding ice gets the notice of Kyo, brow arching as he peers down at it. That'll make things more difficult for him, since he can't create ice skates on his shoes like certain people, but icy terrain isn't actually as big of a handicap to Kyo as one might expect. Hockey /is/ his favourite sport. But it's all come down to this; if he lets Kula prepare herself too much, he'll have made a fatal mistake. Time to toss the dice, then. Grinning, Kyo lunges out onto the ice, letting his momentum carry him along on the nearly frictionless surface; experience, and the superior physical abilities of a fighter of his caliber, keep him from falling on his ass, and instead he turns the situation, hopefully, to his advantage, his right fist streaking towards Kula's face at frightening speed. "Hua-!!"
COMBATSYS: Kula fails to interrupt Quick Punch from Kyo with Behind Slash.
- Power fail! -
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > //// ]
Kyo 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Kula
The ice field created, Kula bides her time. Centered where she is, he'll either have to attack from range and deal with her defensive abilities as it pertains to deflecting energy... or take the risk of charging the girl directly. The more time passes, the more she'll catch her breath. She's expended a lot more energy in trying to deal with Kyo and Maxima than she probably should have. Big flashy attacks are only worth it if they pay off with the target down and out! But the mouthy Kusanagi heir still seems a bit too healthy compared to where she'd like him to be by now.
He answers her questions in turn with his usual condescending manner. Jabs at her icy power always seem to needle the girl a bit more than just about anything else. Her attacks are swift, lethal, and punishing to the unaware. They're not the same as Frosty the Snowman!! He prepares himself and she can tell he's going to launch himself along the ice. A risk - especially with her being able to move her fastest there.
Tensing up, she braces, hands tightened, staying focused on the young man right up to him making his move. He speeds across the slick with more control than she anticipated. He's not as out of his element as was hoped. She'll make due. Turning her left shoulder toward him, she extends her left hand, fingers splayed. A barrier of ice is forced into view right along the trajectory of Kyo's incoming fist. That will stop him. Then she'll just-
He smashes through the shield without even slowing down. Her right hand snaps forward, intending on deflecting the blow so that she can retaliate, but all that slick, forward momentum on Kyo's part works to his advantage as his fist crashes through her hastily raised palm. It's more force than her wrist can take, however, causing her hand to snap back at painful angle before his knuckles slide off it into her cheek.
The unexpected outcome is more than enough to take Kula off her feet. Landing on her side, she slides clean off her slick before coming to a stop. Dazed again, she rolls to hands and knees, before her left hand comes to rub at her cheek. The ice slick itself is giving way, melting into an oversized puddle and the residue of her barrier becomes harmless vapor before the fragments even hit the ground. Gasping for breath, it becomes clear that she's losing her control over being able to draw more energy into the fight.
It takes seconds to push herself back up to her feet, her hand slipping down from her bruising cheek in the process. She doesn't waste time in skipping back two yards, landing lower down the steps. A glance is cast toward the fallen Maxima then back to Kyo. Panting, she becomes aware of the slightest trickle of perspiration at her temples. Further evidence of her having expended all she's got trying to finish the guy off. "Hmph," she huffs, her breath blowing some of her bangs out of her eyes as she looks back at him. She hates chalking up a mission failure. She won't even get a pat on the head for this one!
She opens her mouth, then takes another couple steps back, "I guess you're safe for now, huh." she manages betewen breaths. "You're not that tough. Shouldn't be so big on yourself!" It'd probably carry more weight if she wasn't about to book it into full retreat, but hey, rapidly running away is a great time to say whatever you want!
Facing off with Zero and Kula both - yeah yeah, Maxima helped too - has strained Kyo to his own limit, though of course that's where he manages to shine the brightest. For someone so renowned for his laziness and lack of interest in bothersome things or the expenditure of undue effort, once he's roused to action Kyo is /awfully/ persistent. Stubborn, really. Between that and his inability to not run his mouth and wise off about everything under the sun, it's hardly a wonder that the people who find themselves his enemies consider him so goddamned /annoying/.
You should see the vein that goes poppin' in Vega's head whenever he sees Kyo, it's amazing.
The satisfying crash of fist against a little girl's face - wait a minute - is followed by Kyo nearly slipping on the ice, barely managing to catch himself as Kula is knocked back, and the frozen water underfoot turns into a puddle, which at least resolves the slip'n'slide problem.
But while his body is battered, Kyo's spirit remains unbowed, and he straightens back up into his casual Kusanagi-ryuu Kobojutsu stance, a deep breath steadying himself. Kula's words, however, cause him to drop his fists and stand more casually, smirking that patented Kyo Kusanagi smirk as he lets out a short, sharp laugh. "Ha ha, next time, fight me by yourself then, and we'll see how tough I really am," the World Warrior replies. There's no malice in it.
He's an asshole to pretty much everyone.
True to his earlier word, Kyo makes no attempt to stop Kula's escape, instead watching the girl go until he's reasonably certain she is, in fact, /gone/. His attention then turns to the fallen Maxima, at whom he frowns. "Dammit," Kyo complains. "I'm gonna have to go rent a freakin' tow truck to get this idiot back inside."
COMBATSYS: Kula has left the fight here.
[ \\\\\\\\\ <
Kyo 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Kyo has ended the fight here.
Log created on 22:44:37 03/16/2009 by Zero, and last modified on 03:02:49 03/28/2009.