Description: Kuradoberi Jam and Benimaru Nikaido are both indomitable warriors. But are they ready to face against the mysterious Slayer? The Sin Eater Nightwolf isn't so sure about that, and decides to give them both a crash course on Darkstalker slaying by introducing them to his pack of ghost wolves.
LATE EVENING
METRO CITY PARK
Truth be told; compensation was not really a driving factor here. Jam's restaurant could be easily fixed, even without the Shootfigher star's ample resources, Nightwolf actually has considerable wealth that he never uses, simply because he doesn't really wants material gain. The porkbuns couldn't have been that expensive, and Nightwolf had actually already gone ahead and fixed the roof and the flooring of Jam's restaurant.
Vengeance wasn't it either, at least for the shaman, while he does not doubt that Jam would hunt down anyone that would dare to lay a finger on her restaurant, Nightwolf knew that petty vandalism and stealing a few porkbuns was hardly a reason to start a blood feud.
It wasn't any of that, these slights could easily be forgiven.
The reason for this endeavor was far more simple than that. It was about standing up to bullies. Nightwolf's very nature as a Sin Eater consisted of finding those things that push mortals around in the dark and push back that much harder. It was true that he detested those who preyed on the weak, but when it was a Darkstalker? That, was personal.
Though great warriors both; Benimaru and Jam, the skinwalker thought it would be fool hardy to lead them straight to Slayer's mansion to confront him. Has either one of them ever stared into the soul less eyes of a demon before and fought them hand to hand? This would be no average martial arts fight, should it come to that, this would be a test of faith that could shaken them to their very mortal souls.
It is why they are in Metro City park now. To see if they were truly prepared to follow the path..
Of the Sin Eater...
...
Hopefully they brought snacks.
But those porkbuns were made with hardwork and love! Those two things meant that those porkbuns were actually priceless. However, Jam could also really use the money too. Her repair costs were constantly on par with her actual revenue. And the number of smashed food carts just seemed to keep adding up!
But in all sincerity, this was a matter of pride for Jam. She did put a lot of work into baking those porkbuns and in running her restaurant. To have someone come in, trash the place, and then jet without paying the bill was unforgiveable! Jam was determined to right this wrong, no matter whom she had to kick to see it done!
And so, Kuradoberi Jamu has shown up to this practice session in earnest. She still had a lot to learn about fighting demons and stuff, but she did come to the park prepared. Jam had brought about a dozen of so red-bean paste cookies for everyone to enjoy!
Dressed in her short red cheongsam and pink skirt, Jam swings her arms wildly as she enters the park proper in search of where Benimaru and Nightwolf were at. But worry not,the cookies were safely contained in a paperbag and were probably in only a slight danger of getting smashed into pieces. Afterall, the young girl did seem to have the worst luck from time to time even when she took certain precautions.
This whole thing has Benimaru confused. Vampires, demons, ghosts, all that stuff... he's never seen anything from any of the people that Nightwolf has tagged with the label 'Darkstalker' that would indicate that. Hell, he's seen more supernatural stuff from Nightwolf himself than from the people he proported to be 'Darkstalkers'. So... to say he was skeptical was an understatement.
However, he does come to the specified place at the specified time. It's a little too cold for him to be wearing those midriff-baring shirts, so he's in something a little more conservative this time-- a black t-shirt with a leather jacket over it, blue jeans, and casual loafer-type shoes. Those shoes and that jacket both look expensive. Then again, most of his wardrobe does.
His hair's down at the moment, pulled back into that loose ponytail, since he has no reason for his hair to be spiked up. He's leaning against a tree when Jam shows up. "Hey there, 'hani'~." He's actually not flirting, he's just being a little bit of a tease. Nightwolf over there would probably get cranky if he started flirting in earnest.
Also no, he didn't bring snacks. But that's what his considerable resources were for-- there were restaurants everywhere! And hey, he might get Jam's number after this, if he takes her out to dinner. He may not be flirting, but he's still planning to!
When the two come to the designated place, the will see Nightwolf with his back turned to them, the large red printing of a wolf's face on the back of his jacket seen clearly despite the calm darkness of the park.
It felt like a normal night, or as normal as it could be in Metro City. The rumbling of the cars could be heard in the distance, the city lights kept them all sufficiently illuminated despite the quickly encroaching night, and there was no one here but them and the trees.
But then, why oh why, did it feel so strange?
Benimaru will no doubt find plenty of reason to get his hair spiked on when Nightwolf turns and stares at them, blank white eyes glowing in the moonlight.
He approaches his two companions silently, thumbs tucked in his belt, moccasin covered feet moving as quietly as a cloud through the sky. The skinwalker gives a nod of greetings but says nothing more. No questions to see if they were certain of their decision. Mostly because he already knew that Jam would say yes and that Benimaru would say no.
But it was out of their hands now, because as Nightwolf knew... this path chooses you.
"Your training begins now."
Looks like there's no time for snacks!!
"AAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!"
An uncannily authentic wolf howl echoes through the air, and it does not look like it came from Nightwolf despite him looking up to the skies. The howl has been heard nonetheless, and the pack gathers.
Ghostly apparitions materialize to Nightwolf's flanks as impossible large wolves, the sizes of horses even, come out of nowhere next to the Apache to stare, and growl, at Benimaru and Jam. Particularly Jam because... well.. she has smells like cookies.
After a brief pause to let everyone gather their wits about them. Nightwolf eases into his familiar Tae Kwan Do stance as the ghost wolves poise themselves to strike next to him.
"Defend yourselves!"
COMBATSYS: Nightwolf has started a fight here on the right meter side.
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Nightwolf
COMBATSYS: Moonwolf has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Nightwolf
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Moonwolf
COMBATSYS: Starwolf has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Starwolf
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Nightwolf
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Moonwolf
COMBATSYS: Benimaru has joined the fight here.
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Benimaru 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Starwolf
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Nightwolf
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Moonwolf
COMBATSYS: Benimaru has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Benimaru 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Starwolf
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Nightwolf
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Moonwolf
"Hi! You're looking good!" Jam greets Benimaru with with a slight giggle before holding the bag in her hand aloft. "I brought cookies for all of us! Or we could always just not tell Nightwolf about them and have more for us." The young chef says with a conspiratory wink being given to Beni.
She then turns towards the warrior in question when he walks towards them and offers a big wave, "Hey Nightwolf!" The whole 'your training begins now' thing causes Jam to look at him funny. The situation becomes a lot less funny when a wolf suddenly howls which causes Jam to jump slightly closer to Benimaru. And to make matters even worse, HUGE wolf ghosts appear out of nowhere to menace them.
The girl in the red dress follows one of the wolves' line of sight to the bag of cookies in her left hand. Jam suddenly hardens her resolve and protectively holds the bag of cookies closer to herself. She wasn't going to let these wolves have those cookies without a fight! Her left leg draws up as she readies for the first attack from the wolf pack. "No, these cookies aren't for ghost wolves! They're for -us-!" With these fearsome fighting words said, Jam readies herself for combat.
COMBATSYS: Jam has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Benimaru 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Starwolf
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Jam 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Nightwolf
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Moonwolf
...Well crap. Nightwolf doesn't waste time, does he? The mention of training has Benimaru raise a brow. "Fight training? Here? Aren't there dojos nearby, or--?"
He doesn't get to finish the statement. Mainly because suddenly WOLVES. "Nanda yo?!" And he's getting away from the tree, heading to Jam's side to support her. And he voices his earlier thought. "You know... for those OTHER people being Darkstalkers, you've used a lot more potentially harmful supernatural abilities than I've seen out of any of them," he points out.
It's clear, though, that there's going to be a fight. Benimaru straightens. "But those friends of yours don't look like they're in the mood to talk." Discards his jacket and pulls the band from his hair. "Unfortunately I didn't exactly bring any bones for doggies. And I kind of need the bones in my body. Besides that, the lady didn't bring enough for your friends."
Then something strange happens. His hands light with blue electricity. He raises them to the back of his neck, and in a quick movement, runs his fingers through his hair, finger-combing the mass up. And when he takes his hands away, his blond hair STAYS UP. He settles into his fighting stance, the modified Muay Thai stance.
Most of it's for show. But he's mostly serious, even if he's being theatrical about it.
Benimaru does bring a good point that Nightwolf, despite looking very eager to literally sick his dogs on the dynamic duo, quickly addresses.
"My powers pale in comparison to what most Darkstalkers can do. In particular this Slayer character." His eyes close momentarily in thought. "I cannot discern his true intentions, his soul is clouded in mystery and it just as likely that he could be just a fool or a real monster."
Then those glowing white eyes open again to stare at them both as they ready themselves in their own stances. "But I can tell you for certain that it will be a hard fight should it come to it, and that is merely the beginning, for more even greater things than this vampire exists."
"A storm is coming, my friends, and we are stuck right in the middle." If they think that he or Slayer are bad, wait until Benimaru and Jam get their first taste of the forces of Outworld. But this is definitely /not/ the time to tread those waters. First things first.
"To fight the darkness, you must accept your fear and use it to help you. Realize that these are not fellow humans that you fight, but spirits and devils. They will give no quarter and ask for none in return."
The shaman motions towards his 'pets'. "Moon and Star here are exceptions, they are the spirit guides of past Sin Eaters, they will not hurt you.... much." There is a hint of amusement in Nightwolf's normally stoic face. "But fight them seriously, because they will too."
Once Benimaru has properly /spiked up/, he gives another nod "Let us begin."
Nightwolf whistles and takes a step back as the wolves attack!!
Moon, being the bigger of the duo, immediately rushes to Benimaru as it seems to consider him a bigger threat than Jam, probably because of the hair. The massive ghost wolf lunges at the Shootfighter and attempts to dig its fangs on his shoulder. Nightwolf stays at the rear is and draws a spectral bow to fire an arrow at Benimaru's leg in order to pin him down.
Meanwhile, Star.. REALLY WANTS COOKIES! The wolf launches at Jam and tries to bite her on the arm where she was holding her basket, attempting to drag her down to the ground through jaw strength alone.
COMBATSYS: Moonwolf successfully hits Benimaru with Gaping Maw.
Glancing Blow
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Benimaru 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Starwolf
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Jam 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Nightwolf
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Moonwolf
COMBATSYS: Benimaru dodges Nightwolf's New Earth.
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Benimaru 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Starwolf
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Jam 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Nightwolf
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Moonwolf
Benimaru's listening. Not only that, but he's listening and watching. Reading a wolfen opponent is a little harder than reading a human one. Though reading Nightwolf is tough anyway because Benimaru doesn't exactly automatically know what the lead-up to firing an arrow made of green energy is when he sees it.
Though before that. Benimaru hears Nightwolf speaking of about Darkstalkers giving no quarter. Not humans, but devils? It's all just so weird to hear. But then how else can he explain it, these abilities that Nightwolf has? The ones he claims those other people have? Mind, Benimaru hasn't seen them himself, and has only Nightwolf's word to go on.
Unfortunately, he needs to pay more attention to his surroundings, because one of the spirit wolves suddenly lunges in his direction! He's in the middle of dodging a green energy arrow and can't dodge both ways! But he tries anyway, and gets painful proof that those fangs are indeed very real-- the attack tears a gash in the leg of his jeans.
While the wolf is close to him, he tries to knee kick it in the snout. Nightwolf may be controlling them, but when there are too many minions, getting to their leader is impossible. So he'll concern himself with the wolf for now.
COMBATSYS: Jam dodges Starwolf's Devour.
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Benimaru 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Starwolf
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Jam 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Nightwolf
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Moonwolf
Kuradoberi Jam cannot help but notice Benimaru when he steps up next to her and does something magical to his hair. She literally turns and looks to make sure she was seeing it right. "That's so cool!" Jam blurts out. "You were cute before, but I like your hair waaay better like that." And why wouldn't she? Jam herself does have a rather eccentric hairstyle.
Nightwolf's serious talk causes Jam to distractedly look back over towards him and his spirit wolves. Oh right! There were monstrous wolves to fight! She also doesn't quite understand much about what Nightwolf is talking about since she's never fought demons, vampires, or even spirits before until now. "What do they want with us that we have to fight?" Jam asks of Nightwolf. It seems like a pretty poignant question to ask. She's never messed around with forces of darkness before.
But before she can be answered, all three wolves attack. Jam only has to contend with one monstrous wolf whom has bean-paste cookies on their mind. The wolf snaps at her cookie holding arm and Jam must hurl herself sideways through the air to get out of the way. "Aiya! Too close!" The young martial artist is momentarily distracted by Benimaru having to fend off botha wolf and a Nightwolf. "Are you okay?" She asks as she suddenly leaps forward into the air, and performs a split while attempt to kick the wolf that had attacked her. The young girl keeps one hand down for balance while holding onto the bag of cookies with her other hand to keep them safe.
COMBATSYS: Moonwolf just-defends Benimaru's Iai Geri!
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Benimaru 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Starwolf
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Jam 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Nightwolf
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Moonwolf
COMBATSYS: Jam successfully hits Starwolf with Ashibarai.
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Benimaru 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Starwolf
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Jam 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Nightwolf
> ///////////////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Moonwolf
"Many things." Nightwolf's whispering voice echoes as the group fights in answer to Jam's query. "Darkstalkers are as varied as us humans. There is not two exactly alike, and they all want different things, just as us."
"Think of them as enhanced reflections of ourselves. There are good Darkstalkers that are truly pure in soul. But the evil ones.. well.. you saw Slayer."
The explanation seems to come from all sides as the pack engages in literal wolf tactics. Seemingly elated at just being able to tear through Benimaru's shirt, Moon whirls back as the Shootfighter swings a knee strike as him and brings his massive jaw down on Benimaru's striking leg. This not only manages to stop the blow entirely, it also means Moon now has a hold of the Shootfighter's leg and will now begin to dig his fangs into it.
"When you face them, it may look like they come from all sides." Nightwolf's echoing voice continues.
Most Darkstalkers do not fight fair and in the interest of keeping this as realistic as possible, neither will the skinwalker's pack. When Star and gets smack by Jam's stray attack, it launches itself at the cook trying to prevent her from assisting Benimaru. The wolf swipes its claws at Jam's face, trying to keep her attention on it, while suddenly Nightwolf dashes behind her to slice an energy knife at the bounty hunter's back.
"Learn to work together. Do not make the mistake of playing to their strengths. If you let them divide you, you will fall."
COMBATSYS: Benimaru interrupts Rending Bite from Moonwolf with Super Inazuma Kick.
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Benimaru 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Starwolf
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Jam 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Nightwolf
> ////////////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Moonwolf
Benimaru must wait until he's out of danger before he can respond to Jam's statement and question. The compliment first, he responds to that with a low-pitched, "You're quite an eye-catching one yourself." And a wink. Holy crap was that a sparkle right when he winked? No, it was just a glint off of the metal of his long earring on that side. ...Right? Though her question gets an actual answer. "Yeah, I'm fi-- AUGH!" Or at least, he was, until the wolf started biting into his leg!
"Bad doggie!" Benimaru scolded, even as he wound up for a roundhouse from that knee kick! But he didn't stop there. The roundhouse freed his leg from the wolf's jaws, though tore another gash in his pant leg-- and in the skin underneath-- and then he went for a backflip kick. But where his foot impacted, a strike lightning lanced down from above.
Benimaru is totally listening to Nightwolf. He's just a little too busy to respond. Between flirting with Jam and trying not to get something rather important bitten off by the wolf, he doesn't quite have the time. Besides, what would he ask that Jam wouldn't cover? She seems to be able to concentrate on it all better. For his part, the shootfighter's just trying to get out of this with his hide intact!
COMBATSYS: Nightwolf successfully hits Jam with Blade and Edge.
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Benimaru 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Starwolf
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Jam 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Nightwolf
> ////////////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Moonwolf
COMBATSYS: Jam blocks Starwolf's Claw Flurry.
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Benimaru 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Starwolf
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Jam 0/-------/-======|===----\-------\0 Nightwolf
> ////////////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Moonwolf
"So Slayer is one of the bad ones?" Jam knew he was a deadbeat for running out on a check, but she didn't know if he was -evil- or not. Evil or not though, she did know that she had to train hard if she wanted to every get her money back for repairs and avenge her shattered pride.
The next wolf's attack is predictable enough, or so Jam thinks! She thankfully protects her face from harm, but this leaves her open to getting stabbed in the back by Nightwolf. Jam shrieks in surprise not only from the attack, but from that she felt drained from getting hit by it. It was something that she was not used to feeling...at all!
Normally, Jam would be smiling at Benimaru from ear to ear that she was complimented back. But, she just got stabbed and merely shoots a slightly panicked look in his direction. She then lunges forward and attempts to place her wounded back towards Benimaru. "I got your back if you got mine!" Jam suggests as she considers her next move.
Holding the bag of cookies still, Jam takes a moment to slow her breathing and push the pain out of her mind. She then places her hands in front of her where a blue orb of chi briefly appears before disappearing. When her chi fades, Jam looks considerably more focused then she was a moment before. She has to take one of these wolves out and quick!
COMBATSYS: Jam charges her next attack!
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Benimaru 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Starwolf
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Jam 1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Nightwolf
> ////////////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Moonwolf
"When it comes to Darkstalkers, you can never be certain." Nightwolf's seemingly disembodied voice responds Jam.
It is the only piece of tranquility amidst the raging fight, even if it is in fact just a training session. To think that a battle against a real Darkstalker will be even more fierce.
Moon snarls in anger and pain as he is forcefully dislodged from the Shootfighter via a roundhouse kick and back flip kick that struck him under the snot to force him back even more. Alright, looks like doggy is now a little angry-- angrier with Benimaru and continues in its attempts to bring him down at all costs. Knowing that he can definitely strike Benimaru if it just tries hard enough, he goes for the full tackle to try and press all its weight on Benimaru's chest and slam the back of the Shootfigther's head into the ground.
"Remember what I said, Benimaru." Nightwolf's voice continues. "Do not fight to their strengths."
Why he's saying that may become evident as Jam charges up an attack... that just happens to leave her completely vulnerable to Star! The wolf snarls again and leaps right for Jam's face to give her a good claw slice across the face.
"Do not leave your ally to fend for herself." To matters completely worse, even Benimaru does somehow manage to not get pinned by Moon. Nightwolf suddenly appears between the Shootfighter and Jam to swing a sweeping leg strike at his feet and get him off balance. Nightwolf is not going to make it easy for Benimaru to assist his ally.
COMBATSYS: Benimaru dodges Moonwolf's Scent of Blood.
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Benimaru 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Starwolf
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Jam 1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Nightwolf
> ///////////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Moonwolf
COMBATSYS: Benimaru blocks Nightwolf's Sweep.
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Benimaru 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Starwolf
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Jam 1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Nightwolf
> ///////////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Moonwolf
Benimaru nods to Jam's statement, with an affirmative, "Un." And he makes for where he can take up position in front of her back, aiming to put himself back-to-back with her. Except suddenly the Moonwolf tries to tackle him and he's forced to pull an acrobatic flip to one side. And no sooner does he land than Nightwolf's trying to knock his feet out from under him. There's no time to jump again. All he can do is drop his weight, shift it to the other leg, and try to prevent as much damage as possible.
Though when he can attack again, he draws back a hand... and then surges towards the Starwolf. his leading first erupts with electricity as he makes for a punch at the spirit wolf's snout.
COMBATSYS: Jam blocks Starwolf's Pack Tactics.
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Benimaru 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Starwolf
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Jam 1/-----==/=======|===----\-------\0 Nightwolf
> ///////////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Moonwolf
If battling a real Darkstalker was going to be tougher than this, than Jam might be in quite a...um...jam. These spirit wolves were really strong and so was Nightwolf. This wasn't going to be a pretty fight. Actually, it kinda was due both Benimaru and Jam's good looks. But it seems that these wolves were doing their darndest to ruin that!
That same wolf tries to attack Jam's face again and once more she manages to block it at the last minute. This doesn't prevent Jam from getting some rahter nasty looks gashes on her forearms, but atleast it wasn't her face!
Phew. Atleast, her back was to Benimaru's so she didn't have to worry about getting backstabbed. Jam looks over her shoulder only to see Benimaru acrobatically leaping away. "Hey! Wait!" She fumes as she turns her attention back to the tsask at hand.
The Chinese chi user decides to try to get her revenge on Star. She dashes after the wolf and attempts to uppercut the monstrous creature palm facing up. Hit or miss, Jam would then yell "Smashing God Palm!" and then a HUGE pillar of chi summoned flame would shoot up in an attempt to land a second fiery uppercut on the wold.
COMBATSYS: Benimaru successfully hits Starwolf with Raimei Tou.
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Benimaru 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Starwolf
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Jam 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Nightwolf
> ///////////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Moonwolf
COMBATSYS: Starwolf Toughs Out Jam's Empowered Geki - Saishinhou!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Benimaru 0/-------/=======|=======\=====--\1 Starwolf
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Jam 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Nightwolf
> ///////////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Moonwolf
"Now you begin to understand." The Apache's voice echoes. "But remember this is merely the beginning. Many more challenges lay ahead."
"When they do come. I know you will be prepared."
The lesson is not yet over, however, as Nightwolf and his pack still have one final test for the would be hunters of the dark. In particular Star, who gets the brunt of both warriors' attacks and whines as it is struck on the back by Benimaru's charged fist, then gives an enraged snarl when Jam /slams/ her energy palm right under his snout.
The wolf even goes sailing upwards.
But ghost wolves are apparently very resilient and it makes a full back flip in the air to land on its paws.
With a frenzied roar, Star decides that he rather eat some delicious Jam instead of cookies. He goes straight for Jam's face again, but he comes from the top to start chewing on the top of the bounty hunter's head!
Meanwhile with Benimaru.
"Hey." Suddenly Nightwolf's voice doesn't sound so disembodied anymore. He comes right besides Benimaru and swings a massive energy battle axe to the Shootfighter's forehead. Is he maybe finally going to make good in his promise to scalp him??
Just as this is happening, Moon comes up from behind the model fighter to... bite him right in the arse.
COMBATSYS: Benimaru dodges Nightwolf's Ancestor's Call.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Benimaru 0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Starwolf
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Jam 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Nightwolf
> //////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Moonwolf
COMBATSYS: Moonwolf successfully hits Benimaru with Alpha's Rage.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Benimaru 1/------=/=======|=------\-------\0 Starwolf
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Jam 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Nightwolf
> ///////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Moonwolf
Benimaru completely misses the Moonwolf in his attempt to avoid getting scalped. That hair's important! Fortunately, his agile backwards bend to dodge the tomahawk shifted his weight, and the focus of the bite. Unfortunately it ended up catching him right in the arm, and he gave a surprised, pained YELP. Yeah, his manager's going to be asking about that one tomorrow.
And then something weird happens. Know those cartoons where the alien is in a martial arts fight and just roars with anger and powers up with that flare? The very air around Benimaru seems to be charged, and then he damn near levitates off the ground as dark blue electricity sparking all around him. And he gives an upward-lilting growl. Electricity seems to dance along his body briefly. And then he just... poses? Except in the next instant, blue flashes happen, and Benimaru seems to be elsewhere. Or... no wait... he's in TWO PLACES AT ONCE! Just for a moment. Five blue flashes happen, each one in the shape of Benimaru, each one trying to hit or kick Nightwolf. And then Benimaru is suddenly in the second location.
Hit or miss... the shootfighter's worn out. That was a LOT of power he just expended.
COMBATSYS: Starwolf successfully hits Jam with Will to Survive.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Benimaru 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Starwolf
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Jam 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Nightwolf
> ///////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Moonwolf
Jam is feeling pretty excited when her flame pillar sends the wolf spiraling through the air. "Hiya! Take that! I did it!" exclaims Jam as she begins to jump up and down in excitement. Surely, that poor wolf couldn't take the full blast of Jam's chi pillar. But look how wrong Jam ends up being. The wolf -backflips- through the air on its way back down and lands on its paws like a cat. "No way! My technique was perfect!" bemoans Jam incredulously.
The wolf pounces again and Jam attempts a backflip of her own to get out of the way. She ends up getting picked bit around her midsection before being thrown through the air by the horse-sized wolf. Good thing it didn't land on her head, or Jam would have been decapitated by such a large beast.
And yet, she's not exactly lucky as she just got used like a chew toy by the beast. But thankfully, Benimaru is doing what he can to strike back at Nightwolf and his pals. Jam's brown eyes light up as she watches Beni attempt to light up their mutual foe in a series of stylish moves. She sees this as her opening to jump in! When Benimaru's last shadow kick attempt to land, Jam dashes forward to attack!
"Choukyaku Hououshou!" The young martial artist yells this and then drops back on her right leg to unleash a flurry of kicks before dropping down on her left leg and jumping up in the air to snap a rising front kick at Nightwolf. Should the big guy get caught up in this attack, Jam will actually rise up -with- Nightwolf and envelop herself in chi energy. Jam outstretches her arms and keeps her legs together as her chi manifests in the shape of a phoenix that seeks to burn Nightwolf in an attempt to add a little razzle-dazzle to her fearsome combination of kicks.
COMBATSYS: Benimaru and Jam successfully hit Nightwolf with ~ <3 SEHIKA LOVE LOVE TENKYOKEN!! ?> ~.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Benimaru 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Starwolf
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Jam 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Nightwolf
> ///////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Moonwolf
As Benimaru avoids Nightwolf's attack and the Apache spins on his heel to face his opponent again, only to realize that both of them are now attacking him in unison, the small smirk spreads through his lips.
"Well done." By focusing on their real enemy and working together, the two of them managed to truly overcome the obstacles that where the ghost wolves and went for the leader of the pack. Nightwolf brings his arms up to protect himself but he cannot truly protect himself from such an onslaught of attacks, it's like trying to block all the droplets in rain. Benimaru's combination of attacks opens him up for Jam's flurry of kicks and as the phoenix rises it takes Nightwolf with him and he spins in the night air before dropping unceremoniously face first on the grassy ground with a flat /thud/!
"Hng..." That looked like it hurt.
Nightwolf manages to somehow pry his face off the ground and calls his wolves back to him. "That's enough.." Yeah, don't really feel like taking another one of those full to the face. He straightens back up and crosses his arms, nodding. "You are ready."
"Tomorrow, we shall go to Slayer's lair and take this issue with him." The ghost wolves vanish, back to the spirit realm leaving only the three of them in silence.
Until Nightwolf arches an eyebrow at Jam. "I'm still going to want cookies." A wolf's hearing is pretty sharp. He probably did hear her saying those conspiratorial things to Benimaru.
As soon as Nightwolf falls, Benimaru does too. He just sort of... slumps to a knee, panting. Pace, pace... he knows better than to exert himself that much. But hey, it seemed to work. As Nightwolf calls the halt, Benimaru lets go of the electric charge in his body, and his hair begins to settle down. It's proof positive of how much Benimaru is tired... he doesn't instantly fix his hair. He does, however, stand back up after a few moments and and run his fingers through his hair once to tame it. And as his hands move away from his hair, he flicks his fingers, shaking a few crackling sparks off them.
He then looks to Jam, as Nightwolf gives instructions. While the Sin Eater speaks, Benimaru tends to Jam. Does she need help? But yes, he is listening. Evidenced when he speaks up in response to the cookies, "None for your wolfen friends! They don't need to get any bigger, so nothing but dry kibble for them!" He COULD be kidding. But it's often hard to tell with him, since he's got that sarcastic edge to his voice nearly all the time. Then he's free to ask Jam, "Kuradoberi-san, are you all right?" And here he's not kidding.
Jam lands not so gracefully after she had finished her attack. It was a pretty far fall! She lands hard on her heels and has to crouch to prevent herself from toppling over. Nightwolf annoucing that the training is over allows Jam to breathe a huge sigh of relief which causes her to cringe slightly due to her recent bite marks. But there seems to be no rest for the weary as Nightwolf announces that tomorrow is the day they go after Slayer.
Still, she's earned a moment of rest and plops backwards to sit down on the ground. The cookies were probably a little warm from the flame pillar and probably a little smashed from getting jostled around. But cookies were still cookies! She smiles ruefully as she takes one out takes a bite. "Okay, I think there are still plenty enough for the three of us! But yeah, your wolf friends are already far too big!"
From her seated positon, Jam flashes a grin up at Benimaru. "I'm pretty tough! So, I'll be okay." The young cook then reaches into the bag and offers a mostly intact cookie to Beni. "We do have some delicious cookies to celebrate with afterall!"
Log created on 21:34:05 12/01/2014 by Nightwolf, and last modified on 03:02:57 12/02/2014.