Description: Calling Ayame out for a spar would normally have no chance in hell in working but in Roland's case... well, perhaps even she can feel like she owes someone something? Of course he has ulterior motives for getting the weapons fighter into the open.
Roland has been in recovery for quite some time. If by 'recovery' it meant 'probably being terribly abused by Todoh'; he has been going regularly to the Dojo in lieu of traditional rehabilitation, although if Ayame had any concern for such petty matters it took over a week for the doctors to unanimously agree he no longer had a chance of coughing up blood and abruptly dying on the spot. He never once showed any depression or remorse over the injury, although his unflappable attitude had never been truly tested until this crisis. But he did finally bother contacting the skirted staffwielder; it was a short message, simply requesting a spar now that he felt himself able to fight again. Dispelling Daniel's fears of his retirement, if nothing else. A time and a place were given, for a remote area of the likely still ominous Metro City park. It is well into night, the sky glowing with the stars above. A section of irregularly cut grass and the occasional tree are all that count as a view, the winding concrete paths hidden elsewhere.
And indeed, Roland is present and accounted for. His garb has changed a little. Gone is the overly bulky trenchcoat, replaced with a more mundane tan one. His hat is similarly normal, and he wears only an overly tight muscle shirt. Where is he keeping his wide array of weapons in THAT? Slow, lazy crouches follow, grunting in pain every time he feels a muscle tug on the bound scar tissue of his torso, but having long since learned to deal with those pangs. He dounbts if Ayame would even care about the request... it is the first time he's personally contacted her since the 'accident', however. Worst case, he gets to enjoy the lighter smog of Metro City's night!
She had been there for a while at the hospital. The always impeccably dressed detective and Ayame sat vigil for the first night, worried that the killer would not be satisfied with a survivor. The two traded off the next day, giving them a chance to get out of the building for a little, before coming back. A second night passed without incident with Ayame racking her brain in a concerted effort to try and predict what the monster's next move would be, if any. He had let her survive her encounters with him not once but twice. Was he sated now? He said he would open her eyes to a lesson she couldn't learn any other way by slaughtering Roland in the street. And there is no doubt in her mind that extinguishing his life was his goal that night.
But Roland is alive. Maimed, but alive. She isn't sure if she learned what the killer wanted her to learn. She isn't even sure what he wanted with her at all. But as hours become days, she decides that he must have been sated with what he had stolen. From her was taken her peace of mind. From Roland, his arm. As the days slipped by, Ayame's casual spying seemed to show that between the two of them, she was far more troubled over what had happened than /he/ was. A confusing detail that she had puzzled over for a while, but never got close enough to be noticed or to make contact.
An invitation to meet up again was eyed with a fair amount of skepticism. Maybe he had been fronting all this time, waiting for her to put her guard down, to lure her out into the open, and get her back for what had transpired. She almost didn't come. Especially when the location of this spar was noticed - the same park where this entire nightmare began. At night. She had replayed the conversation she had with him in his hospital bed. She knew that she had told him where she had been attacked. Did he do this on purpose? Such a malevolent setup didn't seem to be in line with what she knew of him. But nearly dying to the butcher's claws could change anyone.
In the end she couldn't stay away. The curiosity was killing her. If he was setting her up, avoiding him wouldn't make this problem go away. If he wasn't, well... after what happened, she very well couldn't deny him this request, could she? A nearby perch in a tree is her point of observation. She's been there for a while, got there ahead of time. If this is a trap, she would see it coming.
Roland is observed for a short while. Dressed as he is... it seems like he must have changed his mind about a spar. She knew his style well, having fought against it plenty of times. It was like some kind of insane variation of her own approach to 'combative problem solving', replacing her precision engineered weapons with an arsenal of strange contraptions that usually seemed like they had been randomly slapped together. And right now, she doesn't see any evidence of them.
Maybe he woke up finally, Ayame decides, as she hops down from the tree to land in the dirt at its roots. Maybe he realized he was ruined, that what was taken from him was no mere trifling and that in light of his crippling injury, it was time to set aside any delusions of being combat effective anymore. Ayame breaths in then exhales softly. Might as well get this over with. It wasn't going to be pretty, having to hear him say how he couldn't fight anymore after all. But now that she was here, she might as well hear him out. She wasn't busy tonight anyway. Crossing the distance between them, the girl cants her head to the side a little. "Change your mind? It's fine." She almost says something else about how it's to be expected given how crippled he is, but some little alarm in her head tells her that would probably be uncalled for given the circumstances.
Nothing suspicious appears to be lingering around the area, despite Ayame's best efforts at investigating. Only empty park filled with litter in all directions. Such doesn't change when Roland lazily arrived and went through his basic warmups, something he had never been viewed doing since she had known him. It's a mark of competence after all, and he has made very sure in the long months to never get too close to such alien concepts. At least his awareness appears to have not improved, given he nearly jumps upon hearing Ayame's voice. Turning around, he has on a lightly annoyed sneer. "Jeez, wear a bell or something." The rim of his hat is adjusted a bit, trying to better his eyesight. "What the hell do you mean change my mind? I'm not the one late. I'm NEVER late." Somehow this is said with a straight face, expression quite solemn. Either way, Roland glances around the surroundings. "I thought we'd use this place. A park is a park. So what if a murderer was here once? I learned something important from the hospital. There's no point in living your life in fear. If it's between that, and living your life carelessly..." He digs out a pack of clove cigarettes and pulls one out with his lips. "I'll dance around in the open all I want. But I really don't care how you live your life, as long as you keep wearing skirts." A snap of green energy lights his cigarette, and he quickly puffs it to life.
His request that she wear a bell to announce her comings and goings gets him a smirk from Ayame, the girl coming to a stop some yards away, right hand resting against her hip as she judges him from a medium distance. The air is cool but not crisp even this late hour, reflecting the rapid descent into the summer months ahead. "Yeah, all the best crooks wear bells to make sure everyone knows they're around." she retorts. It seems even given recent events and her role to play in them, she isn't treating the recovered victim with much in the way of courtesy. Then again, for Ayame, just being here might speak to certain levels of unspoken interest. Sparring isn't really her 'thing'. It reflects a passion for combat or a desire to prove oneself that she has never possessed. So it must be something else that got her to to show up in the first plcae.
She's dressed in her usual outfit, an ensemble of reds and blacks, each custom altered by her own hand to conceal her tools and accoutrements. She must custom-alter her clothing a lot to accommodate her proclivity for stowed weapons, always making sure to not do it so blatantly as to give away her tricks. He would know from experience that she came prepared for a fight, the pouch dangling from her belt storing her vicious staff at least. He says he didn't change his mind, however, and the girl peers back at him with brown eyes, focusing for a moment on his hat then back on his rugged face. Did he just decide a bladed hat was more trouble than it was worth? Or did he figure out how to conceal its threat even better? She's wary now.
It's when he speaks about the park directly that Ayame visibly bristles the most, however. A park is a park? What if Freeman lurks around here regularly? What if he combs the park each night looking for new canvases to sate his needs? /Just a park/? The worst of it is she can't say he wouldn't understand, that he wouldn't know what it was like. The bastard knows first hand what it was like for her now, at least in matters of being brought to the brink of death. On the other hand, she can't refute his logic. Living in fear is ineffective and irrational. She can't argue that. But that doesn't mean she can buy into it so easily either.
"Do you not even /care/?" she asks back, the most direct she's been about his assault since it happened. "You're going on like it never even happened." She pauses. That's not entirely accurate. "No, you're acting, like..." The confusion is easy to read in the face of the girl who would never normally allow others to see her uncertainty. "Like it was the best thing that ever happened to you..."
She frowns a little at his last sentence, confusion melting away into a touch of dull-eyed annoyance, "I found your website... Just how much money are you making off me anyway?!"
"Do I not even care...? You mean this?" Roland glances over to the stump of his arm, as if it was not at the forefront of his thoughts. This might genuinely annoy Ayame at some level, as her keen and genius perception finds no hint of falsehood. Although her rival troublemaker has displayed the ability to read her and decieve her better then she'd care, this has none of that fuzzy ambiguity, the sharp edge of his slippery words and grinning visage that can veil and shield. There's a bared purity there, unrefuteable. "Of course I care. Are you stupid?" Roland's given a brow raised look straight to Ayame, as if SHE'S the one crazy to bother asking the question. He's stopped his stretching, good hand planting on his hip.
"The reason it doesn't bother me is the same reason the park doesn't. Why bother? If I cry and stomp and bitch, the arm's not going to come back. If I shiver and tremble and squint in every shadow, it won't make Freeman any more or less likely to be there. You understand? Life ain't under your control. That's the biggest difference we have." He grasps the butt of his clove cigarette, puffing heavily and holding it in. A pleased look, before he hisses out a cloud that quickly disperses in the silver light.
No mention of the Ayame Panty empire he built in the pass comes. It might need to be touched on again for a satisfying answer. A look is given to Ayame, with some peculiar thing to it. A thing that very few have likely ever levied in her direction. It is an earnest curiosity, as if he isn't speaking to an active backstabber who makes a living off making a point NOT to answer straightforward. "Do you feel guilty? Since saying my name made this happen?"
Irritated and on edge is the best way to sum up Ayame's stance and demeanor as she keeps her eyes on Roland. She doesn't answer his first two questions since she's convinced the implication was clear enough and he gets the point. The problem she's having isn't that she can't read him right now. It's that she can't believe what she's perceiving. It's that she doesn't want to believe it. He has to be putting her own. Or he's gone crazy. Maybe it's that. Yet even as she concludes that, she knows it to be a lie. He asks her if she's stupid and her wary expression shifts to a glare, the girl tensing up a touch. She's used to being insulted, naturally, and normally mere words hardly register acknowledgement. Maybe it's because she doesn't care what most people have to say about her.
But as he continues on, she becomes more and more certain that he's being entirely forthright with her, a rare moment of honesty between two who have never communicated so directly before now. He says life isn't under their control and Ayame's left hand tightens into a fist, left arm trembling slightly, her right hand remaining at her hip. "It has to be," she growls, more to herself than audibly contesting his assertion.
He poses a question she most definitely hasn't wanted to face and Ayame recoils a touch as if being accused of some kind of anathema. She immediately wants to retort 'Of course not.' and her hesitation might betray that temptation. She isn't sure she even knew what guilt felt like until the moment Freeman coerced her to utter a name to spare her life and she volunteered some crippled girl in a hospital thousands of miles away. And that moment certainly didn't compare to the way she felt when she saw him bedridden, a barely-alive survivor of a brutal near-slaughter. She takes too long to answer, and she realizes that in and of itself is an answer. An effective lie would have had to be stated instantly. And there's no point in stating the truth if it is the only statement she can make now. Ayame shifts her stance, arms folding in front of her. "Hmph."
From the awkward look by Roland, the goal of inviting Ayame into the park wasn't to speak truths and philosophy. He doesn't seem to enjoy it any more then she does, and is carefully kicking at an errant weed that has peeked up from a small bit of crabgrass. He's got a thumb hooked into the belt ring of his trenchcoat, chewing lightly on the end of his cigarette. A heavy silence hangs between them, and after the dismissive sound he does not immediately make any response. Finally, he glances back over at Ayame. "You didn't say it knowing he'd kill me, right?" There's no look of suspicion there, but neither does he seem confident otherwise. And what kind of person would say the truth, even if that was the case?!
She can tell that he doesn't seem to want to discuss this stuff anymore than she does, which begs the question of why endure this ordeal at all. Maybe it's to satisfy some doubts on his part? She owes him that much, she decides. She can give him that. If it gives him some peace of mind beyond that which he seems to have already found, then she should do it. Lying won't get her anywhere here, it won't gain her anything. She doesn't break the silence that lingers before he does which means they might have stood there, him kicking at grass, her staring at him unapologetically, for quite some time if Roland hadn't finally spoken up.
For her, it is a time to think back, remembering the two harrowing encounters with the executioner, replaying the incidents in her mind with remarkable clarity. It takes effort to keep the emotions such recollections bring back to mind, but she feels a weight to review them all the same. It becomes especially pertinent when he asks her of when she spoke his name and the circumstances surrounding it. There is a twitch in her expression. It isn't a pleasant memory.
"He was going to kill me... but then changed his mind. I don't know why exactly... he felt kiling me wouldn't get him what he wanted, I guess." She inhales then looks off to the side, breaking her stare from Roland at long last. "When he changed his mind, he asked me if there were anyone in the world that would miss me if he killed me then. I..." She frowns a little then shakes her head, "I know it's dumb, but I said your name. That's why he went after you. That's why you lost your arm." Her attention snaps back to Roland, brow furrowed, the girl's posture having shifted to be more confrontational, shoulders squared, arms at her sides, arms bent a little, hands clenched into fists. "That's what happened. Now you know." She pauses only for a breath, "I never thought such an errant word could lead to something like that."
She inhales then exhales, looking briefly miserable, "If I had known, I wouldn't have said anything."
Roland finally turns to look at Ayame directly when she begins to speak. He's stopped abusing the budding weed, which probably has a troubled and tough life ahead of itself without his unwanted involvement. It thus means she does need to break his gaze, something he can't remember her ever doing before. When she finishes, the urban cowboy looks thoughtful. Slowly he turns away, taking a few steps and pulling his hat off. He leans forward, thumping the fedora heavily against his thigh in both directions before roughly planting it atop his head once more. "So let me get this straight." His tone is hard, as he pivots around to stare at Ayame. There's an intensity now. She has never truly felt it from him... always a laid back figure, uncaring and dismissive even during the fights. Fingers slowly flex, green energy crackling like lightning between them. "Because I liked you... the only person in the world, apparently, who bothered to like you... I almost got ripped inside-out by a psychopath. And we barely even speak, let alone about anything meaningful. Because of THAT, my arm is now gone forever, and my life changed...?!" Ayame probably feels something familiar. The bile hatred of someone who despises her and wants nothing to do with her.
And then his cheeks wildly poof out, and he begins laughing. He actually doubles over, yanking off his hat and hucking it into the grass to kick it hard. It has nothing in it; simply quality leather. "Bahahaha!! You must feel like the most cursed person ever!!" There are tears in his eyes. "You... you finally admit there's someone who... who might not despise you and wish you were ten feet under... and he goes to kill them!!" He begins laughing once more, slapping his knee heavily.
At length, he exhales a slow, 'woo!'ing thigh. "Ahhh. Good stuff. Well... if you only answered his question, then it's fine." He looks off to the side, and actually looks absurdly handsome. Grizzled features solemn, eyes narrowed just so in the ambient light, trenchcoat gusting against his muscled frame.
"After all... I cannot be held accountable... for every woman who falls for me." Somehow, he keeps a straight face.
As he turns away, she finds it easier to watch him. She isn't really sure how he's going to react. There's a chance he'll get mad, but she doesn't think so. If he was going to get angry, he already would have by now, she's quite certain. Nothing she said would be any more inflamatory than what she's already uttered. Maybe he doesn't even know how to react. It is a lot to take in. He seems to need a moment. Ayame frowns a little. This is getting more uncomfortable by the moment. He finally speaks and Ayame recoils ever so slightly - it would be easy to miss due to the quirks of tricky shadows - but it seems like he's finished digesting what she just said and finally reached the breaking point. So much for that could-care-less attitude of his!!
Ayame swallows. Where is this leading? The energy crackling over his fingers is glanced at for a moment but with the distance between them, she isn't too afraid of immediate assault. That might change though if he decides to come any closer. He shouts his challenge back at her and the rogue's mouth twitches, "W-well, it's just that-" She's almost never tongue tied like she is that very moment. She doesn't get any further before he starts laughing. The girl blinks at first, his reaction such a departure from all the predictions her rapidly churning mental profiling on him would suggest. He's snapped, she thinks at first. He's just completely flipped out, the trauma too much, this recollection of the attack pushing him beyond the point of sanity.
But then he actually manages to gasp out words between the laughs, his hat sailing in a lazy arc, and Ayame starts to decide that he hasn't gone completely insane. "I- u-uh-" she stammers. What does she even say to that? It is pretty much the worst situation she's ever been put in in her life, and she's been in some bad spots before. Having some creature stalk her and trick her into naming one person she thinks might tolerate her existence and that she might distantly like as well, and he runs off to immediately go slay him? Yeah, that's about the worst pile of crap anyone can have to deal with.
His laughing fit slows down, the man pausing for breath, and Ayame continues to stare at him. He says it's fine and she seems to relax a little, the tension dropping out of her shoulders, as if that resolved something for her. But then he has to continue, to add something, and Ayame's brow furrows, eyes narrowing, hands clenching once more, "You... what!? I never said anything like that!" Her right hand lifts and brushes out to the side as if figuratively sweeping the ridiculous idea clean off the proverbial table. She stands up straighter and lifts her face a little, looking off to the side with a certain haughty stance, "I just, you know, I mean, it's understandable that you'd miss me. I can't blame you for that!"
"Understandable?! You damn liar. You pretty much admitted that nobody in the world gives half a crap for you. That makes it pretty hard for me to believe that your USED to being missed!!" Roland is probably having his most successful verbal spar against Ayame, and in that arena he's usually ended up the victor. Scratching at the side of his cheek, his missing shoulder slowly rolls. It's a peculiar motion with nothing attached to it, but he can still have a sore stump, right? "Hoo. You really don't understand me much at all though, it seems. I suppose it's not surprising. I don't think you meet people that often you can't just immediately read like a book, eh? Maybe you should TRY to get to know me."
That seems to be that, as far as he's concerned. "I asked you to come here to fight. And I meant it. I want to make sure my body's going to move the way I want it to. After all, I'm sure you are someone I can trust to go easy on me." He actually shifts into what appears to be a proper stance, although light and dynamic. His good hand lifts, fingers splaying and pointing towards the girl. "You were always my goal. Because you did my schtick better then me. But I've moved on from that... we're both geniuses, but you are a creature of perfection. I'm not... but I found out what I'm good at. I want to show you..." He slowly grins, in a thoroughly devilish manner. "That I'm ready now. To come at you. The day when you are defeated at my feet is coming!!"
His initial shout gets her focus back on him. Her vain attempts at saving face are ultimately providing nothing in the way of relief and even with the distance of a few yards between them, she's starting to feel penned in all around. She's quiet then, letting him speak on without any attempt at interruption, leaving him to work his way through his thoughts as to what might be the problem with her.
The girl blinks when he points out that in her impressive mental rolodex of profiles, his card comes up largely a jumble of conflicting theories, mish-mashed ideas, and guestimates. He's right when he says she doesn't understand him all that well. Maybe that's the draw - that she can't line him up in a list of concrete, common rules and behaviors by which to predict his each and every move. It's both simultaneously enticing and annoying! His final words on that subject are to issue a challenge - almost a dare to try and get to know him better. 'Well,' Ayame muses silently, 'Maybe I will.'
He confirms he really does intend to fight in spite what appears to her to be quite the glaring handicap. She supposes he can somewhat kick at her... maybe... but without both arms to properly counter balance the momentum, what good will those be? He can barely hope to get a hold on her with one hand, and where are all of his weapons? How is he going to use them? The hat already seems harmless from what she's seen. There must be some trick at work here! She even glances around the vicinity as if just to make sure it really IS just the two of them.
"All right..." she murmurs, looking unconvinced still that this is really a good use of anyone's time. When he goes on to add that she was his goal, however, Ayame falls quiet, caught off guard. She remembered his challenges from before, but she never considered them serious, writing them off as more bluffs, more attention-grabbing attempts, and nothing to be given a second thought. She looks even further startled when he calls her a creature of perfection.
"Really? You think you have anything on me?" Now she's going on the offense again, a mixture of confused and maybe even a little offended. "You didn't even before... how can you possibly now?!" She shakes her head, her hand lifting to flip a length of her long hair back over her shoulder. "I'm not sure what kind of game you're getting at here, but if you think there's anything that old man Ryuhaka could possibly teach you to get an edge on me, you're about to be very disappointed. I've dismantled every one of his students I've ever fought!"
She adjusts her stance a little, turning her shoulder toward him, standing fairly straight still. He would know by experience that from stance she can and will do practically anything to combat him. "Defeated at your feet. Pft." She lifts her fingerless-glove clad left hand and rubs her right shoulder a little. "Fine." she levels a judgmental gaze at the Urban Cowboy, as if daring him to prove her wrong. "Let's see what you've got."
COMBATSYS: Roland has started a fight here.
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Roland 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Ayame has joined the fight here.
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Ayame 0/-------/-------|======-\-------\0 Roland
"Underestimate me all you want, old man." Roland states matter of factly; having nothing else to offer, having remained opposite in whatever might now pass for an aggressive position. "We'll see what happens...!" His feet dig into the ground before he hurls himself forward. Nothing in particular stands out from this. He's fast, but only by the measures of someone at his level, which is clearly still a distance from the prodigal weapons user. Skidding to a stop near her, his fingers suddenly sheathe with green energy, before he sweeps forward in an attempt to catch Ayame by her tie. The nearly infectious energy intending to transfer over to the garment, as he'd use it to yank her off balance and hurl her backwards, allowing the energy to violently explode a second after sustained contact with Roland drops. No weapons are visibly involved... however, his motions and execution are not flawed. Almost thoughtlessly executing something that is far from the optimal path. Whether he can make it work or not is another question!
COMBATSYS: Ayame dodges Roland's Seven Out.
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Ayame 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\0 Roland
She doesn't move from her spot when he charges forward, her feet planted firmly on the ground, her sharp, brown eyes following his every move. He does move quicky and without any telltale signs of weapons to give away his next move, she isn't actually sure what to expect. For the immediate moment, he has the advantage of being both hard to read and attempting to fight using conventions contrary to what she had come to expect from him. Which is why she waits, her own hands empty, the girl not having drawn a weapon of choice against him yet.
Her eyes are on his, as if trying to divine his plans by looking right through him. But it is the tinge of something else that puts her on the alert - that flash of chi, resonating with her impressive senses that pertain to such natural energy uses, is a warning. His arm extends and Ayame leans to the side, intending to step around the grab with little fuss. She didn't exactly predict what he was going for, however, and as she leans, her crimson tie trails behind, easy prey for grabbing fingers. It would seem he has her where he wants - for only a moment.
The problem comes when he pulls and the knot comes undone in an instant, the article of clothing slipping clean off Ayame's neck without slowing her down in the slightest. When he pulls and flings, only her tie goes flying, a blood-red length of cloth twirls harmlessly into the air until it is lost in the explosion that triggers an instant later.
He would have no trouble reading the satisfaction in his opponent's eyes, "Tsk. It's a trick knot," she replies with a ready smirk. Everyone always goes for the tie - and now the reason she's always wearing one becomes more clear. It's an easy mistake to make, going for something that seems like such a liability. There's not any time given to rethink what he's doing, however, the skirt-clad girl already in close at his right flank, deliberately targeting the side of him she believes him the /least/ able to defend against.
She doesn't hesitate at all to try and drive her knee into the right side of his rib cage provided he isn't able to guard against it effectively. She won't stop there, however, her right hand snapping out in an attempt to secure a grip on Roland's right ear as well, as if intending to hold him in place in preparation for potentially further abuse!
COMBATSYS: Roland instinctively blocks Ayame's Light Kick.
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Ayame 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\0 Roland
There's a somewhat comical expression on Roland's face when the flung tie explodes rather harmlessly a couple meters away. However, his grin returns in full force almost immediately afterwards. "One down." he states, and the meaning might not be immediately evident to the weapons master. He remains completely open, especially given there's no apparent method to ward off a sharp, quick strike. Yet his motion comes almost at the same time as Ayame's own... his right knee snaps up, and she impacts the hardest part of it with her own. It was a simple but perfect defense, done in such a compacted period of time that Ayame likely rightfully would wonder how it is possible. And it wouldn't be -- for someone with the same mindset as her, having to analyze, conclude, then act. He skipped two entire parts of it!!
The ear is grasped, but Roland makes no attempt to escape. A sudden exhale rushes air out around him, and he brings his arm around in a half circle, held higher up. The motion is completed quickly, but she's never seen it before. A light green sheen rushes over him, fingers this time searching for the collar of her shirt. One leg swishing through the grass, aiming to hook behind her ankle. A ferocious headbutt is leveled towards her, hoping to use that avenue to twist and hurl her down into the ground. So with a crackle of chi, he can suffuse his energy into the clothing surrounding her neckline, and cause another, much more ferocious explosion!!
It is an actual combination attack, and all the elements are composed precisely. It is far from flawless, but in the same breath, it is also far from harmless!!
COMBATSYS: Roland successfully hits Ayame with Spanish 21.
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Ayame 0/-------/----===|=======\=------\1 Roland
His random remark is puzzled upon only briefly. Maybe he has a vendetta against ties and this is just another poor victim in his warpath against classy dressing? She's too busy trying to cave in his side with her knee to pay too terribly much attention. Instead, her kneecap comes in contact with his own and her attack is stopped short of being as rib-jarringly painful as she had intended! The girl still goes for his ear, however, the snap grab a perfect flow of momentum from her knee even with his deflection.
And when she secures that grip, she's certain, for a moment, that it puts her in the driver seat. Pulling him forward and down into a crushing knee to his face is most definitely the next thing on Ayame's Menu for Crushing Roland's Hopes and Dreams. But he doesn't fight her, instead taking the opportunity to turn the close-quarters combat strongly in his favor. The air moving around him is a warning that something bigger is coming, and for a split second Ayame second guesses the danger in being in such close proximity to someone who she has yet to properly figure out... But it's really too late for that!
Energy courses over his arm as he secures his fingers beneath the girl's collar. Ayame is already starting to pull away and he'll sense a backpush against his signiture green energy - invisible but most certainly felt - as if the girl is actively countering his chi with her own energy manipulation even without needing to physically stop it. Precision manipulation that ambient energy that so many fighters have learned to lean on is her secret trick, after all, the basis of so many of her combat tactics. And it would have possibly been enough to snuff out the threat of his explosive touch were it not for the rest of his combination.
The foot hooking behind her ankle alerts her to just how good of a close in fighter he's become - is this all because of Todoh-ryuu Kobojutsu? Her fingers release his ear as both of her hands come up to clasp against his lone arm, trying to wrestle control over the situation and pry herself free, but his lunging headbutt sees to it that she isn't able to. The headbutt dazes her out of all attempt to extricate hersel from what was rapidly becoming a tricky situation and with that, the Urban Cowboy will have no problem completing the technique to twist and slam the girl to the grass on her back.
Teeth grit in frustration, Ayame is already starting to push herself back up, clearly infuriated at his unexpected expertise in defending and counter attacking, when the threat of his chi presents itself, exploding her back down against the ground with impressive force! Black strips of scorched cloth scatter around the fallen girl in a small blast radius as she stares up at the stars above blinking with unhidden surprise. The top portion of her shirt has been destroyed by Roland's chi manipulation, leaving her shoulders bare. A number of straps over her shoulders hint at weapons sheathed beneath her cami-styled top in front and back but it seems her choice in bra is strapless. Were she wearing a standard blouse, the removal of the top of it would make it unlikely to even stay on after something like that. But the girl's layered vest over her torso stays in place, propping up the now strappless top.
More than anything is the girl's bewildered look. She should have wondered when her tie exploded. "How did..." she blinks. "How did you figure out how to do that?!" she exclaims, launching back up onto her feet and charging him directly. A delayed chi explosion? Material infusion? That is hardly beginner fighter stuff!
The state of her top will irritate her more later when she has to replace it and sew up new custom modifications, but for right now she's intent on simply getting Roland back. She charges him low and a little bit to the side. Her initial intent becomes clear as she tries to hook her arm around his waist and push him backward. Without two arms to counter balance, she might be able to knock him over onto his back with the aggressive tackle. And if she does, the girl will slip backward into a seated position near his feet, grabbing for his right foot and giving it a vicious twist. If she can injure his right leg then his right side will be rendered completely defenseless!
COMBATSYS: Roland fails to interrupt Random Combo from Ayame with Roland Rocket EX.
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Ayame 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\1 Roland
There's a rather pleased expression on Roland's face. It was not easy to take Ayame down; he knows that. The reason he managed is how much his assault kicked her mind into overdrive. It is very possible to think too much, although being able to leverage that into an advantage is something few people are likely able to do. A culmination of surprise, and extreme dedicated willpower into managing this technique. He has wanted to get her on her back for years, now!! The explosion is certainly forceful, although he does frown at the meddlesome vest remaining unscathed as a result. "Damnit. Progress!!" What on earth is he even talking about? The pieces might be coming together now.
"I've always been good at attacking. You can't deny that. All I did... was get rid of the weapons. I was limited. I could only do it with a tool. Now... I am my own tool!!" That doesn't end quite as distinctly badass as he wanted, but too late to renege and try again. Of course, this time she surprises him. Being tackled is not what he would consider a core of weapons fighting. But he's strong, and the slight Ayame impacting him would actually find it rather hard. He's strong!! Fingers dig into her hair, but she masterfully uses her superior center of gravity to hike him up and thump him on his back as desired.
"Nngh! Sit higher!!" he manages to spit out when she grasps his leg. And then eyes sharpen, before he plants one hand. Green energy flashes out, and his muscles tense considerably. She can sense the power suddenly going through him... before he had difficulty tapping into this unique facet of his manifestation. For a second he actually overpowers her, lifting both himself AND Ayame off the ground a few inches with only his good arm. "ROLAND...!!"
But she wins, and he crashes back into the grass. A sharp twist, and the feel of something popping. Roland begins to howl like a wolf, writhing in agony beneath her. "A,AUGH!! WHAT DID YOU DO!! HRAAUGH!! THE POINT WAS TO TEST MY MOBILITY, AND YOU BREAK MY LEG?!?! GET OFF!!"
Were he anyone else, Ayame would have gladly sat there and twisted his ankle for as long and hard as possible. Mercy isn't something she's known for showing once she has the upper hand against her opponents. But when he yells for her to stop targeting what she's identified as his greatest potential weakness, the girl actually does let go of his abused limb before any lasting harm could come to it. Pushing off the ground with her hands, she's back on her feet and taking a step back from the wounded prodigy. "You'll be fine," she snaps, not sounding terribly appologetic but seeming a bit defensive anyway.
Maybe she DID go too far. Look at him, he only has one arm!! Crushing the dreams of optimists has ever been a guilty pleasure of hers, a chance to prove her own cynical outlook correct. But shouldn't she want him to hope a little? Robbing someone of their arm is certainly further than she'd ever go to stifle their aspirations. Ayame hesitates, giving Roland a moment. It was hard to reign in her predatory tendencies. But for /him/, she does try bite back the desire to continue attacking where she perceives him the weakest.
Her mind races to think over his old techniques. The accurate surges of viridian chi were there before, but it had always been channeled through something, not unlike her own style of fighting. Outside of technique in her entire arsenal, every one of the girl's chi techniques rely on weapons she's engineered specifically to amplify her precise yet ultimately not exceptionally strong chi manipulation. Without her weapons, her personal chi projections have always been not particularly dangerous...
But it seems he has overcome that somehow. She would smirk at him calling himself a tool were she not too busy trying to think of the implications. Every part of him was a weapon now. His legs almost became a weapon when she placed herself near his feet and yanked his ankle. She hadn't expected that. Just as she hadn't expected almost anything coming from him thus far. Then it hits her - not just every part of him is a weapon... he weaponized her own /top/ with his chi! "How did you come to realize all this in such a short amount of time?" she asks back. Freeman's attack... it seems to have opened Roland's mind to a whole world of potential he was previously blind to!
The girl plants her feet in the grass, standing roughly near where she had last been knocked down, the blades of grass bearing some scorch marks from the explosion he created. But then the grass begins to move from another force, initially entirely unseen. It becomes visible quickly, however, especially in the dim star light beneath which they fight. A crimson radius builds around her feet, an aura of chi the girl begins to pull heavily from the world around her. It flickers like flames and begins to build, the hue of the gathered energy shifting from crimson to violet to blue the higher up it gets around the girl. It is no mere lightshow either as it rustles Ayame's hair and whips at her skirt and the tatters of the top of her shirt. Her hands clenched, eyes focused, she stays rooted.
COMBATSYS: Ayame gathers her will.
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Ayame 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Roland
"I realized it because it was always there." Roland states, matter of factly. He rolls over and gets to his feet without any hesitation. Ayame would immediately realize he was just touting a bunch of crap; she did indeed have him in a horrible position, but did much less damage then she could have were she to continue things. There's a bit of a limp, but her mind would be ringing with how much worse it would have been, if it had gone on even a few seconds longer. "I never applied myself beyond the bare minimum. My weapons were a crutch. It was easier to fill them with chi, then to use my own body. So... now you are looking at me... when I put my mind to something." It seems even in a case like that, Roland is actually more dangerous despite the lack of arm. Ayame could easily place it. He has, legitimately and fully, evolved from the last time they battled. It goes against all logic, but does bring to question one thing. How much more powerful would he have been, if he DIDN'T have this handicap before the self-realization?
When Ayame begins to carefully channel up her chi, Roland then slips a hand into his trenchcoat. He comes out with three crisp playing cards, one held between each knuckle. "Although there is one tool I still use. My chi has a limitation. It needs something to adhere to, in order to be shaped." The remnants of her shirt and lost tie can certainly confirm that. Again he slowly does a half-circle with his arm, flowing from his waist to above his head. Green energy surges into all three.
And then his hand snaps out three times, sharply. Each time, one of the imbued cards is sent towards Ayame; they are razor sharp, and would stick into anything handy, to blow up a half-second later with a solid one-meter PAFF of his green chi!
COMBATSYS: Ayame blocks Roland's Dead Man's Hand.
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Ayame 1/------=/=======|=======\=------\1 Roland
There is the slightest eyebrow twitch from Ayame when he kips back up to his feet without seemingly too much trouble, but she lets the moment pass, focused on trying to figure as much out about Roland as she can before she finishes clobbering him for good and there will be no more words to exchange. He describes his old makeshift tools as a crutch and the girl wonders for a moment about her own ingrained style of blending weapons and chi to execute her best techniques. A soft shake of her head and she puts the train of thought out of her mind.
One thing she can't deny, however, is the impressive progress Roland had made in such short time. He had always seemed lazily clever before, the walking definition of unrewarded genius though it was hard to gauge just how much of it was him hitting his hard limits and just a general lack of effort. Now? There is a lot to be said for his progress when he puts his mind to. "Did you just wake up and have this epiphany?" she asks back, clearly still trying to figure out the catalyst for it all. Being attacked by Freeman seems to... have been the biggest wake up call of his life. What was it for her? How did she change? She averts her eyes for a moment in thought, but attention snaps back to him as his hand goes into his trenchcoat.
For her part, left hand slips into the pouch dangling from one of her belts, fishing out her collapsed staff. With a single twirl, the weapon expands from six inches to a length twelve times as long in nearly an instant. All the built up chi around her is drawn up as if being sucked into her staff like dust before a vacuum. "Hmph." she replies. If he's going to throw something at her, she'll have no problem knocking it away with her most trusted weapons... Unfortunately for her, he choses to throw THREE somethings!
His cards come flying fast, but she seems have a sharp eye out for the veridian glowing sharp edged projectiles. Simple but decisive movements of her staff place the weapon at an angle that easily deflects two of the cards, sending them ricocheting off harmlessly into the air. The formation of cards, however, makes it impossible for her to block the third one without letting at least one of the other two past. It was as if he knew she would try to deflect them that way!
The stray card lodges itself in her torso just behind her crimson glimmering staff. Quickly, Ayame's hand goes to try and snatch it away before the energy destablizes like she saw before, but she's not fast enough. A small, individual paff of expended chi goes off in front of her, causing the girl to stagger back a step, teeth grit as she bites back the pain. Even with her formidable aura, that stung quite a bit. And it did the remnants of her top no favors either, a hole blown open at the base of her sternum, reducing her shirt to tatters. Her black bra keeps her decent for now, but this is starting to get ridiculous, she grouses. Beneath the destroyed garment, Ayame appears to have a knife strapped against her side. "Che. I don't think I like this new take on your energy."
It's any wonder how she ever intended to reach it normally, as she simply reaches through the newly made hole to draw it now, unleashing it with a back fling towards Roland. The motion seems so relaxed and lazy, but the execution is flawless and the precision deadly, the knife turning over in the air in its meticulous trajectory for Roland's torso!
COMBATSYS: Ayame successfully hits Roland with Thrown Weapon.
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Ayame 1/------=/=======|=======\=------\1 Roland
It seems that one of Roland's weakness is listless knifing. She flings it towards him, and it lands true, an attempt to leap aside failing as it sinks into his shoulder. "OW!" He staggers heavily, grasping the hilt with his good hand and wrenching it free. After looking it over for a few moments, he wipes the blood off upon his black muscle shirt and slips it into an inside pocket. Yoink! "I was weak." he states, simple and to the point. "I had years of my life I wasted, never trying to better myself. Doing just what it took to do what I wanted. To live easy and free, lacking any cares beyond one day to the next. I realized something in the short fight I had with that man. The world he moved in... wasn't impossible for me. I died because I wasn't good enough. That was that. I had a second chance... should I have just shrugged my shoulders, and went back to how I was?" Bloody fingers are cleaned up on the thigh of his jean. "You are nothing more then a stepping stone, Ayame!!" He then launches himself forward, rushing in her direction before launching into the air. Another card dances into his fingers, before he slashes down in a quick, precise manner. His aim? The thin strap of bra between her breasts. "Also... THIS WILL LET ME EXPAND MY EMPIRE!" Only now would she probably notice it. Hidden within his hair, perched above his ear, is the small glint of a camera. So her clothing IS one of his goals!!
COMBATSYS: Ayame fails to counter Quick Strike from Roland with The Sunrise Of Broken Dreams.
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Ayame 1/----===/=======|=======\=------\1 Roland
The knife throw is effective. She may make it look easy, but throwing knives is actually one of the things Ayame actively practices in the hidden training grounds she has made for herself in the various places she has been known to lurk. Hitting dead center on an immobile target is tough but hitting a moving target like Roland? It's not by accident. "That's for pretending I hurt your leg worse." she retorts with a grunt when he cries out from having a knife sticking out of his shirt. Her eyebrow twitches a bit as he pockets the knife but she doesn't make too much of a fuss about it. Cutlery is something she does have an abundant supply of back home after all.
She's quiet as he speaks. It's an interesting point... he talks about the world that monster fought in. To her, it was horrifying, something beyond her abilities, a world she wanted to escape as fast as possible. She had fought other 'monsters' in her days. Beasts like Yamazaki, assassins like Balrog, living legends like Chun-Li... In each and every case, she had always dismissed them as belonging to a world far beyond what she was capable of. Perhaps destiny had simply blessed them with far too much power and there was no hope of ever catching up. But that hadn't been Roland's reaction at all.
Ayame actually looks taken aback by that consideration. He saw how powerful Freeman was and as a result, has become inspired to reach that tier. All she's done since was run. What if SHE pushed herself? Is she not a prodigy? Is she not smarter than everyone else? She set out to make her own life when she was too young to do so but how far has she gotten? She knew she had so much more potential, but has she squandered it?
Roland isn't hassled, the girl hanging back, seemingly more interested in what he has to say than in what he's actually doing for once. But the moment passes, Roland closing the distance, and Ayame shifts her stance, her staff held at a defensive angle in front of her. Calling her a stepping stone has changed her mood about this encounter completely. "We'll see about that," she growls back. A slide of her thumb over one of the many runes etched on her staff causes a faint glow. Near the end of her weapon, a ring of small spikes pop out with a hiss. She intends to make her next attack extremely vicious.
She's in the process of bringing her weapon up, intending to intersect his forearm defensively as he slips the card into his hand, when she notices the glint of a lens. "What is-" She's thinking about the wrong thing again and it completely throws her timing off. Instead of a jarring initial slam of her staff, her upswing of the weapon misses Roland's incoming strike all together and leaves her chest open and his swing a clear path for his intended mark!
A thin lined gash is cut into her skin and the narrow strip of cloth he was aiming for gives away easily, parting the concealing undergarment while Ayame's arms are raised, giving Roland and his peeping camera a few seconds of unguarded exposure. The girl realizes what he's done in an instant and quickly takes a step back instead of retaliating. Her left hand slips off her staff to go to her chest to try and hold her sliced bra in place, eyes widened as she glares back at Roland, immediately turning her side toward him. Even in the limited light, her blush is visible. "What are you- you think... I'm just going to let you get away with this?!" she exclaims back at him. Of course, she's got a tough fight ahead if she intends to keep her hand there!
Was it an accident? Certainly, the camera had been there the whole fight. To witness it, right when Roland mentions his lascivious plan and her concentration -- the very best weapon she has in all of her encounters -- is needed most... she probably will understand that some parts of this annoying fighter remain the same as always. However, he's managed to get farther then ever before. But when she steps back and closes her top, Roland is... on his hand and knees, head bowed forward. "This... went better then I could have ever hoped..." The sheer pleasure in his voice is apparent. She can't allow that footage to reach the Ayame's Panties website!! But he quickly gets up, exhaling lightly. That was a one in a million opportunity to stab him when most vulnerable, but there's always the chance he did it purely because she couldn't capitalize on it. He's got actual tears in his eyes, wiping one away with a knuckle. "Anything from now on is pure bonus." The card he used to sever her bra remains in his hand, and Roland advances with purpose. It shines with chi, as he begins to slash out in a sustained combination. However, many of them are leveraged at her skirt; attempting to slit in vertical lines, all the way up to her waist. They are harmless, and if ignored would not cause her any damage. That would be the reasonable response, at least. "Come on! You shouldn't care about petty things like that! You've got a good body, since when do you have shame?!" He then twirls the shining green card, trying to sink it into Ayame's belt and shoulder-check her off her feet, just as it would explode!!
COMBATSYS: Roland successfully hits Ayame with Sleight of Hand.
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Ayame 1/--=====/=======|=======\====---\1 Roland
Things are rapidly spiraling out of control for the girl. Early on she was taking Roland apart, but little by little, the momentum of the match has turned in his favor, further facilitating his licentious motivations behind this little get together. And now Ayame has been forced on the defensive, trying to figure out how to turn the tables on this most unpredictable and unchivalrous of opponents. She's mad now, he can readily tell. She's been bested by plenty of powerful foes throughout her fights, crushed by monsters, kicked around by legends. But no one has made a fool of her like this! His reaction, the guard-dropped blss at her expense, is only making it worse now. Instead of focusing on beating him, she's after that camera now. Beating him will just be a pleasant side effect.
"I'll give you a bonus all right," she snaps back. Of course, she doesn't have the same thing in mind as him in the slightest. The energy flowing through her staff has increased in intensity, reflecting the fired up ire of the strawberry blonde. But with only one hand on her weapon, it's hard to imagine her being able to leverage it with the normal skill she is capable of - it's a bit too large to whip around with the kind of speed necessary to properly defend herself with it.
And that shortcoming becomes abundantly clear when he advances on the flustered female again, swinging the sharp edged, chi-infused card with a specific purpose that Ayame doesn't like in the slightest. Her right side is turned toward him which has him approaching on the side with her staff at least, but try as she might, she just can't move it fast enough to intersect each of the card swipes. Red and black colored strips of cloth go flying while her skirt receives much unneded ventilation as he slips slash after slash through her sluggish guard.
A particularly long slash parts over her leg and from the fabric of her garment, a needle falls to the grass, easy to miss in the fray. Likely one of her other fallback weapons. The sweeps of her right arm become more and more erratic the greater her desperation to ward him off which likely only makes it easier for him to get through. The cuts into her skin aren't feeling very good either, the edge of those suspiciously deadly cards certainly up to the task of inflicting harm as well. The girl staggers a step, giving serious thought to retreating only to remember she /has/ to get that camera!
But he's keeping pace, leaving her no room, his hand snapping out to plant the destructive card in her belt. Her eyes widen, the girl torn between letting go of her staff to seize it away or moving her hand away from her chest. In the end, she gets to do neither, his driving shoulder check bowling her off her feet into a small backward arc, legs kicking up from beneath her. "AH!" The small explosion obscures the girl as she lands hard with an uncontroled thump against the grass. Her skirt rests around her waist, largely in tatters, and the cloth that had been covering her chest seems have been lost in the fall, but her right hand continues to grip her staff. Shaking her head, she sits up, her left arm moving over her chest as she glares back at Roland, and then she's stumbling up to her feet, using her staff as a lever to make it easier to do.
"You're a real piece of work, Roland Brown. That's not your decision to make!" she exclaims back at him, bolting forward then, her staff a torch of surging chi in her right hand. The violent forward motion pushes her tattered skirt beyond what it can bear and the shreaded garment falls away, leaving crimson hued pink panties behind. Her right thumb slides over another etched run with a flicker of chi as she swings for Roland. Half of her staff would fall away then with the swing, possibly clocking Roland in the head in the process, leaving a more easily managed three-foot long half-staff in her right hand. But it isn't that which she strikes with first. Instead, hoping the twirling, free flying segment of her staff will distract him long enough... for her to drive her right left foot right up between his legs!
If she succeeds with the targeted attack, it would only open the way to the frenzied beating she's going to give him with her half-staff fragment. Strike after chi-infused strike would be used to clobber the Urban Cowboy and website entrepreneur. Unlike before, calls for mercy might fall on deaf ears. She's definitely trying to knock him off his feet and, if possible, smash that camera over his ear with her violent swings. If he wanted to get her ire up, he's more than succeeded!
COMBATSYS: Ayame successfully hits Roland with Final Solstice.
-+- CALCULATED HIT -+-
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Ayame 0/-------/-----==|=======\====---\1 Roland
Well, it just so happens that Roland may have somewhat defeated himself. Although he has managed to thoroughly thrust Ayame into an unpleasant situation, the extent of his success went farther then he had ever thought. Oh, he rightfully believed it would completely throw off her mental game. But after the last onslaught, tearing her skirt to tatters before finishing it off with another of his explosive cards, when the harried Ayame gets back up... A heavy blush suffuses Roland's cheek. His eyes sloooowly descend her form, and she very well not care for the thoughts that sort of expression have to be generating!! And then a staff fragment thumps off his head, and he realizes that Ayame is attacking him. No, she's attacking him full force, with a very righteous rage. Focusing on that imbued staff, her foot quickly finds it's way between his legs. The impact lifts him a good two inches, and there's just a chorus of yelps, cries, complaining, and grunts as she explosively impacts him for far too long. The camera is just a lump of broken plastic now, and the rest of Roland isn't far behind. Trembling, he then does the only thing he can. Lunging forward, splayed fingers aim... to grip the front of Ayame's panties, and yank down. The intent is simplistic after. Lurching to his feet, a card will dance into his fingers before he unleashes a brutal assault of chi-based slashing, ending with him hurling it towards her midsection... so he can try to grasp her by the air, unleash a flurry of quite literally explosive knee blows to her stomach, and then HURL her backwards with a final sheathe of his aggravating emerald chi, to cause an explosion afterwards!!
And then he thumps to the ground, hand between his legs, folding over like a cheap chair and whimpering with his face to the grass.
COMBATSYS: Roland can no longer fight.
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Ayame 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Ayame stops Jackpot! from Roland with Midsummer Fantasy.
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Ayame 0/-------/------=|
The assault only stops when she has him nearly beat down. The combination of strikes isn't her normally graceful, near dance-like variant of staff fighting, but that doesn't mean she isn't capable of using the imbued half-staff like a brutal mace. But even on the brink of ruin, Roland's ambitions don't seem to be reduced in any way. The only difference now is that Ayame is back on the offense, the momentum of the bout having turned in her favor, and when he makes his desperate lunge, she's more than ready to deal with it. A downward swing of her staff knocks his grabbing fingers aside with an accompanied 'Che' in reply.
If he had succeeded, she would almost certainly have been too frazzled to defend against his last tenacious onslaught. But as it stands, she has a window of opportunity while he lunges back on the offense, her staff gripping arm sliding up over her chest to form an arm-bra, her left arm free to snap forward, palm open, forcing the only free-standing chi technique the girl knows - a translucent barrier of rose-hued chi. It serves both to soak in the chi coating his cards, diminishing the energy he has to throw at her with each swing of his arm, and keeps them from penetrating through to get to the girl behind as Ayame glares through her barrier back at Roland. The thrown chi card causes her barrier to flicker from the surge if impressive energy, but more effort on Ayame's part, perhaps drawing on the energy she had gathered to herself earlier in the fight, allows her to keep it in place.
She's... about as in control of the situation as she can be, all things considered. And when he makes a grab for her long hair, she is finished with him, stepping forward and around his lunch, her right foot lingering behind to 'help' him to the ground. She glances over the grass to see the bits of camera scattered around. At least one objective was thoroughly secured. But where does that leave her now?! Stepping over to Roland, she isn't offering the creatively deceptive brawler much of a chance to get back at her nor does she provide words of apology or comfort, her expression still tense, her cheeks still red.
She does, however, drop her staff into her left hand and point the end of it toward Roland. "Give me your coat. Now." The coat fits the large, muscular man quite well. It will more than cover her clothing-starved figure easily!
"...stealing my coat?" Roland mutters, sounding thoroughly depressed. His fist pounds into the ground, causing a divet. He tries to ignore the throb between his legs as best he can. It's not the first or last time that will happen, but the train of his thought has been derailed. "You already took everything from me!!" Whirling up on his knees, he points an accusing finger. And shockingly, the twinge of rage would ring true. He can't fight any more, making it even more unlikely this is another ruse. "Do you know what it's like... working towards a goal for so long? Having it be almost close enough to touch..." He gazes at his fingers, slowly flexing them. "Only to have it pulled away?!" He wobbles backwards and thumps on his rear, pulling up his legs and panting heavily with an arm over his knee. "I almost did it..." he murmurs once more. "I almost..." ... "Pulled down your panties..." That was his ultimate long-term goal?!
Ayame stays put after making her demand, half-staff extended, maintaining a certain zone of control between her and Roland, just in case he tries anything else after all that. He sounds down about her taking his trenchcoat but Ayame retorts, "The hell do you expect me to get back home wearing? Hand it over!" She doesn't punctuate her sentence with a strike though she sounds irritated enough that the thought can't be far from her mind.
He lurches up and she takes a step back, right arm still over her chest, her left hand gripping her weapon tightly as she glares back at him. "W-what do you mean?" she stammers. Now she's back on the defensive again. She thought he wasn't obsessing over the loss of his arm, but that must be what he's talking about, isn't it?? She turns her left side toward him, growing more wary by the moment, studying him as she tries to figure out what he means by this now. "What goal is that, anyway? I thought you said you were going to strive to better yourself, that's a long term thing!"
He thumps backward into a seated position and Ayame relaxes her guard just a little. It seems unlikely that he can lunge from that position! But she's still puzzled as to what he's talking about... for about five seconds longer.
"What?! What kind of goal is that!!" She shakes her head, "No way, you missed me by a mile. Now give me your coat!" she reminds him of her demand a second time.
His hand lifts, lazily holding up a small portable camcorder that fits in one's palm as the red light shines brightly, focusing on Ayame just so. With her panties and crossed arm, it's doubtlessly a shot that would rake in tons of dough from the strawberry blond! He likely won't get very long to continue recording, however. "Make me." he states, defiantly. As if Ayame wasn't able to just kick him in the head and yank it off him were she to have half a mind!! "It's my jacket. I like it!"
Eyes narrow instantly, the girl jamming her staff forward, aiming to smash it straight into Roland's raised palm with camcorder-destroying force. The three-foot reach of her staff lets her strike without getting too terribly close. It seems like the girl is still hesitant to get any closer to Roland than she has to. She has a number of fallback options herself, when she's down, but he doesn't seem to have his weapons anymore, just those infernal cards. At this point, he couldn't possibly flick one back at her fast enough to catch her unaware, so it is unclear what she remains afraid of.
"I beat you!" Ayame exclaims, "Do you want me to just clobber you in the head until you're unconscious? Because I will!" Yet for some reason she isn't making good on her threat just yet. She glances around for a moment before bringing her focus back onto Roland. After everything that happened to her this match, she's certainly glad that he decided to fight in such a remote corner of the park afterall.
Attention back on Roland, she glowers, "And stop producing cameras. How many of those things do you have, anyway?! What kind of money are you getting off me from your stupid webpage!"
A yelp of pain leaves Roland as the broken camera bounces away. He suckles on his fingers, but just kind of glowers at Ayame. Well, most of her. He's still fascinated by the bared flesh and current outfit, after all. It'd take a bit of effort to get his attention to focus once more. "Not a lot! Like... a couple hundred a month at the peak. But THIS stuff is going to make it skyrocket." Roland beams up towards Ayame, shrugging out of his trenchcoat and hurling it. He manages about a meter, but rampant staffpoking could fish it over. It's got no tricks to it whatsoever, beyond a large pricetag. After a few moments he offers, "You realize that the transmissions of all my cameras is wireless, right?" As if he'd bother making it noticeable if she had a 99 percent chance of beating him up and breaking them!
The girl leans forward, hooking the end of her staff under his coat and then lifting it back over to her. She turns her back to him to drop her guard and pull it on, closing it in front before whirling back around on Roland, having listened to his comment about the cameras being wireless. "Hmph." she grunts, walking some steps away to collect the other half of her staff that she had beaned off his head earlier. Pressing it against the other half and twisting, the two segments become one once more. A twirl of the weapon in her hand has it collapsed back down to its half-foot length. She keeps a hold of it rather than stuffing it into one of the coat pockets.
She approaches Roland again, seemingly calmer now with the coat covering her body, "I figured as much." she replies, the revelation not seeming rile her up at the moment. "Well, I guess..." She rolls her eyes up a little, "At least you'll have an income this way... Because you sure won't get it by fighting!" With the coat over her, the many small scrapes and cuts inflicted by his relentless carding and explosions are visible, so perhaps it makes it easier for her to dismiss just how close he got to dismantaling the her with his different approach. It was the closest he came to defeating the weapons fighter in their many encounters to date.
She inhales then exhales, shaking her head, "Still so far to go..." She twirls her collapsed staff in her hand idly, "But I'm not going to be waiting for you either." There's something decisive about her statement, as if in the act of fighting with him, she's come to a decision of her own. "So don't get your hopes up," she grins then before turning her back to him, clearly seeming to intend to take her leave.
"Well... if you ever feel like shutting down the website, I'm sure you could convince me." Roland's voice is sickeningly flirtacious now, as he pulls out his pack of clove cigarettes once more. All things considered, he could have been much worse. He learned rather a lot this day. That his style does indeed have potential. That it's not impossible to battle against Ayame and make progress. What color certain parts of her body is. Successes that can be built on in pursuit of his ultimate dream. No further comment follows, pushing to his feet and then digging out his cellphone. He carefully punches in a number, before clicking 'send' and pocketing it. Ayame, some distance away, would probably shriek in surprise as the trenchcoat lets out a series of loud pops, and flames burst out of the seams. If she puts it out right away, she'll be able to get home with something tattered and burnt. "Well. The game is on once more." he muses, before limping off into the darkness once more.
Log created on 16:55:21 06/23/2012 by Ayame, and last modified on 16:42:05 06/25/2012.