[Last time, on Battle High: Ao-Lang angsted for a bit, and accused her boyfriend
of being against her.  Then she asked to join the Student Dueling Association. 
This girl jumps around like crazy.]
[It doesn't take long to get outside the castle, wandering the halls as you
were.  You weren't quite lucky enough to have been wandering at the back of the
castle, but you did get the side nearer the dueling association headquarters, a
small shack in the shadow of the great wall around Battle High.]
[We open as Ao-Lang and Ryo come out into the afternoon sun, just in time to
hear a familiar voice scream "GOLDEN CHUUKA ZANMAI!"]
[Mini... start!]
* Ryo grins as he speaks over the sound of the fight. "Sounds like Ren perfected
his new attack."
* Ao-Lang has removed her socks, so now she's walking barefoot. Without the
added inch or two from the boots, she's even shorter than Ryo.
<Ao-Lang> Sounds like it.  We've only faced him once.
<Ryo> He's probably taking out his frustration about Kairi.  I almost feel sorry
for the poor schmuck he's dueling.
* Ao-Lang sighs, looking away. "Yeah."
<Ryo> He'll be another ally there for you helping find out who did it.
* Ao-Lang nods.
* Ryo reaches down and takes Ao's hand, gently.
* Ao-Lang lets him take it. Her own hand is slack.
<Ryo> You sure you wanna fight now?
<Ao-Lang> It's something to do.
* Ao-Lang grips Ryo's hand and starts walking for the fighting, taking him with
her.
* Ryo falls into step beside Ao, not being pulled at all this time.
<Ao-Lang> I wanted to join anyway, and I don't know what else to do.
* It's only a hundred feet or so to the corner of the castle, and just as the
pair rounds the corner, two cries ring out as one, Ren's voice once more,
screaming, "GOLDEN CHUUKA ZANMAI!", the other an unfamiliar voice, with its cry
of, "Destruction of Dark Water!"  A torrent of water washes across the pasture
behind the castle, sending a wave of black water for Ao and Ryo.
<Ryo> Up or back?
* Ao-Lang studies it for half a second before she says, "Up!" and runs for the
wave to make the jump, still holding Ryo's hand.
* Ryo runs along, perfectly in step with Ao, and at the last split second,
screams, "NOW!" and jumps.
* Ao-Lang jumps right at the scream.
* Ryo and Ao-Lang arc neatly over the crest of the wave, and just as they start
their descent, they can see Tao Ren and his opponent, a small boy holding a
trident about a foot longer than he is tall, both laying on the ground,
unconscious.
* Ao-Lang lands neatly on the wet ground, getting mud on her bare feet. She
glances down. "Yuck."
* Ryo lands too heavily on the light grass.  For an instant, it seems like he's
fine, then his feet slip out from under him, spilling him on his rear.
* Ao-Lang yelps and is pulled down with him. "Ryo!" she yells, but she's very
close to laughing.
* Ryo looks horribly sheepish.  "Sorry, these boots don't have the best traction
on grass.  Designed for cement and stone, now."
<Ao-Lang> Yeah?  Ugh, I have mud all over me.  Good thing I haven't changed
today.
* Ao-Lang looks down at herself. Yeah, the rips and cuts in her shirt from her
fight with Hope and the team fight are still there.
* Ryo reaches over and pokes one finger through one of the holes, to poke Ao
gently in the belly.
<Ryo> You need a new shirt.
* Ao-Lang can't help but let out a small giggle at the poke. "Hey."
<Ryo> I thought only Americans did that.
<Ao-Lang> What, laugh?
<Ryo> No, the giggle thing.
* Ao-Lang shakes her head and leans in, "A lot of girls do that," she
half-whispers. "And guys, too. They just don't want you to know."
* Ryo laughs.
<Ao-Lang> You ever hear a guy giggle?  It happens.
* Ao-Lang grins. "It's even more fun than when girls do it."
<Ryo> Nope.  Never.
* Ryo pushes himself up off the ground with his other hand.
<Ao-Lang> Are you telling me you've never giggled, Ryo Wildfire?
* Ao-Lang holds one hand up to Ryo.
* Ryo takes Ao's hand and pulls her gently to her feet.  "Nope.  Never!"
* Ao-Lang is pulled. She smirks. "I bet."
* Ryo looks over to the gathered fighters and calls loudly, "Ooooi, Palmer!  Get
me a signup form, and add Ao-Lang Shen to the rankings!"
* Ao-Lang stands there, hand in Ryo's, barefoot, and in torn and muddy clothes.
* A white-haired boy leaning on a shield starts upright, and his shield falls
over at his feet.  He quickly snatches the shield off the ground and runs off
towards the little shed that serves as the SDA HQ.
* Ryo leans his head down towards Ao-Lang and says softly, "That's your first
fight, by the way.  All newcomers start at the bottom.  Bottom man on the totem
pole has to do the fetching, so you'd better beat him if you don't want to be a
gopher."
* Ao-Lang nods. "Okay. What team's he on?"
<Ryo> Sun Tzu 101.  They're bottom of the pile, and it's pretty easy to see why,
but he's gonna be trying REALLY hard to beat you.  He's been the gofer for
weeks.  Doesn't help that he uses a bad weapon and a defensive fighting style. 
His best move is an ice-type counterattack.
* Ao-Lang winces.
<Ryo> Yeah, I know.  You should still take him easily, though.
* Ao-Lang nods. She looks uncertain, though.
* Palmer comes running back through the crowd with a piece of paper in his hand. 
He kneels on the muddy ground and holds out the paper and a pen to Ao-Lang while
using his other to offer his shield as a writing surface.
* Ao-Lang takes it. "Thanks." She glances at the other people gathered before
filling out the form.
* Most of the people here today are freshmen, with a smattering of sophomores
that Ao-Lang doesn't recognize.  There don't appear to be any juniors or seniors
here today, though.
* Ao-Lang finishes, filling out fields as required, and hands it back to Palmer.
* Palmer smiles happily and runs back off to file it.
* Ao-Lang stretches. She tests the ground, mud squishing between her bare toes.
<Ryo> Do your best, Ao-Lang.
* Ao-Lang smiles at Ryo. "You should never expect less."
* Ao-Lang turns her attention up, looking at the castle.
* The small, darkly tanned figure of Sai Saichi waves down at Ao-Lang from the
roof of the castle.
* Palmer skids back into the circle, panting.  "Are you ready?!"
* Ao-Lang blinks once, then turns to Palmer. She gives him a small grin - not
quite on par with what she usually pulls, but it's there. "Whenever you are."
* Palmer drops down into a sturdy-looking stance, breastplate and shield
gleaming.  He pulls a mace off a strap on his belt and raises it, the steel head
shining like a mirror in the afternoon sun.
* Ao-Lang stands right as she is, hands at her side. She doesn't bother snapping
out the tessen.
* Ryo steps up to the edge of the circle between Ao-Lang and Palmer and shouts,
"FIGHT!"
* Palmer raises his shield instantly, keeping it centered in front of him,
presenting only bare inches of attackable surface from behind the shield.
* Ao-Lang quirks an eyebrow. "He did say fight, you know."
* Palmer scowls visibly, even though Ao can only see his eyes.
* Ao-Lang picks up a smirk at the scowl, and she stays as she is, barefoot and
in the mud.
* Palmer's cool breaks entirely.  The shield lowers out of position and he
charges straight forward, the great steel-toed wafflestompers digging easily
into the mud, his arm drawn back for a special delivery of pure steel pain.
* Ao-Lang steps to her left, trying to avoid the shield and mace, and as she
does so, Bolt slides into her right hand. She snaps it open and up into his face
in one easy motion. "Falling Star Strike!"
* Lightning sparks out from Bolt, splitting into three different streams, one
for each of the three massive bits of metal on Palmer's body.  Faster than the
eye can see, the lightning courses through his body, into the water at his feet,
gathering force, then in an instant it rockets back up into the boy.
* Palmer's back arches in pain as the current does its best to melt his weapons
and armor in a shower of sparks.
* When the lightshow finally stops, Palmer collapses to the ground, thankfully
on his back and not in any danger of drowning.  He's twitching still, but it's
obviously not of his own volition.
* It takes a few seconds for the victory to register in the onlookers, then very
hesitantly, a few of the fighters begin clapping.
* Ao-Lang stares down at Palmer, lowering Bolt. She blinks a few times, then
shakes her head as if to clear it and looks up at the others (and Sai on
castle).
* Sai Saichi is gone when Ao-Lang looks up.
* Ao-Lang smiles, almost nervously.
* Ryo walks into the ring, shaking his head amazedly.  "Well, looks like Palmer
gets to be gopher for a while yet.  You, uh, sorta overdid it there."
* Ao-Lang waves with her right hand; her tessen has vanished back into her
sleeve. "I didn't realize there was so much water still lying around."
<Ryo> Yeah, sorry about that.  The guy fighting before this was Mather, one of
his teammates.  He makes a big mess, but doesn't do a whole lot of damage.
* Ao-Lang laughs. "Looked like he was enough to take out Ren."
<Ryo> Yeah, but not good enough to actually win.  He's one of the best on that
team, though.
* Ao-Lang looks down at Palmer and nudges him with her foot. "So, uh... is his
entire team out?"
<Ryo> No, though over there in the corner, with the scowl and the quarterstaff? 
That's Tabatha.  Don't call her Tabby, she'll go berserk.
* Ao-Lang looks. "Not Tabby." Pause. "Did you do that?"
<Ryo> Yes.  She broke one of my ribs with her first hit.  Special attack, and
not a nice one, either.  If I hadn't blocked, it would've run me through
entirely.
<Ao-Lang> Yikes.  Okay, I'm not calling her Tabby.
<Ryo> Being run through with a quarterstaff is not my idea of a fun fight.
* Ao-Lang grins at Ryo. "If you call me Tabby, I won't break your ribs."
<Ryo> How about if I call you Langley?
<Ao-Lang> I'd be very confused.
<Ryo> Damn.  You just don't have an obvious nickname.
* Ao-Lang gets out of the ring, already. "Oh, come on, Ryo. Like you do."
<Ryo> Just ask Arthur what happened when he called me Sparky.
* Ao-Lang laughs. "That doesn't even make sense."
<Ryo> Maybe not to you.  It made a lot of sense to a bunch of middle school
kids.
* Ao-Lang nods. She turns to watch whatever the next fight is.
* Calculus is on IRC
* Nobody seems to be moving to pick up Palmer.
* Maybe it's supposed to be a lesson on keeping his temper.
[Mini... end!]