Description: The Mysterious Ninja of Time fights Raizo, hunting for secrets! The Mysterious Ninja is from Shadaloo! The Mysterious Ninja is certainly not Twelve!
That Raizo Imawano was at one time a ninja isn't really a /secret/, although Raizo goes to no particular pains to advertise the fact, either.
That he was a ninja /master/ is another story entirely - a master of his style, certainly, but few truly understand just how close Raizo was to holding total mastery over the entire Imawano clan, at one time. And even though he's left that clan, surely someone who's held so lofty a rank would have a few secrets to impart upon a worthy protege...
And where better to keep them than the modest dojo building sitting quietly on the far end of the athletic yards of Justice High School? Surely a man like Raizo would be far too smart to do something as obvious as leaving them in his office, where students come and go daily. And since the Dojo is out of the way, even if that assessment is wrong, it's a relatively safe place to start a hypothetical search for secret ninja technique gold.
Sometimes, there are people who specialize in knowing what is not known. They know the secrets of Shadaloo's psi research. Twelve is not one of those people.
And sometimes, there are people who /get/ that information. Twelve is one of those people.
Of course, Twelve is not a person. It would be the first...person...to tell you that. But it has knowledge that its current master would want information on ancient ninja techniques...and a suspicion as to the nature of Raizo. After all - its current master /is/ a Kirishima. It has, thus, taken on a new form to achieve its goals without detection.
A gray-clad figure is making its way to te dojo. Certainly, it may not hold great secrets, but it is a place to start. And with Raizo, who would suspect a man dressed in a ninja's outfit? The man is pale and bald, with his mouth covered by a gray bandana and his hands and feet wrapped in black cloth.
Who would suspect a man in a ninja outfit? Well, Raizo, for starters. Hyo hasn't dressed up in the black pajamas since Raizo met the boy, and Kurow has a far more distinctive ninjing outfit, and Kyosuke...
...we don't talk about Kyosuke's ninja career.
In any case, the only ones likely to show up on Justice High's campus in that kind of outfit at that time of night are people Raizo Imawano would rather /not/ be there. And Raizo keeps himself appraised of things that could prove to be a threat to Project Justice...
Which is why, frowning deeply, the old bear is on his way down to the dojo right now, quietly - with all the silence and grace of a real ninja master, despite his ludicrous size.
In the interim, The Mysterious Ninja will have some time to look around the Dojo. There are scrolls and stands of varying types and sizes, several emblazoned with inspirational phrases and the like. None of them look like ninja secrets to the naked eye...but then, maybe that's why they're secrets?
It is true that ninjas draw suspicion here. But sometimes, suspicion is what is required to /get/ information. After all - when one tests defenses to see what is protected most, one learns where secrets might be hidden. Inside the dojo, the Mysterious Ninja places his hands on the walls, running them over much of them. What one does not see, of course, is the fleshy nubs searching for tiny cracks, sprouting from the palms of the hand.
The other thing most people wouldn't notice is the eye on the back of the neck, watching backwards. It has no lashes, after all.
More to the point, most people don't think to /look/ for eyes on the backs of other peoples' necks. That's just wrong, is what that is.
Our Mysteriousy Ninja will find precious little among the cracks of the walls. Did Raizo just not hide anything here? Or maybe the old bastard's just more cunning than previously imagined - could the messages be coded!? Or even--
Raizo steps into the room, sees the ninja, and shakes his great big head. He doesn't sigh, though he looks like he wants to.
And of course, in true poor timing fashion, the ninja's probing tendrils find a small latch, just about the same time as Raizo begins making his way across the room to, presumably, club The Mystery Ninja in the head with his fists.
It is true, abuse of bodily expectations is one of Twelve's favorite ways to succeed. The eye fades back into his neck as he withdraws his hand-tendrils. He will have to deal with a problem first. This takes the span of half a second, during which the Mysterious Ninja begins shoring up its form.
Twelve at least is used to fighting from any direction - he does not move into a fighting stance. Twelve does not recognize that they exist. All stances are 'fighting' - react from any direction.
COMBATSYS: Twelve has started a fight here on the right meter side.
COMBATSYS: Raizo has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
COMBATSYS: Twelve focuses on his next action.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Raizo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Twelve
Raizo spots it easily enough - a shift of flesh that he doesn't recognize, a shift in stance he does. The way this guy moves is bizarre, and somehow familiar, but Raizo's not equipped to place it just now.
What he is equipped to place is that the guy's reacting like he's ready to fight, which means Raizo can't plan to just beat whoever this is senseless and call it a night.
But he tries anyway - sometimes, for all their durability, or mysterious powers of perception, a man is just a man, and Raizo is very good about beating the crap out of men who are just men.
In other words, as Raizo steps up, he very calmly punches the Mysterious Interloper in the back of the head, adding, "May I help you?" in a dry tone, because a certain degree of dismissive sarcasm is important in matters like this.
COMBATSYS: Raizo successfully hits Twelve with Strong Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Raizo 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Twelve
Twelve attempts to whirl about in time, but is too slow. He slams down to the ground, rolling to his feet easily. Perhaps too easily - Twelve is used to motion in most directions. He stands facing Raizo, and speaks in a low, husky voice.
"You may surrender your knowledge to Shadaloo...or die." Throw off suspicion by focusing it elsewhere - especially somewhere incompetent enough to /try/ something like this. The Mysterious Ninja places his hands together, focusing...
And suddenly, the air ripples. Chi comes in many 'elements' - fire, ice, plants...and in this case, a stranger one. Raizo is assaulted by the power of /time/. It is as if the air itself hardened, ceased to be /air/ - and became an instant in which that air had had something in it. Something hard and solid - or perhaps something from the future, a force from when Raizo is old and wrinkly and weak. Or dead. Or maybe it's the power of the seconds themselves, hardened to solidity.
Twelve's wonderful adaptability even extends to chi.
COMBATSYS: Raizo dodges Twelve's N.R.G..
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Raizo 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Twelve
"Die, you say?" Raizo replies, arcing an eyebrow incredulously. "You're quite the mouthy one for someone who just got decked, young man." Raizo can call anyone he likes 'young man' because he is a bear. "Shadaloo, you say. Oh yes, I know quite a lot about them." That's a damn dirty lie, right there. Raizo knows almost nothing about the mysterious organization except that it's somehow connected to Kurow, and also they have some strange kind of mind control that equals or perhaps even /exceeds/ the power of Imawano techniques. ...well, admittedly that's more than most can say...
"However, young man, I'm afraid to say that tonight, I think you'll be telling me more than I'll be telling you." He already has - even if the Other Ninja never says another word. But then it happens. He senses it coming - the air ripples, something strange is coming...
And though Twelve's chi is mightily adaptable, there are some things that must yield before the force of a man the size of a house full of angry bears.
Apparently, time is one of those things.
Raizo lands in a roll, coming to a halt next to a scroll stand, proudly bearing a standard touting the virtues of hard work and a brave heart. He picks it up, looks at it for a moment, and nods approvingly. "This sounds like something you could learn from, boy. CATCH!"
He throws it. Really hard.
COMBATSYS: Twelve dodges Raizo's Large Thrown Object.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Raizo 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Twelve
The Mysterious Ninja grunts. "I doubt that, old man." He shifts, leaping to the left and landing on his hands, flipping back to his feet easily. The scroll stand flies past him harmlessly. "Perhaps you should reconsider your options."
The air ripples again, and Twelve focuses his chi. Time hardens, as the ninja thrusts a hand forward. "Your time has ended! Now surrender or die!" The power of TIME chi flies from the outstretched hand, a ripple in the air flying for Raizo.
Twelve notes Raizo's style with vague interest. He's accomplished his original objective already - now, he is focusing on secondary objectives.
COMBATSYS: Raizo dodges Twelve's P.R.O.J..
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Raizo 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Twelve
The POWER OF TIME is coming, and Raizo bounds again to the side. He is quite unusually nimble for a man his size, and again, lands neatly far away from Twelve, quite out of reach. "You're not nearly good enough to say a thing like that, young man," Raizo quips, standing up and dusting off his suit lazily. "Not nearly."
He shifts his stance, and then charges straight at Twelve adding, "Allow me to SHOW you how wrong you are!" as he brings his arm down in a savage slash across Twelve's front, sharpened by the talons on the end of each of Raizo's fingers. Giving himself away? Not really - he's not using any techniques he's kept hidden, after all.
COMBATSYS: Twelve interrupts Claw Stab from Raizo with T.H.R..
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Raizo 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Twelve
The Mysterious Ninja moves...and allows the claws to slash across his torso, blood leaking down the gray outfit. "Perhaps." Suddenly, he is holding Raizo's arm, hurling him for the wall opposite the latch, using the momentum of the claw slash against the mighty principal.
"Or perhaps you overestimate your own skill, old man!" Twelve doesn't need to see secret techniques - yet. He's merely observing...and learning how to imitate Raizo. Not fully, of course - but passably, if he has to.
Raizo will be quite happy to instruct you in how to imitate him when he has you in a bucket locked in a freezer forever.
Yes.
For the moment, the Princibear is simply fighting hard - though that throw sure hurt, and Raizo has to lie there for a moment, slightly dazed by the blow. "Hmph," Raizo mutters. "Thinks that one good throw means he's invincible. Kids!"
Raizo rolls to his feet, slightly awkwardly, and then his eyes dart to either side, perhaps looking around for a good weapon. But, well...
...Raizo's hands are his main weapon, and he proves it as he charges in toward Twelve again, planting his feet against the ground just inside attacking range. "That MOUTH of yours is going to get you in trouble one day, boy!" he thunders, and then proves it by providing Twelve with a deep, exfoliating, and perforating clawed straight punch right to the lungs.
By way of everything inbetween.
COMBATSYS: Raizo successfully hits Twelve with Roppu Zuki.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////// ]
Raizo 0/-------/-======|=======\===----\1 Twelve
Blood springs from the Mysterious Ninja, as he staggers back. Twelve has gotten fairly good at faking human injuries - he'll need to leave soon, though, he tells himself. He is becoming dangerously close to instability. The ninja focuses...
And the blood ceases to leak, as chi shimmers around the wound. Time is keeping it in! Or so it seems. The air all around him starts to shimmer. "Perhaps. But even if you defeat me, you will never defeat...Shadaloo!" His voice is more breathy, perhaps due to a punctured lung. The area of shimmer around him floats forward slightly - and then launches itself at Raizo, a massive area of time distortion, moving erratically and unpredictably.
COMBATSYS: Raizo Toughs Out Twelve's X.P.R.O.J.!!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////// ]
Raizo 1/-----==/=======|===----\-------\0 Twelve
Raizo cocks an eyebrow. Chi? THat's a new use, but Raizo's heard of similar. Strange, to be sure, but the agents of Shadaloo are mysterious as ever...
Raizo doesn't have time to muse. The attack comes, and Raizo snorts. "Shadaloo, eh. A defunct organization defeated by a bunch of children who weren't even properly trained, from the way I hear it." He's bluffing, can you tell? "You believe that a man like me can't take that down? Well..."
And then Raizo SPRINTS forward, dashing directly into the incoming wave of time.
...and smashes right the hell through it. Unharmed. Uninjured. His crimson eyes glimmer in the light, his lips peeled back in an enormous, terrifying grin. "ALLOW ME TO SHOW YOU WHAT I WILL DO TO YOUR PRECIOUS SHADALOO, BOY!!"
Massive, clawed hands reach out for Twelve's skull.
COMBATSYS: Raizo successfully hits Twelve with Ningen Taihou.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ]
Raizo 0/-------/------=|=======\=------\1 Twelve
And as his hands find purchase on Twelve's head, Raizo grips it firmly with but one, and then sneers at Twelve's face, adding, "GOODBYE!" before he actually bodily spins Twelve around in the air, laughing heartily, and then HURLS Twelve right the hell back out the door.
Twelve flies from the room, launched out the door like a rocket. He lands in the darkness, and lies still as he ensures that his form does not destabilize. He focuses - and with his last burst of chi, summons a blast of smoke, reverting to his normal shape and crawling off to hide and regenerate.
Certainly, he got nothing. But he also disturbed nothing - Raizo should believe he has seen the last of the ninja, and next time...well, he'll have a far better disguise. And he'll know exactly where to look.
COMBATSYS: Twelve takes no action.
COMBATSYS: Twelve can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Raizo 0/-------/------=|
Log created on 20:44:15 01/03/2008 by Twelve, and last modified on 23:38:57 01/03/2008.