KOF 2011 IV.Union - [KOF IV: Union] The Mystery of Chizuru Kagura

Description: Where is Chizuru Kagura, and why is she so important to the big picture? Vanessa has struggled with this when she received a heads up about NESTS involvement in something involving 'Orochi.' The best way to go about this? Go bust some heads in. Bust some heads in of the Cult of Gaia, who have ramped up their rampage to a climax. Someone's going to talk. Especially if it's that certain bumbling Cultist and one of the few still living Zealots that haven't utterly sacrificed their lifeblood to the awakening of their dark lord. Vanessa will get answers. If she doesn't... it's because she's too busy punching their faces in. (She did both of those things)



So many question! So little answers. Fortunately, there are not as many bizarre cultists out there as there are questions. Unfortunately, there are plenty more of them than there are answers. So, to put the tally in short order, there are the most of questions, the least of answers, and the number of angry and crazy cultists, somewhere in between.
This math lesson aside, Metro City's slums are an ever rougher place thanks to the frenzy that seems to be sweeping those inclined to violence to begin with - it's a task even for the very best of Metro City to contain. The Cult of Gaia is a known nuisance, now - though their numbers thin every day due to ritual suicide.
"I'm trying!" Cries one in blue-ish robes. "It's scary."
"Do not be afraid," an older one tries to steadily guide the younger one's hand as they clutch a curved dagger. The two are the last survivors of this chapter of the Cult of Gaia - the rest around them are dead, their lifeblood absorbed by whatever fell entity. "Thou shalt be resolut--"
"I don't know any more!" The younger cultist cries out. "That kid in the park in Southtown really wanted me gone, and, um, a lot of people do, it's kind of hard to want to do this when so many look ready to just kinda stand up and... and push it all out, it's like, why would our Lord want to be here?"
The older zealot slaps his forehead with his clawed hand, and shakes his head. "By the great eight-headed serpent himself... why must thou still yet live in His service?"
"I'm tryyyying!" Whines the cultist, as the two stand beneath a rotting dome, its wood dulled, rotted, and smashed in places from previous skirmishes from rioters or would-be heroes. Vines have somehow started to seep within the structure.
So many rumors follow these people, but few are yet alive to be questioned. A recent tip from one of Vanessa's informants points out that there may still be one or two there to explain it all... but can she get there in time before they kill themselves?
"Now, let us try this once again!" The zealot commands.
"Maybe you could just stab me, I mean, that sounds the simplest way to do i--"
"Our own lifeblood must be given by thou own hands--"
Yeah, now's a great time to interrupt.

Vanessa, for all the brain cells she ritually sacrifices to her malted gods, is very good at math. She is also, apparently, very good at globetrotting, because she has been spotted all over the damn place lately as she hunts for the truth of the Orochi threat. She's no longer even willing to treat it dismissively. It is not a 'thing' or a 'weirdo' or the various amazing things she spent a whole week coming up to call Seishirou.

The point of the matter is this: Vanessa has been hunting, and she keeps coming up empty. But finally, she's gotten a break.

Vanessa, three days ago, received a call. It was brief, because while Vanessa can talk a person's ear off, her informants for some strange reason hate talking to her for any kind of extended period. At the end of it, she booked a sudden flight to Metro City.

Today...well...

'Our own lifeblood must be given by thou own hands--'

"You should listen to the whiny kid," comes a cheerful voice from the other side of the dome. "I mean, seriously..."

A fist like a train slams into the far side of the doom, smashing it inward. Another, and a third, tearing open a hole big enough for Vanessa to smile through, hands on her hips as she blasts the rotted wood apart with her fists. "Isn't this getting kinda outta hand? Why don'cha just have a drink with me and tell me all about what troubles ya?"

Yeah, not a chance, but she had to ask.

"I'm not legal aaaage!" The incompetent cultist who, for some reason, is still alive even now whines in the hold of his understanding, kindly, accepting older accomplice in whatever sorts of kooky-ass things have been going on here.
"Never mind that! Foul interloper!!" The zealot sneers, dagger drawn. As Vanessa looks to them, it should be plainly obvious that there is something... wrong with the both of them. The way their eyes have a bizarre blue glow to them. "Thou shalt only drink thine own blood as thy throat be slit!" Narrowing those glowing blue eyes full of rage, he falls into a battle-ready stance.
They won't be talking over a drink, it seems.
"Um... actually if you could help us go kill Kagura or Kusanagi or something that'd be great, she looks really friendly, you'll help us with that, right, lady?" The cultist looks with pleading (but still evil) burning blue eyes, as though willing to stay his own final offering to his dark master while still doing something marginally useful to his bidding.
You know what that means, Vanessa. Get to punchin' the daylights out of them.

COMBATSYS: Cultist1 has started a fight here on the right meter side.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Cultist1         0/-------/-------|


COMBATSYS: Cultist1 takes no action.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Cultist1         0/-------/-------|


COMBATSYS: Zealot1 has joined the fight here on the right meter side.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Zealot1          0/-------/-------|
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Cultist1         0/-------/-------|


COMBATSYS: Zealot1 focuses on Zealot1's next action.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Zealot1          0/-------/-------|
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Cultist1         0/-------/-------|


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

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Vanessa          0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0          Zealot1
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Cultist1         0/-------/-------|


"Not legal age? Jeeze, kid, go home! You've got your whole life ahead'a ya, y'know?" Vanessa seems incensed by this turn of events, focusing her attention on the mopey kid.

But the Zealot turns his eyes on her, eyes aglow, and Vanessa's attention ticks over to him. Her hands are, by now, on her hips, lazily snuck into her belt loops, her whole posture relaxed. This, her whole body says, is not really a problem. An empty threat? mmmmmaybe, she has had trouble with twofers before.

But that's sweating the small stuff! Vanessa's not that kinda gal! Not in a fight, leastwise, and this totally is a fight.

"I don't like my blood," Vanessa notes, to the zealot. "I mean, I like it, just...in my veins." She smiles, winningly. "Beer's for drinkin' though!" She pops an eyebrow, invitingly!

And then the kid says some things she doesn't like, and her eye turns to him with a starkly maternal dislike. "Kid, don't you talk about killin' people, that's just not proper for someone your age. Straighten up! Take out those stupid contacts!" She seems to be joking by being so stern, but there's something dire in those eyes. They turned a kid this way. She can't forgive that so easily.

So she lunges forward and attempts to knock the boss of this little charade out with all her not insignificant strenght, a sudden dash across the distance ending in a punch to the solar plexus!

"And /you/ shut up!" she commands.

COMBATSYS: Vanessa successfully hits Zealot1 with Dash Puncher.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Vanessa          0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0          Zealot1
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Cultist1         0/-------/-------|


"I know, right? That's a whole lotta time to serve our Lord and all, I mean, I'm glad you see it that way--"
"Be quiet!" The zealot sneers, as Vanessa more or less nails the man in the solar plexus in what is, literally, the blink of an eye to the two of them. A punch that provides but a taste of Vanessa's power for her seemingly wiry frame, the fists of an angry and driven women that sends him through a pew that snaps in half under his weight. Also, the termites. The termites probably weighing about half his weight. Which is a lot of termites.
"Thou hast chosen poorly in coming here, wench!" Oh man, wench, that's just asking for trouble. The zealot just has no idea what sorts of pain he's about to be in for as he rips the claws of his fingers against his hand, cutting it open. The blood solidifies into a grayish-white energy ball that is launched back towards Vanessa.
"Th-these aren't contacts!" The younger cultist shakes his head. "Actually it kinda makes your eyes look like that, and, and also... um... sorry but you're getting in the way of our Lord's awakening, so, BANZAAAAAAIIIII!!" He immediately dives for Vanessa's legs in a desperate, not at all skillful lunge to try and hold her down.

COMBATSYS: Vanessa blocks Cultist1's Quick Throw.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Vanessa          0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0          Zealot1
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Cultist1         0/-------/-------|


COMBATSYS: Vanessa reflects Gospel Blast from Zealot1 with Parrying Puncher.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Vanessa          0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0          Zealot1
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Cultist1         0/-------/-------|


Vanessa's stance is stronger than the kid's little girl arms, apparently; he tries to tackle her but she manages to stay upright by squaring her feet. This does, however, mean she can't do a whole lot of moving!

"The only poor thing I did today was let you talk this long!" Vanessa replies, and the energy bolt comes at her. She snorts, disgusted. "Blood chi? I fought a kid using that, once. Doubt you're half as good as him."

She snaps her arm back and then SLUGS the incoming energy ball, smacking it right back at the Zealot - the blast simply bouncing right off her knuckles! "Kicked his ass, too!!"

She hangs there, out of position to launch another assault, so she just snorts, "So Orochi makes your eyes glow and your blood shoot blasts? That's kind of crazy."

Frown. "So why exactly do you want your blood to be full of volatile energy, again?"

COMBATSYS: Zealot1 endures Vanessa's Reflected Gospel Blast.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Vanessa          0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0          Zealot1
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Cultist1         0/-------/-------|


It is extremely doubtful that anyone gathered here is a /tenth/ as good as the one Vanessa is describing, but they are, all things considered, significantly less icky. Even when one takes into account they're surrounded by dead and rotting willing sacrifices and all, which is saying a lot.
"He also really doesn't like people like Kyo Kusanagi and Chizuru Kagura and, um, I don't think he likes a lot of people but especially those two," the idiotic young cultist babbles on.
"SILENCE!" The zealot fumes as he thrusts himself through the energy forged of his own blood, uncaring of what further blood he must shed in what is, ultimately, a wasted effort, a clawed hand reaching out towards Vanessa's head to try and force her down into a brief kneel. "We accept his blessing, we of the sinful creatures of man! We shalt repent and give our world breath anew, free of thy taint of our brothers and sisters," this ranting happening as he tries to lift her up and away towards the rotting ceiling... if she lets him.
The younger cultist is too busy still coiled around Vanessa's legs to do much. If she gets launched, he'd probably go along for the ride too.

COMBATSYS: Cultist1 takes no action.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Vanessa          0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0          Zealot1
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Cultist1         0/-------/-------|


COMBATSYS: Vanessa dodges Zealot1's Converting the Non-Believer.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Vanessa          0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0          Zealot1
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Cultist1         0/-------/-------|


"So this 'Lord Orochi'," Vanessa sumarizes, helpfully, "gives you evil blood superpowers, drives you crazy, makes your mother worry, /and/ wants to murder my friend and the highschool boy she mutters about when she thinks I'm too drunk to hear her." She counts off on her fingers as she goes.

"But why?" she asks, rhetorically, though at this point sh epretty much expects the newbie to answer her. Or the oldbie to get possessed by the demon god and tell her in a fit of hubris. But she's hoping more for the first one, because she doesn't like her odds on surviving that last one.

"Whoa!" Vanessa yelps, hopping back - more-or-less effortlessly tearing herself free of the kid's noodle arms, planting one foot on the ground hard. "No touching, old man, I've seen where you put those hands!"

She slides around the kid on the ground, skipping nimbly past him as she lunges forward to plant her fist in the leader's face, swinging the force of her whole body through the punch to plant him on the far side of the room. "In fact, go sit over there!"

COMBATSYS: Vanessa successfully hits Zealot1 with Haymaker Punch.
~~ Alluring Hit! ~~

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Vanessa          1/-------/=======|=======\====---\1          Zealot1
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Cultist1         0/-------/-------|


"Something like that!" The cultist down below says, moments before he is released with some fancy footwork, a low squeal of surprise as he hurriedly helps himself up.
Meanwhile, his older, stronger, faster, smarter, and perhaps even better-looking brother-in-cultist-bullshit gets hit with the punch of LOVE, which is actually more appropriate to say especially hateful as blood splatters freely from his face along the way towards the altar.
An altar that falls apart in a dramatic dust cloud, his form obscured in all ways except for the fiery glow in his raging eyes.
"YOU YOUNG FOOL!" ...Which one is the zealot talking to? "IF THOU ARE NOT TO SACRIFICE THYSELF, THOU SHALT HELP RELEASE THY ENERGY IN GLORIOUS BATTLE!"
"Oh yeah! Um, I forgot," the cultist says as he stands back up, "um, we've been promoting lotsa fighting because it gives off energy and that helps get our Lord here sooner! Did you see Goenitz on TV? He's so awesome! I mean, um, y'know, even though he's thrown me across entire cities at least thrice, but--"
Why is this guy still alive?
"MOST IMPORTANTLY, WENCH," the zealot roars as he actually gets around to answering the question Vanessa really wanted answered as he steps back out of the dust cloud from the ruined alatar, "THAT IS OUR LORD'S DIVINE COMMAND. NO MORE, NO LESS!"
"Umm, what he said."
"NOW ATTACK HER!"
"Um... okay." While the zealot over there is working himself up back to something of a blood rage to push his weakening body onward, the young cultist leaps forward to try and grab Vanessa's arms, crossing them into one another in an attempt to push him back. "Like this?! This is fighting, right? Um, should I kill her too? That punch was kinda hot--"
The zealot facepalms himself hard enough to cancel out the recovery bonus of his composure.

COMBATSYS: Zealot1 takes no action.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Vanessa          1/-------/=======|=======\====---\1          Zealot1
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Cultist1         0/-------/-------|


COMBATSYS: Vanessa interrupts Holy Lock from Cultist1 with Puncher Vision.
- Power hit! -

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Vanessa          1/-----==/=======|=======\====---\1          Zealot1
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Cultist1         0/-------/-======|


"Aww, that's sweet of you," Vanessa chirps, blowing the Zealot a kiss. "It's not a lot of people who call me young, you know~ So, why don't you lie down for a nap, old man?" She grins, a smug look on her lips as she plants one fist on her hip.

Frown. "Releasing energy...hey, actually, you know anything about this..Brialne chick or whatever? Crazy lady, jumped me in Brazil. Said something about infecting people with her energy?" She holds up her free hand, clenching it tight. "Then I shoved it up her ass, of course, but still. Gathering fighting energy, like that?"

She squints at the cultist. "You," she says, slowly, "are...kind of amazing, kid." HOW IS THIS KID ALIVE, SERIOUSLY. She wonders briefly if he's not secretly the most powerful person here, or something. But then, perhaps it is the fortune of a fool?

"So your lord wants you to do all this stuff? What for? To..." She tips her head to one side, as the kid comes charging at her. "Destroy humanity? Burn down the world? So that only he'll survive, or something? These evil gods never make any sense." She says it like she's met one, which she supposes she has, if she's forced to count Igniz as something other than a shit stain on human history.

The kid gets about five feet away, and Vanessa suddenly surges forward - it's almost impossible to see her. One moment she's musing aloud, half hoping someone will answer, one hand cocked. The next, she's suddenly charged that distance, crouched low enough to land her fist in the kid's gut, suffering little more than a bruise from his attempted grip.

She rises, dusting herself off, and walks past the Cultist, toward the Zealot, eyes slowly hardening. "You shouldn't make a kid fight your battles, old man," she says.

The young cultist bends almost into a complete flat line underneath Vanessa's single punch, a loud and bizarre cry of pain before he is sent flying straight out the do-- no, he doesn't clear, the door, he hits the doorframe. A doorframe that, despite its age and wear, manages to hold him.
It's either more sturdily built than earlier descriptions are giving it credit for, or just that random bad guys do not get to have the luxury of a loading screen, and are thus trapped forever where they spawn by invisible walls... or what have you, as the cultist crumples on the ground and whimpers, wheezing for breath.
"Brihan... one of the current incarnations of the Guardians, who once kept watch over the gate what kept him at bay. They, of all people, hath seen the weakness in man's heart," the zealot preaches, arms spread wide as he walks towards Vanessa with the dawning realization that he's probably the only one who could get something done here. "They art merely showing the weakness of thou people, by enticing its darkness."
"Um, actually, it's some kinda chi thing or another," the cultist clarifies as he points up a finger, "or somethin--"
"For the love of Him, /please/, I implore thee to shut the fuck up," the zealot breaks in communicative momentum, grousing out loud, "pardon me for that lady, now... Brihan, Carrol, Vladimir, and Tomoko... they hath gathered at the gate."
There is an even more dangerous glint in the man's eyes as Vanessa almost assuredly stands ready to just beat his face in, clearly outclassing this monster of a man against all his bluster and imposing stature as blood flows freely from his face and hands, clawed fingers spread out as blood turns into sickly-colored flame, a slow glide forward as hands become a blur, slicing motions while this bizarrely colored chi flame threatens to engulf Vanessa as much as shred her.
"Um," the cultist says as he rises up, still wheezing as he holds himself up against the doorframe for support, "I dunno if even I would've said that much..."

COMBATSYS: Cultist1 takes no action.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Vanessa          1/-----==/=======|=======\====---\1          Zealot1
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Cultist1         0/-------/-======|


COMBATSYS: Vanessa reflects Holy Genocider from Zealot1 with Puncher Weaving.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////                         ]
Vanessa          1/------=/=======|=====--\-------\0          Zealot1
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Cultist1         0/-------/-======|


Guardians. Vanessa really hopes her memory doesn't pick today to fail her, this is all going to have to get reported to someone. Who? Actually, no, she knows who.

"Brihan," Vanessa repeats. "Carrol, Vladimir, Tomoko. The Guardians gathering at the gate to summon 'that man', huh." She saunters forward, eyes set in hard lines. "To burn the world to ash? To show how weak humans are?" She stares him dead in the eye - as he /lunges/, and she responds by bobbing and weaving, nimbly sidestepping. She lets him drive her back as claws slash at her, sick fire barely missing her with every bob of her head, every twist of her shoulders. "So you'll show how weak people are by sticking evil germs in them, is that it?" she demands.

"So you'll destroy everything good about the world because there's bad, is that it!?"

Her head jerks to the side, and this time she follows with it her entire body - her back leg sets, her right shoulder jerks, and as another wave of flame catches on the air, she lunges her fist toward it, and the flame boils around her fist, breaking and redirecting around her hand and following along in its wake as she slams that fist into the zealot's forehead, throwing her entire weight into cracking his skull and searing his face.

Her foot hits the floor on the followthrough.

She snarls at the man on the floor, lips curling upward. "So you'll give up on everything...is that it?" she wonders, and snorts, thumbing her nose in disgust.

Vanessa's last, great counter-offensive to the zealot's offensive is met with suitably predictable, but no less gratifying results for those who are just desperate to keep punching until all the trouble goes away. This particular bit of trouble is, at minimum, going away as all the power that had been bequeathed onto this long supporter of the Cult of Gaia engulfs his robe and much of his upper body to the re-weaving of Vanessa's lightning-fast punches.
A loud, church-shattering yell echoes throughout, the very structure rumbling as though he were a load-bearer unto himself as he collapses largely on the spot aside from a few yards of inertia from that final punch, as Vanessa asks that last pointed question to a man who seems clearly defeated, robes burning away to reveal a weakened, pale, burnt body as the blue lights of rage in his eyes fade into nothing.
"Ummm... somethin' like that, I mean, it's too late to stop it or something already, that's what everyone else keeps saying!" Says the cultist as he edges closer to Vanessa, who will not yet have time to enjoy decisive victory against a hardened madman.
In his right hand is a sacrificial dagger, held with such a nervous twitch as to be essentially unusable at all, raising it up above himself as he moves towards Vanessa. "I said your punches were hot /and they were/ but I realize that we can't be together because the world's going to end, or um, at least humanity is!" Tears start to streak down what's visible of his face (they are also blue), "so, lemme stab you anyway? I could really use the life energy and stuff!"
Thanks to being a bucket of nerves, he accidentally drops the dagger - probably on Vanessa's foot, while the zealot lay still... defeated.

COMBATSYS: Zealot1 takes no action.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Vanessa          1/------=/=======|======-\-------\0         Cultist1


COMBATSYS: Zealot1 can no longer fight.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Vanessa          1/------=/=======|======-\-------\0         Cultist1


COMBATSYS: Cultist1 successfully hits Vanessa with Small Thrown Object.

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Vanessa          1/-----==/=======|======-\-------\0         Cultist1


Vanessa blasts the old man back, and watches with a neutral expression as his robes burn and the blue light of his power fades away. "I can't say I know your deal, old man," Vanessa says, coldly. "The world may not be paradise, but it doesn't need your medicine, either."

She turns around, and gives the kid that same icey glare, a serious, adult look unlike the sly joker she always pretends to be.

And then he drops a knife on her foot.

"Ow!" Vanessa yelps hopping back in surprise, and then glares at the kid and just grabs him by the collar, hefting him up and driving her fist into his nose, letting the momentum toss him across the room. "Sit down, kid," she snaps. "I got bigger fish to fry than you, and you probably have homework to do."

COMBATSYS: Vanessa successfully hits Cultist1 with Violent Clinching.

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Vanessa          1/---====/=======|=======\===----\1         Cultist1


"Wha?! Um, sorry, I meant to--" He's earnest about his attempts to kill Vanessa at least, visibly disturbed and even regretful that he's causing her pain this way and not just ending her entire existence like he hoped to as he is helplessly picked up, slugged across the room (how many times have these people been flung across the church, anyway) to roll about on the floor as Vanessa gives the truth of the matter.
She really does have way, way, way bigger fish to fry now.
"W-Wait!" The cultist pathetically struggles to his feet. "This... this might be my last shot, ma'am! I'm, I'm tired of always failing and being made a joke of!"
A foot is childishly stomped on some dead guy's hand, over and over. It even twitches, as if to say 'ow, stop doing that.'
"His awakening is really, really, REALLY close! I want to... I want to add one more really to that! Really! Really badly, ma'm, so pleeeeeeeeaaaase!"
As he's now bleeding straight from his face, he doesn't need to slice himself open. A great gout of chi energy circulates around him, the eerie flare of blue in his eyes growing ever brighter. Perhaps her suspicions about this young fool are right. Maybe he, alone, despite everything, surpasses far greater power than anything and everything she's went up against.
Bowed over to let his blood flow, he rears back as he leaps towards Vanessa, thrusting his head forward (instead of his palm) as the flash of a cackling skull rings through the entire church, a squeal of pain as blood not only rushes out of his face, but also the bright white fiery power that shoots forth from his face threatens to blind him.
Giant nose fireballs. Now Vanessa has probably seen everything - although in spite of the humorous origin of where he sacrifices some of his lifeforce, there is no joke in its intent and delivery in his last, greatest attempt to do Orochi proud before he falls forevermore to the narrative wayside as just another irrelevant curiosity.
...just hurry up and put him out of his misery.

COMBATSYS: Vanessa endures Cultist1's Dogma Cascade EX.

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Vanessa          1/=======/=======|====---\-------\0         Cultist1


Vanessa likes to fling people, OK, it's just a big lady boxer thing.

She starts to slog off toward the wall she smashed through, about to flip out her phone and put in some calls. But she stops, mid-dial, when the cultist calls out to her.

"...lie down, kid," Vanessa says. "It's already over. It could happen in the next hour and I'd have people on it." That's a lie. That's so a lie. But Vanessa is a way better liar than this kid. "...and I'm not letting some pipsqueek put me down just yet, even if we're already screwed."

But her eyes widen, a little, as he lets that fire burst out. "You're fuckin' /kidding/ me," she demands but no, no he is not.

The fire washes across her. She makes no effort to dodge, cannot possibly have defended. She's done. She's got to be. Is what he's thinking.

Right up until she strides confidently out of hte flames, dusting a little ash off her exposed shoulders, singed but quite healthy. "Kid," she says, and her hand reaches out to grab him by the collar and yank him up to look him in the eye.

"What's gonna happen is this," she says.

"I'm gonna beat you until you can't even /look/ at a woman without offering her flowers and apologies for the last thirty seconds of my life," she explains, as sparks of gold chi flare up around her arm.

"And then I'm gonna take out my phone. And I'm gonna call my man, who's going to get me Kyo Kusanagi's number. Then I'm gonna call that."

"Then I'm gonna tell him everything I know right now!" The flare whips slowly around her arm, growing in speed and discomfort as a miniature tornado whips itself into being around her arm, hammering the kid's chest endlessly.

"Then we're gonna kick your 'Lord Orochi's ass so hard he'll BEG ME TO HIT HIM AGAIN!" she thunders, and yanks back her /other/ hand, and SLAMS it into the kid's chin, and then releases the clinch - letting the winds sail the kid off to wherever the hell he's going to land.

Vanessa growls, turns around, and stalks off.

COMBATSYS: Vanessa knocks away Cultist1 with Puncher Finish EX.

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /                             ]
Vanessa          0/-------/----===|=======\======-\1         Cultist1


"Whuh... nooo?!" He can't decide if it's a question or an exclamation as Vanessa once again gets caught in her clutches, his face comically blackened as blood still drips from his face. In fact, her grasp is choking him! He gags incoherently through her scolding and planning - she is preaching to the choir of those dying or already dead, here in this sick, fanatical cult of the willing who feel the transgressions of their fellow man is enough to wipe the entire species off the planet.
With that final punch to the chin that sends up well up and out of the church to a shower of splintered wood and glass falling all about Vanessa, she may very well have removed at least /one/ offending cultist off the Earth. Assuming... he actually dies from the fall, wherever he may land. However he may land. No one can ever be sure. In the end, who cares?
There needs to be no further commentary to Vanessa's choice of action - the info she has, however late some tidbits may possibly be, may help provide the way to stop whatever plan is on the verge of coming to full fruition.
Outside, bizarre weather patterns reign, and people panic on the streets. On a subconscious level, most can feel that it may very well be the end of everything.
...Is it?

COMBATSYS: Cultist1 takes no action.

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Vanessa          0/-------/----===|


COMBATSYS: Cultist1 can no longer fight.

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Vanessa          0/-------/----===|

Log created on 21:01:12 07/14/2011 by Vanessa, and last modified on 10:03:47 07/27/2011.