Blue Water, Blue Sky

[not_a_prize]

[1]
[To say Regalis Filia was pretty damn trashed after the latest engagement with the Zentraedi was an understatement. Indeed it was designed first and foremost to protect its pilot, it didn't mean the beating wasn't straining in itself. Peola was sitting on the deck of the Macross with a number of bandages on her, kicking her feet lazily as she looked out to sea. Ever so often she'd glance at her bandages in annoyance and tug at them a little.]

For an annoying big talking Pacifist, that jerk Kaifun knows how to throw a person.

[She gives you a wry smile and waves.]

Do you think we did good enough out there?

[2]
[Not too far from the Macross and the Unity Group in town, there was a woman making something of a commotion. She was a tall, brutal looking specimen, numerous scars on her body and face. There was also a distinct air of smugness and a somewhat vicious grin on her face.]



You.

[Her hand snaps out towards you.]

I'm looking for a brat named Peola. I felt and saw her around here... so where is she?

[As she lowers her hand her fingers curl into a fist as bones pop.]

I'm not one for asking twice so you better cough it up.

Comments

[booty_chaser]

You know, I hear that kind of thing rather often, lately. [Given the kind of people Albert and his Mega Men are, "rather often" is something of an understatement] But it's wrong.

Strength is not about doing anything you want. It's the opposite. If you're stronger, you should help those who are weaker than you.

[not_a_prize]

Pah... you sound like that emotional sap I wasted some of the best years of my life with. 'Responsibility of the Strong' this, 'We look out for those who don't have the strength' that.

[She snorts irritably.]

I'm here to see if the brat ended up buying into that stupidity. If she was smart enough to run away from that windbag maybe she'd be a better fight than her brother.

[booty_chaser]

He sounds like a smart, nice guy. You'll have to introduce me to him.

[Ashe is absolutely not moving from the way in, though, as the interloper might notice]

[not_a_prize]

Like I would go anywhere close to that weakling anymore. Now get out of my way!

[Indeed. In fact she still regards Ashe as a non-issue much to her foolishness and attempts to force her way past the Legion Hunter. She slaps her hand onto Ashe's shoulder and attempts to push past... this may not have been a smart thing to do.]

[booty_chaser]

[Indeed, the hand never reaches Ashe's shoulder. She's suddenly to the side so the intruder's hand finds only air - and Ashe's hand is grabbing her wrist out of nowhere. She's quick, you have to give her that]

Sorry, but I can't do that. This is sort of a base, you know, and I don't know you.

You sure you don't want to introduce yourself?

[not_a_prize]

[The intruder's eyes widened for a moment. Just a moment. Then there's something in her eyes. Anger, amusement, hate, glee... several things coalescing through her.]

You'll get your answer when we're done fighting!

[Ah, the hard way then. Ashe you'll find the intruder using your grip on her wrist to do the same to you in order to try twist your arm and deliver a vicious strike your neck with her free hand. There's a malicious glow seemingly emanating from her hands as well - not too different from some of the stuff Peola pulls off in her machine, but with a darker and more purple tint to it.]

[booty_chaser]

[As Ashe's arm is twisted, she... actually follows the motion instead of resisting, not wanting to risk finding out whether she's strong enough to contest that. She twists acrobatically and suddenly vaults by using the arm of the much stronger intruder almost as an acrobatics bar. The motion is completed by pushing off, gaining some distance just in time for the slashing attack to only graze her long ponytail. Slippery little minx, she is. She lands a few meters away with a frown]

I was trying to do this peacefully. Have it your way, then. Megamerge!

[And in a flash, Ashe becomes Mega Man A, ready to rumble. If there's anyone around these two, they should probably take the hint to get the hell out of dodge real fast]

[not_a_prize]

And here I thought this could have turned out to be a waste of time.

[She punches her open palm and her neck pops as she works the kinks out of it. The ki that was permeating in her fingers now spreading more evenly through the rest of her body as she regarded Ashe with a look of smug satisfaction.]

Lets hope you can try fighting a bit better then!

[She ducks low before kicking off into a dash at the Megaman with shocking speed, enough for the ground to crack a little as she launched forward with her first step. With a wild laugh she swings her fist in a downwards hammer blow - aiming to catch Ashe in the shoulder.]

[booty_chaser]

[The swing finds mostly air, however, as Ashe somersaults over the mystery woman as she brings her fist down. She's seen Atlas do this exact same blow already, and by the second time she figured how to deal with it. Similar crazies attack in similar ways, apparently.

Still, this woman is clearly tougher than a normal person. And that means Ashe gets to play a bit rougher, so Ashe shoots twin lasers at her back as she passes above her]

[not_a_prize]

[This earned an irritated snarl as the lasers find their mark. They probably would have burned through regular people... or burned some painful holes in them. These just burned her enough to leave marks. It might have been her ki mitigating it or just her being that tough... but clearly landing that hit both hurt the intruder and really ticked her off.]

Oh you are going to regret that one...

[She was going to rush Ashe as the megaman made her way back to the ground from the overhead shots to shoulder check her. Whether or not this makes contact the intruder would follow up with a twin open palmed blow, ki surging through her hands that would be let loose in a up close blast of concussive force that rippled out and rattled and knocked over more than a few things way behind Ashe.]

[booty_chaser]

[Ashe's reaction is probably not the expected one, however. As she touches ground she suddenly rolls forcefully forward instead of backwards -towards her attacker, meeting the top-heavy inertia of a shoulder check by sweeping the legs off the mystery crazy under her with her own body (which is, must be said, bloody heavy while transformed. There's a reason Mega Men sink like rocks) to trip her.

She then comes out of the roll springing to the side, using that little split second the attacker needs to turn around to jump sideways and narrowly dodge the concussion blast before letting go a single seeking lightning bolt at her. Ashe does not actually want to really hurt this person, so full barrages are out of the question, but that should be a pretty unpleasant zap]

[not_a_prize]

[The funny thing about opponents like the intruder here is that they tend to underestimate the hell out of a lot of people and think they are unbeatable. Being knocked to the ground by Ashe sending her off her feet was probably pretty humiliating. Getting zapped by the Megaman equivalent of a taser and having her opponent go easy on her? Well... she'd be frothing mad later on.]

GH-AAARRRK-

[The zap has her in a twitching heap. Subdued with the major injury being to her pride.]

[booty_chaser]

Well, that's that.

What the heck was that woman's problem, anyway?

I don't know. [Ashe is a bit more dry than usual. She's still annoyed at Model A] But I'm gonna find out.

[So first, she's going to call security to prepare a cell for someone who can probably punch through a steel door. And then she's going to call Peola]

Hey, Peola? There was a crazy woman asking for you. Big, scarred, kinda talks like Atlas. I, uh, kinda had to knock her unconscious because she tried to ram through the doors. Do you know her?

[not_a_prize]

... I don't think I do.

[This had her scratching the side of her head.]

I'm pretty sure if I met anyone like that I'dve punched them pretty hard... been getting a weird prodding feeling in the back of my head though.

Did she say anything else?

[booty_chaser]

Not a lot. She went on about how strength let you do whatever, and badmouthed some guy who apparently was more responsible about using his strength to protect people. He sounded pretty cool, really.

Oh, wait. She said something about "if you ran away from him you might be a better fighter" or something like that. So maybe you knew that guy?

[not_a_prize]

... 'if I ran away from him I might be a better-' what? That doesn't make any sense at all. How does running away from a person make me a better fighter?

[Peola looks tremendously confused.]

I mean the only person I could think of that could fit that description is my father because he was trying to keep me from fighting.

[booty_chaser]

Hey, don't ask me. But this guy sounded like a pretty great guy, and your dad is kind of a jerk.

[Ugh. Maybe she should have tried to get more from her before taking her out]

How many people from your planet do you know that worry a lot about using their power right? Maybe we can, I don't know, narrow it down a bit? Because this woman definitely was from your place - she shot one of those ki balls you do at me.

[not_a_prize]

... There's a bunch of noble families but a lot of the more reasonable ones got overtaken by the ones who want to climb up the status ladder last I heard...

[Peola's trying to dredge up as much as she could think of.]

There's my brother too, he's always been about being responsible as a leader but I learned everything I know from him.

If she's from home maybe she's a criminal or a renegade? It might be why I don't know anything about her. Not exactly stuff that gets mentioned around a princess.

[booty_chaser]

You know what, I don't think we're going to get very far this way.

Maybe we should restrain her and wake her up. I don't think she had any good ideas about you, though, so I'm staying in case she tries something.

[not_a_prize]

I can take care of myself you know.

[Peola has a small grin on her face before it turned serious.]

But I don't mind having someone else around to keep her from doing something stupid.

[booty_chaser]

Well, yeah, but this woman seems the type to try to outright kill - and if anyone is going to take a wound, I'm the one with the self-healing armor suit, remember?

[not_a_prize]

The armor you talk to right? Won't it get mad you keep denting it?

[The tone was joking. Either way though they make their way to the brig where the mystery assailant was thoroughly restrained. She also was very much awake given the angry snarls and shrieks and roars you can hear as she thrashes and tugs. Thankfully rather than giving way, the restraints used had an extremely high tensile strength and the walls were a little too thick for her to bust her way through. And then she saw Ashe, not registering Peola for the time being.]



"YOU!!!!"

[She lunges at the hunter on the other side of the bars. Her restraints doing a very good job of making sure she doesn't even make it a foot towards it before they slowly drag her back to the far wall of the cell. Doesn't mean she won't keep trying to get to the bars. Peola actually cringes pretty hard, the raw aggression this woman was radiating not just in a normal way, but through her very essence was enough to almost make her physically ill.]

That's her!? Sun... its like she's an animal... a rabid one!

[booty_chaser]

Well, at least we know I didn't hurt her too much. I was kind of worried. [She then turns towards the cage]

Hey, hey, relax! [Ashe waves nonchalantly] You know we could have saved ourselves all this if you just tried being reasonable, right?

Anyway, so, you wanted to see Peola?

[not_a_prize]

[At this mystery woman tries to swing her arm to let loose with a ki bolt. Of course lacking the discipline needed to use something that required focus it fizzled a few inches from the bars. She grinds her teeth and looks down before a bitter and somewhat wicked smile twitches on her face.]

"Yes. I did. Though I would've liked to do it on my own terms like I did with her brother."

[This earned a look from Peola, a disbelieving one. Still, she can pick up that she was telling the truth more or less... but there was something else.]

You met my brother? His soldiers wouldn't have even let you ten feet close to one of his camps or the palace... or even the city!

"They didn't. So I made them let me see him. They weren't in a condition to do anything else. So tell me... how was he doing after our fight? Did he lose his eye like I thought they would? Cut off his leg to save his body? The ki poisoning he have still wracking his body from that pathetic struggle he put up?"

[Aaaand Peola just went stock still before a look of seething rage was creeping onto her face.]



You..? You're the one who did that to Harunn?!

[booty_chaser]

Wait, what!?

[Okay, that was unexpected. What the heck is going on. Ashe can only look at Peola with a face that quite clearly demans some sort of explanation because the Hunter has no idea what is going on anymore]