[Last Time, on Battle High: Everybody split up after lunch and drove the GM insane! Mariah got REALLY caught up in a book, Isaac found hisself a forge, and Karasu -ran away from a fight.- Let's all call him a coward now.] [Now that that's taken care of, it's almost time for the Tecumseh 101 vs Alexander the Great 102 fight. That it to say, Benita Haselden's team against Kento Hardrock's team. It's about ten minutes to the fight, and crowds are already starting to gather on the front wall, looking down on where the fight is to be held.] [Session... START!] * The slowly sinking sun is thankfully NOT in Mariah's eyes as she comes out the main doors of the school to be greeted by the sight of the main front wall literally teeming with people. * Mariah 's eyes widen. "Looks like I was just in time. Well, sort of, anyway..." She scans the crowd for her teammates and friends or, failing that, a decent place to stake out a space. * None of her teammates appear to be present, but she can see almost all of the freshmen, and a fair number of upperclassmen, too. The choicest spots, right over the gates, are currently occupied by Alexander 102, who are looking down at the slope of the mountain and not talking to anybody around them. * Mariah looks for a spot not currently occupied by a team about to fight. * There's a fair bit of space around Alexander 102 on either side, but other than that, there's no open space but the ends of the line. .. better to get close up, I guess... ah, well. Gotta be brave now, right? * Mariah starts to work her way through the crowd. * It proves not difficult at all to thread her way through the sparse crowd still in the courtyard, to the base of the wall near the gate. * Mariah gets there! Hooray! She keeps her distance from the team, though; no need to get too brave. There's a fair gap between Greg, who's on this side, and Demetri and his goat, who are a fair bit away from him. There are no stairs up, though, so she'll have to climb or jump. .. okay. I can do this. * Mariah makes sure her staff is secured on her back before she starts to climb. * Mariah gets about halfway up, straining with exertion all the way, then her sweaty right hand slips off a grip and she falls back down on her arse. * Isaac comes running by after weaving through people, skidding to a stop as he nearly runs past Mariah, panting. ~Hey Mariah! You're watching the fight, huh?~ * The few people who were paying any attention as she climbed chuckle a bit. * Mariah picks herself up. "... yeah. I was planning on it. But... yeah. ~Oh, hmmm... I'm not any good at climbing walls.~ It's either climb or jump, I think, and I'm not sure I can do either... ~Yeah, me neither. Do you know where exactly the fight's going to take place?~ I'm not sure... hmm. Give me a second -- I think I gotta show off now... * Demetri looks down off the wall. "Hey, you guys need some help?" * Mariah shakes her head. "Nah, I got it." She pulls her staff off of her back and taps it on the ground, bending it slightly, as if testing. * Isaac blinks, then looks up. ~Um, I think I'll need some help up.~ * Demetri nods to Isaac, then slaps the goat, which jumps helpfully down off the wall. Hop on. * Isaac gets on, looking for where he should hang on. * The goat leans its head back, offering its horns for handles. * Isaac grips on, maybe a bit too tight. But the goat probably won't give a damn. * The goat takes a couple running steps then jumps straight up, landing easily with a *CLICK* on top. * Isaac blinks and smiles, hopping off somewhat amazed at how simple it was to get up. ~Thanks!~ He looks over the edge at Mariah. ~You sure you're okay to get up?~ * A few of the freshmen still on the ground are watching Mariah curiously, wondering what the hell she's up to. * Mariah walks back, measuring her steps, focusing her attention upwards at the wall and the sky above it. Once she's a decent distance away from the wall, she stops and holds her staff out forward. "No, seriously, let me try this." ~Okay!~ * Mariah then... takes off running towards the wall; as she picks up speed, the air almost seems to ripple around her, making her look like she's going even faster. When she's starting to close in, she abruptly plants her staff in the ground and vaults up towards the wall, carried by a sudden updraft of wind and the distorted air around her as much as her own muscle power. * Mariah goes sailing through the air with the greatest of ease, trailing her staff behind her, up, up, up, and WAY over the top of the wall, and is quite clearly on her way over and down the mountain, which could well end up in a hell of a trip down. * Isaac looks down, then looks way up, following Mariah's flight path, and eventually lands on his rump after looking up so much. * Mariah ... suddenly realizes she may have overshot the mark and attempts to adjust the other way, intending to use her still-overexuberant momentum to correct in the air and slow down enough to land safely. * Wind picks up from the other direction and swirls around Mariah, visible in the way her clothes move, and for a moment, she hovers in the air above the wall. Longer than a moment, in fact, for about ten seconds she hangs in midair, mostly unmoving, through the power of command over the wind. * Then the wind gives out, and Mariah falls straight down, landing in a heavy crouch on the walkway atop the wall. .. well! That was fun. * Isaac winces, then peeks over the wall at people's reactions. * The look on every face Isaac can see (mostly the freshmen on the ground) is one of shock and awe. * Mariah stands up. She looks... a little woozy, maybe, but pleased. * Clinton comes running across the ground below, jumping just as he nears the wall, bouncing off the wall halfway up to land easily on the walkway beside Mariah. ~You had to pull a stunt, didn't you?~ That was impressive, Mariah. You just became the envy of every air type fighter in the freshman class. Lately it seems like I've got something to prove, so why not start trying to prove it? -- oh, hi! Thanks. Can you do it again? .. right now? No, I think I need a nap before I try anything that silly again. But I could probably practice the technique and get it repeatable if I had some time. * Isaac smiles. ~That was a nice trick though! I should try doing something like that...~ Flying is one of the hardest air techniques in existence. The wind is a little flimsy, and trying to hold yourself up with it takes a lot of power. Yeah... I think I about wiped myself out doing it. If this was a fight, I'd be toast. But... hmm. Yeah! And if I *can* get the secret again... If anybody can pull it off, you can. * Mariah smiles, a little sheepishly. "Thanks for the vote of confidence." * Isaac nodnods. Let's. This should be really good. Yeah. I hear Alexander 102 has a hell of a plan. * Isaac nods and waves to the other team, signaling before he goes off. ~Good luck!~ * Mariah sits down cross-legged on the wall to watch the fight. * Isaac sits down next to Mariah to watch fightingness. * At 1 minute to 4, all five members of Alexander 102 hop down onto the slope of the mountain. Behind them, the five residents of Tecumseh 101, who our heroes fought in the pool, come walking confidently out of the main entrance of the castle. * In the center of his team, Kento kicks backwards as he lands just outside the gates, and the gates swing open, giving Tecumseh 101 a good view of the hind end of their opponents, just before they start on down the mountainside. * Karasu appears shortly after. * Karasu actually wanders up the mountain, passing the teams as he goes inside the school wall * From just across the top of the gate, in the spot most of Musashi 103 has parked in, Tanisha waves down at Karasu and shouts, "Up here, Karasu! You almost missed the fight!" * Karasu stops and gazes upwards and over his shoulder. * Benita, dressed in her customary outfit of hideously clashing colors, stops in front of Karasu as the rest of her team continues on. * Karasu turns his vision to Benita, expressionlessly. * Benita GLARES at Karasu. * Karasu is glared at! * Mariah watches Benita and Karasu. "... huh." ~Um...~ Get outta my way. * Karasu steps aside. He's still expressionless. * Benita walks forward, not looking to either side or hurrying as she follows her team out the gates. * Karasu turns his attention back to the wall. Hmmmm.... wall, eh? How to get on top while maintaining bishi coolness? * Out on the slopes, the two teams of fighters are facing off, and today's referee, Tanaka-san, a rather frenetic japanese man in a karate gi, is just about to start the fight. * Karasu walks up to the wall. .. huh. A guest referee? He looks sort of weird. I wonder what's up? ~You know who he is?~ No idea. Ready... FIGHT! * Karasu peers along the wall. * The wall is fairly rough on the insight, decent for climbing. * Karasu turns around, and peers thataway, too. * Karasu turns around just as Clayton slams into him like a freight train. Literally. He doesn't slow down at all as he picks up Karasu and slams straight into, and THROUGH the wall, sending them both tumbling down the mountain like some bizarre tumbleweed right through the middle of the starting fight. * The wall shakes wildly before stabilizing again, apparently solid enough to stand having a man-sized hole punched straight through in one go. * Mariah ... just stares. "... Karasu!" * Karasu is slammed into like something that got hit by a freight train. Ouch! * The combat erupts furiously as Karasu and Clayton roll straight through the middle. * Isaac looks around in panic. * Mariah looks down in shock, both at the tangle of fighters and the hole in the wall, before jumping down off the wall and running after Karasu and Clayton. * Isaac looks torn between chasing after them and watching the fight, but after noting how fast they're traveling, doesn't think he can keep up. * Benita skids to a stop just barely short of Mariah, kicking up a cloud of dust in her face. -- sorry! Just passing through! * Mariah runs like hell. Oh, yes. * Karasu tumbles and rolls, but finds the opprtunity to drive a palm into Clayton's gut. A palm surrounded in dark energy. "Raven Nine-Needle Slasher!" * Isaac watches the fights! * Clayton doesn't relax his grip at all, even though he's caught between Karasu's strike and the ground when it hits. An instant later, their positions have reversed, and Karasu is on the bottom. * Karasu drives a second dark palm at Clayton's chin. * Clayton's head snaps back with the impact, throwing him up into the air, but he still manages to hold with one fist onto Karasu's shirt. He uses this grip well as he falls, pivoting as his opposite foot touches down and throwing Karasu as far as he can, out over the mountain's slope. * Ao-Lang arrives on the end of the wall just in time to see Karasu's first flying lesson. * Ryo arrives right beside her, and gapes. * Ao-Lang blinks, and then she just sort of stares, too. "What's going on?" she asks no one in particular. * Karasu flies through the air! This can't end well. ~Clayton just slamed into Karasu and is now fighting and I don't know what to do. >_<~ -- KARASU! * Ao-Lang blinks as she processes what Isaac just said. * Mariah continues her mad dash towards the fight, the metal-shod end of her staff scraping on the ground... and, strangely enough, generating an ever-growing cloud of sparks. She stops short and flips her staff up, flinging the cloud of sparks at Clayton's back. "Shock Bolt!" * Clayton twitches a bit as the electricity grounds itself even through his boots, half-turns to glare balefully at Mariah, then turns his attention back to the airborne Karasu. This has gone FAR ENOUGH! * Ao-Lang takes moment longer to process things, then she looks at Isaac. "Was there warning?" ~No, just BAM!~ * Ao-Lang nods. * Isaac scratches his head and looks, keeping tabs on both fights as best he can. * Ao-Lang tries to find a way around the other fight, or through it, or whatever, without disrupting anything. * Karasu twists in the air to put his back to the sky, and is enveloped in dark power. In that strange dual-voice, he screams, * Karasu twists in the air to put his back to the sky, and is enveloped in dark power. In that strange dual-voice, he screams, Get over here and show me what you can do -- * Mariah 's bravado abruptly disappears. "... Karasu?" * Even as he screams, deep crimson wings erupt from Karasu's back, and they may in fact be -made- of blood. They're certainly dripping something unhealthy-looking. The wings unfurl in an instant and fill with air, holding Karasu steady in the sky. * Clayton stares up at Karasu, fury burning in his eyes, and in his aura. * Karasu glares back down at Clayton, then raises his hands in the air. He immediately points them at his foe, shouting, "Raven Wing!" * Clayton leaps straight upward, plowing through the middle of the blast sword-first. Where his sword came from, nobody can quite say, but it's there now, and headed swiftly for Karasu's throat. * Karasu wastes no time charging at Clayton himself, his face masked with rage. * Clayton thrusts his massive greatsword forward and Karasu fairly impales himself on it, the blade going straight through his gut, just below his ribcage. * Mariah watches for a moment, looking mostly confused and a little awed, before charging forward at Clayton. "No. No. NO!" * Karasu glares at Clayton, and reaches out, aiming point blank at Clayton's face. "Raven Wing!" * Isaac just stares. * Clayton takes the blast right in his face, and at literally point blank range, it pierces the glowing aura around him and bloodies his face badly. His grip on his sword loosens a bit, and he begins arcing slowly away from Karasu. * Karasu pulls himself off of the sword, slipping past it to deliver a palm-strike at Claton's chest. "Raven Nine-Needle Slasher!" * Mariah gets as close as she can before falling off the mountain becomes imminent, and even as Clayton takes the Raven Wing, she thrusts her staff forward and looses a caustic blast. "Acid Splash!" * On the wall, nobody really seems to be paying attention to the other fight anymore. * Ao-Lang stares, much like Isaac. She can't even reach the fight from where she is. * Clayton makes no attempt to move as Karasu's palm crashes into his chest, blowing a hole straight through his swiftly weakening aura. Behind him, Mariah's attack is well on its way, and looks like ti's going to hit. * Karasu spins in mid-air, launching a kick at Clayton, also in mid-air (but probably not for long). * The kick slams through the hole in Clayton's aura, and across the mountain, even above the din of the other fight, can be heard the sound of his breastbone cracking. His deathgrip on his sword remains tight, jerking it free in a spray of blood as he flies backward, away from Karasu straight through Mariah's acidic blast. * A moment later, Clayton slams to the ground at Mariah's feet, spraying her with rock shards. * Karasu wastes no time, firing another blast at Clayton just as he impacts. "Raven Wing!" * Ao-Lang jumps off the wall, running for the fight and avoiding the official one if at all possible. * Mariah backs up, hopping back and landing in a guarded stance, staff up. "Do you have him?" * The blast slams into Clayton as he stands from the crater, slamming him back to the ground. ~Ao, where you going?~ * Isaac chases after Ao-Lang. * Karasu charges in, laying into Clayton with his fists. He isn't even using his martial arts style now, just pounding the guy. * Ryo jumps down off the wall, landing surefootedly even in his odd plastic-looking boots. * Ryo doesn't look at all like he's trying to call Ao-Lang back. It's more like they both have the same thought in mind. * Mariah tenses, watching Clayton and Karasu. Her stance is still guarded, but readier; she seems heedless to lines of blood running down her face from rock shards. * Isaac wonders what they have in mind. * Clayton rises to one knee and slams his sword point-first into the ground, slowly pushing to his feet. * Mariah snaps out of her stance, grimacing, as Clayton rises. She slams her staff on the ground, bracing herself on it as the area around her is flooded with darkness. "New Moon Rising." * The entire area goes pitch black for forty feet around Mariah, and Clayton screams like all the demons of hell are shredding his soul. * Ao-Lang doesn't stop running. She covers ground at a fluid pace, and she doesn't even wince at Clayton's scream, just bringing her tessen into both hands and snapping them open. * Isaac keeps following Ao-Lang, and her lead as he draws his sword in a guarding position when he notices Ao-Lang is preparing for something. * Several long seconds later, as Ao-Lang, Ryo, and Isaac near the edge of the darkness, the darkness fades back to the normal noon brightness. Mariah removes her hands from Clayton as her hair, which was whipping in the air entangled with strands of dark energy, settles back down. The very moment her hands leave contact, Clayton collapses in a boneless heap. * The aura of darkness surrounding Karasu and his wings of blood flares bright for a moment as he looks at the fallen berserker, then dies entirely, and the wings collapse away from his body, hitting the ground in a spray of blood that is no longer held in solid form. ... I... I think that was overkill, but what else would have *done* anything?! Karasu?! * Karasu groans. * Ao-Lang approaches and then slows, glancing at Clayton and then focusing on Karasu. * Ryo skids to a stop just ahead of Ao-Lang, keeping himself just barely between her and Karasu. * Isaac looks sick when he sees Karasu fall down to the ground like that. ~Uh...~ * Karasu grips the ground with his fingers, then slowly pushes himself up with his hands. Not hard, being on a slope and all. * Mariah rushes towards Karasu, kneeling to offer him a hand. "Are you all right? I'm sorry about that, I got panicked and I think it's the only thing I had that would have made a dent, but..." * Karasu pushes Mariah's hand away. Gently, not hard. "D-Don't." He shakes his head, rising to his feet. "Don't..." He repeats. He looks like he has more to say, but is out of breath and too weak to continue. He starts up the mountain while he still has the energy left to make it to the top. * Ao-Lang watches Karasu go. She shakes her head, then glances up at the wall to see if any of Clayton's teammates are coming down to claim him. * Mariah lets Karasu go, then. "... okay." * Isaac scratches his head and sighs, putting his weapon away. He looks at Clayton concernedly, trying to figure out what's going on in his head right now. * Clay's teammates don't seem to be particularly interested in getting him off the mountain just now. Or maybe they are, but they're too busy eyeing Karasu to do it. * Isaac looks somewhat surprised at Ao, but nods. * Ao-Lang turns her attention to Ryo. Her face has been very carefully neutral the entire time, and it continues to be so. "Let's go back up." * Mariah starts climbing back up the mountain, wiping smears of blood off her face as she notices them. * Ryo nods and turns to follow Ao-Lang, though he still keeps one wary eye on Karasu. [Session... END!]