Jinchuu 2 - [R3] Cold Front

Description: After receiving a tip from Li Hua, Alan and Aranha(Heaven and Earth) go to investigate Bantiankong Chemicals building and the secrets it holds. Unfortunately they find an obstacle in the ice wielding assassin, Kula, as well as the ice wall blocking off the entrance.



The region of Taizhou has been littered with all manner of strange phenomenon. Various devices that seem to manipulate the ambient chi into different manifestations, the scrabbed husks of arcane looking machines, and bridges of solidified energy can be found scattered throughout the area. Those sensitive to the ebb and flow of chi might find the entire experience to be rather disorienting; an experience Kula Diamond is becoming unfortunately familiar with in her explorations of the area.

But she has her mission, and objectives must be met, so she has continued the last few days. Some of the chi based weaponry has been discovered and stolen, but there are other items of great interest. Such as the principle anti-air laser-like system seen in the Huangyan region. With most of the larger buildings left in rubble from a two year old detonation, the search was easy to narrow down once she managed to enter the area. That it was the only one still lit by dim illumination was another magnet for the young operative's attention.

"You're still getting a picture, right?" The interior of the building reflects the impact of rather precise disaster. While it remains dimly lit by steady lighting, much of it is in a state of disarray. At the desk where a receptionist would have sat when this was merely a modern era chemical plant is presently occupied by the body of a crumpled compact car. The ceiling is carved out in a wide circle, revealing not just one, but three floors up in the building.

The long haired girl pauses, her left hand resting on the headband-headset she has on over her left ear, likely a means of communicating with those that direct the young killer's actions. The small, advanced piece of equipment is also equipped with a pin-point flashlight that brightens the areas Kula inspects closely as well as a small dark circle that happens to be a lens for the recording she is also taking. "No activity." she answers the unheard voice.

"But this building is special. Ryouhara might have run some operations from here at some point." She pauses, running a gloved finger over the bald head of a bronze bust of the chemical plant's long since deceased founder. Tiny blue runes light up as her finger passes over them, then dim again. "Some kind of energy matrix... I think it's all over the building."

Kula stops in front of a row of elevators and glances up. "I'm going to check out other floors. There may be some kind of-" she pauses, bowing her head slightly and lowering her voice. "How many are you seeing on the scan?" She pauses, "All right. Which direction?" She turns back toward the entrance of the lobby and simply waits.

Alan R.B. has taken to using the sky roads lately. The tremendous lightnings rocking Taizhou don't bother him - he actually likes being up in the sky, immersed in the energy, able to move free of obstruction. The downside is that he can be seen from... quite a distance.

Alan's yellow electric chi sheets away from his body as he runs along the crystalline skyway, eyes intent. Li Hua... the woman met him. /Knew/ him, the man who managed to, in the space of a few minutes, tear down the facade Alan had built up around him with a madman's intensity. He shoved it down and thrust something inside, a mad idea.

A world where money was not the root of everything, perhaps.

Alan descends the last of the skyway at incredible speed. Not the near-instant blur of his fighting dashes, but his long strides carry him at speeds you could compare to a car on a highway. He jumps the last several feet, tucking his legs, rolling once when he hits the ground and sliding to a stop. Energy sizzles off his body in one last wave, fading into the ground, and he stands up, frowning.

Alan takes one step forward onto the ice, his frown turning into a scowl as he stamps at it. "Ahhh, come on, /this/ is dogshit."

Aranha for his part moves along the skyway mainly because he himself is at home in the sky and on the rooftop due to his roots as a traceur and second story man. Aranha brings up the rear with speeds more akin to something resembling a human.

The impressiveness on Aranha's part is with the efficiency that he uses to change levels at a whim.

In the remaining few miles however, Aranha goes lower hoping to keep his own approach relatively low profile. Eventually he arrives and sees not only Kula but Alan.

He attempts to slip behind cover hoping that Kula didn't notice him but that would be too much to ask for. Either way, he attempts to get Alan's attention with a nod to at let him know that he's there though.

Unfortunately for Aranha, Kula has much better reconnoissance on her side. Namely, a scouting drone operated remotely by her support crew equipped with heat tracking sensors. Tuned to filter out the interference of the energized, yet solid webwork of sky bridges, the deadly operative was warned of the two approaching well in advance. Thus it is that Alan finds the way into the chemical plant barred by a blockade of ice as solid as any steel. The foot of the blockade stretches out from around the front of the building and it is onto that Alan's foot crunches as he steps off of the sky bridge onto level ground.

Though she's being informed of the position of the second arrival, she isn't looking in Aranha's direction yet as she stands near the now plugged up entrance to the plant. Instead she focuses on Alan, crimson eyes studying the electrified blonde. "Seen him before." The video feed being broadcast by way of the remote drone flying high over head is all her people need to identify the obvious chi-user. "What is his status?" A long pause as Kula cants her head to the side slightly. "'R', hm? Do not worry, he will not be able to report back..."

The girl takes a step toward Alan, "I know who you are affiliated with." Another step is taken and she draws her hand up, white, shimmering energy consisting of artic cold coursing over her forearm and fist. "Too bad for you, you are not going to get the chance to report back." The discoveries to be made here can't be allowed to fall into the cartel's hands. Not when Kula's own group is so interested in them!

Though aware of Aranha, she doesn't let on to it in the slightest, perhaps waiting to see what move the other party her people reported about makes. "If you do not fight back, you will only be held for as long as necessary. No further harm will come to you."

Alan's recon is terrible. You know how terrible? He didn't even notice Kula. Maybe it was all the ICE DISTRACTING HIM.

The distraction ends when Kula takes the step toward her. His head comes lazily up in the manner of a man generally unconcerned by potential threats, but when he sees Kula, he tenses up, briefly choking off the chi from his skin. "Shhhhhit," he growls, under his breath. Then, more loudly, "NESTS."

Well, not exactly, but sometimes Alan misses out on current events. He has the presence of mind not to betray Aranha as he draws himself up, relaxing his arms, electricity building on his knuckles in response to Kula's own sabre-rattling. He can't help but say, with a little heat in his voice, "I'm not here on /dispatch./" He's too close. He's /way/ too close. Something important is here, right here. Alan takes a step forward, his foot stamping hard, cracking the ice under his heavy boot.

"I got a better idea." Alan hooks a thumb over his shoulder. "You leave, and I go past you. Then, in a couple of years, you call me, and we'll have a different conversation."

The capoeirista can't help but cringe at the fact that Alan's affiliations may end up biting the duo on the ass. He takes a quiet breath attempting to keep his location secret, not quite knowing that it already isn't one anyway.

The fact that Alan doesn't reveal his location is a comfort especially with all the reasons he has had in the past to distrust partnerships with the only one approaching trust was his fighting team that eventually broke up.

Instead, he remain quiet and jump when the time comes.

That Alan believes her to still be in NESTS doesn't seem to get a reaction from the ice-blooded experiment. She has already pegged him as an affiliate after all, and what does it matter who he believes her to be with? Her stride doesn't slow, steady as it is in Alan's direction. Beneath her feet, the ice doesn't crack, as she steps over the uneven, frozen surface with ease.

He says he wasn't sent, but Kula looks hard to convince. "Then what are you doing here anyway?" It isn't going to stay her hand - the excuses, she's heard them all before. Some of the hardened mental programming from her years as NESTS' tool show themselves with the indifference that she regards Alan now. He pitches another plan, and Kula's right eye narrows slightly. "I don't see what..." she starts to reply, unclear as to how that's any kind of compromise.

"Che." she grunts, gritting her teeth and leaning forward into a directed sprint for Alan. The chi in her hands flickers out though the aura of bitter cold surrounding the girl does not ebb in the slightest. Her left hand extends as she grows nearer, going for Alan's throat with a surprisingly tight grip given her stature. Her right hand would follow suit, seeking to grip Alan's left shoulder and use her combined grips to try and twist the man to the ground, planting him face down in the ice. "Just hold still."

COMBATSYS: Kula has started a fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kula             0/-------/-------|


COMBATSYS: Kula has joined the fight here on the right meter side.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kula             0/-------/-------|


COMBATSYS: Aranha has joined the fight here on the left meter side.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Aranha           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Kula


COMBATSYS: Alan has joined the fight here on the left meter side.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Aranha           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Kula
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Alan             0/-------/-------|


COMBATSYS: Alan blocks Kula's Quick Throw.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Aranha           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Kula
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Alan             0/-------/------=|


If Kula spends any kind of time watching Saturday Night Fight, whether for leisure (lol) or to study potential enemies, she'll probably know how Alan generally rolls, just wandering around cracking wise and not giving a shit about anything.

That's not how he is today, baring his teeth at Kula, hunching his body and bringing up his fists. "Someone like you couldn't possibly get--" He cuts off when Kula sprints, boots finding good purchase, swaying back from Kula's first hand - she only gets a fistful of silk shirt. Alan pivots as he's brought down, spinning, his back slamming onto the ice instead.

Alan's legs spring up immediately afterward, flicking through the air, showing off his flexibility as he tries to slip them up over Kula's shoulders and lock her head between his knees, breaking the hold before it can go anywhere else. "Like hell I will!" Chi crackles into his palms as he swings both hands up, trying to clap them both directly on the top of the girl's head. On contact - or even if Kula slips past and his hands just meet each other - the chi erupts into a terrific crash of thunder and concussive force, shattering the ice directly beneath Alan and spiderwebbing cracks out for ten feet.

And the time to jump would be now.

Aranha immediately leaps from his location of cover, and breaks out in a fast run(for most people) eating up the distance between himself and Kula. The moment that Alan draws his hands back from the clap of his hands is the moment that Aranha uses to attack.

Aranha's foot swings for the NESTS creation's head with a glowing roundhouse before following with a likewise blue glowing spinning jump kick using the momentum to turn around so that he may back flip at her as he delivers a flip kick driving a final blue chi enhanced kick down upon Kula's head. "Sorry. We're not backing down for anything."

COMBATSYS: Kula dodges Aranha's Aggressive Dance.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Aranha           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Kula
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Alan             0/-------/------=|


COMBATSYS: Kula reflects Thunderclap from Alan with Counter Shell.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Aranha           0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0             Kula
[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Alan             0/-------/=======|


Though she gets the initial grip needed to transition into a quick takedown, possibly locking Alan's arm behind his back and keeping him pinned long enough to subdue him, it seems her target has other thoughts in mind. Her fingers sink into his silk shirt rather than getting a firm hold of his neck, and from there, the rest of her takedown lacks any real leverage.

And a split second later, he demonstrates his slippery flexibility as his knees clamp against the sides of her head. The blink of surprise is evident in her eyes as she starts to struggle to try and pull herself free. And then there's Aranha joining the battle, charging in while she's distracted. It seems, in fact, that his chi-infused kick is aiming to slam into her head right after Alan's thunderously smashing fists.

It's part panic and part instinct that Kula reacts, hands lifting up to block the path of Alan's incoming attack at an angle that seems entirely too awkward to provide much resistance. But it ends up not being her hands that ward off the attack but the explosion of frigid energy at point blank. The detonation more than stops Alan's attack as the swath of Artic cold washes over him as well for being so close to the girl.

Even as Kula backs up a couple of steps, her own shoulders and forearms are covered in thick frost that she begins to dust from the supple leather jacket that serves as part of her combat armor. "So the other gnat has shown himself." she muses, looking toward Aranha to allow the video feed on her headset to get a good shot of the youth. It will take only seconds for information to come pouring back. More information than he might expect to be out there on him. "Why are you associated with this man?" she asks, gesturing toward the possibly frozen Alan, "Returning to the life of crime you tried to leave behind?"

In the instant before Kula's ice washes over him, totally ruining his awesome move, he frowns. The ice closes over him, trapping him on the ground in an extremely awkward position.

He can't move his /limbs/, but he can control his body. The boxer relaxes, building up his chi. Aranha, facing him, can see the yellow electricity slowly obscuring him from sight, gathering into... well... a certain point on his body that was furthest away from the ice.

It takes time, and in that time, Alan gets angry. He did /not/ beat up a crazy English guy in an ascot and bring down heat on his face from what he's learning is the biggest criminal element in Taizhou to be FROZEN TO THE GROUND in front of the only /real/ lead he has on the real story behind all of this. The chi is gathered.

With a mighty thrust, he shatters the ice around him, exploding up into the air with a totally dramatic flip. Hopefully, Aranha's made some sort of move by now - when Alan lands, he immediately blurs, charging right up behind Kula with a body blow to the back.

"What's it to you?" Aranha doesn't have anything else to say to that. If she doesn't know that Alan was assigned to be his team mate because of the tournament here, then she doesn't need to know. Aside from that it's a marriage of convience. He doesn't work with Alan, he doesn't get info. And Kula is standing in the way of his ability to get said info.

Aranha then goes into a spin as he plants both his hands on the ground in addition to one of his feet for stability as he swings that last foot at Kula's head in an attempt to knock Kula's block off.

COMBATSYS: Kula blocks Alan's Medium Punch.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Aranha           0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0             Kula
[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Alan             0/-------/=======|


COMBATSYS: Kula dodges Aranha's Spin Kick.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Aranha           0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0             Kula
[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Alan             0/-------/=======|


She expects the ice to keep Alan put for a moment to give her time to deal with Aranha. The girl has extensive training in dealing with multiple opponents. Disable each in turn, wear them down, leave no direction unaccounted for... She needs to figure out which one poses the greater threat. Or, alternatively, which one seems to be the leader of the duo, if any, and deal with him swiftly.

"I merely wanted to know if you need to be taken in like your associate here, or if you are in just the wrong place at the wrong time." She weaves out of the way of Aranha's spinning kick, ducking low and stepping under him deftly. "But you are making it clear that you want to be a nuisance either way. Hmph."

While her attention is clearly on the chi-kicker, she isn't oblivious to her ice-containment shattering behind her and Alan's escape and blurringly fast charge toward her back. Whirling around on one foot, the girl plants her other foot behind her, bringing her arms up, allowing the crackling punch to smack against her forearms. She slides half a step before coming to a stop, lowering her arms to stare back at Alan.

"What are you expecting to find in there that's so important?" She shakes her head slightly, long, skyblue hair draping over her shoulders except for the invisible currents of air that seem to swirl about the girl of their own accord. As her focus is on Alan, it might some surprise for Aranha when Kula turns on him, bolting forward with incredible speed, both hands in front of her as she aims to slam into the young man and literally push him across the ice with furious speed until slamming him /through/ the frozen blockade at the entrance to the plant. "If you want inside so bad..."

Should he manage to esacpe the charge, Kula will merely slide to a stop some yards away, turning around gracefully as if skating on the ice in spite the lack of ice skates.

Alan leans in close to Kula, eyes bright. "Maybe... just maybe... a new world." The boxer suddenly snaps, "Listen to you! You have no idea what you've walked in on!"

At Kula's abrupt movement, Alan springs back - but, unfortunately, she's targeting his partner. Let's assume, for the moment, that Aranha is unfortunate, and is in fact hurled for the blockade. Something locks into place in Alan's mind, then - it's like all of a sudden he's just full of personal growth and shit. He turns toward Aranha and the plant, points inside, and shouts, "GO!"

Either way that whole thing goes, though, Alan turns back to Kula, charging her. More electricity builds up his arms as he springs through the air with one powerful lunge, trying to sweep her up in a headlock. "You've got /no/ reason to be here, do you? DO YOU?!"

Chi explodes around his arms, and hopefully, into Kula.

COMBATSYS: Aranha endures Kula's Power Throw.

[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Aranha           0/-------/=======|===----\-------\0             Kula
[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Alan             0/-------/=======|


Aranha has two things going against him. First, there's the fact that he hasn't been able to lay a foot on the NESTS creation. Second there's the fact that Aranha seems to have drawn Kula's attention. As a result Aranha doesn't even bother trying to get out of the way. Instead he simply lets himself get flung into the barrier cracking it slightly.

Instead of falling over though he uses the wall as a support so he can spend time he would've used to get up to his feet to lay down supressive fire for his team mate in the form of a blue chi web.

Whether or not he start his run for inside just yet is another matter.

COMBATSYS: Kula blocks Aranha's Web Shot.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Aranha           1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0             Kula
[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Alan             0/-------/=======|


COMBATSYS: Kula interrupts Dynamo Grip from Alan with Crow Bite.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Aranha           1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0             Kula
[                     \\\\\\\\\  <
Alan             1/-======/=======|


"Not yet," Kula admits to Alan as he challenges her cognizance of the situation, her tone cool but honest, the girl pausing as if trying to clarify to herself a better response than that. What did he mean by a new world? What did he hope to find within? Her own information has been so incomplete. "But I will understand it soon enough. What difference can it possibly make?" In a blur of scattered frost, she had turned on Aranha, hoping to catch him unprepared.

Propelling Aranha with such a fierce amount of force is mostly a matter of Kula's chi manipulation being put to the task. Bitter chill, gale-force wind, and the force of a harnessed avalanche smash into the Capoeira user with enough raw power to send Aranha careening for the frozen barrier at the front door. Nimble as he is, however, the young man manages to correct his trajectory in such a way as to avoid being smashed completely off his feet. Kula exhales slightly, looking slightly disappointed that she didn't manage to get rid of one of the two for a moment.

The chi web that Aranha shoots back moves with far too much speed for Kula to cleanly avoid. Raising her right hand forward, she leaves a shimmering barrier of thick ice in its path that ultimately absorbs most of the incoming energy, leaving her leather armor jacket just slightly scathed. Certainly not enough of the web-shaped chi strikes her to manage slowing her down entirely. But it did require some of her focus. Focus that would have otherwise been used to track Alan's charge her way.

That Alan shouted for Aranha just to make a run for it registers a bit late, preoccupied as she was with trying to drive him through a wall of ice. It does come to her a split second after fending off the webbed chi, however. Did the 'R' henchman just try to make a sacrifice play? To throw himself at her so that Aranha might escape her devestating attacks? Kula only has a split moment to puzzle out such unexpected behavior before Alan gets his arms around her neck, locking the girl in place in preparation for a more significant detonation of chi.

The NESTS-trained fighter knows plenty well how to handle such positions, however, as her entire right arm becomes encased in a gauntlet of jagged ice including sharp protrusions near her elbow. This instantly-forged weapon of frozen matter is jammed back toward Alan, elbow first, allowing Kula to pry herself around before his electricity can explode to close around the level of her head, already coiling down into a crouch in the process.

The staggeringly strong uppercut that Kula launches into deep inside Alan's guard makes the elbow slam seem like a finger tap in comparison. Springing into a twisting uppercut with a violent amount of force, Kula aims to ruthlessly slam Alan toward the wall of the building before landing herself, seconds later, in a half crouch. Her expression remains mostly cold but for a glimmer of uncertainty in her eyes. "You seem strangely idealistic for a 'R' soldier..." Her voice trails off, the girl reflecting on Alan's remark about not being there on orders.

Her eyes glance back toward Aranha to make sure that he's going to be able to get a free shot in. He's proven to be clever in his attempts even if she has managed to ward them off thus far. It's then that she notices the barrier of ice at the building entrance has crumbled to a mound of cubes and flakes, her own chi having been too focused on deflecting both attacks and the savagely punishing uppercut dealt to Alan.

The strike bites into Alan's ribs, tearing a hole through his expensive clothes (strangely, Sanctum has been providing replacements to his exact preferred measurements) and going on through to get to delightful flesh beneath. "Tsheeh--" He chokes out, instinctively losing his grip, dropping back one, two steps.

crrkk

That's the sound Alan's other set of ribs makes on impact with Kula, the impact so totally radical that it has one of those spherical shockwave effects. Before Alan actually flies off of his feet, snow and cracked ice blast away from the two, spiralling out - and then his boots leave earth, and the boxer spirals to the wall, completely out of control. The impact against his back is almost pleasantly familiar, just before the pain sets in.

One side bloodied, the other cracked, Alan slides down onto a blessedly smooth ramp of ice, which deposits him in a kneel a short distance away from the cratered impact point. Spitting blood out onto the ice, he rolls up his sleeves while shooting Aranha a single, desperate look. "I don't know what the fuck is in there," he hisses, voice low, "but I don't like our chances of finding out if we let this NESTS bitch in before us." He jerks his head toward the unblocked entryway once again, before shoving himself agonizingly up.

Idealistic, huh. It sets Alan on his heels, but, well... she's not wrong, is she? A face flits through his head, and for a moment, he considers that he's been going about some things wrong from the start.

Swallowing, he pushes the thought down, holding his arms out to either side. "Thunder--" Yellow electricity crackles down his forearms, following his blood veins, pooling golf ball-sized into his palms. He starts running toward Kula again, swinging both of his hands in front of him, fingers snapping. "STOOOOORM!" Two massive bolts of lightning crack out, and then again as he whips his hands the other way with a final finger snap, light reflecting off the ice, setting everything to a glaring relief.

Aranha visibly cringes at the impact that his team mate takes. The way Alan's ribs actually make an audible cracking noise making the capoeirista inwardly shudder at the fierce power that the NESTS agent wields.

Of course it's when Alan utters in that low voice, a moment of clarity falls upon the Dancing Spider. He begins to think back on a recently acquired sfile and then he nods to Alan.

'Everyone must stand on their own.' Alan has to hold Kula on his own in order for Aranha to find out what secrets the lab holds. And Aranha himself must do that on his own.

After that, Aranha does the only thing he can do to help Alan. He goes in. Aranha's body glows blue as he dashes into the building leaving blue after images in his wake. With one less thing to worry about, he hopes that Alan will be able fight her unfettered.

COMBATSYS: Aranha assists Alan.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Aranha           1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0             Kula
[                      \\\\\\\\  <
Alan             0/-------/-======|


COMBATSYS: Kula blocks Alan's Thunder Storm.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Aranha           1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0             Kula
[                      \\\\\\\\  <
Alan             0/-------/-======|


Kula knows how badly she's hurt Alan with that last attack of hers. One of the few signiture techniques shared by her and the K' prototype she was designed to counter, the ice-imbued uppercut had felled many a fighter in the living weapon's career. She isn't even conscious of the damage it causes but rather understands it on a sub-conscious level; all part of her combat programming that has served her so well.

The flicker of second-thoughts fades quickly, replaced once again with the cool mask of calm indifference. With a crunch of ice, Kula takes a step forward, advancing once again on the increasingly desperate duo. Stretching her right hand, she infuses it with another surge of that never ending frozen energy that seems to flow into her attacks so effortlessly.

She's too far away to hear the words hissed to Aranha by the rogue 'R' operative and while she does glance back and forth between the two of them, she doesn't slow her advancing pace in the slightest. It seems she has no more interesting talking now. Coldly following through with her orders from the safely distant handlers reaching her on radio, Kula draws her right hand back into a tight fist as the energy flowing over her fist solidifies into a translucent sphere of solid ice.

It's then that her slow advance becomes a swift charge, Kula leaning forward, sprinting over the ice with ease. With Aranha moving laterally to her route, Kula's eyes settle squarely on Alan. He's first, she decides. It's then that she finds herself facing twin bolts of powerful lightning twisting for her straight from Alan. Bringing her arms up in front of her, Kula charges into the first of the pairs, hidden from sight by the blindingly bright explosion of energy that crashes against her.... But she isn't slowed. Not until the second pair of bolts smash into her guard, sending the girl reeling back a couple of steps, lost within a billowing cloud of steam.

A hiss of pain can be heard as well as the crackle of her leather jacket sleeves reacting to the immense energy absorbed. "Enough playing around. You should have just cooperated." Next is the sound of movement again before Kula darts from the giant cloud of steamy vapor, right arm drawn back as if aiming to sock Alan the second she gets to him.

Only, Kula swings early, jamming her arm out, that solid sphere of ice still encased over her right fist. Only in the act of bringing her arm forward does that sphere morph and three savagely sharp lances shoot out from the base of it - three razor tipped javelins of steel-like ice aimed to impale Alan straight against the building's wall!

COMBATSYS: Kula successfully hits Alan with Critical Ice.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Aranha           1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0             Kula
[                                <
Alan             1/---====/=======|


Alan relaxes when he sees Aranha totally double-tap forward on his way into the building, taking off just like he hoped. Good... now all Alan has to do is manage to hold out a little bit longer.

The best-laid plans of mice and men, unfortunately, turn out to GIANT SPEARS OF ICE.

As Alan looks forward again, here they come, and here they come /hot,/ ironically. Crackling with chi, Alan hops up onto the wall, springing off of it and forward, planting one boot on top of the first javelin to come to him. For a moment, as his boot touches down, other one already coming up, it looks like it's going to be one of the boxer's occasional ridiculous displays of agility.

However, that same boot has been springing around on ice for the last while now, gathering little motes of ice on it. With chi crackling around Alan's entire body, the ice has melted, causing the sole of his boot to become slick. As Alan feels himself lose purchase, he loses his balance, slipping right into the range of the second javelin.

That all happened in the space of half a second - Kula sees Alan hop, and then dust as the javelins slam into the wall... then a bright yellow light blooming into the dust cloud, which blows the hell away, split by a massive wave of electricity and a deafening crack of thunder.

Alan is pinned directly to the wall. One of the spears has gone fully through his side - a survivable, if serious, wound. The other has sliced into the side of his neck, terrifyingly close to something more terminal. Both of his fists are extended out, smoke rising from his sleeves and the iron rings on his fingers.

...then they droop, Alan blacking out from pain and exhaustion for just as long as it takes for his weight to go down on the spear in his side. Blood spurts briefly, and he awakens again in a hell of pain, legs locking to heave him up again.

Blood dripping from the side of his mouth, Alan R. B. glares at Kula, eyes bleary and unfocused.

COMBATSYS: Alan can no longer fight.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Aranha           1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0             Kula


Aranha makes the mistake of looking over his shoulder at both Alan and Kula's battle. The bloody display makes the Metro City native's heart drop a little mainly because he wasn't able to make the best of the opportunity that Alan was trying to create for him.

Aranha can't help but wonder, what if. What if he had taken off much sooner? What if he hadn't paused to throw that chi web? What if he stuck around to help the boxer out.

Eventually Aranha forces himself to push those 'what ifs' aside. He can only stay focused on the here and now. And attempt to do what little exploration he has time to do before the cold assassin catches up to him and prepare to engage when that happens.

COMBATSYS: Aranha focuses on his next action.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Aranha           1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0             Kula


COMBATSYS: Alan successfully hits Kula with Mjolnir.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////               ]
Aranha           1/-------/=======|=======\-------\1             Kula


The vicious attack lands. Somewhere in the back of her head is the nagging reminder that someone at the Einherjar Initiative instructed her to focus on /non/-lethal measures throughout the mission. Be that as it may, 3 years of training at NESTS in being nothing but an utterly ruthless killer tend to have a greater say over the actions she takes in her fights. For a moment it seemed Alan would slip past the ruthlessly swift assault. But as much as she thinks she's managed to destroy his ability to fight back, all she's done is trigger the release of the most catastrophic burst of electric chi she's ever been caught in the midst of.

The detonation washes over the girl even as she pulls her hands up in a vain attempt to guard against the undefendable. Knocked clean off her feet, Kula tumbles over the melting ice covering the ground, the sphere of frozen matter around her right fist shattering in the process before she comes to rest on her back several feet away. Though her eyes are open, she sees nothing for a moment, as the storm covered sky overhead is far too dim compared to the amazing wattage that just danced across her vision.

Lingering lightning trails along her arms and her hair seems to have taken on a certain static life of its own as strands drift up from the pull of unseen power. But as the girl blinks and shakes her head, it's clear that Kula is still very much conscious. Sitting up straight away, she stares across toward where she had last seen Alan, her eyes confirming visually what her combat algorithms told her would be the case - Alan's capacity to fight back was no longer an issue. For a fleeting moment she ponders just how close she came to potentially killing the man. In her old life, she never would even have felt the slightest tinge of guilt she notices then and there.

"Hmph." Pushing herself to her feet, Kula shakes her head again, runs her hands through her hair, then flexes her arms, working out the twitching in her muscles as she walks toward Alan again. She's silent as she stares at him. There's a nagging suspicion that she's woefully missing something here. The behavior of the two wasn't like what she'd expect from two 'R' minions. All the same, there is the matter of the one that got away. "Of course, I can't just leave him in there alone." she explains with a half shrug. Clenching her hands, Kula turns and strides toward the entrance of the building. There's still work to be done.

COMBATSYS: Kula takes no action.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////               ]
Aranha           1/-------/=======|=======\-------\1             Kula

Log created on 22:38:36 05/26/2010 by Aranha, and last modified on 12:05:26 06/02/2010.