Description: Objective: Angel Hunting. Obstacle: Futile Resistance. Alias: Kid Vicious. Summary: Toying around with Blackjack operatives can be bad for one's health, as one young boy finds out the hard way. While half of him has only tried to do good, his other half seems to have gotten him in trouble with the wrong sorts. And now it's off to meet the Devil for the poor captive.
It's night time, approaching far into the late night as the moon sis standing in a full circle. THe massive globe of light rains down its essence from the sky. Lunar's luminating beam cascades towards the earth.
The sands are filled with the light as the cold wind drifts. The cold water washes through the risen tide, splashing further into the surface.
There is a perching point made of that pure sand. Standing on it is a blue haired boy in a white jacket and white pants. The bespectacled youth is gazing up at the moon, smiling. What is perhaps the most prominent thing about the boy is the aura that he carries. However, it looks a little different. While both wings are looking abundant, both ivory and ebon colored sides are more ... tarnished? As abundant as it is, it looks to be steadily depleting.
"The chance to enjoy the full moon again. It is beautiful."
It was bound to happen eventually. Ayame is rather up front about her interaction with anyone that even seems remotely capable of fighting whenever Elle catches up with the busy spaz. Rattling off names, faces, styles of fighting, apparent abilities, techniques, vulnerabilities, the girl feeds all that information back to Elle like a somewhat mouthy battle recorder. A lot of her fights have been utterly unnecessary and entirely her fault. Picking on those who prove tougher than they look, back talking to anyone who thinks they're some kind of hero, stealing for money even though Elle gives her a paycheck...
But now and then someone comes after /her/, and it's those that Elle seems to take keen notice of. Ayame has suspected it's simply a business interest on the part of the soulless faction leader. No doubt she wants to know who's messing with her people - what factions are butting in where they're not welcome, what rogue agents are sticking their nose where it doesn't belong... Finding new people is a pain in the ass and takes too long, the always pragmatic woman had told Ayame before.
On one such report she told her of the boy that attacked her out of the dark. Explaining that resulted in her speaking of the interactions she had with his 'brother?' on more than one occasion. Elle was interested. And when Elle is interested, things start moving.
With nothing by which to find him, leads were scarce, but Ayame was on it. Scanning the internet for any information about others that might have been visited by either the little angel or his darker brother, but nothing much came up. It was quite a surprise to her when one of her automated search routines came up with rumors about people seeing something near the beach outside of Southtown. It was worth following up on, it was the best she had even if it was a long shot.
Reporting to Elle what little there was go on, the Blackjack leader immediately rolled a plan into motion. "Just tell me what you want me to do," Ayame had stated nonchalantly enroute. Jesen had reached out to help her once before, and she should maybe feel a little guilty for what direction this was likely to go... but if there were any such sentiment, it would be impossible to tell.
Guilt. Guilt but for the grace of humanity. Elle doesn't beleive in God, because God's never come down to give her a six figure paycheck. The second he does, she'll reconsider, but until then, faith has left her like frat boys at a party that's run out of booze. They took guilt with it, too. As a result, when she sees someone like Jesen, she sees information.
And for someone like Elle, information isn't currency. Currency is information. The subtle difference is what keeps her moving, shaking, and dispensing that knowledge that makes the mercenary wheels turn.
She leans back in the driver's seat of the late model sedan, peering out the window at the boy perched on the sand and considers the sight. Both her and Ayame have fought the boy before, and the Shadaloo agent seems to have a fixation on Ayame for some reason. The reports that came from her chatterbox associate almost made Elle laugh. Almost. If Jesen what Elle knew about Ayame, he'd likely never want to see the staff weilding maniac ever again.
In some ways, the miniature hellion is more horrible than people like Vega, Rugal, and Igniz could ever be: with them, there's megalomania and a master plan. Ayame on the other other hand...
There's a lot of people that have been subjected to pain for reasons far more pitiful than world domination.
Ayame's always ready to follow orders. Aside from Aislinn, Elle's never had a better fighter at following direction. She acts without hesitation, and battles with a ferocity Elle seldom sees. So when Ayame tells her that all she needs is orders, Elle understands precisely what it means, the subtext as well as the obvious meaning. "Yeah, that's him. Son of a bitch looks like a team of angry pigeons are trying to mate with his shoulders." Elle says, handing the the lowlight spyglasses over to Ayame. "You can feel it from here. The kid radiates that psionic crap like nuclear BO."
The woman turns to look at the junior associate and outlines what needs to be done. "I have a theory, though. If you can some how manage to asphyxiate him, he won't be able to focus those two personalities in his brainpan and disappear into the magical land of make beleive." Fingers drum against the steering wheel, her face set in the same look she always gets when she's in thought. "We'll see about clipping chicken little's wings first, and then try to finish him off by strangling him. I think that ought to get the job done."
And if Ayame's got no other questions, Elle stops talking normally and falls into the Blackjack command language and hand signals. "Joker's wild," she states, raising one finger, gesturing out towards Jesen. "Ace of spades will make it jacks or better. Scram. Beat feet," she says as she pops open the door to let Ayame out.
This proves interesting.
Although it was unexpected for visitors to show up, Jesen felt that there would be people approaching during the night. Even within the most peaceful times of the night, there would be those that would create some form of disturbance within the placid atmosphere. It proves interesting in the sense that it does provide some sort of company. Whether or not it is good company is up for debate.
Slowly standing up to his feet, the boy stands tall upon the sand stump that is his very leverage in height. His back is still turned upon those upon entry, making no effort to turn around and face them. But what they cannot see is the smile forming up on his lips as the 'wings' flutter to life. THe aura that continually bleeds out shifts.
"... I sense humans."
There is a motion deep within the mind of Jesen...
That darkened halls. The void that is his own little world. Through a set of bars within the darker end of the cell, the figure speaks. '...Let me... deal with it. ...If you had any sense in you... you'd let me deal with this.'
...But that goes ignored by Jesen, who is lowering his head. "...I sense something afoot." He doesn't bother turning, but instead looks up at the moon. It will be one of the few opportinity that he has left to do so.
Although, he does sense something... And he smiles, sending a message out to the runner drawn to get out of the car.
~ "Do you believe that two souls exist in one body?" ~
"He's got more of that kind of power radiating out of him than nearly any of them I fought outside that wild haired fortune teller, and with her it was different - more controlled." Ayame remarks as Elle speaks about Jesen. And she should know, she's fought just about the entire Who's Who list of Psycho Power User's Almanac. Psycho Power isn't a mystery to the girl anymore. It just is. Some people got it, some people don't. Now learning to /deal/ with it is another matter.
It's time for the command lanuage, the sign that an operation is under way, and the long haired girl nods to the affirmative. This one's for keeps. Elle has a plan for dealing with Jesen's interesting powers and Ayame is willing to give it a shot. The door is opened and she's out like a blur.
She's already enroute when she hears a voice. Male, young, soft, posing a question out of the blue. Two souls in one body, eh? Souls aren't something Ayame has ever thought about outside of the lessons begrudgingly attended as a young miko in training. She can't see souls, she can't control them. They probably don't exist she concluded eventually. "Who knows - What about bodies with no souls at all?" comes the whisper spoken to the wind that blows past her as she descends upon the white clad boy standing out so brightly beneath the full moon. There's no 'Hey, how's it going.' No 'Hey, thanks again for everything.' No 'Well, I hate to do this but...'
Instead there's simply a whistle of a weight hurtling through the air on almost invisible cabling in the darkness as the young Blackjack mecenary carries out her mission as instructed. "...never gone angel hunting before," comes the murmured statement as she literally attempts to ensare the poor target in winding cables driven by a small metal weight.
COMBATSYS: Ayame has started a fight here.
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Ayame 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Jesen has joined the fight here.
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Jesen 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Ayame
COMBATSYS: Jesen overcomes Sudden Fling from Ayame with Angel Whisper.
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Jesen 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Ayame
"It's just like hunting anything else," Elle says calmly, stepping out of the car as Ayame charges forward. Her hands already crackle with the electrical energy that is her trademark. Unlike Ayame, she starts to walk to the side in an almost casual manner. The door of the car is closed as she heads around the rear of the car, power already snapping about her hands, occasionally licking at the ground.
As she's not privy to the conversation about souls, Elle has no opinion on the matter. People live entire lives not worrying about them, so it's not like she really would have had much to say anyhow. Elle's not the metaphysical type when it comes down to it.
It really doesn't need to be said, but Elle doesn't just watch. She leads by example, and refuses to sit back and let her troops fight when she could be helping mitigate the damage to her troops and maximizing the success rate of her compatriots whenever possible. This little safari's no different.
She raises a hand as she approaches, boots stepping onto sand. Not the best combat surface by any means, but at Elle's pace, it won't really matter that much. Without another words she starts her slow, measured approach as the power streams from her hand, her blast coming in at a slightly different angle to make Jesen the focal point, both attacks triangulating on the same person to end this as soon as possible.
COMBATSYS: Elle has joined the fight here.
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Elle 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Jesen
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Ayame 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Elle successfully hits Jesen with High Voltage.
- Power hit! -
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Elle 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Jesen
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Ayame 0/-------/-------|
"Then the body becomes nothing more than a shell. An unused, broken shell that has no ability to function correctly."
That is the answer to the young girl's question. What comes from the young boy is a manifesttion of that white and black aura crackling into existance. The flow of power is drawn through the inner essence of the boy, before he shifts his gaze right at the direction of the attacking girl.
With a smile.
Soon, that energy transmits from his hand towards the earth, creating a psycho powered shockwave to tear through her weighted cable, drifting towards her direction just as quick.
Unfortunately, he is caught by the voltage striking him down just as heavily. His eyes widen and he slowly falls onto both knees. Steam singes from his body as the crackling energy resonates on him for a few moments before it fades, yet the smoke from the singe is still there.
"It is a pleasure to see you again, Miss Elle."
COMBATSYS: Ayame dodges Jesen's Angel Whisper.
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Elle 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Jesen
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Ayame 0/-------/-------|
In recent months, Ayame's forays into Geese Howard's league have put her up against some of the most incredible fighters in the world. And she's been fast enough to survive them. It's that same blinding speed that helps the girl here as her rope dart is blown away by the shockwave of power he creates with simply a gesture.
Her response is a quick leap to the side into a controlled roll through the sand, coming up in a crouch, "Lively tonight," comes the quiet observation. But she also sees his smile. Doesn't he know what he's in for? Elle says there is no brother. That it's two in one. Maybe that's what the voice in her mind was talking about. If that's the case, the child is in a lot of trouble here real quick. Her rope dart was literally obliterated by the youth's power but the girl has more than one way to pin someone down.
Her hand reaches to her side, taking hold of one of two belts that extend around the black trenchcoat she has on over plain black clothing. Dressed for mission work, the girl looks a bit different than she normally does - no ragtag jumble of randomly modified clothing tonight. The belt slips out of the loops of the coat into her hands and then she's right back to charging, "I told your other half I was going to try and help him out, for your sake... remains to be seen, eh?"
The whip that was a belt moments ago is a couple yards in length and Ayame controls it with expert skill, lashing it out through the night air in an attempt to ensnare him.
There's a lie.
Nobody is ever happy to see Elle.
The footsteps press forward, the crackling power in her hand residing for the moment as she doesn't even pause, instead reasing her hand to sort of mark Jesen's position with a thumb. The range is judged with a clear focus on accuracy, and her fingers form an 'L' shape as she goes for depth.
She doesn't talk. Never sees a need to. Clever banter is for other people that don't have a job to do. There's always time enough to talk after she's done gunning down her targets. People have questions, and she means to get those people some answers.
But for now, Elle's busy aiming. Distance and direction are calculated in her mind, and her fingers come together as she narrows her eyes, seeming to stare at the space right in front of Jesen. If she judges it right, the snap of her fingers will cause a small burst of sonic chi to explode right as Ayame's attack strikes, compounding the damage and hopefully pounding the air out of the kid's lungs so that it becomes easier to keep him down on the ground.
COMBATSYS: Jesen dodges Ayame's Medium Throw.
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Elle 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Jesen
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Ayame 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Elle successfully hits Jesen with Silent Scream.
- Power hit! -
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Elle 0/-------/----===|=======\===----\1 Jesen
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Ayame 0/-------/-------|
He can already tell that his situation is bleak for him. But honestly, it doesn't matter. No matter how bleak the situation is, he will stride on. Even in the worst case scenario.
He will make sure that his end comes before his brother's end.
"Perhaps you'll have better luck reaching him than I would."
As the hand of the female is whipping out that belt towards the hand, Jesen can already tell that she means to ensnare him. He launches off of the ground and dives away from the incoming whipping belt, only to get caught by the sonic pulse blasting him right into the gut. It knocks the wind out of him and he twitches on the ground, gasping for air.
...Let me kill them.
Shaking his head, Jesen is staggering to get up. "I can't allow th---...eghnn." He clutches onto his head. An eye opens up as he can feel himself struggling. Even his hymn is finding a struggle.
o/` ...Te... ca.. se ro te so ne. o/`
o/` To no te ze re ne lo se o/`
He just tries to focus on the matter at hand and recompose himself.
COMBATSYS: Jesen gains composure.
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Elle 0/-------/----===|=======\==-----\1 Jesen
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Ayame 0/-------/-------|
She slides to a stop, her feet digging ruts through the sand as her whip comes up 'empty handed' that time. But the attempted lash alone was enough to leave him vulnerable to Elle's attack from the other direction. Just like Ayame observed when she and two other relative nobodies took down the World Warrior, Kyo Kusanagi, himself. Not even the best can cope with attacks from every direction with absolute precision... And Elle and Ayame make a more deadly team than that randomly assembled trio that dropped Kyo handily.
"Why does he exist? Why are there two?" the long haired girl asks in reply to the boy's remark. Unlike Elle, Ayame never stops talking. Not while she still has the strength to, at least. Words are just another weapon to her, prying out details, distracting at a key moment, or tearing down the confidence of an opponent almost as effectively as a savage, plunging stab with a blade might.
And then he gets blasted by Elle's power and dropped to the ground. The woman's chi manipulation never ceases to amaze the girl with an amazing amount of precise control over the stuff. Ayame can make chi weave, glow, dance, and waltz at her whim. Elle can unload sonic energy with so much destructive force almost no position is safe once targetted. "Head hurting?" she asks, sounding almost like she cares as Jesen encases his head in his hands, one eye opening as he fights to contain and control that wishes for release. "Won't matter for long..."
As she's spoken she's wrapped the whip up into a coil and slid it over one of her shoulders, freeing her left hand to slip into her trenchcoat pocket and withdraw a small metal bar that she expands out into a full staff with the press of a button. The moon glints of the staff's shiny metal surface as Ayame steps forward, swinging it out wide and low, trying to take Jesen off his feet again. Trapped between the two dangerous fighters, he might be in the worst spot he's ever been in now.
Chanting? It's not a language she's familiar with. The 'words' are memorized in an instant, to be mulled over later. Right now, nothing else is occupying Elle's mind except the mission. Ayame seems to be holding her own, and Jesen? Well, he could be doing better. Still, there's nothing on Elle's face that indicates she's particularly enjoying herself. For her, this is work. Some people punch a time clock. Elle punches people until they keel over. It's not a job that comes with a pension or anything.
Still, it's someone stress releiving when it goes right.
But Jesen's not down yet, and Elle's not going to let up the pressure. A katar slips easily over her hand, and the sonic energy is channeled easily along the blade. The weapon hums to life, her energy feeding it, almost giving it a mind of it's own as the weapon starts to blur strange afterimages. She steps to the side as Ayame makes her feint, the staff coming in to take the boy off of his feet. Hobnailed boots scuff quietly through the sand. While Ayame is wild, frantic action, Elle moves with all the grace and agility of an iceberg.
Her slow, plodding movements give her time to think, react, and choose the appropriate action. But she's capable of considerable momentum when necessary. The split second Ayame's attack comes close to hitting home, Elle's feet burst across the sand, churning up the beach like twin pistons. The weapon snapped to her arm leaves a trail marking her progress as she uses the torque of her sudden sprint, and she pivots on one heel as she swerves in a wide arc. A spray of sand enters the air as she raises her arm high. As Ayame tries to trip him up, Elle tries to put him down. The humming sonic blade shoots forward to pound Jesen straight in the back.
The force of the punch isn't devestating, but the blade will add considerable pain and probably pummel him face first into the sand, whether or not Ayame's destablizing attack hits or not. Indeed, sandwiched between two completely soulless people with more chi than is really sane is not where a psi would ever want to be.
COMBATSYS: Jesen endures Ayame's Medium Strike!
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Elle 0/-------/----===|=======\=====--\1 Jesen
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Ayame 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Jesen interrupts Medium Strike from Elle with End of Misery.
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Elle 1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Jesen
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Ayame 0/-------/-------|
Let... me... out.
Let... me... free.
Let. Me. Kill.
Usually collected in these cases, Jesen is losing that control at this point as he can feel the strength alleviate. Not just from the beating on the outside world on the shell of the body, but inside.
...Did he let his control slip to his little brother's hands. It's like a string being tugged a few times. Rattling and pulling the force in the direction that it deos not want to go. Jesen knows that 'he' wants to be free. However, Jesen did not forget about the question that she asked.
'Why does he exist? Why are there two?'
"... The first thing he saw in his existance... was death."
And it is with that when Ayame draws out her staff and begins to assault with the object towards his legs. He steps right into the fray, feeling his legs taken by the swing. While the ankles are hurting, he opts to take off-ground.
...He doesn't fall, despite of the pain. Instead, he remains hovering while airborne. His body shifts towards Elle. The entire aura, that glowing aura that consumes Jesen's body fades away.
It. Is. Gone.
There is no trace of that aura ever in the boy's body, as it had completely left him. By the time he lands on the ground, the pain from the staff makes its mark on Jesen, and he is meeting with Elle's attack. As it was going to be at the back, he turned to face her not long ago during that airborne twist. The pistons strike him in the chest, but his hand simply touches Elle's arm.
It doesn't grab. It just simple pat before he falls on the ground.
Jesen's aura.... it actually transfers towards Elle. Inside Elle's head, she can hear the hymn that the boy sang earlier ring in her head. It resonates as the black and white aura slowly manifests along her body, glowing brightly for a brief moment. It is in that brief moment that the hymn becomes a lullaby, drawing a fragment of her soul from her body, which would cause the body to undergo a fatigue. The lullaby, however, is plain and clear as a soft voice utters:
'Sleep.'
It is then that the aura fades... and slowly regenerates onto Jesen.
The sweep is successful in connect, but not in taking him down. Ayame spins out of the attack, kicking up a spray of sand in the process. Expecting to find him down when she finishes the twirl, the girl catches sight of him hovering rather than falling. No end of tricks this one seems to possess, she muses silently. "Well, that's a new one."
He lands and turns, extending his hand out to touch Elle's arm. Ayame has learned from experience at Alma's hand what a simple touch can do from the likes of him and seeing him land it against Elle has her worried. She knows the woman is strong. Tougher than nails. But some attacks have a way of getting past even the most rugged defenses. And for a moment Ayame wonders if this is going to be one of those times.
The mission hasn't changed though and for a moment she buttons up, Jesen's words echoing in her mind. The boy in the village in the mountain-born visions of some time ago is remembered. Can trauma cause this? Horrific sights and experiences as a child? She isn't sure. For as rotton as she is, it certainly isn't her upbringing to blame...
Tightening her hold on her staff, the girl decides to up the ante at risk of over extending herself. The titanium pole becomes coated with a red-orange flickering energy that dances like flames along the middle and arcs out like lighting from the end. "This is finished," she states, stepping forward to unleash a flurry of strikes.
A spin from one side to try and slam him, break his stance, weaken him. Then her body twists the other way, kicking up a small whirlwind of sand in the process a she sweeps out with the full length of the weapon to impact his other side. Finally the girl hops forward, hefting the weapon up over her head before bringing it down, attempting to strike his shoulder and drive him into the sand. And should it connect, with each strike, a shower of sparks rains down through the air around girl and boy.
Yeah, and Horton Hears a Who. It's not that it doesn't work. It's more like it grabs ahole of something inside of her, shakes it around a little, and makes her sleepy. Elle's perpetually tired, due to her insomnia. Theoretically, it wouldn't take much to nudge her into narcolepsy, if not for the fact that her own sheer willpower forces her to be so obnoxious that something like that isn't going to keep her slowed down for an extremely long time.
That, and after reliving her 'worst nightmare' through Elfa's attack, this is small potatoes. Elle snaps out of it in a matter of seconds, the attack being shaken off with a quick roll of her head. Already she can feel her chi coursing through her body, restoring her vitality and feeding back into her. Jesen's psionic power may be potent, but Elle's chi is a demanding thing. It keeps her alive for a lot longer than anyone really wants her to be.
Still, Elle's not about to let Jesen get the better of her, and this is exactly why Elle keeps her mouth shut in battle and always assumes the worse. An opponent is always going to come up with something new and interesting. Unfortunately for Jesen, Elle's just better prepared for it than most people.
Her eyes refocus quickly and she gives a quick nod to Ayame. She's fine. She'll handle it. All in due course. But right now, Elle's got bigger fish to fry, so to speak. The woman's hand reaches down to grab the mace she keeps clipped to her belt. The heavy mace is swung quickly, but it's just a feinting maneuver as Elle lances out with one foot, and slams her booted foot to his chest, trying to keep him down on the ground and assist with Ayame's pinning staff maneuver.
COMBATSYS: Ayame successfully hits Jesen with Requiem For Fallen Blossoms.
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Elle 1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Jesen
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Ayame 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Elle successfully hits Jesen with Light Kick.
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Elle 1/------=/=======|=======\=------\1 Jesen
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Ayame 0/-------/-----==|
In the meantime, Jesen is slowly getting up to his feet. This is only in time to receive the flurry of strikes as the red-orange chi flickers into existance. He recalls wanting to see the energy long ago. But as it strikes him in this point, Jesen is caught off guard, the stance broken as he fumbles, then he is slammed into the sand.
Those rapid shower of sparks glitter and smash against him.
As he is settled onto the ground, Jesen is crunched into the chest with the boot. He coughs, the eyes widen as his body shudders once. ...But slowly, it loses its ability to continue. He leans his head towards the ground.
...It wants one chance.
...It's going to take that chance, even if it's through Jesen.
The head quickly turns around.
Glasses. Gone. Smile. Gone. The hair covering the right eye? There. Different look. Different persona. Black aura is there. The visible narrowed eye directs itself at Elle.
The voice sounds a little younger from the previous mature tone of the boy as he roars out, "Even if it's one shot....!" He extends the hand forth, then he releases forth a piercing bolt of black energy to impale Elle where she stands.
...Before the glow fades away once more. WHen the glow fades, the position of the hair changes to where it doesn't cover the eye and he leans back on the ground. Spectacles there once more.
COMBATSYS: Jesen can no longer fight.
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Elle 1/------=/=======|=------\-------\0 Ayame
Unconsciously. Yeah.
He's down on the ground. Ayame follows the plan put in motion by Elle as they worked out how to deal with his abilities ahead of time. There is no expression of satisfaction in her face. It was a mission and she did her job and neither she nor Elle got greviously injured in the process. It's a job - in spite what many must think, she has little passion for fighting outside of occasional flashes of malicious intent. Normally it's simply a means to an end, a way to get the job done.
The girl starts to drop to one knee just as he reaches out toward Elle, "Look out!" comes the call just before the black energy blasts from his hand. The girl plants one hand against Jesen's chest, eyes focusing on his face. For a moment the glasses weren't there... she knows what she saw, for she can picture it perfectly in her mind. But they're there now. "Two souls, huh..."
Her left hand is in position to pin him, her right hand wrapping around his neck. Elle said unconsciousness would keep him still and from what Ayame can tell, he's already there. At first her hand tightens as if to cut off his breath, but she relaxes it a moment later. No pity reflects in the brown eyes that study him. Some might wonder if the girl has a loyal cell in her entire body; whether she should ever be trusted for even an instant as she looks at the glasses adorned face of the kid that had done her no particular harm with nothing resembling remorse. It's maybe even something Elle has to consider at times - just how tamed the young lynx really is.
She doesn't glance up toward Elle to see how the woman fared with the black bolt of energy the boy unleashed. Her eyes never leave Jesen as her hand continues to press against him. This time... this time he seems solid. He's not going anywhere for now.
COMBATSYS: Ayame has left the fight here.
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Elle 1/------=/=======|
COMBATSYS: Elle blocks Jesen's Soul Liberation.
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Elle 1/------=/=======|
Ah yes. This thing. Elle's dealt with it before, and this time she's prepared for it. Ayame's shout only serves to punctuate the fact that her raised hand generates a burst of electrical power in which the spear grinds itself to death. The surging energy seems to just devour the psionic blast without Elle so much as batting an eye.
The mercenary sniffs once, and shakes her hand. it's a little numb. Fingers flex experimentally, and she then turns her attention to Ayame. "Get the cuffs and rope out of the back of the car. You're righting in the backseat with Captain Prozac to make sure he doesn't get away. If he so much as twitches funnt, I want you to stab hin in the windpipe." Ayame's loaylty isn't in question as much as one might think because Elle knows that Ayame understands precisely what Elle does to people that cause her and her people grief: the poof is lying on the ground right now, under her boot.
As for Jesen, Elle raises a food, and pounds down on his chest hard. "Listen carefully you little shit, and listen good because I'm only going to say this once."
"Let me demystify your life for you. The reason why Vega picked humans in general and me in particular is no real mystery. It's because a ninteen year old girl with a stick kicked your ass and had enough presence of mind to go eat ice cream afterwards while watching Tiny Toons," she says, her voice dry and empty as ever, her hand absently hooking the mace back into her belt. "As for your little split personality act? Congratulations. You're an Oreo made out of crap and earwax. Disgusting on the outside, revolting on the inside, and let's face it, people probably hate /you/ more than they hate /me/, and that's a /feat/."
"Now, pay very close attention," she says, leaning forward, because I'm only going to say this once. If you /ever/ bother me, or my subordinates again, you're not going to get off as lucky as you are tonight. Tonight, I'm having a co-worker of mine see how you push into the realm of 'annoying' as opposed to 'mildly irritating'. If you think you can try the stunts you've been trying over and over again? I will hit you on the head with a sledgehammer until you have so many personalities you can be your own god damn fantasy football team. Capisch? And don't say anything. Just nod your head. Your voice makes me sick."
COMBATSYS: Elle has ended the fight here.
Sadly, for Elle, her words are rather on deaf ears. After that one more attempt to pierce her, despite of the fact that he was pounded on the chest, there is no response from the shell.
Ayame is off to retrieve the cuffs and rope as Elle speaks to the child and by the time she comes back the warning was given. "So what do you think it is with him?" the girl asks as she secures the unconscious, fallen angel. "He seems to have a quest - well, two if you count both sides..."
Her voice is curious. Jesen and his 'brother' are a strange combination to her. She's good at reading people, making sense, breaking down their motivations into understandable pieces. It's all part of playing the master con, knowing what makes people tick even if you don't march to the same drum beat as they do. But this has been one case she can't figure out, perhaps just lacking the world experience whatsoever to put it all together.
"I guess Marise will find out more, ne?" She grunts as she hefts Jesen up, not one for heavy lifting herself, but he's not a big fellow. "Do you really think there can be two completely independant identities in someone? Or is it just a defense mechanism?" Why she thinks Elle's an expert on mental disorders is anyone's guess. "Oh well... Guess this mystery will be solved in due course." And then it's off to the car with the boy.
Out like a light. Elle turns her attention to the inquisitive teammate, and she shrugs. "Look. I've fought everything from kids just out of diapers to cyborgs to trained assassins, people that claim to be demon fighters, witches, whalers, millionaire playboys, and in one case, I'm pretty sure he was an alien, or something close to it. I don't see any reason why this little bag of disappointment can't have five individual people running around in his head, much less two."
She pops open the backseat, and the car keys give a jingle as Elle opens the driver's side door, the keyring doing a loop around one of her fingers as she contemplates the question a little more seriously. "As for what it is with him? No solid clue. Just based on what you've said and my firsthand accounts? He's some bit of trash Vega picked up and probably just convinced that Shadaloo and Vega are going to fix the planet, find a cure for cancer, and hand out free flan on the street corner every Wednesday in front of your local department store." She slides in, the door clunking closed as she turns around to make sure Ayame's adjusted in the backseat.
"If I had to hazard his problem, is that he's got a murderous personality inside of him, and the responsible part of him feels that he has to shoulder the burden for it because he 'put' that personality in there in the first place. 'Am I my brother's keeper'? and all that hoopla," she says, rolling a hand as if going through a rote story. "Whatever the case may be, in the end he's not any different than the rest of us."
The key is turned and Elle pulls out into the street as if driving around with half dead angel children in her backseat is somethign that happens to her every day. "In short, if you wanna get down to it, he's got a relative he's embarassed of. It's like he's got his own crazy psycho cousin Waldo preinstalled in him. the kind of guy you don't invite to parties because he's busy muttering by the punchbowl that he's the angel of death, and for some reason he can't get rid of it. Or doesn't want to, because he's family. But let me put it this way, Kid Vicious," she says, eyes flicking to the rear view mirror, "Don't worry about it too much. In the grand scheme of things? He's a ranting, babbling dipshit that turns up like a bad penny. Hopefully Marise will give us a more mechanical reason instead of dimestore psychology."
"Free flan, huh?" Ayame asks from the backseat. "Well now, maybe they're on to something then."
The girl leans back to enjoy the ride, glancing at Jesen at her side quietly. "Tough break, kid..." she mutters, echoing the words she said to his image when a certain mountain shared a certain vision with her not long ago. "Oh well... it's all just one giant hopeless world anyway." She exhales softly then props her chin up with her hand, her elbow against the car window. "...what's one more sad story."
Log created on 00:28:17 01/08/2008 by Ayame, and last modified on 04:49:13 01/08/2008.