Starring:
Rinako, Mune, Kara, Mitsuomi, Hoiishime, Ruri, Taji
Date: February 7, 2011
Summary:
A match between two women who wield the dead as weapons is underway. And yet it is the power of life that drives these deceased ones to battle…
"First World Ninja Competition - The Dead Shall Serve: Mune vs. Kara"
Peach Pit Stadium Arena 2 Ring - Kusagakure
It was middays, though no one could tell. With the clouds overhead, it seemed more like late evening, completely blocking out all of the sun's rays. Despite the threatening, oppressive clouds overhead, filled with the promise of rain, the stands had been dutifully filled for the match, to watch two of the final competitors come to blows. Overhead cloths had been rolled out over most of the stands, which would protect the viewers from the majority of the rain, barring what moisture slipped between the cracks. Unfortunately for the competitors, they received no such protection beneath the open sky.
The first drops had started to fall, big, fat, wet and sparse, even as Rurohashi Rinako steps out onto the sand. She walks calmly, casually, as if the threat of imminent rain were of no concern, though this may be because the proctor's platform was covered by the same cloth that kept the Grass residents and visiting dignitaries dry. She weaves between a pair of pillars, and then holds up an arm for attention. When she speaks, she doesn't yell, but manages to project her voice with enough force that she is heard thanks to the accoustics of the amphitheatre.
"Lords and Ladies! On behalf of the Land of Grass, Kusagakure, and their most gracious and sagacious Daimyo…" Rinako's vocabulary and solemnity seemed greatly increased just for this speech in a manner not normally recognizeable to those who knew her. "I would like to welcome you to the final match of the semi-finals! The winner here will go on to face the other finalist and determine our champion. Wish both of our contests the best."
The dark-haired Suna kunoichi turns towards the entrance onto the arena sands from which she had just come out of. "Please welcome your combatants, Kishi Mune!" A pause as many around the theatre applaud during Mune's entrance. "And Kara! …Who is totally going to own ass." Though this last bit is said much too quiet for anyone in the stands to hear, the second woman has a large cheering section, notably comprised fo the visiting residents from Sunagakure.
Mune comes into the Ring. She may not have a Village-wide cheering section, but she has the heads of many males turning in her direction at least. Not that she cares. Manipulating the weaker sex has its time and place. Right now she has only this match to win and then she can show Kanami how much she has improved. Approaching the center of the Ring, the dark-skinned woman crosses her arms and waits for her opponent to enter. She doesn't want to get ahead of herself by assuming she'll win here… But really, is there any other possible outcome? She can handle this Puppeteer girl. It takes a degree of brilliance to be a Puppeteer, but she has spent her entire life absorbing knowledge from every source imaginable. She HAS to win. She just HAS to.
Nodding to Rinako, Mune waits until Kara appears. There's not really anything else she can do.
Hearing the match called, not even a hospital bed would hold Mitsuomi. While nearly recovered from his defeat at the hands of Mune, he was still suffering lingering side effects. His massive frame made its way through the stands to the front row, even though he had to move some people to get there. Not too many argued with or said anything against him remembering his last matches.
Most who knew of his last match would expect the stern look on his face and glaring eyes. Undoubtedly assumed to be ment for Mune, and a surprise would come to all as his voice boomed out over the roars of the crowd. "Mune! You better win this one! Show that puppet using whack-job what the woman who beat Double Impact is capable of! You win and dinner is on me!"
Yes, this big oaf…was rooting for the woman that beat him senseless, and nearly killed him.
"Is Rinako-chan hitting on the Daimyou, Pharaoh-kun?" Kara asks her mummified Puppet. Pharaoh shrugs his boney shoulders. Kara shrugs hers too. Sighing, Kara says, "Well, it's time. Let's see if we're going to bring home the gold… Or just blow stuff up reeeeallll goooood!" Grinning, Kara comes dashing out of her side of the Ring's entrance, and doesn't stop running until she skids to a stop in the middle of the dusty battleground. "Hiiii, Rinako-chan~!" she offers as she waves to her team mate.
Adjusting her back harness with its scrolls, she waits. And waits. Then she turns to look over her shoulder, and sees Pharaoh is still hopping his way across the Ring floor. "Hurry up!" she snaps. The mummy >leaps< about a hundred feet and then lands next to Kara. "Geez. Okay, we're read—" she pauses and peers up into the Stands as some guy yells over all the other voices. "…Whack-job!? Hmph! We're ready, Rinako-chan!" Kara pouts a bit.
"Wait!! Mitsuomi-sama!! Ya not be healed yet!!", was shouted from behind the large mass of man, by his own student. Hoiishime had attempted to care form him alittle, since he was some what familiar with his anatomy. Frankly, this girl crazy brute wasn't going to let him. As the man would call out Mune's name, Hoii quirked an eyebrow, wondering just what in the hell his master was going on about. He looked to the ring, only to see exactly who.. Yotsuki Raiga's relative? "Hmmm? She be competing?" Hoii then looked to Mitsuomi, and after an annoyed stare, poked at one of the area where his nerve endings normally may expose themselves, knowing that they may still be sore. "I tink we can stick roun' a while… But dat only meaning ya treatment be held ere', mon."
"Hey, Kar." It probably wasn't very becoming of a proctor to so obviously root for one of the contestants, but Rurohashi Rinako had never really been much for ceremony. She gives the puppeteer's shoulder a light punch as she walks by, heading back near the entrance. "Kick some tail, kiddo." Sure, Kara was technically older than her, but details!
The rain is beginning to fall a bit harder now, going from a few sparse splatterings to a light drizzle, prompting the dark-haired proctor into a trot to get out of the rain before she became too wet! All around, the sand was slowly beginning to turn a darker shade of brown and clump together as it begins to soak up moisture. With a powerful leap, the elder Rurohashi twin clears the arena floor and lands more or less gracefullyish upon the proctor's platform.
Lightning cracks the sky, followed by the roar of thunder as she protective fields begin to go up. The clouds open up wholeheartedly, unleashing a downpour upon the two still in the ring, the kind that makes it a little hard to see and forces one have to shout to be heard and have to breath out of their mouth for fear of suffocation as all that water displaces oxygen. Thunder rumbles quietly once more in the distance, as if the heavens were pleased to rain so thoroughly over the proceedings of man.
Back on the platform, Rinako may not shout enough to be heard, but if the contestents squint, they can surely see her hand signals. She raise on arm overhead. "READY." Then cuts it downwards sharply through the air. "BEGIN!"
Ruri is sitting in the stands already. She has enough food to feed a small army of teenaged girls situated around her. …Or feed Rinako for two meals. Ruri is slurping on a soda that is being held in her… Ahem, shirt, with a bag of popcorn in one hand, a hotdog in the other, a plate of BBQ ribs on her lap, and the chair on each side of her stuffed full of bags of more food and drinks. She pauses briefly to pull her mouth away from her chest-mounted soda and calls out, "Go, Kara! You can do it! …, it's raining again. I wish I brought binoculars. They're both wearing WHITE even! Damn my lack of foresight!"
Mune waves a hand vaguely in Mitsuomi's direction upon hearing his voice. Her gaze is focused more or less on Kara. The woman across from her has one Puppet our already, but it looks like she has more. Mune doesn't know the exact capabilities of these constructs, but she has heard a lot about the one who uses them. When the rain starts to pour down, Mune's white longcoat is quickly drenched. There are hints of things beneath the fabric, but she remains more or less decent. Rinako yells that the fight has begun, and Mune responds by withdrawing form her coat a vial of black liquid with a single white blob in it. She tilts her head back and swallows it. Then she begins to gather Chi to her with various hand gestures and movements, and transform it into a Chakra-equivalent that she can make use of. This will take some time. But hopefully it will take Kara awhile to get ready too. If not… Mune will be at a disadvantage.
Kara rubs her arm when it's punched and frowns at Rinako. "That hurt, you buff-face! Buffy the buffalo… Turtle… Buff… Uhh…" She gives up and just calls back as Rinako flees the area, "I've seen you in the buff!" Then she mutters and peers up as the rain pours down on her, and lightning splits the sky. "Frick," she mumbles. "Shoulda' worn a black t-shirt today instead of white bandages."
Pharaoh chatters his teeth while they wait for the match to start. "I >know< that boobs help ratings, Pharaoh-kun! That's >not< my concern! I know it's different for you, because you don't even >have< any real skin anymore, but for those of us who do—Wait, what? Did Rinako-chan just say we're starting!? Aaaahhh! I'm not ready!!!" She begins gathering Chakra and prepares herself for battle by focusing it into Pharaoh. Pharaoh uncrosses his spindly arms from over his chest and stares with his empty eye sockets at Mune. Skeleton-grinning, he gives no indication of what move he might pull first!
Mitsuomi's muscles twitched around Hoiishime's poke and a soft exhale left his lips, but his face did not falter. His voice slightly gruff as he addressed his student, "I don't care about my treatment and healing. I will be fine from this point out. What matters is that woman. She beat me…completely." His voice showed a small amount of regret in admitting a complete defeat, but there was also a primal desire laced under it.
"That woman…reched me through the madness. I must get closer to her." There was absolute resolution in those words. The same resolution that he demanded of Hoiishime, when he swore to endure the training of the Iron Body style. A resolution to accomplish it, and endure all that came with it, or to die giving it your all.
He was about to quiet down when he heard another voice shouting about the both of them wearing white. His eys shift to the woman, as his hand clenches around the stone railing and shatters the section within it. Such disrespectful behavior…and from another woman no less.
His massive frame turns all save his eyes when a roar of a voice comes out. "Contain yourself. Those women are competitors and skilled. They are not something for perverts to…" His voice trails off as Mune waves towards him.
Almost instantly his body snaps back forward and his hand shoots up to wave back, with the debris from the railing falling out as he does so. Thin lines appearing under his flesh and shifting a bout taking hold in his muscles and making them enlarge slightly. His senses all heightened slightly to make the rain easier to deal with. Ruri all but forgotten.
Ruri munches on popcorn and ignores Mitsuomi. At least outwardly. She's scowling, but she frowns an awful lot anyway. She wasn't even shouting! She was talking at conversational volume TO HERSELF while thousands of other people were yelling! How one person could single her out to criticize when there's men all over the place saying FAR worse…
Ruri chokes on her popcorn mid-silent-complaint and has to suck furiously on her soda straw to get it down. "Gah… Damn cheap Kusagakure popcorn… Doesn't even have butter… 'All natural' my ass! There's no lubrication to swallow it with!" Seems Ruri is just a complainer. She peers across the ring at where Rinako is when she situates herself. The hand motion was nearly missed before, but she wonders for a moment if she should try to deliver some of this food to her older sister.
"…Maybe later," she decides finally. Then she resumes giving Mitsuomi and his 'doctor' the Evil Eye! …Which is, unfortunately, also her ONLY eye. Her right eye has her Sunagakure hitai-ate over it as an impromptu eyepatch of sorts. Why is she glaring at Hoiishime too? Because he must be horrible by association with Mitsuomi! Duh!
Mune is unaware of the drama up in the stands and MORE than used to being drooled over, so she just focuses on the match at hand. She finishes gathering Chi and prepares to start things off… Grabbing a vial of chemicals from within her coat she throws it at Kara and then claps her hands together before it even hits. A bolt of blue-white electricity jumps from her palms to the vial as soon as it breaks upon ANY surface, and the combination of Chakra and chemicals… Deconstructs whatever it is lying upon. It just tears it apart on the molecular level and scatters it.
Mune follows up by dashing in close and trying to strike Kara with a blow that can destroy cells underneath the surface of the skin. It might hurt, but it sure won't kill her. This is just a test phase, of course. The serious attacks will have to wait until Mune knows Kara's fighting patterns. Everyone has a pattern, after all.
A cloud of black flies is released from Pharaoh's mouth that obscures both himself and Kara as that vial comes flying in. It shatters on >something< and then a number of flies are suddenly reduced to… Fly parts and gross ick ew bleh stuff! When Mune comes rushing in, the flies have already begun to scatter. Mune's blow lands on something solid! Then the insects have cleared out of the way and it is evident that what she hit was >Pharaoh<! Kara switched places with him, and since Pharaoh has no living cells he cannot be harmed by this attack!
Kara is off to the side, and she retaliates against Mune by having Pharaoh spew out a flamethrower stream at point-blank range, since Mune is standing right in front of her Puppet. "Pharaoh-kun, burn her up good!" she cheers on her mummified comrade! And as if >that's< not enough, Kara then has Pharaoh 'chase' after Mune, firing a stream of senbon needles from his mouth, trying to trace any evasive maneuvers she takes!
"Mitsuomi-sama… No wonder ya be excited!! Ya be soundin' like ya mad wit' love!!" Hoiisihime looked to Mune silently, as she seemed the first to move for an attack, before the monk also felt eyes on him from another. A single eye rather, was looking with a frown, seeming rather reactive to either Mitsuomi, or himself. He'd assume Mitsuomi, and sigh, patting the man to calm down. "Ya don't be seemin' much calmer den' da rest, Mitsuomi-sama.. Though ya wiles be admirable, I tink it best if ya be cool, if not for ya condition. Besides… Don't underestimate overstimulation of ya nervous system.. Ya can quite easily suffer paralysis from it."
Hoii couldn't help but feel nervous at Mitsuomi's feelings for the mysterious grand daughter. It seemed that while he hadn't known much about her to judge, there was still the fact that he hadn't known anything at all. Perhaps worrying about Ruri's complaints about her popcorn being without moisture, or her own evil staring at him for no reason, may be occupying enough of his time.
Mitsuomi sighed a bit at Hoiishime. He knew using his nerves even at the base level was a bad idea while recovering, but the damn rain was a pain in the ass. It was for the stands sake more than his own that he kept it in check and only allowed this level of activation. A low groan came from him. It was painful, and the pain from his wounds were intensified, but in the end he would endure it.
Not letting his eyes shift to Ruri he sighed at her evil eye. Such a weak murderous intent it was almost laughable. "Hoiishime…my emotions are not your concern, and my motivations are my own. This condition I am in will be healed soon enough either with your help…or hers. She is playing right now, far more relaxed than when fighting me. I hope it pays off in the end. Should she lose…lets just say it won't be safe for a while. You know how my nerves can get."
Mune clenches her teeth and smashes the vial at her feet as soon as she realizes she has struck something non-living. A cloud of sparks and smoke goes up, concealing her. A flamethrower at close range is nothing to sniff at, so Mune wastes no time in leaping out of the way and trying to run for it. It would be best to attack from a different angle. This Kara does not seem to be a melee combatant… But she has counters to melee combatants. So the trick is…
Then the senbon start peppering the ground and arena walls as Mune dodges and weaves. She tries to hurl an expanding metal fan that spins and turns into a 'disc'. This disc deflects a great many senbon as it flies towards the Puppet, but not enough. Just a few make it through and stick in Mune's rib flesh. They sting, and she's pretty sure almost immediately that they're poisoned. Great.
Mune yanks the needles out one-handed while she uses her other hand to withdraw a scroll from within her coat. The ground is soggy and muddy now. Not watery enough to use Water Walking, but not solid enough to use Tree Walking. She skids in the mud and then unwraps her scroll, causing it to unreel itself as it flies through the air. Three clouds of smoke erupt from the scroll's surface, and then there are suddenly two of the Royal Guards of the Daimyou of the Land of Fire flying at Kara! Right behind them is a Konoha ANBU! They land in a semi-circle in front of Kara, weapons drawn, in clearly threatening positions. What the hell just happened!?
Kara smiles when she sees a trio of Pharaoh's senbon needles striking home. Her opponent is skilled… There's no doubt about that. But the fact she landed the first hit, and with such a simple attack, speaks volumes for her chances! Then Mune calls up reinforcements. "Wh-what!?" she cries out as she tries to leap back and away from the three opponents. "Isn't this like… Illegal? Puppets are one thing! They aren't really additional opponents! But…"
She frowns and peers at the trio. Then she looks up to Rinako as though expecting a ruling on this. ">Rinako-chaaaan!< Is this really okaaaaaay!?" She is distracted completely from Mune. Pharaoh pauses in his assault to see what Kara is yelling about.
The dark-haired jounin has by now come to the conclusion that standing during the match was entirely too difficult when compared to sitting, which is what she's doing now. Rinako gives a lazy wave in Kara's direction, though whether it can be seen clearly through the torrential downpour is another story, one arm and her chin draped across the rope that separates her platform from the ring and ostensibly is to keep the careless from toppling over the edge, her legs dangling off the end.
"Sorry, Kar." She cries out over the noise of the falling rain. "Summoning- or whatever that was -is legal. Best watch yourself!"
While Kara is calling for clarification, Mune is preparing to go all-out. The two Royal Guards lunge in at Kara with a straight-edge katana in each hand. Four blades total come lashing out at the Puppeteer in a flurry of flashing steel. As lightning and thunder continue to blind and deafen, the light reflects off the swords and the sound drowns out the clashing of metal against metal. Mune continues to manipulate her temporary allies, from a distance, keeping the ANBU member in reserve until the last moment… When the dead man dashes forward on the slick, muddy grown and tries to stab Kara in the stomach with a kunai.
Mune is preparing something. But she'll need a bit more time to unleash it, and the opportunity.
Kara turns back just in time to see the three people coming at her with sharp things! She leaps and dodges, but primarily this is accomplished by moving towards a cloud of flies that has filled the area — thanks to Pharaoh! <3 This makes the already low visibility even… Lower… Visibiluosity!
…Yeah! Take that!
When the flies clear, the three enemies are nowhere near Kara, because she is much closer to her Puppet. Mune managed to seperate her from her greatest weapon for a moment there. That says a lot about how smart her opponent is. She can't afford to hold back anymore. So she yanks on a pair of pull cords attached to her back harness, and two clouds of smoke later, a pair of additional Puppets have appeared! All three immediately launch into a furious assault! Sekhmet, the lioness-headed Puppet, fires a flaming arrow from one forearm, Pharaoh spits out a poison gas pellet, and Anubis dashes in to try to slash Mune with a poisoned hand-scythe! Sekhmet then brings up her other arm and unleashes multiple flaming arrows at once! All of these are aimed at slightly different places on Mune's body so that if she dodges in one direction or another she may wind up getting hit regardless!
Mune throws down a pair of vials that mix and turn into a bright explosion of multi-colored fiery sparks, like fireworks. This serves to save her from all of the attacks levelled against her, but the last one came dangerous close. Flaming arrows… Unpleasant, to say the least! The rain quickly douses the chemical-produced sparks, but by then Mune has already moved on. This is getting her nowhere… Three Puppets and three animated corpses. Technically the odds are balanced, but she feels that Kara has an advantage here. Well, she has gathered enough energy… So she purges her body of the Negative Chi she had gathered, letting it flow out into the environment. Then there is a brief pause…
And then her body becomes SUPER-CHARGED with Chakra! She starts regenerating her minor injuries from needles and poison, and feels her metabolism and reaction time speeding up as well. She dashes towards Kara, each step carrying her a dozen feet from the speed of her movements. She trails explosions of mud in her wake. Then the older of the two dark-skinned females lunges at the younger of the two, and attempts to slash with one hand in a sideways chopping motion!
Kara was expecting to get at least one more hit in. Not even Kanami managed to endure under the onslaught of three Puppets at once! …Clearly, however, Mune does not know that she is supposed to get hit and fall down. Because in addition to blinding Kara with bright light in the dark environment produced by the storm overhead, those sparks also allow her opponent to evade her attacks! "Sucky," she mutters. As she tries to find her opponent in the darkness, she thinks she sees a blur of movement. Then the next thing she knows, the front of her soaking-wet bandages is slashed open, and a deep cut crosses from armpit to armpit right across Kara's collarbone!
It's kind of hard to see in the dark, but she is totally showing >tons< of cleavage now as she is nearly bursting out of her chest wraps.
>More importantly<, Kara feels searing pain as a deep gouge has been laid out across her torso! It's probably bleeding pretty bad and there's damage to the collarbone because she can barely manage to lift her arms. Leaping back, Kara lets out an, "Nngh!" and only her mastery of Puppetry allows her to bring her three Puppets in to try to protect her. 2.5 seconds too late. Mune has just gotten a >lot< faster, apparently. Sekhmet stands between Kara and Mune, and Anubis tries to pick Kara up and carry her to safety.
It's hard to control her Puppets without using her arms, but her Chakra can flow independent of physical movements. So she retaliates with… Nothing! She's low on Chakra, so she just tries to keep Sekhmet out in front, baring her golden teeth and snarling while the Puppeteer focuses on regaining her strength. She can't take another hit like that. She'd probably survive it, but it would impact her ability to fight too much.
'She better not leave any scars!' she thinks to herself as her Chakra becomes more intensely focused within her body.
Mune has no intention of giving any quarter. She charges right at Sekhmet as the lioness-headed Puppet that resembles a statue of solid gold makes threatening movements. Mune leaps up into the air and tries to flip right over the Puppet in the fore. Then she makes a couple hand seals, unbuttons the high collar of her coat and spews out a cloud of purple smoke before she even lands! Whenever she DOES land, it will be in the churned, muddy puddles that are forming all over the Ring, sending up a splash that spatters the Medic-Nin's coat and may even sprinkle upon Mune's exposed flesh.
She calculated the direction and speed of the wind so that it would be carried down and at an angle, rather than hanging around at ground-level and asphyxiating Mune alongside her opponent. Will Kara be too impaired to defend herself?
Ruri is peering out at the match from the safety of her food chair. It has gotten so dark and muddy that she can barely see anything. She glances around briefly to make sure no one is looking… And then pulls up the forehead protector over her right eye. Within is… A Sharingan!? Well… That's something different! Good thing Rinako isn't around to ask annoying questions like, 'Where'd you get that!?' or 'Where's my food!?' or 'My face itches.' Okay, that last one was not really a question.
The Sharingan can see clearly in the dark. Or at least Ruri's can. Because she was never told that REAL Sharingan can or can't, so she just assumes that 'magic seeing powers' includes light amplification. And hey, it's easier to say, 'I ganked an Uchiha' than it is to go into the whole Sheex deal and what REALLY happened.
Ruri sees Kara's bandages torn open and Mune spattered in mud. A jet of blood shoots out her nose. "…," she curses under her breath as she realizes she just bloodied a new bag of popcorn. Thankfully no one heard her because of timely thunder and pounding rain!
Taji was able to catch this fight and is at the back of the stands. Still, the storm is annoying and he pulls out a small but sturdy umbrella from his bag that he seems to take everywhere, huddling under it. He frowns as he tries to watch the battle, the mist, the mud, everything else is making it hard to really follow a proper fight but he's doing his best, watching as well as he can from the back and through the effects of the fight, thankful the wards should protect the spectators from anything really harmful, considering the level of the fight below.
Kara is recovering slowly. It seems like the damage to her tissue was less severe than originally imagined. It will probably heal up normally. But the real damage is that she is bleeding heavily and in pain and now she is getting tired too. No more time for anything other than a straight win. She has been trying to rely on her ability to outlast opponents up until now. But with Mune revealing she has super damage-dealing abilities, it is clear now… Kara has to take her down >fast<.
So, ignorant of Ruri's nosebleed problems, the teenager channels Chakra to—OMGOSH PURPLE SMOKE! Pharaoh breathes out a cloud of his own. More flies. The flies swarm into the smoke and… Instantly start dropping like… Like… Well, like >flies<! However the beating of all those wings is >just< enough of a change to the air current that the poison smoke is a half second too late to catch Kara as Anubis runs off with her, trying to put distance between his controller and his controller's opponent.
Kara sends more Chakra across the distance through the Chakra Strings. Her fingers barely twitch, and then Sekhmet blurs into action. Instantly she is right in front of Mune. Wherever Mune is, Sekhmet is there too. And she has two blades extending from her palms. The golden statue Puppet slashes over and over, stabbing and cutting and doing whatever a Puppet can with hand-blades! It's not just a matter of speed but of proximity. When your opponent can be where you are, no matter where that is, faster than you can be somewhere else, that negates the point of dodging. "Sekhmet-30:" Kara mutters as she reaches up a hand to the bloody gash on her collarbone. "Lady of Slaughter!"
Mune never saw it coming. She could detect danger incoming thanks to her honed senses from her training… But reacting to a near-instantaneous appearance of an opponent with no room at all to evade? She's lucky she even had time to reach for a kunai. The fact she failed to block with it is to be expected. However, as she is slashed and stabbed repeatedly, cut and poisoned, and nearly knocked to the ground, she just keeps in mind the fact that no matter how much she hurts with all these holes in her, and no matter how shredded her coat may be now, she'll keep on healing until she runs out of Chakra. And that won't be for a long tim—Oh, wait. She is almost out of Chakra RIGHT NOW.
Running to put some distance between herself and Kara — ironically exactly what Kara wants right now too — and puts her hands together in a focusing seal. She has the advantage now. She shouldn't waste it.
Kara grins a bit when she sees her attack hit dead-on. But… Her opponent doesn't fall down. Infact… She seems pretty okay! "Crap," the teen mutters. Then she has Pharaoh swing into position while Mune runs, and fires a single senbon needle at super-sonic speeds. *CRACK!* goes the sound barrier! Better hope Mune is a good dodger! Because… Otherwise… Poison and molten metal. Ow.
Kara isn't sure she can win this match anymore. She trained so hard, and prepared so much… But in the end… She was outlasted by her opponent. She sighs. She's going to have to give up, she imagines. Unless things turn back in her favor really damn fast, she'll be surrendering in a moment. Sux.
Ruri stares at the fighting with her 'Sharingan'. The insanely fast movements of Sekhmet, the crazy recuperative powers of Mune, and the way that Anubis is still carrying Kara around instead of Kara moving under her own power… This is an incredible fight. The likes of which she has rarely seen. It really confirms in her mind that Kara is the strongest person on Team 01 after all. She'll… Probably be…
Ruri shakes her head. She hasn't gotten to talk to Kara about it. Maybe she shouldn't assume. Maybe everything will be fine and she'll just try to make herself stronger to match Kara and her sister. She'll have to hope for that. Then a loud *CRACK* goes off and it's not thunder this time.
Mune sees Pharaoh chasing after her and leaps. Unfortunately she is not faster than the speed of sound. The needle tears through her side, just below her ribs, and then continues through, cauterizing the wound as it passes. She clenches her teeth hard and her eyes automatically tear-up from the pain. The needle, however, plants itself in the barrier across the Ring rather than remaining lodged in her flesh. That's something at least.
Turning around to face Kara, Mune decides that, while she COULD heal herself right now… It's better to finish this Puppeteer off. The three corpses that she summoned before leap out of nowhere from where they had laid still and dormant in the darkness, the rain, and the mud. They try to tackle Anubis and knock Kara from the Puppet's arms, and then the ANBU corpse tries to impale Kara with a sharpened metal rod that may pin her to the ground.
If that's successful, then Mune can finish her off.
Anubis is tackled from out of nowhere. Sekhmet is running down Mune, Pharaoh is doing the same, and Anubis is tackled from behind. Suckity suck! Kara tumbles to the ground, and just as the ANBU lunges at her, Anubis sends out lengths of bandages to try to snare the sharp pole and yank it aside! …In the end, however, it only slows the weapon slightly, and makes sure it hits somewhere non-vital.
Kara cries out in pain and then tries to struggle with her bird-masked attacker. "Get… Off… Me…!" she grunts out as blood pools in the wound, the rain being blocked by her enemy's body and so not washing the life's fluid away. One hand reaches out and Sekhmet's head tilts forward. A spear shoots out of the lioness-headed Puppet's spine and she seizes it in both hands. From the way she wields it clearly is an expert with the weapon.
The Puppet blurs forward and tries to impale Mune through the back in turn. A fear toxin >and< poison in addition to being stabbed? That might win some points back in Kara's favor. But then… She remembers her decision. Sekhmet stops just short of attacking Mune. Pharaoh stops chasing and instead comes to her side, preparing to help pry the Konohagakure ANBU guy away. Anubis likewise tries to get up.
Rinako isn't calling it over. She's not sure whether she should be angry or sad. Her friend and team mate thinks she still has it handled. That she can still win. And maybe she can. But she hurts too much, and it's just… Not worth it. Choking on rain and blood, Kara still manages to get out, ">I give up!<"
*KA-THUP*
The impact of Rinako landing next to Kara in the wet, muddy sand kicks up pieces of wet eart and flings it outwards a bit. She, with perhaps unecessary force and rudeness, shoves at the corpse-illusion that was stabbing Kara, removing the impaling implement herself if need be.
"The match is over! Kishi Mune is the winner."
Her voice likely isn't loud enough to be heard all around the ring, but from her interference, and the fact that Kara is being aided and not Mune, the outcome is clear for all who are watching. The dark-haired kunoichi kneels, down, brushing hair away from her friend's face, and then checking the wound. The damage-mitigating fields might be there to stop life-threatening injuries, but she's not taking any chances.
"How ya feeling, Kar?"
Regardless of the answer, the younger brunette picks up the older in her arms and turns in the falling rain, carrying her at a quick trot towards the entrance, despite any protests the Sunagakure contestant may have to getting carried, where the med-nin were waiting to attend to the fighters and see that they'll heal correctly for the next match. Or the trip home. Most around the sides of the amphitheatre are cheering, competing with the noise of rain and thunder to loudly congratulate the victor. Except for the Sunagakure crowd, who, despite having the good graces not to boo, give sporadic and half-hearted claps at best.
Mune pauses. She was planning to run up and seperate Kara's upper body from her lower body with another application of the Chakra Dissection Blade… But now that the proctor has joined the fray, it's time to stop. The corpse allows itself to be hurled away, letting go of its weapon. The other corpses also move away and travel back to Mune at a sedate pace. The Medic-Nin just stands and watches until Kara is removed from the Ring. Then she seals her temporary allies away in their scroll, and walks out as well.
'That was more effort than expected… But now I know. I can beat Kanami. I CAN do it. I beat a Puppeteer. One of the best in Sunagakure. I'll show that snake-woman that she's not my superior…'
Mune pauses at the exit and turns to look back in the direction Kara vanished. Then she says, "Note to self: Send Uudo Kara a fruit basket." Then she begins to heal all her injuries back to perfection.
