Let Your Fists Do The Talking! Akyu Quest Continued!

[Hello Purvis]

>"Think so."
>Hold onto the crow girl tight.

[Fightest]

>"Think so."
>Hold onto the crow girl tight.

> With a rush of speed, you zoom out through the long hallway and, as explosions shake the cavern behind you, begin to...
> [S] Ascend.

> You are Youmu, last student and beloved ward of Youki Konpaku, who disappeared when you were very young, leaving you with the instructions to love and protect your mistress, the lady of the Saigyoji clan Yuyuko. And you are furious.
> They dared refuse to let you attend to lady Yuyuko.
> Their so-called reasoning matters not in the face of the fact that lady Yuyuko could be tired, could be hungry, could wish to go for a walk or need for your loyal assistance in any myriad of ways.
> And their reasoning is certainly not something that your blade cannot cut.

> The world ahead of you becomes a slight hint of blue as you sprint up the last few dozen metres of the mountainpeak and leap the several hundred metres to the lowest floating island of Heaven. Beneath and behind you, having taken on a vague hint of red, Gensokyo stretches out like a finely-crafted carpet - a magnificent sight to spend hours gazing at on any other day.
> You land softly, scattering leaves, the colours reverting to normal. From here, the path to lady Yuyuko is quite simple - you just have to follow the scattered cherry petals, their vivid pink hue standing out against the soft green of the grassy plains of Heaven.
> Following the path, however, will be a challenge worthy of your prowess: the golden-haired monk and her tiger stand in your way, a sad smile on the face of the former, an uncertain scowl on the face of the latter.
> "You may not pass, Youmu. Accepting this into your heart will prevent much needless violence," the monk says, her simple white dress rippling slightly in the wind.
> Preposterous. Her honeyed words, infused with kindness and compassion that is enough to sway any other, smash like a rotten dinghy thrown against the granite cliffs of your Conviction.
> Your blade is ready. Your draw is fast enough to cross two hundred yojana in one slash. None shall stand between you and your lady.

>_

[Hello Purvis]

>Humor them for now. And size them up.
>"And why am I not to pass, exactly? I am not entirely certain how this is your decision."

[Fightest]

>Humor them for now. And size them up.
>"And why am I not to pass, exactly? I am not entirely certain how this is your decision."

> It physically hurts to have to stop your inoxerable push to reunite yourself with your lady, but you cannot deny the tactical advantage gained from evaluating your esteemed opponents.
> The tiger could once have been formidable, but you can tell from her stance that she has not had any battle experience in a long while. While she will only get stronger with time, you feel, you currently have the upper hand on her.
> The monk is a mystery. She is utterly calm, and her stance, so casual at first glance, contains no weaknesses easily exploited. It is clear that she holds many tricks hidden.
> "Not my decision, Youmu, I regret to say, and not even the decision of the panel of judges. It is by the very Mandate of Heaven that you are forbidden from having contact with your lady. Any more information I am forbidden to divulge, but I tell you this - I will strive to protect the word of the Mandate with everything I have."

[Hello Purvis]

>"And what gives you the right to force your mandate onto me, exactly? If there will be problems with these so-called judges, I'll handle them when the time comes. Step aside, and feel fulfilled that you've done what you can."

[Fightest]

>"And what gives you the right to force your mandate onto me, exactly? If there will be problems with these so-called judges, I'll handle them when the time comes. Step aside, and feel fulfilled that you've done what you can."

> "Just as you are ready to fight for your beliefs, so am I for mine. Come, servant of the Saigyoji. If you will continue along this path, it will be over my broken body."
> She extends a hand, palm towards you, an iridescent mandala forming just in front of her. Energy crackles along the complicated patterns of the mandala - she is about to open fire.

[Hello Purvis]

>"You avoid the question, I see!"
>Move, and strike down the tiger before she can do something silly. We don't need the distraction.

[Fightest]

>"You avoid the question, I see!"
>Move, and strike down the tiger before she can do something silly. We don't need the distraction.

> Your speed is your greatest strength, and you use it to its fullest. The bullets seem to move as if through molasses as you duck and weave past them.
> The monk and her tiger seem to move in slow-motion as well, ponderously moving to try to keep up with you. Yet you, in your blue-hued world, are untouchable.
> WIth a single smooth movement, you strike the tiger in the side with your sheathed sword. The force of the blow lifts her off the ground and she starts a slow, lazy arc that you could cross several times over before she lands. Not that it's necessary - the one attack knocked her out cold.
> A flash of light comes from behind you. Turning around, you just catch seeing a white rectangle form and dissipate in the monk's hand.

[Kasu]

> Do we have our spellcards?

[Hello Purvis]

>Move away from the rectangle. Try to get to her side for now, keep it so she has to adjust to us.

[Fightest]

>Move away from the rectangle. Try to get to her side for now, keep it so she has to adjust to us.

> That was flowery language for "she has used a Spell Card." Proceed as normal?

> Do we have our spellcards?

> Moves:

Spell Card: Ghost Sign: Phantom Pain. Being half-dead has given you great insight into the art of battle. You exist both in the mortal and the spirit worlds, and your strikes affect the two simultaneously. For the duration of the Spell Card's effect, for every attack you make, you can make two instead.

Sun-Through-The-Clouds - The first strike decides the outcome of a battle. This move can only be performed whilst your sword is sheathed - you draw and attack in a single motion. Regardless of circumstances, this attack will always be the first to hit. The actual strike can be performed with either sheath or blade.

Tsubame-Gaeshi - Your attacks are so swift and accurate that you can split the feathers on a swallow's tail mid-flight. This attack cannot be blocked or dodged, but may be the only attack performed in an action.

Seven Shadows Evasion - You move so quickly that you arrive at your destination before you have left. This move successfully dodges any attack made against you, including attacks that cannot be dodged. Due to its difficulty, you can perform it a limited number of times per battle.

[Mr_Bob]

> That was flowery language for "she has used a Spell Card." Proceed as normal?

>Determine Spell Card affects and effects.

[Hello Purvis]

>Proceed as normal while assessing the spellcard.

[Fightest]

>Proceed as normal while assessing the spellcard.

>Proceed as normal while assessing the spellcard.

> You slow down to examine the monk's Spell Card's effects.
> There are no dazzling displays of firepower, or explosions of magic, or any of the other things that tend to happen when a Spell Card is used. Instead, all you can tell is that the monk's movements are more fluid, more accurate, more... perfect, as if approaching closer and closer a vague, undefined ideal of they should be like.
> "Superhuman. Greater than human, so close to reaching the eternal perfection of Nirvana... yet so grounded in the oh-so-mortal desire to see oneself superior to others. A wonderful juxtaposition of virtue and vice in one simple word, is it not?"
> You blink, and she disappears out of sight. She's fast.

[Hello Purvis]

>Show her what true speed is. Retreat away a bit; away from the direction we ostensibly want to go for now, she'll be defending that almost certainly.

[Fightest]

>Show her what true speed is. Retreat away a bit; away from the direction we ostensibly want to go for now, she'll be defending that almost certainly.

> It is simply not possible to surprise you for any meaningful amount of time. You dash backwards, the world turning a red hue, twist and sprint forwards, turning everything blue again. At the edge of the island, you slam your sword down into the ground and flip over the edge of the island.
> In less time than it takes for gravity to catch up with you, you run along the underside of the island, crossing its length, and flipping back onto solid ground at the other end.
> At this speed, you can keep with with the monk's movements - she is warily eyeing the edge of the island that you ran over, her back to you. Perhaps sensing something amiss, she starts to turn around.

[Mr_Bob]

>Uppercut and Hilt Thrust combo.

[Hello Purvis]

>Approach at an angle, so that we evade her line of sight for a little longer. Then smack her in the back of the head with our hilt.
>Should this not drop her, follow with a solid kick to the back as she staggers.

[Fightest]

That was an unexpected hiatus. But we're back!

>Uppercut and Hilt Thrust combo.

> Uppercutting her back is less feasible than the hilt attack, so it will be combined with...

>Approach at an angle, so that we evade her line of sight for a little longer. Then smack her in the back of the head with our hilt.
>Should this not drop her, follow with a solid kick to the back as she staggers.

> Kicking up chunks of rock, you explode forwards, thrusting your sheathed sword like a spear at the monk's unprotected head.
> The strike lands home with a satisfying thud, sending her sprawling forward off the edge of the island.
> Not one to waste an opportunity, you spring off the edge of the island after her, aiming a flying kick as her flight path spins her around to face you...
> ...And with a perfect movement, the monk catches your foot with one hand, stopping your kick dead, and smashes a punch straight into your solar plexus, launching you up and away from her.
> For a few tense seconds you fail to catch your breath, then splutter and manage to grab a lungful.

[Hello Purvis]

>Actually, is she out of the way now?
>If so, to hell with her. Move on toward the goal. Revenge can come later.

[Fightest]

>Actually, is she out of the way now?
>If so, to hell with her. Move on toward the goal. Revenge can come later.

> She is, technically speaking, out of the way. However, you are not that much faster than her that she wouldn't be able to catch up with you eventually. Her movements are perfect - you'd have to make just one mistake for her to be on top of you.
> Proceed regardless?

[Hello Purvis]

>Proceed. But be ready for a running battle; hopefully this will make her reckless.

[IBakaChan]

>If she does catch up, stop, keep our sword sheated and then go with a lightning fast Sun-Through-The-Clouds to hit her in any vunerable place(Preferably in the back of the head) that can K.O her. Unless there's danmaku involved.

[Hello Purvis]

>Do not stop if she catches up. Keep her running, keep her concentration divided. She cannot be as used to this as we are.

[Fightest]

> You are at your best when at maximum speed. The arc the monk's punch threw you along ends you up on a small floating island, no more than two metres across. Touching down for a brief moment, you kick off, the force of your push splitting the island in half, and leap upwards.
> Narrowing her eyes, the monk darts after you. Her flight is faster and more maneuvrable than yours, but she still cannot outpace you on the ground. Unfortunately, there's not that much ground for you to fight on.
> Your leap slams you into the side of yet another island feet first. Slowly, but surely, you are making your way to the upper reaches of Heaven. You plant your sword to reorient yourself, and sprint along its side to find a good spot to leap off again.
> Cresting a small rise, you come face-to-face with the monk, who has managed to anticipate your trajectory. Her strike comes in with perfect timing...
> And you return a previous favour, slamming her in the chest with the hilt of your sword, before her punch even crosses half its distance. She cringes, clutching at her chest, her attack rendered harmless. You use this moment of weakness to dash past her towards a group of islands in the distance with several structures dotted around - looks like that's approximately the half-way mark.
> You feel a surge of energy behind you. The monk, having quickly recovered, launches a spread of bullets at you from her position, and jets off after you, overtaking her own danmaku. Like wings of a vast moth, patterns of magic spread out from her back, coalescing at points at the centre of each wing into small buds that quickly bloom into flower-like shapes, each trailing bullet after bullet.

[Hello Purvis]

>How much further have we to go, and what does the path or lack thereof look like?
>Can we leave danmaku in our wake, in hopes of slowing up the monk by forcing her to dodge or take high velocity blows to the face, without slowing ourself?

[Fightest]

>How much further have we to go, and what does the path or lack thereof look like?
>Can we leave danmaku in our wake, in hopes of slowing up the monk by forcing her to dodge or take high velocity blows to the face, without slowing ourself?

> Still a bit to go - you have to get to the half-way mark, which is several islands away, and then it's almost straight up, island after island, to get to the upper reaches.
> Sure you can!
> With a practiced draw, you unsheathe your sword. Adjusting its grip, you carve through the air in front of you. You briefly see double as the unfathomably-fast strike sends the light ahead of you in two separate directions.
> With a snap, the two images merge, exploding into a shower of bullets.
> You dart through your bullet screen.
> The monk doesn't even slow down. She parries two bullets with her bare hands, takes two more straight in the chest and leg, and powers on through.

[Hello Purvis]

>If we can do this without slowing down, make a few more; cutting the air at different angles. Either she slows to dodge, or she takes the hits and hinders herself anyways.

[Fightest]

> Is this dead?
> No. No it is not.

>If we can do this without slowing down, make a few more; cutting the air at different angles. Either she slows to dodge, or she takes the hits and hinders herself anyways.

> In a blur of red and blue motion, you slice the air ahead of you several times. Your vision is so distorted by this that you are forced to move blind for a few moments.
> The air snaps back into place behind you, releasing wave after wave of bullets, making a dense screen. The monk will have trouble getting through that unscathed.
> You feel the tingling of immense flows of magic being shaped and targeted, and a massive column of light lances past you, missing by a hair. You barely dodge it as it tracks towards you by kicking off your own sonic shockwave and spinning over the beam, but this causes you to slow down.
> In less than a moment, the monk is right on top of you, four beam attacks from her moth-like wings converging on you.

[Hello Purvis]

>How close is she?
>If there is space to get closer and avoid the converging beams: shift direction, move toward her and lead in with a sheathed sword toward the anything. Hopefully being devoted to shooting, she won't be able to adapt.
>If there is no space to close in, circle around as fast as we can, unsheathe the blade and slash up a wing.