If there must be trouble, let it be in my day,
Player Name: Hiruko
Personal LJ: mindgoggling
E-mail: youngafan@gmail.com
AIM: hirukoundead
Other characters currently in-game: Tammy Shepherd
Character Name: Rikki Barnes
Canon source: Nomad: Girl Without A World/ Young Allies
PB: Beth II from Y the Last Man
Personality: Rikki has been changed by the last three years. She's sharper around the edges, is more weighed down. But she's still Rikki Barnes, spunky and stubborn. Rikki is determined, loyal to a fault, and always pushing her limits. Her uncertainty and lack of confidence from being catapulted into another world, and her guilt over the people and the things she has lost have shaped her. She is bound and determined to be a big damn hero. Steve was always strong enough to bear the weight of the world on his shoulders, so she will be too. And something that came with losing Cap, again, was a determination not to lose another Captain America. She and Eli might not be on the best terms, but she keeps an eye out for him.
She is also *not* going to lose Benny or Anya. Benny is her link to her world, Anya is Rikki's link to her new world, and losing either of them is not going to happen. In the three years since all the adults vanished, they've become inseparable, teammates and friends and family all mixed up in one. Benny and Anya come before even superheroing. It's a close second, but Rikki has lost too much to not keep them safe no matter the cost. If that means failing as a hero, so be it.
She's more of a soldier and a vigilante than a superhero in her day to day actions, too. She, Anya and Benny represent the law for the majority of southern America and northern Mexico. The area has resurrected the Old West, and the Young Allies are the sole authority. It's a hard, ugly job and it's taken its toll on her. She has the ability to make choices she would not have three years previously. And if she needs to, she'll use lethal force. But she keeps herself in check through a complicated moral code, one that tries to reconcile what Steve would do and what needs to happen to keep chaos at bay.
But underneath the changes that circumstances forced on her, she's still Rikki. She's a snarky smartass with a sense of humor who can be downright goofy. She's capable of great tenderness and compassion. And there's still a part of her that wants to trust people, even if she's gotten better at reigning in the instinct.
History: Up until the cataclysm:
Rikki was sitting in her math class when the teacher vanished into thin air. As chaos broke out, she took the opportunity to surreptitiously slip out, find Anya, and change into her Nomad uniform. Between their surroundings and what the internet was screaming, it wasn't just the teachers who were gone. It was every adult. Every person over age 21 had disappeared, leaving millions of children orphaned. Rikki and Anya split up, Rikki trying to get a hold of the Young Avengers and Anya hoping against hope that her father had not vanished. Rikki was able to get in contact with the Young Avengers, who told her what had happened and confirmed her worst fears. Again, she'd lost Steve Rogers and she'd lost Captain America. Also, Anya had yet to respond to any of her texts. Rikki started organizing the school, letting the students know what had happened, and helping the Young Avengers put out instructions for first response- rescuing NICUs full of infants, evacuating Elementary schools and Preschools and arranging childcare, and so on- as well as containing a riot. All through her organizing, she worried frantically about Anya. Finally she got a text, only reading "Help".
Once she'd tracked the signal, Rikki ran to the location and found a burned and broken Anya cradled in the arms of Benny. Ember had found Anya while she'd been working, there'd been a fight, and Anya had lost. There was no Night Nurse, no doctors, hospitals filled with med and nursing students trying to cope with the countless kids being brought in who'd been in car wrecks when their parents vanished from behind the wheel or otherwise were injured. Neither of them knew Elixir or to ask the X-men for help, so Benny and Rikki took Anya to a quiet, secure place, and took turns treating her and tending her as best they could, taking turns watching her and doing what they could for the devastated world outside, sleeping in shifts. Anya cocooned herself, and emerged, healed and much more spidery, and as soon as the chaos had been managed and she was awake, Rikki tracked down Ember. She used a fire extinguisher to break both his knees and half-suffocated him with the foam from it. It was only from the combined efforts of Benny and Singularity that kept Rikki from inflicting more damage. The same day, Rikki went to confront Eli about his taking on the Captain America identity and the shield. Despite her respect for him, she was angry, worried, and hurting, and there was a fight where ugly things were said on both sides. It was these two events that helped Rikki to see that she was losing it and needed some perspective. After talking to both Benny and Anya, they decided that the Southern US and Mexico needed superheroes the most, and they were the ones to fill the dearth. So they stole a flying car from SHIELD- liberated it- and started to drive South, making a brief detour to make sure Rachel Carpenter and Julia Winters were both take care of. Rikki and Anya's predecessors children taken care of, they took their flying car South and flew off into the sunset.
Managing their territory ended up being far more challenging than they'd imagined, but all three of them learned to fit the mold they'd given to themselves. Confrontations with the Bastards of Evil were common, and with the now fragmented Young Masters of Evil, and with Ana Kravenoff, but mostly it was delegating disputes between scared and desperate kids with no sense and handing down justice when it was required. Their first summer working their territory, Rikki received a scar across her nose and face from Ana Kravenoff. It's one she's rather proud of, if only because she got it rescuing Anya. She also had to deal with the decision that, given that the Justice System had fallen all to hell and that hails were few and far between, and that it was that or let mob violence and lynchings delegate, they were going to have to use lethal force in extreme cases. She formulated a long, complicated list of requirements before she could use it, because she wanted to make sure there was a damn good, clear line between her and people like the new Punisher, formerly the Young Masters' Executioner. She's become less a superhero and more a sheriff.
It's in the middle of another fight with Ana, who Rikki has a particular hate on for, that she is pulled into the world of the Posthumans.
How does your AU differ from canon? Canon is more or less the same up until roughly Children's Crusade, at which point Wanda is killed during a three way battle between the X-men, the Young Avengers, and the Avengers. Her son Billy Kaplan (a.k.a. Wiccan), in his grief, makes a desperate wish- no more adults. No more of the people who'd killed her. And everyone on the planet over the age of 21 vanished. The tenuously forming Young Allies never came together in this AU, but Rikki Barnes, Anya Corazon, and Benito Serrano became guardians of the Southern US and Northern Mexico, mostly to fill a dearth of superheroes.
Strengths: Of the Young Allies, Rikki is the best hand to hand and weapons fighter. Anya and Benny have her beat on the superpowers and super strength front, but she knows hand to hand combat better. Benny is about as comfortable as she is with a gun, but Rikki has better aim. She is also probably one of the experts, if not the experts, in identifying brainwashing and mind control while under it and breaking free of it. She also has an energy shield and vibranium soled boots that help her run up walls, and uses a pistol. Her determination and charisma is another strength, because she's gotten pretty damn good at being stubborn and talking other people into it as well.
Weaknesses: Rikki's stubbornness. Once she gets her mind set on something, she won't let go of it. She can be reckless and headstrong and rushes into things if she gets angry enough (blame that famous redhead temper). She's also a badass normal who tends to act like she does actually have powers and gets hurt as a result of it. She also is easily overwhelmed by guilt because of her tendency to angst over things she's not actually responsible for. Anya and Benny also serve as a berserk button and she's willing to go to any lengths to make sure they stay safe. Also, while her Spanish is not completely terrible, she has a hard time understanding and speaking it depending on the context and how fast the conversation is moving.
Preferred drop-in point: Truth or Consequences
What are some of your plans for this character in their new environment? Rikki needs to have some time to actually relax, and having her settle her issues with her legacy and her 616!family would be great too. Mainly I want her to have the chance to not be a HHHHHNGH I'M SO MANLY big damn hero all the time.
First Person Journal Sample:
[ The video clicks on, and Rikki's face fills the screen. She rubs the scar along her nose and cheek and then touches her forehead, where there's a bloody patch, like she hit her head on something. She grimaces at the slight stickiness of half-dried blood. ]
Welp, I don't have any physical symptoms of hallucinating, so I'm forced to assume that all the people in their thirties I'm seeing are actually real. That this is real- which means I'm actually in another alternate universe. Fantastic. This crap again. But, hey! Apparently I'm not alone, and I've got the advantage by having done this before.
[ Under her breath. ] So. Let's see how I'm doing: Concussed: probably, wrist: sprained, ribs: aching, hatred of Ana freaking Kravenoff: still seething. Fantastic. I'm off to a great start already.
I need to find a couple of people: The first one is a short Latina girl in a venom-eqsue costume. Just over 5 foot, swings around just like a spider can, ten pounds of sass in a five pound bag, attractive and also ridiculously taken? Or a big guy, bull tattoo on his chest but people tend to notice the horns and hooves first, rocking a kind of goofy looking ponytail/bandanna combination, speaks English as a second language pero su Ingles es mejor que mi espanol. Spider-woman? Toro? Please be here.
Alternatively, if anyone's seen a psycho skinny blonde who goes on and on about hunters and spiders-with-a-y and the Kravenoff legacy and has a creepy thing for lions, let me know and stay away from her. She's dangerous, crazy, and needs to have her face repeatedly introduced to my knee before she hurts someone.
Third Person Sample:
Rikki launches herself at Ana Kravenoff before she can even think, an automatic reflex that sends them both tumbling over the edge of the campground down a dry gully, tumbling and rolling together. "Puta!" Rikki still doesn't like to curse in English- Steve wouldn't approve- but cursing is more of an acceptable social norm, what with the entire FCC dead and the world kind of- pardon the F-bomb- fucked up. So Spanish curses are her compromise.
As they roll, both grappling for control, Rikki hears a shouted "Stop being a dumbass!" but it's a little late for that, so she reaches for Ana's hair, thinking she'll grab it and then slam Ana's head against the ground a few times.
Doesn't work, and she gets a knee to the ribs. "I'm not here for you this time. Stay out of the way," Ana hisses.
"Aww, I thought you liked me," Rikki manages to slam her elbow into Ana's shoulder. "Anyway, what, the great Kravenoff can't take an ex-sidekick? Wow, your family has gone downhill."
Ana says something in Russian while trying to knee Rikki in the ribs again. Rikki switches to Spanish, "This is Mexico. Learn the language or go the hell home."
There's a bit more multi-lingual trash talking as they finally reach a flat area. Rikki flips so she's on top at the last possible second and punches Ana in the face, though her fist deflects off the Kravenoff's cheekbone instead of landing firmly in the center of her face like Rikki wanted. "You watched us, you creep! You were watching us for days!" Rikki finally says, slightly incoherent with anger.
Because that's how Ana Kravenoff works. She'll sit and watch them for days and days. She steals their privacy. They camp out often, because even with the flying car there are long stretches of time they don't spend in civilization or any semblance of it. They have a tent and a cooler in the trunk, and sometimes if the weather's nice they don't even bother with the tent. They just build a fire, cook what they can over it, and curl up against each other for warmth during the night, the curves and angels of their bodies fitting together in familiar ways. But the privacy is so much more important than the rest and relaxation. They can all drop their masks. Benny doesn't have to be big and scary. He can let Rikki braid his ponytail, even when she insists on referring to as his hairnub. Rikki herself can stop being the stone faced cop, and be goofy or uncertain, doodling hearts with "R+A+B" in them or letting memories play in her head like a film and watching with suspiciously wet looking eyes. Anya can be cute-spidery instead of freaky-spidery, lean against Rikki and purr her strange but comforting arachnid purr. They can be a normal couple- alright, triple- they can act like family, arguing about what to fix for dinner or teasing each other about personal quirks or watch the stars for hours after the sun goes down. It's their time to remember how to be human.
And Ana's been stealing it and defiling it. The only reason they can act like themselves anymore is because they can believe that they're alone. Ana screws that up, she shatters the carefully cultivated illusion. She breaks it, ruining the most precious moments Rikki has anymore. Rikki's not going to let her get away with it. She's just as angry about the mundane moments being violated as she is embarrassed about the things Ana's seen that should stay between her and Anya and Benny, the intimate moments that only the stars are allowed to watch.
Ana grins savagely. "If you're going to be the Spyder's woman, you should know you're always being watched-" and then throws Rikki off of her, knocking the breath out of her. Letting her anger get the better of her is so amateurish and so unlike her, but she can't help it. Not with Ana. Ana is continually after Anya, Ana disregards her and doesn't take her seriously, and being called "the sypder's woman" makes Rikki see red. Still not an excuse though.
Ana grabs Rikki's wrist and twists, pulling Rikki's hand back at the wrong angle. Rikki lets out a pained noise before she can choke it back, and she can hear Benny bellow in the way that to anyone else would be pants-pissingly terrifying but to her is comforting. It means she is not going to suffer the indignity of having the living crap kicked out of her by a skinny blonde, though what happens next is definitely going to hurt.
Rikki slams the back of her head into Ana's face, which hurts her as much as it does Ana, but at least they're both falling. Rikki falls onto her face and scraps her head on a rock. Her vision starts fading. I didn't hit my head hard enough to pass ou- is her last thought before her vision goes dark.
Personal LJ: mindgoggling
E-mail: youngafan@gmail.com
AIM: hirukoundead
Other characters currently in-game: Tammy Shepherd
Character Name: Rikki Barnes
Canon source: Nomad: Girl Without A World/ Young Allies
PB: Beth II from Y the Last Man
Personality: Rikki has been changed by the last three years. She's sharper around the edges, is more weighed down. But she's still Rikki Barnes, spunky and stubborn. Rikki is determined, loyal to a fault, and always pushing her limits. Her uncertainty and lack of confidence from being catapulted into another world, and her guilt over the people and the things she has lost have shaped her. She is bound and determined to be a big damn hero. Steve was always strong enough to bear the weight of the world on his shoulders, so she will be too. And something that came with losing Cap, again, was a determination not to lose another Captain America. She and Eli might not be on the best terms, but she keeps an eye out for him.
She is also *not* going to lose Benny or Anya. Benny is her link to her world, Anya is Rikki's link to her new world, and losing either of them is not going to happen. In the three years since all the adults vanished, they've become inseparable, teammates and friends and family all mixed up in one. Benny and Anya come before even superheroing. It's a close second, but Rikki has lost too much to not keep them safe no matter the cost. If that means failing as a hero, so be it.
She's more of a soldier and a vigilante than a superhero in her day to day actions, too. She, Anya and Benny represent the law for the majority of southern America and northern Mexico. The area has resurrected the Old West, and the Young Allies are the sole authority. It's a hard, ugly job and it's taken its toll on her. She has the ability to make choices she would not have three years previously. And if she needs to, she'll use lethal force. But she keeps herself in check through a complicated moral code, one that tries to reconcile what Steve would do and what needs to happen to keep chaos at bay.
But underneath the changes that circumstances forced on her, she's still Rikki. She's a snarky smartass with a sense of humor who can be downright goofy. She's capable of great tenderness and compassion. And there's still a part of her that wants to trust people, even if she's gotten better at reigning in the instinct.
History: Up until the cataclysm:
Rikki was sitting in her math class when the teacher vanished into thin air. As chaos broke out, she took the opportunity to surreptitiously slip out, find Anya, and change into her Nomad uniform. Between their surroundings and what the internet was screaming, it wasn't just the teachers who were gone. It was every adult. Every person over age 21 had disappeared, leaving millions of children orphaned. Rikki and Anya split up, Rikki trying to get a hold of the Young Avengers and Anya hoping against hope that her father had not vanished. Rikki was able to get in contact with the Young Avengers, who told her what had happened and confirmed her worst fears. Again, she'd lost Steve Rogers and she'd lost Captain America. Also, Anya had yet to respond to any of her texts. Rikki started organizing the school, letting the students know what had happened, and helping the Young Avengers put out instructions for first response- rescuing NICUs full of infants, evacuating Elementary schools and Preschools and arranging childcare, and so on- as well as containing a riot. All through her organizing, she worried frantically about Anya. Finally she got a text, only reading "Help".
Once she'd tracked the signal, Rikki ran to the location and found a burned and broken Anya cradled in the arms of Benny. Ember had found Anya while she'd been working, there'd been a fight, and Anya had lost. There was no Night Nurse, no doctors, hospitals filled with med and nursing students trying to cope with the countless kids being brought in who'd been in car wrecks when their parents vanished from behind the wheel or otherwise were injured. Neither of them knew Elixir or to ask the X-men for help, so Benny and Rikki took Anya to a quiet, secure place, and took turns treating her and tending her as best they could, taking turns watching her and doing what they could for the devastated world outside, sleeping in shifts. Anya cocooned herself, and emerged, healed and much more spidery, and as soon as the chaos had been managed and she was awake, Rikki tracked down Ember. She used a fire extinguisher to break both his knees and half-suffocated him with the foam from it. It was only from the combined efforts of Benny and Singularity that kept Rikki from inflicting more damage. The same day, Rikki went to confront Eli about his taking on the Captain America identity and the shield. Despite her respect for him, she was angry, worried, and hurting, and there was a fight where ugly things were said on both sides. It was these two events that helped Rikki to see that she was losing it and needed some perspective. After talking to both Benny and Anya, they decided that the Southern US and Mexico needed superheroes the most, and they were the ones to fill the dearth. So they stole a flying car from SHIELD- liberated it- and started to drive South, making a brief detour to make sure Rachel Carpenter and Julia Winters were both take care of. Rikki and Anya's predecessors children taken care of, they took their flying car South and flew off into the sunset.
Managing their territory ended up being far more challenging than they'd imagined, but all three of them learned to fit the mold they'd given to themselves. Confrontations with the Bastards of Evil were common, and with the now fragmented Young Masters of Evil, and with Ana Kravenoff, but mostly it was delegating disputes between scared and desperate kids with no sense and handing down justice when it was required. Their first summer working their territory, Rikki received a scar across her nose and face from Ana Kravenoff. It's one she's rather proud of, if only because she got it rescuing Anya. She also had to deal with the decision that, given that the Justice System had fallen all to hell and that hails were few and far between, and that it was that or let mob violence and lynchings delegate, they were going to have to use lethal force in extreme cases. She formulated a long, complicated list of requirements before she could use it, because she wanted to make sure there was a damn good, clear line between her and people like the new Punisher, formerly the Young Masters' Executioner. She's become less a superhero and more a sheriff.
It's in the middle of another fight with Ana, who Rikki has a particular hate on for, that she is pulled into the world of the Posthumans.
How does your AU differ from canon? Canon is more or less the same up until roughly Children's Crusade, at which point Wanda is killed during a three way battle between the X-men, the Young Avengers, and the Avengers. Her son Billy Kaplan (a.k.a. Wiccan), in his grief, makes a desperate wish- no more adults. No more of the people who'd killed her. And everyone on the planet over the age of 21 vanished. The tenuously forming Young Allies never came together in this AU, but Rikki Barnes, Anya Corazon, and Benito Serrano became guardians of the Southern US and Northern Mexico, mostly to fill a dearth of superheroes.
Strengths: Of the Young Allies, Rikki is the best hand to hand and weapons fighter. Anya and Benny have her beat on the superpowers and super strength front, but she knows hand to hand combat better. Benny is about as comfortable as she is with a gun, but Rikki has better aim. She is also probably one of the experts, if not the experts, in identifying brainwashing and mind control while under it and breaking free of it. She also has an energy shield and vibranium soled boots that help her run up walls, and uses a pistol. Her determination and charisma is another strength, because she's gotten pretty damn good at being stubborn and talking other people into it as well.
Weaknesses: Rikki's stubbornness. Once she gets her mind set on something, she won't let go of it. She can be reckless and headstrong and rushes into things if she gets angry enough (blame that famous redhead temper). She's also a badass normal who tends to act like she does actually have powers and gets hurt as a result of it. She also is easily overwhelmed by guilt because of her tendency to angst over things she's not actually responsible for. Anya and Benny also serve as a berserk button and she's willing to go to any lengths to make sure they stay safe. Also, while her Spanish is not completely terrible, she has a hard time understanding and speaking it depending on the context and how fast the conversation is moving.
Preferred drop-in point: Truth or Consequences
What are some of your plans for this character in their new environment? Rikki needs to have some time to actually relax, and having her settle her issues with her legacy and her 616!family would be great too. Mainly I want her to have the chance to not be a HHHHHNGH I'M SO MANLY big damn hero all the time.
First Person Journal Sample:
[ The video clicks on, and Rikki's face fills the screen. She rubs the scar along her nose and cheek and then touches her forehead, where there's a bloody patch, like she hit her head on something. She grimaces at the slight stickiness of half-dried blood. ]
Welp, I don't have any physical symptoms of hallucinating, so I'm forced to assume that all the people in their thirties I'm seeing are actually real. That this is real- which means I'm actually in another alternate universe. Fantastic. This crap again. But, hey! Apparently I'm not alone, and I've got the advantage by having done this before.
[ Under her breath. ] So. Let's see how I'm doing: Concussed: probably, wrist: sprained, ribs: aching, hatred of Ana freaking Kravenoff: still seething. Fantastic. I'm off to a great start already.
I need to find a couple of people: The first one is a short Latina girl in a venom-eqsue costume. Just over 5 foot, swings around just like a spider can, ten pounds of sass in a five pound bag, attractive and also ridiculously taken? Or a big guy, bull tattoo on his chest but people tend to notice the horns and hooves first, rocking a kind of goofy looking ponytail/bandanna combination, speaks English as a second language pero su Ingles es mejor que mi espanol. Spider-woman? Toro? Please be here.
Alternatively, if anyone's seen a psycho skinny blonde who goes on and on about hunters and spiders-with-a-y and the Kravenoff legacy and has a creepy thing for lions, let me know and stay away from her. She's dangerous, crazy, and needs to have her face repeatedly introduced to my knee before she hurts someone.
Third Person Sample:
Rikki launches herself at Ana Kravenoff before she can even think, an automatic reflex that sends them both tumbling over the edge of the campground down a dry gully, tumbling and rolling together. "Puta!" Rikki still doesn't like to curse in English- Steve wouldn't approve- but cursing is more of an acceptable social norm, what with the entire FCC dead and the world kind of- pardon the F-bomb- fucked up. So Spanish curses are her compromise.
As they roll, both grappling for control, Rikki hears a shouted "Stop being a dumbass!" but it's a little late for that, so she reaches for Ana's hair, thinking she'll grab it and then slam Ana's head against the ground a few times.
Doesn't work, and she gets a knee to the ribs. "I'm not here for you this time. Stay out of the way," Ana hisses.
"Aww, I thought you liked me," Rikki manages to slam her elbow into Ana's shoulder. "Anyway, what, the great Kravenoff can't take an ex-sidekick? Wow, your family has gone downhill."
Ana says something in Russian while trying to knee Rikki in the ribs again. Rikki switches to Spanish, "This is Mexico. Learn the language or go the hell home."
There's a bit more multi-lingual trash talking as they finally reach a flat area. Rikki flips so she's on top at the last possible second and punches Ana in the face, though her fist deflects off the Kravenoff's cheekbone instead of landing firmly in the center of her face like Rikki wanted. "You watched us, you creep! You were watching us for days!" Rikki finally says, slightly incoherent with anger.
Because that's how Ana Kravenoff works. She'll sit and watch them for days and days. She steals their privacy. They camp out often, because even with the flying car there are long stretches of time they don't spend in civilization or any semblance of it. They have a tent and a cooler in the trunk, and sometimes if the weather's nice they don't even bother with the tent. They just build a fire, cook what they can over it, and curl up against each other for warmth during the night, the curves and angels of their bodies fitting together in familiar ways. But the privacy is so much more important than the rest and relaxation. They can all drop their masks. Benny doesn't have to be big and scary. He can let Rikki braid his ponytail, even when she insists on referring to as his hairnub. Rikki herself can stop being the stone faced cop, and be goofy or uncertain, doodling hearts with "R+A+B" in them or letting memories play in her head like a film and watching with suspiciously wet looking eyes. Anya can be cute-spidery instead of freaky-spidery, lean against Rikki and purr her strange but comforting arachnid purr. They can be a normal couple- alright, triple- they can act like family, arguing about what to fix for dinner or teasing each other about personal quirks or watch the stars for hours after the sun goes down. It's their time to remember how to be human.
And Ana's been stealing it and defiling it. The only reason they can act like themselves anymore is because they can believe that they're alone. Ana screws that up, she shatters the carefully cultivated illusion. She breaks it, ruining the most precious moments Rikki has anymore. Rikki's not going to let her get away with it. She's just as angry about the mundane moments being violated as she is embarrassed about the things Ana's seen that should stay between her and Anya and Benny, the intimate moments that only the stars are allowed to watch.
Ana grins savagely. "If you're going to be the Spyder's woman, you should know you're always being watched-" and then throws Rikki off of her, knocking the breath out of her. Letting her anger get the better of her is so amateurish and so unlike her, but she can't help it. Not with Ana. Ana is continually after Anya, Ana disregards her and doesn't take her seriously, and being called "the sypder's woman" makes Rikki see red. Still not an excuse though.
Ana grabs Rikki's wrist and twists, pulling Rikki's hand back at the wrong angle. Rikki lets out a pained noise before she can choke it back, and she can hear Benny bellow in the way that to anyone else would be pants-pissingly terrifying but to her is comforting. It means she is not going to suffer the indignity of having the living crap kicked out of her by a skinny blonde, though what happens next is definitely going to hurt.
Rikki slams the back of her head into Ana's face, which hurts her as much as it does Ana, but at least they're both falling. Rikki falls onto her face and scraps her head on a rock. Her vision starts fading. I didn't hit my head hard enough to pass ou- is her last thought before her vision goes dark.