[Last time, on Battle High: There was a fight. Mariah versus Arthur, take two. Sadly, it was just as lopsided as the original, but in the opposite direction. Mariah just couldn't seem to do a thing, and it left everybody unsatisfied.] [Now it's Sunday night, the last night of the weekend, and there's no telling what's going to happen in the next week. Will the midterm battles start up soon, to determine who will represent the freshmen in the High Noon High crossover battle? Will they finally get to face off against Tulpa's team? Who knows? I bet Principal Quentin does!] [Session... START!] [We open on our protobishies in their rooms, the best place to decide whether to spend some time socializing, practicing, fighting, or maybe just painting the town red in spite of having school tomorrow.] * Karasu broods. * Karasu is no protobishi. He's the real thing. * Mariah is a protobishi? * Ao-Lang is in her and Mariah's room! And has probably kicked Mariah out, but you never know. * Mariah has apparently been kicked out for no particular reason. * Kai doesn't brood; he's too busy alternating between nibbling on chocolate and worrying about Mariah... and watching something terrible on TV. * Hope sits and watches the TV, half drowzing. * Mariah is sitting on the floor of the common room, facing 90' from the TV, apparently in thought. * Kai steals a glance over, frowns, then goes back into digging for more endorphin. "Anyone want some?" * Ao-Lang opens the door. She's wearing, of all things, tight black jeans, black silk shirt, black trenchcoat, very dark shades, and, of course, her black leather boots. Her hair's loose, and she skulks out of her room to brood next to Karasu. "Only if it's... dark chocolate." I'm okay... not hungry. Ugh, can't stand dark chocolate. * Kai then gets the comment and snickers. "Oh, Ao, come on..." * Ao-Lang raises an eyebrow at Kai and manages to keep a straight face. "What?" * Hope looks over at Ao and raises her eyebrow, but doesn't comment. * Isaac comes up through the floor and smiles. ~Are you... Badass?~ Always. Can't you tell? I exude... badass. ~That is totally... badass.~ * Ao-Lang strikes Classic Brooding Pose #45. .. I forget -- is black in? * Isaac keeps grinning. ~No, but it's... badass.~ * Kai waves to Isaac offhandedly. "Hey there." ~Hi Kai!~ Oh. Okay... er, are we supposed to be badass? You'd better if you want to keep up, girl. ~Badass is IN! And black is badass. So I guess black *is* in!~ * Ao-Lang moves to Classic Brooding Pose #12. Seems she's been studying Karasu. "So, this is the getup I suggest for midterms. We'll confuse the shit out of the other team and have some fun in the process." ~Sounds like a fun idea to me.~ ^_^ * Mariah stands up, sighing. "I guess I'm going to have to buy black clothes, if only to..." * Karasu shrugs. Have I mentioned how unique you are, Ao? ~The Bishi Birgade!~ No. Please mention it again. Anyone but Karasu'll probably have to practice, though. I don't think we're used to wearing long coats. Also, you guys'll need to learn to fight in the dark or mist, if you don't already know how. ~I can figure out how.~ ^_^ I guess I'll add it to my training list. You're unique, Ao. * Ao-Lang smirks. "I'll train ya." * Kai chuckles. "So, you'd be the PR member of the group?" I'm sure as hell not gonna let *you* do it, Kai. Er... * Mariah does not look confident about this endeavor. Black ain't really my color. ~But it'll be fun?~ Well, I admit, I'm terrible at being flashy. * Isaac grins. ~And really really confusing to our opponents.~ ^_^ Which is the real point. We've all got long hair. Most of us even have black hair. None are so different in body type that it'll be *that* easy to tell who we are if we all dress alike. ... now this is interesting. But won't we have to give our names? ~Need to train using the longer clothing in private, though...~ * Ao-Lang grins. "That and we can do bullet time like The Matrix. Screen in reality. It all works out." Like names matter in a chaotic five on five battle? * Hope motions towards Karasu and Kai. "They lack the assets, if you know what I mean." Oh, right, it's not one-on-one! ... this could be pretty good. * Isaac blinks. ~What kind of assets? Are they poor?~ I imagine Ao will just have be 'Brooding Angstman 1' and such... and wha? * A single, faint knock comes from the door. * Karasu glances sideways that way. * Kai catches the 'assets' part, and it about to query before he notes the knock. "Who is it?" * Ao-Lang rolls her eyes. "It's not like the first thing people look for is breasts to recognize someone. And from the back, it doesn't matter." The coat covers it, too. ~Oooh. Wear frilly stuff on front to cover it up!~ Hell *no*, Isaac. That's anti... badass. If the coats are big enough... ~Oh, right. It needs to be... badass.~ * Ao-Lang removes her coat and tosses it on the couch (over Kai, poor boy), then removes her shades and heads over to the door. She just opens the thing. * Kai suddenly has coat over his head. I don't know what men you've met Ao. * Principal Quentin gazes down serenely at Ao-Lang, saying nothing. * Ao-Lang grins up at the principal. "Hey, decided to drop by for a visit? I'd put some tea on, but it's a fire hazard." * Isaac blinks at Quentin. * Karasu keeps his gaze on Quentin. * Kai de-coats and waves to Quentin. "Hello!" -- oh? Uh... hi. Good evening. * Ao-Lang moves aside to let him in. "C'mon in." * Mariah turns to face Quentin, brushing her hair out of her face. * Quentin raises his left hand, which is holding a small bundle of large manilla envelopes. "That will not be necessary." * Ao-Lang eyes the manilla envelopes like they're about to attack her. Given the setting, it just might happen. ... um? Wassup? * Isaac says to the group. ~Are they... badass?~ .. what's going on, sir? * The principal takes the top envelope off the stack and holds it out to Ao-Lang. "Your next fight is wednesday night, on the roof of the Fight Tower. Here are the details on your opponents." * Hope hops up and reaches over Ao-Lang's shoulder to get the envelope. "So, who are the poor suckers?" * Ao-Lang takes it. "Details? I didn't know you were handing those out." She opens the envelope and has a look at what's inside. Doesn't matter. A fight on the roof? That's different. Well, at least it'll give me a chance to prepare... Okay... details means that this is... a special fight, mister Quentin? This is identical to the general format you will experience should you represent the Freshmen against High Noon High. The battlefields will change, but not a single one will be the standard fighting arena. This favors High Noon High. * Mariah nods. "I see.. * Kai nods. "A wide open space makes for very wide open targets." * Quentin closes the door and presumably walks away. It doesn't have to be wide open. Lots of cover makes for good sniping. That kind of thing. They just need to know what it is. ~Lemme see, lemme see!~ Huh. High Noon High? * Inside the envelope are ten pages, five of which are glossy photos of your opponents, five of which are data on said opponents. * After a brief scuffle, Hope comes out on top. * Ao-Lang lets out a low whistle. "Let's see if this stuff is any good. There has to be something that favors- hey!" * Mariah gets up on her tiptoes so she can look over Hope's shoulder. * Karasu doesn't move. * Ao-Lang grumbles something about no manners. * Kai is too busy chocolating to take a look at that exact moment. * Hope looks over the stuff before handing it back to Ao. "They don't look too tough." * Ao-Lang takes them and has a look herself. .. oh. * The first picture is of a Japanese man dressed in a shiny, slightly darker than cherry red uniform, with a small chef's hat of the same color. He has a pair of glasses hanging from a strap around his neck, and all in all he doesn't present a very threatening picture. He looks like he's more dangerous to a beef cutlet than you. ~He looks kinda hungry.~ * Mariah frowns. "I don't think it's good to underestimate anyone.." * The accompanying info page labels him one Hiroyuki Sakai. If they made it here, it isn't. * The second picture is a familiar one, as many of you are at least acquainted with the young blond wearing the almost plastic-like white armor with blue highlights. The other half of the picture shows him dressed in deep blue armor of the same general style as Ryo's, though he bears a wickedly pronged trident instead of dual katana. * Mariah frowns again. * The info page labels him, for those who don't know, one Cye Torrent. Well, there is five of 'em. This one looks watery. * Ao-Lang hands off pictures as she finishes with them. Okay... water, and he looks heavily-armored. I wonder what my picture ended up like. Not that I have a bad side, but these things are important. ~They are terribly important.~ *nodnod* Go find out. * The third picture is a young lady, and though it's hard to tell the scale on which she's built, she seems MUCH more developed than your average freshman girl. Her longish brown hair is bound up into a single ponytail that hangs down just past her shoulders, and her info sheet labels her as "Diana Wood". Hey, Isaac! It's your girlfriend. * Kai finally walks over and has a looksee. "... shiny armor. And wow, she's pretty." * Isaac blinks. ~Huh? Ewwwwww!~ * Mariah looks down at the picture of Diana and furrows her brow. "That's... hm." She's shy, too. And she likes making thunderclaps, so lightning all the way. She knows a little about our abilities, too, so they've got intel. * Ao-Lang hands off the page. Lightning and water. Too bad we can't make 'em hit each other. * Ao-Lang smriks. "They're two great tastes that go together." Well, we can do something equivalent. Your sense of 'go together' is a bit skewed on the side of injury, Ao. * The fourth picture is another girl, this one built like a football player, though not so overmuscled as a weightlifter. If the scales are the same, she's even taller than Diana Wood, and much more powerfully built. Her name is given as "Louisa Hendel". She looks strong. Be fun to fight her. And she's... yeah. Wow, bigbigbig. It depends what her style is. You wanna give it a shot? You're the leader. Let's see if there's anything else on these guys. ~Woooow.~ * The fifth and final picture is of another Japanese boy, not particularly tall at all, and dressed flamboyantly enough to make Liberaci blush, with lots of lace and flowing sleeves. He definitely doesn't look like a fighter, but he's here, so he must be good. His info sheet names him as "Takeshi Kaga". Karasu should fight this guy. * Ao-Lang snorts. "Yeah, show him the meaning of badass." She hands the photo to Karasu. * The info sheets for each fighter list, among other things, elemental affiliations and signature moves. * Karasu tosses it aside. "I'll fight who I please." * Hope laughs at Karasu and mock-glares at him. "Hey, remember, I'm team captain." * Ao-Lang blinks, and she slowly smiles. "Okay, this is Battle High's advantage." * Mariah looks over the sheets as they come into her possession. "Elemental affiliations... hm. I could map this out... Well, we know alot, so we do have something of an edge going in, but... * Ao-Lang skims before handing it over. "Go for it." They've got the same edge. It'll at least be some way to make myself useful. More useful then most o' us outside of a fight. * The elemental affinities, in order, are None, Water, Lightning, Earth, and None. Yes, that's right, they have not one, but TWO jokers. .. two wildcards? This is interesting. Well, now it's just a matter of figuring out the best plan of attack and making it work. And praying luck goes on our side... They're also ranked nine. Not that the ranking system means shit half the time, but other teams find ways to beat them without elements. They probably hit them until they don't move anymore. It's a good tactic. It just means that we can't weigh on elemental affinity. It's reasonable. * Ao-Lang grins. "'Course, since they got two people with no element, they can use that against us. If their turn's second, strategy's simple." * Isaac pours over the signature moves. Well, it might work for the simpler fighters, Hope, but it's best to have an advantage so as to pick up the slack if things go wrong. We'll just need to be sure to put someone strong against them. Likely, it will be five on five to begin with. If it's five-on-five, we'll just have to be careful and stay on our toes elementally, which shouldn't be a problem. * Ao-Lang stretches. "Okay. *If* it's not five on five and they go second, they have two gimmes. All they need to do is put someone with no element in, and then we have probably have to pit someone with an element against them, and then they can pick and choose elements. I'm not counting on Quentin to make it exactly like what it's going to end up being." But if it is, they'll try to seperate us just the same and neutralize the elements they see as a threat. That doesn't have weaknesses on it, does it, Mariah? Let me check... * Mariah checks. Weaknesses, in order, are - None, Ice, Earth, Air, and None. Well, they can't be a dumb team... so it'll be a case of clashing battle plans. Can we really trust that tho'? * Louisa Hendel is marked as being only lightly vulnerable to Air, and Diana Wood is marked as being supremely vulnerable to Earth. The weaknesses are more or less like we'd expect. He's weak to Ice, Diana's weak to Earth, and Louisa to Air... that doesn't help us much. * Ao-Lang frowns. "No, it hurts us." Louisa isn't too vulnerable, but if we can get Earth against Diana we've got her. Earth.. They'll send Earth chick right after me. * Isaac nods. I can take that Diana chick, assuming I get her. For the other two, and for Louisa as well, we're just going to have to come out with power. ~Aren't you air element, Kairi?~ I could have some effect against the---yeah, I'm Air. * Hope punches the air a few times. "And I bet I can take that Lousia too." * Kai grins slightly. "I keep wondering why it's that and not light. But eh." You're all right against Earth, aren't you? * Ao-Lang starts pacing. She picks up the jacket as she does so and puts it on so she can work on her dramatic billowing. "You weren't shiny enough for light, Kai. Any of them have ranged attacks?" I could stand my ground, yeah. ~I dunno. I'm checking.~ Ranged attacks... * Mariah flips through again. ... shiny enough? * Sakai, Wood, and Kaga are all noted as being primarily ranged fighters, while Cye is marked as having a balance of range and melee, and Louisa is noted as being almost entirely melee. .. once again, no big surprises. The two Jokers are both at range, which makes things difficult. ~Can you do that mist thing against them, Ao?~ Sure. Can you fight in it? Diana is also strong at range, and Cye is passable... * Kai just boggles at the 'shiny' bit for a moment or two. Well.. maybe the fighting area'll be too small for them to range well. ~Mmm... It' * There's no map of the arena, but Isaac HAS been to the roof of Fight Tower. * Isaac thinks. ~It's kinda big... But it's sloped, and since we're fighting at midnight, they have more problems than we do.~ ^_^ Heh... I'm sure you and I can give them a fair go, eh Isaac? ~Yup!~ ~You fast?~ Yeah. All the ranged means they'll be at a disadvantage close up. We'll have to close quickly... hm. * Ao-Lang grins. "But I bet I can keep earth chick away from me for Kai to... bruise. Bash? The hell do you call it?" ~I can slice and dice?~ You got wind attacks, Isaac? ~Sound. They're kinda like wind.~ ^^; ... Only without, y'know, the wind part. Right. Sound... .. well, this is a start. I strike like the wind! And it strikes. It's like being hit by an invisible staff or fist or whatnot. * Karasu gets up and walks out of the room. "This conversation bores me." I guess I've got Earth. ~Everything bores you Karasie.~ * Ao-Lang frowns. "Hey, Karasu!" * Hope grabs Karasu by the back of his coat. "That's nice. We ain't losing because o you, pretty boy." * Karasu is gone! * Ao-Lang follows. "Where do you think you're going?" -- hey! * Hope chases after and grabs him then! Look, we've got to plan! * Karasu looks over his shoulder at Hope. "You're captain. Plan." You're a team mate. Plan with us. And don't you go moping off. * Ao-Lang rolls her eyes. "You're not going to leave it entirely up to her, are you?" * Karasu shrugs. "She wanted to be captain." ... man, Karasu... well, we can't stop you. Just don't go too far. ^^; Fine. I can't make you stay. * Kai finally returns to his chocolate. "Anyone?" ~You know what that is? That's anti-badass, it's... LAME! LAME LIKE SOMETHING THAT'S LAME!~ Man, I don't know what's got your dick in a twist, but cut it the hell out. -- I'll have some, please. Screw whether she wanted to be captain or not. *I* am not going to lose because she's captain and you're sulking. Weather ya like it or not, we're a team, and we gotta work together. Don't like it, leave. But you ain't coasting by on our hard work. That's what I was doing. I don't mean go moping and then come back later. I mean leave the damn school. * Kai offers Mariah some choco-goodness. "Got to love the team squabbles sometimes... I think it's a good sign that we're a bit cohesive. Otherwise we wouldn't care who did what." This stupid loner act ain't cutting crap, so cut it out, get back in here, and help us plan. * Mariah takes some chocolate gratefully. "... I suppose. ... I don't know. ... I really don't, either, but here's to hoping, hm? * Karasu raises his head and looks down at Hope. "I don't follow your orders." He wanders off. I'm just getting tired, I suppose. * Hope continues after Karasu, grabbing him harder this time. He'll have to fight to get free. * Ao-Lang flicks her wrist, a tessen sliding into her hand instantly. You don't want me to be captain? That it? ~If you say that, then she's not captain. That's not go- yipe!~ * Isaac floats back. .. and they're getting testy. Mnnnn. * Mariah sighs. "... maybe I should go train. Or take a walk. Or do something that isn't here." * Karasu walks along, but when Hope grabs for him, he suddenly moves to the left, walking casually without disrupting himself. "You're not suited for it." ~I can be leader!~ Fine, you ain't gonna respect me until I beat you up, huh? * Hope grabs for Karasu again. * Kai pats Mariah on the shoulder. "This looks like Hope and Karasu's issue, yeah... you do whatcha feel." * Ao-Lang watches for a second, then says in a remarkably calm voice, "Karasu, stop. You too, Hope. Don't make me kick both your asses." * Karasu turns around fully and looks at Hope. "That, there, precisely the reason you're unfit to be captain. But if violence is all you understand, I'll be more than happy to give you what you want." A dark aura flares around him. ~Pleas stop. Please?~ (Please) Violence ain't all I understand, but it's all you understand. Didn't even pay attention until I offered a fight. .. I just... I keep telling myself I'm supposed to be here. But sometimes it doesn't work. Knock it off. We don't want to start rumors about how this... team's falling apart. So fine. We're gonna have it out. Not here, don't wana wreck the room. * Hope turns her head and looks at Ao-Lang. "And Karasu walkin' off all times of the day ain't? I'm tired of this mopey bastard." ~No. No falling apart.~ I said stop, didn't I? Karasu, you comin' back? I don't want to talk strategy right now. This is more important. The road to wherever isn't straight, nor is it smooth. * Hope turns back to glare at Karasu. "Oooh, spooky glow. I'm all aflutta." You're a nuisance. Nothing more. I at least wish Ao-Lang would treat me like I deserved to be here. * Ao-Lang tilts her head to the room. She pauses for a moment, then says, "Please come back. You don't have to stay for the strategy. You don't take orders, so whatever. But if you don't think Hope's fit to be leader, we gotta discuss this." * Hope looks about a second from punching Karasu in the face. "And you're a giant prick." * Kai pauses at Mariah's words, then shrugs. "You're here for you foremost. Your fight is at stake, not hers." That said, he walks out to get a better view of the spat. * Isaac sighs and floats over to read some books. That don't change the fact that we gotta work together, and I'm tired o' you thinking you're better then us. * Mariah pauses for a moment, then shrugs and follows Kai. You've yet to prove otherwise. * Ao-Lang sighs, then gives up. She turns, looking fully at Hope. "But you aren't a good leader." ... um, guys. Are you two done arguing? We have a fight to prepare for. I just offered to put up, so let's put up. * Hope pointedly ignores Ao-Lang. You don't have any thing TO put up. * Ao-Lang presses on. No smirk, just words. "But he's *right*. You won your leadership position by fighting. Karasu, shut up for a sec." Come on then. Let's go at it. Fighting isn't the way you choose a god damn leader. It means you're a soldier, not a general. * Mariah sighs and mutters. "This isn't getting us anywhere." You want the fucking positon Ao-Lang? Fine. Take it and shove it up your ass. I'm still going to beat the ever-living shit out of pretty boy here. * Karasu turns his back and continues on his way. "No. You aren't even worth the effort." ~Don't fight, please don't fight...~ Um. Karasu? You're a god damned coward. You talk about 'not worth the effort', but that is just because you don't wanna fight me. -- Karasu, what do you want? What are we supposed to *do*? * Kai tries to smile. "No offense, but you're getting to the point where we can think the same about you. We're here to win... so you either help or hinder. Think about it, okay?" * Hope heads back into the room, grabs her sword and heads after Karasu. "Not worth the effort, I'll show that prick." * Ao-Lang watches them storm off, then mutters, "They don't know a damn thing about winning." She looks at Kai and Mariah. A couple conflicting emotions cross her face before she sets back into the eerie calm. ... C'mon. We'll figure out whatever strategy we're gonna use while they beat the snot out of each other. Couple pints of juice and they'll be fine tomorrow, anyway. Karasu probably doesn't want anything. * Kai shrugs and backs off. "And that's the worst place to be as a fighter... but what can we do?" He sits down and resumes watching TV. .. I guess. Let's get to work. * Mariah slumps back onto the couch, dossiers in hand. * Ao-Lang steps back in and shuts the door behind her with a certain amount of finality. Not really slamming, but. Right. * Kai peers over at the dossier from time to time. * Ao-Lang takes a breath, lets it out, and goes to put her coat away. Not on Kai's head this time. It'd be easier if we knew if this was one-on-one or five-on-five... ... well... how to do this. If it's one-on-one, I'd rather not fight Cye... * Ao-Lang returns and kicks off her boots, then flops onto the couch next to Kai. She suddenly looks very tired. "Okay." ... the roof. How can we work with that? * Ao-Lang smirks faintly. "Don't fall off?" ~Um, do you have knockback attacks?~ Winds should be higher. A roof on a mountain and all. Other than that.. I'm just trying to think of -- wind, right. That may help us against Sakai and Kaga. * Ao-Lang picks up the papers and starts looking through them for anything that might be a knockback attack. ~Also, the slant of the roof is not steep. It's *really* steep. If you get hit by anythin', it could knock you down.~ I.. might be able to do knockback against the lighter ones, even Louisa. Cye I'm worried about. But I've said that already. ~If we can take the high ground and hold it, we should have the advantage, naturally.~ * Isaac is saying all this while reading his book. Hope could take him, if she decides it's not more fun to try to kick Earth Chick's ass. I just don't know how to do anything against heavy armor... if that wasn't obvious. Mariah, you got ranged, right? * Mariah nods. "Some, at least." * Ao-Lang nods and says, casually, "You and me. We could take out the jokers." .. well, if you think so, I'll do my best. They're probably not used to going against their own game, and if I can close the distance fast enough, I'll be able to blind them. If they can't fight without moonlight, that's all we'll need. Blinding? .. I should be able to manage some blinding, too, when it comes to that. * Kai remains quiet for the most, then rolls up and over the couch, landing on his feet. "Hey... I need to clear my head out a bit. You think you can recap battle plans for me later on, Ao, Mariah?" * Ao-Lang grins. "Good." * Ao-Lang looks up. "Yeah?" She pauses. "Sure. Just don't get in the middle of that fight." -- oh, sure. Take care... I'm many things. Naive is one of them. Stupid isn't. * Ao-Lang smirks. "I can argue that." She waves Kai off. * Mariah nods. "You'll be fine." * Kai chuckles, then waves and toddles on out, hands in his pockets. "Later... and Isaac, we're going to have to talk fighting turkey later on." Out he goes, door slams shut. ~Okies Kai!~ * Ao-Lang goes right back to thinking about the fight. "Okay, so if we blind them and they can't fight with it, that's all we'll really need. Then you can team up on somebody and let me take 'em out." It'd be easier if they're close together, but that won't happen. So you being able to pull something like that off helps. How fast are you? I'm... well, fast enough, I suppose. You've seen me fight. Pretty average. I can't count on you to close the gap. Can you blind someone from a distance? ~I can attack from a distance...~ I haven't tried New Moon Rising at range, but I can't see why it wouldn't work. Can't if you're not fused with Kai, Isaac. And then you might need to do something else. We have to keep them all busy; if we can neutralize one person, then we can gang up on another. I can try it before we fight. * Ao-Lang nods. "Sure." She hesitates for a moment, then gets to her feet and walks over to the training room. "C'mon. You *can* fight in the dark, I'd guess?" I suppose... * Mariah heads towards the training room. * Ao-Lang calls over her shoulder, "Isaac, you're in charge of the juice!" * Isaac blinks and looks up from the book. ~Huh? Oh, juice, okay!~ * Isaac gets some super juice (if it's available) and brings it with him to the training room. * Ao-Lang walks into the training room, and as soon as Mariah enters, it starts filling with an extremely thick mist. * Mariah stops, dropping into a guard position, staff up and ready. New Moon Rising. Got it? * Ao-Lang moves immediately after, so Mariah can't just pinpoint her position by voice. * Mariah nods... and lunges forward at her best guess of Ao-Lang's direction, staff forward. "Let's try! New Moon Rising!" Yeah, there's no range on that. You'd need to get close. Unless you manage to do it, we might have to count it out as a blindness attack. * Ao-Lang can be heard from a slightly different area. "Or get faster, or something. Why don't you just try attacking me now, since you don't know if you can blind." She sounds amused by that. .. ah, well. Well, for the ranged fighters, I'll want to get close anyway to negate their advantage... Yeah, but as pure blindness and then leave? Not really. You want to make sure they're taken care of before you turn your back on a ranged fighter. ~Mmm... Think about the setting.~ ~It's going to be night, so darkness attacks will have the advantage, while light attacks will be at a disadvantage, right?~ Why not stay close and keep the advantage as long as I can? Because that means someone else might not have the advantage. It won't work out as simply as one on one. As soon as someone's disabled, even for a little bit, you can bet there'll be teaming up. ~If we can, it may be a good idea to have us go 2-on-1 with one of them. Or even go 5-on-1 on their best ranged fighters.~ In one-on-one, though... but I suppose this is five-on-five, isn't it? ~Incapacitate one early and it's suddenly a 5-on-4.~ That's what I was figuring. If we could take out the ranged early, then we *can* group up. Exactly. Mobility has a huge advantage. Range can, too, if we let them. * Isaac smiles. ~Simple math. If we get them to split their attacks, we have the advantage.~ ~While they can knock each of us down and we get up, if we utilize the same force focused on two of them, they won't come back up. That will decrease their ability to deal damage.~ * Mariah nods and lunges forward, turning as she spins her staff and then thrusts it forward in Ao-Lang's general direction. "So we take out the ranged fighters as early as we can... Cone of Fire!" * Fwoom. * Ao-Lang snaps one of her tessen open silently and sends it spinning towards Mariah. She was in no danger of getting roasted. * Mariah is at least fast on the reaction, dodging out of the way of the tessen and bringing her staff back to guard posture. "... another thing to train on..." * Ao-Lang catches the tessen and starts stalking again, this time taking a spiral pattern towards Mariah. "You dodged, but your attack was way off. You should have at least gotten closer." ~Feel her position. Observe the mist currents, they tell more than you think.~ * Mariah nods shallowly, holding her position... * Ao-Lang gets nearer and strikes close-range this time, one closed tessen for Mariah's back while she moves around her and goes down, pushing the other up and open to where her face should end. * Mariah can't avoid the strike in the back, which hits solidly, but she whirls around and backs off before the second tessen can hit. She lunges forward again, staff charging with sonic energy to lash out at Ao-Lang. * Ao-Lang laughs, barely dodging. "You're better at avoiding hits than dishing them out. But you need both." * Mariah presses forward again with another, lower staff lunge. "I'm working on it!" * Ao-Lang was already out of the way of that. "Now instead of before." She slices at Mariah's side before putting distance between them. * Mariah manages to get out of the way of that slice, circling back and pacing slowly. * Ao-Lang keeps moving. She's stalking, though, not running, and certainly not at full speed. "Why don't you attack me? You're not scared, are you?" The real question is why you're not, I think. 'Cause I want to see what you can do. It'd be pretty bad training if I just beat the snot out of you without figuring that out first. .. well, why not just hit me? You don't respect me anyway. ~You two are just being silly! Get working already!~ * Ao-Lang laughs. "The fuck is wrong with you?" She snaps a tessen open and spins, sending it slicing in the air towards Mariah. * Mariah snaps her staff forward as soon as she can see the tessen's path, knocking it out of the air, and spins in that direction to thrust forward with another spreading Cone of Fire. Are you going to deny it? * Ao-Lang rolls out of the way, catching the tessen as it returns. She's back on her feet in an instant. "Depends," she says as she actually starts running now, circling towards Mariah and steps near-silent in the mist. * Isaac sighs and closes his eyes, reading the emotions of Ao-Lang and Mariah through their thoughts. * Mariah grits her teeth and holds her stance, watching the movements of the mist.. * Ao-Lang darts in and strikes at Mariah's leg before rushing off. * Mariah blocks the strike with one end of the staff and moves to pursue, stalking through the haze towards Ao-Lang. ~Good, now that you can sense her by the mist, note that the sound waves and wind move in the same way as the mist does.~ * Ao-Lang laughs again. "Better. Why didn't you know how to fight in the darkness, anyway? Didn't think it'd ever come up?" She changes course after speaking. ~Those are the signals you'd search for when fighting without sight.~ Some of us didn't grow up in dojos, you know. What makes you think I did? ~Huh? I didn't either.~ I never said you did, either. Just... this is the first place I've gotten *real* practice. * Ao-Lang sneers, not that Mariah can see it. "Real practice." She wings one of her tessen at Mariah, running to the side. "Then what the hell are you doing here?" You're not a fighter. ~I'm not either.~ You may not think so, but... * Mariah ducks and pauses for a moment before heading in Ao-Lang's direction. "But I'll show you." Show me? What are you going to fucking show me? Magic tricks? * Ao-Lang heads in a different direction, now. That I deserve to be here! That I deserve to be on your team! * Mariah keeps stalking forward, watching the mist, managing to keep something resembling a straight path. What do *you* know about winning, about working to win? What do you think I've been doing ever since I got here? * Ao-Lang smirks. "Not practicing, that's for sure." As Mariah approaches, the throws her tessen in rapid succession, towards her, before moving another direction. * Mariah lunges down to avoid the tessen and turns while she's down, coming up and facing Ao-Lang and flipping her staff forward -- aimed with remarkable luck, if that's what it is... "And how are you so sure? Cone of Fire!" The cone of fire lances out again, far more on-target than in previous castings. * Ao-Lang catches them as they fly back and *immediately* snaps them open and uses them to block. The fire licks around her, singing her skin, and the mist dissapates. * Ao-Lang lowers them, now in plain sight. While injured, she doesn't look in bad shape at all, and she smirks. "Want me to answer your question?" If you want. * Mariah drops back into a guard position, watching Ao-Lang like a hawk. * Hope stumbles in, looking fairly beat up. * Ao-Lang walks around Mariah, casual as you please, twirling a closed tessen in one hand. "Because you're not a fighter." You're a mage who pretends to be one. A damn gifted mage, too, which means you can coast. * Isaac looks over at Hope wide-eyed. "Are you okay?!" Fine. Ao-Lang, shut up. -- oh. Hi, Hope.. * Ao-Lang looks lazily at Hope. "We're having a training session." Mariah is a damn fine fighter. If frigging Karasu can count as one, so can she. * Hope slumps into a seat, dropping her sword on the ground. I'm not talking about ability. Then what are you talking about? * Mariah relaxes slightly but doesn't drop her stance. * Isaac floats Hope a superjuice. * Hope grabs and chugs, looking a lot better. It's mentality. Hope's a fighter. I'm a fighter. You're not. If you want my respect as a teammate, you learn to be one. Until then, you're just an asset. Oh, shut up Ao-Lang. You're such a bitch. * Ao-Lang whirls on Hope. "At least I'm a bitch who got something done." * Hope laughs, long and hard. You didn't even ask how the fight went. What am I supposed to do? I'm training to be worth something to the team! If you want me just to become you, I can't do that. I don't expect you to *like* me, but I'm your teammate. * Ao-Lang falls silent for a moment, still not looking at Mariah, then says, "You are worth something to the team. You could not know what you're doing and be worth something. Hell, you're a wildcard who learned how to fight in the dark in under an hour. You got sent here without ever really trying." * Karasu wanders into the room, looking a bit roughed up, but okay. He sits down in front of the TV and turns on an old John Wayne movie. * Mariah shrugs. "But I'm your roommate, too. Maybe you think I'm an asset now, but... * Isaac goes over and starts reading the book again. But what? But I'd like you to respect me as a person, too. I'm coming to realize I can't expect that, but I'd like it, because we still have almost four years left. *** Gry2 is now known as Grysar * Hope listens to the two, sighing. "Karasu and Ao-Lang. They'd make a perfect couple." * Ao-Lang eyes Hope. "He's not interested. How'd the fight go?" Tie. You both gave up or what? ... I don't suppose it solved anything, then. I beat him, he beat me. And unless Karasu is a dumb as he looks, hopefully took him down a few pegs. * Hope grins, a ghastly sight considering the blood and dirt on her face. "Plus, a few other surprises." * Karasu points at the TV. "Quiet. Don't interrupt the Duke." * Mariah shrugs and finally drops her stance, leaning on her staff a little; she looks mildly hurt. "Maybe he learned something." * Ao-Lang flicks her gaze to Karasu, then Hope, then nods. "You want to be leader again, then?" I ain't gonna give up that easy. I'll prove to Dumbass that I can be a good leader as well as a good fighter. Hard to do if you keep walling him 'dumbass'. * Ao-Lang looks at Mariah. "Take a walk with me? I'm sick of the audience." Hey, he insulted my name, so I'll insult him. .. why? So we can talk. If I wanted to kick your ass, I would have done it already. * Ao-Lang heads out, in any case. * Hope leans back, closes her eyes and goes to sleep, clearly exausted. * Karasu does not sleep. The Duke *_* * Mariah shrugs. "Ah, well." She follows. * Isaac looks over at Karasu. ~Karasu? What's happening?~ I'm watching TV. * Isaac frowns and goes back to reading. FYI, it's Watership Down, because Ard's raving about it. XD * Karasu shuts the TV off and gets up, then wanders outside. [Session End]