3911/Seriously: Wind Mage vs Puppy

Seriously: Wind Mage vs Puppy
Date of Scene:	14 March 2016
Location:	Njorun Station - Ring of Philosophy
Synopsis:	Zephyr challenged Kazuko. Fight happens.
Cast of Characters:	162, 165, 930, 942

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Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    It's the fated time. Zephyr's in the Ring, setting up the arena for her title challenge against Kazuko. She's watched the previous matches on video, and the naginata wielder is someone not to be underestimated.

    Fingers dance over the holographic window in front of her, keys flashing and the screen rolling with code. It then goes blank as Zephyr hits the execute command, causing the Ring to spring to life. It's a pretty standard battle arena. One you might find in any number of martial arts tournament grounds. A level playing field.

    The mage then steps into the arena, summoning her Barrier Jacket and Device as she awaits Kazuko's arrival. "Drive Ignition."

Kazuko Kawakami (942) has posed:
Kazuko isn't quite sure what to expect from the newest challenger for the title she's been clinging onto for the past several weeks. A mage? A fighter? Presumably, someone with dominion over wind or even the cosmos, based on the name. Whatever the case is, she's been hard at work keeping her body in good shape, training day in and day out to make sure she's at her best by the time the fight's underway.

     Arriving at the Ring with her trusty naginata in tow, the brunette watches Zephyr with an awed "oooh". That magic never gets old for the martial artist, does it? She steps forward with a broad grin on her face, raising her free hand in a cheerful wave towards her challenger.

     "Hi! I'm Kazuko. You're Miss Zephyr, right?" Of course she'd have to be. There's no other explanation for the Ring to be in this state, and Kazuko's already moving into position in the ring proper with her usual yellow track suit on. "I've been looking forward to this match. Thanks for coming!"

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
Do we have cheap seats here in the ring? Do we even have seats.

    Ren is definitely sat down. He's got a Zephyr pennant! He's also got a Kazuko pennant. And a foam dome hat. And popcorn. And a vuvuzela.

THe made and brought all of these things himself.

    "Hooray! Go! Cheering!"

Alden (930) has posed:
Alden was a bit... sore from the last spar session he had with Zephyr, so when he heard she was going for the title, he just had to go there and watch!, the digimon making his was as close to the arena as he can, for a better view, and waving towards Zephyr, followed by a thumbs up. Of course, he also waves to the opponent!, polite and everything. He enjoyed watching said fights, perhaps he can learn something!. He ended up near Ren, chuckling at the getup. "Where did you get the popcorn?" he asks him.

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    Zephyr bows to Kazuko, then sets her stance. "I am Zephyr Windstar. The WindDancer of March. And this is my Device, Divine Wind Storm (Tenraikaze Arashi)." she says in way of introduction.

    She grins a bit. "I've watched your previous fights... this should be interesting." she mentions, waiting for her opponent to introduce herself properly, and the system to start the match. It's got a timer counting down from 30, easily visible from all directions.

Kazuko Kawakami (942) has posed:
So her powers do involve wind! Kazuko grins a little more proudly at her expert deduction skills, then dips into a more formal martial artist's bow. "My name is Kazuko Kawakami, Eastern Deva and student of the Kawakami Style martial arts. This is my naginata." She... Doesn't really have much to add on for that last part.

     She really needs to get a cooler weapon some day.

     "Eheh... Really? Thanks! I hope I don't disappoint you, then." Grinning a little more confidently, Kazuko gives her naginata a brief flourish before gripping it with both hands, signifying that she's ready to start the fight! And when that timer hits 0...

     The martial artist springs into action! Her first move isn't a particularly fancy one, going for a rather simple, yet deceptively fast thrust. She needs to gauge her opponent somehow!

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    Zephyr nods and when that timer hits 0, and Kazuko surges forward, she shifts her stance, and barely manages to deflect some of that thrust, a nice slash appearing on her Barrier Jacket, the fabric tearing and a nice glaring dent appearing in the metal lacing the fabric.

    She doesn't just shift to evade. No. Her grip shifts on her hatchet-like Device, and with the momentum, spins fully around into a round-house chop, aiming for Kazuko's side. The blade of the axe glows bright, deep purple, and the impact would feel more akin to getting clobbered with a hammer than hacked into by a sharp blade. Non-lethal magic!

Kazuko Kawakami (942) has posed:
Kazuko skids to a stop as her blade is deflected, letting out another pleased noise when Zephyr moves with the blow and lashes out with her own axe. She twists herself sideways with the naginata raised to narrowly block the axe, hopping back with it to get some momentum on her side.

     And the Kazuko's back on the attack! Instead of going for another thrust, she aims for a swipe to the legs this time. She's still gauging Zephyr's speed while putting a little more oomph into her swing, although with an opponent like this? Kazuko will have to really focus on trying not to get hit in the process!

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
    "Made it," Ren says, "Want some?"

    He's almost learned how to make a cup of tea for himself now, too. Just gotta learn how a microwave works and he'll be a self-sufficient modern man. Maybe.

    He waves both pennants at once in his other hand.

Alden (930) has posed:
Alden smiles and nods, "Thank you!" he tells Ren, tail wagging, "Very kind of you." he chomps some pop cor, watching with interest. "I'm Alden by the way."

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    Zephyr is off-balance from that swing. It wasn't a perfect move, but one born out of necessity at the time... so when that sweep comes in, it takes her legs out from under her! She slams down onto her side, but with a quick blast of concussive force, she's flipping up and over, back onto her feet with a grunt.

    She's still grinning like a wild woman. "You're even better than the simulations predicted!" she compliments, before kicking up in a short hop... and remaining in the air as four purple 'pixie wings' form out from her back. "Lets see how you handle this."

    Divine Wind chimes now. <MISTRAL CUTTER. MISTRAL SQUALL, STRIKE MODE.> the blade of the axe glows brightly once more, and a pair of spinning fan-blades lock into position on the counter-balance of her axe, beginning to spin up quickly, She then angles, and with a burst of speed bordering on teleportation, she swings in, swiping at Kazuko as she flies past!

Kazuko Kawakami (942) has posed:
Kazuko grins widely as she readies her naginata for Zephyr's next attack, watching the Wind Dancer closely. An eyebrow raises as those wings appear, and she's not entirely sure how to react when Zephyr swoops in. She lets out a pained grunt as tat axe blade slams into her, moving with the force of the blow again and tumbling a few times before rolling onto her feet.

     "Eheh... Simulations are good, but they'll never compare to the real thing! You're definitely not what I was expecting, either... You might even be as fast as me!" It's been quite some time since Kazuko's fought a speed-focused fighter, and she's clearly enjoying this quite a bit as well.

     She can't just trade words the whole time, though, and Kazuko brings her naginata back up to chase after Zephyr. Even though she can't teleport, the martial artist is still fast on her feet, and she stabs her naginata into the ground before launching herself into a jumping kick at Zephyr! Martial arts indeed.

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
Ren Tanaka gasps. "Is this the power of the northern deva?"
    Quick pause to check he got the name right.

Alden (930) has posed:
Alden blinks a few times as he sees the fight, ears splayig a bit, "I keep getting amazed about how strong everyone is." he says, chuckling.

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    Aaaand down she goes again. Zephyr nearly manages to pull up and clear of that kick, but it manages to land, and she goes arcing through the air to land in a heap on the floor. She rolls back to her feet, then detatches the Bits from her Device. <MISTRAL SQUALL. AREA MODE.>

    The Bits flit out to their maximum distance, essentially causing the entire Arena to become a seething morass of conflicting wind currents. "This. Is my world now." she states, lifting back into the air.

    This next attack doesn't have a name, but with the boost from her Area effect, Zephyr's speed increases substantially, and she sweeps past Kazuko, slashing and striking from seemingly all angles at once! The wind itself also feels like it's trying to damage the martial artist, sudden heavy gusts buffetting her from multiple directions.

Kazuko Kawakami (942) has posed:
Bracing her hand on the ground as she comes down from the kick, Kazuko watches Zephyr with another curious raise of her eyebrow when those Bits starts to zip about and the wind in the Ring picks up. Although she twists and jerks around to try and keep Zephyr in her sights, her opponent simply moves faster than she is, and she gets knocked around several times before managing to barely deflect the last hit before being sent flat on her back by the wind itself.

     "Oof... Hehe. Good thing I'm wearing shorts today." Kazuko comments as she rubs the bruises on her sides and her arm, tapping the glaive on the ground before starting to spin it at the center. She's starting to channel her ki into the weapon, but she's not content to just stand there and let it gather power. Instead, she goes on the offensive again, charging at Zephyr to try and pummel her with the rapidly-spinning polearm!

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    Zephyr swerves around, meeting that spinning glaive with her axe, sparks flying from the meeting hits. She takes a few strikes, blunted by hastily erected little mini-shields, but manages to weather that 'storm' of blows.

    "I think we're done warming up... how about we start getting serious?" she suggests, as she lands, skidding to a halt. "I call upon the great winds. Ragios, Razgriz, Lethim." she intones. <MISTRAL SQUALL. IMPULSE MODE.> the Bits flit in, and orbit the head of the axe device, as charge gathers into the gemstone at the center. The winds remain for a short while after they stop supporting them, laced with mana as they are, but the 'effect' dissipates before long.

    That's not the point of this attack though. "Target locked." <MAELSTROM BUSTER!> "FIRE!"

    A torrent of purple energy erupts from the gemstone, and is then subsequently 'pinched' by a pair of beams from the Bits, turning the rushing, raging river of energy, into a more coherant beam.

Kazuko Kawakami (942) has posed:
Kazuko grunts with focus as her weapon clashes against Zephyr's, jumping back once it's clear that she's not going to have the advantage in a head-to-head confrontation like that. "Getting serious? Alright! Let's pick up the pace, then!" Kazuko keeps her weapon spinning as she prepares herself to evade Zephyr's next strike, watching the mage's glowing Bits once more.

     What she's not expecting, however, is for Zephyr to actually fire something at her. She's only seen physical attacks thus far, after all, and she's caught off guard when that beam comes straight for her! Although she jerks sideways to try and avoid it, it still slams right into her, sending her into an awkward roll on the and grimacing in pain at that hard landing.

     "Nn... Heheh. Alright, I'm gonna get serious, too!" Picking her naginata back up as she gets back on her feet, Kazuko's track jacket is already falling apart in several places as she dashes forward with that pale yellow glow still surrounding her blade. "Kawakami Style: Daisharin!" Once she's in range, she takes a big horizontal swing at Zephyr, trying to slam it right into her!

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    Zephyr grunts as that Naginata slams right into her side... something gives and a desperate chime signals something that usually means a Mage is getting badly damaged. <REACTOR PURGE!> the outerlayer of Zephyr's Barrier Jacket /explodes/ deflecting the rest of that strike, but not before it's already done most of its damage. She flies sideways, tumbles a couple of times before manages to get her legs and a hand under her to flip back upright, skidding too a stop a few meters away.

    The Mage pants, holding her side with a grimace, which turns into that grin once more. "Not too shabby." she compliments, then stands once more. She channels energy into the blade of her axe again, and sets up to swing it, without moving. This is a ploy though. As when she sweeps it forward, a set of spinning 'boomerang blades' spall off, and spiral into Kazuko's location, seeming to have some mild homing ability. <TEMPEST RAZOR!>

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
    What with all of the huge slams going back and forth, Ren has ... put his popcorn in Alden's lap. And his pennants are kind of tilted and flaccid.

    "This is less fun to watch than I expected it'd be."

Kazuko Kawakami (942) has posed:
Kazuko staggers a bit as that jacket explosion throws her naginata off course before she can follow through with the rest of her swing. She draws her weapon back before breaking into a run to follow after Zephyr, apparently intending to capitalize on that and interrupt the Wind Dancer's swing.

     Unfortunately for Kazuko, she's taking the bait a little too easily. She doesn't expect her to swing as early as she does, gasping in pain as that axe hits her square in the gut. Even though she jerks herself back with a yelp, the first of the blades still slams right into a her before she realizes what's going on, barely managing to avoid more direct hits from the others by just dropping flat on her back.

     "Guh...! Heh... Heheh... This is great! You're really tough, Miss Zephyr." Tucking that naginata against her side, Kazuko breaks into another run while keeping her eye on the axe, then drops into a sudden slide at Zephyr's legs. Her goal isn't to kick out her legs, though, but instead aiming a ki-infused punch at her midsection instead. "Kawakami Style: Scorpion Strike!"

Alden (930) has posed:
Alden reaches to pat Ren's shoulder, "Don't worry!, they are ok!" he says, trying to cheer him up. He is a bit worried about them, but he remembers the spar he had with the Mage, "They are both tough."

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    Zephyr can't evade that strike. She was expecting a thrust, or swing, so the drop and punch catch her cleanly. She grunts, staggering at the punch going through the underlayer of her already purged Barrier Jacket, the Ki lingering in the strike.

    She brings the axe up over her head, and cleaves downwards with another glowing blade... this time, it's an entire sphere of energy that engulfs the axe head, and EXPLODES like a shaped charge on impact, attempting to cover Kazuko in a burning magical 'plasma'. <IMPULSE STRIKER. CONCUSSIVE SHIFT!>

Kazuko Kawakami (942) has posed:
As effective as that technique at catching opponents unaware, Kazuko's not exactly in the best position to avoid follow-ups in reaction to that strike. It's probably not too surprising, then, that Zephyr's downward swing hits its mark, drawing a strained cry from the martial artist as that plasma washes over her. She's forced to retreat some and evenr olls on the ground a bit to try and get that burning feeling off, but she does eventually realize that that's not going to help her much in this fight.

     No, she's going to just have to focus on ending it sooner rather than later. Biting back the pain, surrounding her, Kazuko rushes in yet again, pouring more ki into her limbs as she drags that naginata's blade against the ground, then swings it upwards at Zephyr while aiming for that same spot where she had punched the mage earlier. "Kawakami Style: Tairin Hanabi!"

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    Zephyr shifts her stance, and interposes her Device in the way of that swing, but misjudges it and takes the smack right to her center of mass, knocking her up into the air. She rolls a couple of times, then comes to a stop in the air. She coughs, rubbing some blood away from her lips, before sweeping her axe in a half-circle from her right to left, leaving a mass of light motes in its wake.

    "You're fought well, Kazuko Kawakami." she says, the motes growing in size until they're about orange-sized, a halo of stars surrounding her. "It's time to finish this. Are you ready?"

    <IMPUSE CASCADE. HURRICANE SHIFT!> The motes pulse, and then a mass of smaller bullets lash out, saturating the arena in tiny, explosive bolts of magic.

Kazuko Kawakami (942) has posed:
"You, too, Zephyr Windstar...Eheh. B..." Kazuko spits out some blood and takes off her tattered jacket (which is mostly just a sleeve at this point), tossing it aside and grinning despite the painful burning sensation still surrounding the martial artist. "Bring it on!"

     Bullet hell. It had to be bullet hell. Kazuko's seen attacks like this before in Gensokyo, but these shots aren't quite the same. These are actually aimed at her rather than around her, and the difference is startling. As quickly as she moves, she can't quite avoid taking all of those shots, and the barrage of energy pulses send Kazuko into a heap on the ground with her naginata clattering off to the side of the Ring.

     As the smoke clears, however, there's a quiet murmuring coming from Kazuko even as she forces herself back up with the last of her remaining energy. She's practically running on fumes at this point as she lurches forward, but she's still refusing to stay down. She picks up speed in her approach, trying to get as close to Zephyr as she can before trying to slip behind her in a last-ditch effort to try and get one more hit in!

     If Kazuko does get behind her and actually gets a firm hold around her waist, then... "Kawakami Style: Mozu-otoshi!" She'll leap backwards with the mage on her shoulders, then fall backwards to drive them both headfirst into the ground! Either way, though, Kazuko's not getting back up.

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
Ren Tanaka pushes the button.

    In the aftermath of this windy spectacularity and suplexes, his specially prepared FINAL THING HE PREPARED activates! There is a spectacular (not very spectacular really) puff of confetti and a banner reading

    EVERYONE IS A WINNER

    He seems proud of himself.

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    Zephyr drops down to the ground, panting heavily. That took a lot of energy, and the look on her face as Kazuko /gets back up/ would be priceless. She's so dumbstruck that she doesn't even react when grabbed, and is only saved from having her braincase smashed in by a quick barrier spell from Divine Wind, blunting the trauma force... but then, the Ring emits a signal, and calls the match as Kazuko <span class="underline bold_fg_c bg_n ++ rumples.

    chc"><KAZUKO KAWAKAMI IS UNABLE TO CONTINUE. VICTORY GOES TO ZEPHYR WINDSTAR></span> scrolls across the tessaract screen so everyone can see it, before the arena 'resets' and damage is reverted to before the match began.

    Zephyr helps Kazuko up after righting herself, rubbing the back of her head. "You're one stubborn girl, Kazuko." she comments, chuckling. "Good fight... wanna go get somethin' too eat?"

Kazuko Kawakami (942) has posed:
The voice rings out, the Ring is reset, and Kazuko's back up almost as quickly as she fell! She's still looking rather dazed as Zephyr helps her onto her feet, eventually breaking into a conflicted grin. On one hand, she did just lose her title, but on the other hand, that was one of the better fights she's had in a long time. She eventually settles into a more pleased smile, even laughing bashfully at that comment.

     "Eheh... That's my ninj-er... Fighter's way! Yeah, that was an awesome fight. Food sounds great, Miss Zephyr! I mean..." She gives Zephyr a playful pat on the shoulder, then bows formally. "Eastern Deva!"

     Sure, it's a loss, but she's still pleased with how it went. Spotting that banner, however, she breaks into another laugh while waving over at Ren. "Come on, Ren! We're not gonna wait if you sit here the whole time!"