|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2011 12:50 pm
 /////////////////////////////-~--♚--~-/////////////////////////////---------------⊹↺⊹----Tomoko --∞ --Aoyama----⊹↻⊹------------/////////////////////////////-~--♫--~-/////////////////////////////----- ☇ ☇ ☇ ------神鳴流` "Betrayal stings worse than any blade." It was more than just the fact that Tomoko could read his iaido and counter it. It was more like she’d seen where his shundo would place him just before he’d landed there. This foe was a little more unique. It was a demon, that wasn’t a demon.
The second strike, or rather, the technique, had moved through him without injuring him, but that wasn't her goal. No sooner had the blade struck the now vacant area than she gave a sudden jerking motion with her arm, bringing the blade back up towards her hand.
The highway where he’d been standing splintered in a wide crack, before shuddering apart. What was left was a fracture that went from side to side, an opposing cut where Tsukuyomi had severed this section of the road from the highway on either side. Her blade had barely touched the pavement, but the feeling of crawling skin from her ki was spreading and intensifying with every move she made.
The gunfire from Lorenzo had hit her, alright. It had impacted right on that second spiraling blade of her unique kusari-gama, which was acting as a sort of shield. Spent bullets impacted, and tossed away, falling to the ground in a light steel rain.
The streaking figure of Narusegawa across the sky caused Tomoko’s mouth to curve into the faintest smile, as the angel aimed the blade her. Rather than blocking, as probably intended, Tomoko did the last thing the angel would probably expect. She shifted in the air and launched herself over the airborne body of the other woman, and jerked on the chain still in her hand.
An object in motion stays in motion. And since the distance between Tomoko and Seno had been fairly high, the blade that Tomoko had been pulling back up towards herself would instead find itself embedding through one of the wings of the angel, were she not to move. And this was seconded by the fact that Tomoko’s twisting body shot downward, and she again vanished in another shundo, this one from mid-air.
Between the time she vanished and the time she reappeared, her afterimage flashed in several points around the sky. During that time, Emily had engaged Lorenzo and Katerine. That was a bonus that would leave her free to deal with what she considered the more prominent threats.
Regardless of whether the blade actually struck the angel, it hadn’t vanished when she had, and would go arcing through the air, back towards Seno. There was no speech this time, and instead of directly at him, the blade sailed just past him along the pavement, an opposing slice from where her blade had previously impacted.
There was a brief intensification of ki along the length of chain, and energy exploded outward from it, leaving another deep gouge in that area of the highway. Her fighting was a bit odd, the movements uncommon. She wasn’t exactly attacking the man directly. It seemed like she was more toying with him, waiting for something.
Or waiting for someone would probably be the closest phrase to the truth. She hoped he’d realize the truth. Realize who it was she was after. And hopefully, if she was lucky, there’d be that dawning realization for him, as her blades made two more long gashes across the highway, aiming at him, but not entirely at him, attempting to force him along the path of her blade, or to be severed in half by it.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2011 5:12 pm
 Azen Yaneza
Wanderer
Azen's warrior heart stirred as he heard gunshots. It was surely a different tone from the usual handguns that street gangs used on each other when fighting over territory. But this wasn't a gang fight. Something more than gangs, or even humans at this point.
On one side was Emily, who has confronted the source of the gunshots. Emily's actions somewhat reassured Azen. Whatever was going on here, he didn't have to hide anything. There weren't any students that were going to be afraid of him. No faculty to explain his actions. At least, not yet.
He took his katana from his bag and tied it to his hip. He unsheathed the katana and started gathering ki by his feet, then started running towards Tomoko. Or at least towards her general area.
Judging by how Emily paid close attention to the battle, he thought that someone there might be special to her, or maybe even be a relative. Since she's busy somewhere else, Azen thought he was responsible of taking over Emily's part until she comes back. It looked like it was an unfair fight, anyway.
Azen took a quick assessment and tried to comprehend what he could see, then formulated a mindset that would somehow help him survive in the imminent encounter. Everyone he could see that is fighting would most likely be able to kill him in one blow, but hell, he was starving. Either he dies of starvation or he dies a swordsman.
Once he had enough ki gathered by his foot, he then expelled it and he would vanish for a quick second (to an ordinary person) and reappear several yards ahead. Flash step. It wasn't impressive really, but he had to do it step by step because he has no insight on this fight whatsoever, therefore he can't just madly dash around like a noob.
He would glance towards Emily for a bit, but he figured he would die immediately if he did that, so he kept his eyes forward. And up. An angel. Somewhere ahead was a man. a 2v1 fight. Surely, number-wise, it was an unfair fight. Azen was just the kind of naive adult who wouldn't run for his life now that he has a vague idea of what's going to happen.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 6:55 am
❝ яυƨƨιαηяøυℓєттє ❞ ---------✗--------------------▄︻┻┳════════════════════════一--------------------┃ Ⓛ ⓞ ⓡ ⓔ ⓝ ⓩ ⓞ ⊕ Ⓡ ⓤ ⓘ ⓩ --------------------▄︻┻┳════════════════════════一---▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀-----↘ ---- 『 Just the person I wanted to see. 』  Katerine's ears pricked, as Lorenzo paused his fire. Naru was in the way, and they stepped back slightly to allow the swordies some room.
"Smell it?"
"Stinks."
"Switch to close quarters." Lorenzo said frowning. He wouldn't wait long, as a new challenger appeared. He had slung his rifle across his back and both jumped out of the way when she ran past. Katerine was already engaging. Lorenzo unholstered both his pistols, switched the selector switch to full automatic.
Katerine in the meanwhile didn't bother about the explosive ki that was meant to dazzle them. They've been on the receiving end of so many flashbang grenades it wasn't funny. Instead what Emily would probably see, was her spinning clockwise, left hand pressed flat against the flat of her blade, right hand on the grip, in a swing meant to smack Emily across the chest.
Lorenzo though would merely stand there, in a classic cleric stance, pistols at the ready.
Blitz von den Himmeln, streikt meine Feinde und dreht sie in Glas. Funnel.
Just to even the odds, 10 spheres appeared around Lorenzo's head, orbiting him lazily. Awaiting the coyote's next move.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 12:04 pm
  Emily Amandil PersephoneAmaterasu ☯The Coyote, the Creator and the Messenger☯
☯The Culture Hero♠The Trickster♦The Fool♣The Clown☯ Emily didn't go thinking her move would really work. But she had a way of announcing her presence, once she was there. Her nature made her a good stalker, but when she jumped into a fight, stealth is given up.
Now that Lorenzo and Katerine knew she was there, their focus, or a majority of it, was on her, which was exactly what she wanted. She could see the man had guns, which made her skittish already, but eager. The wound on her stomach barely bothered her at the moment as Katerine countered her with a swing of her own weapon. Emily growled and raised her red sword, blocking the swing from reaching her body and pushing Katerina bakc away.She flickered her gaze from him to the woman, the one who smelled like a feline. Her nose didn't particularly like that cat smell, either. She was the one immediately ready to fight despite the male human having his own magic at the ready.
Assessing the situation in a moment though barely taking it in, Emily Flicked the tip of her blade at teh ground, in the direction of the feline demon. A line of red ki darted across the ground at her and exploded again, underneath her feet, followed quickly by Emily, who had leaped through the smoke that rose and began swiftly barraging her with swings aimed at really any part of Katerine's body, not wasting any time.
She was already bleeding a little from her wound from the rooftops, but paid it no mind. Her yellow eyes almost dared either of them to wound her too. She needed to be faster, more dangerous than this. This wasn't anywhere close to who she could be.☯Who I Am This Week: Flipped Emily☯Who and Where?: Lorenzo and Katerine☯My Cluttered Head: -Static Noise-☯Overwhelmingly Overt Crap:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 2:42 pm
❝ яυƨƨιαηяøυℓєттє ❞ ---------✗--------------------▄︻┻┳════════════════════════一--------------------┃ Ⓛ ⓞ ⓡ ⓔ ⓝ ⓩ ⓞ ⊕ Ⓡ ⓤ ⓘ ⓩ --------------------▄︻┻┳════════════════════════一---▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀-----↘ ---- 『 Cat-Coyote Fight! 』 Katerine allowed herself to be pushed back, and was not at the least bit surprised when she used her ki again as an explosive force, which she managed to avoid slightly by running at her. Parry. Parry. Parry. Then she caught her swing, allowing Emily's sword to slide against hers, and into the parrying hooks of her zweihander, where the coyote's blade would fit nicely in the little notch, locking her blade.
The half-cat hanyo smiled as she grabbed hold of one arms of the cross guard, and pushing out while twisting her sword, it'd disengage her, and hopefully imbalance her to the point of losing the grip on her katana. Regardless, Katerine would jump out of the way, just in time for Emily to see the Gunslinger.
"Funnels!" He would yell, once more, and five of the orbs would streak out, before jumping left, right, up and down, following their own paths towards their intended victim, which, in this case, Emily. They were standard lightning affinity saggitta magica spell orbs, but unlike the regular spells, it streaked along in randomized vectors full of abrupt turns which made counter sniping and tracking difficult. It was probably that that made Lorenzo name them after the autonomous newtype attack drones from the Mobile Suit Gundam metaseries.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 4:59 am
☆═━┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈━═☆---------------------Ϯsuҡuy☾☽mi☆═━┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈━═☆ Blood Red on White Moon
arrow Optional BGM: Fatal Fight
What a mess. It was a glorious field of carnage above her, but nobody was dying. More and more she was getting frustrated. Tsukuyomi ground her teeth at having to wait. Bah! She couldn't take it. Besides, she really didn't like guns. It was a swordswoman thing, okay? She could tell from the fluctuations in the ki around her teacher and her junior that her junior was wounded, and teacher was just starting to warm up. With precision shundo, she hopped up on the remaining road pillars, and while still in midair, facing half-away, idly swung her katana in the direction of Lorenzo from behind, at about thirty meters of distance. Ki gathered around her body in a central point near the sword, and went outward from that point, to create a flash technique of no small strength. Even if she were holding back, it was guaranteed results.
"Jakuzankūsen"
Said in a matter of fact voice rather than with a loud cry, this attack was one she was unenthusiastic about. Why? Because it didn't kill anyone. Isn't that a bore? Ah well. This technique was a burst of ki that was essentially meant to blow someone away over a distance and not do any real damage. Well, unless of course you count flying a great distance and smacking onto the ground hard enough to break your face no real damage, but for Tsukuyomi this was a love tap, honestly. The fact she was firing the burst form behind the man while he focused, at the very least she figured, might throw him off a bit from her junior. She didn't really care if her junior died or anything, but she didn't want to see her force humiliated by annoying men. The crazy girl he was with though..she was cute. She might be fun to cut up. Can't spell Slaughter without Laughter.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dangerous Conversationalist
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 9:58 am
Emily Amandil PersephoneAmaterasu☯The Coyote, the Creator and the Messenger☯
☯The Culture Hero♠The Trickster♦The Fool♣The Clown☯ Emily felt slight irritation as Katerine parried her blows, though that was expected too. Soon though she felt she was unable to to retract her sword back when it slid and was caught by the zweihander that the girl was using to fight her. She growled. She was trying to keep grip on her sword despite the sudden flash of pain she felt in her arm from trying to keep grip on something when her arm was naturally trying to let go so it didn't get injured. Her shoes scraped on the pavement below as she stumbled a little bit, losing grip on the red katana's hilt when Katerine jumped out of the way, but her eyes flickered suddenly to Lorenzo, where she could see teh male cat demon was already ready to throw something at her.
He yelled out, and as soon as she saw the orbs begin to move she was already aware she was in trouble. Dammit! Her eyes very well couldn't follow all five orbs as they moved everywhere, but their target all the same. She jumped as a spark of an orb caught her entire right foot, making her wince. She wouldn't be able to avoid these.
Her ears caught the sound of a girl however, despite distance. Tsukuyomi, throwing one of her techniques at Lorenzo. When Lorenzo and Katerine would realize what was going on, Emily dashed from the orbs tracking her, towards Katerine. Regardless of whether the magic emanating from the orbs would hurt the female or not, that wasn't her intention. Sword or not, Emily wasn't disarmed even when physically she was. A mixture of ki and coyote innate ability burst around her and Katerine in a circle around them both when Emily got close enough to her back. A whirlwind of dark red coyote-resembling spirits blasted into the air. Red gathered from the wall behind Emily to her fist as she grabbed Katerine's arm from behind, her other hand knocking into the tip of her katana still somewhat caught in the hook of the zweihander. She cut her hand a bit doing so, though the gathered ki dulled the pierce a little bit. The katana went sliding back away from its hold and hit the whirlwind, immediately flying up in the air in a clockwise direction. Emily let go and jumped to catch it by its hilt.
"Zankūsen Kai." Emily breathed out as her body stopped and began to pull down from gravity. The whirlwind died out quickly as she swung her sword down as she fell, a large amount of ki releasing in the stronger version technique, circulating down at her target. "Samidarekiri!" Ki exploded around any of the remaining projectile lightning orbs, trying to get rid of her remaining danger.☯Who I Am This Week: Flipped Emily☯Who and Where?: Lorenzo and Katerine☯My Cluttered Head: -Static Noise-☯Overwhelmingly Overt Crap:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 10:31 am
❝ яυƨƨιαηяøυℓєттє ❞ ---------✗--------------------▄︻┻┳════════════════════════一--------------------┃ Ⓛ ⓞ ⓡ ⓔ ⓝ ⓩ ⓞ ⊕ Ⓡ ⓤ ⓘ ⓩ --------------------▄︻┻┳════════════════════════一---▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀-----↘ ---- 『 I wish for a bombing run right around now. 』 Katerine saw too late the threat to Lorenzo. They felt it too, but that gave them both an edge. Katerine shrugged Emily off and smiled as the funnels dissipated with Lorenzo going to react to the swordswoman that snuck behind them. She reacted all the same, keeping hold of her zweihander and moving to the side of the coyote, jumping up to escape the blast of ki, in an collision course with the falling girl. It was a proper setup, allowing her to deliver a strong punch to Emily's abdomen with her armored gauntleted hand.
Lorenzo on the other hand when he felt Tsukuyomi approach from behind, turned sideways, enough to break his concentration and see the threat. He was still hit by the attack, and more or less flew to the opposite end of the highway. He twisted in midair, and got close to the highway surface long enough for him to go skidding slightly, landing on all fours. In a fluid motion he holstered his pistols and unslung his rifle, letting loose a burst of automatic rifle fire at the swordswoman.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 12:00 pm
Seno Nakakami Stand and fight
Join the light
Into the battle of power and might The swordsman leapt aside again at the burst of ki from the woman's chain, balancing on the edge of the splintered roadway for the barest of instants before hopping across to stand on the other side, near where Naru had spiraled down to land after avoiding the blade end of the kusari-gama in midair.
"Just like old times, huh?"
Naru smirked and dispelled the energy blade, bringing her arms together above her left shoulder and gathering holy energy, which she then released into a burst to cover the battlefield. It wasn't really an attack, per se, as it wasn't that powerful a charge of energy. More than anything, the intent was to have that energy reveal Tomoko's position by contact.
And for the new swordsman, the one nobody recognized who was clearly planting himself on the side of the enemy, well, he had his own challenger as well. Yet another new figure instant-motioned from beyond the broken roadway, the glint of sunlight reflecting off a pair of twin daggers that hummed with some sort of energy source, angling directly for the interloper with blades drawn back in striking position.
Both Naru and Seno recognized that figure, which meant that the rest of the reinforcements had arrived. This was reinforced by several things. Firstly, the haunting piano intro to the Black Mages' 'The Skies Above', played on an electric guitar of course, started up, cuing the presence of the crew's bard-type member. Next, a set of blue, hexagonal energy shields of protection flashed into place around Naru, Seno, Lorenzo, Katerine, and the dagger-wielding attacker before visibly vanishing, their protectiveness still there, just not visible; this the hallmark of the crew's white mage.
Two more figures made the jump across the broken highway, the chain-smoking, eternally-unflappable owner of the Hinata tea house cafe, armed with only a military-issue 9mm Beretta 92, a lit cigarette, and a bored look that she aimed at Seno. "Couldn't stay out of trouble, could you?"
"Hey, no," the swordsman protested. "This trouble found me."
Haruka smirked faintly, and checked the action of her weapon. "Indeed. Well, we're all here, so we might as well make the most of it."
Back across the bridge, a young man wearing a Mahora school uniform calmly adjusted his glasses from standing beside the guitar-player. "Well, one must definitely say that this is going to leave the Magic Thought Police pretty displeased with us."
"Heh, that's just par for the course, Masaru-kun," the woman on guitar responded with a chuckle.
Two other figures were back with the support crew, who looked identical save for the fact that one was armed with micro-missile packs on her arms and legs and wielding a large blue weapon of alien-looking design that bulged in the center, tapered toward the back, and utilized a human-style flip-out sight on the left side. That and that particular figure looked batshit crazy. The other looked calm and reserved, and carried no visible weapons.
And lastly, having crossed the chasm with Haruka, the heiress-apparent of the Shinmeiryu dojo landed beside her husband on the broken roadway, her tight grip on the black blade Youto Hina betraying her nervous tension at the opponent they faced. "Trouble does seem to find you like a magnet more than any of the rest of us, love."
"Must be my polarizing personality. Doh ho ho ho!"
Cue half the crew facepalming. Haruka shook her head and remarked, "Five points."
Seno glanced around at the arrayed might of the Kuro Arashi crew around them, seven and a half on the active combatant field, and the five on the back row as support. Cracking his neck to either side, he smirked, and remarked, "TEST YOUR MIGHT."
And from the back row, Nanao yelled from her guitar, "I'm not changing songs!"
"I didn't ask you to!" Sound the guns
Raise the cannons of war
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 12:28 pm
☆═━┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈━═☆---------------------Ϯsuҡuy☾☽mi☆═━┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈━═☆Blood Red on White Moon "Projectiles won't work against Shinmeiryu heart "
This is what the female in the mask and cloak said in a soft, high voice as she spun her blade about to dissipate the incoming fire as if it were so much annoying dust. But she saw what it was she wanted. The moment that the woman with that sword came into view, Tsukuyomi planted both feet into the ground, and shot like a bat out of hell past everyone. Both blades were drawn, and her ki could be felt as she passed by in what could only be called a double-flash step; the push off met with air, and then she pushed off the air. This woman was the heiress; she couldn't pull any punches, but she also didn't want to let on just how strong she was. Sure, she was no Tomoko, but she wasn't a punch-clock villain, either. At least, not in this alternate series. She finally got so much more screen time! That really made her happy. Hey, , the fourth wall was already going to get mutilated, so she could let one slip get through. But back to thinking in manga.
Tsukuyomi turned on her iPod as she shot forward, Sonata Arctica's 'Don't Say a Word' going in her ears and letting her focus. Immediately, she went right at Motoko, a blazing aura about her, tinged red and silver, the color of a blood red moon. She was so fast, and the heiress wouldn't be at full capacity, which Tsukuyomi was counting on as she brought her two blades across in a beautiful arc, and called out, killing intent finally in her movements.
"Have you missed me, Motoko-sempai? I missed you heart ..but you and Tsuruko were too soft, so I went to find a real teacher! And I found her, a woman who understands what I desire! Now."
There was a demonic grin behind the mask, and those eyes took on their trademark golden and red glow on black surfaces.
"Shinmeiryu Ougi; Shin Raikōken!"
And immediately a torrent of lightning and destruction came down on the heiress' position, the sheer scope showing that whatever Tsukuyomi had been when she'd studied under the real Shinmeiryu school, she'd advanced far, far beyond that. How had the child grown so much? But then, considering who her teacher had been after she'd been thrown out, it was no surprise. The Demon of Shinmeiryu..so the Sith Lord was training students, now. Oh dear.
Can't spell Slaughter without Laughter.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dangerous Conversationalist
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 1:21 pm
Azen Yaneza
Wanderer
More people showed up. The word "danger" just seared itself into Azen's mind, and the wanderer could sense some real danger from these people. Of all things, he remembered his dojo's favorite saying. "You can be outnumbered, but you can't be outmatched." Oh yeah? Azen knew this was a perfect opportunity to prove that statement wrong.
Detecting an immediate threat, the wanderer hastily transferred ki onto his katana as he drew it and anticipated his attacker's next movement. Either way, he has to see more of his attacker's actions before confronting it combat.
"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu: Do Ryu Sen!" The wanderer yelled, as it was tradition within his dojo to let the enemy know what technique you were about to perform.
Using the ki that was on his blade, he slammed his katana straight at the road. The sudden release of ki on impact made pieces of the road around the impact zone fly upwards, creating a make shift "smoke" screen, only with debris. He then ran to the side of the debris, continuously putting ki into his katana.
His intent was to somewhat distract his attacker enough to be able to see just exactly what it was that he was up against, then maybe devise a plan as to how he could fight the said attacker.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 2:42 pm
/////////////////////////////-~--♚--~-/////////////////////////////---------------⊹↺⊹----Tomoko --∞ --Aoyama----⊹↻⊹------------/////////////////////////////-~--♫--~-/////////////////////////////----- ☇ ☇ ☇ ------神鳴流` "Betrayal stings worse than any blade." Naru had dodged her kusari-gama, and that was fine. She had expected as much. The surge of energy washed across the battlefield and rather than fighting against it, Tomoko merely exerted a brief shundo and was not there when it washed across where she’d been, and once again was there when it had passed.
When the wash of energy cleared, she was standing there, literally, just standing there, in the midst of the destruction her kusari-gama had wrought on what remained of the highway. Some of her cuts had gone long and wide and parts of the highway had separated, but there was this odd expression on her face when the Shinmeiryu Heiress arrived.
Rather than fear, which most individuals would be expressing at the number of the Kuro crew who were actively engaged in battle, Tomoko merely reached up and slid the palm of her hand across one of the blades of her kusari-gama. There was no wince as blood welled to the surface and dripped from her hand to the pavement beneath her boots as she extended her hand outward.
“Kaihou,” her voice was soft, and as her blood touched the pavement, there was a blast of ki that spread outward, filling the cracks in the pavement. Once it was all lit up, it was apparent what had been happening. The whole time they’d been ‘stalling’ for the crew to arrive, Tomoko had been toying with them while setting up her own form of a trap.
From through the highway beneath their feet into a high dome overhead, crackling black ki now encompassed the entire group of combatants and supporters. Non-living material that touched the ki, such as the cars that remained in the way and cement would bubble against the sphere, melting as though eaten through by acid. Living material, such a grass, skin, and anything that attempted to pass through the sphere that wasn’t Emily, Tsukuyomi, or Tomoko herself? Would immediately boil and sizzle, a scorched ring of earth surrounding the outside of the sphere where it touched the ground.
With her palm still bloody, Tomoko brought it up to brush against her forehead. Instead of a bloody smear, however, as she lowered her palm, there was a bright and glowing red mark against her forehead. Seno and Motoko would recognize it as a form of Shinmeiryu seal. They would also recognize the fact that it was glowing meant that the seal had been somehow altered, and was not only opened, but also acted as a type of amplifier, allowing the branded individual to tap into normally inaccessible depths of power.
Tomoko lowered her hand, and reclaimed her kusari-gama in her second hand, which had ceased bleeding after brushing the seal on her forehead. Her oddly colored hair fluttered out around her, and her wrists twitched, bringing both of her blades into that spiraling pattern again, spinning so rapidly they howled as they cut the air. Her skin was a little paler now, and her eyes were starting to take on the same glow as the brand on her forehead. Around square irises was a vibrant shade of red.
And then, the unexpected happened. Like snakes, tendrils of her hair seemed to grow to extreme lengths, and swords manifested coiled within the tendrils, brought up and drawn from the bag she’d had strapped to her waist previously. Swords that were in condition enough to be in a private collection, each one polished and shining, the blades flawless.
And each one marked somewhere with the unique designation that marked it as belonging to someone from the Shinmeiryu school, from days when the school was populated. Each sword was one she’d taken from those she killed, one, and sometimes two blades. There were more than a hundred in the fine tendrils of her hair, which spread and snaked across the battlefield like a bladed spider web.
Her hair was a living thing possessed, and in the center of it, Tomoko started to move forward, blades striking at each of the combatants save Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu, slashing, piercing, parrying, blocking, and keeping anyone who would attempt to charge at her forcefully at range. Severed hair would snake into the mass and reattach itself. It was less like hair, and more like the string attached to a puppet. Except that these strings were far more agile and much less restricted than the strings of a puppet master.
The fact that they moved by her force of will rather than her actual direction was a benefit. She didn’t seem to be expending real effort on the concentration of their movement. No, it seemed like that was a good thing. The bad thing was the fact that the blades weren’t just capable of attacking. They were also throwing Shinmeiryu techniques. But there was no battle cry to announce which technique was being used at the time.
And this wasn’t like a form of magic. It was like demonic power, but it was … different. This was the power of no demon that was recorded in the Shinmeiryu history. But it did exist deep within the pages of the Shinmeiryu lore. Hidden away like a deep dark secret that shouldn’t be revealed. It was a black stain that mottled the flawless white background of an otherwise honorable household.
Rather than directly approaching the group, she allowed her blades to take the brunt of whatever counterattacks the group launched on her. But it was more than that. Once she reached a certain range, all hundred blades rose in unison, and like a barrage, fired on the fighters. Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi, and by coincidence, Azen, were the only individuals spared this onslaught of steel. What they didn’t move past seemed to brush aside, away from them. For that reason, Tsukuyomi’s rush at Motoko, the heiress wasn’t directly in the line of fire of any of the blades. However, Seno, and the others were.
But it wasn’t just the danger of the blades. It was that when they didn’t strike, they instead landed and embedded themselves deep in the earth beside those who had deflected them.
“Shinmeiryu Ougi... Hyaku Messatsu Zankū Zanmasen!” and explosions resounded everywhere, black ki lashing out in all directions, striking, clawing, filling all senses and overloading those too weak to shield against it, every individual in the spherical barrier she’d constructed around them all, the woman in the center … was laughing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 2:53 pm
Emily Amandil PersephoneAmaterasu☯The Coyote, the Creator and the Messenger☯
☯The Culture Hero♠The Trickster♦The Fool♣The Clown☯ Emily gasped a bit as Katerine jumped up to meet her during her descend, and her own free hand was only barely able to dull the punch towards her from the armored hand of the cat demon. The punch tore open the wound again, getting several spots of blood on Katerine's gauntlet.
She replied with a feral growl as her sharp yellow eyes became wilder. She barely noted the odd protection barrier that flashed around the area before disappearing again. Something of what you could call a tunnel vision perspective took over.
Her blade glowed again, however that wasn't what she attacked with. "Oro Gekka!" Her own version of the palm technique, there was a flash of massive red ki that resembled the head of a coyote around Emily for a second before it concentrated into her arm as she slammed her hand into Katerine's chest. The dark ki released itself all at once, point blank at the cat demon's chest. Not incredibly lethal, but it was damn capable of the damage it was meant to inflict. Not finding it enough, she immediately followed the close up blast by swinging her other arm as her palm separated from Katerine, the steel of her sword sending a strong wave of ki shaped like a faint coyote at her before letting a concentration of coyote spirits slow her descent enough for her to land with a mere tap of her shoes. She ignored the presence of her sensei's power, knowing she wasn't in immediate harm from it like Katerina, Lorenzo, or anyone else up there were. She smirked as explosions filled the empty sound and space around the battlefield. Despite her overly-sensitive nose and ears, as she crouched, you could see trails of her own ki around her head more than other parts of her body, protecting her senses by dulling her hearing and smell until she could safely remove it. She let out a growl of a laugh, barely heard through the sounds of the attacks cast by Tomoko.☯Who I Am This Week: Flipped Emily☯Who and Where?: Lorenzo and Katerine☯My Cluttered Head: -Static Noise-☯Overwhelmingly Overt Crap:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 4:02 pm
❝ яυƨƨιαηяøυℓєттє ❞ ---------✗--------------------▄︻┻┳════════════════════════一--------------------┃ Ⓛ ⓞ ⓡ ⓔ ⓝ ⓩ ⓞ ⊕ Ⓡ ⓤ ⓘ ⓩ --------------------▄︻┻┳════════════════════════一---▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀-----↘ ---- 『 I wish for a bombing run right around now. 』 Finding his projectiles of no effect, he more or less expected that. It was to keep her attention on him. But that wasn't the case. As the rest of the crew showed up, he quickly switched magazines. Crimp-necked 'blank' rounds, containing enhanced magical energy, in some sort of semi-inert waxy state. The magazine was special, in that on both sides of the metal, a white '8' in angular military fashion was stenciled on. It was a hammerspace magazine, containing around 300 rounds of the ammunition. While he appreciated the protective barrier, he stood there, rifle pointed up, and pulled the trigger.
Nothing, as the magical energy was fired, and then caught just inside the barrel, held in place by the staff woof and amplified. And then the whole field changed.
Katerine on the other hand was in a bind of her own. The magically enhanced armor and barrier took the girl's release of ki to her chest and basically meant she landed back on the ground. With her own sword in place, she blocked her ki-pushing sword with her own, the latent nullifying effects of her sword banishing the ki and with a shove, pushed contact away from the two. Her ears pricked, and sensed she and her partner was in danger, and with her offhand, pulled the artifact-based pistol off its holster, and whilst holding the zweihander with a single hand, aimed at the girl.
At that point, as the surface around them started to sizzle and burn, their own magical protective shielding holding off the onslaught, blades came from nowhere. Katerine dropped her pistol, fine and all it disappeared and reappeared in its holster. But she absolutely did her best to deflect the incoming swords, dodging and jumping, some of the attacks came true and hit the shield. Her swordplay was not as top notch as the Shinmei, particularly due to the fact she was a European swordwoman, and the other being that she never had a proper teacher.
Lorenzo on the other hand took up a stance, and 'fired' four more magical rounds into the chamber, before starting his dance. He weaved through the incoming swords, rifle butt bouncing some away, dodging what he could. The attacks he was receiving was shot back with counter-fire. Not by solid projectiles, but by magic shots meant to defeat magical constructs and kill anything in their path.
At that point when the blades finally let up, he thought it was done, when the black ki exploded, washing over him. He grunted as he dropped to a knee, his own senses being overloaded. Katerine was faring worse. She had driven her sword to the ground, both hands gripping tightly as her ears laid flat against her head, down on both knees, her tail between her legs. The nullifying effects of her sword helped, but not enough. By the time the ki explosion subsided, her once flawless armor was filled with multitudes of slash marks. Her face filled with endless amounts of scratches, her ear nick'd, and with only one hand on the missing blade portion of the sword tried her best to get back up.
Lorenzo would appear as if he had sent his clothing through a shredder. It was tattered on the edges, his weapon fared better, being made primarily of magical items, but the EOTech was busted to s**t, being a rather mundane object. A crack appeared on the screen, while the battery cover itself seemed to be sliced in half. But what made it more interesting was Lorenzo was still on his knee, and ignoring the rather superficial cut down his cheek, was aiming his rifle at the woman.
Around him, five fresh uncrimped blank rounds laid around the gunslinger, slowly being dissolved by the magic of the field. At the muzzle of the weapon, particles of pure white light were being drawn into the rifle, and at that instant a white beam shot forth. Amplified magical energy, an anti-infantry/anti-golem type beam. The result of magically compressing and amplifying the inert magic energy, shaped and added to with Lorenzo's own.
Shinmeiryuu may have defenses and be useless against projectiles, yes. That didn't stop Lorenzo from attacking.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 5:46 pm
Motoko narrowed her eyes at the combatant coming straight toward her, moreover at that voice. She knew that voice, hadn't thought she'd ever encounter its owner again. Holding her hand out to her left to forestall Naru, who had detected the surge of energy from the pint-sized foe and was moving to safeguard Motoko, she reached down to her left side and drew the Youto Hina, the cursed steel singing a bit more than a normal blade would have as it was drawn. Tsukuyomi had grown in power since last she had been seen, but the reverse was also true; Motoko had grown as well since the last time the child slasher had been a student. Between the words of Tsukuyomi's attack-calling, Motoko briefly mused that it was likely her husband's influence that caused her to think, I'll show you soft.
And then without batting an eye, she unleashed her own Shin Raikouken to cancel out and nullify that of the former student. In nearly the same motion, she took one-half step to her right, reached with her left hand, and swiped one of her husband's six swords, charging ki into it as she raised her left arm and swung it downward in the former student's direction as she called out, "Ougi - Zantetsusen!" The sound of steel striking steel rang out as three spiraling waves of ki surged forth from the blade, each homing in toward Tsukuyomi.
Meanwhile, as the interloping ronin made his move, turning yet more of the highway into chunky salsa, his opponent barely seemed perturbed by this, instead shifting direction to simply hop from one highway chunk to another, moving up to the highest one before simply remaining atop it and surfing it back down, revealing a busty female with short, sandy-colored hair and perpetually-narrowed eyes that gave her the appearance of a trickster fox.
Once the chunk of road she was on came back down and was moments from fragmenting on the ground, she hopped off to land on the highway, holding her twin daggers in a defensive posture with the right-hand blade up near her left shoulder and the left-hand blade down by the opposite hip. "Nothin' personal here, guy, I'm only gettin' in your face cos you're backing the team that's up against my buddies," the woman told him. "You don't seem like the evil type yourself, so I'm kinda trying not to hurt you here."
It was just then that the black barrier dome exploded outward to surround the battlespace. The contact between the barrier and the crew as it bypassed them lit up their otherwise-invisible protective shields, casting opaque blue hexagonal glows around them as the harsh clatter of hundreds of blades clashing against hundreds of shields filled the air. In short time, however, the barrier field had passed and solidified, though having destroyed the protective shields and caused slight harm to the crew in the process. In the back, across the chasm of highway, Shinobu set about immediately to rectify this, one hand twisting more protective energies to restore the barriers to her comrades, the other directing healing energies to restore damage dealt.
Other members of the crew wasted no time in their counterattack. Kaolla shouldered her alien weapon and peered through the sight toward Emily, a red circle appearing around the girl in the targeting reticle as she held down the trigger of the weapon. The front end of the barrel spread slightly like the petals of a flower as components inside began to rotate and spin, a blue glow building within. After only a second or two, a beeping sound was heard, followed by four globes of plasma energy shot out of the front of the weapon, each a guided missile heading for the enemy team's half-demon team member.
Haruka immediately set to work in her role as the team's debuffer. Her Beretta's magazine was loaded with a myriad of different specialized types of 9mm magic rounds, ranging the gamut from deprotect rounds that lower physical defense to poisoning, to slowing, pain-inducing rounds that prevent physical action, cursing rounds that have a high probability of causing attacks to fail, dispelling rounds that remove status buffs, the works. She knew the order that her rounds came in and could therefore count what debuffs she was throwing at the enemy. First she sighted Tomoko, sending a Deprotect round heading in her direction. Spinning, she sighted up Tsukuyomi, sending a double-tap of Curse and Slow at the masked enemy. Emily would find a Poison round coming at her, and as she sighted on Azen, she paused a moment, then determined him to be hostile that wasn't actually so hostile, and discharged the Pain round in her chamber back toward Tomoko before sending a Daze shot at Azen; Daze having the effect of, well, exactly what it sounds like. If successful, the status effect would stun him and knock him out of the fight.
That was about the time that all that hair business and the sword-spamming started up. Seno looked between the hundreds of swords she was producing and then at the six, or rather five since Motoko nicked one, that he had. "Oh, that's cheating."
"This is the power of the Dark Demon of Shinmeiryu," Motoko said, a hint of unease beneath her calm voice. "Now do you see why we could not leave you to face this monster alone?"
"Yeah, but you still shouldn't have come. Everybody else would have been fine."
The heiress fixed her husband with a glare every bit as fierce as one that had come off her elder sister's face. "I could not leave you to face this monster alone."
He lowered his head, grinning ruefully, then nodded. "Yeah, sorry. That was pretty heartless of me to say, wasn't it? OK! Let's dance!"
And with no hint of fear or hesitation, he dove right into the attack against Tomoko, right as her controlled blades began their unrelenting attack on the crew. His grin widening, Seno didn't alter his approach at all, striking aside any swords that neared him, ducking and diving to avoid the Shinmeiryu maneuvers thrown his way as he charged directly for the Dark Demon.
The others responded to the attack in their own unique manners. Haruka, spotting the swords coming in, ejected the debuff magazine in her pistol and traded it for a magazine filled with high-impact, low-velocity rounds and began pistol-sniping the blades out of the air, aiming to sever the hair strands controlling them when she was able, but mostly focused on evading the Shinmeiryu maneuvers and shooting down the swords.
Naru released another pulse of holy energy, this one far more powerful, but much shorter range than the previous, blasting away the first set of swords to come at her. Her wings unfurled to their full size as she struck with her energy blade to nullify the Shinmeiryu maneuvers and deflect sword attacks near her as she moved through the battlefield, the steel-like upper/back surfaces of her wings impervious to the clash of folded steel against them as they likewise swatted any swords within reach out of the air.
With all the swords coming at her, Kaolla chucked the alien weapon behind her, not paying attention even as a sword pierced it, ruptured the power core, and caused it to explode in a shower of superheated plasma. Launching a spread of guided missiles with the same intent of a Patriot anti-missile battery, she set to using her ridiculous agility to avoid the attacks as, nearby, Nanao continued to hammer out the buffing song she was playing, sidestepping whenever possible, but deflecting when necessary. Universally, all of the Kuro crew had long-since learned to recognize that any sword charged with electricity was coming in to deliver a Raimeiken, and so avoided those rather than attempt to block and get zapped for their troubles.
Masaru leaned his body back and to the left as one sword passed through the space where his head had been, reaching up to snatch the offending weapon from the hair strand that had been wielding it. "Goodness, what an annoyance." He regarded the unique construction style of the weapon and its marking, recognizing it as a Shinmeiryu-forged weapon, and so did not dishonor it or its previous wielder by tossing it carelessly behind him. Instead, he held it in his off-hand as he turned toward the crew's black mage. "Nealla-san!"
The doppleganger of the MolMolian princess glanced toward him, even as she sidestepped the blades and maneuvers coming at her with the grace of a dancer. She nodded, having come to the same conclusion.
See, there was one thing about hair. The stuff was like dry kindling.
"Ati Me Peta Babka..." the summoner murmured, producing a disc labeled 'Halo 3' in his left hand and focusing, calling forth his inate power. His right hand came up, and upon his palm formed a pair of gel-like cylinders filled with a red liquid. He replaced the game disc into a pocket and double-fisted the grenades, then turned to Shinobu and said in an absolute deadpan, "Shinobu-chan, I recommend Barfire."
The domestic engineer knew full-well what those items he'd summoned were, having watched the other occupants of the Hinata play Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST. She quickly cast a mass fire-nullifying spell on the party, after which point Masaru armed the incendiary grenades and chucked them into the mass of animated hair while, down the row, Nealla unleashed a Fira spell into the mass nearest her.
All this occurred about the same time as the mass blast of ki in the combination attack, catching the majority of the crew off-guard. Naru fared best of the group, having dropped to a knee and folded her wings about herself to protect against the shock and force. Seno, in mid-charge, had been blown backward with such force that he'd nearly been pitched into the road chasm, avoiding this only by having stabbed Kagetaku into the pavement.
The smoke cleared from where Motoko had been standing to find her kneeling within a pyramidal barrier of energy, easily recognized as a top-tier Shinmeiryu defensive technique, said to be able to nullify any ki or physical attacks. She closed the raised two fingers of her right hand into her fist, causing the barrier to blink out, and stood slowly, a nearly-imperceptible wobble in her movements. She'd managed to get the barrier up in time to avoid the worst impact of the explosions, but she'd still caught a little bit before she'd protected herself.
Haruka had faired pretty badly, not having much in the way of protective talents, and spared fatal damage only due to the protect spell that had been recast. Too, the force of the explosions had sent her flying into the defending Emily. Grievous Harm with a Body, much? Saving Shinobu the trouble of having to heal her, she popped a healing potion from her bag of holding and downed its contents.
Given that the back row consisted entirely of squishy characters, one would expect them all to be ******** by such a powerful attack that had caught them completely off-guard. But as the debris cleared, instead of their battered bodies, miniature felt dolls bearing the chibified likeness of Nealla, Kaolla, Masaru, Nanao, and Shinobu occupied their places. "And mother always told me that no good would come from playing Pokémon games," the Masaru doll deadpanned, adjusting its glasses.
"Not that this isn't, you know, completely awkward or anything," Nanao's doll responded. "I mean, it's hard to play a guitar with no fingers."
Masaru's doll facepalmed. "You have no idea how Substitute works."
"Certainly a useful skill, though a bit earlier might have been nice," Nealla remarked, voice strained.
"We're lucky he got it off in time at all," Shinobu pointed out, beginning the set of healing and reapplying protect spells again, though there was a lot more healing required this time.
Meanwhile, outside the barrier, a white-haired man with green fingerless gloves, loose white pants, and a red button-up shirt stood observing as though he could see through the opaque barrier, a can of original-flavor Pringles in his hands and munching the chips slowly. "Oh. That looks dangerous. Nooooooooooot yet."
A brunette woman who was stacked to the rafters and yet put off the feeling of being completely clueless wandered up to stand beside him, a telescoping metal quarterstaff in its collapsed form tucked underneath her right arm. "Ara, ara, I think I'm late for the party."
"You're looking nice today, Mutsumi, as always," the man greeted her, then tilted his can of Pringles in her direction. "Chip?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
