Match of the Millennium

Description: A battle breaks out in a Mexican town. Bullet, Ragna, and Zach do battle in a stunning match of Fire, Darkness, and Psychic powers!

[RAGNA]
Given all the Darkstalker activity going on all around the world, it only makes sense that NOL has stepped up their game in trying to -recruit- these individuals for their own purposes. Of course, this also means that any other target they're looking for, is more readily going to be found out. Though this particular target doesn't really do much to hide his presence.

Walking along the side of a cement sidewalk, a man clad in a crimson cloak is making his way. The colors he wears makes him easily identifiable, as well as the gigantic blade he wears to the back of his hip. If anyone has been watching anything pertaining to NOL, this man is easily recognized as Ragna, the Blood Edge!

What is he doing in Mexico? Who knows. The man just seems to traverse between locales at random. Rather it's for his goal of dismantling NOL or just being a general vagrant is left to mystery. Regardless, Ragna has found himself in this town!

Currently it seems that the man has stolen from a cart, a most delectable treat - A churro! If one has half a mind, the would have noticed that the cart owner is yelling at him from a distance. It would seem he had taken it without paying! Though the screaming doesn't seem to really phase him in the slightest.

[BULLET]
Newfound association with those strange Zepp people or not, Bullet is ever one to keep on the move. All the better to stay alive, in her mind- and to find what -she's- looking for. Which might explain her dour and unpleasant expression- though it hardly ever leaves her face to begin with.

That being said, one still does have to make a living, especially as a solo mercenary. Which, well- it's not just NOL people that look for people like Ragna. With bounty numbers like his on the line, and little care for collateral damage herself, it might be considered a perfect target for the woman- it would certainly let her focus on personal matter for some time to come.

What luck, then, that she might happen to be in the area when the commotion is caused, and follow the pointing to the fellow walking down the street.

She's not subtle- neither as a person nor in this particular instance. Rather she moves directly into the red-wearing man's path, hand with the smaller of her two gauntlets on her hip. "... Huh. Funny. You look a lot like someone that a lot of people seem to think is worth a lot of money," she says bluntly.

[RAGNA]
Ragna just stands there for a moment, looking at Bullet with a rather uninterested gaze. "Tch..." Is all he manages to get out, before scarfing down the rest of the mexican treat as if someone was going to take it away from him. Bringing his hands up, he smacks them together to remove any lingering sugar still on his gloves.

"Oh, you must be lost." He brings his right hand up and points a thumb behind him. "The strip club is that way. A lot of those chicks thought I was worth a lot of money as well, so you must be one of them?" He bluntly implies to Bullet. "Well, some of them dressed a bit better than you. So you must be new..."

Without any hesitation, the man saunters right up to bullet and attempts to push past her. Using his shoulder to give her a small check if she decides not to move from his path.

[BULLET]
The implication seems to at best get some confusion out of Bullet- whatever points he's trying to make, it's clear they're not landing here. Except perhaps the direct mention of her clothing- the tattered remains of an ill-fitting paramilitary uniform being apparently important, for some reason.

"The number ninety million ring any bells?" she questions as he approaches, standing her ground quite fully. She even lifts a hand up as he tries to shoulder past- and she's not exactly weak, the shifting of her arm as it moves betraying surprising muscle mass. The cumbersome contraption on her other arm must put her arms through their paces, at the very least. "I'd call my being here lucky, more than anything."

[RAGNA]
Ragna stops as the woman seems to know his bounty right off the top of her head. He just stops and breathes out another sigh. "Listen, if you dont want to be found in a ditch. I suggest you move your little ass out of my way. Or shit's going to hit the fan really quick."

As if to drive his point across, one can hear his palm slap the the hilt of his gigantic sword. He then slowly begins to pull it forward, as if offering the woman yet another chance to just get out of his way.

"Many wanna be assholes have tried to claim the bounty, and as you can see, none have really succeeded..."

[BULLET]
The faintest smirk touches the corner of Bullet's mouth- but it's far from a pleasant, happy affair. She shakes her head, upturning her left hand- the strange blue lens on her palm beginning to glow an orange colour, slowly. A slight pause as she eyes the sword. Fine piece fo craftsmanship if nothing else.

She shakes her head. "You're doing a great job sounding like exactly what you're talking about. I'm coming off a fight with a literal aztec god the other day- pardon me if I'm not terribly impressed."

As she speaks, she shifts her stance- feet shifting further apart. She almost seems to relish the situation- then again, with no visible handheld weapon, being in this close to start with might be something of an advantage.

COMBATSYS: Ragna has started a fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ragna            0/-------/------=|

COMBATSYS: Bullet has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Bullet           0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0            Ragna

[RAGNA]
That's when the Bloodedge has had enough of this crap, completely unlatching his blade and bringing it up to Bullet. "Don't say I didn't warn you, you arrogant bitch." That's when the anger seeps out of Ragna. He truely hates it when someone gets in his way, and even more so when they try to talk down to him!

Grasping the blade in both hands now, Ragna just aimes it's sharpened edge towards the woman. "Lets call this an object lesson. A lesson in getting the fuck out of my way!" Given how close the two are to each other, Ragna swings his blade back as if he's about to take a slash.

Though he feints and lets go of the blade with his one hand, and quickly pushes forward with a nasty looking left hook!

COMBATSYS: Ragna successfully hits Bullet with Quick Strike.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Bullet           0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0            Ragna

[BULLET]
Bringing her gauntleted arm up to deal with the sword as the clear and present larger threat, Bullet gets caught by the hook just as Ragna clearly planned, square in the chest and knocking her a step back with an aggravated 'oof'. Still, she keeps a strong footing- and gains a rather unpelasant, almost sinister gleam in her eye.

Undeterred, she darts forward again, lowering herself closer to the ground as she moves in uncomfortably close. She reaches a hand out- but it's not a punch, like one might expect- rather a quick shove, more to set someone off-footing than to deal any real damage.

That, of course, is when she springs back upward, exploding from the ground and throwing herself into a forward flip and a vicious axe kick.

COMBATSYS: Ragna blocks Bullet's Cross Firewheel.

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Bullet           0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0            Ragna

[RAGNA]
Ragna throws another 'Tch.' out, hoping that just giving the woman a small smack would scare her off. Though, as that look appears to her eyes, Ragna understands immediately what's she's all about. Respectable given that most wanna-be bounty hunters usually turn tail and run. Ragna would relish this moment...

If Bullet hadn't chosen to attack him like her namesake. Trained senses and muscle memory kick in, as Ragna brings the fat side of the blade up, and the metal blocks the deadly axe kick. Still, Bullet hit with enough force that it cause the Bloodedge to slide backwards.

"You know, for such a tiny girl. You sure got some strength in those legs! You sure you're not from the strip club?"

Before Bullet can confusedly determine what Ragna means, the man slams the blade to the side and attempts to throw Bullet with it. Charging forward, dark energy coalesces around his right hand. Within moments, the deadly punch is a void of light flying at the woman at ridiculous speeds!

COMBATSYS: Bullet blocks Ragna's Hell's Fang.

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Bullet           0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0            Ragna

[BULLET]
Though she does tumble back as he tries to throw her off, Bullet lands neatly on her feet with a strange sort of discipline, despite the wild aggression of her attack. She drops low again, bringing up the more thickly gauntleted arm to block the brunt of the man's blast. Still, nevertheless the strange black flames reach around to lick at her sides and singe her- to the tune of more aggravated grunts from her.

But rather than strike again, she straightens up, placing a hand against her gauntlet. "System override," she says carelessly, apparently heedless of any dangers such a statement might imply. Rather, flames of her own- a more natural orange colour- lash out from the gauntlet- harmless to Ragna, but perhaps disconcerting, given her whole body begins to glow in the process.

COMBATSYS: Bullet gathers her will.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Bullet           1/------=/=======|=====--\-------\0            Ragna

[RAGNA]
Ragna does not seem to relent, the dark flames flicker about his form. Obviously he's drawing the residual power of his grimoire, without having to directly tap into it. Regardless, the sight is probably unsettling to most as the civilians begin to run.

"Diablo!" Can be heard as more and more people seem to get the hell out of dodge.

Ragna in the meantime, channels those lingering flames into his blade. Slamming it into the ground the man just grins. "Prayer isn't gonna save you..." He points out to Bullet as he grasps the hilt with both his hands. Then with visual effort, Ragna pulls the blade violently from the ground. The flames quickly take the form of a black beasts head, and flies right at bullet!

COMBATSYS: Ragna successfully hits Bullet with Dead Spike EX.

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Bullet           1/--=====/=======|=======\-------\0            Ragna

[ZACH GLENN]
Amidst all of the people fleeing the chaos ramping up in the marketplace, there was... an outlier. Someone who /wasn't/ running.

He was... impeccably dressed. A very well-tailored suit emphasized his fighter's physique rather than masked it, even as the sunglasses covered just enough of his features to make him hard to identify. Well, other than the white hair and the hints of a scar peeking out over the left lense, anyway.

This man had walked over to one of the remaining street vendors and ordered a drink as he watched the brawl in progress. He took a long sip as he assessed the situation. One of these people was worth a pretty penny, while the other seemed to be a capable fighter. Perhaps he would see how this played out before he moved on this situation. He =would= move eventually; too much trouble had been started here, and that was bad for business.

[BULLET]
Despite her best efforts to block this as well, the massive blast proves to work past her arm all the same- and Bullet is sent flying back almost into a building- a state that seems to largely make her all the angrier as she pushes herself back to her feet. The burning energy around her refuses to relent, the woman radiating heat as she sets her feet again.

She was always decently fast, but this is something else entirely. She seems to fire forward like her unknown namesake, feet fully leaving the ground as she flies at the Bloodedge as though she's lined him up in a set of sights. Her move is not deceptive, simply aggressive, her arm kept low to open into an uppercut to hopefully open the man for her to spike him back into the dirt with both feet.

COMBATSYS: Ragna endures Bullet's Lock On.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Bullet           1/=======/=======|=======\==-----\1            Ragna

[RAGNA]
Ragna seems mildly impressed as Bullet just continues to get back up, even after he's tapped into a small pool of his own powers. Again, most people just tend to run away at this point but not Bullet! He can't help but grin playfully as Bullet rockets at him. "You're a brave one!" He calls out and swings his blade back, he attempts to slash at the woman but ends up missing her due to her ridiculous speed.

"Oof!" Is all Ragna can manage as he is uppercutted into the air, and nothing escapes him as both of Bullet's feet launch him back to the Earth! A silent scream escapes him, as his mouth opens but nothing comes out.

What might seem like a moment of celebration for Bullet, is quickly dashed. As Ragna's red eyes glows, and he flashes a fanged grin back up at her. "Not....bad..." He declares from his little divet in the ground. "Not bad at all!" Slowly he pushes himself up, even if Bullet is still standing on him. "You showed me yours..." He leaps back once he has her off his person. "Now ill show you mine! Be careful, this leaves some ladies unable to walk in the morning!"

Quickly leaping into the air, Ragna brings his blade up and like a torch from the underworld, it ignites in black and purple flames!

"SOUL EATER!" He roars, and brings the sword down on Bullet!

COMBATSYS: Ragna successfully hits Bullet with Soul Eater.

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Bullet           2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\====---\1            Ragna

[BULLET]
Fighting a god with a big nasty sword-like object is... one thing. Weapons she can deal with. The Soul Eater and all its forms are rather new to Bullet- and this attack, like others, catches her full on. She's knocked into the wall fully now with a worrisome cracking noise, and a not-insignificant dent in the structure itself. Rightly she should stay down- but Bullet was never good about doing the healthy thing, and doubly so after semi-recent events of her life.

She drags herself back up, wobbling but on her feet, for now. The great shield-like portion of her gauntlet opens up, venting flames as she forces herself forward again. She moves swiftly again, bringing her elbow down powerfully in another one of those strikes intended to open up the opponent- in this case, for a blase of flame to knock him down, and then... well, perhaps something more from that unusual armagus.

COMBATSYS: Bullet can no longer fight.

[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ragna            1/---====/=======|

COMBATSYS: Bullet dazes Ragna with #Hard Kill Bringer#!

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ragna            2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|

[RAGNA]
Ragna is ROCKED by Bullet's attack, as he spits out blood from the sheer force of her strike. "Ahhhhh!" He bellows out, as he is sent spinning and falling to the ground. His blade slides to the side, and Ragna the opposite of it. Part of his under-vest is torn up, as the fibers quickly burst out and are instantly burned away. It takes him a moment to come to a complete stop...

When he does, it still takes him a moment to recover. "D...damn it...." He whispers out in a ragged tone. Grasping at the ground, trying to gain some semblance of feeling other than -PAIN-. Blood seeps from his gaping wound from his chest, as well as him coughing up even more from his mouth. "That damn..." He attempts to speak to himself, "Cat always said, keep...yo..your guard up."

COMBATSYS: Ragna takes no action.

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ragna            2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|

[ZACH GLENN]
"That would be wise advice indeed," says a level voice behind Ragna. The voice, should Ragna turn to face its source, is that well-tailored man who was watching the fight. His suit jacket has been removed, and the sleeves of his shirt have been rolled up past the elbows as he approached.

"You may want to consider offering to clean up this mess that you made," the man says.

[BULLET]
Shortly after the enormous destructive blast from her armagus, Bullet fell back- partially from the blowback of her attack, and partially sheer being wiped from the fight. No wonder this 'Bloodedge' is considered such an enormous threat. Some small, prideful part of her mind does come to wonder what kind of bounty she might rack up if Sector 7 got onto her.

Still, she pushes herself back up at the voice of a third contender, gritting her teeth hard at the pain in her ribs and the situation. She pauses a moment, considering.

She reaches behind herself, plucking something from her belt with a metallic clack. "Maybe this will cover it," she calls over, lobbing the plain metal cylinder underhand to the newcome, suited man.

The cylinder is, of course, a smoke grenade.

[RAGNA]
Ragna seems a bit distracted as he seems to be lamenting to himself. Though this new arrival doesn't go unanswered for too long. That red eye of Ragna's finally focuses on the well dressed man. Trying to keep as cool as possible, Ragna simply spits some blood towards Zach.

"Why don't you go fuck yourself, huh?" He asks, and wipes the blood from his lips. Ragna remains quiet as he wants to see how this new comer will respond to his reply. Though this is a real tight spot for the Bloodedge, as he's been pretty smashed by Bullet. He'll fight if he has to, but he needs to play this game right.

No matter how serious Ragna talks though, his appearance betrays his current condition.

[ZACH GLENN]
The man swats the incoming projectile away on pure reflex, knocking it onto a nearby roof to spew its payload. The stranger walks up to Ragna, and while the Bloodedge may not actually be able to sense the outflow of psychic power?

Purple energy flowing off of the man's frame is plenty indicator that he's not your average person.

"I think not," he says evenly. "I guess we do this the hard way." No malice, no anger, not even mocking glee. Just a statement of fact, which may or may not distract Ragna from the left straight launched at him. More of that odd energy, visibly but possible otherwise impossible to sense, coats the striking limb!

COMBATSYS: Zach Glenn has joined the fight here.

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Zach Glenn       0/-------/-------|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2            Ragna

COMBATSYS: Zach Glenn successfully hits Ragna with Medium Strike.
- Power hit! -

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///                           ]
Zach Glenn       0/-------/-------|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2            Ragna

[RAGNA]
Ragna is smacked by a force he's definitely not accustomed to, and it HURTS. More blood is coughed up as he is struck to the side, the best he can do is roll towards his blade. Streaks of blood smatter against the ground, as he rolls as best he can. Oh yea, Ragna has seen MUCH better days then this. If he knew what was about to happen, he might have broken the seal on his grimoire. However, hindsight is 20/20 and doesn't really mean much now.

Regardless, there is still a burning fire within the man that will not allow him to just simply let this happen. Grabbing his sword, he hoists himself up with all his strength. "You wanna come in at the end of my fight....fine." The blade slides foward and the blade crooks itself sideways, becoming a scythe. "Lets see you deal with this, tough guy!" Swinging the scythe back, more black flames erupt from Ragna as he barrels at Zach!

COMBATSYS: Ragna has reached second wind!

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///                           ]
Zach Glenn       0/-------/-------|>>>>>>-\-------\0            Ragna

COMBATSYS: Zach Glenn fails to interrupt Black Onslaught EX from Ragna with Shining Finger EX.
- Power fail! -

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////                          ]
Zach Glenn       0/-------/-----==|>>>>>>-\-------\0            Ragna

[BULLET]
Wincing through the long motion, Bullet pushes herself back up to her feet as the battle renews between the newcomer and the Bloodedge. She's already missed out on the bounty, clearly, so...

She doesn't move with quite the alacrity she did in the fight, but certainly not at a crawl as she starts shifting towards an alley during the two's distraction- one or two decent turns and she should be out of this situation right and proper.

[ZACH GLENN]
The strange man raises a pale brow as Ragna intends to make a fight of it. He raises his right hand, as if reaching for the taller man, even as a construct of psychic force in the shape of a hand reaches for Ragna with the intent of catching both the attack and the man.

Both brows raise as the scythe slashes through the spectral hand, and into the man's chest. The shirt is ripped and singed as blood splatters on the street. He staggers back a few paces, but does not seem all that upset.

"It would seem," he says evenly as he checks the wound with his left hand, even as it starts to close up slightly, "That the bounty on you is well warranted." He slides into a wary stance, a bit forward leaning with his hands by his hips. More energy pours over him as he waits.

[RAGNA]
Ragna seems to radiate heat as he stands there inside the inferno of black fire. His wounds expel steam, as they begin to mend themself which allows him to focus on the now aggressive man. "I'd rather you ran..." Ragna growled to the unknown man, his scythe changing back into a blade. "I dont like what you used earlier, it was something Im not accustomed to."

He raises his right hand up, and shows off his glove. It has a small circular plate on it, that has a sliding latch in the center. "I can tell from that attack, that you're not one to mess around with!"

"Restriction 666 released. Dimensional Interruption Imaginary Number formed. Blazblue... ACTIVATE!"

Having said that, the latch opens up and dark energy completely surges about Ragna. More intense than before, what was like a small cinder of flame, is now a raging explosion of these dark flames. Ragna's sheer presence radiates outward, as he levels his gaze at Zach. His right hand has becomes a massive claw, and it points towards Zach.

"Last chance to leave!" To drive this point home, that same claw launches at the non-tattered man!

COMBATSYS: Ragna returns to his normal state.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////                        ]
Zach Glenn       0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0            Ragna

COMBATSYS: Zach Glenn blocks Ragna's Devoured by Darkness.

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////                        ]
Zach Glenn       0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0            Ragna

[ZACH GLENN]
The man's eyes narrow behind the sunglasses. The surge of energy was... interesting to him. The agent thrusts his left hand forward, more of that violet energy surging to the fore to catch the construct cleanly this time. Seither and psychic energy clash in a flurry of sparks and micro explosions.

The psion sweep his hand away to clear the space between the two men, and Ragna will see that the attack was... not as productive as he might have hoped.

"I suppose," V1 says as he surges toward Ragna, "We shall see about all of that shortly." His hands come up in a boxer's stance as he closes and hurls a three-quarters uppercut from his left hand, still augmented by that eerie purple force!

COMBATSYS: Ragna fails to interrupt Explosive Strike from Zach Glenn with Inferno Divider.
-* CRITICAL FAIL! *-
! VENGEANCE !

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Zach Glenn       1/-------/=======|

COMBATSYS: Ragna can no longer fight.

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Zach Glenn       1/-------/=======|

[RAGNA]
Ragna knows that even releasing his full potential wasn't going to do much for him, as he was so badly wounded to begin with. Even access to his full might right now is still like trying to fight with both his hands tied, so the only thing he can do is set it up so he can atleast try and make it hard for Zach to hit him.

The very presence of the black beast can be felt, as more and more energy is released from Ragna's right hand. He grips his sword and swings it towards Zach with an intent of stopping him in his tracks.

"INFERNO DIVIDER!" He roars,

As he does this, Black and purple flames rip outwards from the blade and towards Zach in a crossing formation.

However, it seems to be utterly futile, as this new force just rips right through the flames the blade produces. Both Zach and Ragna are instantly pressed together with opposing forces of nature, so a large explosion of flame/psychice residue and good ole' fashioned dirt it kicked high up into the air! Regardless of the spectacle, Ragna is tossed backwards within the cloud, and lands with a sickening thud back to the ground. The plate on his right hand now closes, as the Bloodedge is rendered unconscious.

[BULLET]
A good soldier times their throws, angles them to be hard to avoid. Bullet, in her earlier pain-and-battle-dust haze, didn't think to do that properly, admittedly. But, well. What's better- letting the mark run to get taken in another day, or let some two-bit... -very- psychic cartel thug take them in.

Which is perhaps why Bullet circled around, watching the fight from the sidelines as she gathered her tossed-aside sack of effects and held onto a particularly painful spot on her side. Burns and probably-fractures make for an... unpleasant pair. Her other hand, though...

This time the plain steel canister rolls gently along the ground, timed closer to the explosion and not thrown directly at someone who might -knock it the hell away-.

[RAGNA]
Ragna just grimaces and calls out in pain as he comes back to. Even the Bloodedge isn't invincible, especially not against two opponents like he just faced. With eyes closed Ragna just tries to bring his senses back around him. He's gotta get going or this man is gonna get him. It's not normally in Ragna's nature to try and get away, but he's got nothing in his tank to throw at Zach anymore. HELL, he doesn't even know who Zach is!

Painfully, Ragna flips himself back over onto his stomach, and begins to pull himself along the ground. With everything he can muster, Ragna throws himself back up onto his feet but stumbles back to his knees. Just to balance himself, he grabs the hilt of his blade. "You...lucky....." He breathes heavy. "Son of a Bitch..."

He looks back at Zach and glares, blood rolling down his brow and face. He pushes his hand down on his blade, just so he can get back into a standing position. "Ill..." He rocks drunkenly, "Ill...."

He can't manage much more than that, he's been beaten.

That is until the canister rolls out of nowhere and pops it's payload of smoke out. Not wanting to waste this opportunity, Ragna begins to run (hobble) away as fast as he can.

[ZACH GLENN]
The psion stops short as the smoke fills the marketplace, coughing to keep his lungs clear of the stuff. When the dust and smoke clear, Ragna is gone, as is the woman. He winces; Lord Vega will not be pleased. Just as pressingly, his shirt and pants are bloody messes. The injuries will heal soon enough, but he'll need a change of clothes sooner.

"Perhaps," he says almost amicably, "You are the lucky one." With that, the man sometimes known as V1 and sometimes known as Zach Glenn, heads back to retrieve his jacket and exit the area.

COMBATSYS: Zach Glenn has ended the fight here.

Log created on 16:43:14 07/29/2018 by Ragna, and last modified on 00:50:43 07/31/2018.