[Last Time, on Battle High: Our heroes discovered the REAL wonders of the library. Those being the school's blueprints, the complete history of Battle High, and the archive of fight recordings going back as far as the advent of silent movies.] [Now, it's very early monday morning, and they have a fight today at noon, in sub-basement 5... which bears an uncanny resemblance, not to X-men, but to a DUNGEON.] [Karasu is already awake, watching something on the TV, even odds on whether it's Charlie Chaplin or an old battle high fight tape.] [The girls are just starting to awaken, and they undoubtedly will want a shower before the cafeteria serves breakfast.] [Fight... BEGIN!] * Karasu *so* watches TV * Mariah walks out of the common room, still in pajamas and carrying her tarot deck. She sits on the floor and starts to shuffle the cards. * Karasu is, in fact, watching a fight video. He has the documents spread across the coffee table, and it's evident he's been going through them again. * Ao-Lang comes walking out of the bedroom, too, looking wonderfully dissheveled. She's also in her pajamas and, like the previous night, is carrying a teddy bear. She peers at what Karasu's watching. "How's it goin'?" * Karasu shrugs. What are you watching? One of the older fight videos. It's interesting, though I doubt it will be much immediate use. * Mariah looks up at the screen as she begins to deal out the cards. "Which one?" Tell me 'bout it after I'm awake. * Ao-Lang starts walking, peers at the teddy bear, and goes to put it back in her room. * Ao-Lang then walks back out and stumbles straight for the shower. * Ao-Lang closes the door behind her! ... thought she'd want first shower. Anyway, what's the deal? * Karasu holds up the video box for Mariah to read. * A thought rings through all of your heads in Isaac's boyish tones. ~Just a few more minutes...~ * The thought sounds kinda sleepy. * Mariah reads! * The video's description lists it as being from about a month ago, Tulpa fighting Darryl Rentas, the guy who beat Karasu in the pool match that was Ao-Lang's debut. * Mariah turns a bit to get a better view of the screen, still idly dealing. * A loud *THUMP* comes from the door to Kai and Karasu's room. -- uh. Everyone okay in there? * Isaac's mental voice rings out, ~Ow, who put that wall there!~ * A moment later, a second, much softer thump comes from the door. * Karasu pauses the video, gets up, and opens the door. * Isaac is standing there, apparently in the flesh. Not the strange melding of Kairi and Isaac you get when they merge, it's nobody but Isaac. * Mariah looks that way -- and stands up. "Uh... Isaac?" * Isaac rubs his head. ~Is it me, or did the walls get a lot more solid?~ ... I think it's you. It's you. * Isaac is, for the record, wearing Kairi's pajamas. * They're a tad too big on him. * Isaac looks at his hands. ~Woah... I'm like... Solid? Why doesn't anyone tell me these things!~ You're totally solid. Uh... where's Kai? Did you, like, possess him all the way? ~I don't know? I don't remember any of it, just uh... waking up? Wait, you don't sleep as a ghost...~ Uh, you'd know better than I would. * Ao-Lang thuds in the bathroom, then she can be heard cursing from behind the door and the water shuts off. -- oh, geez. * Karasu looks towards the bathroom door, then past Isaac into the room. ~I didn't do it again, did I? Did his spirit run off again? I hope I didn't do anything wrong...~ Uh, check the mirror. * Isaac steps over to the mirror and looks into it. * Ao-Lang opens the door right about now. Some steam wafts out, and she didn't even bother tying the towel around herself; one hand's holding it up. She's dripping water all over the place. She looks at Isaac first thing, blinks, and then yells, "What the hell happened!" That's a really, really good question. I guess our fight day luck is holding, huh? ~I DON'T KNOW!~ I can see today's going to be ... unusual. * Ao-Lang feels the towel slipping and reaches with her other hand to grab it. "Is Kai in the room? Did anyone check?" He's not. ~These are his jammies, so... I guess not.~ * Mariah sighs. "Great. Uh, I hate to have weird priorities, but are you going to be able to fight? If we're already a person down..." * Ao-Lang takes a moment to process that, screams, "Dammit!" and storms to her and Mariah's room to dry off and get dressed, slamming the door behind her. * Isaac stares at Mariah blankly. ~Duh?~ The fight today? ... oh, geez, don't tell me. * Karasu leans against the wall. "Hm." * Isaac sits down and rubs at his head. ~What are we going to do?~ .. well, right now it's like a priority thing, you know? We have to make sure we can make it through the fight, and then... I'll do some reading and ask around. Weren't there a couple of other shamans? They might know what's up. * The deck of cards in Mariah's hands slips out of her grasp and tumbles briefly across the floor, leaving cards scattered across the floor, some up, some down, in a chaotic mess. * Mariah glances down at the floor. "... huh." This is... huh. A lot of endings, but a lot of swords, too... * Mariah mutters "Gee, thanks for telling me what I already know. But... that Chariot at the end, that's better..." ~Whazzat mean?~ ~Isn't the chariot good?~ These are all cards about... unexpected changes and losses. And about difficulty. The Chariot is the best one here -- it's about teamwork, but it's also about persevering through stuff like.. the rest of the cards. Nice and cynical. * Ao-Lang opens the door. She's brushing her wet hair out, but she's dressed in her usual clothes. She walks to the couch and flops on it with a sigh. And... wow. This -- it looks like we've got a long row to hoe, guys. We should be okay if we work, but... ~I'm happy I'm... Uh, normal again? But... where's Kahri? I can't even hear him.~ * Ao-Lang sets her brush down. "Isaac, c'mere." * Mariah crouches to begin to gather her cards. "Next dibs on the shower." * Isaac gets up and walks over to Ao-Lang. ~Yeah?~ * Ao-Lang reaches out to grab Isaac's hand and pulls him down to sit next to her. * Ao-Lang checks his eyes and hairs and all of the other signs... you know, Kairi's alive. * Isaac sits next to her! * Isaac looks perfectly alive, pulse and all. * Mariah takes the silence as consent and stands up, setting her cards on the arm of the couch and heading showerward. * Karasu folds his arms in thought. * Isaac picks up the cards idly and starts looking at them. That's not supposed to happen. I don't know what is, but that's... not it. ~It isn't! Something's... wrong? It doesn't feel wrong but it does, you know?~ * Ao-Lang nods. "Yeah." Maybe... Kai's a spirit now? We gotta find a shaman and ask them about it. We can try during breakfast. If he still exists. ~Uh-huh.~ He'd better. * "If he still exists? Ya really gotta be so negative all the time, don'tcha bird boy?" * * Ao-Lang jumps to her feet and looks around. * Isaac blinks as his eyes briefly flash red. ~Hope's back!~ * Hope is standing by the door, looking quite a bit worse for the wear, but at least she's coherent. Noticably absent, however, is her sword. * Karasu glances that way, briefly. * Ao-Lang tenses slightly upon seeing her. "Hope?" * And with that, the water in the shower shuts off, and it's Mariah's turn to make a sudden betoweled shower exit (albeit not as hastily or as angrily). "Hope?!" * Hope laughs and rubs the back of her head. "Yeah. It's me. I've been.. kinda out of it recently." You've been kinda *out* recently. I wondered where you were! How are you? Where've you been? What're you doing back? Where the hell's the sword? ~Yeah! Are you feeling okay? Is everything all right? Did anyone hurt you?~ ~Did you hurt them back harder?~ * Ao-Lang sits back down and starts braiding her hair, still eyeing the bigger girl. * Hope glances at Karasu for a second, before shaking her head and laughing. "No, I just had some thinkin' to do. And the sword's gone." Oh? ... Why? ~Where'd it go?~ * Hope grins and holds up her fist. "Because there ain't no point in using a weapon that can't understand you and how you fight. Ain't gotta worry about that with my fists. And you'll have to ask our Principal 'bout that last part." That's a good point. I've kinda been thinking about switching myself... but anyway, I'm glad you're back! ~Awww. I coulda had some fun with it!~ ~I could, uh, make a weapon for you if you wanted?~ Thanks for th' offer, Isaac, but no. No more weapons for me. * Isaac nods. ~What about you Mariah?~ I'm still thinking about it. I'll let you know, okay? * Isaac smiles and nods. ~Okay!~ * Ao-Lang eyes Hope, then checks her watch. How long until breakfast? ... anyway, I'm gonna go get dressed. Be back in a bit. * Mariah heads into her room. * It's about half an hour until breakfast is served. Yeah. * Ao-Lang finishes braiding her hair and stands. "You know about the people we're up against next, Hope?" ~Anyways, I, uh... I don't know where Kairi is. I really don't. I hope you're not mad at me?~ It's certainly a mystery. * Hope shrugs. "Not really, 'ssac. Why would we be?" ~'cuz I'm here and Kai's not?~ * Hope glances over at Ao-Lang and shrugs again. "Nope, but I bet we'll kick their asses anyway." Notice the disturbing lack of Kai, and I'll take that as a no. Have a seat. * Ao-Lang grins. "Great." * Ao-Lang walks over to the papers on the coffee table and picks them up, organizing them. Planning time, I take it? Yeah, gotta get Hope up to speed, and we have a half hour before breakfast. * Ao-Lang gestures Hope to the couch. "Sit, sit." * Isaac nodnods. * Hope remains standing, and laughs. "Been layin' around enough. I'll stand. Damn, girl, you really seem to be gettin' into the homework." Someone has to. Are you still a heavy hitter without the sword? * Hope looks suspiciously at Ao-Lang. "You wanna test me?" We have the fight at noon, so I don't have time to be beaten up. I'm asking you. * Karasu shifts his weight. I know I been outa it for a while, but I wouldn't be back if I wasn't sure I could kick yer ass with one hand tied behind my back. * Ao-Lang smirks. "Keep thinking that. We're up against Musashi 102." She hands the files to Hope. "It's Clinton's team." That's good. They've got a lot of really hard hitters, so we're going to need someone who can match and outlast them. * Ao-Lang nods. We want to take the heavy hitters out early. They've got power, but no real defense or range. Karasu and Mariah are gonna go for Kale first thing. He should have trouble with one; both'll take him out no problem. * Mariah nods. "The guys with no defense we want to take out at range, but someone'll need to keep them busy so we have the time. It shouldn't take long, though." Bird-boy and Mariah? Really worried about this guy, ain'tcha Ao? Yeah. I don't want him hitting us, hard, when we can knock him out easily. * Ao-Lang moves the files in Hope's hand and points out Clayton. "That guy doesn't have a type, but he also hits very hard. We need to concentrate on him, too, but he'll be a little tougher to take down." She pauses. "Did you pick up any range?" He's a bigger threat the longer we let him stay around. * Hope shrugs and looks over the sheet, not answering Ao's question. "A threat, but really need ta give him Mariah AND Bird Boy? Seems like overkill ta me." Well, we don't have to focus on only him. And the two of us together will take him down really fast, so it's no big deal. If it's overkill, it's overkill, and then he'll be down before the second one attacks. ~Concentrate your forces on the most dangerous targets, of course.~ If he's not down, then it was worth it. * Ao-Lang nods to Isaac. Didja pick up any range, Hope? 'n a way. What's that mean? It mean y' don't got ta worry. * Ao-Lang narrows her eyes. "I know you don't like me," she says, "but we're teammates, and you'd better tell me what's up your sleeve if you want me to count on you." ... yeah, it'd be nice if you share. You don't have to, though. I mean, I trust you. ~Can you or can you not hit opponents at range?~ * Hope shakes her head. "I do want to trust ya, Ao, but you don't trust me. Ya, frankly, seem more interest'd in yer own power then ya do in a fight, so frankly, I'd like ta keep my abilities to myself, just 'n case." She shoots another glance at Karasu, clearly intending him to hear that message too. After a moment, her expression lightens a bit, and she nods towards Issac. "Yeah, I can. You don't have to worry about that." * Ao-Lang takes the papers from Hope. "Fine." She flips through them and reaches Clinton, then hands the papers back to her. "Think you can take him out?" * Hope doesn't look at the paper, just nods. "'course I can. No point in thinkin' 'bout it." * Mariah glances at the paper. "Good idea." Okay. You should be able to take him down in an attack or two. You don't need to spend forever fighting him, either; just take him out and help the rest of us. You've got plenty of people for your good fight. Look through the rest of these, okay? I'm gonna get ready for breakfast. Nice to have you back. * Ao-Lang walks off to pull on her boots. "We're in a dungeon," she says as she does so. "We got the blueprints of the thing. It's boobytrapped, so you'll want to look at that, too. Could use it to help, or at least avoid them so they don't get you." * Hope shrugs, clearly looking a bit offput by this style of "fighting." "Aw, ya just want to take all the fun out of it, don'tcha Ao?" ~There's some nasty stuff down there, you know.~ Yeah, and while I'm at it, I'd might as well take leadership from you, too, since I seem to care more than you do. -- guys. We're not doing this right now, okay? * Karasu leaves his place on the wall and walks out into the hall. * Hope looks towards Ao-Lang, clearly unsurprised. "I wait waitin' for that, Ao. If you think I don't care, ye don't understand fighting at all, just like I thought. What YOU don't understand, Miss Ao-Lang, is that fightin' isn't all charts and graphs and numbers." * Ao-Lang turns on Mariah. "Doing what? Losing? No! We're not. We did our research, we put in the effort, we're going to try, and we're going to *win*. Kai might be... dead... and Hope might have come back dressed as a clown for all I fucking care, but at least we can win." She turns and glares at Hope. "No, but those help, and you're a fool to turn down a resource like that." I'm not saying we shouldn't plan, but I was really hoping that Hope getting back wouldn't lead to arguments about this immediately. Right now we don't have time. Yeah, sure. She's back and she's changed, all right. But not in the way that's most important for being a leader. * Hope glares at Ao-Lang for a second, before shaking her head. "Yer not a fighter, Ao-Lang. You ain't got no concept of what fighting really is. You just care about winnin'. You ain't no better a leader then I am." * Ao-Lang laughs. Can we focus on the fight right now? Please? And not focus on these stupid power struggles? Mariah's got the right idea. ~If you don't fight to win, what *are* you doing here?~ * Hope glances towards Isaac, clearly a bit confused that he even has to ask. "I'm here ta fight. It ain't like I'm trying to lose or nothin' like that. I just don't want ta rely on crutches anymore." * Ao-Lang keeps laughing, then wipes at her eyes. "Fuck. You. Hope. You know nothing. You know *less* than nothing." * Isaac 's eyes take on a certain seriousness that is... rarely there. ~You cannot fight to not lose. You can only fight to lose or to win. There are only two outcomes in a battle, you either live or you don't.If you fight to not lose, you're just going through the motions and learning nothing.~ .. never mind, nobody's even listening to me. I'm going to breakfast. * Hope shrugs and waves to Mariah as she leaves. "Oh, c'mon Isaac. Ya know I'm here ta win. I'm just not here ta win like that. I've had enough of winning like that. It don't show nothin' about your skill, or your spirit. Ya might as well go and play a video game!" * Mariah turns and walks out. * Ao-Lang looks at Hope blankly. I can't believe you just said that. * Hope shrugs. "Better ta lose as a human then to fight as some soulless robot. Ain't no point in those kinda fights. Then they're just war." ~If you're opponents aren't improving to block your moves, then they're not fighting either. And here, they WILL.~ So you're saying that tactics shows a lack of skill? O' course they will. ANd I'll get better too, and kick their asses. * Hope glares at Ao-Lang. "Man, if that is what ya think I'm sayin', you don't understand me at all." * Ao-Lang backs up. "No, I don't. I don't understand such a moronic mindset." She stops at the end of the room and flicks out her tessen. "Come on," she says, her voice turning into a sneer. "You want a fight. Lose to me." But if I walk down an alley and some guy attacks me, I ain't gonna have no file on him to read before hand. I ain't gonna have a blueprint o' the alley and all it's sinkholes and pits. ~But you do here. And they have that blueprint of you.~ ~Therefore, you are purposefully putting yourself at a disadvantage. And if you play to win, you do not do that.~ * Hope sighs. "Man, it only took like, what? 10 minutes? S'gotta be a new record." She shakes her head, dropping into a low, balanced, arms raised. "So, Isaac, by yer logic, I should just go cuttin' people's arms off all the time, cuz that'll give me one helluva advantage when everyone in school's got one arm." ~You also have to abide by the rules of the game as well... Last I checked cutting people's arms off wasn't kosher, was it?~ * Isaac looks at Ao-Lang quizzingly. * Hard to say, she hasn't been expelled. * Ao-Lang twirls the tessen in her left hand once before flicking it open, and spinning once, quickly, water trailing behind it. She releases it towards Hope, and it keeps spinning, water building around it as it flies in an erratic pattern. "Spiral Wave." * All the carefully placed tiles on the sink and counter come flying off, interposing themselves between Hope and Ao-Lang. Even so, the attack -still- slams through the shield, leaking between the cracks between the tiles, throwing Hope straight back flat against the wall. * Isaac simply watches. * Ao-Lang snatches her tessen out of the air as it returns and waits, watching Hope with what's probably disdain. Hope slams into the wall, cracking it quite noticeably. Struggling back to her feet, she wipes her mouth and laughs. Dashing forward, she lifts back her arm for a punch. As she lifts her arm back, shards of the tiles broken by Ao-Ling's attacks begin to to gather around the fist, hovering, and slowly beginning to spin. A few more of the tiles shatter, their razor-sharp shards joining the ones already spinning around Hope's hand, extending slightly, forming into the shape of a drill, spinning at dangerous speeds. Hope thrusts her drill-hand towards Ao-Lang, with a shout of "ROCK DRILL!" <- This. * Ao-Lang darts forward and to one side, bringing up her tessen to slam Hope's arm away. The shards on that side still tear into her something fierce, and she winces slightly but likely not as much as Hope, er, hoped. * Hope shoots Ao-Lang a nasty grin and moves to drive her knee into Ao-Lang's gut. Before she even begin to move though, the razor-shard that previously wrapped around her hand quickly begin to gather around Hope's knee. As Hope moves to drive her knee into Ao's gut, the knee is topped by a small, but nasty-looking shard-drill. "ROCK DRILL!" * Isaac folds his legs and sits indian style, closing his eyes and attempting to anticipate the opponents movements without his eyes. * Ao-Lang jumps the moment Hope brings her knee up, over the "drill", and *into* her, bringing her left tessen down in a nasty, cutting move in an downward slash towards her chest. "Strike of Flowing Water!" she yells. * Hope is hit by the cutting move and grunts, falling over backwards, instantly knocked out by the attack, a nasty gash on her chest. [Session END.]