[center] [color=f49ac2]Sakura Level 10: 31/100[/color] +20 -5 [color=fff200]Karin Level 7: 01/70[/color] +20 Location: Arabahaki Word Count: 1,116 Points Gained: 2 New EXP Balance--- [color=f49ac2]Sakura Level 10: 46/100 [/color] (Still need to level her up, but idk) [color=fff200]Karin Level 7: 22/70[/color] [/center] It was good to see Sakura again, Karin thought, and the other street fighter was clearly pleased. She ran up and wrapped her arms around Karin, forcing Karin to support her weight. [color=f49ac2]”Ah! Karin-chan! I- Oof.” [/color] Sakura regretted her cheerful reunion hug, clutching her own bruised ribs from the battle against Konoe. [color=fff200]”You’re hurt?”[/color] Karin asked. [color=f49ac2]”Nothing I can’t sleep off,”[/color] Sakura reassured her with a wink. [color=f49ac2]”Or nothing that these two can’t fix. Blazermate-san, could you do me the honor of saving my butt again?”[/color] Sakura asked. And in what would be a week of rest and recuperation went by in a few moments. Sakura bowed to the healers gratefully. [color=f49ac2][i]”Arigato.”[/i][/color] [color=fff200]”Ah, well, now we will fight together for certain, Miss Sakura. I know it was tactically sound for us to separate, but…”[/color] [color=f49ac2]”Awww, you missed me?”[/color] Sakura teased. [color=fff200]”Hmph. Well, yes.”[/color] Karin said. It was a two-sided attack, because the unexpected sincerity also caught Sakura off guard, meaning Karin was the winner of this discussion. [color=f49ac2]”...Oh! …Well, good. I missed you too. It was scary for a little bit, there, huh? ”[/color] Sakura said, rubbing the back of her head. [color=f49ac2]”I’m just glad we managed to beat Konoe non-violently, at the end of it.”[/color] [color=fff200]”Rufus Shinra hardly deserved anything but a thorough stomping. Fortunately we were able to deliver.”[/color] Karin said, coolly. [color=fff200]”And it seems that Shinra, and Armstrong, have both perished…I suppose Rufus felt no desire to protect his father. Only this wicked place and his seat of power.”[/color] Later on, Sakura and Karin were quiet as the conversation with Karen was underway. Sakura squinted at the box. That whole thing with Lili’s dad was still a mystery to her. All that mattered now, though, was that Karen didn’t want to fight. Once they were inside, they saw their enemy. Sakura smacked Karin on the shoulder and pointed, wide-eyed, at the Master Hand. Naturally, Karin’s eyes were already drawn to it. [color=fff200]”What on Earth is that ugly thing?”[/color] [color=f49ac2]”The big hand! It showed up the last time we fought a Guardian. Koreda yo!”[/color] Sakura clenched her fists. [color=fff200]”Not yet. A cowardly consul blocks our path.”[/color] Karin said. She stepped forward. [color=fff200]”You overestimate yourself. What is it with you villains and always believing you’re the omnipotent height of creation? So bold for nothing more than a lackey.”[/color] Karin said. She turned to face her opponents…opponent? [color=f49ac2]”W-wait, huh? What? Is that..? But how-”[/color] Sakura shook her head and got into her fighting position. [color=fff200]”Stay close to me, Miss Sakura. We can take them.”[/color] Karin rushed ahead to meet the clones in battle and to give the ranged fighters and supports some more room to operate. Sakura and Karin met baton and armor with fist and ki. They found that one of these women would make for a decent street fighter all on their own, but a platoon of them had them on the backfoot. Sakura blocked one strike and struck out at her opponents face, smacking them down. Before she could push the offensive she had to duck and dodge under the twin swings of another officer, before she winced as someone zapped her in the back. Karin whiff punished one Akira, sending her flying, but another one struck her face. Their fight was primarily a two on four, with each street fighter primarily dealing with two of their own legio. But often it was a two on five and occasionally a two on six. Karin was stern and concentrating as hard as she could, but the look on Sakura’s face made it plain that she did not like how this was going. If there was one good thing about being outnumbered, it was that Karin and Sakura could access their V-Triggers at an exponentially faster rate. [color=f49ac2]”Come on! I’m not scared!”[/color] Sakura shouted, bursting into blue flame that coalesced around her hands and feet. She took both of her opponents on at once, catching them both in a flying spin kick. The burst of light and power caught the attention of the others. The officers had power of their own, and Sakura found her arms bound to her body as blue chains wrapped around her. She gasped, looking at the anchors. [color=f49ac2]”O-oi! Let me g- aah!”[/color] Sakura cried out in pain as the Akiras took the opportunity to start wailing on her. Sakura just had to grit her teeth and take it, squeezing her eyes shut as she felt the solid impacts and electricity course through her. Electricity could weaken her ki, and she felt herself start to get dizzy. [color=fff200]”Kanzuki-Ryu Guren No Kata!”[/color] Karin shouted angrily, also enhanced by V-Trigger. She swept through Sakura’s attacks with a series of palm strikes that finished with a powerful elbow to send them all spinning. She took a thwack on the back of the head for her trouble but returned fire with a slicing kick that forced the Akira to back up. The chains dropped after the couple second beating, and Sakura slapped either side of her head to refocus herself. Karin was indignant when a clone did the very same thing on her. Suddenly, she was wrapped up as well, with nothing she could do about it. [color=fff200]”You lowly- ugh!”[/color] She was kneed in the gut for her trouble. Sakura rushed to aid Karin but found herself wrapped up AGAIN. [color=f49ac2]”Oh come on!”[/color] She shouted angrily. Her muscles bulged and she found a loose point to break free in less time than before, the astral chains losing some of their efficiency. The officer that rushed in to take advantage of Sakura’s weakness was blown up by a fiery uppercut that sent her flying. But it did prevent Sakura from coming to Karin’s aid, who spun away from a solid impact as the chains released themselves. She parried the next attack and went full evasive, gritting her teeth as she tried to avoid the batons that would be deadly if she let herself get overwhelmed. Karin wasn’t nearly as tanky as Sakura was. Sakura had a higher vitality by default but her time in the World of Light had given her abilities to survive damage that Karin simply lacked through no fault of her own. Sakura blasted the ground in front of Karin with a Hadoken to force the horde off her. She swept in and pressed her back against Karin and the two stood back to back, breathing heavily. While they were worse for wear, the officers they faced were wary to charge in lest they receive another strong blow from the two fighters. They weren’t exactly damage-free themselves. Still, in a knock-down dragout fight like this, the advantage lay in the party that didn’t need to fight more opponents immediately afterward. In this case, that meant that the ‘clones’ currently had the advantage despite going blow for blow on the pair. Back against Karin’s, Sakura clenched her raised fists, while Karin’s hand flattened out into her usual knife-edge palms. [color=f49ac2]”You holding up?”[/color] [color=fff200]”Splendidly!”[/color]