[center][h3]A Brush with Ms Fortune[/h3]
Lvl 14 Ms Fortune (139/140), Level 6 Juri (21/60)
[b]Word Count:[/b] 3164 + 8exp [/center]

Having wound up near Roland after falling prey to Consul D’s bewitchment, Nadia set her sights on him, ready and willing to test his mettle with her own arsenal of weapons. Luckily for him, Roland’s wealth of supernatural experience -both with brainwashing and other, even worse methods of control- meant that he not only recognized what had happened, but also knew a surefire way to set Nadia straight. If he could just stagger her, that shock to the system should loosen the Consul’s grasp. Of course, by now he knew enough to know that Ms Fortune didn’t go down easy, but there was no problem the Fixer couldn’t solve. With swords aglow from stockpiled power, he charged toward his opponent, and Nadia returned the favor with a headlong sprint on all fours. “Finally,” she exclaimed, her voice somewhat slurred. “Someone I can really fight!”

Only a few seconds into their furious clash, however, Nadia got blindsided from behind. A lithe leg bent her straight into the path of a cruel upward knee strike, followed by an airborne thrust kick that sent the feral tumbling. She came to a stop about twenty feet away, not so far from the iron perimeter of O’s hippo exhibit, then rose with teeth gritted. She hadn’t caught sight of the curmudgeon that sucker punched her, she’d grown so familiar with the feel of those kicks that she could be blindfolded and still know just who to blame. “Hah…haha.” Though very much not herself right now, Nadia still found it in her to give Juri a toothy smile. Her eyes were glazed over with a wine-red haze. “Hahahaha! C’mon then! Let’s play!”

Juri grinned, and then turned that grin onto Roland in a warning fashion for a second before refocusing on Fortune.

Roland looked at Nadia getting intercepted by Juri who seemed to be a bit… too eager to fight the mind controlled cat girl. Uh, hopefully she didn’t go overboard but if she was going to knock some sense back into her ally, well, Roland could focus on D again. With his buffs he was a lot faster and stronger, and he still had more room to grow.

Nadia pulled off her head and rolled it forward like a bowling ball. Then she reached into her pouch and withdrew the Free Lemonade, which she promptly pitched in Juri’s direction. It arced through the air, hurling sour yellow juice everywhere, but long before it hit the ground Nadia’s body seized the initiative. With Charge she bolted across the battlefield, closing the space Juri made in an instant, then instantly launched a Fiber Upper–a truly degenerate move, if Fiber Upper still had its armor. 

The double projectile throw had made Juri want to play defensively. Juri knew Fortune had speed and reach of her own, so blitzing around the place might leave herself vulnerable. She strafed at a measured but quick pace, setting a hand on her hip as she eyed the rolling head. As the flask rolled in she widened her stance and prepared to block, only to instead block the wild fiber upper instead. 

[b][color=ec008c]”Haaaah?”[/color][/b] Juri crowed incredulously. Juri went for a big punish. To provide insurance against Fortune’s head or that acidic bottle she started with an armored Drive Impact, going low, planting three out of four limbs, and slamming her foot into Fortune’s chest to crumple her in place and knock the wind out of her with a Punish Counter. She stabbed Fortune’s torso with her elbow and a thrusting chop before spin kicking her away- only for an imploding burst of wind to draw Fortune back in and into Juri’s waiting arms, where she axe kicked Fortune into the ground. The bottle turned out to be more of a damage over time situation, which caused some lemony stings in Juri’s thigh and feet but she disregarded the damage for now.

[b][color=ec008c]”You really are [i]drunk![/i]”[/color][/b] Juri spat. [b][color=ec008c]”But I’ll happily kick you around if you’re gonna keep bein’ stupid!”[/color][/b] Juri said. As if to put this to the test, she raised her foot as if to stomp on Fortune, only to draw backwards incase she exploded upwards with another reversal. This also had the side effect of getting her out of the citrus acid puddle.

Juri’s retreat took her just out of range of Nadia’s flailing, disjointed legs as her body rose with a spinning kickflip. She landed on her feet in the middle of the lemonade puddle, and no sooner had her boots splashed down than her head zoomed forward, propelled by a spurt of blood from its severed neck. It closed the distance fast for a weak low hit, but Nadia herself followed behind it in a sprint on all fours, which happened to be a tactic that Juri knew well. After a few steps of crunching across broken glass, though, feral put an extra twist on the tricky approach by hopping into the air, then airdashing barely even a foot off the ground to fly in for an [url=https://i.imgur.com/6v8mJKU.png]overhead light kick[/url]. Expertly timed, it landed split second after her head made contact. “Paw-don me!”

Juri had planted her hand and feet on the floor like a spider. She deflected Fortune’s head, but her head jerked backwards as she caught the light kick for her trouble. Whatever, she could always focus in and bust out the Drive Parry. [b][color=ec008c]”You don’t even have paws.”[/color][/b] Juri said, trying to find a moment to slip in a backhand counter strike. 

When her kick connected, Nadia went all-in. She chained the quick opener into a heavy [url=https://i.imgur.com/r18YdeF.png]X-scrape Claws[/url], then put that momentum into a somersault axe kick that bounced Juri off the ground. A quick dash forward allowed her to confirm two claw swipes, followed by a Tornado kick to start an Unchain combo. Still new to Angel’s tricky technique, she went for a simple chain: a high Sobat kick, a sweeping Under Blow punch, a revolving high kick, and finally an upward Lariat as the finisher empowered by Fluffy Soft. “NYAH! Keep the chain-ge!” 

Her combo lasted only a moment, accelerated and made a little more punishing by the blessings of Aha the Elation. Though the Lariat launched Juri high, the fight was far from over, and she could flip out and recover with neither fighter at advantage. Even without the lingering speed boost from Clockwork Apple, though, Nadia was the type to press her assault regardless of advantage. “Under purr-essure!” With her head not far behind, the feral dashed in to keep the pain train rolling. 

Juri landed three-point with a huff. As Fortune swung she shifted backwards and returned fire with a stopsign kick to the chest. Then she span down to send a streak of slicing energy towards that head following suit, using her last Fuha Stock and two bars of Drive Gauge for the extra juice. [b][color=ec008c]”I’ll crush you!”[/color][/b] She hopped up with a spin and brought her leg down on Fortune’s unbalanced body like a great hammer, looking to slam Fortune down onto her own head with the [url=https://wiki.supercombo.gg/images/6/67/SF6_Juri_236mk_stock.png]ankensatsu.[/url]

“Ugh!” Running straight into Juri’s extended leg took the wind from Nadia’s lungs, and the knockback from it left her head wide open for an opportunistic saihasho. That crawling crescent wouldn’t stagger her by hitting her head, but the slap of energy kept her disoriented enough for Juri’s heel drop. “Me-owch!” Nadia grimaced, ears flapping in dismay. While she practically sat on her own  head on the way down, the impact informed her just where her noggin had fallen. She grabbed it with one hand while firing the other like a grappling hook behind her. It flew toward the iron fence behind her to latch on so she could snap herself to safety, but the maneuver gave Juri another split second or two to make something happen.

[b][color=ec008c]”Haha, nice!”[/color][/b] Juri casually lifted her leg as Fortune retreated. In the wake of her foot was a line of black and white energy, indicating Juri refilling her Fuha stocks to continue using empowered moves against her wily opponent. It also gave her a moment for her Drive to recharge some more. 

[b][color=ec008c]”Finally. Come at me like you wanna kill me, it’s more fun that way.”[/color][/b] Juri grinned, her visible eye wide. [b][color=ec008c]”That vampire freak’s done us a real favor, don’tcha think?”[/color][/b] Juri beckoned, and began to walk forward, a saunter in her step. Her reactions were on a hair trigger, looking to batter Fortune away, especially if she took the aerial approach.  

After hopping to her feet, Nadia held her head by her ears for just a moment, her eyes glassy but filled with hate. “Hah…hahaha!” She gasped, a smile spreading over her face. With one hand she replaced her head on her shoulders, while with the other reached into a belt pouch and withdrew the Bait Launcher. “It would be my purr-leasure!”

Juri liked this side of Fortune. 

[i]Foomp.[/i] A slab of raw steak arced through the air.

[b][color=ec008c]”Seen it!”[/color][/b] Juri hissed, recalling their brief, damageless encounter at the Carnival Games where Fortune used the Bait Launcher. She stepped forward to meet the meat and spent an OD Fuhajin to fill the rest of her stock and annihilate the meat projectile in mid air. 

Nadia clicked her tongue and used Rosetta’s Roll and Gun to near-instantly reload the Bait Launcher. When she fired again mid-cartwheel, she aimed low, and the steak hit the ground about halfway between the two combatants with a wet plop. Unfortunately for Juri, it didn’t matter where the bait landed–only that she was the closest foe to it. A brolic bengal tiger popped out of nowhere only a half-dozen feet away from Juri. With a bloodcurdling roar it went wild, attacking the martial artist with a barrage of huge swipes from its clawed mitts.

[b][color=ec008c]”Annoying-”[/color][/b] Juri said, but six feet was better than no feet. With a bit of extra space she focused in and used Drive Parry, a high noise ringing out as she deflected the claws on either side of her with her hands and raised foot. Juri still didn’t like fighting animals, but she went for the counter hit by sinking her elbow into the tigers chest as it raised its upper body. Then she lifted it upwards with a pinwheel kick to launch it over the edge of the nearby enclosure, where it poofed away.

While the relentless tiger bought her a few seconds of time, Nadia quickly traded out her gun for two new items. In one hand she wielded her dagger Athame, and in her other she clutched the Ripened Heart. “It’s time…to cut loose!” Still grinning, she slid the knife along her forearm in one quick motion, not even flinching as her blood poured from the wound. Reacting with her innate Lightning type, the metal blade sparked the Conducted reaction, granting her Multitarget. Electric arrows radiated outward from her body as she pressed the Ripened Heart to her chest and breathed deep, boosting her natural regeneration into overdrive. Then Nadia crouched down in a track-starter stance, transformed her legs into a white tiger’s with Fluffy Soft, and burst forward in an all-out sprint to rush Juri down. 

Juri wasn’t sure what half of that stuff was, but she could only guess Fortune was going all out. [b][color=ec008c]”C’mon then!”[/color][/b] She taunted, resting her arm on her raised leg and coaxing Fortune forward with an outstretched finger. If Fortune did some vicious strike, as Juri was predicting, Juri would vanish in a split-second blur and reappear a short distance behind Fortune where she backflipped away to put more distance between them, to run out the clock on all these buffs and frustrate Fortune into making a mistake.

She narrowly avoided disaster as Nadia, propelled forward by the twenty-percent speed boost from Fluffy Soft, hopped up to deliver a wild dropkick. Thanks to Multitarget, her legs extended with blasts of electric blood to blast outward in a surprisingly huge cone, but once her target slipped out of harm’s way, the dropkick amounted to little more than a show of force. Nadia’s legs returned to normal as she picked herself up, and after only a brief moment she locked onto her target. Juri flipped away preemptively, and the feral saw her chance to strike. “Gotcha!” She performed a quick somersault to launch an El Gate axe kick that stretched out its furthest extent, aimed not at her airborne opponent but the ground where she would land. On impact another burst of electric blood went off, this one with a five foot radius. Whether it hit or not, Nadia hopped up with her other leg in order to snap down to her extended one. She zoomed in, and upon arrival, slashed her dagger in a glinting arc.

Juri slid backwards, blocking the axe kick and burst of blood. She slipped backwards and away, the dagger cutting across her side with the tip. [b][color=ec008c]”Ah!”[/color][/b] Juri stepped backwards. If Fortune kept moving forwards in that moment, Juri would try to slap her across the face with a backhanded jab. 

Though inconsequential at first blush, that small slice was all it took to inflict a serious defense debuff on Juri courtesy of Athame’s weapon skill, and Nadia seemed to smell blood. She pivoted around to follow up with a whirling kick, only to be interrupted by a backhand to the face. At around the same time, a wayward magic pulse from Geralt’s Quen gave Fortune a shock from behind.

“Buh!?” In that instant Juri took her turn back, and promptly turned the tides with an OD Tensenrin. A whirling pinwheel kick took Nadia into the sky, and once at the zenith Juri twisted to bring one leg back down on the feral’s head. She hurtled into the ground with a yowl, with her opponent only a split second behind. Nadia had a plan, though, to make her rival think twice about applying pressure–and as with all her best plans, Nadia didn’t give it a second thought. When she sprang off the ground, she did so with one knee lifted to perform her Blue Monday Blockbuster, her eager eyes bright with mischief.

Juri raised her hand and elbow as if to stab down onto Fortune. But she had been saving her Super since this bout started. Fortune wasn’t thinking straight, and the one thing that could clinch the victory in this time pressed moment was for Fortune to do something really, really wild. Which she did. As Fortune lifted her knee, she would not find Juri’s extended arm ripe for countering, but a quick shift as she slid backwards. [b][color=ec008c]”Womp womp,”[/color][/b] Juri said, Rushing in to kick Fortune in the side and in the face with a double kick before she could recover.

Time to cash out. She would have to put everything into this to keep Fortune down long enough for her to come around or whatever the hell needed to happen. Juri used the extra advantage from her Rushing punish counter to plant her hand on the ground and kick up into Fortune’s chin, before blitzing around her before she could recover to kick her in the side and in the head again. [b][color=ec008c]”Nighty night!”[/color][/b] She drove her elbow into Fortune’s head and then Drive Rush cancelled again, laying on more kicks and strikes before launching Fortune into the air.

She used a Fuha charged projectile to send a ki slice beneath Fortune before she landed to pop her up for a pinwheel kick. Juri’s eye flashed purple as she used her ultimate technique.

[b][color=ec008c]”Time to die!”[/color][/b] There was an explosive impact as she kicked Fortune high into the air. Somehow, Juri was waiting for her about twenty feet up, having beat her to the apex of the launch, to kick Fortune back down. With a burst of speed, tongue trailing out of the side of her mouth, she beat Fortune back to the ground and kicked upward to practically impale the woman on her foot. She held Fortune aloft, bringing herself to Fortune’s face. She took the moment to gauge Fortune’s mood. Fortunately, some confident, unbothered smile wasn’t waiting for her.

[b][color=ec008c]”That felt good, didn’t it?”[/color][/b] Juri asked, gently brushing her fingers across Fortune’s cheek. Then she finished the ordeal by using her foot to slam Fortune face first into the ground. 

Juri took a few steps backwards, hunching her shoulders and breathing heavily. While she was still doing decently on health, she was completely burnt out with no resources left to speak of. With the debuff Fortune put on her, if Fortune wasn’t knocked out or back to her senses after that beating, Juri would be in real trouble. [b][color=ec008c]”Hah…still…with us?”[/color][/b] Juri set a hand on her hip, feigning absolute confidence despite her panting. 

When slammed into the ground, Nadia had fallen apart, [url=https://i.imgur.com/GTMrGg6.png]her pieces[/url] lying strewn across the ground. Her Multitarget buff expired, and for a good moment she really did look dead. Of course, the dismembered feral was still very much alive, but it took a second or two longer than usual for her to recover. When her eyes blearily blinked open, they were back to their usual ocean blue. The sounds of allies fighting and undead monstrosities running amok brought her back to reality like smelling salts, but in no state of consciousness did she relish setting eyes on Juri. Half-formed images and memories from her time in D’s thrall hit her like a wave of nausea. “...Ugh.” Rather than ask what happened, she focused on pulling herself together. Whatever had befallen her, she was still alive, and her job wasn’t over yet.

After a moment Nadia got up into a crouch, took a quick look around to make sure she wasn’t in active danger, then used her Ripened Heart. It went dark after doing so, meaning that it would offer no more healing for the time being. Even worse, she recognized the puddle of lemonade nearby, as well as the glass shards around it. “My lemonade?” That magically-refilling pitcher had been a one-of-a-kind relic, and now it lay broken. It was a genuine bummer, and it left Nadia crestfallen. A moment later, though, she shook her head and put on a smile. This loss just meant that finishing this fight would be that much sweeter. “Whatever. Let’s go!” She grabbed Athame and stood up, ready to fight.

Juri had her Ghoulsaw out, but when Fortune’s eyes were back to their normal color, her idea of chopping Fortune up to keep her from reforming would have to remain a fantasy for the sake of the mission. Besides, killing those smug Consuls and that idiotic Gravemind would be the sweetest prize around here. [b][color=ec008c]”Finally,”[/color][/b] She said, holstering the weapon. She had also taken the time to sit the battle out to regain her breath. 

[b][color=ec008c]”I’m bored of kicking your ass, so try not to fall in love again, Fortune.”[/color][/b] Juri needled. The catgirl tried to ignore her.