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[color=f49ac2]Sakura Level 10: 58/100[/color] 
[color=fff200]Karin Level 7: 34/70[/color] 
Location: Arabahaki
Word Count: 949
Points Gained:  3
New EXP Balance--- [color=f49ac2]Sakura Level 10: 61/100 [/color] 
[color=fff200]Karin Level 7: 37/70[/color] 
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—

Sakura shook her head, forcing the feeling back into her muscles after getting shocked. While Karin had had to stay on the outskirts of the melee battle. The boss performed a swiping attack that forced Karin to tackle Sakura out of the way.

During a very short amount of time, things had gone from bad to worse. Karin had just barely made it out of there against Karen. But Sandalphon was in trouble, and Roxas and Blazermate were both down. Karen had just somehow helped defeat their invincible medic almost instantly. With Sandalphon and Blazermate in trouble, things were looking grim for their healing prospects. But in the frenzied battle it was hard to even notice where to go or who to fight. 

They were bombarded by bullets and the ground shook beneath their feet, forcing Sakura and Karin into defensive crouches next to each other, their guards up. Though Sakura desperately wanted to help Roxas and Sandalphon, Karen Travers was a huge threat who had just done a big hit against Zenkichi, and if he was left to his own devices all could be lost. This was immensely frustrating. [color=f49ac2][i]”Grrr!”[/i][/color] They’d have to somehow deal with Sam later. If Sandalphon called for help in her giant form then they would have to respond, but until then they had to focus down their opponent Karen. 

After the ground stopped shaking Karin and Sakura rushed back in against their psychic opponent from behind. Sakura used Mental Connection to pull herself towards Zenkichi and get a speed boost to latch herself onto Karen’s back. She aimed to wrap her arm around his neck and head and start choking him, wrenching backwards. At the same time Karin slid in and struck Karen’s knee, trying to force him into a kneel and prevent him from so easily bucking Sakura off with Karin ready to start striking his body. 

“Hhhck-” Grabbing onto his captor’s arms struggled against Sakura’s headlock. For a brief moment the sensation of being strangled commanded his instincts, giving Karin a chance to bring him to his knees, but the battle-hardened soldier started using his brain again long before Sakura could cut off its blood flow. With Cryokinesis still engaged, a huge amount of cold began to pour into the street fighter’s body, causing a flood of pain and numbness. When Karin attacked, she found herself confronted with Blastokinesis, forcing her to pummel her way through a bubble shield of psychic energy. The Septentrion gritted his teeth and tried to concentrate. He engaged Marksmanship and began to fire psychic lasers, not from his hands but from his forehead. Reminiscent of Pit’s arrows, the rays slowed down and arced around in midair. They rained down on Sakura, and though their targeting left a lot to be desired, the punishment in conjunction with Cryokinesis would be enough to dislodge her grip.

Sakura tried to cash out early, smacking him on the back of the head with her elbow before back flipping off. A few rays smacked into her and she stumbled backwards. [color=f49ac2][i]”Uff!”[/i][/color]

Air flooded into Karen’s lungs, and though he swayed drunkenly for a split second, he recovered with almost unfair speed. All the powers he’d just used were spent, but others were just now coming off cooldown. He used Teleportation to blink a short distance away, then reached into his bag of tricks for something else. He stomped the ground to send out a wave of obsidian-black energy cubes wreathed in crimson power. With sweeping hand motions he sent forth clusters and pillers of cubes in different forms, some dropped from above and others erupted from the floor.

[color=fff200]”It’s just party tricks with you, isn’t it?!”[/color] Karin shouted. She hopped zipped left and right and hopped forward. One cube fell from above that Sakura blew up with a hadoken. Mid-air, Karin blocked one more construct and her momentum stopped. Sakura reached out with Mental Connection and yanked herself forward, flying through the obstacle course with a spinning kick to slam into Karen. [color=f49ac2][i]”Shunpukyaku!”[/i][/color]

Fist wreathed in flame, the Septentrion lashed out with a heavy punch, and the two to clashed in a burst of fire and ki. The blows traded, but while Karen only staggered, Sakura went spinning into the air. Her opponent was able to dash forward and unleash a blazing backflip kick to strike her down. 

In her world, there was no one on the planet that wouldn’t get knocked down by that kick if they traded like that, but in the World of Light the rules were different. Sakura’s arms and legs trailed behind her before she slammed belly first into the floor. [color=f49ac2][i]”Oof!”[/i][/color] She wheezed. Karin grit her teeth and dashed forward, ever quick in close range. She lashed out with her leg to catch him on the recover and then zipped forward to thrust her palm up into his chin. [color=fff200][i]”Tenko!”[/i][/color] After taking her ache-inducing attacks, Karen disengaged with a backward teleport in time to escape a follow-up, putting him at a distance where he could unleash more cubes.

Karin snapped out her kicks into empty air, seeming him teleport away. She was angry, but as he unleashed more cubes she didn’t let her temper get the better of her. Instead she backflipped, dodging one, and then crouching in front of Sakura as she pushed herself to her hands and knees. Karin parried and struck the constructs as they came at her, getting pushed back but protecting her friend. They needed to stick together if they were going to survive. 

Sakura recuperated, spitting some saliva onto the floor that had forced its way up since that flaming body blow hit her. [color=f49ac2]”Thanks.”[/color]

 [color=fff200]”Don’t thank me yet!”[/color]