Description: Sakura and Honoka get a chance to play around with the server code for the Dream Amusement Park, to attempt to revise the ending of the game. But... In the end, the future refused to change.
Sakura is a staunch member of the Taiyo High camp. It's her school, and her source of school pride. She flies the Taiyo flag and sings the Taiyo fight song with unabashed, unashamed ferocity.
But, even with the events that once transpired between the schools--the School Wars, as some flippantly called them--Sakura had friends at Justice High. People she knew. People she respected. The massacre there didn't eliminate all of them--but even one was too many, and the total number something she didn't even want to think about. But it was pretty much all she could think about... it's been affecting her since she heard about it. Finally, she decided that she needed to do something to take her mind off of it. And there's just one thing in Southtown that does that for her--other than fighting.
Dream Amusement Park. She'd been here... well, pretty much all day. Of course she was here with her friends--but as the sun started to set, Kei, Natsu, and Hinata all had to leave. Sakura had nodded, and smiled--she was indeed feeling better, at least in part--but... she knew if she just went home she'd go back to thinking about it. So she stayed. Alone? Sort of. She was alone until she ran into the girl she met the last time she was here. It took a moment for her to remember the name, but once she did, she called the girl out.
And presumably, as the afternoon went into evening, as the rides started to shut down, Sakura and Honoka got to talking. About things. And stuff. And things. Possibly about the incident at Justice High.
"I mean... I'm a fighter. I know about casualties. But so many of them weren't... weren't even fighters. They didn't know about defending themselves... not a thing." Clearly, it's still hard for Sakura to deal with.
Honoka does not have experience with other people playing the 'friend' card. She'd thought it was one she could use as she wills, but never... back on her. It's an interesting life lesson, she supposes, and one that ongoing events compel her to pay attention to.
But, at any rate, it's not like the circus has been that active as of late. Officially, the circus is undergoing a schedule change, so any shows right now are largely just "public practice sessions." Unofficially, folks are freaking about about the giant freaking volcano erupting just a short ways away from the city. Fuji-san is angry, y'all.
In short, she's got no good reason -not- to come out and help a friend, to listen to her clear her mind. To offer conversation -- for as calm and reassuring as the young diabolo performer may be, the gamut of life experiences that she'd like to share is embarassingly short. Listening is much easier, and she's a remarkably good listener at that.
Was it a murder? Was it suicide? Honoka hasn't really been following the news too much, but it's okay because Sakura's been filling her in on everything. She could easily make dark humor about the 'casual' in 'casualties', but... not cool. "The problem with power is that those WITH power... exercise it." She gives a faint smile back to Sakura. "Really... the best way to fight this sort of thing is to show people what =they= can do. How =they= can teach themselves to fight back." Flicking her yo-yo out to one side, and then retrieving it, she adds, "Unfortunately... in that sort of situation, some people forget that fighting back is even an option." Flick. "Knowing... will help those in the coming days." Retrieve. "It's important to remember that we have a job, as performers, as fighters."
Flick. "To encourage hope."
"Is that not the curse of this human life?"
A deep voice rumbles towards the pair, before footsteps can be heard thumping in the darkness as a silhouette slowly takes shape. The utterly massive form of Mukai stands as tall as any creature alive, thrumming with strength and power even within a dormant state. His expression is one that is more unamused than anything else, upper body bare beyond the bands across his forearms and the sweeping, noble-like lower robes. With charcoal skin and stark white hair, none could make the mistake he was traditionally human.
"Regrets. Of not being there to protect someone. Of calamity befalling those you care for. A constant march forward, and all one can hope for is to carry more positive memories than failures... And wishing, indeed. That one possessed such knowledge beforehand." Arms extend in both directions then, Mukai's bare feet scraping across the ground of the empty park.
"But does it have to be that way...? You humans, who have had such great tragedy. I have a question for you. ...What if all that was done... was not etched in motiveless stone? For every force in this world, there is an opposite. So if time strides ever forward..."
A grin follows, every tooth sharp and ominous.
"Then surely, there is a way to make it go back. Would such be a bad thing? A second life. One different. One where such things may have never happened... The very world is crafted in your image, of fate and destiny as it should have came to pass, and not how it did...!! The knowledge of a failed world, to instigate a perfect one!"
Despite his words, there doesn't seem to be a particular passion to them. Yet, a strange energy seems to hang around Mukai then, arms beginning to rise slowly. The surroundings warble, powerful temporal energy seething into the very foundation of the park. Ones highly reactive.
"Behold. Some of the great powers of Us from the Past. Proof of our capabilities. This land... is now yours." A great roar, a shudder like an earthquake, and... Sakura and Honoka might not immediately feel anything different. But right now, all around them is a blank canvas, one which will sketch out what lies within.
"I am on a personal quest. To test those of this world. To see if they are worthy of the future they hold. Or if they even wish to retain it...!! What say you? Are you willing to risk the echoes of your true self... in return for knowing just what is happening to this world...?"
"I... guess that's true." Sakura holds up one of her gloved hands, clenching it into a fist. The motion of Honoka's yo-yo is watched, as Sakura slowly lowers her first.
"I'm... I just." She looks helpless for a moment--an unusual thing for Sakura, to be sure. Then she regains her more usual expression--determined, if not cheerful, per se.
"I guess I just have to do whatever I can to help those I can." Just as she's about to say more... a voice interrupts. Blinking, Sakura looks at Honoka, then turns towards the source of it. What she sees is... not anything good. Aside from the sheer size--the man must be the size of Sagat, and the color of that skin... wait, that sounds racist. But everything about Mukai screams 'I am not a nice man'.
Sakura gets to her feet, pushing the hood of her burgundy-colored hoodie back. "'You humans'...?" she echoes Mukai, looking more quizzically confused. The man looks human... kind of. Well, okay, those teeth don't look human, and whatever is happening here... she can feel it, a subtle wrongness.
"... somehow I don't think we're going to have a choice," she says, not quite quipping, as she deliberately moves away from Honoka, getting a little separation, glancing over at the diabolo girl.
"You might... want to run now, Honoka-chan," says Sakura. As for her? Her expression says nothing of the sort.
Honoka has studied Sakura for quite some time, after her first meeting. Photos. Videos. And insecurity, unassuredness, those are not her defining qualities, they're not even on the chart. Honoka's brow lowers, and as she draws her yo-yo back into her hand, she clenches it into her fist, in solidarity.
The diabolo performer's situational awareness is usually pretty acute, but the fair amount of people milling about has been forcing her to focus more intently on her friend Sakura's downcast mien. In short, the arrival and subsequent announcements of the tall, dark, and mysterious stranger hits her like a slap.
~ ... there is a way to make it go back... A second life... where such things may have never happened... the knowledge of a failed world, to instigate a perfect one. ~
The words swim about in Honoka's head, overriding the good common sense the rest of the fleeing people may have had. You know, those people, the ones fleeing the intensity of the scene in favor of more comfortable, less ashen places with cleaner air -- ride attendants, fearful paying customers, and the like. A few people stand and gawk: a pre-teen schoolkid with big glasses just gawks, while a short man and wife, both wearing similarly styled kimono and reeking of fish, stand and watch with detached, introspective expressions.
It's a beautiful and deceptive lie to Honoka. One that causes her to be a bit more inquisitive, in defiance of the more experienced fighter's cautious demand.
"So you're claiming responsibility, then." It's a question, spoken like a statement, but from the brazen self-assuredness with which Mukai speaks, it's the only plausible explanation from the words presented. Honoka calmly fastens the yo-yo back onto her wristband, and with equal calmness reaches into her small backpack. Two conic cups are withdrawn from it -- wine cups? No, Honoka threads them together at the tips. A diabolo.
"Our job is to provide hope, Sakura, " she states with calmness, assembling a second diabolo. "I am willing," she states, more loudly for Mukai's benefit.
COMBATSYS: Honoka has started a fight here.
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Honoka 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Sakura has joined the fight here.
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Honoka 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Sakura
COMBATSYS: Mukai has joined the fight here as a boss!
MUKAI
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Honoka 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Sakura
"...Choice? There is always a choice, young sapling. You chose to take the way of the warrior, did you not? Through steadfast determination, you forged a future that none would have expected. Hah! The power of human potential never fails to amaze me! You, I would think... have few regrets in this world!" Perhaps outside not consistently wearing pants, however.
"But this is merely an offer. If you with to turn your back upon it, you may leave. And if you lose, you shall not die. All you must wager is your determination as a fighter... your histories as warriors... and impress upon me your will to remain in this world!! Do that simple thing, and you shall be rewarded."
"Responsibility...?" Mukai states, before he is quiet long moments. "Yes. My group is responsible, directly or not, for every natural disaster to take place. The rise of the cultists who slaughtered innocent lives. The vanishing of those in France. All of it. Every single one... is upon my hands."
He keeps his arms raise, stance seeming completely open, as if purposefully inviting. "Does that not better entice you, youth of the Earth?"
COMBATSYS: Mukai stands in a loose stance, arms raised, grinning wildly.
MUKAI
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Honoka 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Sakura
Around them, the theme park starts... changing. As Mukai talk about steadfast determination, about forging the future, Sakura's heart reacts to that. And the world reacts to her. The ground is cracked asphalt and concrete--only now, it isn't. There's a silent, almost invisible flash--a moment felt, more than heard, or seen, a shimmer of reality rippling through the world--and the steel in Sakura's heart is reflected in the steel that sheathes the floor of this impromptu fighting arena. But her sadness comes through, too--Sakura is not a simple person who feels only one thing. So that shiny steel floor is marred with patches of darkness, an unexplainable, indefinable mire.
Sakura looks around her, not really comprehending the changes. "You... you're responsbile for it? For... my friends?" And a new emotion streaks the sky black and red, fulminous dark clouds gathering, blotting parts of the sky out--a sky a dark, ugly red, almost the color of blood. A truly unearthly arena.
"Then I guess... if we're talking responsibility... it's my responsibility to -punish you-!" She acts upon that immediately, drawing her hands into her stomach, generating a blue-white ball of chi in her hands--building it, feeding it, letting it force her hands apart, and then throwing it forward, her voice raised defiantly. "HADOOOOUKEN!"
While Honoka may have been the one to call this obsidian stranger out on his words, and she may have been first to draw a weapon of sorts... well. She still doesn't know exactly what she's dealing with, either. And Sakura is the much stronger fighter.
When Mukai owns up to it... well, she is enticed, that's for sure. But the fact remains that his words are a very, =very= pointed threat. Triumph, or die with the regret that she didn't do everything she could to end this. Regret that she backed down from a challenge, and more than that -- an opportunity.
A chance to set things right.
The two diabolos in her hand are tossed into the air, and drawn like an iaido practitioner, two wands are swiftly unsheathed from Honoka's backpack. The wands slice upwards, and the diabolo are snared into a rapid figure eight... the young diabolo performer's tools are more akin to a whirling pair on nunchaku than mere juggling props. "Challenge accepted."
A quick glance out of the corner of her eye confirms all that she needs to know, as Honoka rushes forth, swirling the diabolo off to her right. Neatly sidestepping any anomalies in her path, she dashes at Mukai, swinging her arms low with an intent to ensnare his feet in the swirling maelstrom, hoping to distract him long enough for the Hadouken to slam into him.
The bespectacled youngster gasps as his feet are -really- close to the zone of dark ambiguous space, while the fisher couple step closer to one another, rather put out as well!
COMBATSYS: Mukai dodges Honoka's Solar Eclipse.
MUKAI
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Honoka 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Sakura
COMBATSYS: Mukai blocks Sakura's Medium Hadouken.
MUKAI
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Honoka 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Sakura
Mukai simply begins to stride forward once it's clear the passion to fight has been instigated in the young warriors. Eyes grow more wild, and his hands lift higher, fingers curling into clawed digits. Suddenly white leylines ripple across his massive form, and the ground begins to rumble, as if the very essence of the Earth had begun aiding the monolithic fighter opposite the pair.
"To lose this fight means nothing. To lose this war means losing everything. But is such truly failure? So much suffering. So many pointless deaths. The cancer of humanity as a whole... if not for the wild, beautiful blossoms of the few, those that Gaea embraces, I would be eradicating every last threat with these two hands... A fresh start. The Earth needs it. And I believe many humans would wish it, too...! Will you cling, selfishly, to your meaningless pasts?!"
Honoka's rush forward causes Mukai's leg to suddenly shift backwards and away. However, this causes the intended impact; Sakura's hadouken explodes right upon the huge man, who didn't so much as move a forearm. Only in the billows of cerulean and white hissing steam, he looks unharmed; having turned the majority of his body into a fortress of stone, that quickly recedes.
"Hrmph." He then twists, a brutal fist swinging around towards Honoka, aiming to collide with explosive force -- aiming to send her cartwheeling head over heels to the distance. "I thought you a seed well grown, prodigy of Ryu. Perhaps you are only mid-blossom after all...!!"
That wasn't Sakura's best strike. And, as soon as she can after she launches the cerulean projectile, she moving forward at a fast clip. She isn't rushing in, but moving at a fast, balanced walk, her weight shifting forward as she does so. Mukai is like a stone wall, for all that he's a living, breathing being--or so it seems. Seeing other people here--what are they doing here?!?--she shouts, "Get out of here! Go on!" Seeing those people just affirms her desire to protect people, and when she continues her movement, it's with even more purposeful strides.
She can't get there in time to stop Mukai from attacking Honoka, but she'll arrive in short order just after. Just in time to utter her finest war cry and to demonstrate the ind of tenaciousness that earned her the skills she's honed--planting her left foot and cranking her right around in a sweeping high roundhouse kick.
Of course, if she hits, she'll certainly find out that Mukai really -is- like a walking stone wall, but she's too focused right now to consider the actual implications of that. She shoots a quick, grateful smile at Honoka--truth be told, she definitely didn't want to face this guy alone.
COMBATSYS: Honoka instinctively blocks Mukai's Strong Punch.
MUKAI
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Honoka 0/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Sakura
Meaningless pasts? What drivel! Past DEFINES present, and without the past the present has no meaning. It's the entire reason Honoka has done anything at all the past eight years. The nerve of this guy! This... guy who can transmogrify himself into a fully operational battle fortress.
At least he's giving the girls a free pass if they lose, right? Well, Honoka's skeptical that a big tall dude that can alter reality is going to think twice about altering the deal. So she's playing for keeps! And playing for keeps means throwing herself into battles she should, beyond all reason, LOSE. Besides, this is still grief counseling for Sakura. Honoka's got a damn job to do, people.
And apparently, in some ways, she sucks at her job, because her diabolo snare whiffs harmlessly past the obsidian terror, just in time for a Hadouken to slam into solid stone. Honoka nods quietly, swirling her diabolo back to orbit a vertical axis in front of her, defensively.
And it would seem that her defensive measure paid off, as a stony fist comes rocketing towards her. Honoka's wands snap out to either side, the cord snapping taut between them. Clack-clack go the diabolos as they crash into her opponent's fist. Some of the impact of the blow is stifled, but Honoka is still forced backwards with a squeak of her sneakers, and a general bow of her arms. That... could have hurt less...
Gritting her teeth, she... doesn't seem to notice Sakura at all, too focused as she on Mukai's denial of her existence. Isn't even =talking= to her now.
KRAKA-THOOOOOOOOOOOOM! The Dream Amusement Park shudders -- or rather... this tight-knit little fishing community...?! The fisherman and his wife look perfectly at home now, with fishing huts having replaced the amusement rides, and Sound Beach turned into a much more rocky shore.
The kid with big glasses soils himself, running off to safety in a delayed reaction to Sakura's command.
And Honoka doesn't notice, because her eyes are freaking closed. SERIOUSLY? As the storm winds rage, whistling through the drafty fishmonger's hut, Honoka takes one step back, whipping her diabolo about for a moment, before settling the string into a taut 'cradle' pattern. The diabolo fall onto the cradle, and another snap of the string settles them into the center of the cradle -- turning it into a star. The star glows an iridescent purple, and Honoka's eyes flash purple. Her mouth forms words, but no voice comes out.
Because the voice would be in Mukai's head, if all goes according to plan.
Lightning streaks down, smashing the hut nearest the fisherman and his wife into driftwood. They didn't react before, but they did this time -- with a rather loud shriek.
COMBATSYS: Mukai just-defends Sakura's Medium Kick!
MUKAI
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Honoka 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Sakura
COMBATSYS: Mukai endures Honoka's Anomalous Space.
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Honoka 0/-------/--=====|-------\-------\0 Sakura
As Sakura rushes forward, slowly Mukai just raises his arms yet again, leylines flowing powerfully white up his dark figure. His grin remains, anticipating a good fight; even if it might not be in single combat, the strength of even two lessers he can never again underestimate after what he went through against Noboru and Daniel.
The roundhouse kick sweeps out, and strikes Mukai right in the side of the face. But her heel stops dead, hitting clean on a well-hardened jawline. Powerful threads of stone go down heavy muscles across shoulders and neck, causing her attack to do literally nothing outside potentially make her foot throb. This isn't a normal opponent... finesse does not matter, and he does not need to defend. The only fighter who has shown the ability to manipulate elements in such a matter in his own body... Gill, who she defeated herself countless years ago, and his brother.
"Do not be distracted, girl!! They are nothing. Mere sands in the beach of time, to be blown away by this world regardless of whether I am here or not!! They have no strength to defend themselves from the ambitions of others!!"
Indeed, Honoka was ignored at the moment. Sakura is definitely the fighter he knows well, and has always been curious of. But when there's a flash of painful energy that roars in his head, he just snarls, grasping his head. But using that, feeding off it, stamping down into the heavy ground and splintering it.
"Hah... hahah... if you had given me a fraction of the true pain you felt that night... I would be down." he growls to Honoka. Suddenly, a swirl of chi before Sakura. And then, a great explosive pillar of stone erupts straight upwards, intending to slam into her and send her flying away. It is ornately crafted, but quickly begins to break down, collapsing to the ground and eroding away...
A manifestation of chi, with little life. But the beauty of it speaks to the beauty behind this man's brutality. He is neither simple nor mindless; to think otherwise would be the most deadly mistake.
"Do you not stand on the wrong side? You, who had something stolen unrightfully?! A mistake, you want to fix?! Fate can be broken. Smashed to powder, and made into what you desire!!"
COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Mukai's Terrestrial Shock.
MUKAI
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Honoka 0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0 Sakura
Sakura is retracting her kick moments after impact, as Ryu taught her once. And her foot -is- throbbing; her assessment of Mukai was not incorrect. She flash backs to that fight against Gill, and Urien, who seemed, at times, literally made of steel... while she's thinking about that, Mukai is... monologuing. A little. That snaps her out of her little reverie, and she blinks once.
"Maybe they don't... but that's why people like me are here! To defend what they can't!.. Being powerless doesn't have to mean being subject to the whims and urges of those stronger than you...!" Now -she's monologuing, but just at the end of it, there's a pulse of chi. Instinctively, Sakura starts to backstep--just in time.
That column of stone shoots upwards, and clips her arms and legs. She yelps, flung backwards, throwing herself into an arching backflip and landing. Bruises are already forming on her arms and legs, but she ignores them as much as she can.
Now she does drive forward, urgently, realigning her position as, undaunted, she attempts to fire a straight punch right into Mukai's stomach. It'll hurt, but, she needs to know if he can be hurt.
Honoka exhales sharply, her eyes returning to their normal brown hue as she takes a step back. It... seems to have more than made up for being practically ignored by the obsidian tower previously. But his words give her pause, cause to consider. Mere sands... but.
The scene changed. Honoka had her eyes closed and her attention focused intently just now, and she hadn't noticed. The fishing village is exactly as she remembers it the night she'd lost her parents.
Clack, clack. Diabolos hit the ground as Honoka loses herself in thought, irises dilating. If she can... /change/ the outcome, as the onyx stranger suggests, then...
The wind roars again, waves crash into the shore, sweeping over the fishing village -- but the wave has no actual substance beyond what the wind itself would have. Instead, when the wave clears, the moon is out... and the early evening skies are perfectly clear, without a cloud in the sky.
But the fishing village remains. As do the fisherman and his wife, who have another child with them. A girl. With a mustache ... tattooed onto her lip.
Just like the one on Honoka's. The outfit is the same -- it's not -quite- a kimono, it's actually called an "attush." Traditional Ainu wear it for every day things. It's made out of bark, and not quite as comfortable as more modern fabrics.
Honoka's irises sharpen back into focus -- and her cheeks drain of all color. She did it... she did exactly what she wanted to do.
And the thought absolutely terrifies her, as she looks back to Sakura to see her in the -exact same clothes-. In fact, everyone here is Ainu.
"This... This is all wrong..." Honoka stammers, taking a step back. "This is /madness/... you can't..."
<It's not, stupid,> says the fisherman, earning himself a punch in the shoulder from his wife.
<Dad, I... I have so much to tell you. But not now.>
Honoka glares at Mukai, a faint purple glow erupting from her. She'll have to do better than this. HE'LL have to do better than this.
COMBATSYS: Honoka focuses on her next action.
MUKAI
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Honoka 0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0 Sakura
COMBATSYS: Mukai guards against Sakura's Medium Punch.
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Honoka 0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0 Sakura
Oho. That was close. Sakura caught him monologuing!! He had been busy talking to Honoka, and so the slither forward and brutal punch meets him almost too late. Rather than harden into stone, his eyes widen and he roars, muscles explosively tensing. This time, Sakura can feel his muscles beneath her fist; heavy titanium bands coiled about a core of diamond, is what her body is telling her from the throbbing report. It is no wonder the mere act of hardening his frame is sufficient to ward off the pair's blows. He is not using a martial art. He is using sheer ferocity and talent, nothing more.
"Hahaha...!! Good. Good!! I'm feeling it now. The resolve within your fists... show me more, human! Show me that potential!!" Arms heft up, glowing brightly as arcane tattoos flare to life across his form.
"To be welled in the past is an anchor. Me and my colleagues... know this as much as any alive. There is no reason this world cannot benefit from what we do as well!!" This appears to be offered towards Honaka, but Sakura's managing to sustain a fair amount of aggro on the boss presently.
And then Mukai erupts forward like a seismic eruption. One massive hand aims to grasp Sakura by the head, engulfing her entirely. Only to whirl her up overhead like a weightless doll, his free leg thrusting down and /slamming/ upon the ground. At the same time another pillow roars into being, he moves to swing with all his might, and *SHATTER* it upon Sakura's supple form. The explosive blow would probably send her punting off into the distance, and even a defense is liable to be painful...!!
No. With Daniel he had hesitation. But there is no gender in his mind. Sakura's ferocity and fighting spirit... it will give her no mercy!!
COMBATSYS: Sakura interrupts Wrath of the Earth from Mukai with Shou'ou Ken.
MUKAI
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Honoka 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Sakura
"HNNGH--!!" A man so big should not move so fast. Sakura's face is gripped and squeezed, painfully, and being hoisted up -by her face- is not particularly happy-making either. A flash of surprise, of shock, of -pure terror- rips through her heart, radiating out. It's like a pulse that beats through the air, invisibly, a crestwave of emotion that reflects that momentary horror--things begin to sag, and melt, attaining twisted shapes, odd waves being formed in the ground as Sakura struggles.
Her voice, muffled, rings out an inarticulate scream as a wild swing of her right hand connects with Mukai's chin. Even that probably hurts her more than him, and as he was in the middle of flinging her away, well--she still sails, slamming head-first into a warped side of an attraction, peeling off...
And slamming onto her knees and then her face before peeling herslf off the floor. Panting, face pinched with pain and that lingering terror, that boundless confidence of hers is shaken for the first time in this fight. And...
Probably not the last.
Gritting her teeth... Honoka isn't putting forth half the ire that Mukai just freaking told her to. Maybe she should, but one part of her is actually pretty thrilled to see her wish come true.
For a moment, anyway -- that moment ending once she sees Sakura's head get palmed like a basketball. A snap of her right wrist kicks her two diabolos into the air, and a pivot to the side sends the diabolos whirling around behind her back as she starts approaching Mukai.
<You can stop fighting now... You've got your wish, stupid,> chides Honoka's mother. One gets the idea 'stupid' is an inside joke.
<I'm... busy, mom...> Honoka answers through firmly gritted teeth.
And then the shockwave of Sakura's ire ripples past her. It sears her, the scorch line searing the tattoo off Honoka's lip. The Ainu descendant may not be able to see it, but she can sense what's going on.
And she wants it over. Now. Charging towards Mukai, she shouts, "I will change this reality all by myself!" The diabolo axis shifts from horizontal to vertical as she raises both wands over her head, just to bring them slashing down in a sudden shift of focus, hoping to snare Mukai by the arm and pull him off-balance to aid her companion!
COMBATSYS: Mukai blocks Honoka's Power Throw.
MUKAI
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Honoka 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Sakura
Oho. Surprising. Mukai's struck dead in the face, and this time, for the first time in the fight, there is no defense. It's still like trying to pound a dent into iron, but his head whips up and away, one foot sliding back. The motion of his assualt, and much of the ferocity, is dampened by the interruption, even if the end result still sends Sakura hurtling away.
"Oh...? See. Your fist reached me...!" He turns back, wickedly toothed grin bared. There's no blood, only a small marred patch of skin that seems to be visibly regenerating bit by bit. Is he invincible? Immortal? Does such unfairness exist in this world? Well... Sakura does know, through her countless experience, from both that punch and the blow she received, where he stands...
Mukai is a monster, for sure. But he is not the biggest monster she has faced. The likes of Igniz, Gill, and Vega stand above him, and he even feels less then the irrevocable menace of Heihachi. ...But not far below.
No. Not far below at all.
Turning towards Honoka, the coiling ropes find his arm, and he's indeed dragged an inch away, for all the apparent affect it seems to have. "You are wrong. They are dead. Forever." Mukai raises his hand, and there's a great pulse of energy. Slowly, like a mirage, the image of Honoka and her family begins to warble and fade away, leaving only the strange, shifting landscape once more. Sealing it from returning, no matter how she might wish.
"What you wish is in the past, girl... and you know it." He then clenches his body, feet turning to stone and melding with the ground. Suddenly it begins to quake and rumble, as his inscribed lines of power glow bright enough white to be difficult to look at, seething and boiling with that history. Yet it is not dark and twisted... there's a strange purity to it, a wholesome depth, as if drawn from Gaea herself. Not what one might expect a demon to possess...
COMBATSYS: Mukai gathers the power of the Earth!
MUKAI
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1|-------------==|===============
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Honoka 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Sakura
Sakura can't help but reach up, touch the back of her head. It's warm and sticky with blood--she must have cut herself on something. She doesn't know what's going on around her. Why the world is literally changing around them. If she had a chance to think about it, it could be a tool they could use against Mukai. But there's... there's no time. Sakura felt the power inherent in the man's body. In that simple grip.
Just thinking about it sends another small spasm through her heart--mercifully, contained within, not expressed without--but that shining steel fortitude comes through again. Resolutely, Sakura moves forward again, as Mukai... becomes one with the Earth. It's like the ultimate expression of a technique Ryu told her about once--a technique that he himself was still refining the last time she saw him.
It's... awesome. Astounding. To truly reach that state of being one with the Earth. But it should be a thing of wonder and instead it makes her sick inside, because a man like Mukai should not be able to connect with the Earth so deeply. And yet, here he is. Yelling, Sakura charges the stone Mukai, putting all her skill, weight, and emotion behind a driving punch. A punch intended to break that connection with the Earth.
When Honoka recounts tonight's events -- supposing Mukai lets her live as he said he would -- she's probably going to regret -not- spending more time talking with her parents, phantasmal though they may be.
Especially once Mukai rips them away, reasserting -his- control over the dreamlike state. That's right, we're in his reality now?
But, all along, that wasn't what Honoka meant when she said she'd change reality. Not it at all. Many people live in the moment, but Honoka keeps one foot permanently rooted in the future. So, yes, Mukai, it is in the past. And you're just telling Honoka what she's been steadfastly admitting all along.
Which Mukai did, admittedly, just admit. GOSH, it's like these two people don't even need to talk or somethi--
Honoka glances over to see Sakura strike. Irritably, she swings her diabolos around again, this time keeping them horizontal over her head -- and then swinging first to the left, then to the right, for a percussive strike aimed at beating down Mukai's defenses through resonance if nothing else, without giving him a single word to twist back at her. So impatient!
COMBATSYS: Mukai auto-guards Honoka's Meteor Shower!
MUKAI
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1|-------------==|===============
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Honoka 0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0 Sakura
COMBATSYS: Mukai blocks Sakura's Fierce Punch.
MUKAI
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1|-------------==|===============
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Honoka 0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0 Sakura
Once more, Mukai simply stands there, lifting his arms high as the power courses through him. In a quick ripple, a heavy layer of craggy stone erupts, covering him all the way from head to toe; only the halo of white streaming chi from the chitinous-like cracks in the armor continue forth. Sakura strikes him heavily, but only splinters the outer layer, not managing to penetrate deep enough to reach the man.
The world once more attunes back towards Honoka and Sakura, becoming their canvas anew. Although Honoka's family may not return, struck from the temporal web by his ruthless hands, the rest of the proverbial oyster is shucked and hers in hand.
The rain of blows from Honoka do cause his armor to crack and fall away, but it's still not breaking through. Not reaching him!! He's able to recuperate even more, letting out a refreshed sigh as the strength finishes surging into him. He rips out one leg and stamps down, then the other, flexing his muscles and causing the remnants of his granite armor to fall away and crumple to the ground.
"That was invigorating..."
He then turns his head towards Honoka. "So, girl. Shall we play a little?" His weight shifts down, before he kicks forward, an explosion of stone and rubble behind. In a few short moments he is upon Honoka, attempting to grasp her by the front of her clothing and heft her up. Energy roars out... and would begin to turn her into stone. After a few seconds of such, he would laugh and drop her statue-clad form to thunk upon the ground, before twisting to punch her right in the chest, causing the entombing shell to shatter and hopefully send her flying away!!
COMBATSYS: Mukai successfully hits Honoka with Execution.
MUKAI
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1|--------------=|===============
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Honoka 0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0 Sakura
Honoka leaps backwards in preparation after her diabolos slam into Mukai's defenses... and while they flake off his armor, he just goes off and makes more. Irritably, she snaps, "Damn showoff. What's next, you're gonna turn into a freakin' butterfly?" All the while, performing a rather showy manner of getting her diabolos back into her control, slinging them around her back and even letting go of the wand at one point, just before snapping it back into her hand.
Play a little? Eyes mere slits in her growing impatience, she assents, "Sure, let's rock." Even leaps =into= the attack somewhat -- though the suddenness with which Mukai plucks her up by the front of her jacket shows she wasn't as ready as she thought she was. Turned into stone, her diabolos lose their momentum, even cracking into her petrified form before falling limply to the ground.
~ You can't beat me like this. You want me to show you the future? I'll show you the future. ~
And... it's hard to really -defend- against something when you're a statue either, meaning Honoka gets blasted backwards just as he'd planned. But, her jacket torn from the ordeal, she does manage to land on her feet, and she does manage to rocket herself forward at an exceptionally high rate of speed. "This is your future."
Honoka lashes her whips at the diabolo on the ground by Mukai, sending them flying into the air. She then waylays the airborne wand repeatedly against his stone skin, hoping to chip off even more layers, before slamming her shoulder into the obsidian terror. "HRRRAAAAH!"
And if all is according to plan, the diabolo will come crashing down from overhead.
Sakura stares in abject horror. "HONOKA!!!" is her shout, the Ansatsuken Prodigy involuntarily reaching out with one hand towards her entombed partner, wincing as Honoka gets unentombed in a most painful way. This man is... inhuman. There's no other word for it.
Turning, Sakura can feel the negative emotions threatening to overwhelm her--and, by proxy, the world around her. A combination of terror and shock leave her frozen.. briefly. Then...
~ Remember, Sakura. Your true power is found within. Once you can touch that, you will have everything. ~
Ryu's voice floats through her mind, a random snippet of philosophy. But... it helps. It helps her control her emotions. She breathes in, out, in, out, once more, long, calming breaths. Then she taps into herself. A bright, cerulean blue glow rises around her, her hands clenching into tighter fists, the wellspring of power growing within her, as she metaphorically reaches into it with both hands to take that power into herself...
COMBATSYS: Sakura taps into her inner strength!
MUKAI
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1|--------------=|===============
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Honoka 0/-------/----===|=======\==-----\1 Sakura
COMBATSYS: Honoka successfully hits Mukai with Orbital Bombardment.
MUKAI
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1|------------===|===============
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Honoka 0/-------/---====|=======\==-----\1 Sakura
"What is wrong with the butterfly?" Mukai states, his attention finally shifted off Sakura entirely as she takes her time to begin recovering energy. This is what Honoka wanted in some capacity, is it not? To be acknowledged and focused upon, over the prodigal skirt-wearer of the Ansatsuken? "They bide their time, feeding on the Earth, and then become something much more. Transformation. Is that not the quest of every fighter? Unhappy with what you are... you seek the forge of combat... to ascend!!"
The sudden rush from Honoka seems to take him off-guard. Maybe he was talking too much yet again. Those flurry of blows land before he can manage to truly gather himself, pounding into his flesh and causing light lines to pepper his obsidian form. But rather than shift to guard, he lifts up his arms, laughing heavily before she strikes into his chest and sends him skidding backwards, the blow of the weapon overhead bowing him forward.
"...Here, little sapling. Allow me to get serious with you!!" Suddenly one foot lifts up, whirling in a disturbing display of flexibility until his huge leg is inverted. And then he suddenly swings it down, causing it to crash upon the ground with a catastrophic report. The ground quakes like an earthquake seized the park.
Before a massive pillar suddenly flies down from directly above Honoka, summoned and fired from a distance. His chi infusing it, causing the gravity within to amplify a hundred-fold, drawn to the Earth below... turning it into a blurring stone missile, ornately inscribed, aiming to strike Honoka into the ground and create a huge eruption of debris and broken soil, fragments and smoke flying in all directions to obscure the end result.
COMBATSYS: Mukai knocks away Honoka with Heavenly Shock.
- Power hit! -
> Determined Hit! <
# Disabling hit! #
MUKAI
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1|---------======|===============
[ \\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Honoka 0/-------/---====|=======\==-----\1 Sakura
The distinctive roar of turbine engines can be heard overhead. The sky ripples once more -- the night sky is now filles with plumes of smoke, cast in brilliant orange as a reflection of the fires burning off in the distance. The ferris wheel wilts like a
The distinctive roar of turbine engines can be heard overhead. The sky ripples once more -- the night sky is now filles with plumes of smoke, cast in brilliant orange as a reflection of the fires burning off in the distance. The ferris wheel ripples slowly from the growing intensity of the heat.sp
Honoka's heart must have grown, like, half a size from Sakura shouting her name just then. But the young Ainu woman has other things to worry about, like Mukai getting 'serious' on her.
And serious it is... for as Honoka had been content to have semblance of control of this altered state of reality, she did not have true control. And she, likewise, did not have awareness of something coming from -above- her, an attack vector she had not previously determined. Thus... the diabolo practitioner is caught under the giant rock missile -- which she only notices when the shadow gets particularly intense just split seconds before impact. She manages the very faintest start of a leap, her diabolos being slightly quicker to intercept the missile...
To no avail. Rock splits into several smaller fragments upon impact, the irritable Ainu woman's voice reaching a rather... different tone, before falling to a muffled silence.
Silence punctuated only after a few seconds, when more rocks tumble down. A vaguely human form is emerging from the rocky rubble, backlit by an intense purple light. The hunched-over form raises its head towards Mukai, eyes flaring bright for a moment...
And then the form doubles over.
A high-pitched whine can be heard from the direction of the ferris wheel. A bright light... and scant moments later, an extremely powerful shockwave.
The night sky turns completely black from the intensity of the nuclear detonation. But... almost as sudden as it started, the effect melts away, as a soapy film on a pane of glass. Honoka is unconscious... and her vote in the shared consciousness is revoked.
COMBATSYS: Honoka can no longer fight.
MUKAI
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1|---------======|===============
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Sakura 1/-----==/=======|
Once again, Sakura is out of position. Ryu would tell her that it isn't her fault--that needlessly sacrificing herself is not always the right thing to do. But that knowledge doesn't help her feel any better when Mukai initiates this assault. It can't of taken more than... seconds. It feels like ten minutes, but there's no way that Sakura would stand idle while someone... -destroyed- her friend.
But that's what it feels like, and rage and horror flood Sakura's previously-calm heart. It compresses inside her, then flashes, flaring outwards, a silent bomb that, thanks to the time paradox, alters the environment once more--turning structures into jagged black shadows of themselves, the sky filtering to an ugly red-purple color, sound itself seeming muted and distorted.
Even Sakura's voice is this way, as she screams wordlessly and concentrates that energy into her hands, power flooding them--not the clean blue-white of her usual chi, but crackling red, tinged purple, shot through with black--a true reflection of her innermost feelings.
And it builds and builds, growing in mass, until she unleashes it with another wordless scream, hurling an intense sphere of power at Mukai.
COMBATSYS: Mukai blocks Honoka's Anomalous Space.
MUKAI
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1|---------======|===============
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Sakura 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Mukai overcomes Shinkuu Hadouken from Sakura with Impact of Steel.
MUKAI
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0|---------------|----------=====
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Sakura 0/-------/-------|
Oh? Honoka's strength of will is shown in full by her final action. Mukai winces at the light, but steels his mind, bringing up a hand to cover his eyes as the shockwave of psionic enery rolls over him. "Nnn!! ...showing me such a loathesome echo... makes me pity this world less, girl." But he can feel her mind no longer attuned to the landscape... such a shame. Of the two, she had the most potential to see his vision. Sakura... no. She will not budge. This world is precious to her. Every accomplishment and every person. And that is exactly the sort of resistance Mukai was hoping not to find.
When the environment boils with the overflowing feel of Sakura's bloodlust, Mukai's right hand seethes with energy as well. "I will face you head on without restraint, girl. I believe now... the only speaking... is to be done with our FISTS!!"
He then strikes the ground before himself. Suddenly, a series of pillars begins to erupt forward. The massive blast of energy impacts a few of them, obliterating them into fragments and sending them flying away. A wash of dark power still hits Mukai, staggering him, but his durable body is at no risk of actual damage. "Hahaha...!!"
But then the last two pillars rocket out, aiming to intercept Sakura in the midsection, and slam into her body, intent on sending her flying backwards!!
COMBATSYS: Mukai successfully hits Sakura with Impact of Steel.
MUKAI
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0|---------------|----------=====
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Sakura 0/-------/=======|
There's no sound from the girl--because she doesn't have the breath to -make- one. No, wait. There's no voiced sounds from her, but the impact itself thrusts all the air from her lungs, forcing it up through her mouth and nose in a wheezing gush that is lost under the sound of the impact.
Once again, she's catapulted back, trailing lines of dust and rock fragments as she hurtles backwards, slamming into a black-sheened surface and crumpling. For a moment she lays there, struggling to breathe, the sky coruscating through dark colors as she tries to focus. Then she rises to her feet, hunched over, feet in a wide stance to help her keep her balance. She feels like one big bruise, all over. Her body is injured... but the spirit still burns bright.
Slowly, she straightens up, her face a mask of ill-concealed pain and worry, and still she struggles to fight. Once again she calls upon her chi, building it into another projectile, expanding it to the size of a beach ball before shoving it forward again. It's still tinged red and purple, but is a little smoother now, a little more controlled.
COMBATSYS: Mukai overcomes Medium Hadouken from Sakura with Large Thrown Object.
MUKAI
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0|---------------|-----------====
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ <
Sakura 0/-------/=======|
"What...? More of this? I tire of your keepaway games. Was Ansatsuken forged by cowards, unwilling to face an opponent head on?!" Mukai suddenly reaches down, digging both of his hands into the ground as Sakura's projectile surges in her hands. And then as she lets it loose, the massive figure roars. The earth resounds with his attunement, white leylines flaring as he /HURLS/ what is little more than a massive blanket of concrete, twisted steel bands, and a hotdog cart in her direction. There is a great explosion as the ball of energy collides with it, blowing away a large majority, but the debris has no small amount of force or mass as it attempts to avalanche directly atop her. "COME. SHOW ME YOUR FIGHTING SPIRIT...!! Restraint has no place on the battlefield. Do you not want answers?! Do you not want to know how and where... THIS WORLD SHALL END?!"
COMBATSYS: Mukai successfully hits Sakura with Large Thrown Object.
MUKAI
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0|---------------|---------======
[ \\\\\\\\ <
Sakura 1/------=/=======|
More flying debris. Sakura throws her arms up, saving her face from getting punctured by an errant rebar, but the impact hurls her back again. Yet this time she manages to retain her footing, stumbling, her arms bloodied and bruised by the impact, feeling heavy. Is this... useless? Should she just give in? This is clearly a fight she can't... win. It would be easier to give up. To surrender.
Mirroring her thoughts, the sky darkens, things beginning to sag, as Sakura contemplates it. But, as she thinks about it, she realizes she can't. That she can't give up everything she's fought for, all her life. Her back straightens. She spits a wad of blood onto the ground.
"Fine," she rasps, finding renewed energy in her limbs, the fog of pain clearing away briefly. Setting herself, she launches into a run at Mukai, jumping into the air and just.. attempting to dropkick him in the chest.
COMBATSYS: Mukai interrupts Strong Kick from Sakura with Slider.
- Power hit! -
MUKAI
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0|---------------|--------=======
[ \ <
Sakura 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|
"...Hmph. Is this really the girl who stood before Vega? Who stood before Gill? Pathetic. Is it so easy to give up... when your life will be spared? Perhaps I was too lenient...!!" His arms open, before as the girl rushes forward the massive figure digs his toes into the ground. Both of her feet find his chest, but at a much greater velocity than she intended; shredding the ground behind him, the first blow sends Sakura spiralling head over heels. Before a second explosive rush forward, naught but a mound of heavily muscled meat, strikes her helpless body a second time to send her flying backwards down the area. "If this is the will of the next generation... then I have no qualms with erasing you!!" He begins to march forward, each heavy footstep sinking his feet an inch into the broken ground, arms slowly raising as energy churns to life once more within him.
Sakura flies, tumbling, hitting the ground three times before sliding to a halt. The 'wonderful' thing about fighters is that they tend to use blunt force. Less immediate in terms of injury. On the other hand... the pain is more prolonged. Still she struggles to her feet, groaning. The will of the next generation? Sakura? Maybe she is.
Panting with pain and exertion, effort scribed across her features, she makes no speeches, pontificates not at all. She merely, grimly, rushes forward.
He wanted to see her strength--well, she'll give it all she has, until she can't fight anymore. Another wordless cry as she charges. It seems futile to employ physical attacks upon this thing, and yet... that's what she does, rushing forward and throwing herself into a series of lunging uppercuts, the last taking her completely off the ground in a strong leap.
COMBATSYS: Sakura prepares to take her last stand against Mukai!
MUKAI
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0|---------------|--------=======
[ \\\\\\ <
Sakura 0/-------/---<<<<|
COMBATSYS: Sakura has reached second wind!
MUKAI
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|--------=======
[ \\\\\\ <
Sakura 0/-------/---<<<<|
COMBATSYS: Mukai blocks Sakura's Midare Zakura.
MUKAI
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|-------========
[ \\\\\\ <
Sakura 0/-------/---<<<<|
Once more Mukai hardens his entire body, eyes going wild as his pose remains wide and open. The brutal series of strikes hits home, each feeling like impacting slabs of steel. Inch by inch he is driven backwards by the ferocity of Sakura's assaults, but when the last blow sends his reluctantly massive frame skidding, the stone flesh looks only cracked. It recedes in a ripple, following by him stomping forward. A brutal overhead strike attempts to strike Sakura down, right into the awaiting grip of his upwards thrusting other hand, with the intention of hauling her straight overhead, with full intention of /slamming/ her upon the ground opposite with sufficient force to rumble once more. "Well... you do not think you can win... but you do not want to lose...? What a strange thing, humans are...!!"
COMBATSYS: Mukai successfully hits Sakura with Fierce Combo.
MUKAI
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|-----==========
[ <
Sakura 1/---<<<</<<<<<<<|
As battered as she is, Sakura has no hope of avoiding Mukai's attack. The token effort she makes is... just that--a token effort. The next few seconds find her struck, bodyslammed, left to bounce limply upon the ground. Mukai's words--taunting, arrogant--echo in her ears. It's true. She can't win. But she can't give up, either. It's... it is her human nature. Mukai has the truth of it. And the truth is what she seeks.
Does the flame still burn? It's guttering inside her, flickering, but it seems to serve for at least one more attempt to show this man the truth of human existence--in the form of a whirling storm of spinning kicks, looking to sweep Mukai off his feet and kick him away, Sakura's energy surging into a sharp, biting wind around her feet.
COMBATSYS: Sakura can no longer fight.
MUKAI
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|-----==========
COMBATSYS: Mukai interrupts Haru Ichiban from Sakura with Titan.
- Power hit! -
*KNOCKED AWAY*
MUKAI
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|-----------====
Ah; Mukai believes he knows what he is fighting now. A puppet. A puppet of martial arts potential, driving onwards when all else is shunted aside. Is that the true heart of her being...? Someone who has become the absolute warrior, and exceeded all else? Win or loss... fighting, savage and true, to the bitter end? The great demonic figure could ask for nothing more. He responds in kind. Bracing himself, a few brutal burning hits impact the titanic figure, but then he grasps her by the face. And begins to unleash a storm of assaults, each blowing her one way and the other, only to be caught by his fist from another direction. A final brutal slide forward slams into her, but an erupting pillar catches her frame, splintering beneath the catastrophic force.
And then with a cackle, Mukai hurls Sakura away, to limpdoll with a thump near Honoka's own. But for all the savageness, neither are in true risk of dying. He did not hold back... but nor did he try to snuff the life out of either. "Yes." he allows, with a sigh. "At the very end... that was a worthy battle." A soul like his own, that drives onwards to endless perfection... it is with a frown that he begins to stride away, white hair flaring behind. Until then... until seeing the purity and devotion of the next generation...
Now, his taste is only soured. How many others in this world might be like her? Destroying those paths... annihilating the blood, sweat and tears of hundreds of warriors, transcending gender and roles... what should have been a fight that cemented his resolve has only caused it to waver even further than before.
COMBATSYS: Mukai has ended the fight here.
Log created on 19:54:53 08/30/2014 by Honoka, and last modified on 20:15:40 08/31/2014.