Description: [Mission] Despite the cost, the mission is everything. Our contacts have informed us that an experimental cannon is being revealed in Saturday Night Fight this week. Capturing it will be useful to our aims. Despite expected resistance from the two genius witches, there can be no support from the research group's strongest members. I will go alone and capture the objective myself.
"... And welcome to the Japanese Self Defense Force's monumentual crowning achievement, constructed with loving care with the cooperation of the United States and Britain, the Japanese destroyer Ayanami IV~ and it's prototype cannon the TYPHOON!"
Today's SNF is certainly well populated today--partially because the crowd are all fans of pretty girls, and partially because the crowd are also all fans of very, very large guns. The Ayanami IV is a bizarre looking stealth motor vessel, a destroyer-type with a large ECM control tower mounted on its deck. This much alone would make the ship seem a strange aggressor in the normally peaceful JSDF naval collection, but adding to the bizarreness is the massive cannon mounted to the ship's hull, counterweighted for a great degree of firing arc.
"You think you know?!" the announcer pipes up, "Well you don't! The Typhoon cannon is the heart and soul of Japan's defense and their gift to the developed world," he whistles loud and clear, carefully avoiding the use of the term 'military.' He continues his rambling sell, "praised to be the world's first international railgun! Keep an eye on this, kids, the National Diet won't let us keep this baby for long!" he snickers. "Let's meet today's fighters! A sibling rivalry to end all rivalries! On the cannon side, we've got the black butterfly herself, NINON~!" he sparkles towards one side of the corner. "AND ON THE BLUE SIDE!" He snaps suddly, changing tone and apparently utterly ignoring what he just said, "we got THE EMPEROR'S GIFT OF LIFE LOVE AND DELICIOUS BUN HAIR, MIGNON BEART! :o!!"
It doesn't actually matter if the contestants are here yet. He'll probably go on for at least five more minutes piping about the weather and how great Japan is before he's kicked off stage and someone gets grumpy.
Woah.. Mignon's not used to this! The giant crowd of girls and weaponry draws eyes as well as Mignon's attention, and Mignon is currently not on the BLUE SIDE.
Okay wait, she's leaping up.. NOW SHE IS! "HIIIIIIIIIIIII~!" Mignon cries out, waving to everyone as she bounces while waving, looking at all of the little people all over! She didn't know they were little people .. when she was with them down there they were normal sized but Mignon guesses that maybe they were not actually that tall .. oh what is a Mignon to do!?
Running to one end, Mignon puts a hand over her eyes as she looks out over the water, looking at the people and the sea. "WOOOOOOOOAH! Mignon has never been on such a nice place and Mignon didn't know she was a gift of any kind but Mignon PROMISES that Mignon will try her best for all of the people because if Mignon's a gift Mignon should.." BREATHE.. ".. really give it everything she has!" Okay so it wasn't much longer.
Spinning around once more, dressed in the weird pants, the expensive and formal white shirt and some kind of long robe/coat Mignon is also rocking the pink bun hair! And is currently waving to all the people while bouncing about hyper actively. "Oooh.. wait Mignon gets to fight her sissy!?" Mignon gasps, but then .. she grins!
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" She yells out, as loudly as ever.
Finally.. Ninon has been roped into a FAMILY ACTIVITY.
You can easily see the look of annoyance upon the face of Mignon's little sister. While she looks forward to the chance to embarrass her sister, particularly considering her less then elegant entrance, that desire is tempered by the fact that yes, now people know THAT THING is related to her.
Her own appearance is a great deal more subdued as she simply steps into position. The crowds she ignores. They're nothing more then meaningless distractions, not worth paying attention to. She was here for one single solitary reason. To beat her sister, and beat her soundly. Perhaps if she's dropped on her head a few more times, she might suddenly become smart!
"Black butterfly?" Ninon decides to take her annoyance out on the announcer before dealing with her sister. "A butterfly is a weak, worthless creature of no value other then simply looking pretty. I assure you, my beauty is merely one of my numerous talents. Perhaps you should pick your words wiser in the future." And then, to Mignon. "As for you, sister, perhaps you should simply not talk at all. I can't help but get a headache merely by hearing your voice."
COMBATSYS: Mignon has started a fight here.
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Mignon 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Ninon has joined the fight here.
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Ninon 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Mignon
"Wh... OK then!!" the announcer barks, "Wednesday Addams has arrived!! You guys CAN'T GIVE IT UP! GO FOR IT MAN! D:!"
=FIGHT!=
It's a good day out! The sky is smiling and the sun is dancing merrily! And so is Mignon, who is happily accepts Ninon's criticism. "Oooh! SISSY! You're finally here Mignon was worried you wouldn't come but you're here now! Hooray!" She cries out, "YAY!" She flails a bit, bouncing as she leaps towards Ninon, whom continues the insults.
"Oh Ninon that's funny! But how an Mignon talk to you if your big sister can't talk? That's a problem.." She bounds, skipping about Ninon as she goes, happily grinning from cheek to cheek, before she flips backwards, displaying her rather main focus.. Mignon uses her ability to move about to her advantage, and her natural peppy attitude generally works towards a natural peppy body.
And of course, the announcer now barks. Mignon would meow but not now! Noooot now.
Oh, and Mignon has always wanted to say this. Covering her mouth, she mocks the announcer. "Two sisters locked in battle.. who will be victorious!?" And then breaks out into laughter. "Ooookay Ninon.. Yor big sister is going to start, okay? .. Hope you're REAAADYYY!!" She yells out as she barrels down the end of the gun, before kicking off.. and leaping towards Ninon. "MEOOWWW!"
The glowing pink orbs are the first things she charges with, before she hits the ground, hands first, legs whipping forwards and causing her to cartwheel.. perhaps straight into Ninon!
COMBATSYS: Mignon successfully hits Ninon with Defoliation.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
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Ninon 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Mignon
Truth of the matter is, Ninon went into the battle underestimating her sister. She'd always distanced herself from her, so she didn't know the extent that she'd trained herself. She's surprised to find that yes, her sister CAN hurt her. A part of her likes it. Her biggest issue with her sister is that she is so weak and if she can keep up in this fight, she might hate her slightly less. Slightly. But as long as she remains as obnoxious as she is, Ninon will forever hold nothing but contempt for her older sibling.
Knocked backwards but not over, Ninon flips over on one hand and lands on her booted feet with a smirk on her face. You'd never know that she'd been hurt by the look on her face. There's nothing there but an arrogant smirk. "Hmph. Haven't you been training, sister? I could of sworn you'd at least be trying to beat me. Could at least try to not be such a disappointment, perhaps?"
She clenches a hand into a fist as what looks like electricity flows over it, and with a casual sweep of her arm, lets fly an orb of her own, one that her sister may find quite shocking.
COMBATSYS: Mignon dodges Ninon's Demiurge Thunderbolt.
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Ninon 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Mignon
"OH WOW!" the announcer yells over the PA, "FANTASTIC! BEAUTIFUL! THE MAYHEM MAKES ME CRAZY!" he hisses out.
Meanwhile, over a different wireless frequency, a set of voices communicate much less vibrantly.
"This is Albatross unit. All clamps have been released."
"10-4. Crow unit has loaded ninkou into the accel chamber."
"Eagle unit is enroute. Hawk unit?"
"Hawk unit... Phase two. On my mark. Mission start."
On that note, a few moments after Mignon clears the weapon's barrel, the Typhoon cannon rolls to the side, with the agonizing shriek of pulsing hydraulics and steel not entirely connected to the main fuselage. At this point, at least, only the announcer seems to take any notice of the thing--after all, this is supposed to be showing off Japan's pride, isn't it? "Whoa--woulja lookit that--HEY," he notices. "We're not supposed to fire until midfight!! Not that way! You're gonna fire TOO EARLY, YOU GOONS!" he shrieks.
The only response the obnoxious announcer gets is the thrum of the hijacked generator deep in the Ayanami's hold. Soldiers quickly mobilize on deck, but power cables leading up to the control tower snap with the sudden unregulated movements of the weapon, sending man and woman alike flying into the air and overboard.
A form steps onto the deck from below, opening a door.
His telltale white haori drifts in the open sea breeze, even as he adjusts the earpiece he wears, circumventing the announcer's mic, much to the man's ire. (he's yelling something over there, but it's probably obnoxious, and it's even more likely no one cares.)
"Attention everyone," the calm measured voice of a Steel Leaf, the engineer Seishirou Ryouhara calls out. "The Ayanami is now under my control. Crew have been beaten and subdued by me. Cooperate and no one will be harmed. This battle can continue after I leave, if you wish. But defy my word," he looks up, dark eyes flashing in the new light...
"..and you'll be pitched overboard."
In the distance, a black shape approaches.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou has joined the fight here.
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Ninon 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Mignon
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Seishirou 0/-------/-------|
As Ninon is struck, Mignon's surprised to find her able to launch her away... what? But as Ninon flips over, landing so easily, Mignon phews. "Woah.. Mignon's happy you're okay still!" She cries, grinning happily, before Ninon launches an orb of electricity STRAIGHT towards Mignon.. whatever shall she do!?
"OOOoh, Ninon.. Mignon's been doing some practice, yeppers! And wat-WOAH!" It apparently is jump for it.. but it's not Mignon that dodges. It's the barrels. Mignon goes to move, but the barrel rolls .. and Mignon staggers. And then falls flat on her bum, straddling the gun as it moves, the girl hanging on. "W-WOAHHHH!" And then she gets to see something .. bad.. a takeover. A TAKEOVER!? "Nu-UH!" Mignon cries out, looking to Seisirou now, and pointing.
"YOU HEARD what the guy said, right? Mignon heard, and this is Japan's! IT'S A GIFT AND STEALING A GIFT IS JUST WRONG!" Mignon is very angry when people do very bad and mean things to good people.
Which is why when Sei still sits there happily.. Mignon suddenly calls up her power.. Ninon might realize this flare.. it's a pretty drastic one for Mignon compared to her normal actions.
"THAT'S IT MISTER, Mignon will have to TEACH YOU TO BEHAVE! FIRE!" From Mignon's gloved hands, a burning ball of fire erupts, much like Ninon's electricity, spinning through the air, attempting to burn right into the evil.. it's also fired with the sound of something like a gunshot.
Because Mignon is over here <---- tumbling away from the fireball. "OW OW OW OW! TOO STEEP! MIGNON DIDN'T THINK IT WAS THIS STEEEEEEP!"
And suddenly, things change. Ninon barely has time to be irritated that her attack didn't succeed in wounding her sister before someone decides to interrupt. Some foolish person has come to interrupt what was supposed to be HER show. Because to Ninon, the Japanese warship was absolutely worthless. There was one reason and one reason only that people should even be here, and it was clad in black and ready to punch sibling faces. The fact that this person would DARE interrupt annoys her even more then her vaguely braindamaged sister.
"Don't be absurd." Her voice, strong and practically leaking arrogance, calls out to the ship-napper. "Your ultimatium is meaningless to me. If you wish to get in the way, then it is you who'll be tossed to the seas. I will give you one chance to leave before..." She pauses for a moment to watch her sister tumble by. Is it any wonder that she finds her so annoying? "...I get angry with you." She crosses her arms in front of her, offering the man little more then a cocky smirk. She came here ready to fight. She's not going to back down so easily.
COMBATSYS: Ninon focuses on her next action.
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Ninon 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Mignon
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Seishirou 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Seishirou dodges Mignon's Fire Ball.
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Ninon 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Mignon
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Seishirou 0/-------/-------|
"Hello," Ryouhara greets no one in particular.
That was a fierce will. His eye is invariably drawn to the one in black speaking out against him in the crowd. The only one, for the record. The crowd has mostly been subdued by Seishirou's simple promise that no harm will befall them. What few weren't immediately were just slapped overboard by stray power cables. By now, it is no huge secret what the ninkou priest Ryouhara is really capable of, for anyone who even pays the slightest amount of attention.
"The ability of the talented to take what they require from the dull is a divine right necessary for the purchase of a new order," Ryouhara calls, though his voice is subdued away from the PA system at this point. As to prove it, a blade is unsheathed from a sling held low at his hip, an ornate and odd geometric blade flicked out in an underhanded motion. It doesn't /quite/ touch the incoming fireblast, its passage a flash just before its entry, but even so, the fire casts past him--in two neat slices. The heat from it only sends his haori floating about him.
"I'm interested in you.." he mentions of Ninon. "But I'm not going anywhere. Come. And prove that you can fight half as good as you talk. But I wonder how much you care, really..?" He speaks to the crowd once and simple, over the PA. "Move." His handseals are simple. One hand lifts to his lips. His lips purse.
And then a massive blast of fire rolls through the ground, towards Ninon--and /past/ her. Following the trail of the rolling Mignon, the conflagration boils after her as if a dragon possessed. One presumes that if the onlookers didn't move at his word, they will at the torch.
COMBATSYS: Mignon stops Katon - Goukakyuu from Seishirou with Water Shield.
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Ninon 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Mignon
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Seishirou 0/-------/-------|
Mignon refuses to believe it, and Sei manages to CUT HER PRETTY FIREBALL IN HALF. With it cut in half, Mignon blinks.. and then there happens to a sudden eruption of fire rolling through the ground, and Mignon is worried for Ninon! "SISSSY WATCH .. out....AHHH!" Mignon cries out, the flaring energy boiling towards her .. and what.. it's too close.. will she.. SHE WON'T MAKE IT!
"Water-UP!" Sei may hate that.. because suddenly an eruption of water spouts from the ground, spraying upwards and away from about Mignon.. the giant burning fire blast collides into the water of water, mist surrounding her and spreading outwards.. is she okay? Is she dead?!
Coughing, Mignon staggers out of the magical onslaught.. and then points at Sei.. "T-THAT'S NOT NICE! .. These people AREN'T SUPPOSED TO BE TOYED LIKE THAT OKAY!? Mignon has had JUST enough of that! You give these people back their boat MIGNON WILL NOT ASK NICELY AGAIN!"
".. And leave my sissy alone, MIGNON WON'T EVER LET SOMETHING HAPPEN LIKE THAT!"
It would seem that Ninon's words were not heeded. It would of been slightly disappointing if that was all that there'd been to it. But then, who would invade a ship like this intent to steal it and simply leave when some scrawny girl in a fancy dress said to do so? They'd have to be one hell of a pathetic thief, that's for sure!
Her sister's plight does not go unnoticed by Ninon, but the girl seems much more intent on the man with the blade. "You ask me how much I care? I will answer you, gladly. Not at all. I don't care for these people, and I also do not care about this foolish metallic trinket. If you had picked another time to take it, I would not even of considered coming between you and your prize. You possessing it doesn't do me any harm, after all. However, you picked now, a time when the spotlight is supposed to be upon me." It is quite obvious this girl thinks a great deal about herself. "This is why I will not do as you. Certainly you understand why I cannot simply step aside."
The girl's form wavers with a vibrant red outline, and suddenly, she simply vanishes from sight, reappearing near Seishirou. "You wish to test my abilities? So be it. I came here to fight my sister, but there is room for another." The motion for her attack is as elegant as her manner of dress. She holds one hand outwards, and twirls, like some manner of ballerina. It isn't merely for show of course. From her hand, a near invisible wave of energy flows, a wave almost like the wind, a hurricane condensed into a few square feet.
COMBATSYS: Ninon successfully hits Seishirou with Melancholic Mercurius.
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Ninon 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Mignon
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Seishirou 0/-------/-----==|
It's like a shadow in the sky, this great copter Kyousha. Blacker and quieter than night, the only way to tell it has truly arrived is from the wind that kicks up on the deck, from the muffled thump of the rotors floating the huge thing overhead, a long streamlined creature with dual rotors. It's approach is sudden and with only the minor warning of the apporaching black speck, it buzzes the deck with its presence and comes around even as energy begins to crackle off of the cannon's skin and the surface of the ship.
Ryouhara arches a brow as that same energy crawls up the wall of water the witch drew to collide with his Goukakyuu. Multielemental... as expected. But it's interesting to see suspicions confirmed. More information for his binder. They are strong in their own ways. "..Annoyances," he classifies them both. The wicked blade Senchakiri whirls in his hand. "There can be no time other than this," he declares. "Those who draw back and surrender are foolish--!"
He is enveloped in the barely visible hurricane, as the blast wave compresses bones and rends flesh, his body just barely remaining standing beneath the onslaught as he shields his head. "Gh..!!"
(~Shell prepared. Target locked. On your orders.~)
He throws his arms wide in the aftershock of the attack, casting his haori to float freely in the whirlwinds generated by the hovering copter overhead. "If you think you can stop me.. prove it!"
"Until then--for that spirit... I can only thank you."
Seishirou whispers. "Fire."
The entire Ayanami bucks as the cannon's generator releases its charge. Enervating the rails, the cannon barks surprisingly quickly, the only sound coming from it is the chunk of metal crashing gainst metal, and the audible crack of a projectile breaking the sound barrier. The Ayanami lists heavily to port in the sea, a blue ion trail crawling from the air. At that moment, the cannon seems to shatter what final mechanisms leave it on the ship, causing the thing to tilt rapidly towards the sea, lifting the entire gun chamber up off the ship, and forcing it to list against starboard. THe only thing stopping it? Cables and chains, lowered from the Kyousha.
In that moment, Seishirou engages Ninon.
A stroke is made across the ground, the tip of Senchakiri of legendary sharpness. It is enough to carve a huge rent in the ship's deck almost from one bow to the other with his speed, but it is only Seishirou's warning shot. The sound flash of the blade is made close to Ninon--but not close enough. Leaping away toward the cannon (and incidentally Mignon), the attack would only graze her with the tip of the blade. But if she were paying attention, that's all that's needed. If not, the blood staining that pretty dress is lesson enough.
Is it possible for a weapon to be that sharp?
And it looks like Sei is very .. .. what?
Mignon's eyes open as she sees something flash past her. she knows that energy in a way, but it wasn't hers.. wait.. "Ninon?" She turns to face her little sis, blinking. "OH NINON! You decided to help your big sissy! She's so PROUD of you!" She beams, and leaping up and down in the air, Mignon then watches as .. what? .. Wait a second.. WAIT A SECOND. "HEY MIGNON DID NOT WANT TO GO FOR A RIDE AND BE KIDNAPPED!" She cries out as the cannon moves, and the cannon's fired, Mignon stumbles as she begins to run down the barrel, trying to speed up and get to the edge of it.. must .. ha .. run .. ha .. FASTER.
"Mignon did NOT EXPECT THIIIIiiiIIIIS!" She wails as she runs, flailing her arms before she comes to the edge, looking on at Seishirou's strike at Ninon. "NIIIINON! BE CAREFUL HE'S GOING TO HURT YOU!" And when Sei comes towards, through the air.. Mignon attempts to assault him like a HORRIBLE COUGAR!
"RAWWWR MIGNON WILL TEACH YOU TO HURT HER SISSSSYYYY!!"
COMBATSYS: Seishirou successfully hits Ninon with Senchakiri.
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Ninon 1/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Mignon
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Seishirou 0/-------/-----==|
The cannon going off is all the distraction that is required for Ninon to let down her guard. Not expecting it, she loses her footing and, while she's quick to regain it, isn't quick enough. Her arrogance is difficult to keep up when the blade runs along her. It isn't a lethal blow, far from it. It is also not the sort of hit the girl can simply shrug off. For her credit, she manages to avoid crying out in pain, but she can't help but show the suffering on her face as she doubles over from the wound. Its a quick flicker and nothing more, and quickly hidden as her face retreats from sight, but for a brief second, Seishirou's swordsmanship was able to get a response from the girl other then her normal condescending manner she treats those around her with. But only for that brief second. When she raises her face again, its wearing that same amused expression she wore beforehand.
"I trust you didn't think that alone was enough to defeat me? If so, allow me to disappoint you." She's quick to chase after him, leaping after him with more agility then that dress seems like it would allow. He'll find himself in a position no one has ever been able to lay claim to before. Trapped between the Beart sisters. Rare is the time that Ninon is actually working alongside her sister but, despite it being for her own reasons, it seems that is currently the case. She flicks both of her wrists outwards, and a wall of flame erupts from them, sailing torwards the swordsmands with explosive force.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou dodges Ninon's Salamander's Embrace.
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Ninon 0/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Mignon
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Seishirou 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Seishirou fails to interrupt Strong Punch from Mignon with Heavy Kick.
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Ninon 0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Mignon
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Seishirou 0/-------/---====|
An unenviable place for Ryouhara, to be trapped between two indignant sisters.
It would seem that women (and K') are primarily his trouble these days.
Most of the rocking of the ship is beyond Seishirou--he left the confines of the deck just before the blast. Facing Ninon for the simple reason that Ninon is much much quieter (and therefore harder to keep track of) than Mignon, that fire wall is something that's watched by him intently. Adept chi manipulators... it's fascinating on an academic level to Ryouhara.
Even if his ears are about to bleed from the incessant babble in the background.
He arches a brow as both sisters approach him from different sides. He could read their movements, but the defense would be difficult--the ninja launches into a low and fast spin. Much like he sliced through Mignon's fireball, the Salamander is put to the test of Senchakiri. "No matter what you bring before me--" he mentions, bisecting the wall in half around him, "THERE IS NOTHING MY NINKOUJUTSU CANNOT CUT THROUGH!"
Not stopping, he whirls, his boot coming within three inches of Mignon's head.
Then, somewhat anticlimactically, Ryouhara is assaulted right out of the air.
To his own merit, he manages to land, gaining footing just on the cannon's side.
The entire mass of the Typhoon Cannon shifts in transit as powerful electromagnet clamps attached to the Kyousha suspend it from falling. Ayanami is not done. She bucks and shrieks like a woman scorned or little more as the entire /gun assembly/ is ripped from her by the laboring helicopter. Kyousha slowly--all too slowly--bringing the entire cannon over the deep waters of the Pacific as the black spectre aircraft begins to accelerate. Will the women make it on the cannon as well?
"I'M GONNA LOSE MY LICEN--GH??" the announcer notices control of the PA is relinquished to him. "YOU ASS!!" he calls after Ryouhara and quite possibly the retreating fighters. "S--SOMEONE GET A CAMERA AFTER HIM!! --ASS!! THE EMPEROR WILL SCORN THIS ACT!!!"
A moment thereafter, the announcer is blown off the deck by an overloading power relay. "AAAHHHHhhhhhhhh--"
The announcement system cuts out as the announcer hits the water.
Mignon lands on Sei like a ton of bricks, whapping him over and over with her short hands just flailing. FLAILING. TAKE THAT YOU MEAN, NASTY, UGLY, STUPID BAD GUY NINJA TYPE THING! That's what she says in her mind, anyways. What she says while launching on is EVEN WORSE.
"NYAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! MIGNON WON'T LET YOU WON'T LET YOU WON'T LET YOU!!!!" She cries out, flailing so randomly that Sei just couldn't get through with his boot.
Yet, he's able to get onto the cannon.. that certainly is a plus, and Mignon meanwhile is busy flailing hopelessly on the ground when he moves. "Wait.. where'd he go?... Mignon was sure he is-" Oh there he is. LEAPING to her feet, Mignon dramatically points! "AHA! SEE, Mignon can see through your evil tricks and attempts and .. Mignon .. w-w-woah.. M-M-Mignon's SCARED OF HEIGHTS!" She exclaims, flailing as she runs around on the edges, just running around. RUNNING. AROUND. "TOO MUCH AIR TOO MUCH HEIGHT MIGNON DOESN'T WANT TO FALL SISSSSSSSY!" She waves to Sissy. "SISSY COME BACK! DON'T LEAVE MIGNON UP HEEEERE!"
But then, she realizes, her duty is very important. With many a piku piku, Mignon sees the announcer and turns. No. She .. She can't let it dissuade her! "Mignon .. will .. NYAAAAAH!" Leaping in, she dives this time! And rolls on her back. And then aims to leap out and tackle Sei.. and then get back to her legs and CHUCK with a motion of a flip!
"Mignon .. WILL NEVER GIVE UP DO YOU HEAR ME!!!"
At least Ninon's assault wasn't a complete waste. She may of failed to explode her enemy, but he did make her get hit by a moron. In a way, that was worse then would of happened had he not of dodged her fiery assault. Now he has to tell all his friends he got hit by an idiot.
The click of the dark-clad girl's boots as she hits the deck is drowned out by all the other noises. Her sister's insane ramblings, and more importantly, the cannon coming lose. Unlike her pink-haired sibling, the girl isn't scared to ride the thing into the skies. Perhaps her arrogance goes a bit too far at times. All the self-confidence in the world isn't going to save her if she falls off of this thing. But thoughts like that don't have any place in her head. There is only one thing that she is thinking. Ruin this fool's plan. Not because it is the right thing to do, she has already made her reasons obvious. Now, it has become something personal. And that is why when the cannon begins to ascend, the girl reaches out with one hand to grab it and, with as much elegance as she can manage, flip onto it. "Cease your foolish chatter, Mignon." She stands facing away from her sister, arms crossed in front of her, and sees no reason to turn torwards her as she speaks. "Unless you intend to annoy him into jumping to his death, that is." Arms drop to her side, and she faces the man who's made herself an enemy. "My name is Ninon Beart. You seem an interesting enough sort after all, if you're willing to go to such lengths to get what you want. A lot of the things you've said, they make sense to me. It is a pity that the situation is not different, but my pride will not allow me to admit defeat. You will have to earn it."
Proving that she has at least some martial arts training, she charges forward, heedless of the danger possessed by her enemy's blade, and attempts to deliver a swift quick straight to his face.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou blocks Mignon's Quick Throw.
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Ninon 0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Mignon
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Seishirou 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Seishirou dodges Ninon's Light Kick.
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Ninon 0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Mignon
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Seishirou 0/-------/---====|
The Kyousha labors into the air. The weight of the cannon beneath it is astounding, even for something as specially engineered as that particular craft, but it manages valiantly. Even in spite of that great weight, it accelerates, climbing into the air, slowly making far and away from the fight's original conflict, breaching east. Even now, the steel of the Typhoon Cannon is still warm from being fired, and many of its parts still spark. It will fade, in the chill wind and the breeze that turns the fringes of fabric on the last of the Ryouhara shinobi chaotically.
Though his attentions are sparse to retaining his balance, still a dodgy thing, he is still hale enough to keep his wits about him when flipped by Mignon. Whether the motion was purposeful or not, Ryouhara finds the young woman kickflipped him into the way of Ninon's head-taking kick. He frowns.
And then disappears.
The sensation of air movement around Ninon is clear and present, as the ninja slams into the ground hard some ways away from her, shock draining away from his wiry form slowly and without more than a breath or two from the Ryouhara-nin. "If you're afraid of falling... it's only going to get worse for you from here on out," he warns Mignon. "I am Ryouhara Seishirou and I am the last of my clan.." he murmurs. "Ninon Beart. Mignon Beart. Pride is a dangerous thing to have. The ideal of pursuing strength in the self for that reason alone is addictive. But if you really have it...if you believe it. Potential is limitless." He turns slowly, to face the two, eyes closed. "I won't begrudge you a match befitting your entry, but from this point forward... you are classified as threats, as opposed to distractions. From this point forward," he speaks, rough tone yet oddly polite as he sheathes the length of Senchakiri, "...my attempts to destroy you will be earnest."
His eyes snap open.
His sleeves flick up, obscuring his movements.
Then a gray streak flicks past Ninon, the expert aim behind it not settling for anything less than to embed itself into Mignon smartly. A moment later, the blade Seishirou threw will explode in the wound.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou successfully hits Mignon with Kunai Critical.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Ninon 0/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Mignon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Seishirou 0/-------/---====|
"Mignon's name is Mignon and Mignon will TAKE CARE OF YOU MHMM!" She cries, and then is told to .. shush? MIGNON DOES NOT SHUSH >:O!
Okay maybe when that happens.
As the blade strikes into Mignon, she blinks at it for a moment.. and then BAMPH. The Kunai explodes, with Mignon actually. "Uh .. N-Ninon .. Mignon's not sure that ... that.. AIEE!" She cries out, before she suddenly explodes from the assault. There's nothing one can really say about it, honestly, and Mignon can't argue either..
She really did listen close but in the end, Mignon isn't one that listens quite close.. for quite a while, Mignon is caught in the explosion .. nothing left!? Did Mignon explode entirely? It may be that way, because she isn't responding.. and not to Ninon either..
But from the smoke comes a glow.. the glow begins to get stronger and stronger, too, and eventually, sparkles erupt from it.. "ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL BETTER!"
Mignon is glowing, and while she's all red and blasted a bit .. she looks like she can keep fighting.
"Mignon thinks you REALLY need an attitude adjustment mister.. you're not a very nice person! SO MIGNON CAN'T STOP YET!"
No, apparently you need to kill her HARDER.
The difference between the man and Ninon is that Ninon isn't trying to 'destroy' anything. If she were smart, she would of just let the man escape, but her pride got in the way. He'd ruined what was should of been a quick, clean beating of her sister and for that, she won't forgive him, no matter how many fancy words he throws her way.
The exploding kunai does draw some concern from Ninon. She isn't ENTIRELY heartless. She only wanted her sister beaten and humiliated, not killed. So while she can hardly be considered kind-hearted, it would of been better for her pink-haired sister if she had merely had to face Ninon. "If I was afraid of that, do you believe I would of followed you all the way up here?" Either the disappearing trick didn't impress her much or she simply is hiding things once again. "You say you will exterminate me? Not if you fall first."
She rushes torwards her enemy, this time not engaging in direct combat, but re-using the attack that had worked so well for her when she'd first engaged her enemy. Energy builds within her as she moves forward and then, when she's perhaps three arm's lengths away, she unleashes the wind blade a second time.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou dodges Ninon's Melancholic Mercurius.
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Ninon 1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Mignon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Seishirou 0/-------/---====|
The reasoning for that is, Seishirou lives in a different world than Mignon and Ninon.
Oh, though young children like that will never know the difference he doesn't mean to destroy them in the literal sense. At least, he doesn't mean to kill them. Cripple them, perhaps, if the strength of their ideals fail to impress him. But it's a minor detail, in Ryouhara's mind.
The fact that Mignon seems to have a true technique for restoration is troubling to Seishirou. This will take awhile. "Some chi your sister has there..." Ryouhara is forced to admit. He apparently finds it easier to hold a civil discussion with Ninon. At the very least, he doesn't seem too intent on saying much that will directly cause Mignon to speak again. "Something you both have in common..."
The chill breeze seems to slacken against the gearwork technician. They mgiht be able to see it now, as Ryouhara's footsteps seem to sizzle and steam in the steel itself. Even despite the freezing temperatures, the breeze cutting by as the canon shifts in the Kyousha's wake seems all the warmer. "I'll have to put that much to the test. But--" those wind blades he's seen before, leaping low into a fast pounce over the attack--it seems for a moment he almost /dances/ across the heads of that whirling storm, his shoes alighting on air itself before it realizes its place. "--If you want to make me fall first--"
An elbow flies for Ninon as a catch releases in Seishirou's other sleeve,
"--SHOW ME SOMETHING NEW!"
And then a chain whips out from his opposite sleeve, a heavy steel weight on the end destined for the young girl's slap, the ninja engaging her in almost a kind of half crouch, his eyes only splitting attention between her--and watching carefully the energy absorption of her cohort. A battle strategy begins to form slowly..
COMBATSYS: Mignon successfully hits Mignon with Magical Healing.
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Ninon 1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Mignon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Seishirou 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Ninon just-defends Seishirou's Medium Strike!
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Ninon 1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Mignon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Seishirou 0/-------/---====|
Maybe she can't heal as well as she remembers when exploding.
Something new? Mignon doesn't know .. something new .. uh uh ..
"Uhm.. Mignon can do what Ninon did but uh .. you already saw that..." The windstorm is a famous Beart technique. And so.. Mignon sits down after she's done healing.. which isn't much ... before she actually THINKS.
It takes a while. Little gears begin to turn, twisting in the air, the mind of Mignon doing it's best. Spinning .. spinning..
Boy this guy is a real.. a ... REAL SHOCKER!
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" She leaps to her feet, Mignon bustling with energy suddenly. "MIGNON SHALL SHOW YOU SOMETHING EXTREMELY NEW, NEVER BEFORE SEEN!" And then she leaps right towards Seishirou, and pulls her arms back... like Ryu?
"Lighting... BOLT!" She then thrusts her hands towards Seishirou's middle, attempting to shove the spazzing bolt of electricity STRAIGHT towards his middle, aiming to cause him to spin rapidly from the touch .. and then POOMPH! Fire him away from the shock of chi energy like some kind of chi cannon!
"OWWWIEEEOWWW OWWWW!" She rolls backwards from this too. "Ow..."
This time, Ninon is prepared for the counterattack. By the time the attack reaches the girl, she simply isn't there anymore. It's the same trick that she pulled to start the battle and this time its keeping her safe and sound. A quick flash of red is all that Seishirou is able to make contact with. By that time, the girl has teleported herself behind him and, fortunately, away from Mignon the human projectile. "You want to see something 'new'? Now, you don't expect me to show you all my best moves right from the start, do you? That would ruin the suspense. Let us work our way torwards that. For now, you'll have to be satisfied with this."
She flips quickly, aiming to get to her opponent before her sister has a chance to...do whatever the hell she's trying to do. She delivers a quick flipping kick torwards his head, both thick-soled booted feet aiming for him in an attack that has the worst name ever.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou blocks Ninon's Glory of Sephiroth.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Ninon 1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Mignon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Seishirou 0/-------/--=====|
COMBATSYS: Seishirou counters Lightning Bolt from Mignon with Kawarimi Suicide.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Ninon 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Mignon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Seishirou 0/-------/--=====|
Seishirou is surrounded on both sides.
Thanks to fast eyes, he was able to determine how it happened, as well. Ninon was a fast little thing, surprising speed catching him off guard as he lands that blow on her that never manages to deal any damage. Her telelocation technique was almost as impressive as his own--behind him!
In an instant, Ryouhara whirls on the aerial attack flip, his hand coming up to brace against her--the only sound she'll hear of his defense is the shift of fabric and the metal clang of boot on some hidden steel or another. HE shifts, directing her momentum to fly away from him. Even then, there is a pressing matter to attend to. This one was of creativity--a lightning blast channelled through the hand, aimed to attack his nerve centers in the small of his back.
The moment his eye determined the form of attack, it was over.
He shifts.
In one motion, his hand catches Mignon's leading wrist tightly, holding it to his side. He doesn't face her, his back still open wide--so she can see the Ryouhara clan symbol that lay on his haori there. "That will be three manifests now," he observes. Fire, water, and now lightning. ... four between you. Impressive." A runed straight blade made of cheap Taiwan steel slides out of his left sleeve into his hand, this he turns false and positions point first over his heart.
"Your potential," he whispers, "is wasted by your disharmony."
He plunges the blade into and through his heart without another thought to the matter. Mignon's last view before the pain will be his blade piercing through the Ryouhara symbol at his back, staining his haori red as he seeks to run her through without even so much as looking at her.
A moment later, Seishirou dies there, around the blade.
He dies and flickers away, leaving only the blade.
It is the only real thing about him.
And a moment later, even that will explode.
Seishirou--that is, the real one, stands some ways away, watching on grimly. "Your skill and your determination is the only thing that links you two together... a tragedy, for those who would have the privilege of calling another person in this world family." He blinks slowly.
His sleeves shroud his hands. He has no fighting stance.
He is always ready.
And then Mignon's wrist is caught, and Mignon struggles to pull away but it doesn't work and even though Mignon tries to pull away she can't and that's bad because if Mignon can't move then Mignon's in trouble and Mignon's in trouble because Mignon can't pull away and she's being talked bad to by a bad guy and Mignon doesn't like bad guys and Mignon can't stop a thought in motion when she's in trouble and them Mignon can see a blade piercing through something and the blade goes through something and then there's a sword and then it explodes and then Mignon goes BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM. "OWIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE!"
One can pretty much expect how that goes. She gets up though, somehow.
"SHUT UP!" Comes a steaming and burning Mignon, whom is covered in soot, ashes, and also slightly on fire. "SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP! MIGNON DOESN'T NEED TO LISTEN TO YOU INsULT HER AND HER SISSY AND MIGNON LOVES HER SMALLER SISSY! And you don't have ANY ROOM TO TALK because Mignon's always trying to be a good person and you stole something and stealing is bad and Mignon KNOWS stealing is bad because they go to JAIL for things like this and that's NOT GOOD!"
Jesus why can't she just die! Maybe Ninon is perhaps right. Maybe it's a travesty that she was ever born.
"Mignon's SPECIAL! METEO!" POOF.
A giant chunk of rock erupts into the air above Mignon, her hands raised up into the air as it happens, before Mignon pushes it towards Seishirou and then BOOM fires it off, and boy is it fast but it would be better if Mignon didn't go at the SAME speed in the OPPOSITE direction and chances are sheeeee's about to fall off.
"AIIIE MIGNON DIDN'T THINK THIS THROUGH!"
It's just as well she was pushed away, Ninon preferred to not fight up close at all if she could possibly avoid it. Her 'sorcery' was her pride, the very thing that filled her with so much arrogance. If there was something that could be said about the man that had become the sisters opponent, at the very least he was able to appreciate their craft. More and more he seems like the sort of person the self-proclaimed witch could get along with off the field of battle. But here, he was just someone to beat, and nothing more. Her sister's plight doesn't pass her by, but she also isn't quick to rush back in. She doesn't want to end up with a blade stabbed through her like that as well. Let her sister play meatshield for a little while longer. "You speak of the privledge of calling another family. Do you really believe me 'privledged' to be related to her? I would gladly give that blight to the Beart family name to you were I able. But, unfortunately, I cannot simply sever the ties of our shared blood. I do not want it, but I will forever be related to that as long as the both of us live. And believe me when I tell you that today will not be the day which ends this."
As her sister gets angry, Ninon simply stands there and smiles, seeming more amused then anything else. "You seem to have made it mad. She is quite obnoxious when she is mad. Even more so then normal. I almost feel pity for you. Almost." She seems content to simply wait and see if her sister's anger is impotent or if she has tapped into some sort of super Mignon power. "But then, I've had to deal with her all my life."
COMBATSYS: Ninon focuses on her next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Ninon 1/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Mignon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Seishirou 0/-------/--=====|
COMBATSYS: Mignon successfully hits Seishirou with Meteo-Strike.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Ninon 1/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Mignon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Seishirou 1/-------/=======|
"I imagine you think you're number one, then.." Ryouhara minds Ninon. Mignon for the most part is allowed by the gearworks shinobi to rave in the background without disagreement. "A shame I had to break up your fight. To see whose bubble would have burst first would have been amusement enough to last me all my days.."
He thinks a moment, as that massive chunk of _earth_ materializes in the air.
That's five now.
"You can keep her," he decides.
Then he is summarily crushed beneath a massive boulder, "GAH!!"
The impact shock is enough to shudder the cannon, and send the entire mass wobbling against its chains, causing even the fast airship Kyousha to buck and shudder against the sudden cataclysmic _shift_ in weight. No doubt the crew struggles with this. The shinobi's earpiece buzzes with communications traffic, msot of which are panicked requests for his status and other such bothers. They are summarily ignored as is appropriate.
When the smoke clears from the raging fire and the last remnants of the meteor impact fall away fro mthe barrel, one might notice it is now cracked. More appropriately, a hole has been punched straight through the barrel, presumably by Seishirou's body. Ow. Is he gone...?
Let's see how they handle a new perspective.
From his new location, the ninja's white coat spreads wide as he releases his ninkou swarm. The thing about Ryouhara is, he is not strictly a dagger user, or a swordsman. He is many things, all appropriate to the situation at hand. For this fight, chi charged blades should be enough to gain the advantage.
They are knives. But they are Seishirou's knives. They are set to follow a path treating the circular construct of the barrel as if it were flat ground. The kunai fly through the air, twirling a slow lazy circuit around the barrel, curving up to its right side, aimed for Mignon's body. For them, it may seem as if blades materialize from off the sides of the barrel. But the truth will become readily apparent.
He is clinging to the barrel with apparently what is only pure force of will alone, his hair and haori flying in the rush of wind. Even from this altitude, there is little fear.
Seishirou is attacking from the /underside of the cannon/.
COMBATSYS: Mignon overcomes Medium Fling from Seishirou with Windstorm.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Ninon 1/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Mignon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Seishirou 0/-------/------=|
The annoying part of Mignon's is that Mignon's never give up, and this means that Mignon's continually try things.. things that may bother others for various reasons.. and the reasoning that she just /won't stay dead/.. or at least, FALL OVER ALREADY. Many an annoyed warrior could tell of Mignon's ability to hang on the edge when they had assumed she wouldn't last all of a few seconds.. okay that's all a lie.
But it sounds cool, doesn't it?
"OWWWW.... ow .." On the other edge of the cannon, Mignon gets up, summarily rubbing her head, wincing from the assault that she had just endured.. and yet ... there's.. a hole where there was a Sei? Mignon blinks as she looks on, and then there's something that comes towards her .. Mignon just .. just .. JUST GOES WITH IT.
She can feel wind! And so wind it is. "DIVINE WIND SPIRIT!" She yells, thrusting both hands forwards.. and catching the kunai into the spinning funnel, watching them spiral and spiral about before sending them back, the spiraling funnel of wind, much easier to notice than Ninon's, following the path backwards... Seishirou's dramatic hair rustling may just become Dramatic TURBULENT hair flying.
But all the fighting spirit from Mignon is sucked away from her, rather simply, when she mentions that .. that she had to deal with her all her life. "But .. Sissy.. Big sister Mignon loves you! And look at all she's doing... Mignon's tried everything to try and make herself a bit better so she doesn't disappoint sissy! .. BUT YOU BETTER KNOW YOUR BIG SISTER IS THE ABSOLUTE COOLEST, TOO, NINON! MIGNON IS JUST ONE TOUGH COOKIE!" She yells out, extremely loud, before coughing.
"So I know you REAAAALLY don't mean that sissy!" She beams.. "Uh .. right?"
Amazingly, Mignon seems to pull through. The earthen projecitle finds a new home with the ninja, and seems to blow him right away. Naturally, it isn't that easy. "I don't believe that..." She can't even finish voicing her misgivings before the kunai twirl into view. "Tenacious fellow. I suppose that is admirable in a way, though this is growing tiresome." Its difficult to concentrate on what to do with Mignon complaining, though. "Worry about that later. Worry about keeping alive now." She steps torwards the opening in the cannon's barrel, her hand flickering with electricity. "This should drive him out of there." With a casual flicker, she tosses the electric projectile into the opening.
Naturally she isn't foolish enough to think that it is going to be that simple. With her eyes on the electric ball, she allows it to pass all the way through before she clenches her fist shut, and causes the ball to explode into a shower of electrical light that bathes the bottom of the cannon barrel in electricity. It isn't enough to electrocute the entire thing, but it would surely make it difficult to cling onto!
COMBATSYS: Mignon successfully hits Seishirou with Windstorm.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Ninon 1/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Mignon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Seishirou 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Ninon successfully hits Seishirou with Demiurge Thunderbolt.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Ninon 1/-----==/=======|-------\-------\0 Mignon
[ \\\\\\\\\\ <
Seishirou 0/-------/----===|
Troubling. His plan seems to have malfunctioned somewhere along the way. Their command of chi is almost as excellent as his at this point. A good thing to know, but information gained a few moments too late is pointless for the intended use of it. Filed away, Ryouhara will not make the mistake again.
He attempts to move back and away from the blasts, but the wind pulls at him--indeed it dramatically shifts his excellent hair. But it also interferes with his motion, keeping him in the range of that electric blast, coating the skin of the Typhoon cannon. It pulls at him--and worse, aggravates wounds much older than this fight, running the ninja ragged, and knocking him off the bottom of the cannon.
The sound Mignon and Ninon hear from the cascade of wind and thunder crackling across the bottom of the barrel is an agonized roar, deep and unmistakably Ryouhara--the wolf howls loudly when bitten.
But a single cord still connects him tenuously in the air, a thing fired at the cannon as he loses grip. A contingency plan, simply. You think he'd be that idiotic? The cable winches tight at the workings of some unseen crank secreted away in the ninja's robes, dragging him back up to the underside of the barrel suddenly, slamming him into it in a crouch, leaving the burned and sliced young man there to breathe softly. His injuries are beginning to slow him down. He needs to refocus.
So he settles down onto his knees, with the cable claw sat neatly in his lap. He breathes outward once, and takes a cue from one of his subordinates.
Peacefully, he takes the time to meditate.
Only when he does it, it's upside down.
On the bottom of a Japanese superweapon.
A skyscraper's height above rushing water.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou gains composure.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Ninon 1/-----==/=======|-------\-------\0 Mignon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Seishirou 0/-------/-----==|
"Oh .. Okay Ninon!" And now with Ninon telling her to worry about keeping alive.. Mignon turns around, spinning, looking this way, looking that! Looking up and down, looking all around! Looking high! Looking low! Looking for a place to go! Looking all around she is, looking all around for Sei!
"Oh wherreee or where did that NINJAY go oh WHERE OH WHERE did he gooooo?!" Mignon cries out as she runs from one end of the cannon to the other, running back and forth, Mignon doesn't know just where he went..
But then it becomes obvious.. "OH! HE'S INVISIBLE! MIGNON KNEW THAT!" She yells out, before putting a hand over her eyes and then surveying the area, tilting this way and that as she goes back and forth, paying close attention to everything.
Or perhaps, attempts to, because Mignon is just not GOOD at this focusing thing.
"Hey Ninon you do love your big sissy, don'tcha!?"
COMBATSYS: Mignon focuses on her next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Ninon 1/-----==/=======|-------\-------\0 Mignon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Seishirou 0/-------/-----==|
Unlike her sister, Ninon isn't foolish enough to think that he has taken on some sort of ninja invisibility. She was smart enough to realize what the rocking of the cannon's barrel meant after the man had 'fallen to his death'. It could of meant only one thing, that they hadn't won yet. However, explaining this to her sister isn't going to do much good. Its easier to simply play along with her delusions for the time being. "Yes, Mignon. He is invisible. He has used dark sorcery to hide himself from our sight. That is why you must remain silent, to prevent him from sneaking up on us. You understand, I assume." Its almost painful to be anything remotely resembling 'nice' when it comes to her sister, but its preferable to having a kunai jammed into her throat. No matter how harsh her words are at times, having to cooperate with her sister is preferable to death. "Now, be quiet. This battle is ours, provided you don't do anything stupid."
Her eyes close, and she, too, concentrates. Its an odd moment of silence in the sky-high battle as all three combatants take a moment to get their thoughts together. "I know that you are close." She runs a finger along the sword wound that she recieved while the battle was still going on aboard the Ayanami. "Come now, let me repay you for this lovely little gift. I know that you are not afraid, no, not one like you." Her eyes remain closed, concentrating, trying to hear any noise other then the whipping of the winds and her sister's chattering. "Your plan has already not gone as you planned. This weapon is damaged, and in this state, its useless. At least let us make our meeting an interesting one."
COMBATSYS: Ninon gains composure.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Ninon 1/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Mignon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Seishirou 0/-------/-----==|
The voice is familiar.
Over the rush of wind in the ears of the uncannily warm climate that dissolves away to ice crystals in the cutting path of the Kyousha, it would be inaudible. If it were uttered from Seishirou's own lips. Instead, the voice is close. A raising of the soft hairs on the back fo the neck--the faintest indication of motion--brushes past the two--a blur of movement, fabric, something that is there but is not.
"This cannon is of no use? The battle, yours?"
He scoffs lightly.
He whispers. "Do not underestimate the strength of Ryouhara Ninkoujutsu."
* NINKOU - NEW WORLD CHAINS RESURRECTION *
The meditating shinobi's eyelids slide open.
Flying around the barrel of the massive artillery cannon, all manner of lines flood the impromptu battlefield. Chains, Thick power wires sparking with carried charge. Lines thinner than the eye can see as well as ropes thicker than Buddha's bicep slide around the steel of the cannon, as if the entire undercarriage of that machine exploded outward to grip the two in a web. They fly not directly at them, but overhead, wrapping haphazardly around the four main support lines of the Kyousha, forming a dense network of overrigging.
He is audible now, loud and clear, "Any price that assures VICTORY!"
There is a horrendous shriek of steel and metal as Ryouhara shears back /through/ the barrel of the Typhoon with a glowing hot blade, carving through the railing of the cannon as if it were nothing more than a fine cheese. With that, and the cataclysmic impact of the meteor, there is little more the Typhoon can do to hold up, the entire mass simply snapping in half at midbarrel, causing the midways to sag and the lines prior connected to twist together, spinning both halves of the weapon in two as Seishirou flies.
In that moment of sick vertigo as even the Kyousha's flight path bucks for the sudden and unforeseen separation of its load, he will engage. Running up the length of a chain suspending the side of the barrel opposite the breach, his exact point of shear is calculated well. He's separating Mignon and Ninon. Minimizing their ability to mobilize against him--could he have planned this all along?--and in the moment of chaos, take advantage. His focus has almost seemed incidentally on Mignon, perhaps because she annoys him more of the two, perhaps there is some sort of deeper threat assessment.. but now his aim appears to be to isolate her from her more prideful sister on the mouth side of the cannon.
And in the next instant of the whirling chaos that Kyousha struggles to maintain, he is going to cut Mignon open with one of the sharpest blades he has forged.
COMBATSYS: Mignon dodges Seishirou's Senchakiri.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Ninon 1/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Mignon
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Seishirou 0/-------/-----==|
There are lines everywhere, chains near everything .. and ropes everywhere, Mignon is paying close attention .. and suddenly there happens to be LOTS MORE LINES, before half of the barrel just SLIDES APART, Mignon standing with one leg on one side and one leg on the other.. and Mignon doesn't get off either yet. "W-WHAT'S HAPPENING MIGNON DOESN'T LIKE WHAT'S HAPPENING!" She cries out, flailing her arms about.
And then she remembers Ninon told her to BE QUIET.
So she covers her mouth, but makes lots of MPPH MPPPPPPPH! sounds anyways, which isn't being quiet, and yet, it shouldn't be either! HAHA! A victory for Mignon .. if the ground was not beginning to move under her and suddenly oh dear GRANNY is that the guy who's not invisible anymore /ERUPTING FROM THE GROUND/?
The blade flies through the air. Mignon has to jump to the side staying up.. and Mignon's reflexes leave her unwounded.. the girl flying through the air as she lands, touching down just barely before Sei would come at her again, Mignon bouncing once more, leaping and using the ropes, twisting about them ad she then lands a bit away, breathing heavily. "Hah.. Hah.. MIGNON DOES NOT LIKE BEING CUT OPEN!" She says. "Mignon wants to just stop this all but if Mignon has to stop this by stopping you then HERE COMES MIIIIIGNON!" She cries, Mignon leaping once more at Seishirou, attempting to get a gooooooooood grip on him, and then swing him about by the leg, and straight into the air! .. And flip with him to the ground.
"NYAAAAAAH!"
She shouldn't be surprised by just how far the ninja will go, but still, when he actually cuts the cannon barrel in half, Ninon can't help but allow surprise to show on her face. "And you're the one that lectured ME about pride?" As the two barrel halves seperate, Ninon swings away, barely able to keep her footing as it suddenly becomes quite unsafe. It would seem that he's succeeded in keeping the sisters from teaming up against it. he key word, of course, is seem.
The ninja must have a very poor short-term memory to think that something as simple as a little distance would keep the black-clad girl out of the battle. Twice already she'd used a technique to close the distance betwen her enemy and herself and this marks the third. The girl's form flickers and suddenly, all three are standing on the same half of the cannon once again. "I am not so easy to dispose of." It is obvious that she's getting a bit winded by this point, as her attack isn't too complex or well planned. She shows off what martial arts training she has a second time as she tries to follow up her sister's assault with a boot to the head. Ninon actually working with Mignon? You may never see it again!
COMBATSYS: Seishirou blocks Ninon's Light Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Ninon 1/------=/=======|-------\-------\0 Mignon
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Seishirou 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Seishirou interrupts Strong Throw from Mignon with Medium Strike.
- Power hit! -
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Ninon 1/------=/=======|======-\-------\0 Mignon
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Seishirou 0/-------/---====|
Somewhat mysteriously, Ryouhara doesn't seem surprised in the slightest when Ninon clears the distance between the two. He tilts back after his second swing goes wide, coming just shy of cablework. The weapon whirls and slides across his back just as the gothic sister slams into his back, Senchakiri flexing against the weight, but its ponderous blade bracking holding it firm and dissipating the shock into his shoulders. "Pride is not something so simple!" he hisses.
Still holding Senchakiri at his back, Ryouhara is grabbed by Mignon, being thrown and twisted in the air. Ninon was more reserved, but it was clear Mignon was currently the larger threat to his control of this match for that very reason. The Ryouhara is swung in the air and flicked about. The blade of his swipes the air, catching just barely on a chain by the flat and arresting his momentum with--Mignon clinging on?!, "It's in you--yourself--and your ability!!"
A pole, made of short wood, extends from Ryouhara's coat, being caught between his boot and his leg. He reorients in the air, moving on top of the pink one without delay. e_e
He'll land on Mignon wood-first. The wood flexes...
And then he bounces off onto the polished steel of the cannon.
He balances there, perfectly, on the staff, despite the Kyousha's efforts to _keep everyone aloft_.
"Pride isn't something that is spoken..."
Mignon is struck away, and perhaps bleeding, perhaps not, thrown to the floor, the girl collapsing on the pipe/object/floating thing!
And landing on the tube, Mignon staggers a bit, every which way, before looking to Ninon. "Mignon .. doesn't .. feel .. very good right now ...." And thrusts a single spinning whirlwind towards Seishirou!
And then falls flat on her face, unmoving this time.
EVERYONE GETS WHAT THEY WANT.
Except for Mignon
COMBATSYS: Mignon can no longer fight.
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Ninon 1/------=/=======|===----\-------\0 Seishirou
Perhaps Ninon would have more success getting her attacks to hit if she didn't take the time to make a little speech before each. Her pride is without a doubt her greatest weakness. Somehow, she has convinced herself that she is a superior being, a greater person then the people around here. It was more then simple pride to her, however. It was her very way of life. In all things she strived to be the greatest. Battle was simply the one that had dominated since she'd left America for Southtown.
As Mignon falls, it draws her attention, if only for a moment. For a moment it looks as if she is concerned. But then, that look fades away, as she shoots an irriated glance at the ninja. Her lips turn down into a frown as she speaks. "I had hoped to do that myself. I had wanted to see the look on her face as she realized that she was inferior to me. I suppose the fact that she fell first shall have to do, for now at least."
Not that it looks like she's going to breaking that habit anytime soon. "Let us continue. You have yet to earn your victory." Hoping to get to her enemy before he's able to recover from Mignon's final struggle, the girl, sure-footed despite the unsteady footing, rushes forward, and leaps torwards him, arms twirling in a some vaguely martial-artseque punch. It isn't as foolish looking as something Mignon might do, but it is clear that the girl's focus is upon her chi. Close combat she is merely somewhat trained in.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou endures Mignon's Windstorm.
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Ninon 1/------=/=======|=====--\-------\0 Seishirou
COMBATSYS: Seishirou counters Strong Punch from Ninon with Ryuuouin.
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Ninon 1/--=====/=======|=======\-------\0 Seishirou
Ryouhara's head remains bowed as he balances, crouching on the bamboo. He turns an eye towards the encroaching windstorm. But instead of dodging, or evading the attack, he spreads his sleeves wide, rendering martial arts impotent in a drape of white fabric. It catches the wind, haori billowing tight as the winds tear his body bloody. The ninkou specialist high into the air until he can attach to the impromptu rigging with a grip.
The bamboo pole stays there, implanted straight in the ground.
"Big words.." he observes.
"But are you so sure about that? My analysis... suggests differently."
It's all he says, pointing down.
The windstorm's chi brought his work to the fore, an energy seal planted in the ground in the form of the Ryouhara symbol, positioned over Seishirou's last location and by that same, necessarily close to Ninon. It glows as it siphons heat chi and even wasted wind chi from the air. It draws in this power in but a moment.
Then, only a moment after Seishirou turned Ninon's attack, it detonates.
With her sister no longer there to toss herself into the way of attacks, Ninon is going to have to learn to deal with things herself. As her attack fails to hit home, the girl is quick to realize that something is coming. Quick, but not quick enough to escape, it would seem. "You're beginning to get on my nerves" Her words are calm even as the metallic footholding explodes around her and launches her off her feet. The force very nearly tosses her off the edge and into the ocean below. The force causes her to roll over, but she lands on one knee. She's as tenacious as her opponent, and manages to keep herself from plummeting to what would no doubt be a very messy doom. At this point her pretty little dress is not so pretty. Burns have joined the bloodstains in making her look a bit less then elegant. But despite this, that self-assured attitude seems to still be dominating her. Perhaps she is as foolish as her sister, merely in a different way.
"Your calculations could use some work." She's losing control of her calm attitude, and is letting anger seep into her voice. It is also affecting her judgement. Her hands glow with an electric shine as she glares upwards at her enemy. "Now, come down from there." To emphasize her point, she flings a ball of lightning up at him. Despite the fact that the helicopter that is holding the very battle aloft is up there, too!
COMBATSYS: Ninon successfully hits Seishirou with Demiurge Thunderbolt.
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Ninon 1/-======/=======|=======\=------\1 Seishirou
Shit--
Things are working too well for the Ryouhara scion, and he is definitely begeinning to feel the effects of the prolonged battle. The ball of lightning leaves little choice for him as he attempts to draw a chain off to evade the lightning--but if he can strike it with this--
Too slow.
The ninja is impacted with the blast of lightning before he can actually evade, the chi arcing across his body. True, Ryuuouin was supposed to hurt her more--this lightning should not have been half as strong as it was, and it sends the ninja careening into the barrel, slamming against it hard.
"Ugh.."
His body is starting to fail, the month's efforts beginning to catch up to him with alacrity. Ninon might notice blood dripping from beyond the shinobi's uniform openly now--blood long concealed, and not part of the collection of blasts he's endured since the beginning of this match. "Strong.. but... no. I think my calculations are all too accurate.."
Slowly, the shinobi stands to his feet, breathing hard, controlled. He ached in every point, but still, it wasn't something he considered. "....Pride and strength are not things that can be stated, as I said before. They must be proven. Those elements are do not need to be calculated to see. This is what I see. Feel free to stop me at any time if I am wrong. While rivalry is a concept as old as Heaven.." he looks up.
"...You seek to prove your worth in this world. Admirable. A talent that is admirable," he repeats, "and of great potential. But the powerpuff over there... as weak as her mind might be, she gives herself fully to any cause she devotes herself to. On the other hand, you start your journey from the position of someone who has already been defeated, nursing ego with strong words."
If Ninon hasn't stopped him yet, the blade of Senchakiri points dead forward.
His bloody grin is whip thin in the light of the sun, as they closer than anyone else.
He doesn't move, but he does not fall. There is nothing about him that speaks of adrenaline, or the ability to ignore his injuries. This is the cold calculation of knowing exactly what his limits are, and where his pride is.
"This is everything that my eye tells me. Let me ask you something earnestly, from one intelligence to another."
"Have you _ever_ beaten your sister before?"
COMBATSYS: Seishirou takes no action.
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Ninon 1/-======/=======|==-----\-------\0 Seishirou
His limit ..has not yet been reached.
The ninja is a master of combat in all of its forms it seems, both physical and mental. The words he selects push exactly the right buttons to get Ninon to throw caution into the wind. She can't even begin to hide the anger boiling inside of her as the man before her DARES to look down upon her and her way of life. This man was nothing more then a common criminal and he dared to look down upon HER?! Her hands clench into white-knuckled fists as the ninja berates her. He thinks that Mignon is her equal? He thinks her sister is her SUPERIOR?! The younger of the Beart sisters seethes with impotent rage as he basically punches her way of life in the face. "You....." Any calm in her voice is long since gone. She's been pushed beyond what she'll permit. "What do you know? There is NOTHING I cannot beat that fool in. In battle, and in life itself, I am her better. I was set to show that to world this day! But you.....YOU interrupted. You ruined everything. You got in my way and for that, I will make you pay."
Ignoring how tired she is, ignoring the aching in her body, the blood leaking from her wounds, and the burns covering her, she holds her arms out at her sides, a fiery red glow covering them. Tiny spots of fire begin to form in the air around her. "I'll show you. I'll show you the difference between me and her, and once you've seen it, you'll have no choice but to acknowledge my superiority. If you even LIVE!"
With a leap that seems to defy the winds around her, the girl takes to the air, spinning about and pointing at the shinobi. Those tiny spots of fire become massive, flying one after another at him with an explosive force greater then any she'd shown during the battle. It's a foolhardy move, one that risks blasting all involved out of the sky with the sheer force, but she doesn't care. She is angry, and her reason has been tossed out the window.
COMBATSYS: Ninon successfully hits Seishirou with Ebony Moon of Hecate.
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Ninon 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Seishirou
The first of the fireblasts curse outward at him. Senchakiri slowly curves back to his side, held loosely in his grip as one hand slides up to his midsection, bleeding heavily. It flies past, the massive explosion rocking his heavy perch to the plates.
He grins, wide and savage.
Perhaps he wanted to see it for himself..
"An honest display of potential is beautiful..." he mutters, to no one but himself.
The blasts rock the barrel of the Typhoon openly as Ryouhara eats the swarm head on. The force of it bucks the barrel's edge, causing the Kyousha's nose to dip sickly, and send the entire airship into a controlled spin in an attempt to get ahold of the weight. The array of cords and chains begin give way in the massive heat blasts, tensioned steel relenting to the sound of snaps like gunshots, even the main cannon losing lines in the force of Ninon's attack and pure centripetal force. But they stay attached. They stay attached. Only because of Ryouhara's prior jutsu, and no other reason. How long was Ryouhara intending for this to happen?
The entire topside of the barrel stained with boiling remnants of his blood, it's a feat for Seishirou to even stand again on the surface, tilted at degrees that would even cause the body of Mignon to tilt. His eyes roll back to what remains of the frayed cables as the Kyousha struggles, sinking rapidly with the weight. Mignon's body is likely not going to stay up here much longer--
A small dagger punches into the metal, pinning the unconscious body to the affair by her pink vest.
"Ninon Beart--I THANK YOU for finally showing me something worthy of your words!!" he calls out, a sick light in his eyes as his clothes stave off the last of the fire in the midst of the calamity.
Fireproof by nature.
A thin, long chain of wooden beads whips out of his sleeve, wrapping around one of the primary cables left in the blast. His earpiece has long since been destroyed--he clips a new one on with his free hand, using the wood chain to both support and keep himself upright. (~RYOUHARA! REPORT! WE CAN'T HOLD MUCH LONGER!~) (~On my mark--reduce power to forward rotor. Activate boosters--and by all measure--continue the mission!~) (~CAPTAIN?!~) (~MARK!~)
He makes a handseal. And finishes what Ninon started, a chain of explosions ripping up the wooden chain and blowing apart the last precious few cables that keep the barrel aloft in the sky, snapping it violently from the black airship. In time with the effort, the airship shudders suddenly, catching momentum of the first portion of the Typhoon with the sudden roar of jet engines loaded in the ship's fuselage, spewing a haze of black smoke as it spins to regain control of its counterotating blades. Its weight halved but its motor speed at .75, the counterotation that would normally cause one set of rotary wings to work against another is out of parity. This creates a sling effect against the massive weight of the cannon and the need for it to rotate. Slowly, the ship gains balance. And begins to move away.
But there is no longer any ground for Ninon, Mignon, or even Seishirou to go to. There is only the barrel of the cannon. And that, still spinning from the force of that deadly attack, is dropping very fast towards the Pacific.
As expected. It was Ryouhara's intent all along. Cutting the barrel in half had comparitively little to do with separating the sisters as it did in separating the fight from the objective. That is why he set himself up on the part of the cannon that had nothing to do with the firing mechanism. He knew that Ninon was a competitive sort, and would not stand by and idly watch her sister fight with him. He knew that Mignon's attention was focused on him. And most importantly, he knew there was power that Ninon was holding back. He could smell it off of her as easily as he could scent his family's oranges when they first came in every season. That blast was necessary to separate the majority of the chains connecting the barrel, and his efforts completed that task.
If the threats could not be neutralized via conventional methods, some concession is necessary to achieve an overall goal. So he acted as he needed to act. It had nothing to do with a short attention span. Come now. After double teleports, do you really think he would believe that separating Ninon from the fight would stop her in the slightest?
The barrel tumbles down, a product of Seishirou's planning.
It's his gift to Ninon and Mignon for a fight well fought. If air can be trapped in the cannon's barrel, it will be bouyant for some time.
As for Seishirou himself?
His scorched haori will likely catch the wind, causing the shinobi to glide like a jet away from the site of what is inevitably going to be a cataclysmic splashdown. He will leave Mignon and Ninon to that. Obviously, he will eventually lose all consciousness, and crash into the water. At some point he will. He will drift for a time. And then...
Well, who knows? Even Ryouhara can't plan everything.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou takes no action.
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Ninon 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Seishirou can no longer fight.
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Ninon 0/-------/-----==|
As the air is filled with fiery proof of Ninon's power, it is clear the girl isn't sound of mind. Her face is twisted into a mask of anger and arrogance, her violet eyes locked onto the form of her enemy. She doesn't even seem to realize what she's done. The only thing on her mind is the defeat of her enemy, and the consequences be damned. "Do you see, now?" Her voice, defiant despite everything, rings over all the explosions. "You fought well, but in the end, this battle is mine."
It's about this time that it dawns on her that she's flying over the ocean. She'd been so focused on defeating Seishirou that this fact somehow escaped her. This wouldn't be such a big deal, if her footing wasn't rapidly disappearing. But there's no fear on the girl's face. She'll either die, or she won't. If she does die, she can go into death knowing herself to be the victor. "It seems that our time together is at an end. A pity, it was enjoyable while it lasted." And then, it happens. The last line tethering the cannon's barrel to the helicopter snaps. And the Beart sisters begin to descend torwards the sea.
Even as the cannon barrel descends, Ninon's eyes are locked onto the helicopter. She may of won, but with that thing in the sky, she can't feel like her victory was absolute. It isn't until she's almost in the sea that the gravity of the situation seems to hit her. With a massive splash, the battle ravaged cannon length hits the water below. The salt water washing over her wounds makes them sting that much more. With her sister unconcious and her enemy way to far to notice, she allows a hiss of pain to escape her lips as all the cuts, scrapes, burns, and particularly the large sword slash on her abdomen are all aggravated. There's certainly nothing elegant about the look of her now, that's for sure.
Despite her protests and self-proclaimed hatred of her sister, she still makes it a point to make sure that the pink-haired girl is kept above water. It'd be easy to just let the girl drown, but still, she doesn't. Maybe her hatred isn't as strong as she claims it is, though she would no doubt have an excuse for her actions ready if questioned. Now, all the girl can do is wait. No doubt the Navy will have search parties out searching for the girls and, as long as it remains afloat, the shattered cannon barrel makes for an easy to find target. She pulls Mignon to the top of the barrel, and removes the kunai that had kept her stuck to it. "Where is all that foolish energy now? If we have to swim, I'll have to leave you, you realize." Fortunately, that isn't the case. The two are rescued before long. Ninon ignores all the questions she's asked, though. Helping them figure out what happened is not her job, after all. The only thing on her mind right now is getting into some dry clothes and getting some rest. Even the 'mighty' Ninon Beart has a need for comfort every now and then.
Log created on 21:56:09 07/26/2008 by Seishirou, and last modified on 01:05:28 08/05/2008.