Scene #6776: Live Fire Exercise

Owner	Pose
Nanoha Takamachi	Nanoha is at the Shrine again today. But this time she's not alone. Standing in front of a gathered group of people. And they're all wearing the same uniform as her. Nanoha explains to them, "Now. The thing with fighting primarily close combat opponents is your instincts will tell you to fly away to try and create space. But that's not always the most effective solution as they may be able to follow. Or exploit the opening you've provided them. Instead you need to be more patient and wait for a good opportunity yourself. Or if that doesn't happen, create one!" Nanoha hmms quietly, glancing around for a moment. That's when she spots a certain blonde. Isn't that... Nanoha smiles and waves down Yang, "Excuse me, miss! Would you be okay with helping with a demonstration for my students?"
Yang Xiao Long	15 minutes ago. Yang drops by her usual stop before heading to the Shrine. She orders her usual coffee and crepe, then heads on over, munching and sipping as she goes. Present, After tossing the empty wrappers in a trash can, Yang stretches, and then hears a familiar voice. "Huh? Oh, hey, if it isn't Captain Nanoha. What kinda demonstration?" she asks, flexing a bit and stretching as if preparing for a fight. Which she pretty much always is. The blonde then waves to the other uniformed people, flashing her trademark easy going grin.
Nanoha Takamachi	Nanoha smiles at Yang, "Nice to meet you again." She motions to her students, "I decided to hold a class for my students in the Shrine. The topic being engaging melee fighters." Nanoha looks back at Yang and tilts her head a little bit, "Would you care to have a match? I'm sure with your skill I can provide ample examples." The students are all acting rather professional. After all this is no introductory course that Nanoha runs. But as Yang gives them a wave and grin, some of them get a look of possible recognition on their face.
Lory Thumper	Lory Thumper has also found this place to be quite helpful, and has spent a lot of time here already even though she's only been in the Multiverse a few days. She happens to be passing by when she notices Nanoha is here with her class. The bunny cop makes her way inside their arena and takes up a spot on the sidelines while nibbling on what seems to be a vegetable kebab. She offers a wave if Nanoha happens to look her way, then takes a seat wherever is appropriate to watch. And seeing the second place of the entire MECC in action should be a treat.
Yang Xiao Long	"Sounds good to me. Just, don't expect me to just be a melee fighter." remarks Yang, shifting her wrists and deploying her Gauntlets from the little bangles around her wrists. "Like a lot of people love to say." she smirks. "It's also a gun." She punches low, then retracts her arm in a 'pumping' motion, causing a distinctive CHA-CLAK from the gauntlet's mechanism. "You don't get to be the second place in a tournament from being a one-trick pony, after all." she adds with a chuckle, bounding on the balls of her feet in a boxer stance. Might even be a bit reminiscent of a certain purple-haired girl that cribbed a few attacks from the White Devil.
Nanoha Takamachi	Nanoha smiles widely at Yang as she accepts, "Of course! Many melee focused Mages in our world have at least some ranged attacks too. So that's fine." Nanoha glances to the gem floating beside, "Raising Heart, can you please get us ready. And prepare an appropriate scene?" The device chimes, <Set up.> Nanoha glows with light, her form filling out as her Barrier Jacket forms. Meanwhile the small shape of Raising Heart extends out into her staff form. At the same time the surroundings of the Shrine change, quickly forming into an open grassy field dotted with what look like ancient ruins in varying states of broken. Well aware of Nanoha's power, her students all move away to a minimum safe distance and then begin to observe. Nanoha herself grasps her staff in both hands, swinging it around to point towards Yang. She smiles at the puncher, "Feel free to go full force. I can take it." Probably. Raising Heart chimes, <Ready. Three. Two. One. Begin.> Nanoha is fast to act out of the gate, twin orbs of pink magic appearing in the air around her. They blast forward, leaving a treak behind them as they arc through the air towards Yang, exploding on contact.
Yang Xiao Long	Yang grins a bit, watching the set-up. "Neat trick. Really fancy." she commends, bringing her arms up to brace against the starting Shooter attack. The explosions engulf her completely, smoke obscuring her from view for a few moments. That is, until the cloud distorts, and Yang is suddenly up in Nanoha's business, bringing a right hook around, that terminates with a shotgun blast of kinetic energy as the gun discharges at the point where her fist should be making contact. "Lets see why they made you Captain."
Lory Thumper	Lory's ears perk from her seat on what is now a conveniently placed piece of ruin. She looks down at her new perch, then over at Nanoha and Yang once more. That costume change thing is still something that she is a bit jealous of. She watches Nanoha's attack...and then winces at the attack Yang unleashes. "Holy cucumbers...I was way over here and I felt that." she says quietly to herself before taking another bite from her veggie kebab.
Nanoha Takamachi	Nanoha quickly brings her staff up to meet Yang's punch. The fist meets the shaft of the long weapon, though against such powerful punch it does little to blunt the attack. The resulting shotgun blast hits Nanoha in the chest. She visibly winces at the pain, her Barrier Jacket only able to absorb part of the impact. However, Nanoha turns the heavy hit to her advantage. As it strikes she lightens her footing on the ground and adds a little of her own flight power to it. Combined with the punch and kinetic blast, Nanoha is sent flying quite a distance. Nanoha plants her feet into the ground again, skidding to a halt as she stops herself. She spins her staff back down to point at Yang again. This time a spell ring appears around the tip and an orb of pink energy gathers. Nanoha calls out, "Photon Smasher!" The orb bursts and a moderately sized beam of magic roars towards Yang.
Yang Xiao Long	Yang grins a bit as she sends Nanoha flying. Even if it was mostly from Nanoha giving herself the distance to fire off a beam cannon. "WHOAH NELLY!" Yang reacts, firing her gauntlets to launch herself sideways, grazing the beam, and getting part of her coat purged off, the fabric seeming to 'catch flame' as it regenerates. Thank's Arthur! As she skids to a stop from her evasive maneuver, she winces as her arm goes limp to her side, a bit of blood trickling down and dripping from her fingers. "Ghh... that still isn't healed properly..." Aura surges, and her hand twitches in response, coming back to life as she brings her fists back into a ready stance. "Man... I still felt that one without taking it on the chin... but don't think staying at a distance'll give you the advantage!" she calls over, then with a quick adjust, she punches the air, firing little unstable bolts of explosive Dust that arc and seem to slightly track towards Nanoha, though they're nothing close to a Shooting-type spell in agility.
Nanoha Takamachi	Nanoha stands her ground as Yang proceeds to fire those bolts at her. Several orbs of pink appear in the air around Nanoha. They then launch themselves forward to meet those bolts. Several explosions occur between the two fighters, but a couple of Yang's shots manage to make it through Nanoha's counter barrage and explode against her Barrier Jacket. The white dress is clearly getting scorched at this point. A large spell circle appears on the ground beneath Nanoha. More orbs of pink begin to form in the air around her, but in far greater numbers. It's hard to keep up as they keep forming, but it looks like there's dozens of them! As Nanoha charges her spell, her students continue to watch. Though as the excitement of the fight is starting to get to them, they're finding it hard to watch quietly. "Wow. That blonde girl hits pretty hard." "Yeah, she's giving the Captain some trouble." "Wait... Isn't that... Isn't that the MECC grand finalist!?" "Oh shit! You're right! That's Yang Xiao Long!" "Kick her ass Captain!" "Go Yang!" "What are you doing?" "What? Yang is awesome!" "Hey guys, am I hallucinating or is that a talking rabbit?" Finally Nanoha calls out, "Axel Shooter Avalanche Shift!" The incredible amount of orbs burst into beams. They streak up into their air, twisting and turning around each other before they come back down towards Yang. The resulting explosions are easily enough to make it hard to see Yang amidst the light and smoke. As well as blow away a good part of the ground.
Yang Xiao Long	Yang brings her arms up in a cross-shaped defensive posture again, the gauntlets extending a strike-plate over the mechanisms within. She's lost in the explosion barrage, obscured by black smoke that wafts serenely after the massive attack.... And then it suddenly gets blasted away as Yang activates her Semblance, puring smoke and revealing a battered and bloodied brawler. One eye is closed, blood leaking from a head wound, and her coat is tattered, the broken edges 'burning' as they slowly regenerate. Yang's open eye has shifted from lilac, to red, and her happy-go-lucky attitude seems to have evaporated into a harsh snarl as anger overtakes her. Yang slams her gauntlets together then shifts her stance, gathering herself down like a spring coiling up. She then kicks off the ground, leaving a crater from the force of her leap as she arcs from her standing start to then come plumetting downward towards the Captain, her right fist trailing 'flames', as she strikes down, firing a blast into the ground that rips it up and sends debris and shrapnel out in all directions.
Lory Thumper	Lory is more collected than the students perhaps, but only just. Her eyes are wide and she is chewing a bit faster than is necessary as she watches. From outside of a battle she isn't sure she'd be able to beat either Nanoha or Yang in a serious fight even though she did pretty well against Nanoha. The talking rabbit's ears perk as she hears someone mention her and she offers a wave to the student who did. She is still surprised that no other worlds have talking animal people like herself. Or at least none she has heard of so far. But, there's little time to ponder that as Nanoha and Yang both unleash some of their top firepower! "Cheese and crackers!!" Lory exclaims, covering her face with her arms and hopping down behind the ruins she was sitting on as both combatants release some explosions! Her long ears flutter in the wind created by the blasts, and her eyes are just barely visible between her forearms as she peeks over her cover.
Nanoha Takamachi	Nanoha is looking pretty serious herself as the fight quickly escalates. She watches as Yang disperses the smoke with her aura. It's a very dangerous look and Nanoha doesn't take it lightly. But neither does the Ace look scared. As Yang blasts herself into the air, Nanoha holds her ground as she shifts her staff to her right hand. Her left raises into the air and a spell circle appears just beyond her palm. Yang fires. Nanoha is caught in the blast, the explosion ripping into both her and the ground around her. The produced debris showers the Mage, ripping through her Barrier Jacket and drawing blood from beneath. The resulting smoke from the explosion, briefly obscures Nanoha from view. Chime. <Binding Shield> The smoke clears to reveal Nanoha. She's definitely looking worse for wear. However, the real surprise is the chains reaching out from the shield she had created. They wrap around the arm that Yang used to fire, briefly immobilizing her. Nanoha floats up some distance into the air for a better firing position. She calmly grips her staff and levels the tip in Yang's direction. A large spell circle appears beneath Nanoha and an even larger spell ring just beyond the tip of her weapon. A large orb of magic begins to gather just beyond the tip as Nanoha starts, "Divine..." The slide of the staff slides back several times. CA-CHUNK. CA-CHUNK. CA-CHUNK. CA-CHUNK. The orb grows massively larger as the additional mana is pumped into it. The power stirs the air and can be felt by all those who are observing. Finally Nanoha calls out, "BUSTER!" The orb bursts, the large mass of energy streaking down towards Yang. The resulting explosion quickly expands, blinding in its light as it engulfs a large part of the grassy field. Falling just short of reaching the observers.
Lory Thumper	And Lory's ears just keep fluttering and her wide-eyes keep peering out from between her arms. Then she blinks as she realizes...she has a riot shield. She pulls it around in front so she is protected while being able to see through the tough clear bullet proof plastic of the shield. Having been on the receiving end of one of Nanoha's blasts, she knows how much fight it takes out of you. She's honestly amazed that either fighter can keep going, but both still look like they have some steam left to her. She can't contain herself at this point and pumps a fist into the air. "Woohoo! Go girls!" she exclaims, then...immediately looks a bit self-conscious. There are students watching after all.
Yang Xiao Long	Yang grunts as her arm is bound up with those magical chains. She tugs, straining to break the binding, and finally manages it, only to get caught full-on by the full power of the White Devil. The beam engulfs her, and it seems to have blasted her clean away... except that Yang is just getting angry. She explodes, breaking the beam with the force of her Aura... as the last wash of energy passes by her, the blonde brawler is stood with her hair billowing in an unfelt wind, emitting motes of golden light as if she was wreathed in flame. She's bleeding from cuts and scrapes, her outfit is battered and broken, adding to the 'on fire' effect of her Semblance. Yang doesn't have much left in the tank, but manages to gather what strength she has left, bolstered by her Semblance to launch herself up towards Nanoha... the already broken ground fractures and craters even further as the blonde launches herself, aiming to take the Mage out of the air, wrapping her arms around her and then trying to just slam her down into the ground.
Nanoha Takamachi	Nanoha can feel that this fight is quickly going to come to an end soon. Though it could go either way, considering her condition and the apparent condition of Yang. Nanoha still has enough mana to get off another blast or two. Whether she will get the chance though... Yang comes rocketing towards Nanoha, trying to close the distance. Nanoha obliges her, blasting forward down towards the the berserker. As they close the distance, Nanoha swings her staff to try and knock Yang aside. But the blonde is too fast. She manages to grab Nanoha, who grunts from the impact. She is then dragged down towards the ground. The impact results in a large crater and a cloud of dust and debris. Things quickly go silent as the suspense rises. Chime, <Ding. Ding. Ding. Match complete. Winner: Yang Xiao Long.> The dust clears and Nanoha can be seen sitting on the ground. Her Barrier Jacket is in tatters, showing a fair amount of skin beneath. There's a not inconsiderable amount of pain, but Nanoha takes it like a pro. She laughs a little as she rubs the back of her head, "I guess that's to be expected of the MECC grand finalist." With the fight over, Nanoha's students rush up to the two. They're all quite excited. "Wow, that was awesome!" "I can't believe you beat the Captain!" "Awww man, I lost..." "Haha, pay up!" "Yang! Can I have your autograph?" While the clearly-adult-but-still-young students crowd the two, Nanoha can thankfully feel the Shrine's effects restoring some of her health. She proceeds to stand up, light briefly covering her as her Barrier Jacket fades. Once back in her uniform, Nanoha raises a finger to calm the students, "Now then. Did you see how I used Yang's own strength to knock me away and gain some distance? Also, don't forget the usefulness of binds in combat. They can provide you the time you need to charge a spell, while also making it difficult for your opponent to avoid it." Nanoha then turns to face Yang. Smiling, she bows, "Thank you for the match, Yang. It was quite fun!"
Yang Xiao Long	The dust clears, and Yang stands with a fist raised, like she did after each of her wins in the MECC. As the Shrine starts to reset things, she lets out a breath, short and sharp, that has her hair suddenly FWOMP back down from its billowing, and stop doing the eerie glowing/flame thing it was doing. Once she opens her eyes, they've returned to the lilac they started with. "You nearly had me, don't get too down about it, Captain." she offers with a grin, and is then mobbed by the students. She chuckles a bit. "Aww, it can't be that big a deal, right? C'mon you're embarrassing me!" she says, though it's clear she isn't getting embarrassed, and is clearly enjoying the attention. Going so far as to actually sign an autograph for the one asking. "If I could offer some advice too?" she adds after Nanoha points out the little trick. "Don't rely on the same trick to work twice. Variate it, use misdirection and feints. Pretend to do one thing, but be ready to do something completely different. Throw off your opponent and that'll give you easily as much advantage as just using their own strength against them, or pinning them down." Her tone is totally different to the casual one she used before, and she seems to have slipped into some kind of asian language, though it's clearly not japanese, but there's elements there. "As one of the great warriors of the Great War once said. Know your enemy, and know yourself. That is when you will see a thousand victories." Yang then grins at Nanoha, that same happy-go-lucky one as before. "No problem, Nanoha. If y'wanna go again sometime, I'll give ya my Scroll number."
Lory Thumper	With the match concluded Lory slides her shield onto her back once more and follows after the students. The bunny cop is no doubt at least head and shoulders shorter than anyone else here, so she looks up at the others as she joins the group. "That was pretty spectacular to watch! You were both amazing! I'm kind of jealous honestly." she says, then salutes the group lightly. "I've met Captain Nanoha, but for the rest of you, I'm Officer Lory Thumper, MPD! Thanks for letting me observe along with the class."
Nanoha Takamachi	"See! I told you it was real." "Man, shut up. It's probably someone's familiar." As Lory introduces herself to the class, many of them salute her back. As Yang proceeds to provide some additional notes, Nanoha nods along sagely. Once Yang finishes, Nanoha picks up, saying, "In fact. Next class I'll show you a little trick I like to use in the vein of misdirection that Yang mentioned. It seems deceptively simple, but in fact requires some rather sharp concentration and often surprises even experienced Mages! But until then..." Nanoha salutes, "Class dismissed!" The students salute Nanoha back before starting to head in the direction of the exit. They talk amongst each other along the way, describing their favourite parts of the fight. The young woman who got Yang's autograph practically has hearts in her eyes as she walks with a bit of a bounce. Nanoha smiles as she watches her students leave. Once they're gone, Nanoha turns to Yang, "Thanks once again. I'm sure having you here will have burned that lesson into their memories!" Nanoha then looks at Lory, "Hello, Lory! No problem. And now that I think about it, maybe we should organize for you to be a guest instructor for a class. I'm sure it'll be good for them to get experience fighting people other than fellow Mages. Assuming you don't mind?"
Lory Thumper	Lory's ears perk toward the students as someone says she is a familiar. "Familiar? No no. I'm no witch's magical pet. I'm an officer of the Mammalopolis Police Department." she says with a light smirk, her arms crossing over her chest while she shifts weight from one hip to the other. She waves goodbye to the students as they leave. When Nanoha offers Lory an opportunity as guest instructor, the bunny blinks in surprise. "Really?" She smiles brightly. "I'd be happy to! I don't know if my skills will be as attention grabbing as yours, but I should be able to give them a good physical workout to go with their mental work! ...assuming your kind of magic takes a lot of mental concentration. All I really have to go on is fiction books so far."
Nanoha Takamachi	Nanoha smiles as she explains to Lory, "A familiar in our world is less of a pet and more of a magical guardian. In fact, many people who have them consider them family. They are animals, but the most distinctive thing is that they typically have humanoid forms with pronounced animal features. It's likely why they think you're one of them." As Lory agrees to the idea, Nanoha claps her hands together, "Excellent! I'll take a look tonight for a good slot for the class. Then I'll get back to you with a date and time." She then nods, "And yes, our magic does require a lot of mental concentration. But there's also a physical component to it. Even for shooters like myself, you need to have enough strength to handle the recoil from the spells." "Anyway. I should get back to the office. I still have a fair bit of work to do before I finish for the day." Nanoha begins to head off, giving Lory and Yang a smile and wave, "See you both again, sometime!"