Description: ...like a Queen scorned. Wing's stalking of Aranha is none of anyone's business until, in an unfortunate but spectacular encounter, she chooses to make it Annie's, because she is a /blonde trollop/ who needs to /stay away from Wing's man/. A comedy of errors and mixed identities ensues, a genuine revelation occurs, and an odd sort of respect is born amidst otherwise tittilating circumstances. At this rate, the rematch will be in pudding.
What a week it has been for Annie Murakami!
She has taken her first steps into a wider and vastly more exciting world, beginning in the legendary City of Fighters itself; the bustling metropolis of Southtown. Here she has made the acquaintance of two wonderful people - including the enigmatic but personable, and highly skilled, man known only as 'Aranha'. And circumstance has otherwise led her, quite fluidly, to the streets of Sunshine City. To visit two such vibrant places in so short a time might almost be too much for the girl, were it not for her apparently boundless enthusiasm.
Annie walks - or, perhaps more aptly, bounces - along the pavement in a shopping district just off Sunshine Plaza, a wide smile lighting up her pretty young features with all the warmth of the city's namesake rays as her amber eyes flicker hither and thither. She does not seem to travel with any obvious goal in mind, simply drinking in the sights, the sounds and the deeper sensations that come with her particular gift. But this gift is not apparent, to most. The only immediately odd thing about her is, well...
"How about over there? Do you think we could find something nice for him in there? What? You don't think we have enough money? I'm sure they wouldn't mind if we explained what we want, and why we want it! Everybody we've met so far has been very nice! Oh... how about /that/?"
She doesn't seem to stop talking to herself. On the busy street it is difficult to spot the small black shape moving through the crowd some few feet behind her; her feline companion doesn't even seem to try to keep up, and nor does Annie often turn back to check. It's gaining her a substantial number of odd looks, though at least she isn't really bothering anyone.
What a day it has been for Wing Xiaoping.
"...Uh... ugh..."
A /terrible/ day.
The petite thugette and self-proclaimed Queen of the Streets has, of course, been slacking off in her 'duties' as a member of Keith 'Aranha' Mason's roguish team for King of Fighters. Of course, she did manage to persuade Naerose to join (maybe) and beat Varvara into submission (probably), so there shouldn't be too much trouble with their erstwhile allies. But wandering around clobbering the innocent has begun to briefly lose its charm. She hasn't seen Aranha in a little while, and while she never doubts their friendship -- or, for all her wildness, forgets the bond they forged during Jinchuu 2, enduring that warzone together -- she's oddly uncomfortable approaching of. Of all things, she finds herself waiting for texts from him.
It's mortifying.
So, like an unabashed stalker, she began perusing blogs in her spare time between attending class at Justice High and shaking down her innocent peers for lunch money, keeping tabs on her friends and foes. (She forgets Wang exists when he's not right in front of her face, and as such, fortunately has never read his site.) Marveling at the sheer number of fight blogs there are in existence, and irritated that the vast majority of posts about her are in crime reports, she began looking for Aranha everywhere, starting with the most recent publications--
'Aranha Seen Fleeing Theme Park With Mysterious Girl'
It all sort of went downhill from there.
'What does she got that I don't?', went Wing's train of thought, which fortunately she did not voice, because even a cat doesn't have enough lives to list all the relevant points before getting killed for good. Typically failing to notice her more obvious personality flaws, and insecure about her appearance since the first day a low-level Triad goon called her 'shrimp' -- she kicked his ass, at least, and has conveniently forgotten she fled the rest of them -- she of course ended up focusing on the blonde's cute hairstyle, sleek dress, and, well-- you know-- it makes her sick, is the point. But that rich girl ruined her favorite hoodie, so off Wing went again, on another epic quest for a new look.
Shermie wasn't there, so she actually followed through. But--
"J... jeez..."
She spilled black bean sauce on her new dress again, and it's not coming out; plus, it misses the point. She knows what Annie Murakami has that she doesn't. It's obvious, clear as the sunlight streaming throught plaza that Wing, carrying her old clothes in a bag and deeply flushed, is currently stumbling through.
A bare midriff.
In the Littlest Gangster's defense, she is quite slim, and her currently bared belly has a certain appeal. The sea green of her short new blouse and the earthy brown of her new ruffled skirt, extending to just below her knees, work just fine (she had patient assistance). And her long, dark hair, not obscured by any hoodie, is pinned up fetchingly. But her glower could cut through steel, and she's so incredibly uncomfortable she feels like she could cry. Others might disagree, but to Wing-- this just isn't her. It's not her at all.
This day just couldn't get any worse--
"Y..."
And there she is.
"YOU!"
Her cry cuts through the crowd. Standing mere meters away, peering through a window, is that trashy blonde herself! Choking on her own words, livid with rage, she drops her bag, unable even to say anything. She just points at Annie, shaking her hand, eyes wide. It's quite a sight, if perhaps unintelligible.
The thing about having sensitive psychic powers bottled into the body and mind of a hyperactive sixteen year old girl, is that it can get difficult to discern which emotion is flying where - and who means what to whom. A city is packed with feelings, both positive and negative, conspiring to form a heady melange. A few days ago, Annie wasn't sure she could reasonably deal with such a thing, but she has rapidly come to see that the trick lies in accepting the whole picture at face value. It's best not to sweat the little things.
And the big things?
"YOU!"
Well, they tend to make themselves known.
Annie finds herself inadvertently face-to-face with the Queen of the Streets, not registering at first the cry is intended for her. Feeling a disturbance in the Force - as though a thousand short, angry voices cried out and were suddenly not even slightly silenced - but factoring it, at first, into the general chaos she has been trying to enjoy in spite of its shortcomings. But then her bright eyes settle upon another, glaring pair in the shop window. The blonde's head cants to one side, the gesture birdlike in its inquisitiveness, ringleted pigtails bouncing as she places a thumbnail against her lower lip, pointing with the index finger on the same hand.
"Do... do we know that lady, Qui-zi?"
A frown dispels the sunny disposition from her face, though it is more puzzled than saddened. Why would somebody direct that sort of thing at her? Why would they need to shout? She doesn't know of anybody who would have heard of her! But then it dawns upon the slender psion... maybe this is one of those 'fans' that fighters seem to collect. Alma - she fights down a blush just thinking his name - certainly has a lot of them, and she and Miu managed to beat him. Or so she was told when she woke up, after they--
Uh oh. The flush consumes her cheeks in an instant.
"H-Hello!" And suddenly she reacts out of pure instinct, just wishing to move on from the disturbing tangent of her turbulent pubescent mind. Smiling broadly, her pretty face bright red and beaming, she waves cheerfully to the girl in the window. From below, there is a troubled 'mrowl' as Qui-zi bumps up against Annie's ankle, doing so rather insistently and then trying to draw her attention back to the street. As if to say: 'Down this way, madness lies. Turn around, and run away!'
Wing trembles, as though the words welling up within the boiling cauldron of her dark soul, unable to find an outlet through her thin lips, are storming through her very body.
She's--
"You... why, you..."
She's so /cute/.
"YOU LITTLE TROLLOP!"
Her little blonde pigtails, her adorable flush, her girlish charm mingled with an unabashedly sexy outfit, her sleek dress offering peeks of warm skin, her high stockings hooked by little garters. Sexy. She's cute /and/ sexy, and Wing--
"Thief! Man-thief! That's what you are!"
Wing knows, in her heart of hearts, she's neither of those things.
"What'd you do with him!?"
She shrieking now, her surprisingly well put-together outfit (she wasn't in any way responsible for any of it, having merely insisted over and over again that she wanted to bare her midriff, which was pretty mortifying for everyone involved) only clashing with her rage-flushed cheeks and widened, glittering eyes. The Chinese firebrand's pointing finger becomes a clenched, white-knuckled fist, still trembling.
"What'd you do to my boyfriend!?"
Oh, ancestors, she doesn't want to know. It's all a disaster. A humiliation, after all she's accomplished. A queen of fighters, and this is what she gets. She'll make them respect her, all of them. Don't say anything, blondie, just don't speak.
"You have /fucked/ with--"r Leaving her back behind, uncomfortable in a skirt and blouse though she may be, Wing springs from the ground, rocketing at her nemesis in love.
"--the /wrong girl/!!"
Inspired by her own royal decree, the raging Wing descends upon the innocent temptress, aiming to plunge her fist without mercy into the blonde's exposed gut.
"CALL ME QUEEN!"
Needless to say, everyone's staying to watch this.
COMBATSYS: Wing has started a fight here.
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Wing 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Annie has joined the fight here.
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Wing 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Annie
COMBATSYS: Wing successfully hits Annie with Strong Punch.
Grazing Hit
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Wing 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Annie
Annie hasn't known Wing very long. She hasn't really known her at all! And yet already, she can discern that her dimunitive antagonist is rife with conflicting thoughts and feelings. There's this incredible sense of anger, layered over a soul that seems much more complex and thoughtful than the outward appearance would suggest. This is all a fancy way for the littlest Murakami to admit that she has absolutely no idea what to make of the squat but surprisingly intimidating brawler...
At least until she's completely certain all those horrible words are aimed at her. It's hard to tell with all the yelling; the high-pitched caterwaul causing the blonde to recoil visibly, her waving hand drooping down to hang at her side as the other reaches up to scratch at the back of her neck in bemusement. Her lower lip protrudes just a little, all daintily flushed and pleasantly full, those amber eyes wide and innocent. The overall effect causes a passing schoolboy to fall in love on the spot. It's probably just as well Wing doesn't know that.
But she still does not waste time in making her intentions perfectly clear, and as she launches herself forward there is suddenly no doubt in Annie's mind of exactly what the enraged Chinese girl is.
~She's insane! The poor thing! I should help h...~
"-engh!"
The sudden determined set of her mouth, and the automated response of her inner fighting instincts do little to spare Annie from the sheer fury of her apparent foe. That fist is halfway into the taut flesh of her abdomen before she can react and properly prepare for the blow - though she does manage to use the gathered momentum for a tight backward spring, landing in a breathless three-point crouch before rolling back into an athletic backflip. She provides the street a free show in the process; though she neither seems to care nor even notice as she comes around in mid-air and swings her arms outward in a wide slashing motion.
"COMET!"
Her cry is far from that of a hotblooded warrior - it's the empassioned yell of a psychic girl just trying to find out why she is being subjected to ninety nine pounds of rage. In the most unorthodox way possible, as a flare of Psycho Power erupts from the intersection of her hands, coalescing into a searing violet cross - white at the centre - which flashes toward Wing with considerable speed. Perhaps she can learn about the other girl, if their souls can meet! As it flies, she completes her acrobatics, landing perched upon the edge of a bench with a perplexed frown creasing the smooth skin of her brow.
"I don't know who your boyfriend is, or why you need to hurt me, but my cat says you're trouble!" Qui-zi, hastily hopping away from Wing to duck through the gathering crowd, lets out another 'mrowl' in agreement. "And that's good enough for me. You can leave us alone, or tell me what I've done wrong. Otherwise..."
Her eyes narrow, and her fingertips glow with a snap-hiss of psionic light.
"...I might have to try and hurt you!"
Okay, so she hasn't taken Trashtalk 101 yet. She's new to this.
COMBATSYS: Annie successfully hits Wing with Magical Comet.
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Wing 0/-------/----===|=====--\-------\0 Annie
Oh, she's /so irritating/.
Wing is fuming even as she feels her punch connect, knowing with a sinking feeling that she wasn't nearly able to express as much rage as she wanted to. No matter; this random blonde may be fast, but she's no match for the Queen of the Streets. She'll be on her knees by now, most likely, begging for mercy, and-- what-- what is that--
Okay, so, she's no ordinary girl.
That's /even more irritating/.
Wing clenches her jaw, gauging her adversary. It's her disposition to assume that anyone she fights can't possibly be as tough as her, but she's pretty sure she has the edge on this tramp. "You know who I'm talking about," she screams, eyes blazing, "you tramp! What other man could I /possibly/ be talking about?"
Aranha's got more fans than she does, anyway.
"Huh, you're slow as a snail, I'll-- eeek--"
That girlish squeal is almost as humiliating as what Wing struggles to prevent. She was about to nimbly jump out of the way of that 'magical comet' (ugh, stupid), really, no sweat. But she's not used to these clothes, and the rush of wind almost offers the crowd exactly what Annie unintentionally gifted them with. She clamps her hands down over her inconsiderable rump. It's for the best: she'd likely lose the comparison shopping challenge in any case. She loses out in a different way instead, the strange power shocking her system and sending her to her knees.
Hey, this is the wrong way around.
"You bitch," grouses Wing, rising to her feet. "I'm not going to stand here and let you pay innocent. Everyone's going to know you for the snake you are!" Screaming again now, she leaps again, this time tucking into a roll before approaching at breakneck speed in a whirlwind of low kicks, revealing as much kung-fu technique as wild ruthlessness.
COMBATSYS: Wing successfully hits Annie with Crane Kickin' It Old Skool.
Grazing Hit
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Wing 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 Annie
"You know..."
Annie's eyebrows raise as she watches Wing charge toward her, apprehensive without showing any real sign of fear - she still doesn't know why this bizarrely-behaved stranger would need to attack her, and is certain that she can have nothing to do with the Dragons or their allies. She would know. Qui-zi would have made it clear even if she had somehow missed it. So why...? She thinks about it whilst simultaneously preparing herself for further evasive action, and trying to complete her sentence.
"I don't think people our age are supposed to use such bad language."
It's spoken innocently enough, though it comes out a little distant as she counters Wing's leap with an overhead dive, springing catlike from the bench and soaring over the first of those kicks in a beautiful display of grace. She tucks into a roll as she lands, and comes up on one shoulder only to immediately lunge back in. It's unfortunate that her inexperience causes her to do so too soon, too quickly - because as she approaches Wing she is clipped by the final spinning strike, squeaking in pain as she staggers into a sidelong twirl. Coming out of the impromptu pirouette, she lashes out with a sweeping backhanded chop.
"And I /don't/ believe your name is really 'Queen'!"
If it hits, it will probably seem more like a slap, right across the cheek.
COMBATSYS: Wing blocks Annie's Quick Punch.
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Wing 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 Annie
Is that a /slap/!?
Wing is untucking from her roll just as Annie is pirouetting out of the way. Once again, she's only clipped the girl. As if this confrontation weren't irritating enough already! It's quite a sight, though, watching the two athletic girls' acrobatic abilities, and not only because of, well, how they're dressed, and the fact that this is happening in public, in the middle of the day. Without thinking twice about it, half-sneering and half-snarling, Wing slaps Annie's down out of the air before it can touch the Queen's royal cheek. "You idiot!" she snaps. At least she's not shouting anymore. Maybe she's out of breath. She's flushed enough, anyway. (It's the outfit.) "My name isn't 'queen', I /am/ a Queen! Queen of the Streets! I'm Wing Xiaoping! You don't know /who I am/?" You haven't read Wang's blog?
Wing normally hates fighting like a girl. It's really the antithesis of anything Original Gangster. However, this situation calls for alternative methods, because Annie just tried to slap /her/, and that's totally unacceptable. The whole while, she's ranting.
"I saw you with him! I saw pictures! You were all /over/ him! It was filthy! Disgusting! You were touching, and, ugh--" Holding hands! Wing still hasn't held hands with him. She'll have to do so surreptitiously at some point, while Aranha's not looking. "In front of people, no less! I swear, I'm gonna--"
And then, with a wholly different kind of force, the diminuitive thugette unleashes a backhand mighty enough to smash bricks, aiming to knock Annie silly.
"--MAKE YOU CRY!"
COMBATSYS: Annie endures Wing's Quick Punch.
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Wing 0/-------/---====|=======\==-----\1 Annie
"'Touching'? I don't---"
*WHAM*
There's not a great deal of Annie to hit, and yet somehow the tremendous blow manages to resound as though Wing were striking against the mightiest mountain. The gathering audience almost expects to see little flakes and chips come crumbling from the slender blonde's broken face. Surely she must be made from something inhuman, to take such a mighty hit -- her footing doesn't even shift, she simply turns away, allowing the inevitable stinging red mark to appear upon her face. And when she looks around...
She is pouting. Hard. And she's just had a brainwave.
"I don't care what you read or heard about me and Alma-kun..."
Her normally bright, perky voice is low, and the inevitable returning blush is masked good and proper by the effects of Wing's attack. Eyes of honeyed amber narrow to slits as Annie lifts her previously striking hand with much deliberation, twisting it at the wrist as she draws it back. At last she returns Wing's glare with one of her own, boring those usually gentle eyes deep into the other girl's soul. Literally.
"If this the kind of person you are, Wing Xiaoping, then--"
With all the cold ferocity a slighted schoolgirl can bring to bear, she suddenly whips her arm around, a ringing sear of Psycho Power exploding around her hand as she fights not like a girl - but like a MAGICAL GIRL, whipping that open palm directly across the cheek. Striking from the very depths of her being, to defend the pride and honour of the man she believes she very well may love! Whose features will forever be emblazed upon the striking surface of her...-- and with that thought, her entire /face/ turns crimson. Thank heavens she's already in the middle of her attack.
"YOU DON'T DESERVE TO BE WITH HIM!!"
It's passionate beyond mere words, and should the slap successfuly land, she follows through with it, over-extending her striking arm only to lean backward, slapping her hand to the ground and using the point of contact to rear up in a rising, arcing kick to the chin - it's mightiness much belied by her slender, distinctly feminine frame. Her clunky boot is surrounded by a veritable storm of white-hot violet energy, ripping along with her through the entire motion as she executes a backflip, using her blow to send Wing on an angry upward flight. Perfect pure purity be damned - it's powered by annoyance, shame, and jealousy!
Because they're fighting... for Alma...!
COMBATSYS: Annie successfully hits Wing with Ichi Ni Shi.
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Wing 1/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Annie
Wing's jaw drops.
If she could think straight after that stunning counter-slap, weighted enough to spin the Littlest Gangster around on her heels and cross her eyes, Wing might actually find it refreshing that Annie is no longer 'playing' (read: actually being) the picture of injured innocence. Nothing was pissing her off more, though her opponent's overall fetching appearance was a close second. Now that the other girl is angry too, the thugette's frustration -- if not her overall fury -- evaporates, along with her balance. They're on equal footing now.
For a moment, until Annie kicks her into the air.
"Eeeeyaaah!"
Wailing like, well, a girl, Wing sails through the air and lands on her front, arms and legs akimbo. She chokes again as she promptly realizes, no thanks to the chuckles and occasional hoots of some of the members of the crowd, that her skirt has flipped from the sheer power of the strike and the gracelessness of her landing. (Is that a panda's face on her butt?) Seething with rage, her head clears quicker than it might otherwise as she haphazardly tugs down to protect her ruined modesty, her face as bright red as her opponent. "Why, you... you..."
She cannot /believe/ Annie just said that.
"YOU STREET-WALKER!"
tSays the queen of said streets.
"YOU TAKE THAT BACK!"
It is, of course, what she fears more than anything. That Aranha is just too good for her, too distant, will never notice her feelings or care. She doesn't doubt his friendship, knows that he's there for her. But it's not enough. She wants him to recognize her feelings, even though she's small, and young, and not cute, and--
"I WON'T LET YOU TAKE HIM FROM ME!"
She's gone berserk. She's gone critical. She's forgotten all her other superficial insecurities. Annie's words have cut to her core. With complete abandon, Wing hurls herself at the blonde, claws outstretched, and aims to tackle the girl in the slinky black dress to the ground, reaching out to grasp viciously at her pigtails. "BEG FOR MERCY!" she screams, attempting to pull at Annie's hair in a terrible rage, while banging the back of her head against the street at the same time.
So much for not fighting like a girl.
COMBATSYS: Annie interrupts Medium Throw from Wing with Zuum Cross.
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Wing 1/----===/=======|==-----\-------\0 Annie
Annie lands neatly from her rather vigorous attack, dropping into a tight squat with knees drawn up to her chest. Her eyes are lit by a dangerous streak of that determination she showed on the roof of the Sunshine 60, though it is tainted horribly by the passion of a lovestruck teenager. She watches, her chest heaving - and schoolboys watching - as Wing tumbles rear over face, displaying her underwear preferences to the world. The blonde does not react to this; she's too angry! She merely straightens up, fists clenched to shaking balls at her sides as Wing also makes it to her feet.
The other problem with psychic sensitivity is that it can't be turned /off/. And as Wing charges, Annie - bound by her own immature feelings to remain as mad as humanly (psionically?) possible - gets a full blast of the real Queen of the Streets. That fear, that uncertainty, the lingering self-doubt. It opens all three of her eyes at the same time. Because...
~Oh, Wing...~
Below all that bluster, there's a frail little girl. Just like her.
Except crazier. A whole heck of a lot crazier.
'I won't let you take him from me!'
That rings in Annie's ears as she allows herself to be tackled full-bored, and plowed into the ground. But she flexes her back as she falls, doing so with a faint 'oof' of expelled breath, but escaping the worst of the punishment - and managing to dart a hand between her and the tiny bruiser. Psycho Power flares into vibrant reality, a blaze of stunning light blazing in the space left by their tumbling forms. And tumble they do, as the pigtailed blonde struggles enough to get up onto one knee, suddenly leaping upward to carry Wing with her, sweeping her arm upward to unleash a searing pillar of energy.
It scathes the soul, sending her aggressor hurtling away with the troubles on her mind exacerbated, with her anger doubtless further incited. And yet far worse are the quiet words that follow on the wind as Annie lands upon her booted feet.
"I don't need to take him from you. He's not even yours to begin with."
The power dies from around her slender digits, and she hangs her head with a sniff.
"I'm sorry, Wing."
"Uh... ugh..."
Wing crashes to the ground, at first not even seeming to understand how brutally she's been seared; she lurches to her feet immediately, shockingly, but her eyes are unfocused, and Annie can likely tell from the further chaos in the Queen's mind that she's not able to mount an attack. Indeed, she simply stumbles forward a step before collapsing on her knees, eyes fluttering, and then slumping on her face at the blonde's boot-clad feet. Her mind is a whirlwind. She can't move. That power, it digs up something within her, tearing open her very being. All her fear, all her sense of insignificance. Power was the answer, but-- it's not coming to her-- it's not salving those wounds. Rage cleared her mind, but now it's all a mess, and she can't, she can't even--
Is there anything left, there, within the void of her heart?
'You stupid girl!'
She's lying at the feet of an old man, his white beard quivering with indignation, his bony hand clenched in the same phoenix knuckle position he used to fell her.
'What will I tell your parents in the afterlife?'
She just wanted to live a normal life. She just wanted to be a normal girl. She was happy. It wasn't her fault they were taken away from her. It wasn't her idea to go live with that man. Whose only idea of growth was training. Who didn't even want her to go to school, to see her friends. Just her and him in that terrible, stupid dojo. She hated it. She hated him.
'You won't amount to anything like this!'
But she couldn't beat him. She couldn't beat him. And--
"UUUURAAAAHHH!"
No. No, no, no. No! No, no, no--
Call it pride, if you will. But there is a raw defiance in Wing that approaches real conviction, and it first revealed itself when she faced death by Aranha's side. That's why she wants to stay with him. Right now, it is he that awakens this in her. That's why-- that's why she--
"DON'T YOU--"
Without knowing herself what she says, Wing aims to drive a mighty fist, literally blurring up from the ground without warning in an effort to plunge a stunning blow directly into Annie's belly.
"--PITY ME!!"
If she can connect, her fists will blur, though her technique is lost, supplanted by mere rage. She strikes countless times, seeking only to hammer Annie down to the ground, to crush her completely, to see her wasted before the Queen. She will strike again and again if she can, and when the blonde crumples, Wing will plant her foot on the girl's form and scream with all her might.
"I'M BETTER THAN YOU!"
COMBATSYS: Wing successfully hits Annie with Wing Dynasty.
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Wing 0/-------/-------|=======\=------\1 Annie
Though she appears to have let down her guard, though indeed she has, there is part of Annie Murakami that remains prepared. It begins at the tenuously probing, ever-active portions of her soul that form the enabler for her bloodline's gift. No matter how distracted she may be, by the fripperies of an active, fun-loving girl or by much deeper concerns... it will always be there. Feeding the senses that see her thrive, to some extent, as a fighter. It's a graceful sort of thing, errant and free, that empowers her.
But the force that charges Wing Xiaoping is something else entirely. Can it be that she simply desires the tainted beauty of the Phoenix this much? Has she seen something in his soul that incites an even fiercer fire than the one burning gently away inside the slender blonde? Her fists say yes, as they explode as if from nowhere, blasting through a wall of psychic defences - and blast they do, there is even a sudden, split-second flash of light to prove it - to meet with a body ill-prepared to deal with such ferocity.
Annie does not even cry out as she is pummelled, every last inch of her form from exposed midriff to stocking-clad thigh, is left battered and bruised by the assault. It's barbaric; there's no 'almost' about it, pure and simple barbarism as their wills clash and Wing's appears to emerge the triumphant. Any resistance seems to be quashed by the time the final strikes are delivered, but as she lands her very last punch...
Wing might happen to notice a beautific smile upon the face of her much-maligned opponent. One eye is closed and swollen, and a trickle of blood runs from either nostril, but Annie manages to offer up two simple words in spite of it.
"I'm sorry."
Her rage seems to have dissipated, though as she speaks, something else rises up from within. Her single open eye gleams as it slowly lids shut, and with the flickering to a close comes a sudden expulsion of vibrant light. A blinding white flare against the retina soon turns to a spreading storm of violet, and oh-so-weakly, oh-so-carefully, Annie sweeps an arm upward. The summoned mass coalesces at point-blank range into a wide, steep crucifix of power - blazing and flashing as it swoops forth to impact Wing with all the dizzying shock of a thunderbolt.
But this is a blast not from the heavens, but from Annie herself. Guided by pity, and sympathy, and love; a soul's wondrous blaze in combat form, focused with an insistently calming violence that would beg for the Chinese ball of rage to see herself for what she is...
Which is all very nice. Except that there is, at the very centre of it, a tiny but astonishingly dominant part of the teenager. This portion wants to hurt Wing, wants to even the score and knock her flat upon her stupid panda-painted butt. This bitter self strikes for only one thing; not redemption or love...
~FOR ALMA-KUN~!!~
COMBATSYS: Annie can no longer fight.
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Wing 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Annie successfully hits Wing with Crossing Wrath.
[ \\\ <
Wing 0/-------/----===|
Wing's gaze flickers.
For a moment, two girls in love regard each other plainly.
Seeing what she has wrought, the Littlest Gangster's blood-stained fist relaxes slightly, her eyes -- in the rarest of moments -- softening. This girl-- she seemed so different, so much better. Like Mishima's monk and the Golden Temple, Wing saw beauty and was compelled to destroy it, to thereby make it her own, however fundamentally hollow the effort. For all her terrible flaws, for all that she can border on the genuinely sociopathic, there is an element to the self-proclaimed Queen of the Streets's laid-bare struggles and all-too-obvious insecurities that is human. All too human. In this unique moment, in this single breath--
Wing's heart is touched.
She thought this girl was so different, but--
"I..."
And then there is nothing but light.
Strangely, there is no resentment remaining in Wing's heart when she hits the ground, her new blouse ripped by the force of the magnificent psychic blast. She doesn't fly back, even as her body convulses from the shock, even as her eyes flutter. She simply sinks to her knees, her foot slipping off of her fallen adversary and her diminuitive body falling instead, slumping atop the defeated blonde. Her pinned-up hair is ruined, half by the final blast; there is fortunately only a brief flash of panda (it's none of your business what she wears!!). Cheek to cheek with Annie, Wing coughs once, her eyes fluttering, the strength leaving her body.
"...I'm..."
COMBATSYS: Wing takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\ <
Wing 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Wing has reached second wind!
[ \\\\\\\ <
Wing 0/-------/----===|
"...THE WINNER!"
Whereupon, in a stupefying shift, the girl who a moment ago seemed likely to pass out in a most compromising position lurches to her knees, straddling her poor pigtailed opponent. Cackling with glee, she pumps her fists in the air. "Yes! Yes! He's mine! All mine! You lose!!"
'Make out!' shouts a lone voice from the crowd.
"Who fucking said that!?" the Chinese girl roars, glancing about with the fire returned to her eyes. The front line shies away and, obviously, no one speaks up. Snorting derisively, she looks back down at Annie. "Hmph!" She feigns a few domineering slaps at the blonde's already injured face, proceeding to leer down at the girl's body, presented as it is by her sleek dress. "They're not so great," she chortles to herself. "Fatty."
Wing, just because you're--
"Tch!"
But her heart's not in it, and she doesn't beat Annie further, determined as she initially was to rip the girl's dress apart and humiliate her publically. Her eyes flicker again. That moment-- for all that Wing seems to, she hasn't forgotten it. She rises to her feet, frowning slightly, but if Annie is still conscious, she'll be able to tell that the girl's eyes -- and aura -- have softened. "Yeah," she mutters, "love hurts, don't it?" But it doesn't sound like as much of a taunt as she meant it to be.
This change of heart does not prevent her from putting her foot on Annie's exposed midriff -- that damn exposed midriff -- and gloating a little bit more.
Because she can.
COMBATSYS: Wing has ended the fight here.
"You're..."
Annie is unable to move, paralysed by the maelstrom of punches she has suffered through. What Alma did to her - the incredible geyser of energy that he channelled through her, touching every nerve in her body and soul - does not compare to the pure, bone-blistering pain that Wing Xiaoping has subjected her to. It's hard to know how to react, and so she starts to complete the sentence that the other girl begins as she slumps down next to her...
Only for that to backfire horribly, as the slender blonde's quiet words are cut off by another ear-warping yell. With Wing upright, she starts to pull herself up too, drawing her knees up in the air and pushing down with heavy hands she can barely feel. It only succeeds in pushing her blossoming chestmeats into the air, coinciding perfectly with the chortled insult.
~I'm not fat... am I, Qui-zi...?~
From out of the crowd, a black shape appears, the feline slinking close to her fallen mistress and glancing momentarily between she and Wing. Slowly, Qui-zi bats her eyes before drawing close to Annie... a little closer still... and then *bump* amber eyes - the match for Annie's own - close as the cat butts her gently but firmly in the left breast. It jiggles.
And from within the crowd, the sound of a dozen noses bleeding in tandem.
Pulling away, glancing up toward the Queen of the Streets, Qui-zi regards her dispassionately as though standing very stoic guard over the barely conscious psychic, who squirms a little uselessly to the sound of more springing leaks from the audience of schoolboys. And here it might end in a stalemate, were it not for the fact that Wing decides to push things a little further.
Her foot descends upon bare, smooth skin.
A moment later, a set of perfect fangs enter her ankle.
Before she can do much more than register the pain, a sleek black-furred torpedo rushes along the ground, streaking off toward the Plaza as a blatantly confrontational, insulting yowl echoes back to Wing Xiaoping. As if to say: 'catch me if you can... /bitch/!'
"Fuck! Ow! Fuck!"
The rescue is a success.
Wing lurches after the chasing cat, shaking her fist wildly, forgetting her back as she fruitlessly chases after the fleeting black shape. As much as she would like to stay and torment Annie a little more, to the great pleasure of the onlookers, the Queen of the Streets has a wild goose chase to pursue.
Wild... cat chase.
If her head weren't so scrambled right now, she might realize this is a very foolish idea, running off after a cat.
"Fuck you, cat!!"
Then again, maybe not.
Log created on 18:40:33 01/11/2011 by Wing, and last modified on 00:46:50 01/12/2011.