Description: A chance Neo-League match between Moe Habana and Miu Kurosaki left some lingering questions as to the unusual and inexplicable connection between the two. To look for answers, Moe Habana goes straight to the source at the all-girls school Seijyun High in order to see what Miu might know -- but unbeknownst to both of them, a fanatical cult building up across the world has made them into targets -- targets that must be eliminated, if their goals are to succeed. Seeking answers, Moe and Miu may only find more questions -- and may only find their life forfeit as these dangerous forces come crashing down on Seijyun's front lawn.
Moe Habana comes back to Taiyo High after travelling afar to India to have a Neo League match. She hadn't expected much to come of it; there wasn't any time to register with the league while the family was moving from San Francisco and by the time she got to Southtown and was settled, the season was almost over. Still, she did get to have one fight, and even if it was a totally one-sided battle (and not in Moe's favor) it was worth the trip. She got to see a new and interesting city, fight a decently capable fighter, and overall have a good time. As for the creeping notion the entire fight that somehow, she had met the girl she fought before and that there was something familiar about her?
She put that out of her mind.
A few school days later, Moe is at her locker, gathering her things and getting ready to head home, when the voices of two new schoolmates and friends come at her down the hall. "Tough break in that league fight, Moe!" says a plain-looking girl named Keiko, carrying a stack of books in front of her, as she and an athletic-looking young man -- her boyfriend Shun -- approach down the hall.
"Yeah, but what can you do against the... you know, kind of the weirdo types. You did what you could," Shun says, consolingly. "Man, ALL the peeps from that school are weird."
At this point Keiko turns toward Shun. "Oh, come on, they're not all bad. Akira is pretty nice, and Karin Kanzuki is Sakura's friend so she can't be all baWHOA!"
Now Moe is approximately 4" from their faces, which is why the conversation has stopped. "You mean she goes to school *HERE*?!"
Fast forward to now, a weekend afternoon, and Moe Habana making her way to Seijyun High to have a little chat with Miu. She might not be a genius, but Moe's got good instincts. Something was going on in the background of that fight and she'd like to find out what. If that means muscling her way past the... 'locals'... to get in and find her, so be it. Right NOW, Moe is staring at the campus gates like she's going to ask them if they want to start something.
Since the end of the Neo League season, Miu has been sleeping. A lot. The King of Fighter's Tournament is fast approaching, she's got a team she needs to be ready for, she has to accept her prize for winning the Neo League, she has to ... do an awful lot of things. Schoolwork has not featured heavily in this, but Seijyun High has been known to make exceptions for the gifted students. Besides, Miu's schoolwork is still impressive. She could catch it up.
She'd just have to do that later.
This might account for why, when she emerges from her dormitory, Miu doesn't look like she's seen the light of day for a long time. Even paler than normal, she blinks in the harsh sunlight, and shakes her head. The girl yawns, and stretches. It's a Saturday (she is told). Perhaps she should go and check the shrine she had asked Mr. Rust to look at. Now that she's not running on approximately zero hours of sleep, she can't help but feel a little bad for the way she had treated him.
When she gets to the gates, though, she's, surprised, to spy a familiar-looking figure there. Walking over, Miu approaches very quietly. Almost seeming to appear out of nowhere, suddenly, peering in at Habana with a look of utmost curiosity. Why does she look like she's going to punch the proud gates of Seijyun High? What had they ever done to her?
A raven flutters from the sky, to land on Miu's shoulder. Which, also, passes without comment. The Raven does cock its head at Moe, too, though. Two sets of curious eyes, regarding the girl in complete silence. Who on earth could ever have described Miu as weird or creepy? Clearly, this is perfectly normal behavior.
Really, she's trying to figure out how to get in without punching anything. Problematically, when you've got a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail. Property damage to Seijyun High itself is thankfully avoided when Miu emerges into the courtyard, and Moe catches Miu out of the corner of her eye, turning toward the psychic 'ninja' and waving. She seems about to open her mouth and actually say hello, or wave her over, or something. Then, uh... well, then a carrion bird or two appears out of nowhere and lands on her shoulder and starts staring at Moe.
Moe stares back. She's not going to be intimidated by a _bird_.
In her head, Moe had practiced all sorts of ways to start this conversation. She might ask where Miu is from, or if she'd ever lived in the States, or where it is she learned to fight the way she does. But frankly, at this point, Miss Habana is just going to give into her gut feeling, speak her mind, and just let the ball roll from there, even if where it rolls is 'downhill in the snow,' thus turning 'ball' into 'avalanche.'
"Girl," Moe says, plainly. "You are _weird_."
Yeah. Miu works hard to cultivate this aura of weirdness. Though, some of it is helped by her natural abilities, a lot of it is conscious. The thing is, if you act that way long enough... it does become hard to separate the two. Nevertheless, the plain-speaking girl gets a smile from Miu, who gives the slightest nod there could be.
"Just a moment, I'll get them to open the gate." She says.
A quick trip over to the gatehouse, and then the gate slides open, and Miu comes back, still with a bird on her shoulder. She /likes/ birds. She's not going to get rid of it just because it looks a little funny!
"It's good to see you again, Moe." She says, making a conscious effort not to use her second name. Try to be friendly! You can remember how to do this!
"I was going to head to a shrine. But, if you'd like to come in, you can come to my dorm." She looks over her shoulder, at the hustle and bustle of a boarding school on the weekend. "... or, I suppose, we could find somewhere out here to settle. But then others might, bother us." It's pretty clear from her tone that she considers being forced to interact with her peers something akin to torture.
To a... shrine. Well, of course she was. Where do you go with a raven on your shoulder? You go to a shrine. QED.
Still, this is going better than she expected, weirdness aside. Moe had thought that any of a range of things could happen on this little excursion; that one would be Miu trying her damndest to be social and just having them open the gates without too much interruption by outside parties was on the list, but after a few weeks in Southtown, Moe had it ranked in probability slightly under 'Kaiju attack' or 'Alien abduction'. Weird things just seem to happen here.
Weird things like that nagging feeling at the back of her head.
"Naw, that's... that's cool," Moe says, because while she has nothing against Miu, she's fairly sure the inside of the girl's dorm room would be a little more weird than she could handle right now. "Here's good. I just, uh... I had a couple questions for you, is all. After our fight and everything."
Yes! That didn't sound at all like you want to date her. GOOD GOING, MOE.
While Miu and Moe are talking, a cell phone rings some distance away. The woman who answers it is a new teacher at the school, who has been there for a few months. An attractive blonde woman, she just happens to be out in the courtyard at the moment. She listens to whoever is calling her for a few moments with a neutral expression on her face, then ends the call, stands up, and immediately begins walking toward Moe and Miu.
Once she gets close enough that she doesn't need to shout, she calls out to get Miu's attention, "Oh, Kurosaki! I need to speak with you." She gets a bit closer so that she can speak normally. "Could you please come with me to the teacher's lounge?" She gives Moe a... look, very briefly, then goes back to smiling at Miu. It's not /outright/ hostile, but it's not friendly. Maybe the staff at Seijyun doesn't care for the riff-raff coming onto school grounds, or something.
Miu's smile doesn't go away. She, has some idea what Moe is talking about, after all. They did have a lot to talk about, and none of it involved dating at all. After all, Seijyun High, the all girls school, isn't exactly good for dating. Nope. No dating at all going on here, no matter what the local boys might daydream about.
"I understand. I'm glad it isn't just me, though. Knowing that you felt something too, makes it easier."
This, too, is a perfectly ordinary thing to say.
Then there is a teacher approaching, and Miu turns, looking up at the woman. Her smile fades, her usual, more neutral, expression replacing it. "Certainly, Miss." She says, looking to Moe for a moment. "I hope you don't mind if my friend accompanies us? I have signed her in, but she does not know anyone else here, and I wouldn't like to make her feel unwelcome." Her tone is entirely deadpan, as she adds, without a hint of sarcasm. "That is not what Seijyun High is all about, after all."
The Raven, however, regards the teacher with more obvious scrutiny. Narrowing it's beady eyes. Hmmmmmm.
Whoa ninja teacher intervention!
Moewatches the sudden arrival of the teacher with confusion, then the teacher's NASTY! GIRL! look in her direction with surprise, and then Miu's conversation with the teacher with something approaching relief. Plus she sees the raven turn on the teacher and some tiny part of her really wants to see how a grown adult deals with being stared down by that bird. Moe herself has no real hostile intent toward Miu. But boy, she'd really like to kill that [eff!](*)ing bird.
But she was raised to be Polite To Authority for the most part, and so the Japanese-American turns to the teacher with an embarassed look, rubbing the back of her head. "Or can we just have a couple minutes to ourselves? Then I'll head home and be out of your hair. It won't take long, I promise."
(* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqlxhdigjU0)
There's another brief flicker of the friendly expression on the teacher's face, and she glances at Moe again. She appears to think for just a moment, then nods. "Certainly, your friend can come with us, if you wish." She deals with the bird by just ignoring it completely. "I'll try to make this quick, and then you can get on with the rest of your day. Please, follow me." And she begins leading the way to the teacher's lounge, making sure that Miu, at least, is following her.
Miu nods her head, giving Moe a somewhat apologetic look, before she follows along after the teacher. It's good that she doesn't know about Moe's hatred for the bird. But... the bird doesn't seem like it has any intention of sticking around. Especially when it looks like Miu is going to go indoors. It takes flight from her shoulder, up, and away into the sky, leaving nothing but a few feathers to remember it by.
Miu, meanwhile, is at least trying to help Moe feel comfortable. She holds doors open when necessary, and can't help but feel irritated that the teacher is getting in the way of their discussion. But, it's not like Miu has been the perfect student, lately. She could be in trouble for any number of things ... or, worse, her brother's condition could have deteriorated, or... any number of other lingering pressures could be about to reach boiling point. She'd just have to hope it isn't anything too serious.
The teacher leads Miu and Moe to a section of one of the school buildings that's rather quiet at this time of day on a weekend. She stops by a door, clears her throat for a moment, then leads Miu and Moe inside. She stands with her back to them, looking over a desk in front of her and fiddling with something for a moment. "Now, Kurosaki, the reason I asked you here..."
There's a sudden slam from the door behind them, revealing a man in a black hooded robe who had been standing behind the door. "...is so that you can die for our lord!" And suddenly the teacher whips around, and she's holding a long, wave-bladed ritual dagger, which she promptly attempts to plunge into Miu's chest. The man in black steps forward at the same time, trying to grab Moe's arm, twist it up hard behind her back and force her to her knees.
COMBATSYS: Cultist1 has started a fight here on the right meter side.
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Cultist1 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Cultist2 has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Cultist1 0/-------/-------|
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Cultist2 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Miu has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Miu 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Cultist1
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Cultist2 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Moe has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Moe 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Cultist1
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Miu 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Cultist2
COMBATSYS: Miu dodges Cultist1's Fanaticism.
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Moe 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Cultist1
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Miu 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Cultist2
The teacher is trying to kill her.
The thought flits through Miu's mind just after she has turned to the side. The dagger passes within inches of her stomach, but it doesn't quite manage to make contact. The cultist's words ... mean absolutely nothing to Miu, though, and her brow furrows for a moment. What should she do?
... well, lets start by kicking some ass.
Feathers begin to flow from her outfit, burning white and dark black, which is a hint as to what is to come. In a sudden movement, she brings her arm up, and three of those feathers slash through the air, aiming to scatter across the cultist's torso, and drive her backwards. Before she looks, worried, in Moe's direction.
"... I think we should talk after we are done here ..."
COMBATSYS: Cultist2 successfully hits Moe with Holy Lock.
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Moe 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Cultist1
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Miu 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Cultist2
Oh, _what_.
They have the benefit of surprise, and so when a man suddenly tries to snag Moe from behind and turn a wrist lock into a very creepy, porn-style domination hold, it does work... for the most part. Plus, the redhead was more concerned with the knife-wielding teacher all of a sudden, than she was about herself. End result: she gets tagged when Miu does not, and it stings a little bit, but not as much as she'd have expected. Whoever's holding on to her is probably only vaguely trained.
Which is why despite her position, Moe grins and nods at Miu. "Yeah, let's do that."
Then she surges UPWARD, throwing all her strength into standing up as fast and as hard as she possibly can from the semi-kneeling position she's in right now. If the guy holding on to her doesn't get out of the way, this means the top of Moe's head is going to hit the bottom of his chin. Really, really hard.
COMBATSYS: Cultist1 blocks Miu's Kakure Amagakeri.
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Moe 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Cultist1
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Miu 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Cultist2
COMBATSYS: Cultist2 dodges Moe's Strong Punch.
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Moe 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Cultist1
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Miu 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Cultist2
The teacher manages to raise her arms defensively and twist her body away from the onslaught of feathers, but it's still enough to drive her back until she knocks into the desk behind her. The dagger falls from her hand and skids across the floor, winding up under a chair. No time to recover it, so she just presses the attack. It would be best to finish this before anyone notices what's going on, after all.
The teacher lunges at Miu, throwing a punch at her face while trying to get in close and restrict her ability to move. The man in black, meanwhile, loses his grip on Moe but then very quickly steps back, avoiding getting his jaw cracked by Moe's head. That still leaves him behind her, though. And these particular folks were brief on Miu, specifically, not Moe, so as far as they know she's just a friend with no real fighting ability, and she just escaped his hold by a fluke. So he attempts to punch Moe in the kidney, then spin her around and slam her into a wall. He just needs to get her held still long enough to grab his own dagger and finish her off, or so he thinks.
COMBATSYS: Cultist1 successfully hits Miu with Strong Punch.
Glancing Blow
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Moe 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Cultist1
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Miu 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Cultist2
Miu narrows her eyes at the cultist who has grabbed Moe. She... really wants to help that girl. But she knows Moe is tough, and there's no way she's going to be beaten by an amateur like him.
And, suddenly, the teacher is on her again. The woman's fist catches her as she jumps into the air, and although the majority of the force is taken out of the motion, it is still enough to make her fumble as she hits the floor. Yes, this is very frustrating. She needed to knock this woman out. She could worry about /why/ this is happening afterwards.
Recovering as quickly as she can, the girl comes up with a roar of energy following in her wake. A stream of black and white feathers which solidifies into a large lance. Stabbing upwards, it aims to go right through the woman, lift her off her feet, and infuse her with that numbing energy before it explodes in a pretty shower of those beautiful feathers.
COMBATSYS: Moe blocks Cultist2's Holy Grip.
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Moe 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Cultist1
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Miu 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Cultist2
Ohhh no. Not a second time. She might not have achieved headbutt, but that doesn't mean Moe stops moving. When she gets to her feet, she turns and slips into fighting stance with the smooth motions of a trained fighter, bringing her fists up. Moe might seem like a brawler, but she's mastered most of the finer points of *two* fighting styles in her lifetime. So when some guy with problems and maybe some karate classes tries to get the squeeze on her again, the Habana scion turns and drives her forearm into the path of the kidney punch forcefully, deflecting the stunning blow and making the wall slam a distant dream.
"You wanna try that again, Slick?" she asks, bringing her hands back up and making a 'bring it!' sort of gesture rather than attacking. She'd rather get this done quick and find out what the heck is going on, but rushing into things isn't always the best option. So she'll take a deep breath and see what the deal is, for the moment. Her eyes flick to Miu for a second, who seems to be doing just fine for now. "You're pretty popular, Kurosaki," Moe says absently, turning her eyes back to her guy. "Something you're not telling me?"
COMBATSYS: Moe focuses on her next action.
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Moe 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Cultist1
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Miu 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Cultist2
COMBATSYS: Miu successfully hits Cultist1 with Yomosugara.
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Moe 0/-------/-----==|=======\=====--\1 Cultist1
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Miu 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Cultist2
The lance of psi feathers strikes the teacher in the midsection, and she just has time for her eyes to widen before she's launched off her feet, bowling over furniture as she's propelled across the room before crashing into a filing cabinet with an explosion of paper. The man in the black robe is suitably distracted by that for a moment, failing to immediately press the attack on Moe.
The teacher staggers to her feet from the wreckage of furniture. Her clothing is torn, her hair is disarrayed, and she appears to be bleeding from a few places. And she looks angry. "Oh lord, give me the power to strike down your enemies!" She raises both hands into the air, and then suddenly drops to slam them into the floor. The light in the room seems to dim for a moment, and then a pillar of grey energy shoots up from the floor beneath Miu's fight. Vague shapes can be seen writhing in it, appearing vaguely like skulls. A moment later the teacher coughs up some blood.
Now what can be seen of the man in the hooded robe's face looks a bit unhappy, and he growls as he steps toward Moe. He draws back one arm then lunges forward, grey energy swirling around his fist as he throws his entire weight behind a punch to Moe's stomach.
COMBATSYS: Miu dodges Cultist1's Dogma Cascade.
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Moe 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Cultist1
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Miu 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Cultist2
Miu smirks softly at Moe's question. "I don't know who these people are." She says, treating the situation just as seriously as it should be ... after all, this woman /did/ try to gut her with a knife. That's not exactly messing around fighting, after all! This is serious!
She senses the energy moments before it erupts from the floor, and the girl hops backwards, her uniform billowing around her. She manages to judge the distance just right, treated to a disturbing display of skull-shaped evil before it dies away, and she is left glaring at the cultist, her eyes... quite hard. There's no sign of remorse for how beat-up the woman is.
"But I intend to find out!"
Apparently, finding out involves diving across the room, and grabbing hold of the fake teacher's shoulders. If she can manage this, she will simply aim to toss the woman out of the window, with as much force as she can muster. Most of this provided by her inner strength, as evidenced by the trail of bright white she'd leave in her wake.
COMBATSYS: Moe dodges Cultist2's Purge.
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Moe 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Cultist1
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Miu 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Cultist2
Now things have gotten weird. Energy with skulls in it? People brandishing kris knives? And then the other cultist comes at her with his own grey energy, and they're talking about their 'lord'? Even as that empowered gut punch heads her way, Moe suddenly flips backwards across the room, neatly evading it and landing in a crouch, staring at the two people attacking both herself and Miu. "What the heck is going on here?!" she demands, having clearly abandoned any hope of today just being a normal meeting with a raven-befriending psychic goth at her all-girl's school to discuss the inexplicable connection she felt when they tried to beat each other up.
And now she feels, deep inside, a really strong urge to beat the snot out of these cultists that she can't quite explain either.
"You asked for it," she growls at the cultist who assaulted her, before taking off toward him at a dead run. Toward the end of her sprint she twists, snapping her right arm up in an uppercut to the chin, as hard as possible. If that connects she does a half turn and then snaps her other arm out in a straight-armed hammerblow to the side of the head as well. She might not fire feathers or death lasers from her eyes, but apparently Moe DOES have some sort of supernatural gift. It just happens to be the ability to hit things really, really hard.
COMBATSYS: Cultist1 dodges Miu's Power Throw.
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Moe 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Cultist1
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Miu 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Cultist2
COMBATSYS: Cultist2 interrupts Tsukiyomi from Moe with Dogma Collider.
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Moe 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Cultist1
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Miu 0/-------/----===|=======\=------\1 Cultist2
The teacher/cultist struggles as Miu grabs at her shoulders, and manages to twist to one side, hitting the floor and rolling away rather than getting thrown out a window. And as luck would have it, she comes to a step close to the place where her knife ended up. She grabs the knife and scrambles back to her feet, lunging at Miu with a wordless shout. A quick glance in her eyes shows that she's looking pretty crazy at the moment. But you shouldn't pay attention to the eyes, because the knife in her hand is glowing, and she's trying to stick it into Miu's gut.
The robed man, meanwhile, has finally figured out that Moe is a serious threat in her own right. And she's coming right toward him! He draws both hands back and then thrusts them forward, unleashing a point blank blast of grey energy. Unfortunately for him, Moe is has a bit too much momentum to be completely stopped at this point, and the blow to the head still sends him crashing back.
COMBATSYS: Miu blocks Cultist1's Ill Blessing.
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Moe 0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0 Cultist1
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Miu 0/-------/---====|=======\=------\1 Cultist2
Miu brings her arm around, and manages to turn the knife away with her hand. There's a flare of her power against the strange, dark energy that the cultist is wielding, and it cuts through her palm, drawing a thin line of blood. Miu's eyes meet the crazed cultist's, and she gives the slightest shake of her head. You don't have to be psychic to know that these people are, completely insane. How on earth had she managed to infiltrate the school? Miu could only be glad that she hadn't tried it whilst she was sleeping.
Bringing her leg sweeping around, Miu aims to take the teacher's feet out from underneath her. If she can manage this, one hand will snare the wrist as the woman falls, and twist roughly up and back, as she lets her energy pour out of her. The intent is to disarm, and drop, the teacher once and for all. She could only hope that it worked. She's starting to get disturbed by how tenacious these people are- even bloodied and badly hurt, she's still determined to bring her down!
That grey... whatever hits her, and the result is not pretty. Moe goes tumbling over a desk, landing on the ground behind it, and when she gets back up, she's... shaking? Not because she was hit terribly hard, but there is just... something. Whatever's in that energy he's using, it's seriously upsetting her. Way more than the strange feel of Miu's psychic powers did in their match, for sure. The raven-girl's powers were odd, but not... they didn't feel like this. No sir. "I don't know why," Moe says darkly, tugging a pair of handguards out of her pockets and pulling them on her hands grimly. She stares down the male Cultist, pointing at him. "But I really want to rip your FACE OFF for some reason!"
Then she's charging him, heedless, looking to get in close and just give him a right cross across his jaw, to show him she means business. She really does mean business. And something inside her -- something that feels, oddly enough, like that sensation she had being around Miu -- is really driving her to just beat this guy SENSELESS.
COMBATSYS: Cultist1 blocks Miu's Charged Combo.
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Moe 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1 Cultist1
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Miu 0/-------/--=====|=======\=------\1 Cultist2
COMBATSYS: Cultist2 blocks Moe's Medium Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///// ]
Moe 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Cultist1
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Miu 0/-------/--=====|=======\==-----\1 Cultist2
One of the teacher's legs slips, and she gets grabbed, but she manages to remain on her feet. The psycho power that's sent surging through her is another thing to deal with altogether, though. For a moment she looks like she's going to fall, but then just hurls herself at Miu, attempting to crash bodily into her and then just stab and stab and stab until eventually slumping to the floor.
Which leaves the black robed man outnumbered. He takes Moe's punch on his arms and steps back a few paces, looking from one girl to another. Then he reaches into a pocket of his robe and does... something. Then he draws a dagger from another pocket and leaves Moe behind, lunging toward Miu for an upward angled stab.
COMBATSYS: Cultist1 can no longer fight.
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Moe 0/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1 Cultist2
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Miu 0/-------/--=====|
COMBATSYS: Cultist1 successfully hits Miu with Doctrine Basics.
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Moe 0/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1 Cultist2
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Miu 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Miu dodges Cultist2's Fanaticism.
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Moe 0/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Cultist2
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Miu 1/-------/=======|
Miu starts to draw back. Some residual respect for the fact that the teacher is, well, a teacher, prevents her from wanting to /really/ finish the job. But this costs her. She dodges to the side, too late to completely evade the teacher as she is repeatedly, painfully stabbed. Thankfully, she had managed to control the course of the fall enough to avoid /another/ stab to her back, but it is far too little far too late. Could this be the end of Miu Kurosaki?!
As it turns out, it isn't.
During the Neo League, Miu has been beaten and stabbed and burned and crushed in a variety of painful ways. She has learned to close off that pain, and not allow it to distract her. The girl rises from the ground like some terrible avenging angel, her ponytail flying behind her, blood soaking into every part of her uniform, as she turns her gaze to the Cultist.
There's no feathers any more. Miu's entire power turned inwards, easing the pain and causing her cuts to seal, work the pain out of her system and *force* herself to stand up. Genuine fury trembling in her tone as she speaks, her composure, finally, starting to crack.
"Leave here. Now."
COMBATSYS: Miu gains composure.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Moe 0/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Cultist2
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Miu 0/-------/=======|
Look at Miu. Composed and willing to give this guy a chance to bail.
Look at Moe, who is... not.
He tries to get away from her, as his partner is actually stabbing Miu, and the Habana scion does not give him even a second of rest. She vaults a desk, looking to head the sudden teamup attack off at the pass, but is too late; Miu gets stabbed in the back. Now, Moe is a fighter, and she's down with weapons, but in her experience there is a difference in 'weapon used in street fight for street fight purposes' and 'weapon deployed to attempt killing blow'. This was very much the latter and not the former. She's down with fighting as a sport, but fighting-as-violence... well.
She's both for it, and against it.
Case in point: she hopes to snap a hand around the remaining Cultist's wrist for the hand he's got the knife in. If she can get the grip, her eyes narrow as she says, a little TOO cheerfully, "We're not done dancing yet," before twisting the wrist painfully (so the knife gets dropped) and then flipping the man onto the desk she just vaulted, hard.
COMBATSYS: Cultist2 blocks Moe's Medium Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Moe 0/-------/=======|=======\====---\1 Cultist2
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Miu 0/-------/=======|
The robed cultist suddenly finds his forward momentum checked, and he only briefly has time to see that Moe has grabbed him before he's flipped up and sent crashing down onto a desk. He does manage to resist the pain and hold onto his knife, despite the force applied to his wrist, and manages to twist as he falls, somewhat lessening the impact, but it also means that he then rolls off and falls to the floor.
He rises to one knee, but doesn't continue standing. "We shall not fail you, oh Lord!" And /then/ he suddenly bursts up, hopping onto the desk and then taking a flying leap, knife first, toward Miu, summoning up that grey energy into the blade.
COMBATSYS: Cultist2 successfully hits Miu with Sacrificial Shanking.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Moe 0/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Cultist2
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Miu 1/-----==/=======|
Miu does her best to dodge to the side of the slash, but it catches her dead on. The cultist, apparently, just that little bit too fast to accurately judge. The blow really does /hurt/, and it isn't like Miu didn't give him a chance, despite, perhaps, her own better judgment. Nobody who is willing to cut up little girls in the name of some nebulous 'lord' is someone who should be out walking anywhere, are they?
"... Fine."
Furious, she summons up all of the power she can, and throws it out of her. Her stony demeanor restored as all of her frustration pours out of her. Much like the lance that had so badly hurt the teacher, but, much, much bigger.
A massive lance of feathers, almost as long as the room itself, tears out of her outstreched palm, aiming to rip bodily into the cultist, shining pure and brilliant white. Then, sucking all the light out of the room as it turns black ... before just exploding in a shower of white sparkles that hang in the air for a few moments.
The lights go out in Georgia, if 'Georgia' equals 'Seijyun'. Moe doesn't want to get in the way of whatever power Miu just decided to unleash on the Cultist who tried to shank her. If it'd been her that got cut, Moe would be pretty ticked off herself.
However, when the smoke clears -- even if Miu hasn't managed to somehow land such a powerful, telling blow on her target -- Moe is basically standing right BEHIND him once the strike is delivered, so that she can pop him one in the nose and then try to grab his collar. She'll shake the answers out of him if she has to. "Who is the 'Lord'! What the hell does Miu have to do with any of you? Talk!"
COMBATSYS: Miu successfully hits Cultist2 with Chou Yomosugara.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ]
Moe 0/-------/=======|=======\======-\1 Cultist2
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Miu 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Moe successfully hits Cultist2 with Jab Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ]
Moe 1/-------/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Cultist2
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Miu 0/-------/------=|
There is a splash of blood in the darkened room, and the cultist goes flying across the room to slam into the wall, then fall to the floor, leaving a red stain on the wall behind him. He starts straining to get to his feet, and then Moe drags him up and punches him in the face. He grins at her through blood stained teeth as she shouts her questions. Then he begins to laugh. A chuckle at first, slowly building in intensity until it's an insane cackle.
Then, still laughing, the man's body is engulfed in grey flames. His laughter gets a bit more shrill, but doesn't stop until he's consumed by the fire, leaving nothing but a scorch mark on the floor and a few ashes. The teacher, meanwhile, who has taken somewhat less severe damage, still seems to be trying and failing to get up.
COMBATSYS: Cultist2 can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Moe 1/-------/=======|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Miu 0/-------/------=|
Miu takes a deep breath, relaxing a little now that the immediate danger has passed. She, carefully, brushes an errant lock of hair behind her ear, and then she walks over to the downed teacher. Still standing, she looks down at the woman, and lets some of her feathers flutter down in front of her eyes. Just to let her know that, she is still here, and still angry.
"Would you like to be more helpful, or should I let my friend hurt you?" She asks. Apparently, entirely unfazed by the fact that the psychotic cultist has burned himself to death. In truth, she's /deeply/ disturbed, and quite rattled, but she'll be damned if she lets that show through right now. She has to be strong. She has to ensure that Moe doesn't start to panic... because if Moe panics, she's going to panic, too. She has to be a calm presence. Never mind that the entire school could be full of these people, for all she knows.
COMBATSYS: Miu gains composure.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Moe 1/-------/=======|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Miu 0/-------/-------|
Okay, this has become insane on a level that Moe is no longer comfortable with. She lets go of the guy once he, you know, *lights on fire* and everything, and then watches with a sort of morbid fascination once he effectively immolates himself, reduced to nothing in a cackling inferno. She isn't exactly panicking just yet, but from the somewhat glassy look in her eyes, it's easy for any onlooker to tell that Moe Habana is only used to seeing this sort of stuff in TV shows and movies, not in real life. She lives in a universe where people throw fire from their hands every day, but there's a difference between that and *this*, in her eyes.
Perhaps it's very important indeed that, even as a fighter and the heir to a power she knows nothing about, that deep down Moe is trying hard to stay sane.
"Okay, so," Moe says, turning to Miu as the raven-girl decides to interrogate the person who sprang the trap, "this isn't something that actually happens to you often, right?" She's taking a second to catch her breath and try to get her head back in the proverbial game. But this is, if nothing else, confirmation that something weird is going on. She met this girl with strange powers, and a strange feeling of... something about her, and now they're both being attacked by weirdoes who set themselves on fire and have ritual knives. "Or like, am I being punked? Is Ashton hiding in a robe somewhere?" Get a grip, Moe.
COMBATSYS: Moe gains composure.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Moe 0/-------/-======|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Miu 0/-------/-------|
There's not too much time to talk, because a few moments later the door suddenly bursts off the hinges and two more robed men rush into the room. They're both pretty large, too. Wonder how all these people in black robes managed to sneak onto campus? Not too much time to think about that, either, as they both unleash blasts of grey energy the moment they entire the room, trying to take down Miu and Moe at the same time.
COMBATSYS: Cultist1 has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Moe 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Cultist1
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Miu 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Cultist2 has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Moe 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Cultist1
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Miu 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Cultist2
COMBATSYS: Miu slows Dogma Surge from Cultist1 with Kakure Amagakeri.
Glancing Hit
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Moe 0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0 Cultist1
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Miu 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Cultist2
Miu shakes her head slightly, "No, Moe... I promise, I've never been attacked on campus before." A vague memory filters in from the back of her mind. Didn't Chris recently attack Seijyun High? "... I can't help but think this has something to do with ..."
And then there's evil in her face. The girl spins, and, on pure instinct, throws her own power back to try and punch the blast aside. Three feathers smash into the energy, but a little still splashes against her, causing a little sizzling, which ... stings.
"... I don't know what this is about, Habana. I'm sorry you got caught in the middle. Just. Stay calm. We mustn't panic."
COMBATSYS: Moe overcomes Dogma Surge from Cultist2 with Large Thrown Object.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Moe 0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0 Cultist1
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Miu 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Cultist2
"I don't panic easy, really," Moe says smoothly, wincing as she sees the grey chi clip her newfound... friend? Partner? Something. However, it is true that she doesn't usually panic. But there is something surging in Moe. She knows how to hit people, which accounts for a lot of physical 'strength' in the fighting world among people like herself, who don't appear particularly muscular or built up. However, in Moe herself there is... something else. Something in the blood, as it were. And that may be why, when a similar blast of energy comes heading her way, that the Habana scion slams both hands on a reception desk in front of her, furrows her brow, and *lifts*.
It is then sailing through the air on a crash course with the cultist who sniped her, while Moe seems entirely nonchalant about having just hulked out something fierce, all things considered, by tossing a solid teak, very expensive and massively heavy desk through the air like she was playing Ultimate Frisbee. "I got it covered. Just stick with me."
COMBATSYS: Moe successfully hits Cultist2 with Large Thrown Object.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Moe 0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Cultist1
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Miu 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Cultist2
The one responsible for luring these two young women into the trap smirks at the sudden entry of her two compatriots, as though believing that the fate of these two young girls - these two OBSTACLES - are all but sealed.
Miu seems to struggle a touch with that grayish bit of energy. There are far less smiles at what Moe does with that desk, the desk that splits the energy into different gray hues before it knocks the second of the two goons flat on his ass with a clatter that would echo through the hallways.
"Brother, does thou allow thy foes of our Lord take you down?" Says the first as he shoves the desk off the second. This is not a question of concern - this is a question of anger and frustration - but nonetheless, puts a firm hand upon his robe to help him up, a bloodied hand leaving its nearly invisible mark against those black robes.
"I shan't," the second says as he growls from his pain, "I shan't let thy act of /desperation/ be your savior!" With renewed drive, he pushes towards Moe, striking out with a series of palming strikes that ends with an upward swipe of curled fingers - as though trying to claw at her.
COMBATSYS: Cultist1 assists Cultist2.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Moe 0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Cultist1
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Miu 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Cultist2
Miu is annoyed. The girl has absolutely no understanding of why these people are here, or why they are so determined to not just fight her, but quite clearly kill her, and her friend. Moe's prodigious display of strength is noted, and appreciated, as it her confidence. Alright. No matter what the circumstances are, the fact remains, Miu Kurosaki is not going to let them kill her, or her friend. Nope. They've busted into her school.
/And she doesn't like that sort of thing/.
As fast as she can, she's leaping across the room. She trust Moe to deal with the cultist directly attacking her, it's the backup she is worried about. Intent on making sure that he doesn't get a chance to help again, one tiny fist aims to snare into the front of the Cultist's robe, and pull him forward.
Before a /third/ (but more different) lance of feathers comes shooting from her fist. Smaller than the other two so far, the fact that this form of her power aims to go right through his head, might help to demonstrate that Miu can do precision as well as raw power.
Well... kinda.
COMBATSYS: Moe fails to interrupt Combo Attack from Cultist2 with Hanekaze.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Moe 1/------=/=======|==-----\-------\0 Cultist1
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Miu 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Cultist2
Maybe she should have thrown something larger than a desk.
Once the crazy dialogue starts, Moe locks her eyes on her victim and starts flexing her fingers. She's got that feeling again... like she really just wants to dispense indiscriminate violence on these yahoos because... because... SHE DOES NOT KNOW WHY. But she was willing to ruin a Seijyun desk in order to accomplish it, and so as the guy charges her the Habana scion thinks mostly of just grabbing him by the shirt and flipping him onto the ground behind her. Unfortunately, the palm strikes he lashes out with make getting that grip difficult, and one such blow catches her as she tries, slamming painfully home three times.
If the cultist was looking to take the fight out of her, however, he perhaps should have hit her a little harder than that, because Moe is facing him when he recovers from that attack, slapping a fist into the opposite palm with a wild grin. "What else you got, creep-o-matic?"
COMBATSYS: Miu successfully hits Cultist1 with Grasping Yomo.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Moe 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\1 Cultist1
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Miu 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Cultist2
The confusion may be palpable - it is something these mad people were hoping to capitalize on, but to have been able to show such strength and power on such short notice... perhaps there is a good reason why Miu Kurosaki is the most recent Neo League champion, a title one does not win by being weak.
"Uaaaaargh!" The first one screams an almost unearthly scream as the smaller but most certainly stronger Miu snares him and sends that force running through his mind. That terrible, horrible power...! To hear this one scream is almost to hear him weep, as though begging for his Lord to end this pain, to grant him strength anew! All he can offer to save himself from Miu's strength is a single swipe of a clawed hand, one that for its simplicity should best be avoided. These people are crazy.
The second one gives but simple pause before that wild grin. "To know not what faces thee with naught but amusement?!" The second one spits out venomously. "Thou art a fool for taking thy predicament in jest, waif!" He proclaims as the blood coming from his own palm takes on a sick grayish hue, his arm visibly trembling underneath the robes before he thrusts it forward - the energy enveloping his forearm (or maybe more appropriately, his sleeve) which, despite its chi nature, has a definitely foreboding and 'off' feeling to it... and, worse of all, he might get some of his blood on Moe's clothes.
The fallen teacher(?) frowns, as though a given certainty is beginning to slip away.
COMBATSYS: Miu dodges Cultist1's Strong Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Moe 1/------=/=======|=======\=------\1 Cultist1
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Miu 0/-------/----===|=====--\-------\0 Cultist2
Miu has, a maddening style, it must be said. The girl has learned the hard way to try and keep her head in the heat of battle, no matter what is happening. It has been harder in these circumstances than most, what with the self-immolating cultists and the sheer ... discomfort of being attacked in what had been her safe place. But, now, she's starting to listen to what these people have to say. She's starting to understand. This, can't all be coincidence. These people have to know something, though trying to get it out of them, that, might be difficult.
Jumping backwards, Miu seems to defy gravity in her descent, using her power to buoy herself down, and spread her arms out to the side. "I'm not very impressed with your Lord's power so far." She says, as she looks between the pair. "Four of you can't even stop two little girls. Only the weak have to stack the odds so badly in their favor."
COMBATSYS: Miu gains composure.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Moe 1/------=/=======|=======\=------\1 Cultist1
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Miu 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Cultist2
COMBATSYS: Moe blocks Cultist2's Ill Blessing.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Moe 1/------=/=======|=======\=------\1 Cultist1
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Miu 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Cultist2
"You don't make any se--" And then Moe can do nothing but cross her arms over her chest and face, guarding herself against the onslaught of this crazy-speaking nutjob, one of a set of four. There's some 'Lord' out there who wants Miu dead? Some of these guys are spies like teachers and others are renfaire rejects? And man, he just got _blood_ on her...
Blood.
Slowly, Moe brings her arms down, and glances at the tiny spatters of blood on her forearms, or those that weren't flash-evaporated by the chi tht accompanied that strike. She takes a deep breath, and her face briefly has that sort of quizzical expression you associate with people that haven't fully internalized an event yet.
She turns back to the cultist that just struck her.
"Why don't you leave us _ALONE_?!" she bellows, before charging the cultist and dropping into a low spin, arms extended. If she can connect the attack, Moe pinwheels into the cultist, slamming her palms and elbows into him repeatedly until she comes to a stop. Then she suddenly rises, arms still extended. Displaying an ancient affinity, this final 'uppercut' is almost identical in style to Kyo Kusanagi's 'Oniyaki' technique, just without the fire.
That said, as she rises, cherry blossoms burst into being, floating gently about the battlefield in her wake. Looks like that blood really set her off... but those cherry blossoms, remnant as they are of long-unwielded power, may have the same effect on her opposite numbers.
COMBATSYS: Moe successfully hits Cultist2 with Ouran.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Moe 0/-------/-------|=======\=------\1 Cultist1
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Miu 0/-------/-----==|=======\=====--\1 Cultist2
"Hold thy tongue, witch!" The first one curses in Miu's direction as his head continues to swim from the feather through his head (this act may be seen as a feather in Miu's cap). From under the hood, Miu may catch a glimpse at eyes of an unnatural hue, of a luminesence that is very difficult to see in this light - and yet, is there. There is something incredibly wrong with this man (well, all of them).
"That it would take four," the teacher murmurs, as though she were almost with agreement with Miu on some level.
"Our numbers matter not!" The first yells to supplement the second's rage as he deals with Moe's clean block. "Our lives and deaths doth mean little!" The second reinforces with sheer bravado, even as Moe holds up against his latest assault - just in time for Moe to drop her question with a serious punch behind it, catching her opponent off guard as she slams into him several times. He nearly trips over that previously hucked desk still on the floor - that final uppercut gets a wide-eyed stare of that same unnatural coloration that Miu may have witnessed as he hits his back.
"It matters not if thou can fell ten, for we shalt send ten thousand to ensure thine ends!" The first rallies as he seeks to grab Miu's arms and cross them inward forcefully in a decidedly bizarre submission into an 'X' poition, leering ever closer with those creepy eyes if he can get her in that hold. "Thy blood wilt be spilt."
The second merely rises up, both hands cupped upwards and then clenching them so tightly that blood spurts from either palm as they face down Moe, as though beckoning for her to come - as if to promise her an untimely end, should she approach again.
COMBATSYS: Cultist2 focuses on Cultist2's next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Moe 0/-------/-------|=======\==-----\1 Cultist1
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Miu 0/-------/-----==|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Cultist2
COMBATSYS: Miu dodges Cultist1's Holy Lock.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Moe 0/-------/-------|=======\==-----\1 Cultist1
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Miu 0/-------/-----==|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Cultist2
Miu leaps up into the air as the cultist tries to grab her, and, for a few moments, she just... hangs there. She seems reluctant to come down.
And who can blame her? She's, very confused. There is something very, very strange going on here, and she dislikes it. Never mind the strange eyes, there's still the lingering threat that there might very well be more of these freaks in the school. She just couldn't be sure how many of them are out there!
Right now, though, there's two to deal with.
Touching down behind the cultist, she spins on her heel, and aims to punch hard into the cultist's back. A burst of bright white power would flare on impact, and, if she can manage this, she will snare his neck whilst he is (hopefully) off balance...
And hurl him over her head, and onto that annoying teacher. Because /damn/ her for getting them into this to begin with!
Moe gently spins her way back to the floor, landing in stance, while the cherry blossoms finish their fall around her like some sort of pink-white blizzard. The cultists don't seem to be felled just yet, and they are more than happy to babble on with whatever doomsday, pseudo-religious nonsense fuels this stupid crusade. For the first time, she starts to wonder just what is going on here, until something clicks for her. "Hey!" she shouts to Miu, turning toward her current impromptu teammate, ignoring the cultists for the moment. "Are you participating in King of Fighters?!"
That might be the only connection she can think of.
Energized by the sudden bolt of maybe-insight, she turns back to the cultist squaring off with her while wearing a crazy sort of grin. She can figure this out. "Is that 'thy' plan, Shakespeare?!" she demands of the cultist, cracking her knuckles. "You tryin' to shut out the KoF competition and this whole crazy religion act is to keep people from finding out _who you really are_?!" With that, she makes a hop... backwards? Doesn't seem to make sense, until she lands on one foot at the end of the heap, makes a swift 180, then dives right back toward the cultist she's interrogating with one fist extended, delivering an intended straight punch to the jaw of epic proportions.
COMBATSYS: Miu successfully hits Cultist1 with Charged Combo.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Moe 0/-------/-------|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Cultist1
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Miu 0/-------/----===|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Cultist2
COMBATSYS: Moe successfully hits Cultist2 with Hoshiyomi.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Moe 0/-------/-----==|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Cultist1
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////// ]
Miu 0/-------/----===|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Cultist2
"Fools!" The teacher shouts to her compatriots. "Do not fail thy Lord!" She winces as she tries to steady herself, being little more than an observer at this point.
It's easy why she would bring up such thoughts, given the ease in which Miu avoids being grabbed... and promptly positions herself behind the first of the two bigger, badder cultists as the burst of power pierces through his mind, body, and soul - visible even through the other side of himself. A mouth goes agape under the hood, and he is summarily hurled in the direction of that teacher. If she even is truly a teacher to begin with! She shrieks under the living projectile's weight.
"I beg forgiveness, sister!" He says embarrassingly as he pulls himself up.
"KILL THEM! KILL THEM NOW! Your Lord commands thee!" She struggles.
To Moe's question, the second one merely laughs at the deduction, as though the two for the moment were sharing amusements with one another. Were they found out? What's so funny about all this?
"Dost thou believeth this?!" The second calls as Moe leaps to him within a fraction of that, her fist making sweet chin music with such strength the hood is lowered - he's not a bad-looking man of European descent, aside from... the eyes and the somewhat pale face, oh, and one supposes the missing teeth after a punch like that.
Corkscrewing into a door frame, he rises up. "If that is... that is thy belief," he sneers, "then mayhaps thou shalt find that satisfaction enough as I bring thee to Hell." There is a brief moment of ominous chanting as the blood flows from his palms, withdrawing an ornate dagger of some manner. "Lord, I beseech thee! Mine shell be weak, but I serve thee to the end, beyond even death!"
With that, the second one thrusts forward with this dagger in both hands, the dagger and his arms enveloped in that grayish chi as he makes one final lunge, a blood-curdling yell as this maneuver - or whatever sort of sick force empowers it - siphons away virtually all that is left of him.
The first one, back on his feet, draws back ever closer to Miu with that same dangerous glint in his eyes as seen prior. "Whither it be us or the next, or any hereafter... this place marks thine grave," he addresses Miu scornfully, "and the fall of thou shalt mark the triumph of our Lord!!"
With that, he slams a palm down onto the ground with a loud scream (and a bloodied handprint), a large gray column with a visible skull shape as he tries to envelop the both of them - Miu and himself - within this spire of power.
COMBATSYS: Cultist2 can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Moe 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\1 Cultist1
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Miu 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Miu overcomes Dogma Cascade from Cultist1 with Chou Hissatsu Amagakeri.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Moe 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\1 Cultist1
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Miu 0/-------/-------|
It's, hard to describe what goes on in Miu's mind at this moment.
She can /sense/ that energy. It is a disgusting force. Moe had sensed that there was something off about these people, and Miu had felt it too, but she had assumed that this was no more than the general 'bad' feeling she sometimes got from bad people.
It's the way the Cultist is so willing to throw away his own life that shocks her. These people aren't just insane, they are ... fanatically evil. Desperate to wipe her from the face of the Earth, and she has no idea why that may be. Moe's question about the King of Fighter's... well, yes, she's in that, but she can't see why anyone would want to obliterate her for something so small!
There's no time to answer her right now, regardless, because now, Miu can already feel the power underneath her feet, and she doesn't have a moment to /think/. She just has to /act/.
The girl is in the air again before she's even aware that she's jumped, and the grey skull-tipped pillar comes tearing up after her. She twists, turning to face it, and, for a moment, her whole body is illuminated in that sickly, dark light. Miu grits her teeth, and--
Outside, a raven flits past the window, a dark shadow crossing Miu's features.
The skull is shattered by an onslaught of feathers. Dozens of them rip into the skull, tearing it down, piercing through it by sheer force of will. Miu's whole body suspended in the air for these few moments, as she struggles to bring the evil of these monsters down! Everything she has focused together into one, desperate onslaught against the swelling tide.
COMBATSYS: Cultist2 successfully hits Moe with Sacrificial Shanking.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Moe 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Cultist1
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Miu 0/-------/-------|
He gets her right in the stomach.
That second cultist drops to the floor after he's delivered that final blow, seeking retribution on Moe for the beating she gave him, and he gets it. He might even go down cackling for all she knows, because Moe is left staring down at the kris knife, with its wavy pattern that is a global symbol for '[eff!]ed up doomsday cult', stuck nearly hilt-deep in her tummy. The chi just makes it worse, a sickening feeling swimming around the wound, making it not just painful and enthusiastically bloody, but it just feels... *wrong*. Moe's eyes are glassy and fixed on some unknown distant point as the shock of it fills her.
And then, some inner force seems to take over, and she reaches down and yanks the damn thing out of her. The blade glistens with the wet red slick of her own blood in her hand, a murderous contrast to the fun-loving and youthful image of her clothing and bearing.
A terrible display of an adult world of awful consequence intruding on a world of youthful possibilities, all thanks to some strange quality in the blood that both Miu and Moe share.
She doesn't even have words as she rushes the first cultist, practically chasing Miu's feathery projectile, cherry blossoms streaking through the air after her as she moves. If that return shot of the psychic's doesn't do this cultist in, there's a very real chance that Moe might, the Habana scion planting her feet briefly before giving out a ragged but resounding shout of "ENBI!" and flipping backwards in an aerial bicycle kick intended to quite frankly kick that cultist out the window he came in from.
And still the blossoms seem to fall in her path. What nobody has the spare time to notice is that amid those flowers -- signs of renewal and rebirth, of spring -- that knife wound is already closing.
COMBATSYS: Miu successfully hits Cultist1 with Chou Hissatsu Amagakeri.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > //// ]
Moe 0/-------/----===|=======\====---\1 Cultist1
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Miu 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Moe successfully hits Cultist1 with Enbi.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > ]
Moe 0/-------/--=====|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Cultist1
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Miu 0/-------/-------|
There is a certain beauty in what transpires between Miu and that cultist, as a battle of wills - one of self, against one of another - rages, and there is a clear victor by the time that the skull is shattered. There is a loud, long scream. His very form is suspended from sheer agony.
The teacher shields her eyes.
Moe's standard opponent, having fallen to his own zeal as much as Moe's might, is crumpled over in a heap. Even with her wound, Moe shows a fine reason as to why they may be so willing to throw ten thousand of their number against them.
That might not even be enough.
Moe punts the stunned, pained cultist with her might, the trail of cherry blossoms soon to prove the only true chase of that particular cultist being there... that, and the sudden shattering of a window, followed by the loud thud of a body and the distinct smell of sulphur.
Moe Habana and Miu Kurosaki have triumphed against four of the number of that murderous cult, with no room for debate. The teacher breaks into a pained laughter as she, at long last, finds the strength to rise up to her feet... bloodied as she is.
"Almost as, almost as I would have expected," she seems almost at peace with this fact, "And yet... you do not know why? After all these years, have you forgotten?" They are just kids, what the hell is she talking about?
"Be forewarned, you two young women are our enemy. We will hound you until your very end!" She screams once more as she raises up her dagger, and with it, a sudden column of energy erupts around herself and that other fallen cultist, leaving behind nothing but scorch marks and the faintest hints of ash.
The dagger that Moe tore out of herself remains on the floor - perhaps a memento, perhaps a clue, but almost assuredly the sort of thing you don't want to get caught with in school.
By now, someone has plenty of questions to ask about what exactly is going on here, and they surely would not be alone.
COMBATSYS: Cultist1 takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ <
Moe 0/-------/--=====|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Miu 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Cultist1 can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ <
Moe 0/-------/--=====|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Miu 0/-------/-------|
Log created on 11:43:32 02/05/2011 by Moe, and last modified on 02:02:02 02/13/2011.