1946/Like a Hurricane

Like a Hurricane
Date of Scene:	03 April 2015
Location:	Galianda
Synopsis:	A casual and friendly interaction between Kyra and Audrey lures onlookers.
Cast of Characters:	127, 626, 652, Sanary Rondel

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Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    TEN MINUTES UNTIL THE END OF CLASS...

    Kyra taps away at the tablet in her hand, digillgently taking notes until something noticably distracts her. She tilts her head, straining to hear something, her focus immediately diverted from the teacher. Suddenly all at once, /stuff/ seemed to be happening across the rest of the multiverse and Kyra was squirming in her seat to get at it. Ten minutes pass-

    -and Kyra is darting out the door, ducking, dodging, and flat out shoving people aside in a desperate dash to get to her dorm room. Frantic running quickly devolves into outright threats of being shot and/or fed cooking. That last threat quickly turns those nearby into panic but it's /pretty effective/.

    Kyra unapologetically uses this to her advantage to get people out of her way, uncaring that it gets people taking and spreading rumors of the tyrant white mage forcing people to eat her terrible cooking so she has sick people to practice her trade upon.

Audrey Stormfist (652) has posed:
    In the most unfortunate of coincidences, one of those people in Kyra's way is the KIRIN supervisor herself. Only a few feet from the door to Kyra's room, sweet freedom might have seemed like it was a few steps away, but Fate giveth and Fate taketh. Right now it mostly taketh.

    Audrey is sturdy, of course, so the altercation happens because Kyra bumps into her and neither force yields. The Heritor stares, regains her bearings quickly, and then frowns. Her scorn beams cannot match Souji's, but damn if she doesn't try to sometimes.

    "Hyral. I see your ability to see further than your nose has finally reached its critical literal manifestation rather than just being a figure of speech."

    One might feel the air between those two boiling right now.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
    FIVE MINUTES UNTIL THE END OF CLASS...

    Why did Literature had to come at the end of the day? It was so... Dull and long. Minutes felt like hours, and not even in the good way where Sanary felt like she was actually getting work done. It wasn't as if she would ever use any of this stuff in a fight unless it was a witty quip or snide comment to throw someone off.

    Thankfully, the class does end eventually, and she's soon scrambling out to get the weekend of training started! But first things first: Food. Lunch was rather underwhelming, and she's on her way to the cafeteria to scavenge what's left and about to be disposed of when a strange sound hits her ear. Kyra, offering to cook for people? Granted, there are those rumors, but...

    Free food is free food. Even the rumors aren't enough to scare the expatriate away, and she's got nothing else to lose. Following the murmuring and path of startled students, it doesn't take Sanary long to find both of her superiors. "Hey, Kyra! Audrey...?" There's a moment of hesitation at hearing the words from the latter to the former. "Uh. Bad time?"

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Kyra's speed against Audrey's sturdiness results in Kyra nearly bouncing off the monk from the impact. Any other person she would have just grumbled at and shoved aside but the sound of that familiar voice draws an entirely different reaction out of the white mage.

    "Wouldn't you mean 'your /in/ability to see further than your nose' she fires back almost immediately. "If you're gonna slam me, at least get it right, /Stormfist/." Kyra doesn't always radiate waves of disdain, but when she does, it's probably because Audrey is involved. The change in the air is palpable and the surrounding students immediately take notice in a mix of awe and horror.

    Kyra draws herself up to her full five and a half foot height, which is pretty average, and glares down Audrey. "Now get the hell out of my way. I have important people to see and important things to do."

Audrey Stormfist (652) has posed:
    "I would slam you, but your zeal and haste have given you the first shot at that today," Audrey retorts, an obvious jab at the fact Kyra did in fact physically slam into her just now. She stares her 'rival' in the eyes, interrupted only by the sound of Sanary's voice.

    "Rondel. Stay out of this."
    No hostility in her voice, at least.

    Still, Audrey refuses to budge. "Important people? Surely you must be mistaken. No one of importance would make time for you. Perhaps you mean your little band of Light Warriors? Come now, surely you can tell /me/ all about your daily woes and emergencies. What could possibly be so important as to get my uniform dirty?"

    To illustrate the point, she dusts the spots where Kyra hit. Those two are obviously BFFs. That Sanary managed not to get caught between them until now is miraculous.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
    Sanary breathes in sharply at Kyra's tone, raising an eyebrow slightly while looking between the two senior students. She opens her mouth and shuts it quickly after Audrey's reaction to her presence. She's not about to disobey direct orders from a superior, and she instead opts to just take refuge behind a taller observer.

    Stupid tall people being all... Tall and reaching high places. There's a gloomy look on her face as she continues mulling over that, not catching herself holding that look even as her human shield makes the smart decision to flee before anything happens.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "Oh ha ha, how /clever/. Is all your wordplay impact related?" Kyra scowls, "Do you keep it on tap for all your monk tricks?" She doesn't even look away before she directs the next to Sanary:

    "Yeah. It's a bad time."

    Kyra bristles just slightly, her impatience mounting as Audrey taunts her and, more importantly, continues to waste her time. "Hah, you are /incorrect/. I am gaining a good amount of noteriety in the extraverse /and/ my skills have been highly valued." She lifts her head, giving off the distinct impression that she's looking down her nose at Audrey. "Now run along and go be a bitch at someone else, I've got an alien invasion to deal with."

    Then again, it looks like Kyra isn't going to wait. She's going to continue forward but not without significantly shoulderchecking Audrey in the process.

Audrey Stormfist (652) has posed:
    "Are you really now?"

    A simple strafe-- when Kyra bumps shoulder with her, she takes a step back and towards Kyra, to remain firmlyand pointedly in the White Mage's face. Poking the dragon with a stick is basically a sport, one that'll no doubt end poorly one day, but until it does, she'll keep deriving amusement (and anger, mostly anger right now) from it.

    "I'm sure that trash cans and dumpsters are also appreciated members of society. Why don't you stick around and tell me more about these so-called aliens you need to stop? I'm sure Rondel would like to hear of them as well. Or we could talk about the other side of that coin. How many lives will my delaying you end?"

    Poking at THAT, she feels, will get the largest rise out of Kyra. "One? Ten? A hundred? In just how much of a hurry are you, hm? Put this in context for me, Hyral, won't you?"

Sanary Rondel has posed:
    Alien invasions? Was Kyra talking about the Reptilons or something else? Whatever it is, Sanary's not about to put herself into that mess just yet. The two haven't come to blows yet, and it's not like they're addressing her or anything.

    ... Well, okay, maybe there is a bit of bumping. And being named specifically. And a lot of rising tension. Still, that's no reason to get herself involved in it, right?

    "Soooo! Uh." Raising her voice just a little too high, Sanary forces her best smile as she takes a step forward and stands there. She just... Stands there. No witty remarks, no attempts to divert the energy elsewhere, nothing. Just... Standing there. What did she usually do back when people got into heated arguments like this back home, anyway?

    Right. She usually let them fight it out. Crap.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Kyra's evade does not work out the way she wishes at all-the monk is just THERE, in her face, mere inches seperating their noses. Growling, Kyra sidesteps again, likely to find herself with the same results. Her fists start to ball up. "Well GOSH, Stormfist, I'm flattered you want to keep my company so much but I'm going to have to give you a hard no on that one."

    The white mage is obviously struggling to keep her cool here but her control is slipping. There might not be much of a reason to fear a white mage meltdown, but /this/ particular white mage did have unpleasant rumors around her. Something about a crab claw showing up recently? "You can turn on that broadband and listen, maybe. I know you have access to it, Stormfist-"

    Her voice drops suddenly, harsh and whispery as she glares into Audrey's face. Odds are the injection of saving lives into the taunting might have crossed some kind of line because Kyra actually tries to sock Audrey in the gut with an underhanded punch. It's not very effective due to WHITE MAGE STR scores. "It could be more than one. /Any more than one is too many/."

Audrey Stormfist (652) has posed:
    "Oh? But your company is just lovely, /Hyral/. Why would I ever seek another's when I can make you lose sleep over faces and names you've never even met dying to some unknown thr--" Threat, Audrey'd finish, if not for the gut punch.

    Low strength or not, a punch in the gut is a punch in the gut. Though she doesn't recoil that much or back off, it does knock the wind out of the Heritor's lungs such that she can't finish her statement. To that end, this is Kyra's win.

    On the other hand, the self-defense line just got crossed.

    "Watch, Rondel. This is why attachment is harmful. You become unreasonable. Likely to say and do stupid things over people you've never even met dying. Do you know how many people die every second in the whole Multiverse, Hyral? What good will you be if you allow that to dictate your life and schedule?"

    No punch back? Audrey's just smiling.
    Maybe the verbal slug is enough.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
    Well, maybe this could be good for them. Sanary isn't completely oblivious, after all, and even listening to two over the comms has been enough to make her completely aware of the... Mild hostility between them, to put it lightly.

    She still seems to be struggling with coming up with anything to actually say to try and defuse the situation, a sequence of noncommital 'hmms' and 'nns' coming from the junior student. What could she really say that wouldn't just shift their venom to her in some way, anyway?

    "... Say! What kind of thing is this, anyway? If it's a common threat, we could just go kick its ass." She glances between Kyra and Audrey questioningly, sounding more than awkward at that attempt to defuse the situation. Letting them fight it out really would be so much easier, but somehow, she's got the feeling that might not be the best idea.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Kyra pulls her fist back, her entire arm shaking. Strange that-the physical blow felt much less satisfying than Kyra had ever expected. Stopping Audrey's words right in their tracks, though, that was satisfying. "What the hell is wrong with you? How can you even /say/ shit like that, much less think it?"

    She starts to circle Audrey now, either angling for that escape route or preparing for a counterattack. "Don't be stupid, I know I can't respond to everything going on at once. But I /can/ respond to this thing going on /now/, because I have the knowledge that it's going on."

    She doesn't get any less riled. "Some XCOM team shot down an alien ship over Cairo and they were asking for help." she briefly explains to Sanary. "I was /going/ to respond to that."

Audrey Stormfist (652) has posed:
    "How can I say what? That it's unhealthy to attach yourself to the lives of strangers? Do you think me some saint or hero, Hyral? I am merely another person in the vast sea of people who've understood you need to take care of yourself before you take care of others. Selflessness is self-destructive," Audrey answers, glancing towards Sanary.

    "If they wish for our aid they will have to offer compensation. KIRIN doesn't work for free, or we'd already be down to no manpower from spreading ourselves across the whole of the Multiverse and its ongoing twenty crises per day," she tells her.

    And then back to Kyra. She keeps turning to face her, even as she circles. "How dreadful it must be to attend class with your radio on. The cries of the dying overlapping with your lessons and making you have to choose, constantly. Let them handle their woes."

    She takes a sudden, jerking step forward, as if she were about to throw a punch-- but doesn't actually do it. She just wants to see how testy Kyra is. It takes a GREAT amount of self-control for her not to throw the punch, admittedly. Right now the score is 1:0 for Kyra after all.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
    There's another awkward groan from Sanary's throat as she looks between the two. Trying to break up the impending fight doesn't seem to be working, and it's much too late to try and pretend she didn't see anything. Definitely too late for that.

    To make matters worse, there seem to be more students around now than there had been moments earlier. The junior certainly isn't the sort to shy away from a crowd, but what about the others? "Uh... Audrey? Kyra? Maybe we should take it to somewhere not so... Crowded? And then you can sort it out where..."

    As she's about to step forward to try and get between them, though, Audrey moves forward. Cutting herself off, Sanary does have enough time to keep herself from intercepting the fakeout, at least, stopping just within arm's reach of the two and watching from there.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "Not /that/-about making me lose sleep-" Kyra fires back. "I already knew you didn't give a shit about people that aren't paying you to protect their ass. And you know what? They /did/ offer compensation for helping them. So don't even go there, not even I get paid in hugs for the stuff I do out in the Multiverse."

    She has nothing to say about keeping her radio on during class though. Audrey has her there though she doesn't want to point this out too much or explain /exactly/ how it makes her feel.

    The jerking step forward does prompt another response though-not a punch, but Kyra sticking her hand up underneath her hoodie, reaching for something. It's no secret that she keeps her mixtures and other gear under there.

    he motion is enough that the ring of students that have lined up to watch take a step backwards. "You know, that's a good idea, Sanary." Kyra's eyes narrow, "We should go outside."

Audrey Stormfist (652) has posed:
    "If you lose sleep over this, I am hardly to blame," Audrey barks out, with some mild cruelty in her tone. She'd enjoy it, hearing Kyra say she loses sleep. It would be a nice way to put icing on this cake. The matter of being paid to protect people rolls off the Monk without impact-- because it's completely true. Somewhere along the line Audrey simply lost the ability to feel for people. Some would call that a condition, she'd call it a strength.

    "Perhaps you need to find another hobby. One where delays don't result in deaths," she adds, before looking at Sanary from the corner of her eyes. Hm. Well, true enough, fighting inside the Academy would probably summon a few angry teachers, and their little bout would be interrupted. That much she can concede.

    "Very well. Let's go outside. You've already committed to this over saving lives, I should think it extremely rude of me to deny your ensuing requests," Audrey says, giving Kyra a nice, if intentionally provocative smirk.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
    That solves one problem, at least. The seniors are finally agreeing over something! Sure, maybe they could end up injuring each other terribly and be out of commission for a while, but... But.

    This didn't fix anything, did it? Still, it's not as if Sanary could just try and stop it after recommending a change of venue. Might as well enjoy it for what it's worth. And so, she sets out to try and stay ahead of Audrey and Kyra to clear a path for them! If nothing else, she can at least try to get their showdown to start and end as quickly as possible.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Kyra stares Audrey down icly, disgust in her eyes. What is there even to /say/ to that, she wonders, picking up that hint of cruelty. She's obviously enjoying this taunting and she just knows that there has to be something more to it than just running into Stormfist in the hall.

    "Maybe you need to mind your own fucking business. And. You know. Not get in the way of my jobs and hobbies." Great, now at least she'll be able to get out of the building, if now implied to be preparing for a fight with the monk.

    As she walks, she unzips the front of her hoodie, "Funny, last I checked you seem to be committed to wasting my time today." Kyra scowls angrily, ignoring the other students that move along with the trio. They, at least, do not bar their way.

    One of Kyra's hands digs into a pouch on her belt, grasping an item that is concealed in her closed fist.

Kirikou (127) has posed:
    The commotion didn't catch Kilik's attention at first. People squaring off and yelling isn't all that unfamiliar to him. It's a regular enough occurrence at Shibusen, where hot-tempered strong fighters train and learn to socialize. To dominate or manipulate, to obey or to rule. He sees no reason to expect otherwise in Alexander.

    Still, he knows the people involved, or at least a couple of them. Kyra is a ... a friend. And Sanary's a battle companion too. And Audrey... Audrey he knows by reputation. This ought to be interesting, though he's not sure if he should take sides. Besides, he's not at all sure what side he should be on.

    Kirikou, currently without the otherwise-everpresent twins at his side, saunters in closely enough to involve himself. "She's got a point." he says conversationally to Kyra. He didn't get to hear her entire view on this, but it's kind of obvious. "Got to pick your fights. Can't be everywhere at once. Pick your ground too." he adds with a grin. "Though sounds like you've picked it, for this fight anyways. This sort of thing go on a lot here?" he asks, sounding more amused than upset. Actually, he doesn't sound upset at all. What would anyone expect of a known Confederate elite after all?

Audrey Stormfist (652) has posed:
    "You forfeited your claim to the 'mind your own business' argument when you bumped into me, Hyral. Maybe you should look where you're going, instead," Audrey answers back, as they they out to the courtyard. It's true, nobody'll get in their way, so at least it'll be a short walk to a nice, open space. It's not like they're going to kill each other. Right?

    "But please. We've had this coming for a while now. It was inevitable your impulsive, rebellious behavior would make you try to lay a hand on me eventually. I have to commend your swing, you know how to throw a decent punch, for a White Mage."

    Once they're in the clear, though...

    "But it's my turn now!"

    An armored fist swings forward with blinding fist, as Audrey tries to return Kyra's earlier blow by throwing one straight for the White Mage's jaw instead. Mid-swing, the gauntlets click and pull back, withdrawing into bracelet form to expose Audrey's hands. Looks like she's making things 'fairer' for Kyra.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
    Hearing Kilik, Sanary looks over to offer him a quick nod before scooting over to let the two combatants-to-be take the lead. "Hey, Kilik. Here to watch?" She chuckles lightly in a weak attempt to lighten the mood somewhat, still sounding quite conflicted about the whole thing. Sure, a chance to see her senior and her superior duking it out would be invaluable, but something still felt off.

    Well, maybe it would all be settled quickly enough and they could just go back to... Still hating each other. She refrains from commenting on the actual dispute between them, opting instead to just watch what may come from a bench in the courtyard.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "...Kilik..." Kyra grumbles, complaining to him "Don't take /her/ side. Yeah, people fight all the time. Depending on who you ask, it's either not allowed or accepted. I'm..." she waggles her free hand as if to indicate that she's on the fence about this kind of thing.

    The bristling returns, "Maybe you should have just let me by in the first place instead of making such a damn big deal about it!" Yes. Clearly not going to kill each other. Clearly.

    She whirls to face Audrey, gesturing with that closed fist. "Yeah, it was inevitable I'd get tired of putting up with your sneering and comments and other random crap you hurled my way. I don't know what your real problem is, Audrey, but it better be go-"

    Kyra is slammed in the jaw mid-sentence, which is a pretty effective way to shut her up. The momentum is enough to spin her and she staggers as her head reels. With a few unsteady steps, she manages to stay upright. She looks up, only briefly, before she hurls the concealed object in her hands at the ground between them two of them. The object strikes and explodes into a huge cloud of...smoke?

    As the smoke spreads over the area, Kyra turns and runs, grabbing her needlegun out of the holster as she does. "Pick your battles /indeed/." she mutters.

Kirikou (127) has posed:
    Kirikou grins to Sanary. "Just trying to fit in." he claims, glad he's not the only spectator. To Kyra he shrugs. "I'm not taking her side." he says, though in truth he really is. Not because she's in the Feds, but because he accepts her hard logic in this case.

    He WANTS things to be different of course. He would love for Kyra to be right in this, and he doesn't want to discourage her. Just make her want to think, perhaps. She's a bit naive, like probably many Union supporters... at least in his opinion. "Besides, if you believe in your cause, shouldn't matter if she thinks your wrong, if I think you're wrong, or if the whole damn school does. Right? Fight for what you believe in, or stand aside and let it go." he grins. Well ... okay, more like a smirk.

    He follows along casually, amiably, keeping company with Sanary. When the fight breaks out in earnest he winces. But then, he doesn't really expect Audrey Stormfist to fight fair. Oh well... it's not like anything really bad can happen. Not with him here, and Sanary. Then again, Sanary might side with Audrey too. Kyra could be quite alone here. No, unlikely. Sanary's a healer, and Kilik wouldn't stand by and let Kyra be hurt. Not TOO badly anyways. Punches are good for the soul.

Audrey Stormfist (652) has posed:
    "Student rivalries ensure readiness for the real world," Audrey points out, although she adds: "It is also disruptive and unprofessional, but one can't have their cake and eat it too."

    There's a huff, as Audrey considers what her 'problem' is. No, she doesn't really want to say yet. There'll be a better time for that, one where there isn't a circle of students watching. This is just a friendly little fight, no use getting into deep personal matters.

    Though quite happy her fist connected, Kyra withdraws into the safety of a smoke bomb. The Monk frowns, keeping her arms up defensively as she tries, and fails, to keep her eyes on the White Mage. So instead, she'll snark and bark.

    "You ached for a fight but you hide. Is that how this'll go?"

    Rather than strike AT Kyra, Audrey pulls her fist back, and then slams it into the ground. The strike creates a huge gust of wind! Probably enough to blow the smoke away, but not enough to harm anyone. And it certainly won't stop whatever Kyra was planning to do.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
    Sanary actually looks somewhat relieved at the lack of attention from Kyra and Audrey on her in this whole dispute, although she does wince slightly at the first hit. "Damn. Ah.. Yeah, you're fitting in fine. Probably more than me, even." Turning to Kilik, she offers him a brief grin before gesturing towards Audrey and Kyra with her head.

    "Ideals aside... Who do you think's got the edge here?" She squints slightly at the smoke as it starts to billow out, keeping a hand over her mouth just in case there's anything in the smoke. She barely even breathes until after Audrey strikes the ground, waiting to confirm that the smoke is just smoke before taking a full breath.

    "Kyra's got range, but Audrey's got punches. Very... Punches." There's brief glint in her eye as she channels a bit of energy into it, although nothing actually seems to come about from that.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "...gghh.." Kyra grumbles, "Actually it does kind of matter if people decide to PUT THEMSELVES IN MY WAY!" She's clearly pretty grouchy right now. Whatever must've been said while Kilik wasn't in earshot must've been bad-though Sanary could probably fill him in on that. Or she already has, unknownst to Kyra. She IS aware of Sanary's affiliation with the Confederates but much like Kilik in this case it isn't something that really matters to her. Especially not here! Here they were just fellow students.

    "-this isn't a /rivalry/." Kyra suddenly speaks up, a raw nerve touched thanks to a conversation from a few days ago. "Not everyone gets rivalries anyway in the /real world/."

    The smoke is pretty much normal smoke and not one of Kyra's more dangerous gas-producing mixtures she could have used. It might be because there are bystanders she doesn't want inhaling chemical warfare. Or it could be that it was just a regular smoke bomb.

    Audrey will discover a few things: Kyra doesn't reply to the snark. When she punches the ground, she'll discover something white and sticky in her wake-an adhesive made from primarily from spider silk chemicals. Clearing the smoke reveals Kyra running across the courtyard, her gun in her hand.

Kirikou (127) has posed:
    "My old school was a lot like this one." Kirikou confides to Sanary. "You're not used to school. You'll fit in!" he encourages. And then there's Kilik's ability to fit in, of course. His ability to bring out those parts of himself that best match those he's with. It'd be cynical and distressing if it were the sort of thing he did deliberately or maliciously, but it's a part of his nature... less under his control than his habit of bad puns.

    He considers Sanary's evaluation of the battle, shrugging. He doesn't disagree. "In a battle of weapons, fists lose to guns." he notes offhandedly. "In a fight of souls, it's not that easy. I'm obligated to say fists would win." he grins. Then he lowers his voice, handwaving smoke away from his face so he can speak somewhat privately. "Obligations aside though, I think she'll win anyways." he says. He doesn't want Kyra to hear him, to think he's disparaging her. "Stormfist's soul is clear on this, her will strong. Hyral's conflicted." he claims. It's a bit depressing really. He LIKES Kyra, and would cheer for her or defend her if the situation was right. He doesn't know a lot about Audrey, but from what he's heard on-channel he doesn't like her beliefs very much. He'd much rather Kyra win this fight. But then, even though he thinks she'll lose, this wouldn't be the first time he's stood aside and let a friend get beat up. You fight your own battles. Kyra wouldn't thank him for protecting her, not in this kind of fight. It'd be as good as saying she was weak; that she couldn't stand up for herself.

Audrey Stormfist (652) has posed:
    Could it be the word rivalry makes Kyra angry? Audrey wouldn't know why, sadly, but if it makes the White Mage uppity, she'll keep using it gleefully. That, sadly, doesn't make up for the fact her fist is now glued to the ground. What a cheap trick, she thinks. Truly, this suits what she thinks of Kyra all too well.

    "Hyral, if I didn't know better, I'd say you're trying to provoke me even more by avoiding the fight. Do you think pinning me and running is going to be enough?" Her other hand, the one still free, clenches and starts glowing a bright white. She pulls it back, the air rippling around the hand. "WAVE FIST!"

    The punch is thrown! Literally. Though the glow dissipates from the hand completely, a few feet away from Kyra, the glow appears in the air and then launches itself like a rocket fist towards her face. When in doubt, always rely on rocket fists.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    At this point Kyra realizes she's probably too delayed to get to respond to anything in the extraverse. This makes her even /madder/ but it's hard to tell by now, even as she turns to face Stormfist again. "Pinning you and denying you the pleasure of hitting things seems like an /excellent/ strategy to me!" she calls back, half in singsong, half annoyed. "Because you know what'd be great? Leaving you there while I go do what /I/ want to do."

    Ah, that's right, Monks did have a few ranged techniques, didn't they? This proves that Audrey did know a few of them, which was actually kind of troubling since Monks weren't the easiest of things to dodge. Case in point, Kyra gets punched in the face /again/ and this time it actually knocks her down. A few seconds pass, followed by the muttering of a few words as she casts a Protect spell on herself and pushes herself to a crouch. A thin trail of blood leaks out of one of her nostrils but she seems to be ignoring it for the moment.

    She doesn't rise right away, afraid that doing so would make her dizzy, and instead takes her shots at Stormfist from there. It's the needlegun, loaded with darts that actually contain a low-grade neurotoxin. Low grade in that it just causes mild paralysis instead of death-there ARE certain rules Kyra will follow about what she will and won't carry.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
    Kilik had a point there. Sanary snickers lightly at his reaction, taking his encouragement quite well. Coming to the Academy has been nothing but new experiences to the girl, especially considering how her previous 'education' was limited to whatever she could learn on a farm or in a fight. Even though the fights here weren't nearly so life-and-death as the fights back home, there was much more to learn here in the way of techniques and adapting to more than just different weapons and magic.

    Stroking her chin lightly at Kilik's assessment, she watches the rather strange exchanges between KYra and Audrey before nodding slowly. "Gotta agree with you there." She brushes her hand under her nose repeatedly to keep her mouth covered as well, lowering her voice slightly to try and keep herself from being heard by Kyra and Audrey.

    "I mean, sure. Maybe Audrey did go a little overboard, but... Can't go around trying to do everything or nothing gets done." She jerks up slightly in her seat at what looks like a glowing thing hitting the White Mage in the face, then resumes keeping her mouth covered and her voice low. "So much for the range advantage."

Kirikou (127) has posed:
    "Hmmmm." Kirikou muses, as he watches the fight with a professional eye. Stormfist is strong, no doubt about it. A brawl between him and her might be interesting. Some time when he has his weapons anyways... as he stands right now, she'd mince him. Still, he might have sold Kyra a little short. "Hyral's pretty determined." he admits to Sanary. Audrey's aloof calm seemed to indicate a strong will and soul. It's still the truth, but that doesn't make Kyra's bluster quite the same weakness he'd originally assumed. She must be channeling her frustration, he figures. Perhaps victory in this fight would stand in for the lives she'd been hoping to save?

    "That's the big flaw of the Union." Kirikou agrees with Sanary. Too unfocussed. Too willing to deal with the immediate and minor threats, and spending too much effort, leaving them unable to deal with the really big problems effectively. Death Academy teaches them to destroy the little problems before they become big problems. It's a relatively sound Confederate-style doctrine, and one he doesn't believe the Union has the guts to apply. He's probably wrong, but then he's really only ever been given a slanted view of the facts.

    More loudly, Kirikou lets the combatants hear what he has to say now. "Stormfist's in a sticky situation." he calls out, smirking, sounding like he's announcing a WMAT battle. "But she offers her opponent a friendly wave. Hyral reels, caught off guard by this unexpected gesture! Is the match going to end in friendship? Or will Hyral make Stormfist see her points?"

Audrey Stormfist (652) has posed:
    Monks might be hard to dodge, but they don't dodge TOO well themselves. Especially not when one of their fists is glue to the ground. Any attempt to bark back at Kyra is interrupted by the oncoming volley of darts. They easily pluck through Audrey's uniform and inject their payload, causing the Monk to freeze up momentarily. The darts are kind of painful in the first place, but that toxin isn't helping at all.

    Then again, Monk bullshit. It solves everything.

    Audrey slams her clenched fist into her chest, gathering her energy and concentrating. The darts fall out, the wounds start rapidly healing, and the nasty status effect is purged. God bless Chakra. Now if only it could unglue her fist.

    Well, if there's no ground to be glued to anymore...

    "HYRAL! I'm getting TIRED of this! EARTH RENDER!"

    Her free hand gathers strength, and then she slams it into the ground. It uproots the earth, shattering the section her hand is glued to, and sending the tremor towards the White Mage. Once it reaches her, it causes small earthen pillars to shoot out of the ground to, well, roughen her up. The campus damage is probably not going to be very appreciated considering it leaves a crack in the ground, but it's nothing the Geomancers can't fix.

    Gives them a great class project.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
    Raising an eyebrow, Sanary smirks slightly at Kilik's assessment. "She is... I know for a fact I hit a lot harder when I'm pissed. So if she can..." She trails off, her brow furrowing briefly before she turns to him. "Think she can shoot darts harder when she's pissed off?"

    Turning her attention back to the fight, the axe fighter observes Audrey and Kyra closely. "Yeah, that's a thing, too. Wonder if I'd even fit in if they came to me first..." Although she sounds distracted for that moment, she starts breaking into a mixed chuckle and groan at that terrible, terrible pun.

    "D... Dammit, Kilik." It's almost enough to distract her from what's going on, and she nearly misses the darts coming out from more of that weird glowing from the Monk. She definitely doesn't miss the ground breaking in the distance, though, a long hum coming from Sanary moments later. "Yeah, I really need to try learning that one of these days. Can you do that, Kilik?"

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Oh right, Chakra. That would be a big problem to the chemist if she can't make the dang status effects stick. Tossing down more adhesive and fleeing for reals was starting to sound like a really great plan for the moment. On the other hand, actually being able to stand her ground during this would be awesome. Maybe it'd make the bullying stop?

    "...Kilik!" Kyra groans suddenly, "That was awful!! You are awful! You are bad and should feel bad!"

    She looks back to Audrey and-"Oh hell no, FLOAT!" Kyra snaps her fingers and with a flash of white light, she starts hovering about a foot off the ground, which comes in handy since it conforms to the movements underneath her. The pillar rises up under her, but she rides it into the air without being hurt by it. "What do you mean you're getting tired already? What kind of monk do you think you are?" Kyra taunts, loading up another set of darts.

    "You know what, maybe you should just take a nap, then!" Kyra didn't want to try the tranquilizers since she feared Audrey might be too wired for them to work. But the thought of putting her to sleep on that taunt was too tempting due to the irony.

Kirikou (127) has posed:
    Kilik is only encouraged by the accusations flying his way. Yes, his commentating was horrible. But it was a GOOD sort of horrible. He's fairly sure no one's going to seek him out in a dark and lonely corridor and punish him severely for the play-by-play. And if they do... well, it was worth it.

    He nods to Sanary. "Not quite like she did." he admits, speaking in a conversational tone rather than in his earlier announcer's tone. "They use chakra here. We call it soul, and I only know a couple of people who can channel it like that without a focus." he explains. Only a few from Shibusen, that is, and he's not one of them. He can only channel ground-shattering power through his Weapons. Still, he fights remarkably similarly to the Monks of this world. Close enough that they can recognize and appreciate each other's styles and techniques.

    Kirikou clears his throat and holds up his hand once more, miming a microphone. Speaking once again in the announcer voice, he continues commentating. "Stormfist is unphased by Hyral's points, and she's able to break herself free! Look out, Kyra! She's gonna rock you!" he says, not without a big grin. If he's going to be called horrible for his comments, he'll just have to continue! What's the worst that could happen?

Audrey Stormfist (652) has posed:
    Another set of darts. She'd rather not have to waste MP on another Chakra right now; actually, she feels like she's done enough for the day. Ther gloves whirr and click, and she brings her arms up in a defensive X position, the mechanical gauntlets redeploying to cover them. Rather than attack at all, she chooses to defend-- if those darts are fired, they SHOULD just plink against the gauntlets.

    On the other hand it means neither of them get anywhere.

    It's good enough for Audrey, though; she regains her smile, dusts herself, and turns away. "One whose objective is already met, Hyral. I merely wished to inconvenience and delay you. I'd say I've done that and much more. Won't you pay my respects to... XCOM, was it?"

    Even if no one died and Kyra's conscience ends up freed, this little clash and delay provided some useful information, and let her rattle the White Mage a bit! Though, she did get rattled her fair share back. It's not like this didn't delay her too, she always has stuff to do.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Kyra is seconds away from switching to actual explosives when Audrey turns her back on her. Frustrated, she puts her gun away-not that it was helping her much right now, and rubbed the side of her face, spreading her cure spell onto her face, healing the damage done when the monk punched her. The blood stops flowing from her nose and she wipes the rest away with a sleeve.

    "Why?" she asks, "Just...why?" XCOM wasn't responding, they must've gone into radio silence, she realizes.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
    "... Pffbt. That was awful." Sanary's having more and more trouble focusing on the fight while snickering at Kilik's commentary. She does get herself to shut up once the fight seems to be winding down, at least, tilting her head slightly over to give him an amused smirk. "You've... Done this before, haven't you?"

    Turning her attention back to Audrey and Kyra, there's a pensive look on the axe fighter's face as they return to speaking without trying to beat the crap out of each other.. "Think I might have to try that next time... Just to see."

Kirikou (127) has posed:
    Seeing that the fight's over, Kirikou puts away his mime-mike with elaborate gestures. He grins and winks at Sanary, acknowledging what she said but not actually explaining. He's a showoff, not a braggart. There's a difference.

    "Give fighting a try?" Kilik asks. "Or commentating? WMAT's going to be coming up in a few months. Could try either." he says. "And they always need healers too, of course." he grins encouragingly.

    He gestures to Sanary, then turns and heads for Kyra. Her idealism is... not a horrible thing. She's a good fighter too. And cute of course. Definitely cute. "You okay?" he asks, once he's already assured himself that yes, she's not seriously hurt. Nothing wrong with showing concern. Besides, right now it's probably her ego that hurts worst.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Kyra's question to Audrey goes unanswered, bringing another noise of frustration from Kyra. She hops down from the earthen pillar that the monk left behind, then dispells the Float enchantment so she can walk on the ground like a normal person. She stands there for a moment before sullenly zipping up her hoodie.

    The gathered crowd of students disappates, no longer offered a show.

    "...yeah. I'm fine, Kilik." He'll notice the contrast compared to her usual cheerful self around him. In fact, she's usually pretty cheerful around Kilik, even throughout the groaning at his puns and jokes.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
    That's probably a yes. Kilik's suggestion draws another thoughtful hum from Sanary, her thoughts starting to jump between the alternatives presented to her. "Fighting would be good for training, but... Commentating could be fun, too. Do they let just anyone do that?" She returns the grin with a smirk of her own, her attention shifting to KYra shortly afterwards.

    Right. She... Probably got sidetracked a lot with that fight. Getting up from her seat to approach the White Mage, Sanary rubs her neck awkwardly before reaching out to give her a light pat on the back.

    "Hey, Kyra-senpai. You... Uh. You fought well. You two wanna go grab some squid ice cream or something?" That was a good way to comfort people, right? Or drinking. "Or... Drinks?"

Kirikou (127) has posed:
    "SQUID ice cream?" Kirikou asks, astounded. That... well okay, it doesn't sound horrible exactly, but it does sound weird. "What kind of weird type is that? Try something local!" he insists. Then he considers, glancing at Kyra. "IS that local?" he asks dubiously. "Or we could go for pies. I bet Kyra's a mean shot with a banana cream pie." he offers. Apparently he's trying to cheer her up. Or maybe he's just being a goof.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "I missed everything." She adds sullenly, "All that delay...I missed everything." Part of Kyra wanted to admit that it was less about the lives and more about the experience but...she decides not to, assuming it'd make her look like a horrible person after having that big argument that everyone heard.

    "I guess we could go get ice cream. Um. Not sure what this squid ice cream stuff is about though." she mutters, looking up at Sanary with a raised eyebrow. "It could be, Ramuh has all sorts of weird food fads. Bah-" she reaches out and gives Kirikou a shove, "Only if I get to pie you in the face. You have it coming."

Sanary Rondel has posed:
    "It's frozen cream and sugar. How much weirder could it get?" Sanary smirks slightly at their apprehension. "It's good, trust me. Although local stuff and pie doesn't sound half bad..." She raises an eyebrow at the notion of face pies, glancing between Kilik and Kyra slowly.

    "Pies? Shot? wait. Aren't pies food? How do you... Uh." They've completely lost her on that one. Still, she gives Kyra another pat on the back just for good measure. "Sure. My treat. Just don't shoot me with a pie or whatever."