RP: ZHS [Episode 3] Zenjinkaichi Budokai

First Challenger: Sarena Sakura

From her visored helmet to her boots, Sarena was lightly armoured from head to toe, with nothing exposed, and shin protectors on top of that. It seemed that after Zoia's previous fights, she'd made fairly sure that the Vekimen's teeth, claws, and caustic spittle wouldn't give her the same advantages.

Aside from her 'armour', she'd also chosen appropriate arms to defend herself with, a rectangular plastic riot shield, and a metal stun baton... though she did have to promise not to use its siren and flashlight functions to give herself an unfair advantage, which she'd accepted with a recalcitrant sigh.

On her back was the katana her mother had given her before parting. It wasn't likely to help much in this fight, but perhaps it could give moral support. Sarena didn't know much about ancestral spirits, nor did she have any idea who she was related to other than her mother, but it was still a comfort.

Sarena was surprised the crowd was cheering as she went out onto the field, and hoped she'd have a chance to order some of the allegedly superlative kebabs provided by the Iromakuanhe, after the fight. That just meant she had to avoid getting sent to the medical bay. Winning wouldn't be so easy.

Zoia was a terror, as always, and unlike Sarena, William was serious about the weapons he studied. Sarena just used whatever was handy, that was the Nepleslian way, after all. Or at least that's what she'd been taught. William was also Nepleslian, but she couldn't imagine him using a table or bottle to fight with any more than she could picture that from the Empress, or Rei.

Like on the previous day, she'd been training for a few hours, mostly in how to stay behind her shield, move her feet, and swing her weapon around it. She felt ready to block, but not kill. Maybe terror would fill in the gaps in her education. She looked between her opponents, nervously.

Second Challenger: Zoia Sivaro

Almost as if directly opposing Sarena, Zoia wore nothing at all. Just like her fight with Kunio, only this time she arrived without her uniform. She had a mindset to instill. Sarena was already nervous about her, William was a tougher nut to crack she assumed. Still, while the others came extra prepared, so did she. Or, extra unprepared one could say.

Unlike most days, Zoia completely forwent the oral wash she was given. She wanted to be as noxious as possible to make it even harder for people to come near here. While Sarena's mask and armour would protect her from the worst her mouth could do, it wouldn't affect the air she breathed while in the fight. What was better to crack someone moral than the constant smell of rotting flesh anyway? It was a mindgame as much as it was a physical game, and Zoia felt she had one part down pat.

After being told lunching on her opponents insides weren't allowed, she snorted. Both these people had armour on their torso and head, while Sarena had it on her entire body. Immediate death in this round was far from an issue, and Zoia actually preferred it that way. It was ultimately better that way. The worst Zoia could do to an opponent could be swiftly dealt with by Yamataian medicine, and that gave her one less thing to worry about.

As the ever hated heel of the match, Zoia got quite the mixed bag of reactions. Scattered cheering, ignorance, or, and most commonly, booing of some kind. It was a show, though! So, she hissed at some of the people booing her as she was ushered to the arena. Her tail lashed around, and the usually fairly tame looking alien started to change.

Her pupils thinned out to slits, her eyes carrying a wild look as her hackles raised to give her an animalistic, feral look. She opened her jaw, and even on such short notice her usually white, gleaming teeth had reverted back to closer resemble their brown, caked, and infected look. The smell was atrocious for anyone around her. She let out a long, growling hiss as she looked between her opponents, but took a moment to stare right at Sarena. The Nepleslian girl could see the Aliens lips seem to curl in a smile, and Zoia shot her a quick wink before turning to William.

Material wise, Zoia by far had the short end of the stick. One opponent with Florentine Katanas and Kendo armour, and another with full body armour, a shield, and a baton that was apparently electrified, only having to touch to stun. It was a tough call. Still, she knew they wore armour because she was dangerous without it, she would have to be smarter about utilizing her scales. Her mobility and her speed would be her key advantages. She was going to have to open up and really try. This would be the hardest fight she had been in since she got here, just due to the situation, but if all went well they would be at the same disadvantage. If not, well... It would be fun at least!

She set herself up ready to seemingly launch at Sarena, but it was obvious she was keeping an eye on William. It would be stupid to ignore him. From what she knew, he was the greatest threat. Still, that Baton made Zoia nervous. Skill or not, that Baton was dangerous.

Third Challenger: William

William had spent his day meditating on his training, shutting out the entire world. He focused on everything he had learned so far, going over every detail. He was determined to win this fight, and when he set his mind to something he was going to do it no matter what obstacles he faced. To prove all those who doubted him wrong, and above all else, to make his mother proud of him.

As the time drew nearer, he stood and went to the prep area and received a new sword for him to use in the fight. It was a standard Katana that fit him just right. He was also allowed to don his kendo armor for the fight to protect him from Zoia's deadly claws.

He walked out onto the battlefield, the crowds cheering. Though he could not hear the shouting. He had what is known as tunnel vision. Only focused on his one goal, to defeat the two standing before him.

He looked between Zoia and Sarena and nodded to each taking a moment to notice Zoia's disgusting breath. However if it bothered him the Samurai in training did not show it, his face blank and devoid of emotions.

No matter what he felt about these two they were now his opponents, his enemies. He cleared his mind and drew first in his off hand his new clean sword the school had provided him. Next in his dominate hand he drew his pride and joy, the Rei No Hāto, or Rei's heart. A black Damascus steel Katana with a blood red sawtooth like pattern on the blade. WIth a flourish, he rested both at his sides.

Finally he looked over to his adoptive mother Rei and nodded softly. "I will make you proud Momma." Was the last thought in his mind before it went blank. He was ready...

Perhaps because she'd made every effort to stay out of sight of the Vekimen for the last several weeks, and perhaps also because Zoia had been so self-centered whenever they'd spoken in the time before that, Zoia did not understand Sarena very well, and made that fact quite apparent when she attempted to capitalize on the fear Sarena had of her.

Though that fear was very real, what Sarena was really afraid of was that the Vekimen would reduce her to spluttering indignity, not bloody ribbons. There was no shortage of others around the south dorms who she feared the same way, which might have been why she climbed out the window this morning to avoid meeting anyone in the halls or the courtyard, after Nenna gave her somewhere to rest, there.

As such, what Sarena felt as the Vekimen 'showed its true colours' was the same anger she'd felt when, after the Vekimen had snuck into her bed, wrestled her into submission, and jammed her arm into Sarena's mouth, the otherwise terrifying scenario had devolved into a self-righteous snit fit. This wasn't a monster to be feared, it was a villain to be despised. And, Sarena reminded herself, Zoia was far from invincible; Kunio had demonstrated that thoroughly.

It wouldn't do any good to reveal her state of mind, though. This was a three-way fight, and her best chance was if her opponents were incautious. Did William know Zoia was the dangerous one, or did he believe Sarena was a threat to him, at the top of his form? Sarena was certain she'd lose to William one-on-one, but he gave nothing away.

Sarena chose to pretend she was afraid, the bullies had given her a lot of practice in faking it. She widened her eyes and took up a defensive posture, knees together, like a fool. That was often enough to convince bullies that it wouldn't be worth further effort to terrorize her, and it had let her get in a sucker punch once or twice before running when they didn't get the message. It felt good.

It was funny to Sarena that here she was, with two of the most intense students in her year, both determined to prove themselves. Sarena didn't have to prove anything, winning her first fight had been enough. But, by some chance, she'd won again, and here she was, with little motivation but to get out of this without embarrassment, and maybe give Zoia's big ego some payback with interest.

The first-place prize was still enticing, but to be serious, William was here. It just didn't seem likely.

Sarena looked over to Rei, bowed to William, carried the gesture over to Zoia with a twitch of her head, then stood up, raised her baton, and set her shield facing Zoia, keeping William on her shield side, listening for the countdown.

Kunio was sitting in one of the up front chairs observing the three. He was impressed by William's Katana, one rivaling his own in construction. William had evidently been preparing for this moment, and Kunio let a smile rise. He told himself not to bet on one single fighter, but he still had his favorites. He knew that William knew his way around his Katana.

He then switched his gaze over to Zoia, her feral stance reminded them of their own fight. He hoped in the back of his mind that no one ended up dead, as Kunio was saved by medicine and nanobots, none of the three in front of him had nanobots. Still, if any of them left her unattended they would be in a world of serious pain.

His gaze finally shifted to the third fighter, Sarena. He grinned at her whole suit of armor, though he understood that it was seriously there for protection. The Riot shield to him was a bit much, though his whole fighting style was with his right arm and his willpower and he wished he had something when he had his fight to protect his arm. That way he could have, in theory, defended himself better. He anxiously waited for the fight to begin, and anxiously waited on who would walk out the victor.

Final Round

Able to see without the use of her eyes, but instead using skin vision, Rei stood in the center of the arena, while the young opponents arrived. She watched them all at once, taking in their movements, postures, expressions, and the like. Rei was ever-aware of the challenges each of the contenders faced. They were made apparent to her not by what they wore, or how they looked at one another, but by the past battles and the results. The one she had adopted on behalf of the school had caused such nervousness in a Neko that she had lost her breakfast. Another tore apart the stomach of a young boy. And another had hit her opponent square between the eyes. This was going to be interesting. She prepared herself once all of them were present. After thirty seconds, her own femto-machines created an epidermis armor that presented itself as a slick, greyish sheen across everything, even her clothes, oddly enough.

With little fanfare, Rei said, "I will count to, 'San,' and say 'Hajime!' and then you will not be able to see me. Then, it is your time to fight. If you see me in the arena, you must stop at once. I will call, 'Yame!' when the fight is over." The naked Eihei Neko was ready to turn off her holographic yukata and hakama at the count of san, but first, spoke.

"Otagai ni rei, bow to one another." When they had, in their own ways, she counted, "Ichi... Ni.... San! Hajime!" With that, they could no longer see her in the arena. She had floated above it and was at the ready, watching, invisible.

Final Round

William readied himself as Rei counted down. It was time to begin, and wasn't going waste waste the opportunity of the first strike. As soon as Rei had disappeared, he moved like a demon.

He chose to go for Zoia, as she was the most dangerous opponent, and hopefully with a little help from Sarena, they could take her down. His swords flashed as he slashed both across towards Zoia's midsection. Both strikes aiming to surprise her.

The battle had begun.

Final Round

Sarena began circling around Zoia, to keep her distance from William's swords, shield up and baton waving menacingly. Still, she moved nowhere near as fast as William, and was three meters away from Zoia by the time he leapt into her; close enough to charge, perhaps, but far out of her reach.