A new day of broadcasting throughout the mansion began – wherever there was someone in the proximity of a screen, it showed the foyer as it was, with the hostess and her partner alongside the four ladies in the arrangement.
"Ladies within the premises, may we have your attention?" The opening lines came forth from Elisabeth's lips, out for the rest of the building to hear.
In the infirmary, it took a few moments for the healing party to ring in their attention.
"Oh shit..." Vanessa was the first to bring her eyes towards the screen. She felt the wound on her arm burn underneath the bandages, from memories yet to be repressed, once she realized one of the people on-screen. "Mary?"
The blonde followed suit in seeing, the attention primarily on Shiki. "Is that the chick that tried to kill us yesterday?"
"I think so. I couldn't tell with her actually having clothes on."
A couple beds off to the left, Nakoruru laid with a faint pain still lasting from all the assault that she took – and she was probably the most confused of the bunch about Shiki's presence. "Wha... what are they planning with her?" Something in her god-given soul was worried with how Elisabeth could try and handle the unstable swordswoman. It may have been primarily from unfortunate experience against Shiki that fueled most of Nako's worry.
Elsewhere, a pair of widened eyes upon Kula's face nearly bulged out of their sockets as she sat up to make sure she was seeing who she thought she was seeing. "Wait... Auntie Diana?"
Mignon sat up next, feeling barely any better from yesterday, with perhaps double the fright in her eyes. "N-Ninon?!"
And then there was Nagase, who didn't even bother to budge while her body laid half-face down. "Who the fuck is 'Ninon'?"
Elisabeth's words rang with a willingness to sort things out after a night full of uncertainty.
"I'm sure some of you who remain, may have felt unsure of how you may stand in the next round of the tournament, after an... *ahem* …unfortunate outcome..."
For the most part, the Hakkesshu didn't really bother caring for the fact that the tournament was one person shy of having remnants of a proper bracketology leading into the next round.
Vice and Mature only cared to listen for the sake of seeing if any of those ladies could potentially be a victim to their hands – not to mention, they kept Shermie under grasp regardless of her detriment to the situation.
"All those girls look like they wouldn't stand a chance," noted Vice.
Mature smirked. "Hmph. As expected. By this point, the unripened fruit has been long torn from the branches. They're heading into a war they wouldn't understand..."
Shermie, the Vice-appointed 'third-wheel', didn't bother with saying a word – she wasn't exactly in a great mood with all the problems arisen in the morning. She'd take the lashing for now... but she knew she'd find a chance to break free and get her way again.
"Chizuru and I have talked it over, and after recognizing that there are a few extra faces within the building than we intended to carry, what we discovered wasn't a decision to give anyone within the third round a chance to slip by without a fight – instead, we saw opportunity..."
The awkwardness had fallen away from the bond between Aoi and Leona a few moments before, now that everyone was properly dressed and at attention to Elisabeth and Chizuru's announcement.
Still, there wasn't much said between the two. Was there anything to say when it came to the battle ahead? When there was still much to weed out when it came to the awful people still hanging around?
Maybe there was still a little bit to agree on, but it was simply from demand and advice.
"Be ready for anything," Leona advised briefly. "Whoever breaks through, may not get through us."
Aoi couldn't make her response immediate. "...Right..." She couldn't simply focus on one thing at a time when it felt like fifty things were on her mind.
The whole 'kindred spirit' belief when it came to the Orochi curse – that on a whole was a mess of its own, even though the stability of the sort-of-friendship she had with Leona was alright for the most part.
In the address to the competition, at this point, the role was passed over to Chizuru partway, to continue the announcement.
"Before us now are four women with a chance of a lifetime in front of them – some may have had the chance to fight for their life in days past, while others may as well be heading into their first ever tournament with a lot to fight for. This won't be a case of one-on-one, but rather a free-for-all between the collective..."
Athena and Kaoru heard it all on their way back to their room – and throughout, they were still thinking about Momoko's chances.
"I feel for her," said Kaoru. "She might have a fighting chance, but she's still a girl with a lot to live for."
"She's got potential, but..." Athena continually had the image of the other ladies in mind. "...everyone else looked more than fierce. It's less about how vulnerable she could be and more if she's outclassed by the rest."
It was difficult to feel optimistic for Momoko, knowing her relative novice experience beyond her one KoF appearance, and just what she was going to get into.
"Victory goes to the last woman standing, and the reward is a spot to fill in during the third round – this is not simply a battle for opportunity, but to test to see if they can truly live up to that opportunity and not seem like just a fluke by circumstance."
If that winner happened to cross paths with Lien, she'd make sure it did feel like a fluke. She was more than ready to give a beatdown, especially with the tribulations she dealt with the day before with the fight against Mignon.
She was glad the shrill witch was damn near hospitalized, though a little unsatisfied it wasn't by her hand rather than that witch doing herself in for the most part.
However, there was plenty of more for Lien to deal with by this point – including someone purring back around her way.
"Hey, blondie~" Lien suddenly felt the grasp of someone hook over her shoulder, and found Angel's mischievous smile greeting her on the end of her other side.
The wild grappler started the morning hot off a bit of a hookup with Shermie – and clearly she hadn't learned anything worth shit from that implied altercation she had with the secretaries, since she was now wrapping an unpermitted arm around Lien.
"How's that body feelin' now?" It was rough enough the day before when Angel first bumped leather with Lien, and it was more unwarranted here with came in between the first and second interactions.
Lien said nothing for a reason, as she didn't want her focus messed with by the more overtly sensual psycho.
On the other hand, Angel took Lien's annoyed silence as nothing but an urge repressed. "Cariño, come on, you can talk to me; when you think about it, we're both fucked in the head." Her over-wrapping arm was getting all too close to somewhere she'd regret going no matter which way it was able to move, whether it was lower down on the Brit's bosom, or up on her face where it looked like Angel was feeling the urge to help form a smile on the cold-heart's face by hand.
Speaking on that 'cold heart' – Lien didn't take anything even close to it. "You even try to lay a finger where it doesn't belong, and you'll feel as violated as Yuri was."
"Whatever. You're just one of a house-load anyways." Angel decided to just take the threat at arm's length – unsurprisingly, the Yuri incident didn't even feel like baggage to her, more than just it being another day for her.
Hell, she wasn't even being subtle about her tendencies at this point – must've helped to learn that from Shermie over the night.
Time was taken for Chizuru properly 'introduce' the four set to fight, before long.
"Diana, an agent of change with a piercing blade; Momoko, a youth with a lot of warmth in her heart, and energy in her body; Ninon, a witch of mystery; and lastly, Shiki – this... vicious woman in a world she found herself falling into. Four hopefuls, yet only one opportunity."
To cap things off on the prelude to this, Elisabeth returned to the focus to ring back in the ladies surrounding the center of the foyer.
"I'm counting on all of you to give all you can. Even if your motive comes elsewhere, you fight like you want this."
The noblewoman's attention laid mostly on one of those four, however. "And Shiki... remember..." She removed the blindfold around the cold-blooded seductress, allowing those mismatched eyes to gaze vacantly ahead. "Remember what you agreed to. I can help you – and you can help in return by repressing that bloodlust." The weapons tucked under Elisabeth's arm traded off to her opposing hand, as she slowly offered it out to the black-haired individual.
Shiki's mouth hung slightly open in a shivered gasp, maintaining her often uncommunicative nature as she stared at the katanas being held out to her.
There was plenty of time that was dedicated over the last night just from Elisabeth's methods of keeping her away from those feelings of rampage. She knew for a long time there was something wrong with her, and even though she thought not to trust anyone (even as it was by a certain someone else's influence), she couldn't help but start to take a gaze towards the good light the tourney hostess was offering to her all that time.
...She eventually took the blades by their handles, holding them close as she took a look around the rest of the room, at the other ladies who were prepared to face off.
Diana didn't seem all too impressed so far with the fellow blade-bearer – she saw a bit of a misleading shine in Shiki's swords, and she was uncertain of the care that woman had for them.
"Keep those blades clean, lady." The rapier-skilled agent kept her own blade at a body's length in turn. "Don't want anyone catching what you brought from wherever – or whenever – you came from."
Shiki said nothing. As usual. But her focus was locked deeply on this one opponent.
The caretaker of Kula was composed well enough to handle the cold stare of the dark beauty.
Seeing the look in Diana's eyes, Elisabeth could only presume, "I suppose Diana knows best of this situation. Can't say for the rest of you, but nonetheless, if we're all prepared... Kagura, if you would..."
Shiki made it clear by this point that Diana was her first target of this 4-way bout, and Diana as willing to give back in return. Not much to say on the behalf of the jumpy Momoko and the stoic but bemused Ninon, however...
With a nod towards Elisabeth's orders, Chizuru gave the first word to the finality of these proceedings – almost akin to a referee's professionalism. "On your guard...
…
And... FIGHT!"
Limping her upper body forward, Shiki prepared to bring things close to start, ready to bring her vicious side to the competition—
"Alleyoop~!" —but then she felt two feet suddenly spring onto and quickly off of her head in a hop-and-jump that capitalized on her focus being elsewhere.
Taking a much bigger risk than she should've considered based on the other three fighters, in came Momoko to literally jump into close contact, the elevation upon hopping onto Shiki with that mushroom stomp allowing her to head quite a distance into the sky.
Diana felt air separate inches from herself, from the momentum of Momoko's sky-high start-off, and she was almost unprepared for the feet flying towards her in a front-flipping pair of kicks. The agent narrowly blocked off the outburst of legwork with her sword, trusting the endurance enough to take it all.
"You got spunk, kid." Diana twirled her fencing sabre casually. "But how hard can you really dance?"
She started on the offense and approached with some light, threatening thrusts, with a slight pull to avoid any deep pierce against the young capo-girl as she darted at her feet to keep her moving, just to be sure her defense was up to par.
Swaying her body enthusiastically to her own funky rhythm, Momoko allowed herself upside-down as she continued to swerve around the teasing point of Diana's sword. It was only until she dug herself deep into her maneuverability and spiraled out kicks from her handstand position that a spot of vulnerability was found on the 'Peach Child', curving around her sabre into a thrust kick against the girl's chest.
Momoko was floored for only a few seconds, recovering well and with the optimistic smile still burning...
...but she was promptly taken by surprise by a pair of legs wrapping against the sides of her head, as Shiki jumped back into the fray once the patience was gone. The snake-tattooed warrior's thighs pushed down on Momo as she flung forward, finally starting to go blade-for-blade with Diana while simultaneously fighting the balance of being upon a happy-go-lucky prospect's shoulders.
Shiki eventually fell forward off of Momoko's shoulders, and her legs found a new holding against Diana's body, the pushing weight bringing them down onto the ground before long with Shiki on top. Shiki rested a prodding heel against Diana's body as she scratched at her current opponent's sabre with the sharp double-blades, sparks fizzling off from the slow grind between similarly durable metals.
By this point, Diana started to take acknowledgment to the odd one out once she saw the last one of the bout casually hovering about a few inches away from the action.
"Now would be the time to jump in, kid." Diana stared up at Ninon, who was the only one in the four-way bout to have not done a lick of anything, on her own whim.
The dark witch was busy doing nothing of the sort while she hovered by. "Are you sure? Because it seems like you're making enough of a fool of yourself already."
The building frustration and anger within Diana helped her will to fight enough that she managed to overpower the pushing force from Shiki and rolled the favor onto its opposite – but the rapier-wielder was soon bombarded by tight grips...
"Gotcha~!" Momoko swooped back in, behind Diana, with a hugging clutch that proved surprisingly strong. Probably all that squeeze-work with her favorite pillow over the past few years...
Shiki found her legwork slowly becoming redundant, prying herself off of around Diana's waist and kicking her collective opposition out of the way as she rolled forward onto her knees. The twin katanas stayed in place within her hands as she watched the other two fighters struggle over each other.
Small but nimble legs taking a hold around her opponent's neck, Momoko flung down from a nosediving front-flip off and let gravity deal with the bare-possibilities, sending Diana into a rolling flop onto the ground. Before she could get off the ground, Diana was clocked in the back of her head with two bare feet as Momoko continued to maneuver about like she was at the peak of a sugar-rush, flipping over into a stomp as the psychic-in-training made her way the rest of the way across the battlefield.
Before long, though, Momo pulled her kicks once she started to see Shiki's blades dangerously come close into contact, smoothly keeping her pace into a vintage break-dance spin into a dismounting stance just inches away from where Shiki stood.
"Oh gosh..." Momoko's worrisome expression in the face of bladed terror painted the reminder of how the youth stood mentally in the scale between a brave soul and a scared soul – she wasn't exactly equipped to deal with this type of fight, and she may have started considering it a little later than she really should've.
Over the corner of one shoulder of Shiki, Ninon stared on with a wicked intrigue. "Hehe... how will you get out of this one?"
One could imagine, between the blade-bearing creep on one end and the happy young kid with plenty of vulnerable spots on the other, that the answer would be, at the least 'with difficulty'.
And the odds went even further down with Diana in the mix, especially once she jumped back into the fray with a kick onto Momoko to bring her down, and a continuous dash out at Shiki for yet another weapon clash – and this time it was a lot more than pushing and grinding against each other's blades, as Diana's slashes came wildly out of her return to the fray. Shiki could only go wilder in the battle, with little choice but to fight back.
As the two weapon-tested ladies continued to circle around each other, letting sparks fly beyond their clashing blades, Diana's sight lingered here and there towards Ninon, who still seemed to not yet lay a finger in the whole match by this point.
"This girl's starting to piss me off," Diana ultimately admitted. "Why does she even bother at this point?"
"Everyone has a point of true fracture in battle," Ninon explained, trying and succeeding not to look offended expression-wise. "I want to see how close you get to yours before I take a bite of the apple."
"The hell are you even talking about?!" Diana could not be rushed enough to say any more while she struggled to keep equal standing with Shiki's blades.
"Things you couldn't understand," Ninon retorted. "Just shut up and focus where it needs to be."
Diana gritted her teeth as her eyes wriggled in the direction between the two adversaries. "Cocky little—aah!" She was cut short by the feeling of the floor beneath her feet suddenly wettening – as a puddle formed under the will of a subtle gesture of Ninon. As a result, her footing completely deconstructed, and she was without a choice but to reinforce her defense as Shiki kept her kneeling with the push of her blades.
"Just as I thought," Ninon finally deduced. Things started as she wanted it to – and it was about to change quickly out from the corner of her eye...
…as Momoko eventually found her footing again and dove out against Ninon's hovering stature, only managing to budge her slightly before holding on.
"You aren't getting away with being so lazy!" Momoko tried for contact against the ground to get her center of gravity going as it should, but all she succeeded was some kicking mere inches too far from the ground. "Rrgh...! Put some work like you deserve your gift, you meanie! Just like I do!"
The frustrated youth forcibly wrapped around Ninon's waist did only enough to mildly irritate. The witch rolled her eyes... "As if I don't get this enough from Mignon..."
With a brief spin and a hand wrapping around, Ninon forced the prospect off and recklessly slammed her down with a palm smashing against Momoko's face.
Momoko kicked around in the struggle, half-limply – the back of her head stung from the trauma of hitting the floor. Soon the front of her face joined in the lingering pain, from the pinching of Ninon's nails on the fingers wrapped over, as well as the faint feeling of electricity coursing through the young spellbinder's hand.
Ninon eventually let go, shoving Momo' off and letting her try to sort out her own problems.
Momoko's stumble ended once she saw the swords of Diana and Shiki clash right in front of her – her heart jumped at the fear of possibly taking the collateral damage from the bladed battle, but she was thankfully unscathed...
...but perhaps only for as long as Ninon was willing to allow it. With a lift of her hand, she was already starting to influence the gravity of the weapons in the hands of her several opponents, as though she was trying to force them further against Momoko.
Meanwhile, the deadlock between Diana and Shiki meant they weren't exactly in the right of mind to break off to avoid any rising problems – it was a free-for-all, after all.
Believing in her safety and her survival, first and foremost, Momoko managed to get enough height to drop her feet on top of the swords, pushing the blade-holders down as she jumped out at Ninon with very little time to calculate her landing or what strikes she could connect with.
She thought for too long – Ninon easily caught her in the air, leaving her hovering like a feather above an up-pointing desk fan with the windy aura oozing out of her left hand... and she unleashed that wind with the most she built up, sending the Psycho Soldier prospect flying against the front doors of the mansion.
The rapier of Diana, and the left sword of Shiki were next to be cast off as a result of Ninon's blasting winds, spiraling out and embedding point-first on opposite ends of the wall to the back sides of the doors. There was another moment where Momoko saw danger incoming for a moment, but she was a little relieved yet pained as she laid against the closed double-doors.
If Shiki didn't quite have any words, Diana sure as hell did. "Not a chance, you creep..." She started to make towards the door to get her sabre out of the wall...
However, the weapon-deprived brawl found itself heading straight into the ground as Diana was tripped up leg-to-leg by Shiki and then pinned down in a desperate attempt to keep her opponent disarmed and without almost the entirety of her offense.
"Hrk—!" Diana gagged upon the crunching pressure of her opponent's body spreading up to her neck. There was a hand clutched against her throat, and another hand still had a katana left to hold...
As she kept her foe immobilized on the ground, Shiki's eyes gazed longingly into the reflective blade, knowing too well the powers that be wouldn't want her to commit direct murder. This was moreso because she could see them watching from the stairwell behind, through the katana's reflection. The silent judgment exuded at a level that even the eerie yet naive Shiki could understand, especially from hostess Elisabeth.
It wasn't the hardest burning gaze coming through the reflection, however – that went to Ninon, who observed patiently over the struggle going on.
"The victim's under your clutches – tell me, what's on your mind right now? Are you willing to risk it?"
Without even needing to know exactly who Ninon Beart was, Shiki sensed something familiar in the witch's eyes and expression. Something deep within, of a skilled young lady – but left with nothing but bad intentions remaining.
"No... you have her." Shiki promptly plucked Diana off the ground and shoved her off towards Ninon, who didn't even bother to raise her arms to catch – so the rapier-skilled agent wound up nearly falling back down, thankfully managing to compose herself on her feet.
"The hell? You're just gonna piss off like that?" Diana saw nothing but unfinished business, along with a need to re-arm.
A halting clutch around the wrist by Ninon halted Diana's advance, however. "Now now~ she can choose who to punish in this sort of match... and so can I."
Ninon swept the leg before her opponent knew it, and she floored her with a surprisingly fierce throw-over. With Diana disarmed for the time being, Ninon had a certain advantage to the fight, and a chance to toy around for a little bit, for the hell of it.
Meanwhile, Shiki had limped her way over to Momoko, who had enough composure built up to quickly start fighting against the clutches of the time-displaced woman by kicking about in a fidgety manner. The young dancer was almost helpless as Shiki welcomed her into her arms, seeing the leftover katana still embedded off to the side.
However, under the buildup of fear-sweat in the uncomfortable clutches of her opponent, Momoko was eventually able to slip away before Shiki could raise a blade, flying through under her legs before leaping up and rolling into an upside-down dropkick against Shiki's snake-tattooed back to
As Shiki turned around to face her youthful opponent, she saw her scampering towards stage-left from the battlefield, visibly uncomfortable.
"N-no! Stay away from me with those things!" Faced with possibly the deadliest challenge to date, Momoko was left with no choice but to temporarily retreat from the scene, keeping her distance away from the opponent.
Shiki coasted forth, on her own pace, slowly out of the foyer
On the bright side, it was convenient that the tournament was under control of two ladies...
"Elisabeth," Chizuru glanced back at the tourney hostess, "I hope you don't mind, but I think I should keep an eye on that fight – make sure nothing goes wrong..." She was already starting to make her way down and around the stairwell towards Shiki's limping path.
Elisabeth shrugged, her focus beginning to readjust to the two remaining in the room, fighting right at the end of the stairs. "I was about to consider the same thing..."
In the time between her getting knocked down by Ninon, and the spread-out of the fight thanks to the pursuit of Momoko by Shiki, Diana was starting to get into the thick of things, making a tiny bit of success in her struggle against the young pale witch – nothing too gradual at the moment, however, since Ninon needed a surprisingly small amount of effort to take advantage of the weaponless Diana, and the effort was still paying off a slight. The dark-magic electricity she chose to course through her arm kept a consistent flow, blistering through against her opponent like a livewire.
Eventually, a stroke of luck. In one brief moment, Diana overpowered her age-inferior with a sloping leg sweep and then dropping the leg over 's chest with a tactical stomp – in the next, Diana managed to find her distance away from the opponent, rolling through towards the doors with range in mind to Ninon's potential pursuit.
With a reach and a grab, the sabre came out of its enforced place in the wall and was given a swift 180 turn within its user's grasp – and it found a place pointing within an inch's contact of Ninon. The witch flinched, yet in a way so brief and small that you'd be hard-pressed to believe she did even with a slow-motion replay.
Regardless, she was at least halted by the
Diana's sabre twirled with enthusiasm, taking in the idea that she might have the advantage over the eerie youth. "Stand down, or get on my level. Take your pick."
Ninon knew her opponent was mostly expecting to find a method to strike fear within her… but all she could discover was a calm grin. "Fine... If you're so desperate to cling close to your toy, I guess I have no reasonable choice but to have one of my own."
With a crack of her knuckles and an emerging sinfulness in her eyes, Ninon kept her palms together magic coursed even faster through her gifted body...
...a pitch-black line of energy formed in between the center of her palms as she split them away, joined by an amalgamation of red and blue electricity. As soon as her hands were out at opposite sides of her body, the dark, electric whatever-the-hell-was-forming was about a couple feet wide hovering before her face, at around the same length as Diana's blade.
Upon a longer moment to try and establish what the witch had formed, it seemed to not just share the same length as her opponent's weapon, but an identical handle as well, to the point where it looked like a carbon copy – a very witchcrafty carbon copy at that.
Ninon spun her new sabre with a similar flair as her opponent, as a means to taunt her. "En garde, milady...?"
Diana came to realize just how much Ninon took 'get on my level' to mind. It nearly fell to the point of absurdity. "It's almost like you know exactly what you're doing – even though you're just a kid. Who... what are you?"
Ninon felt at her dark blade with a sure and prepared expression... "This dull world's best kept secret. So secret, that they haven't even realized it..."
You can only thank the holiday pre-hype I've started to build for me managing to get something out this month after an admittance of burnout on my profile if anyone happened to see.
The side effect? I had to split this match off into a two-parter due to not just how much I'd need to do for double the competitors involved, but also what I've started to come up with in terms of the finish and the post-match stuff. I imagine, with Christmas and the new year coming up, this may be it for 2019, unless my holiday hype increases over time and I get either the next chapter of this or something new thrown in for one last hurrah to the year.
Next Chapter: Part two of the qualifier bout! Not much else to say besides prepare for anything, as usual...!