[center] [img]https://images-ext-2.discordapp.net/external/UXf39oCKpNdAcR393lLTUyQa0Ov6XG87uLcw4DOART8/https/cdn.donmai.us/original/98/7f/987f3e6fe1c42d1bdd9aac513e8cfc0c.jpg[/img] [h3][color=fff79a]Kasugano Sakura[/color][/h3] Level 3: 17/30 Location: The Blue Sea. Word Count: 1,229 Points Gained: 2 New EXP Balance--- Level 3: 19/30 [/center] Kasugano Sakura nodded to Ranger as she agreed with her plan. Good. Now, all she had to do was chase of Seaplane Tender with the help of Junior and Kamek. The Atomos had a crew full of ranged support, and Kamek's little wizard clone was floating around and taking pot shots. [color=fff79a] "Yeah!"[/color] Sakura cheered as the Water Princess was tossed butt over tea-kettle by a torpedo. Sakura was feeling confident that the outnumbered and surely tired Water Princess would decide to disengage for now. But that didn't happen. Her fireballs, even empowered by Haru Arashi, were not being respected by the Water Princess. She elected to treat them like they were nothing and surge forward. This greatly reminded her of her fight with Zangief, who also made this mistake. Only this wasn't a big enthusiastic russian guy who would probably get her to try some vodka afterwards. This was real evil. In the back of her mind Sakura was secretly regretting telling Ranger to leave. Her heart rate sky-rocketed with fear. Nonetheless, Sakura had people counting on her. She had to be brave! Any second now the Water Princess would back off! Sakura's teeth grit harder and harder and her eyes got wider and wider as the Water Princess pushed forward. Her new tail stood on end and her cat ears were aggressively perked. Through it all! She was just tanking all of it! Sakura knew her fireballs were having an effect. But that didn't make the Seaplane Tender's approach any less terrifying. The street fighter's arms pumped back and forth like the wheels of a locomotive. [color=fff79a][i](Is she crazy!? Did insulting her hat send her into some kind of rage mode!? Just leave us alone! Why does she want me to sink so bad?!)[/i][/color] Faster and faster. The less fireballs she had out at once, the more she could fire. [color=fff79a][i]"Hado! Hado! Hado Hado Hado UH OH!"[/i][/color] Sakura yelled out as the ravenous biting tail came swooping in amongst the veritable firestorm she had created. She bit her lower lip in anticipation. She had to time this just right! [color=fff79a]"[i]SHOUOKEN![/i] Right there!"[/color] She spent a bar of her EX meter. Sakura zoomed forward with a flash of energy. The fist connected. It hit hard. Sakura hadn't thought about it, but this was the first time she had used an EX move on someone with no Ki like her. There was no spark of defensive energy. This wasn't just cosmetic damage that could be healed with a good night's rest. She was inflicting serious bodily harm on someone. It didn't feel good the way hitting another street fighter did. Her fist sunk like a rock into the enemy shipgirl's belly. It pushed the air out of her lungs and she felt her knuckles compress internal organs until they jostled out of position. But she committed anyway, out of resolve, and out of muscle memory. The Water Princess was knocked away and Sakura landed expertly in a spinning descent. Sakura felt violent. In a way she never had before. The Seaplane Tender was brought low by this hit. She was saying strange, delusional things that made Sakura uneasy. Sakura briefly let her guard down, mouth forming a sympathetic 'o', eyes shimmering with guilt. Seaplane Tender didn't even have her hat anymore. Sakura didn't actually think the hat looked stupid- she was just saying that to hurt the Water Princess's feelings. If this was a real street fighter, with rules and rounds and honor, then this fight would be over. Habit took over. Sakura took a tentative step back and began to turn away from the downed Abyssal fighter. She wanted to go back to her new friends. These thoughts were pushed quickly out of her head. It wasn't over. That horrible toothy maw rose up and began to take aim. Even now, that Seaplane Tender wanted to kill and murder. Guilt became obscured by frustration. [color=fff79a]"Stop it, idiot!"[/color] Sakura cut her hand across the air in a definitive 'it's over' motion. [color=fff79a]"I win!"[/color] She declared childishly. Sakura's fighting instinct pushed her back into battle. Besides, if she ran away, this Water Princess would just shoot her in the back. Sakura spent her last EX bar to charge up a viscous fireball. It exploded forth with tremendous speed and power. Outperforming even the ones she had just been using. It was aimed right at that drooling tail mouth. It would impact, rolling and pushing against the tail for almost a full second, before detonating. She used it to cover her advance. The teenager dashed forward. Once in range she did a chin buster kick, her flexible leg going nearly 180 degrees. [color=fff79a][i]"Uriyah!"[/i][/color] Her kiai became wordless shouts of focused breathing. She followed it up with a elbow strike to the same spot she had just Shouoken'd. At this point the impact of her blows would have pushed her and the Seaplane Tender apart. [color=fff79a][i]"Sore!"[/i][/color] She took a step forward and did a standing medium kick right into her ribs. Sakura's hips twisted in an elegant, artistic way to maintain both balance and force. She shot her left fist downward and brought her right hand close to her body. All of it so she could strike with as much force as possible in a moment, and then bring her foot back down to the surface of the water to maintain balance. Another step forward, a crouch, and then fierce uppercut into the Water Princess's body. Sakura shot off her feet and span around. [color=fff79a][i]"Shunpu!"[/i][/color] One hard back kick across the face. Sakura landed on one foot and kept the spin going. It smoothly transitioned into a spinning leg sweep, Sakura maintaining perfect balance on only the toes of her left foot. Her sweep was a graceful 360. She shot her right foot outwards in the low, knee-breaking side kick that would sweep an unprepared fighter off balance. Sakura was learning that going up against opponents without Ki was different. This Water Princess was tougher and stronger than any martial artist she had ever met, but she lacked just that- true martial artistry. That was the reason reason Ryu could destroy a car in seconds, and then use those same attacks on Ken who walked away with a bloody nose. The Water Princess was just muscle, bone, and machinerey. Things Sakura could... break. And overpower. It didn't feel good. Dread began to well up in her heart. She feared the Seaplane Tender would keep pushing the fight until it reached a final conclusion. She had to push these thoughts out of her mind, too, for the battle wasn't over yet. [color=fff79a][i](Please just stay down!)[/i][/color] Sakura silently pleaded. It was an onslaught of strikes. Combos didn't seem to work against the towering Water Princess, so Sakura was just trying to be as unpredictable as possible. No more jump ins and grab attempts- just strikes. Sakura didn't like the idea of inflicting internal bleeding, but she had to do what was most effective. Six seconds of offense: EX fireball aimed at her tail cannon, followed up with a chinbuster kick. An elbow, a standing medium kick, followed by a crouching uppercut into a spinning kick into a spinning leg sweep. This was no time to be defensive.