WMAT Battle Rondo Exhibition

WMAT Battle Rondo Exhibition
Date of Scene:	14 July 2014
Location:	Papaya Island - Stadium
Synopsis:	Tora takes on Victoria in a special Battle Rondo/WMAT cross-promotional exhibition match!
Cast of Characters:	39, 192, Mister Satan (TP) (Dropped), 355, 369, 385, 477, 486, 491

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Victoria (477) has posed:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viBSgtKPswE

The stadium is in an uproar, fans of shinki, fans of the champions, and fans of fighting in general shouting and chanting and cheering, waving and pumping fists and making a ruckus. Lighting clicks off suddenly, lulling the crowd into silence with only the large square central ring lit up. Spotlights move away from it, tracking across the arena floor to the North entrance where no less than eight spots all converge.

Standing there is a simple man in a black suit, wearing a blue tie. He looks like an important businessman, nicely cropped and slicked back hair, cutting a clean figure. He steps calmly out, followed by the lights, until he ascends to the ring properly. There, he lifts one hand from behind his back, his palm held out and upward.

"Ladies and Gentlemen. My name is Jindou. Thank you for coming to see my lovely Victoria doing what she loves. I shall not delay you any longer--After all, it's not me that you came to see. Victoria?"

A slim black figure darts out of his coat in a smooth arc. The shinki lands on the outstretched hand in a three-point crouch, then confidently rises to her feet. Though Victoria's armor is gone, she holds her sword, its blue blade glinting as she lifts it up to rest against her shoulder. Under her other arm is the unmistakable oval shape of a Visualizer.

Wordlessly, the shinki bows, then hops down from her Master's hand to floor level to await her foe. Jindou, meanwhile, retreats from the ring to the box set aside for the fighters' Masters.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
While she's one of the announcers/commentators for the tournament, Yuna is happy to cheer friends and strangers on as well - and she's curious enough about the Battle Rondo to have nabbed a seat in the stands. She even brought a pair of binoculars, anticipating that it'll be hard to really watch the pair of Shinki doing battle without it. Of course, she's been wrong before and may be wrong again ...

Either way, she's grinning in anticipation of an exciting match to come.

Shizune Nakamura (369) has posed:
It is only moments before another figure darts up the stairs to the stage, her step light and easy. Though she's seen this ring many times in the garb of a contestant, today Shizune has dressed appropriately to the entirely different role she takes - that of the opposing Master in this clash. A smart-looking skirt suit in an earthy tone that complements her hair and eyes is the order of the evening for the council prez, and she turns to offer the roaring crowd polite bows and cheerful waves.

"Of course all of you know me quite well. I've been in this arena twice in the past few weeks alone! But this evening I'm proud not to stand before you as a contestant myself, but rather as the sponsor of this year's Battle Rondo tournament victor!" She sweeps an arm to one side, an unspoken cue that melds perfectly with her words.

Ahri (491) has posed:
Another chance to see a fight in the Multiverse? Count Ahri in. After hearing about the exhibition match that would be going on at the World Martial Arts tournament, the fox decided to make her way to the stadium to have a look. She had already seen a great variety in her first day outside the League. She was wondering, now, what she would see on the second. Her journey through the stands actually leads her toward a seat near Yuna. "Hello! Do you mind if I sit here?" Smile.

Mister Satan (TP) (Dropped) has posed:
Mister Satan stands on the sidelines of another packed tournament event! Never one to forego tradition (or the chance to show off), he waves his enthusiasm whenever any camera should turn his way. His grinning mug shows up on the big screen frequently in the downtime prior to the match's start, and he hams it up big time, posing, grinning, and flexing into various contorted expressions of heroic charm. He waves, he flashing his signature victory signs, he swings his cape around, and he turns his champ's belt into the lights.

Once the contenders are introduced, he tones it down, and adopts a serious, attentive expression.

Tora (355) has posed:
Mirroring Victoria's cue to present herself at hand lever, Tora is immediately hopping straight into Shizune's outstretched palm for all the crowd to see, waving boldly with one arm as she tries to keep her excitement from breaking her appearance of professional stoicism. She leaps down at just about the center of the arena. Walking across the whole thing to meet the other shinki in the middle would take absolutely forever. Again, mirroring her opponent, her regular sized sword is already in her hand; glowing a faint red to Victoria's blue, going with the counter of her white armour against black. The two of them practically look /designed/ to fight each other.

"It was thoughtful of you to bring a virtualizer. It'd be boring with all this wide open space." Tora offers as disinterestedly as she can fake.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna looks up, smiling at the foxwoman. "Go right ahead! I'm Yuna, by the way -" She pauses briefly. "You're ... Ahri, right?" She offers a hand to shake, pulling her attention away from the arena long enough to introduce herself properly.

Ahri (491) has posed:
The woman gives a nod. She looks down at Yuna's offered hand a moment, seems to realize something, then accepts the handshake, "That's me, yes. Nice to meet you, Yuna," she greets before taking a seat, tails slipping around to the side oposite of Yuna. "So many people.. I had no idea.." she muses, mostly to herself, but it could be heard by anyone near by.

Victoria (477) has posed:
Victoria remains steadfast where she stands, unflinching at the arrival of Tora and Shizune. It's only after the Lavina lands across from her that the black shinki's expression changes. That neutral face becomes a slight, pleased smirk. Shifting, she holds out the Visualizer and drops it to the stone at her feet. In a single, smooth motion as she lowers her left hand, her right hand removes the sword from her shoulder, twists it around, and rams the blade cleanly through the device with a spray of sparks.

Victoria twists the sword to one side and then, in a clean motion, slices the Visualizer in two. One half skitters several inches away, the ruptured battery pack leaking pale blue fluid. With a practiced motion, the black Strarf swipes her sword aside, casting off battery fluid in a splattering arc.

"I feel that, as warriors, neither of us wishes to feel restricted by such things," Victoria utters calmly. Motes of white light flicker around her, becoming a flash. Within an instant, the distinctive black exoframe of her armor has materialized on her body and limbs, her hands free. In the exoframe's much larger right hand, she wields an identical--much larger blue-bladed sword.

"We meet here, on the battlefield. As true warriors."

Shizune Nakamura (369) has posed:
With her Shinki introduced, Shizune quickly makes her way off stage, settling into the box with Jindou - just in time to see Victoria split the Visualizer in half. Her eyes widen, but she carefully pushes down any further reaction than that, opting to watch in silence for now.

Mister Satan (TP) (Dropped) has posed:
Mister Satan stands up on the sidelines. The cameras zoom in a ceremonial coin is tossed into the air! Right as it passes by his gleaming grin, the coin's face displays an etching of the exact same expression on the exact same man who tossed the coin in the first place. It lands in his outstretched hand, and Mister Satan raises it up. "HEADS!" he shouts.

Tora (355) has posed:
Tora's eyes go wide at Victoria's show of demolishing the visualizer. Several questions come to mind of varying shades between astonished and upset, before the full implications sink in. When she finally manages to open her mouth productively, she can't help but break into a smile herself. Now that's gutsy! "Oho? You must be feeling pretty confident to do away with the visualizer! I'm sure your master has more than enough money to replace any parts, but that's still quite daring for a tournament match." A bubble of iridescent light surrounds Tora before bursting into a shower of fading motes, leaving her clad head to toe in her snow white battle frame, bearing her full complement of weapons, though her oversized shinki-splitter is left on her back mount. ". . . I like it! That kind of daring is what fighting is all about!"

No later than the flip is called does Tora's hand fly to her hip, drawing her tanto like a western speed shooter and flinging it straight at Victoria under arm, so close that the motion is actually quicker than attempting to lunge the distance and strike her in close combat. The attack serves as a cover for her to leap back and draw her revolver, spinning up her gatling cannon with an electric whine at the same time. As much as she'd love to just go for broke and clash blades right at the start, she'd watched Victoria's tourney footage religiously. Being unprepared for the ranged game that she likes to use in tandem with melee combat would just be stupid.

Victoria (477) has posed:
"I would have it no other way," Victoria intones, her head tipping forward just slightly, "What my Master can and cannot afford is irrelevant. It should be irrelevant to you as well."

RIDE ON

Immediately, the black shinki's stance changes. She snaps her exoframe's arm up, catching the hurled tanto by permitting its blade to bury itself in the armor of her forearm with a spray of sparks. Knees bend. Almost effortlessly, Victoria takes to the air in a jet-powered leap.

During her ascent, Victoria produces her revolver, thrusting it downward and firing several high caliber rounds. These aren't aimed particularly cleanly, but are more intended to bracket the Lavina's ability to maneuver on the ground. In her exoframe's empty hand, the katar blade snaps closed. Right behind it, the minigun likewise spins up to readiness.

Tora isn't the only one who's been studying her opponent.

Tora (355) has posed:
Tora barely touches the ground from her backwards leap before skipping sideways as the first revolver round is fired, exploding into the stadium floor where she had just stood. With remarkable agility for a frame loaded down with so many weapons, she hops, twists and lunges from side to side, ducking and weaving through a flurry of large bore rounds in a zigzag pattern through them. The last few of the spray manage to force her to back up, hemmed in on several sides from Victoria's gunfire. The last one fits its mark on her back unit, the explosion sending Tora twisting through the air before her thrusters kick in, accelerating her spin so that she lands with both feet planted firmly on the ground.

Staying grounded however, would be plainly suicidal with Victoria's explosive rounds and height advantage. Tora takes off into a sprint directly towards Victoria, firing her jets just as she breaks through the dust cloud so that she goes flying straight underneath her opponent and climbs up from behind her. Having no doubt Victoria can track her easily enough, she rattles off a rapidfire spray of cannon rounds in her direction, attempting to buy time needed to climb to a higher altitude.

Victoria (477) has posed:
Spent rounds eject from the back of Victoria's revolver and she swiftly reloads it. However, the weapon is simply holstered. That damaged left arm swings forward again, interposing itself between the black and white shinki. High caliber rounds strike the blades that form a makeshift shield on the back of her forearm, and one of the knuckle blades outright snaps off, flittering off in a glimmering arc.

The black shinki's impassive face becomes a very small, almost imperceptable grin.

As Tora uses the cover of her cannon fire to take to the air, Victoria suddenly drops out of the line of fire and then ducks beneath it. Thrusters flash as she accellerates on a path to intercept the white shinki's ascent before she can get too far off the ground. Her thrusters reverse in the same instant that Victoria flips herself around, leading with a single foot extended. If Tora doesn't see it coming in time to avoid it, she's gonna get kicked right in the chest.

Tora (355) has posed:
Trying to face Victoria through her whole power climb would just slow her down. Tora has her eyes on the prize and her back to the enemy with just the hope she'd slowed her down to cover for her. As a monitor, one of her most distinguishing features is just how ridiculously risky most of her battle strategies are, which often pay off, but just as often, don't. The black strarf flashes into her line of sight, and then it's all she can do to try and slow down before Victoria's armoured foot crashes into her chest; the impact made even worse by her own forward momentum. Tora gasps out as the wind is figuratively knocked out of her, sent careening off course in a badly lopsided corkscrew just plummeting towards the ground.

Also due to being a monitor model, her spatial awareness systems manage to overclock hard enough for her to right herself just before her impact with the ground, pulling an almost 90 degree turn as she goes skimming just over the stadium floor; flipping onto her back to reveal the spiderweb of cracks going through her breastplate, flaking off little chunks of metal. While she has Victoria in her sights, she pulls the trigger on her cannon and lets off a much more focused stream of ammunition; the steady *WHUMPWHUMPWHUMP* of gatling fire filling the air as she tries to walk the stream of tracers into the strarf's flight path. Just as the gun gets close to overheating, she leans forward and digs her feet into the ground and scraping to a stop, only to leap straight upwards at another 90 degree angle, returning to the air.

Mister Satan (TP) (Dropped) has posed:
Suddenly, Mister Satan is standing next to Shizune Nakamura. Suddenly, there is a camera crew, and a microphone in his hand, and half a dozen others pointed his direction. Mister Satan is beaming and waving into the lens. "Hello! Hiii! World Champion MISTER SATAN on the sidelines of an exclusive and thrilling battle between the Battle Rondo champion, Tora, and her rival from the Battle Rondo's glorious history of champions, Victoria! With me today is SHIZUNE NAKAMURA, a champion in her own right, who once rose above the rest to claim the World Martial Arts Tournament championship two years ago!"

Mister Satan thrusts his microphone toward Shizune and continues, "Miss Nakamura is a terrific fighter who now advises Tora on her own battle tactics! Shizune, Shizune, as Tora's Master and teacher, do you have any advice to share now?! What tactics do you recommend Tora uses?!"

Shizune Nakamura (369) has posed:
Suddenly, Shizune is in the spotlight. She is briefly startled, but she recovers in the space of a heartbeat and is all smiles quite immediately. "Ah, Mr. Satan! Always a pleasure. It's hard for me to advise Tora specifically, because her fighting style is so different from mine it's hard for me to make tactical calls. She's good at playing to her own strengths, too. But in her position against a more experienced opponent, I'd personally be keeping on the pressure in whatever way I could, trying to find an opening. Keeping the momentum until I can capitalize on it, so to speak."

Mister Satan (TP) (Dropped) has posed:
Mister Satan laughs and nods his knowing agreement. A twinkle in his blue eyes, he encourages Shizune to continue. "Ah, but even though you don't share her fighting style, you still give great advice! You have the mind and the heart of a champion, Shizune. And it must be a huge honor for you today, too, to watch your shinki fight for another great prize! Were you very proud when Tora won the Battle Rondo?"

Victoria (477) has posed:
That satisfying impact of metal on metal. Victoria springs off Tora at the moment of impact and flips herself over, hovering upright with her thrusters re-orienting properly. She watches Tora's downward spiral, impact, and slide. Effortlessly, Victoria's thrusters flare as she accellerates overhead, weaving through the sudden curtain of high caliber cannonfire. All the while, her altitude drops with every maneuver.

Nearing a position directly above Tora, as the Lavina stops her slide, Victoria suddenly ascends with a twirling motion and then arrests her own motion. There's an agonizing second where the black shinki hovers in midair, and then she drops, shifting her posture to descend fist-fist.

That fist still has one of the two fangs that form her katar punchblade protruding from it, and it has all of the shinki's weight and inertia behind it!

Shizune Nakamura (369) has posed:
There's another, grateful nod, Shizune taking the opportunity with gusto. "Absolutely. She's always been very dedicated and eager, both to prove herself and to make me proud. Seeing her working so hard was a large part of what swayed me into becoming her proper Master, so her win had me absolutely ecstatic for her."

Jinx (39) has posed:
Jinx can be heard long before she shuffles over towards Ahri. "MORE DEATH! SHOOT MORE! COME ON, VICKI, KICK HER ASS!"

She's only got one good arm, which makes balancing the giant plate of nachos and the massive soda on her tray quite a feat as she slumps into the spot next to Ahri on the other side of Yuna. A huffa grumble, and she slurps at her soda.

Ahri (491) has posed:
"Jinx?! They let you out already?" Seems like Ahri was caught off guard. It was REALLY awkward being between Yuna (UNION) and Jinx (FED) while Ahri was unofficially Union, (LC). "Ah haha, ha, that's a lot of food!" Nervous? Maybe.

Tora (355) has posed:
Again Tora cries out as the punchblade finds itself burying into her damaged chest plate; the broken metal providing little in the way of protection as the sharpened point comes dangerously close to hitting her CMS; a chilling reminder of the real stakes of this battle. The little shock seems to shake her out of her uncharacteristic caution, sending nervousness to the wind as she momentarily forgets the calibre of her opponent and grabs hold of her wrist with her left hand, clutching it so she can't withdraw her weapon, scowling in determination.

Just before the two of them hit the floor, her back thrusters let off an impressive plume of fire, throwing her forward so that Victoria is underneath her before impact, straddling the other heavily armoured strarf with her vicelike grip still on her wrist. With any luck, she'll have her opponent pinned underneath her; just the position she wants to bring her own bladed wrist to bear, swing back her arm, and throw a flurry of punches at her downed enemy with the kind of wild abandon much more in keeping with all her previous fights

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna leans forward a bit to get a better look at the new arrival ... and at the woman who's carrying the food. "Hi! Saw your match the other night against Corvo ... glad to see you're out and about again."

Enemy or not, Yuna has no reason to be unfriendly to Jinx while they're all watching somebody else's match. But given the food Jinx is balancing, Yuna's not going to try to reach past Ahri to shake hands with Jinx at the moment. (If Jinx offers a handshake, though ...)

Jinx (39) has posed:
Jinx shoves a handfull of nachos in her mouth and starts talking at both girls. She pokes Ahri good naturedly in the side, and then flips off Yuna before extending a hand across the kitsune for a fistbump instead of a handshake.
None of the things she says while this are going on are intelligalbe around her nachos.

Ahri (491) has posed:
Of course, Ahri might be making out a word here and there considering she motions at the fighters, "I'm not sure who's winning," she states, not really responding to Jinx's poke. She's certainly not going to act like she noticed Jinx's greeting to Yuna! Nope! DIDN'T SEE THAT. "Well at least you are out and about. A lot better then being stuck in a recovery ward." Shudder. Ahri wasn't a big fan of the Institute's recovery ward in the least.

Victoria (477) has posed:
This sudden and reckless maneuver catches Victoria off-guard, spinning the black shinki around until she finds herself on the bottom. Wrenching at her trapped hand, Victoria's concentrated expression turns into a mild frown. In the same instant both shinki hit the arena floor, that punchblade slams into the Strarf's chestplate, chipping off a rather significant chunk and causing cracks to spread across the surface.

Before the second punch can land, Victoria's armor flashes white and disappears. Suddenly smaller, she grabs on to Tora's chestplate and hauls upward, shoving herself back and between the Lavina's exoframe legs just as that bladed fist slams into the ground where her vulnerable body had been. Once free, she flips to her feet with another Slipway flash, landing on her feet--and fully armored.

Reaching up, Victoria removes the tanto still embedded in her exoframe's left arm and then flicks it towards the center of Tora's back, between the thruster housings.

Tora (355) has posed:
Tora doesn't seem to be frowning at all as Victoria slips out from under her. If anything, she's impressed by her opponent's resourcefulness. This battle has already been far closer than anything she's faced so far. It's difficult to even keep up with the veteran tourney shinki, but that only makes it more fun! Really, it seems the more seriously Victoria takes the fight, the less tense Tora seems to get. She manages to wrench her katar blade out of the ground just before her own tanto goes thumping into her back, staggering forward several steps, before reaching behind herself and pulling the weapon out with a spritzing of sparks and jet fuel.

Whirling around on the spot, she reverse grips the tanto and snatches her revolver from her hip with her exo-arm, bracing her gun hand over the opposite forearm and blasting off a series of high-energy plasma rounds in Victoria's direction. Without ceasing her barrage, Tora breaks into a dead sprint; the barrel of her weapon trailing smoke and fire as she dashes serpentine into point blank range, firing for effect rather than attempting to halt Victoria's movment. Going into a powerful leap, she brings the tanto down in a flying, plunging stab, aiming to nail the blade more solidly through her opponent's left booster.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"I'm not sure who's winning either," Yuna admits, cheerfully ignoring that peculiar gesture Jinx delivers, and responding to the fistbump (which she *does* recognize) in kind, her knuckles bumping lightly against the gun-and-bomb-happy League member. "But it's being a fun fight to watch, either way!"

Jinx (39) has posed:
Jinx swallows, pulling her hand back. "I mean it's just a match, but, you know, yeah."

Oh hey fighting. The bluenette nearly dumps that tray of food out, the arm in the sling slapping at her chest a bit as she screams. "NO NO NO STAB HER VICKI! GET IN THERE! TINY ROBOT MURDER!"

Victoria (477) has posed:
Victoria's stance shifts defensive as soon as she's thrown the tanto, her right hand behind the rest of her body, presenting her already-battered left arm for protection. That's the image that Tora is presented with when her revolver goes off, punching into the shoulder and forearm with showers of sparks. When the white shinki closes in with the tanto, the arm that Victoria had been playing as disabled suddenly comes to life.

The incoming blade is deflected, scraping across the back of Victoria's arm and tearing open the metal in places. However, the blade is swatted away from threatening her flight systems. In this motion, Victoria follows through with a fully body twirl, twisting her entire self out from in front of Tora, giving the enemy Lavina nothing to impact against.

Her right arm slides out in a single, long motion, supported by her exoframe's matching right. What she wields is the enormous blue sword her model is known for, held one-handed. Her regular hand wields her normally-sized sword. Both blades are swung across Tora's back in matching upward, diagonal arcs, katana and nodachi, with a single wordless kiai.

"--TAH!"

Ahri (491) has posed:
Suddenly a single nacho is missing from Jinx's massive plate. It may or may not have vanished into the mouth of a fox nearby. You can't prove anything! She's amused by Jinx's energy, she had it in droves. That was never going to change. "I'm not sure which one is which.." she wonders if she should have said that out loud.

Mister Satan (TP) (Dropped) has posed:
Mister Satan suddenly waves his microphone in Jindou's face.

"Hiii! Hi, World Champion MISTER SATAN here with the proud Master of the super shinki contender Victoria! This Master's name is JINDOU, and he is no stranger to high-stakes competition! Hellooo, Jindou! What do you make of the battle so far?! Any words of advice for your shinki? Any strategy she should take to heart if she means to win the prize of custom World Martial Arts Tournament themed armor?!"

Tora (355) has posed:
Tora's head snaps to the side as Victoria whirls out of the way; the lavina quickly hopping back into stance as her blade goes wide and drawing her katana in a single fluid motion. It's difficult for Victoria to actually escape Tora's gaze now that she's locked on, putting those threat tracking processors to good use, so when she swings around for Tora's back, the shinki in white is ready. Crossing both blades into a solid guard, Tora braces her backfoot spikes into the ground, throwing her weight forward against the incoming attack. The result is that, with Victoria's swords each being one stage larger than Tora's, both of her weapons /shatter/, sending red hot shards of energy-sheathed metal flying in every direction. Victoria's double diagonal carries all the way through, carving off both of Tora's shoulder pylons and the vectored thrusters mounted on them, send clanking over the floor.

Despite the overwhelming damage to her armour, Tora isn't one to back down easily. She throws the now useless hilts to either side, swatting Victoria's larger extended blade aside with her forearm as she reaches both exoframed hands to her back, finally drawing the absolutely gargantuan odachi from its magnet lock. Her leg thrusters flare to life, throwing her into an acrobatic somersault over Victoria's head. Landing on her opposite side, she sweeps her foot out and swings the massive blade into a low, leg-shearing slash; the black sword blazing with lurid ruby light as the power assist kicks in.

Mary (192) has posed:
"Ah," Jindou straightens his posture, adjusting his tie with one hand. Clearly no stranger to the media, he closes his eyes, "Yes, thank you. Victoria has been my prized Strarf for many years now. Watching her fight, as she is now, is less about combat and more about watching an artist at work. Simply a thing of beauty." He looks towards the ring, "As for advice... I wouldn't think to tell an artist how to make art. She's already so talented. All I feel I could say is for her to continue to do what she loves, for those she cares about.

Victoria (477) has posed:
Shattering steel is a feeling Victoria is familiar with, and fond of. In the brief moment when shards of sword flutter through the air, when blue-wreathed blade cuts into ivory armor, there's a flash of her face. A serene, pleased smile. In combat, she finds her center, her reason to exist. And it is only against a worthy opponent that Victoria truly feels herself validated.

A challenging foe is the only way she can continue to grow stronger.

This enemy is reckless and inexperienced. But, the black shinki thinks inwardly, talented. When that enormous blade comes out, Victoria immediately flares her thrusters, hurling herself up and back. Just a hair too slow, that crimson blade carves into black armor as if it wasn't even there. With a spray of sparks and hydraulic fluid, Victoria's right leg separates at the knee, slamming into the arena floor. The leading edge where it had been severed glows an angry red.

No. This foe is reckless and inexperienced, but lowering one's guard is a fool's mistake. There's skill, there. And instinct. Is this the might of a Monitor? When she lands, she supports herself on her remaining leg and her exoframe's right arm. The left arm is raised, the rotating barrels of the minigun suddenly disgorging the contents of her ammunition drum. A spray of tiny brass casings pours from the outside of her exoframe's elbow, while hot copper spews from the barrels behind the fang of her punchblade.

Jinx (39) has posed:
Jinx is about to say something about the stolen nacho when THAT HAPPENS.
"Yeah yeah yeah YEAH YEAH YEAH KEEP SHOOTING YEAH YEAH YEAH!"
Oh good now THIS is her sort of fight.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"... okay, the one who didn't just lose her leg is the one who's winning," Yuna observes, cringing a little in sharp contrast to Jinx's exuberance. Sure, Shinki can be repaired, but that doesn't mean they're not getting HURT. Even if they're willing to put their well-being at stake in a contest battle like this ...

Mister Satan (TP) (Dropped) has posed:
Mister Satan nods in emphatic response. "An artist, you say! That shows a great deal of appreciation for your shinki and how she operates! Impressive! She's been creating a real masterpiece for us tonight, so far -- are you at all worried about Tora's ability to come back from the brink? She's a resilient competitor, and a skilled 'artisan' on a championship level of her...own...WHOA!"

The latest exchange turns Mister Satan's head.

The crowd is astounded, many cheering wildly for Victoria, but Tora's supporters are in it louder than ever, too.

Ahri (491) has posed:
Success! Nacho ate. That was good enough for now. Seeing all those bullets fly? Its not a surprise to Ahri that Jinx loves that. "Now if she'd just set her on fire it'd be perfect." Pause. Glance to one side,another, hands to mouth, "SET HER ON FIRE!"

Mary (192) has posed:
Jindou shrugs lightly, "Victoria has never lost a fight she commits herself to. I can tell from here, with this caliber of opponent, that she has committed herself. So I'm not concerned in the least." His eyes close again at the sound of gunfire, "Miss Nakamura should be very proud. Her shinki is very lovely. A Lavina collector's item, and an ultra-rare Monitor type, to boot. A supurb specimen that would have any collector green with envy." A glance aside to Mister Satan, "I would feel no shame were Victoria to lose to such an opponent. But in my years with Victoria, I have learned never to call a battle's conclusion until the final bell has rung."

Tora (355) has posed:
Victoria's leg coming off is success enough for Tora. She had doubted herself for no reason. Here in the clash of blades, hand to hand with her opponent, so close they can see the expressions on each other's faces, is exactly where she belongs. As the massive sword comes out the other side, Tora flips the blade around, flicking coolant jelly and hydraulic fluid over the ground in a bloody splash. Right as she raises her sword to charge in on Victoria again and get her while she's grounded however, her opponent goes for her trademark strategy; fluidly switching between swordplay and gunfire in the blink of an eye.

She's at point blank range. She couldn't /possibly/ miss! Tora is caught full on in the torso by a withering hail of cannon fire, even stronger for being at its peak of muzzle velocity over the tiny intervening distance. The remaining pieces of her chest plate go flying off, followed by chunks of her chassis underneath, spraying all over the arena floor as plastic and metal shatter under the repeated hammering of high speed ammunition. One of the rounds catches her shoulder joint, snapping a coupling in her underarm and leaving it dangling uselessly by her side. Unsurprisingly, the fusillade knocks her clean off her feet, thumping to the stadium tiles with a crackling arc of electricity spouting out of her damaged chest, for all the world looking like the mechanical equivalent of some gory arterial spray.

Then, just as silence falls from the last casing ringing over the battle damaged stones, Tora throws herself upright with a spinning kick, launching herself straight off the ground and landing in a heavy, thumping crouch. Like a loosed bolt, she explodes back into the fray, sword held high above her head and the sun glinting off her headpiece as she throws herself at Victoria with suicidal abandon, swinging so hard over her shoulder that her sword will sink up to its /hilt/ in the floor, Victoria in the way or not. "HaaaaaAAAAAAH!!!"

Victoria (477) has posed:
When Tora goes down, Victoria's gunfire ceases but she keeps her cannon aimed, not convinced that the fight is over. The gunfire resumes as soon as the battered white shinki is on her feet again, peppering her with shots that do nothing to stay the charge. For a very brief second, Victoria bares her teeth in a tense experession. Despite Victoria's unspoken desire, however, the onslaught does little to stop or even slow her opponent down.

She twists to the side at the last second in an attempt to evade. Instead of a clean dodge, the energy-wreathed blade slashes down across the minigun, cleaving the weapon as well as its ammunition drum completely apart. Superheated metal catches to propellant and the remaining ammunition store explodes, blasting the remainder of Victoria's left exoframe arm off the body. It also takes her core body's left arm and propells the black shinki aside.

Victoria lands in a roll, parts bending or buckling, before she comes up on her remaining knee and the stub of her right leg, braking herself by jamming the blade of her own huge sword into the stone that serves as the arena floor and carving a thin furrow for several inches. Bracing herself on the sword, Victoria rises to her full height, armor sparking.

"A worthy foe," she intones calmly. Her head inclines, headpiece concealing her eyes but not the smile that spreads across her face. The thrusters on her back, while battered, still rumble to life and she wrenches her sword free in the same motion that hurls her forward. Skimming across the ground on her remaining foot, Victoria draws her sword up as she approaches Tora and then slashes it in a forward crescent in passing.

Thrust cancels. Victoria thrusts out her foot to strike the ground, grinding herself to a halt with her sword still held out in the afterswing of her attack.

Tora (355) has posed:
The fact that Victoria is even still functioning is more impressive to Tora than dismaying. It's all she can do to stay on her feet, panting with exertion as her damaged cooling systems strain to stop her CMS from overheating. "Likewise!" Is all she manages to gasp out, sliding her foot forward and snapping her blade to attention beside her. She sees the lunge coming, even as impossibly fast as it is; irises contracting in on the blazing fast dash whilst her core processor labours under the incredible strain put on it just to track it, almost completely tapped out. As Victoria closes, Tora levels her blade horizontally and sweeps it out exactly at head level, aiming for a clean decapitation-

A fraction of a second too slow. Forced to rely on half finished calculations, her timing is milliseconds off by single digits, leaving a dramatic pause where both combatants are still standing. After a tense couple of seconds, it is tora who crumples face first onto the ground; her sword slipping from her grip and embedding point first in the stadium stones.

Jinx (39) has posed:
Jinx jumps up in her chair, scattering what's left of her nachoes all over. "YEAH! YEAH GOOD FIGHT GOOD FIGHT! CHAMPEEN! YEAAAAAAHHH!"
Get excited indeed.

Ahri (491) has posed:
A surprised yelp, a sigh, then a bit of dusting off, "Please be careful, Jinx?" A 'sorry' look is flashed Yuna's way. "She gets excited a lot."

Victoria (477) has posed:
After a long second, Victoria's upright posture likewise slumps. She's missing a leg, after all. Two different pieces of her headpiece horns break loose, cleaved neatly at angles that, a quarter inch lower, would have split her head open like a melon. The battered Strarf at least keeps herself upright by jamming her sword into the stadium floor beside her, while her damaged leg and arm socket ooze with coolant and lubricants. Supported like that, her eyes closed, Victoria leans foward in a tired slouch, her shoulders shaking.

It's inaudible, but she's laughing.

Shizune Nakamura (369) has posed:
Shizune is up on her feet at once, clapping and cheering for the fight she's just witnessed. Vicious as it was, both sides fought hard; she can't hold a grudge against Victoria for winning, and she's proud of Tora for making her work this hard for it.

Victoria (477) has posed:
Likewise, Jindou lifts his hands to clap, though he's the reserved sort who leaves the cheers and whistles to others. It's at least not a slow clap, but an energetic and pleased applause. After a few moments, he steps out of the makeshift Master's box and crosses the stadium floor to the fighting platform to collect his shinki.

Once gathered, though battered and broken in several ways, Victoria uses her master's thumb to stand upright on his palm. Cameras close in on her while she removes her armor's headpiece manually with her armor's remaining arm, then speaks.

"Tora has the makings of a champion. I see in her the same qualities I saw in myself many years ago. She will grow with experience and time, she may even surpass me one day." Golden eyes closing, she intones, "I would like nothing more than for that to happen." Eyes opening, she fixes them on the battered Lavina below, "I would like to fight you again. One year from now, at the next World Martial Arts Tournament. There, I will see how you have grown after today."

"Is this agreeable to you, Strarf Lavina Tora?"

Tora (355) has posed:
Amazingly, Tora is able to push herself off the ground at the sound of Victoria's voice; reaching up for the hilt of her sword and pulling herself half upright. It takes her a few seconds to gather the strength to look up, motors sputtering and whirring as they are, but when she does, her expression is faintly pleased, if only just barely. "One year. You'd better start training hard, because in that length of time, I'm going to be on a completely different level than today!" Somehow, she offers a smile, even if her arms are too tired/broken to wave or salute.

Victoria (477) has posed:
There's a cant to Victoria's head, casting her eyes in impenetrable shadow, though a smile crosses her face. There's a soft 'heh', as well, a gentle exhale that doubles as an amused laugh, "Such resolve... That's something to be rewarded." Her armor lifts its remaining hand in a sweeping gesture.

"Until that day, as punishment for losing, you are to keep and store my winnings for today. Defeat me and I will relieve you of their burden."

The battered Strarf wobbles and then sits down on her Master's hand, simply nodding once. Protectively, Jindou pulls her in and shields her with his other hand. There's a brief bow and then his own announcement.

"So my princess has spoken, so let it be done! Thank you, World Martial Arts Tournament, for this wonderful experience, and here's looking forward to another excellent year of combat!" Unless stopped, after saying that, Jindou turns and departs the arena with some amount of urgency. He may be hiding it, but he wants to get to repairing his prized shinki as soon as possible.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
With the Shinki match complete, Yuna rises to her feet (thank goodness for not having munchies in her lap) to give the two fighters a standing ovation.

Or part of one, really. Who else will follow Yuna's lead in their show of appreciation?

Mister Satan (TP) (Dropped) has posed:
Mister Satan is on the sidelines, doing his best to show his SOLEMN and SERIOUS and RESPECTFUL appreciation for the duel he's witnessed. His clap is stern and slow, and the sparkle in his eyes is bright as he looks on, the wind in his white cape and the light perfectly reflected from his championship belt.

Raditz (486) has posed:
Raditz is sitting in a scene not too far from Mr. Satan, giving his own applause, and quietly comments to Mister Satan, so only he can hear, "You are completely terrified of them, aren't you?" All while grinning.

Mister Satan (TP) (Dropped) has posed:
Mister Satan snorts brave disdain for Raditz's remark. "A champion is never afraid. I have conquered the likes of Cell, and the Hulk, all without so much as a tremor of fear! Though these small robots pack a devastating punch, I have no reason to be afraid! Explosions, lasers, bullets -- HAH! These are nothing to a man of my skill!" Then he grins, because Tora and Victoria have come up on screen again. "Besides, they're such adorable ladies! Why would we ever fight?"

Mister Satan (TP) (Dropped) has posed:
Inwardly, Mister Satan is weeping in horror over the prospects of ever facing two shinki like Tora and Victoria. Adorable? NO. The stuff of nightmares, more like! Well, so long as they never, ever look at HIM with their guns charging...

Mister Satan's next spate of laughter comes out oddly falsetto.