Match of the Millennium

Description: Gabriel is determined to get into the NoL somehow, but her advances maybe a little too aggressive. Echo is determined to play wingman, but she cannot calm the crusaders passion. Renka is -really- confused.

[RENKA]
Life in the Novus Orbis Librarium isn't all exciting battles against the supernatural threats of the world, or daring opportunities to help civilians in dire need of a helping hand. Sometimes the work required in the globe-spanning paramilitary organization is positively mundane. Such as the work one Corporal Renka Kaneko and her partner, Private First Class Kiriya Teruhiko are engaged in at the moment.

The location is a scene of a crime well after the action and excitement that perpetuated the devastation. The building they're poking through is a burnt out husk on one of the side streets of Chinatown. There had been a place of business here but considering the state of the structure, there will be nothing going on in this location until after insurance, demolition, and construction experts get involved in putting something up in its place.

No, the fighting is done, the pursuit that followed has already ended, unsuccessfully unfortunately, and all those directly affected by the darkstalker's rampage through the neighborhood have no reason to be around.

Now is the time for paperwork.

"Don't use those stairs, try the back stairwell." Corporal Kaneko comments while tapping the screen of a tablet in her hand. The NOL Corporal in question is, at a glance, a demihuman. A pair of vulpine ears on top of her head prevent her from wearing the standard issue blue beret common to most NOL soldiers, but the rest of her attire fits the bill. A dark blue blazer worn over a white blouse, a crimson tie at her neck accompanies a knee length, pleated, dark blue skirt. Standing in a room that was clearly on fire the day before, her black shin-high leather boots keep her feet safe from the mess at least. Behind her back, a pair of fox tails make it abundantly clear that she is one of the Librarium's receruited darkstalkers, certainly putting her at odds with most of her kind that continue to run 'free' throughout the land.

At her side, a young man of slightly higher stature, Private Kiriya Teruhiko, is similarly dressed, except for the dark blue slacks instead of a skirt. Blonde hair is barely visible beneath his blue beret. At the moment, he's resting his hand behind his neck, looking at his partner with a lopsided grin, "You know, just two months ago, we were the same rank. And now you're all about bossing me around?" The tablet in his left hand is getting far less attention.

Looking up from whatever fields she was filling in, Renka rolls her eyes, "Come on. The odds of us finding anything interesting here are low. The perp already gave the response team the slip... in spite leaving several man-sized holes in a whole lot of walls in the process. Just take the pictures, fill in the notes, and let's get out of here. I just got told we've got a transfer to take care of this evening, so the sooner we wrap up, the sooner we can get that out of the way."

"Right, right," Kiriyu mumbles, knocking aside some burnt remnants of furniture from his path. "Why are we always stuck doing the boring part?"

[GABRIEL]
Not far from the pair of NoL members is amongst others no doubt, one particularly over dressed and dour looking woman. Gabriel is watching, but trying to look like she isn't. This is fine however as anyone else who happens to be going past would probably also stop and gawk. Granted this isn't a populated area, on purpose, and Gabriel is quite a ways away. This is a stalking operation, after all and she'd been following anyone with the NoL uniform for some time. This is the first group to go someplace secluded enough. Once she's sure that random gawkers won't be a thing anymore she turns to her partener and speaks in a low voice,

"I believe these two will suffice," as if the decision wasn't already made. Also if there arn't gawkers then she probably stands out a bit more. There is the very real possibility she will have or has been spotted. Echo maybe a ninja, Gabriel is not.

"I have not decided on the approach, but it is unlikely trickery will get them to do what we wish, therefore force maybe the only option."

Gabriel has her shoulders set, her posture form, the dress suit she wears has a skirt and her side she has a cloth wrapped around something. She tucks the something in, a gleam of light reflects off. It's a long shard of glass. Now she will definately stick out if anyone is paying attention.

Worst. Ninja. Ever.

Her cool eyes glare toward the intended victims as she waits for Echo to acknoweldge the 'plan'. Which seems to be just go in there and start messing stuff up.

[ECHO]
EARLIER.

"Hmm... I'll see if I can give you some room to breath with the fox girl, alright...?" Looking over the disaster site, Echo is reapplying a shade of red rouge lipstick, clad in one of her usual 'Elvira'-esque black dresses and pumps. She claps the small mirror she was using to make sure her face was on straight, tucking it away.

The area is a total loss, and still likely dangerous in certain areas. It's also got a light smog of smoke around it here and there, though that likely won't last long.

As Kiriya is distracted from his tablet, he might be further distracted with what looked like a... patch of white that seemed to disappear down a burnt out corridor. What was it? Was there still someone there that needed help? Kiriya is a big strong guy, after all--he should be able to check it out... right?

[RENKA]
The fox-eared NOL Corporal starts a careful lap around a thoroughly burnt out room. Looking up, she can see clearly up into the ceiling two floors above entirely thanks to the gaping cavity where the upstairs room's floor should be. Considering the scorched or thoroughly burnt up debris in the ruin, she has to watch her step, glancing down at the floor to carefully place her booted foot on surfaces that don't look important for evidence.

Private Kiriyu is in the hallway just outside the flame-gutted room, looking up and down the length of it. "Considering there were no gas pipes in this part of the building, seems like our guy probably has some affinity for fire, huh?" the young man states thoughtfully.

Renka pauses and glances over her shoulder toward her partner, holding her tablet up and pointing at it with her other hand, "Great detective work figuring that out all by yourself. There's only, ah... seventy-nine eye witness accounts confirming the guy basically breathed fire. Did you even read the action report?"

Sighing, the Private shakes his head, "Sorry, sir, reading is above my pay grade, Corporal sir."

The reply earns a light laugh from the fox-tailed soldier as she shakes her head and takes another step. The sound of metal is heard as her foot comes down and Renka pauses, blinking as she crouches down to pick up a small object that looks like a knife hilt without any blade in it. "Huh."

The 'room' she's in is open in places out to the street where fire burned clean through the walls before firefighters could put it out, providing plenty of sunlight to see by in the burnt out interior, but her focus is on what's in front of her rather than anything going on on the street.

In the hallway, Private Teruhiko looks down the hall, opposite the direction of the stairwell he was searching for. Was that movement over there? Squinting, the young man starts down the corridor, "Hey, anyone here? It's not safe to be playing around." he calls out.

Renka's ears perk up at hearing her partner's voice in the all, but she doesn't respond, turning the bladeless hilt around in her white gloved fingers, not minding the soot sticking to her fingertips in the process. "There's no one keeping a perimeter at the moment," she calls over her shoulder toward the hallway, "They figured, you know, burnt out husk is enough of a warning for people to stay out of the place."

[GABRIEL]
Now that Echo is doing her thing, Gabriel finally decides to move in. She'll not take the main entry, but then going in through the fire gutted wall is likely going to be slow going. Like really slow going.

Assassins creed lied, and then every other game that has the same climbing mechanic. Climbing totally doesn't work that way. Not that Gabriel played video games, and she does manage to scale the side of the building but.. Hopefully no one is watching her. She gets her clothes a little messed up, which is to say the really nice outfit she has on will be scuffed and marked in places by the time the day is done. To her that is the same as being ruined. She probably wastes a lot of money in clothes.

Now that she's on the second floor, well.. she can drop in on Renka. Like literally. The thunk sound probably gives her away. She's actually aiming to land right on the poor NoL member, because well, why not get it over with. . But she doesn't want to muss her outfit up for reasons?

She'll probably miss, what are the chances that she one shots this person? I mean really. She's not a ninja after all.

[ECHO]
As Kiriya Teruhiko heads further down the hall, a turn to his right would take him more or less right in front of... well, quite a lot of leg--in this case, what appears to be the quite pale variety at first, perched in what looks like a blood red stiletto high heel. As the long whispy black dress it is only half-way covered by comes into view, so does more of the lady. It's definitely Echo, and she's not bothered to disguise herself. She was probably banking on the librarian's apparent distraction with his demihuman compatriot, IE, her own appearance being more exotic and enthralling.

"I must say, I do love a man in uniform," she winked at the man, leaning against the half-destroyed doorframe there, a red-nailed hand rising up to motion the man closer. Coax him closer.

Question is, is the Private that distracted by darkstalker ladies that he'd forget his superior's plight nearby??

COMBATSYS: Renka has started a fight here on the right meter side.

                                  >  //////////////////////////////]
                                  |=------\-------\0            Renka

COMBATSYS: Gabriel has joined the fight here on the left meter side.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Gabriel          0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0            Renka

COMBATSYS: Renka blocks Gabriel's Heel Stomp.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Gabriel          0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0            Renka

COMBATSYS: Renka takes no action.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Gabriel          0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0            Renka

[RENKA]
Private Teruhiko advances down the hall. The fire seems to not spread as far in this part of the building, leaving him to scan back and forth into empty rooms, the smell of smoke still heavy in the air. With a curious turn around the far corner, he he sets sight on the tantalizingly dressed darkstalker, coming to an abrupt stop. "Ah!" he stammers, hands raised, right palm forward, left hand still gripping his tablet, "Sorry miss, ah- You really shouldn't be in this building." Recovering from his surprise, he lowers his hands, exhaling a faint sight of relief. Darkstalkers, as a rule, clearly don't bother one who serves alongside them in the Librarium. And Echo doesn't seem to be doing anything hostile. This is all an easily explained mistake, right?

"Come on," he gestures with his left hand, beckoning her to come closer to him, "I'll escort you out of here. You'll need to watch your step though. Place is a mess."

Renka is having a far less pleasant time of it as someone drops down right above her, heels first. Were it not for the thick smell of burnt wood in the air, she might have smelled her assailant before she got too close. But her hearing is sharp. It would take someone particularly skilled in silent movement to catch her entirely off guard.

Hence her readiness, right arm raising to intercept the incoming landing, pushing back against it as she springs away, leaving Gabriel to land on the floor. Ears leaning forward, she growls, "Hey! What made you think it was a good idea to try and mug a... soldier..." It's then that she's noticed how well dressed her attacker is, scuffs and soot aside. "Uh..." Confusion washes over her features, brow furrowing, "You better explain yourself. You're about to be in a lot of trouble if you don't have a good excuse."

[GABRIEL]
The so called, or so self-proclaimed Crusader of Light lands with a crunch on the ground, steadies herself, composes herself, has not a trace of shame. She squares her shouldres and faces Renka with a coldness and stillness that might be alone enough to make someone uncomfortable. It isn't just anyone who can launch an attack without warning, fail and then maintain composure. Possibly only a psychopath.

"I am.." Gabriel begins in a cold voice, "Joining the Novus Orbis Librarium." As if that explains everything. She assumes a fighting stance, palms opened, legs apart. The intent to launch another attack is very clear in her form and she does so, once again without hesitation or warning.

It is simple, a palm strike, nothing fancy, nothing special, but it is fluid and it is with intent. There are no pulled punches here so to speak, no real show of anger either, it's calculated violence.

[ECHO]
"Chivalry lives, even for someone like me?" Echo is apparently a little surprised by this, lending the man one of her hands and taking it as she pulls away from the doorframe. Aww, he's such a nice librarian, she must be thinking. She'll have to try and be careful with this one.

"This whole place went up, and you even bothered to try and help little old me here--you're from that big library, right?" she might gesture to his uniform, of course, she's sidling up to the man in the process. An arm goes around the Private's shoulder, as if she needs the assistance.

"What say you and me get out of here... maybe go out for a bite?" she grins, ivory fangs visible as she more or less asides and whispers this into the man's ear. Uh oh~

COMBATSYS: Renka counters Medium Punch from Gabriel with Outcast Dream EX.

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Gabriel          0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0            Renka

[RENKA]
The look on Renka's face displays open confusion at the offer she gets. "Who are you?" she barks back, looking guarded as this strange new arrival takes up a combat stance. This close up, it would be impossible to miss the sheathed sword at her left side, the length of it placing it in the range typical for Japanese katanas.

She was about to warn the strange woman that she was risking starting trouble with the Novus Orbis Librarium if she pressed with the intent to attack, but considering she just spelled out that she's /joining/ that very organization, the warning feels hollow before she even offers it.

Instead, she tries a different tactic, "I'm rightfully employed and registered, you should know. You can't just attack me out of no where." Like any other darkstalker...

But Gabriel presses, stepping in, executing a straight forward, but effective strike, delivered without passion or excitement, but rather matter of factly, just like her incongruous explanation.

Renka's response to being attacked is swift. Dropping the tablet to the ground, she steps in toward Gabriel, right hand crossing to the sheathed weapon while her left arm slams out and upward, knocking the attempted palm strike askew. Stepping into a sword draw slash performed as if she clearly knows how to use the thing, the katana might leave its mark on Gabriel's side, the length of the blade burning with an azure colored flame that seems to generate no heat.

Whirling around to face Gabriel as she steps behind her, Renka braces behind her sword. "You're under arrest for assaulting a soldier of the Librarium. Lie down on the ground, arms behind your back!"

Private Kiriya is having what seems to be a far less hostile time of things down the hall and around the corner, momentarily oblivious to his partner's plight. The smile he offers the alluring darkstalker is somewhat bashful and certainly not showing signs of open hostility. "I am, miss," he answers her question, "Ah, from the Librarium, that is. And, ah... say, my boss down the hall, she's going to ask... you're registered, right?" He moves to catch Echo's arm as she gets close, but doesn't prevent her from placing it around her shoulder, his hand on her wrist as he seems to be making an attempt to support her. "It's our job to make sure. If not, we can help you with the paperwork... you'll find life around here a lot better if you live within the rules, yeah?"

She suggests going for a bite and he shakes his head, "Got work to do, I'm afraid. Let's just-" The sound of the altercation down the hall is heard, followed by the Corporal's shouts to surrender and the Private starts to push off from Echo, eyes widen, sucking in his breath as it seems to register that not everything is as he naively assumed!

[GABRIEL]
The slash comes fast and completely turns Gabriel's attack around. She puts a hand to her chest, turning around and regarding Renka cooly. That was pretty impressive and she doesn't even look angry, just a little pained. She hides it well, it is in the brows mostly, the rest of her face remains the cold mask. There is something about.. being under arrest, but it is almost like they're having completely different converations. There is clearly no getting through to her. Needless to say she doesn't comply.

What she does do though is put a hand to her shard of glass and rest it there for a moment. A breath, a pause. She lowers her hand from the shard of glass. Whatever she was thinking she stops. Any hope of her stopping this attack though is lost because she doesn't stop. Instead she draws one foot back, gives a small turn and attempts a kick low to Renka's calf. Perhaps she is just trying to slow the mobility of the NoL member or maybe she's just continuing her attack with what she seems to be is the next best place to put a blow.

"I will, be attending the library." She says as a matter of fact and continues, "It does not matter the method. I appreciate your cooperation in this matter." Her voice and her words do not at all match her actions. It is almost as if they were on the same side, except for that they're clearly not and that Gabriel is the bad guy here.

[ECHO]
"Registered? Pssh, dear, trust me, I've had all my shots," Echo smiles at the man, shaking a white-furred, red-nailed finger at the man, as if to say 'ah ah ah'. "I do appreciate the offer, though," Echo's yellow eyes blink as she realizes that all hell is breaking loose down the hall and the noise is enough to alert Renka's teammate.

"Wait, what was that?" Echo pointed over the man's shoulder before he pushed away from her--surrepticiously laying a palm against the man's shoulder and uttering a spell--one to put the man to sleep!

...But nothing is happening. at least not yet! OH SNAP. Echo blinks again and looks around, not knowing what to do.

"W-wait, don't leave so soon--I think there are monsters back here!" Echo sounds frantic, being half-dragged half-pulled as he tries to keep hold of Kiriya's shoulder.

COMBATSYS: Renka blocks Gabriel's Medium Kick.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Gabriel          0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0            Renka

[RENKA]
Her strike delivered, her call to lie down issued, Corporal Kaneko waits for a moment. Nothing about the unprovoked attack makes any sense to her. It doesn't seem to be maliciously directed against her for being a darkstalker like she might have otherwise assumed. It doesn't seem to be an act of hostility, exactly, against the Librarium, even if it clearly is linked to the organization somehow...

The confused, fox-tailed 'peacekeeper' doesn't strike out at Gabriel a second time, waiting instead, deliberately trying to sort this whole weird situation out. Is it drugs? Maybe it's drugs. This lady is on drugs. The way she reaches for her glass, almost absently, then reconsiders. The robotic way she speaks. The way nothing she says makes any sense with what she's doing... what else can it be?

"You'll be attending the Librarium all right," she replies with a soft grunt. "We'll get a nice cell set aside for you." Bracing behind her blue, burning sword, she's ready for when the next assault comes her way. Lifting her right foot, she catches the low kick toward her calf on the inside of her boot, balancing on her left foot, the swish of her tails counteracting the exchange of forces to keep her upright in what otherwise might have been an untenable stance.

"Tch." Well, she did try to resolve this more peacefully. But she isn't about to take a beating from some stranger, either!

Planting her right foot, Renka steps into an about turn, intended to bring her adjacent to Gabriel's left side. From there, she slams the butt of her sword backward, gripping the weapon with both hands in an attempt to bury it in Gabriel's stomach. A backward step is taken then, the soldier lifting her foot and slamming it heel first toward Gabriel's lower back in an attempt to knock the woman to the ground. Or at least leave a sooty foot print on her back just out of spite. That's also possible.

Private Kiriyu, in a demonstration of why he can't ever seem to get promoted in spite having been at his rank for a few years now, is caught completely off guard by the magical ambush from the white-furred darkstalker. If Renka had been at his side, maybe she could have kept him out of trouble, but on his own, he's let his guard down around an unknown individual and the repercussions for such lax caution hit home real fast.

"Huh?" he stammers, trying to brush Echo away but also distracted by where she's pointing, looking the other way at just the wrong moment. A trained NOL soldier, the Private has undergone a regimen of magic resistance training and the spell doesn't quite take hold as suddenly as the caster might have anticipated.

Turning back on her, his expression one of alarm as a tingling sensation starts to course out from the point of contact on his shoulder, he joins Renka in looking more confused about what is going on in this unexpected ambush than anything. But he does know she did something. "Hey, you..." he shakes his head, fighting off the hint of threatening fatigue.

"Who do you think you're messing with?" The tablet is dropped to the ground, undamaged thanks in large part for the military grade protective case on it, and then his right hand reaches under his coat, going for a service pistol... Only to drop it on the floor as he draws it, fingers already uselessly numb. Eyes widening, he takes a step back, raising his arms, left hand closed into a fist that his right can't quite mirror.

"Don't you know how much trouble you're going to be in?! Do you know what they do to darkstalkers that get on their radar?!"

COMBATSYS: Gabriel blocks Renka's Random Strike.

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Gabriel          0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0            Renka

[GABRIEL]
Faith can be a heck of a drug. Obession too. Gabriel has both in spades. She looks unimpressed by the incoming pommel strike and crosses her arms to take the blow someplace other than her face or head and also avoid a foot print on her on her nice clothes. Well they were nice clothes, but she's been climbing around a dirty burnt out building and taken a pretty solid hit already. Her outfit would be considered ruined by all but the most frugal of individuals. Still, remarkably Gabriel is still trying to hold back, at least she isn't doing anything with her shard of glass, but who knows why. Instead she tries to get a hold of the hand which only just a moment ago was holding the weapon of the pommel striking pomel strike.

Her expression remains calm, as though whatever happens here is of little consequence. It's almost like she doesn't care if she wins or loses. She also gives Renka a little tug toward her. Maybe Gabriel is slow, but she seems to be very deliberate in her motions. There might be time to avoid or react, it's all up to Renka. Gabriel for her part tries to lock her legs on Renka and if she manages it will be a flip through where she does the flipping to throw Renka with her head from her legs. Elsewise she'll look silly rolling around in the dust some more. Probably ruining her outfit further.

Still she remains silent for now.

[ECHO]
Echo hadn't run into many people with magical defenses of any sort, even fewer instances arose where she was using it directly on a person. Of course, there is also the possibility that she just happened to screw the spell up. Or at least it was taking a fair bit longer than it was supposed to. Either way, the bat lady was in a bit of a jam!

"Yikes, you dropped your phone, let me..." Echo stoops, only to be surprised when the man's service pistol clatters to the ground right where she's currently looking. Uh oh. From swooning over her to trying to shoot her in the face in just under 10 seconds--the bat still couldn't blame him, really. I mean given the circumstances.

"There we go, snug as a bug," Echo grins as she takes advantage of the man's sudden drowsiness to un-fold her wings and circle them around the man and herself, grinning as she winds up on with her hands on his shoulders, to boot--putting them face to face.

"I know, pardon the turn of phrase, bat and all," she snickers before moving in to plant a kiss on the man's forehead as he gets even drowsier, leaving a red lipstick kiss mark smack dab in the center of it!

Right now she just hopes Gabe is faring okay over there, Echo sort of has her hands full!

COMBATSYS: Gabriel successfully hits Renka with Intercession.
- Power hit! -

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Gabriel          0/-------/-======|=======\==-----\1            Renka

[RENKA]
With her close combat pommel strike successfully defended against and the rest of her intended attack thwarted, Renka Kaneko finds herself briefly caught off balance. Attempting to disengage, she's already taking a step back when the confusing perpetrator snaps her hand out and grabs hold of her sword arm by the wrist.

There is a brief tug of war as the fox-eared soldier tries to pull away, but Gabriel's initiative and surefooted stance gives the stoic woman enough of an advantage pull the NOL soldier forward off balance. Nothing about the style of combat she had seen thus far prepared her for the unexpectedly swift transition into having her head trapped between her opponent's legs in a vice-like hold.

"Wha-"

A last desperate attempt to pry herself free is met with no success as the Corporal gets whipped right off her own feet and slammed against the hard floor with the top of her head hitting hard first followed by her back as she's laid out flat, wind knocked from her lungs. Silent, due to the whole no air thing, emerald eyes blink a few times as she tries to scatter the stars she finds whirling in front of her vision.

Grimacing, the swordswoman finally wrenches herself to a seated position, then from there, lunges to standing, careful to keep her sword out at her side. Black and gray soot falls her hair and the thick fur of her tails as she rights herself, blue burning sword held tightly in a two handed grip. Curiously, one paying attention to such things would notice that she doesn't seem to be breathing at all following the painful landing.

Teeth grit, she winds up, pivoting to the left. One of the foxfire spheres swirls down, touching her sword's blade, causing the steel to burn with even brighter blue than before. Finally, she launches into a brutally fast dash for Gabriel, attempting to execute a precision, swift, energy-laced slash as she passes by in what might have been a classic samurai flick scene were this battle taking place on a lonely country road rather than a burned down business in Chinatown.

This time, there is no warning, no hesitation. The darkstalker is fighting for real now.

Private Kiriyu's day is not getting better with each passing second, as his attempts to draw and fire on the bat woman now identified as way more of a threat than an unexpected distraction have been met with critical failure. It would be easy to feel the fear radiating from him, his body shaking as Echo closes in tight, pulling him into the confines of her large wings, giving him an uncomfortably close view of her pair of sharp fangs.

What started as a spreading tingling sensation is becoming stronger by the moment, his trained resistance to the use of magic falling apart as panic sets in. Eyes wide, he struggles to move his left arm down against his side where a combat knife is sheathed on his belt. With the spell starting from his right shoulder, he just manages to close his fingers over the handle and draw the small but sharp blade.

"I assure you, my b-blood is very bad for your health!" This close, he attempts to stick the up close woman with the knife, but his movement is still increasingly sluggish.

"REMPHA!" he shouts loudly with his waning strength the very moment Renka tries to cut her attacker down.

COMBATSYS: Gabriel dodges Renka's The Lonesome Road ES.

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Gabriel          0/-------/-======|=======\==-----\1            Renka

[GABRIEL]
After the rather brutal assault on Renka, Gabriel does a roll that gets her back to her feet. She looks pleased with herself, if anything of her rocky exeterior could be considered pleasure. She never seems to smile or anything, and yet, there is something in her eyes, a gleam that would suggest she is enjoying this. Then just as fast as it came on it is gone. Cast away perhaps by the sinful nature of pleasure of some other idea that she doesn't communicate with words. Only disaproval. For whom or what, it is never clear.

Renka is on the attack again and Gabriel's foot crunches on some debris and then when Renka comes at her fast, too fast, impossibly fast, Gabriel jumps and leaps toward her. The pair will meet, but only for a moment before Gabriel tries to latch onto the NoL Darkstalkers shoulders, in her other hand she is already powering up white light, almost pure, but somehow filthy. If there is a way the color white can convey dirt while not showing it. Perhaps it is merely a feeling, but it would be there all the same to someone paying attention.

The intent is simple, deliver this to an opened face, hopefully one lacking the chance to defend and then flip-kick off. Try not to get totally squashed in the process which may well be the risk that Gabriel is facing in such close quarters.

[ECHO]
Echo of course, by this point, is a little frantic that the man still has the ability to try and fight back. Her sleep spell had been botched, or maybe the Private had just turned out to be more resiliant than she thought! Probably both!

"Shhh, sssshush there now, you," Echo grins, her hand latching onto the wrist the man was drawing the small but deadly blade from--her wings flapping as used her free hand to spun the man around--or attempt to, latching an arm around his chin, with another trying to latch onto his wrist again to try and control his knife arm--she didn't want to get that thing in the stomach, or someplace even worse!

"Was trying to make this easy on you, boy--I just need to ask you a favor--" she constricts with her arm beneath the man's chin, trying put him into a sleeper hold, to hasten his unconsciousness.

"A very special one~" Echo whispered in the man's ear, careful he didn't whip his head back to butt heads with her.

COMBATSYS: Gabriel successfully hits Renka with Flash of White.
~ Cruel hit! ~

[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Gabriel          0/-------/-======|=======\=====--\1            Renka

[RENKA]
Dashing in, Renka's sword slashes through empty air as her target responds with an evasive offense. Her mouth opens as if to emit a sound of surprise, but she has yet to take in a breath since the painful landing Gabriel just put her through a moment ago, leaving her vain protest a silent one for now. Her partner's shout is heard, ears picking up the obvious call for help a split second before she is under attack again, and for a split second, her focus flicks to the doorway out to the hallway. So this isn't a solo attack!?

With her strange assailant inside her striking range, the NOL soldier attempts to ward her off with her left arm, trying to stagger backward and disengage herself from Gabriel but under the circumstances, it's impossible to actually gain any ground. Emerald eyes widen then squint closed as the woman's glowing white palm presses against her face. There is no window to defend herself physically from the point blank, palm-delivered energy burst. At the same instant, another one of her eight remaining foxfire spheres winks out of existence though it isn't clear to what end its energy was diverted to.

The flip kick buys Gabriel her distance at first, Renka staggering backward, shaking her head, eyes blinking as she tries to cope with the ringing in her ears. Finally, she sucks in a breath, teeth grit again as her focus locks back onto Gabriel. A soft growl in her throat heralds the next attack as the fox-tailed Corporal leaps back at Gabriel, gripping her sword with one hand as she twists her body to the left, slashing out hard with her azure burning sword in a desperate attempt to wound her attacker. Cut her severely enough and maybe she can get to Kiriyu!

Meanwhile, Private Teruhiko is caught fast in Echo's wings, his struggle becoming more feeble as the seconds tick by. His attempt at knifing the intimately close darkstalker is met with no greater success than his attempt to draw his gun and aim at her. Even without the spell draining his consciousness, his arm strength is no match for Echo's when it comes to a direct contest of force.

She would feel him starting to slow down, his movements sluggish now, eyelids starting to get heavy.

"W-what do you want?!" he gasps, his voice barely above a whisper now. But at this range, it's not as if there's any chance she wouldn't hear him.

COMBATSYS: Renka successfully hits Gabriel with Power Strike.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Gabriel          1/-----==/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\1            Renka

[GABRIEL]
The rush, the exhileration of having one right where she wants them and delivering the blow. The Crusader of light seems alight with the sense of what she is doing here, though she isn't punishing the wicked. Under different circumstances, she might approve of Renka, well, if she wasn't a dark stalker. Her eyes narrow when she sees Renka still has fight in her and is coming her way.

Once again the fight is almost silent, at least now it is, now that there isn't any real effort to get surrender out of the blonde. Neither is Gabriel condeming her advasary. She's going for her sword again and how Gabriel longs to meet it with her shard of glass, the desire is obvious, the 'Crusader' reaches toward her shard, but once again her hand falters. She'll have to defend another way. She tries to whip something up to deflect the blow, anything, but it is too fast too hard.

White hot pain and stars dance across her vision and the expression on Gabriel's face is once of pain as she has to grit her teeth against the abruptness of the assault. She skids back with her feet dragging along the scorched ground and leaving a line from where her toes try to dig for purchase. They find none and she is forced into a one knee crouch.

A heartbeat passes when it looks like maybe just maybe Gabriel will stay down on one knee, to let the officer go to rescue her comrade. It's a ruse though, her glare would almost be a dead give away, she is waiting for the guard to drop. Regardless of if the ploy works, Gabriel is soon reaching to tug the NOL soldier into a simple throw, over her ankle, into the wall. . .

Frankly it is debatable if the wall can take it. Though the assault has gone rather well, the strain is starting to show as Gabriel breaths a little more audibly.

[ECHO]
"Calm down you onion, if you hadn't tried to shoot or stab me I might have been able to make this fun for you~" Echo teases, still holding the man as he begins to weaken--a sudden imbalance however sending Echo careening backwards with Kiriya in tow. She winds up sprawled out after bonking her head, and hisses a little as she looked down at herself. That's the last time she wears heels to a burned out building...

"Alright you, lets go," Echo pulls herself up, attempting to grab Kiriya by the shoulders and proceed to drag him off, looking around for some rope, or maybe a piece of cable...

COMBATSYS: Renka blocks Gabriel's Medium Throw.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////               ]
Gabriel          1/------=/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2            Renka

[RENKA]
Contrary to Gabriel's seeming hints of enjoying a certain hidden thrill to the altercation, her target's reactions to the confrontation seem to be a blend of confused anger and steely resolve. The situation is still confusing to her - it could be any number of things that prompted this attack and she's gotten no clues from the one attacking her. She had at first thought it was a lone assailant, but Kiriyu's shout made it clear that this is a coordinated effort.

Then there's the frustration. She shouldn't have let the Private off on his own out of her sight. Complacency at the default distance most trouble makers keep from NOL soldiers in the public left not as cautious as she should have been. There was no need to be caught apart like this. If something bad happens to him as a result...

Landing out of her leaping slash, Renka's feet kick up a whirl of black ash. Sweeping her sword off to the side, held in her right hand, she casts a glance toward Gabriel. Maybe after a hit like that, she'll withdraw, realizing just how dangerous taking on an armed NOL soldier is! Looking away, she steps forward, rushing toward the door itself only to be caught short as Gabriel proves to still have more speed in her than the fox-tailed soldier realized.

Prevented from reaching the door by her attacker's intervention, Renka growls, whirling on Gabriel then, her left wrist pulled hard, forcing her to dig her heels in and wrench herself free with a painful jerk of her arm in order to avoid ending up on her back again.

Wanting to counter attack without fully disengaging, however, the angered creature swipes her left hand back out at Gabriel, fingers stretched out like claws as she swipes at the air between them, lunging back in close as she does so. The movement of her arm poses no actual threat - moving out of range of actually making contact - but the swath of blue foxfire flame that bursts into a crescent wave in the wake of her hand might prove to be dangerous enough as she repositions herself around Gabriel's right flank!

Echo's diversion and capture has been successful, victory all but told in the drowsy look of the blond young man she has in her grasp. He looks confused in his increasingly dazed state.

"...huh?"

Finally, his eyes close and his muscles go lax, slumping forward against the trickster darkstalker's chest into the tumble that takes them both to the dirty floor for a moment. By the time he lands, it's obvious that her arcane sleep spell is doing its job perfectly well on him. He won't be putting up a fuss or pulling out any more surprise weapons for a little while.

COMBATSYS: Renka successfully hits Gabriel with Mistaken Mercies.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Gabriel          1/---====/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2            Renka

[GABRIEL]
Claws that connect. Claws that rend. Back in the fight, Renka manages to outspeed Gabriel and start to shift the scales in the NOL's favor. The Crusader is forced back and though Renka might have another shot at the door, the glare she is getting is not very subtle. It says, turn your back to me at your own risk. Even if Gabriel doesn't herself say it. She composes herself, reassumes her fighting stance. Two opened palms, one high, one low by her legs. It's a kempo style, though without a doubt it has been warped. At any rate, she's making no move, but also not hiding her intention.

A tumble weed could go through, clearly Renka will have to make a choice, but how long will Gabriel wait for her to make that choice is anyone's guess. Her eyes narrow but still she doesn't attack or approach.

COMBATSYS: Gabriel focuses on her next action.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Gabriel          1/---====/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2            Renka

[RENKA]
Her attack delivered, Gabriel's response leaves the NOL soldier hesitant to commit at first. Lips draw back in a toothy snarl, she leans forward, gripping her sword with both hands, looking ready to guard herself. Her left ear twitches toward the doorway as she spares a fleeting glance its way, "Kiriyu!?" she yells out toward the hall only to get no answer.

What happened to him? Is he in a fight of his own? Has he been injured? Or- or worse? With no way of knowing, she's left to her imagination to fill in the blanks. Was he attacked by a crazy person just like she has been? If so, what could they possibly want!?

Whipping back toward her assailant, her soft, low growl returns, ears leaning forward slightly as she braces herself. Barely a student of unarmed marital arts, she still knows a waiting trap when she sees one. The message of the bizarre woman's stance is clear: make your move.

Adjusting her hold on her weapon, she exhales. "Whatever has happened to Kiriyu will be done to you a thousandfold!"

When she attacks, it's with full commitment. There is no restraint, no testing or feint. Stepping into a mighty, two handed slash of her sword, one of her five remaining surges into the path of her katana as Renka swings it, causing the foxfire to burst into brighter flame and leaves large, azure crescent wave of that painful energy of hers in its wake.

Leaning fully into the two handed strike, it's clear she's aiming to put a decisive end to this attack as urgently as possible. Her partner needs her help!

COMBATSYS: Renka successfully hits Gabriel with Recorded in Blood EX.

[                          \\\\  < >  ///////////////               ]
Gabriel          2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|>>>>>>>\-------\1            Renka

[GABRIEL]
No response. The NoL soldier is full of emotion, but Gabriel is not. She seems to be restraining herself and preparing to move forward into the assault, but she is caught full on an unable to do anything to defend herself effectively. The end results is that she is utterly nailed and set back off her feet. She doesn't want to be captured, but worse is that the mission seems to have failed. Escape is.. well going to be tricky.

"~Curse.. You.." She says in the tiniest and possibly darkest of voices. She's _finally_ seems to have gotten emotional.

"In darkness we are born, but I shalt seek the light." She's praying? Preaching? "Absolute Desinty Apocolypse."

The attack is well.. hard to miss. Rather than targeting Renka, a light starts to shine out from Gabriel, It goes everywhere. It is like she is suicide bombing. The attack is utterly nondescrimination.

Afterward, if Renka is still around, she'll find Gabriel laying there looking peaceful and totally not dead.

COMBATSYS: Gabriel can no longer fight.

                                  >  ///////////////               ]
                                  |>>>>>>>\-------\1            Renka

COMBATSYS: Renka blocks Gabriel's Absolute Apocalypse.

                                  >  ///////////                   ]
                                  |>>>>>>>\>>>----\1            Renka

[RENKA]
Having leaned hard into the foxfire fueled, two handed katana slash, Renka follows the strike through, knees bent, body twisted to the side, blade pointing behind her as she comes to a stop. Pulling back out of such a committed strike, she straightens, holding her sword straight up, still gripping it with both hands as she looks toward her assailant with anger in her eyes.

The handful of remaining azure fire spheres continue to orbit around behind her, burning with a more intense glow than when they had originally manifested. "Tch," the darkstalker soldier grunts back when Gabriel begins to... pray? Her eyes narrow slightly, once again unable to fathom what the strange young woman is going on about.

Until the burst of brilliant white energy, at least. Recoiling, Renka turns her right shoulder into the all encompassing burst of power. One of her last few spheres darts into the space between her and Gabriel, expanding out into a thin, flaming barrier of blue... in the end, it is hardly enough to prevent such a concentrated explosion from getting through before it is completely overwhelmed, but it at least mitigates a touch of the full potential.

Even with the ablation, Renka is slammed back hard, her back hammering into the wall near the hallway exit. A started gasp escapes her lips as she slumps forward off the wall, catching herself on her feet. When she lifts her eyes to find Gabriel, she half expects not to find anything but a bloody mess after that, but instead it seems she is simply unconscious from the combat.

Swallowing, the NOL soldier shifts to the side, leaning against the exit's frame before peeking into the hallway then back toward Gabriel quickly as if to make sure she isn't about to be ambushed from either direction. Then, with clear urgency, she rushes out into the hall, saying nothing as she runs to track down the Private's whereabouts.

She returns about ninety seconds later, looking far calmer than when she ran off. Her sword is sheathed and the foxfire spheres that had chased after her are no where to be seen. Ignoring for now the aches of the trying combat, she finds the tablet she dropped when she first got ambushed and picks it up, eyes glancing from its glowing surface toward the unconscious woman warily.

With a few button presses, the initial report of the incident has been filed and she leans back against the wall, exhaling softly. A Rapid Response Team will be on its way, deploying from one of the NOL outposts spread throughout Southtown. They will be handling the actual clean up of this mess, the detainment of the one pacified attacker and recovery of Private Kiriyu, who will be due for some retraining courses on how not to let his guard down around every pretty darkstalker face he sees in the future.

"Just... what did you want," Corporal Kaneko murmurs softly, still bewildered by the entire incident, ears picking up the faint sound of the response team's vehicles in the distant. Whatever the truth behind this is, it will shortly be out of her hands.

COMBATSYS: Renka has ended the fight here.


[ECHO]
Echo returns a short time later, realizing slowly that things did not go as planned with the fox girl and Gabe, there. The bat lady looks like Kiriya had given her quite a time even as he fell unconscious. Her hair is mussed up and her dress looks like it's been pulled out of place--though she is putting what looks like the guy's NOL uniform into a garment bag.

"Uh oh--" she hid herself, for the time being. She realizes Gabe has been caught, this... somewhat complicates things. Then again, Gabriel /did/ say she wanted to get into the library... well, it would appear now she is! D'ohoho.

But like a blind man at a dance party, she's going to have to feel her way around this one. The bat lady disappeared back into the gloom, bag in tow.

Log created on 20:49:09 06/23/2019 by Gabriel, and last modified on 11:48:04 07/17/2019.