Description: The disappearance of Hakuya Suigetsu has been worrisome for his teammates, the Guardian Kings; isn't it just their luck when the culprit, Hakuya's own grandfather, shows up to find out just how worthy Hakuya's friends happen to be? Tenma, Kenji and Stasya learn the hard way that beating up old people isn't nearly as easy as it sounds, while Koichi Suigetsu discovers... The power of friendship. At least, if by 'friendship' you mean 'getting hit really really hard by three people at once'.
Several days after the incident with Marise, the second of the Guardian Kings had, quite simply, vanished. He didn't show up for school, he didn't show up for training, he wasn't at home, he wasn't anywhere. It was as if the grappler had simply vanished. What's more weird is that Hakuya's aunt Saeko, who he'd been living with, seemed not at all worried, even though she professed she had no idea where he was, either. It's been at least a month since then. And finally, after no word from the Suigetsu heir, he'd finally given the other three Kings notice of where he was. Hand-written notes had been placed conspicuously where the three Kings would find, each of them saying the same thing: 'Meet me on the roof after class.' None of the notes were signed, but they were unmistakably in Hakuya's own handwriting.
Now, the sun is low in the sky, heading towards setting in the west. The sky is an orange color, and mostly still and quiet up on this precariously built roof. The afternoon hours are hot, and this day was no exception, a last gasp of summer before it gives way to autumn's cooling. Normally this would be the place for Guardian King training. Balancing on the catwalk, they'd fight each other until only one of them stood, then they'd do it once more again the next day, repeating until they decided to take a break to recover. Today, however, rather than Hakuya waiting with his ill-gotten lunch breads, stands another man. Taller than Hakuya, but looking oddly exactly like the young Suigetsu heir if he'd suddenly aged fifty years, Koichi Suigetsu stands with his hands folded into the sleeves of his silk royal blue robes, his eyes closed as he seems to be either asleep on his feet, or merely meditating. The man seems to barely even be breathing, his focus is such. He merely waits now. Waits to see the three his grandson talks so highly of.
In fact, the rooftop is the prime location of Guardian King /pretty much everything/, ever since Tenma claimed the territory. And, well, there were actually Guardian Kings to hang out up there. Yes, it's usually where Tenma can be found if he's not a) actually in class, b) at the arcade, c) getting into trouble somewhere or d) at home, which is actually the least likely of the previous options.
Well, see how YOU'D like living with an insane old man whose idea of 'training' you is to randomly attack you whenever he feels like it.
So, once he got the note, Tenma figured there was something important going on. Maybe Hakuya had discovered something interesting during his mysterious disappearance, or maybe he'd run off and gotten married to some girl. Though, as amusing as the idea of Hakuya being forced into a teenaged marriage, probably due to certain 'indiscretions' is, it's... Pretty unlikely, isn't it? Would Hakuya Suigetsu even know what to DO with a girl?
Anyway.
It seems that the first of the Guardian Kings to make it onto the roof is Tenma Kiryuu, who is pretty sure something's wrong before he even gets there; the 'feeling' is all wrong. So, being the bastion of subtlety and levelheadedness that he is, Tenma kicks the door to the roof open with a loud CRASH, and stalks onto the curved rooftop with his bookbag in one hand and his cloth-sheathed bokken slung over his shoulder. Dark blue eyes scan the rooftop until he locates the figure thereupon, and Tenma gives this interloper the thuggiest leer he can manage (which is saying something), before demanding: "An' who the hell are you when you're at home, gramps?!"
Concern had been the order of the day for Stasya, ever since Hakuya first vanished. She carried on, but did so colored by the everpresent spectre of worry. Though his aunt had professed no worry over the young man, this had not assuaged Stasya's worries in the least. Though she could tell that the woman was earnest in her lack of concern for her nephew, the fact that none of them -knew where Hakuya was- was still troubling enough.
Relief had surged through her the moment she got the note. Though she's still suspicious that whatever had stolen Hakuya away might not be entirely over with yet, it was good just to receive -some- word from him.
The girl's arrival on the roof is far less showy on Tenma's. Moments after the Guardian King leader kicks the door in and stalks through, the pale blonde drifts in through the wreck left in his wake. Quiet and tight-lipped, her senses sweeping the roof once before zeroing in on the stranger, the girl swings around to flank Tenma: standing off to his right, and slightly behind him.
"What did you do with Hakuya?" is the first question out of her, her voice quieter than Tenma's... but no less underlaid with potential threat should the answer not be satisfactory.
There's a lot that Kenji's had on his plate in the last few weeks, some of it school-related, and parts of it ... well, parts of it, things that he probably shouldn't talk about with the rest of the 'Kings, just yet. Needless to say, Kenji Ashima's long-in-waiting had the return to normalcy coming to him, but like that dream of the rose-colored student life where he gets a girlfriend, succeeds, and goes on to a fantastic university...
Yeah, well. You get the idea.
For once, the student council secretary isn't bouncing around with the vibrance and energy that he usually carries. No, today he actually shows signs of fatigue and exhaustion, as if pushing around the papers in the student council room will tax him that much. Yawning into his palm with a bandaged hand and a band-aid on his cheek, Kenji Ashima is just moments behind Stasya's entrance. Once he's up top, though...
For a moment, he staggers. Does this ever END?!
Dropping his backpack on the roof and fixing his uniform's jacket, he moves to Tenma's left-- and lets Stasya and Tenma do the talking, for the moment.
They file in, and all Koichi does is... remain perfectly still. His eyes remain closed, his hands remain tucked into his sleeves, his posture perfect, his stance unwavering. They walk in, one by one, and demand in various ways things of him. But he merely lets the words roll off him, until at last Kenji walks in and sighs, almost reluctantly. Then, his foot turns, and his body follows, swinging around to regard the three while balanced on the catwalk around the perimeter of the roof. His eyes open, though not far, a kind of lazy look on his face, perhaps even sleepy. Nevertheless, those eyes take in all in silence as he looks over each in turn.
His gaze settles first on the Guardian King leader, and he begins to speak, almost casually. "Kiryuu trash. I'd know it without my worthless grandson talking at length about you. How could he admire such? I'll never know. Tenma, I think your name was, wasn't it? Hmph. You look even weaker than the rest of your family." The taunts come as plainly as if he were discussing the weather, a dismissive sort of tone to his voice.
"The woman," Koichi next says as he looks to Stasya. He's silent for a moment longer, and then he shrugs. "I suppose he could do worse, even if you're not Japanese."
And then Kenji. Though, when he gets to the young fighter, his eyebrows dip a little, a frown crossing his face. "That would make you... Kenji. Hakuya spoke of his admiration for your boundless enthusiasm. Did someone kick your puppy?"
The elder Suigetsu then walks closer to the trio, rolling his head, old neckbones popping audibly with the motion. "Hakuya is at home, resting. I've been seeing how he's grown the past months. Frankly, I had to beat him into shape. All the while, he spoke of how much better his friends were, how great they were. I came to see for myself... and..." he finally moves his hands from his robe, and gives an exaggerated shrug. "Trash. All of you. Letting my grandson study on his own was clearly a mistake. I'll need to take him back to the house and train him the way he was meant to be trained."
Hakuya never made too much of a secret of how the Suigetsus trained him. Since he was ten years old, he'd been beaten constantly until he learned to block, then learned to fight back. His arms are constantly covered to hide the scars, as evidence of those eight years.
As Koichi speaks, choosing to not actually answer Tenma's question but instead be a total jerk to him instead, the Kiryuu demon hunter leans his head back, glaring down his nose at the old man. It's very possible that Tenma's hackles are up at the Suigetsu elder's behaviour, but it's hard to tell, 'cause he's usually like this. "Yeah, that's great. How 'bout you suck my balls, old man?" he wonders, because vulgarity is always a good fallback when you're feeling pissed off.
After all, the LAST person to insult Stasya based on her race to Tenma's face didn't come out of the experience looking too good.
Tenma's bookbag falls out of his hand immediately, and the cloth sheath of his bokken is swiftly pulled free, left to flutter away on the breeze this high up. What comes next is a foregone conclusion; Tenma bites into the thumb of his left hand, drawing blood, and using that blood to paint a red stripe down the wooden blade of his sword, forging the chi link so integral to the ancestral fighting style of the Kiryuu clan. A single swipe though the air sets the bokken alight, a smoky aura of bloody red radiating from the wooden blade.
Tenma's attention remains thoroughly focused on Koichi.
"I'm really sick of people kidnappin' my friends. I don't care who you are, you're takin' Hakuya anywhere over my dead body, got it?" And then, Tenma does exactly what you'd expect him to do next; he charges headlong directly at Koichi, trying to get close enough to the old man to slash him with that chi-emanating bokken, a two-handed downwards slash; at the bottom of the slash, he reverses the blade suddenly, slashing back up to create a narrow V-shape in the air. "RAAAAAGH!!"
COMBATSYS: Tenma has started a fight here on the left meter side.
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Tenma 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Koichi has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Tenma 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Koichi
In contrast to Tenma's immediate snaps and snarls, Stasya doesn't immediately say or do anything when Hakuya's grandfather throws his insults. She just stares at the old man, grey eyes narrowed, paling a little as Tenma leaps to the defense of them all in his... customary fashion.
"And I am very sick," she finally speaks up, the steel in her voice the first easily-discernable indication of just -how- angry she is, "of my race being issue." And with that, she bolts forward just as Tenma does, moving slightly faster because of her intent to approach from a different angle. "Pfeh. From what I have been shown, I could have many things to say about -you- Japanese--!" Bigoted, small-minded, and completely racist being only the start of it.
"The only thing you will take home is a lesson of Hakuya should stay with US," she snaps-- perhaps remembering how Hakuya was 'trained,' and feeling he should be protected from that. From the opposite side of Koichi as Tenma, she lashes out towards the man. Her intended strike stops far short of a true punch, but the physical element isn't the danger; it's the lance of psionic force that bursts down her arm, forging itself to a point with Koichi directly in the blade's path.
COMBATSYS: Stasya has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Stasya 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Koichi
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Tenma 0/-------/-------|
"I don't have a puppy."
He says it with the utmost seriousness, as though Koichi Suigetsu was touching on a point that the young Kenji Ashima never wanted to have brought up. No, he didn't get to have a puppy... he got to have a little sister, instead. Fair trade, or so his parents would jokingly claim.
And now the old man's decided to go ahead and provoke a fight, in the end, by regarding his friends with dismissive, if not outright hateful remarks. More than that, he's gone on to announce plans with Hakuya... and as one of his friends, he too can't abide by what the old man is suggesting.
"URRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--"
Charging moments after Tenma and Stasya, he seems to be taking the longest, most dangerous route along the sloped roof-- by running an arc around to get himself onto Koichi's left. His steps are loud and pounding, and when he comes up alongside the elder Suigetsu, the Missile Fist hooks his arm around to throw a massive hook of a punch-- one that misses him entirely. But... the wave of chi that comes in behind his arm is what may just rip up against Koichi, and give him a bit of a good sting!
"I'll show you my enthusiasm!!"
COMBATSYS: Kenji has joined the fight here.
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Stasya 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kenji
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Tenma 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Koichi
COMBATSYS: Koichi dodges Stasya's Medium Punch.
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Stasya 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kenji
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Tenma 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Koichi
COMBATSYS: Kenji successfully hits Koichi with Twelve Gauge.
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Stasya 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kenji
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Tenma 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Koichi
COMBATSYS: Koichi reflects Ungyou from Tenma with Solaris Sunder.
- Power hit! -
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Stasya 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kenji
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Tenma 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Koichi
Honestly, their reactions couldn't have been better.
Koichi had come here with one purpose in mind: to test Hakuya's friends. Other than Tenma, whose family he didn't really care for in the least, he had no real qualms with any of them. He was, in fact, quite surprised with Hakuya's tenacity of will and his evolved fighting methods, all of them learned from his 'impure' studying - adapting techniques, tactics and motions from other people around him. Most notably the three other Guardian Kings. He couldn't SAY these things, of course; Hakuya, no matter his impressive growth, still had much to go. He was here merely to observe where, precisely, his grandson had learned his tactics.
And the Guardian Kings were only too happy to oblige.
The three rush him simultaneously, and he merely stands there. He adopts no stance, seemingly not going to defend himself. That is, until Tenma's blood chi-soaked sword comes swinging down. Then, Koichi moves, a hand raising smoothly, almost slowly to intercept the blade, simply watching the wood sword on the palm of his hand, stopping its momentum fully. While holding Tenma's blade, Stasya steps in, and the elder Suigetsu's other hand suddenly snaps forward, lightly impacting on the girl's wrist and redirecting her momentum elsewhere, away from the old man's body. Kenji's attack, he's not precisely prepared to deal with, or perhaps he simply wasn't expecting the attack to not so much come from the boy's fist, but from the chi wave trailing it.
Either way, even as the chi slams into him, Koichi seems to just shrug it off in favor of dealing, again, with Tenma, by suddenly forcing all that blood chi energy back at him - by punching -through- it. His free arm rises while continuing to hold the bloody bokken, and when he aims a stiff punch straight for Tenma's face, the blood chi seems to form around his fist, and it's turned back against its wielder, a chi-and-fist paining delivered right to the boy's face.
Once all that seems to be taken care of, the elder Suigetsu rolls his head again, followed by shrugging his shoulders. "Mmn. Was that all? Hakuya spoke so highly of you as he was spitting up blood from being too weak to block my attacks. I see his faith in you was misplaced."
Oh, right. Tenma had almost forgotten about that aspect of the Suigetsu fighting arts. With his own attack turned against him, Tenma is blasted solidly backwards, tumbling across the roof with an offeded squawk. But if that's how Koichi is going to play it...
"Yeah, ain't you clever," Tenma says, spitting out a gob of blood. Getting punched in the face is, more often than not, not a very fun time. "We're just getting warmed up, Gramps. Consider that one your free shot!" Tenma Kiryuu is, if nothing else, very confident in his own abilities.
Once again, Tenma rushes forward; this time, though, he swings his bokken back and out of the way, held with his right hand diagonally across his back, so that the point rises above his left shoulder. His intent, then, is to attack not with the weapon, but with his right fist, in a series of calculated strikes intended to disrupt the flow of energy through the Suigetsu elder's body, as well as hopefully push him into a disadvantageous position...
Stasya twists abruptly in mingled concern and shock as Tenma is sent tumbling back. She's seen such techniques from Hakuya before, true, but--
Her eyes narrow. She knows already her own energy is of a different sort than that most of the rest of the world wields-- but Hakuya has already proven able to turn it back upon her, even with little preparation or knowledge of what her psi energy truly was. That she's now wary of his grandfather simply blasting her own power back at her is something of an understatement.
Her jaw tightens visibly as Koichi describes his method of 'training' his grandson, something within her panging at the mental image of Hakuya-- battered and bloodied by his own family. But that naked look of empathy lasts only a short while on her face before it's replaced with angry resolution. "And you call that -training-?" is all she says aloud, her voice low, her eyes narrowed.
For the time being, the girl does nothing, simply watching Koichi carefully to discern how he moves, and circling slowly in order to scout for any chink in defense. She's already familiar with the Suigetsu style through watching Hakuya, but Koichi is sufficiently advanced past that that there is still an element of uncertainty of which she must be aware...
COMBATSYS: Stasya focuses on her next action.
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Stasya 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kenji
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Tenma 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Koichi
"Tenma!!"
Kenji reels backward a little as the elder man delivers the telling blow to his leader's face. It nets him a little clearance while Tenma sets himself back up and moves back in for one more attack. Sure, part of him is glad that his own strike had landed, but this is one of those moments where having fun isn't allowed-- and without another word to it, he steps back in.
Rather than trying to ease himself in to flank Koichi properly, he runs. Now, the only member of the Guardian Kings with absolutely no formal training decides to demonstrate it one more time by trying to get a solid grasp onto the back of the man's robes and literally hurl him up into the air with no real course of trajectory ... or real care on how he lands. For all intents and purposes, he could go flying right off the roof if he isn't careful!
COMBATSYS: Koichi blocks Tenma's Flow Breaker.
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Stasya 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kenji
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Tenma 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Koichi
COMBATSYS: Koichi endures Kenji's Strong Throw.
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Stasya 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Kenji
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Tenma 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Koichi
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Stasya 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Kenji
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Tenma 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Koichi
"Hmph," is all Koichi has to say to the Kiryuu boy's taunts and jeers. Maybe on a younger person this would get him riled up, but he doesn't seem to even really realize Tenma is saying anything. Not because he's focusing on the fight, and not because he's hard of hearing, but more because he just completely ignores the boy's yapping. The only interactions he's interested in now is when the leader of the Kings rushes in to attack. Unfortunately for Tenma, the elder Suigetsu's defense is no less distracted, as if he were already thinking five steps ahead, and his defense was simply a foregone conclusion. Hands intercept each blow of the fist and each one is turned aside, for relatively minimal damage. But then, there's Kenji. And either the untrained boy just has Koichi dead to rights, or he the old man doesn't consider him much of a threat, because once more does Missile Fist Ashima get ahold of him, and then the old man goes flying--
And the second he lands, he rolls, and twists, moving the exact way -he- wants, obviously being no stranger to being thrown. He rolls to his feet as smoothly as if he'd been the one to throw himself to the ground, and then suddenly - his hands lash out for Stasya. As the girl studies his moves, she'll get a clear view of Koichi's hand moving to grasp her throat, and then, if he lands, lifting her up -by- that hold in a definite chokehold. Next, the Suigetsu head twists his body, and brings Stasya around as though he were going to spike her into the ground - only for his other fist to come up and punch her back up into the air. Should this all go through, he'll then grab her once more, and plant his foot into her stomach, kicking her away from him into the curved roof, in a vicious series of blows.
Pssh, Tenma's been hit harder than that plenty of times! Often in the head!
This... Probably answers a few lingering questions.
"Hey, saggy manboobs! I'm talkin' to you!" Tenma says, after his attack is well and truly defended, and Koichi turns his attention to one of his teammates. Ah, Stasya, of course. Why do people always figure /she's/ the weak link? It's because she has a vajayjay, isn't it?
There's not much Tenma can do to help Stas out, but he's pretty sure she can take care of herself... The best way to assist her, then, is to beat the holy hell out of Koichi as soon as possible. Even though that hasn't been panning out too well for Tenma so far, it's not like he's really concerned; his ego is far too unassailable for a little thing like self-doubt. So instead, Tenma lunges after Koichi, not even bothering to call out a challenge if the old man is still focused on the Russian girl, instead simply attempting to slash him right across the back of his knees with a single vicious two-handed swipe of that chi-emanating bokken.
COMBATSYS: Stasya blocks Koichi's Heavenly Crescent.
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Stasya 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Kenji
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Tenma 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Koichi
The girl is prepared when the old man comes for her. She fully intends to correct-- harshly-- anyone who opts to underestimate her for her gender or her race. She can't fully avoid the initial chokehold, and the Suigetsu head might think the rest of his attack a foregone conclusion from the way she pales in his grasp... but when Koichi attempts to strike her into the air, the girl suddenly seizes his hand in both of her own, deflecting the force of it with some skill and twisting adroitly around the blow.
She flips around in a way that shouldn't be possible, spinning her body clear of him by using his very striking fist as a leverage point and pushing off the momentum of his strike to flip backwards. Landing in a crouch, she isn't still for much longer; she's touched ground for barely a moment before she's leaping again in another backflip, a series of sharp psi blades slinging off her leading leg in a vertical line straight for Koichi.
She lands, takes one graceful step while her keen eyes gauge just how Koichi deals with her initial salvo, and adjusts herself accordingly based on what she sees. Should he avoid or mitigate it, she'll attempt to catch him again with a second salvo: vaulting instantly into a butterfly kick, she'll sling another line of psionic energy at him, trying to cage him in with her attacks.
The throw puts some distance between them all-- or at least, until he goes moving for Stasya. While Koichi's up high, Kenji's watching his trajectory carefully-- and trying to keep himself from doing something stupid, like get caught up in the path of Tenma and Stasya's attacks. Moving toward the Suigetsu elder while Stasya's seized in his grasp, the brawling Osakan brings his right arm back and starts to charge toward the collective, trying to coordinate himself to her movements.
The first salvo, he charges forward. The second salvo, he pushes off from the ground and lunges forward at a low, deep angle. His left leg leads ahead first, hitting the ground with a loud *THUMP* on the roof's surface. Kenji's arm hooks around in a way that looks far too rubbery to be normal, like bone and muscle distends in a completely unnatural way-- while his arm moves in a perfect arc, his fist seeking to plant into the man's face and land a mean blow-- and for someone his age, his fist may as well be like being hit across the face with a slab of stone.
COMBATSYS: Koichi dodges Tenma's Fierce Strike.
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Stasya 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Kenji
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Tenma 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Koichi
COMBATSYS: Koichi blocks Stasya's Chandrahas.
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Stasya 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Kenji
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Tenma 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Koichi
COMBATSYS: Kenji successfully hits Koichi with Missile Fist.
- Power hit! -
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Stasya 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Kenji
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Tenma 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Koichi
Weak link? There was no such consideration here, because in Koichi's mind, they were -all- weak! Though collectively, they fought awfully well together, and in that, at least, they were incredibly strong. Even though his purpose here wasn't to win, merely to test the three's abilities, he felt as though, maybe, just maybe, he'd underestimated them, if only in their ability to work together. This is best displayed in Stasya's defense against his attack. Twisting around and using his own hand as a fulcrum to get away, the Russian girl gives ample space for Tenma to try and sweep his bokken in at the old man's knees - which he deftly avoids by simply hopping over the blade, jumping straight into the air. He lands in time to see Stasya's attack coming, the girl sending blades of energy at him, and he raises his hands in an X over his face, the psychic energy impacting him but doing little, it seems, to faze him.
But that should be fine enough, for the distraction of the blades and Kenji's own timing seems to go off perfectly. Koichi's arms lower, and the first thing he sees his Kenji's fist, just -right there-. It slams into the elder Suigetsu's face, much like a slab of stone. The blow catches him offguard enough that the man shows the first signs of actually being hurt by these attacks, his head snapping backwards, and his upper body leaning backwards. He doesn't quite fall over, thanks to a forced step backwards, but the single moment of non-motion is indeed telling as to how hard that punch hit.
And then the old man is in motion again. Stepping backforward, his own hand lashes out, straight for Kenji's face, a revenge strike! Or so it would seem. Koichi's intent is not to punch Kenji in the face, but rather simply to palm his face with his hand, and then in a surge of motion, thrust Missile Fist Ashima backwards, off his feet, and then straight into the rooftop in powerful push, likely hard enough to crack the roof itself from the force applied to it, should Kenji go down.
All right, so far this isn't panning out very well for Tenma, is it? He hasn't managed to land a single clean hit on the old man yet... Though it looks like Kenji and Stasya are picking up the slack. Part of Tenma's thoughts, the part given over to actually being a team player, is heartened by this; he's proud of his minio--er, sideki--uhh, good friends and teammates, but the rest of Tenma is now focused on a single thought:
Hit Koichi Suigetsu. Really, really hard.
So once again, Tenma demonstrates a keen lack of anything resembling a sense of fair play as he, once again, tries to attack Koichi from the rear. Why would he do something like this, you might ask? This time, it's so he can try to grab the old man by the back of his shirt or jacket or whatever, then twist and use himself as a point of leverage to hurl the geezer in a short arc to the rooftop. Not the cleanest or fanciest throw, but Tenma's been branching out lately. "Hua-!!"
The girl recovers from her attack quickly, straightening up and watching her teammates carefully. Teamwork seems to be at the forefront of her mind, if nothing else; her natural sense of fight timing and attack rhythm fits well into a scheme in which she must coordinate with her fellow team members.
Koichi moves directly forward, straight for Kenji; Tenma attacks from behind, seeking to seize the old man and hurl him in the opposite direction as Ashima. Weaving slightly in a light step, remaining alert for a chance to strike, the girl advances quickly from Koichi's left side and then sweeps low, simultaneous with the attacks of all three of the other combatants.
Skidding across the rooftop, the girl swipes a swift and sharp kick at Koichi's ankles, even as he moves forward and Tenma comes up from behind. Her intent soon becomes clear; it's meant to put Koichi off his balance, both to save Kenji from the vicious attack, and to try to help Tenma accomplish his own.
COMBATSYS: Koichi successfully hits Kenji with Strong Throw.
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Stasya 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\0 Kenji
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Tenma 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Koichi
When his fist hits Koichi's face, Kenji's rather confident-- and he should be, rightfully, considering how hard he just hit the elder man. But when he doesn't go -down-, that's when the brawler comes to realize that there's something impressively wrong. His eyes wide, he reaches out to smack the incoming hand aside, but Koichi's strength and experience proves the better of the pair, and Kenji's taken clear off his feet. Hefted up from the rooftop and his head driven into the surface, he could swear for a moment the impact granted him the ability to see through the untempered schism and see all that is, was, and will ever be.
Laid out flat and hard, the roof of the school is the least of his concerns. The brutal impact leaves him laid there, stunned, for more time than he'd care to wager. Tenma and Stasya continue to fight, but it takes Kenji a moment to get his nerves to recognize the concept of 'movement' and 'roll away.' It's sort of a roll, sort of a crawl, and sort of a tumble off to the side while he staggers around, wondering for just a moment if he just suffered a concussion or not. Taking a step back from the action, he seems to decide it's time to clear the cobwebs in the only way he knows how:
"HYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--"
Without his trademark 'punch the ground,' without even putting a whole lot of effort into it, the Missile Fist's arm ignites with the brilliant white-blue chi he's known for, warm and quite well able to provide illumination that the setting sun cannot. Standing a little straighter, his staggering put away, Kenji Ashima seems to have once again gained a little more mastery of his ability to generate and shape his power. Letting it 'burn' on his arm, he turns to face the fight one more time with a determined expression.
COMBATSYS: Kenji gathers his will.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Stasya 0/-------/----===|=======\===----\1 Kenji
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Tenma 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Koichi
COMBATSYS: Koichi dodges Tenma's Quick Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Stasya 0/-------/----===|=======\===----\1 Kenji
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Tenma 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Koichi
COMBATSYS: Koichi dodges Stasya's Quick Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Stasya 0/-------/----===|=======\===----\1 Kenji
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Tenma 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Koichi
His attack hits, and hits -hard-. The facepalm connects, and with a rough shove, Kenji is just sent down to the floor, the metal sheeting of the roof simply caving inwards at the force of the blow, though fortunately whoever made the rooftop didn't make it to collapse easily under stress. The boy simply goes down and stays down for a bit, not wanting to move after that attack, and likely for good reason! Any follow up attack, however, is forestalled by Ashima's two team mates, who once again show good teamwork, both in covering for their downed friend and in the coordination of their attack.
Unfortunately for Tenma and Stasya, however, the attacks don't seem to work quite right. Oh, Tenma gets his hands on the elder Suigetsu, but when he twists and moves to throw the man, he comes up decidedly light - likely because, while Tenma turns to throw the man, Koichi simply slips out of his jacket, letting Tenma pull it off of him, leaving him in that short-sleeved undershirt he wears. Stasya's attack is dealt with next, and done much in the same style as Tenma's earlier attack to his knees - simply by hopping over the girl's sweeping leg. Though this time the jump isn't merely straight up, but rather he twists in the air, performing a flip forward. Impressive, considering he's over sixty years old. Kenji's charging is, for the moment, left unnoticed, in favor of the two other Guardian Kings.
Moving over to the catwalk that rings the sides of the rooftop, Koichi grunts, and then leans down to grip the metal beam that makes up the portion one's supposed to walk over. Then? He hauls the entire freaking length up with a roar of concentration, displaying even more impressive feats for a man as old as he is. After the beam is ripped up, he sweeps it up over his head in a wide circle, and then steps forward. He brings the entire thing around, and channels all of his strength and the momentum of the swing into the length of the metal beam, and seeks to, quite simply, slam it into Tenma and Stasya both, while Kenji remains behind him.
COMBATSYS: Tenma endures Koichi's Random Weapon.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Stasya 0/-------/----===|=======\===----\1 Kenji
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Tenma 1/-----==/=======|======-\-------\0 Koichi
Man, why can't Tenma seem to land a hit on this old geezer? It's kind of... Frustrating. Clearly there's a significant gap in ability between himself and old man Suigetsu, but the leader of the Guardian Kings has never been one to let that stop him before. His attack ends up largely fruitless, but he's not done yet.
Not even when Koichi swings a part of the catwalk at him.
The metal beam strikes true, without even a token defense raised by the Kiryuu heir, and only a slight stumble resulting from the impact. Tenma is notoriously difficult to deter when he's focused on something, and right now his sole focus is on Koichi himself, and his aforementioned goal of doing serious harm to the old man.
"Man, that was some weak crap!" Tenma says with a laugh, despite the blood now trickling down from his scalp. Of course, when has bleeding ever bothered Tenma Kiryuu? Instead, Tenma keeps on Koichi, lunging inwards behind the sweep of the old man's steel beam, ducking low and holding his bokken down and back, swordarm across his torso... Before he leaps up, twisting in an attempt to strike Koichi with a series of whirling, rising strikes! "HAAAAAA-!!"
COMBATSYS: Stasya fails to interrupt Random Weapon from Koichi with Angurva'del.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Stasya 0/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Kenji
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Tenma 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\0 Koichi
Swiveling abruptly once she cuts nothing but air, Stasya spins back to a crouching stand: eyes narrowing as she sees how hard Kenji has been hit. Perhaps it's concern over Kenji that distracts her with Koichi retaliates... perhaps it's a sudden feeling of the -senselessness- of all this fighting. But whatever the case, she isn't quite at the top of her game when the Suigetsu head comes for her and Tenma.
Her eyes flick wide as that metal beam plows STRAIGHT towards them. And while Tenma opts to hold his ground, Stasya attempts to move against the swinging metal. She tries to brace her hands against it, to vault up over it and twist to strike the man behind the impromptu weapon, but a miscalculation slips her grasp at the last moment. Her momentum lost, the beam smacks into her hard, knocking her back across the roof and right out of the action.
She doesn't immediately get up. That didn't hurt as hard as it -could- have, but... she's still not too eager to jump right back into things after being struck like that.
Even with the stern expression on his face, it'd be a huge lie to say that Kenji Ashima wasn't impressed by what he just saw. The man his age, the strength involved, and then having the control to smack both members of the Guardian Kings-- though Tenma's a crazy bastard, and Stasya's attempt at plowing through it proves unsuccessful. He looks back to Stasya first, to make sure that she's okay... and her head not being split in two is a good indication of her being okay. She's made of stronger stuff, and he knows that for a fact.
"UrrrrrrrrrrAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH--"
His footsteps pound down on the rooftop as he runs across it, moving to line himself up virtually directly behind Tenma-- and while the sword-wielding Gedo student is making his attacks, Kenji does something very stupid: He jumps.
He did it once before with Hakuya, and maybe it's just as fitting that he tries it now. "Up high!!" he calls, the only warning to Tenma that the young man with the flaring arm is coming down from on high. A blue light streaks through the air, pierces Koichi's chest, and even goes on to touch the ground behind him-- harmless, all while the majority of the chi in his fist surges down the length of his arm and builds into his fist. As he drops, Kenji's fist touches the blue light, and he may as well be moving faster than he probably should, giving the ol' double deuce salute to any concept of physics. Screaming downward with his punch, Kenji seeks to slug Koichi, -hard-, and unleash the chi in his hand in the form of a controlled shockwave-- one so controlled, so brutal, and likely impossible otherwise without him attacking from such an extreme angle. As he comes down, he yells the two most familiar words of a foreign language he knows:
"RAIL GUN!!"
COMBATSYS: Tenma successfully hits Koichi with Vajra.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Stasya 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 Kenji
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Tenma 1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\1 Koichi
COMBATSYS: Koichi reflects Rail Gun from Kenji with Solaris Sunder.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Stasya 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Kenji
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Tenma 1/-----==/=======|=======\=------\1 Koichi
Impressive, truthfully. Ripping out a piece of catwalk and swinging it at someone has more than just potential 'oh man that's going to hurt' thoughts running through a person's head, but also the sheer viciousness of the whole thing can be, frankly, intimidating. And the old man had seen men twice and again Tenma's age flinch away from such a move. But here the leader of the Guardian Kings was taking it full on, as if it bothered him not in the least to get hit, really hard, with a metal beam. The Russian girl too is impressive in her display of trying to overcome the metal beam, even if she's less successful than her leader is, being bat down and aside and making her take a moment to recover herself.
And then it was that the two male Guardian Kings were left to attack, and so they did. Tenma rushes from his front, and Kenji howls like a demon behind him, a pincer movement that most certainly showcases the teamwork the Guardian Kings have. Determining right off the bat, though, that Kenji is the one to be wary of, Tenma is almost completely ignored in favor of the untrained member of the Kings. Indeed, Koichi turns his back to Tenma to face Kenji fully, which leaves the leader wide open to simply -rail- on the elder Suigetsu, and to his credit, while Koichi was intending to work through the pain of the strikes, they hit home harder than the grappler would care to admit, working through his physical defenses to cause some real pain, which the old man grunts out in pain over. But that still doesn't deter him, as Kenji's fist slams down at him... and is -caught- in a palm, the violent chi radiating out from the fist being held in check somehow, much like Tenma's first attack was.
There is no follow up punch this time, however, as it's all Koichi can do to simply keep the energy from overwhelming him. Some backlashed energy rips back at Kenji, though only a small amount. And when the power finally fades? The elder Suigetsu stumbles, clearly taxed by the fighting. Even so, he keeps his feet, and takes in a deeper, calming breath. "Hmph..." he says, shaking his head. "Guess you weaklings have -some- tricks up your sleeves. But I'm still not satisfied." Standing up tall and proud, the man crosses his arms in front of his chest. "If you really wish to show me your feelings for Hakuya, you will hit me. HARD. DO NOT HOLD BACK!" He roars this last part in a voice like a commander who is used to having that particular tone of voice being followed. And he just stands there, arms folded... waiting.
There it is. Tenma's got it; he can /feel/ it, the ebb and flow of energy in the battle. Landing easily after his rising attack, Tenma can do little to help Kenji when the student council secretary gets his big attack totally, totally stopped... But he CAN try to exploit the perceived opening. Regaining his balance quickly, Tenma dashes to the side; he's not quite ready to totally unleash the beast on Koichi here, but his preparations are nearly complete.
Yeah, if anybody deserves to be done in by the ultimate technique of the Kiryuu clan... It's this stuck-up Suigetsu geezer.
"Who said anythin' 'bout holdin' back, you crazy ol' coot?" wonders Tenma, halfway up the curve of the roof when he sweeps his bokken through the air in a wide arc; it's too far to hit Koichi from, of course, but that's not the point. An afterimage of power follows the sweep of the wooden blade, and from that is born a crescent of roiling blood and chi, tearing through the air high above the Gedo High courtyard towards Koichi. "RAAAAAAAGH-!!"
Sitting up like a shot at Koichi's taunt, her blonde hair flying out of her face, Stasya fixes a decidedly annoyed look on Hakuya's grandfather. He kidnaps Hakuya, beats the crap out of him, and then comes here to call them all weak? Stasya isn't easily riled to anger, but Koichi is fast getting there: especially with his descriptions of what he's doing to Hakuya. It's the thought of Hakuya bloodied that gets at her worst, the girl never able to stand the thought of her boys savagely beaten up.
As such, he doesn't have to tell her twice when he bids them prove their feelings for Hakuya by not holding back. Truth is, the girl -isn't-, and so the fact Koichi still thinks her efforts subpar is disheartening... but she doesn't let the doubt hold her back too long, even when the man demonstrates that ability to catch and stop energy again.
Pushing abruptly off against the roof, Stasya kips up to a crouch and then launches herself straight at Koichi, following in the wake of Tenma's arc of bloody chi. Twisting in midair, she tries to follow that blast of energy with a sharp forward thrust of her arm. A burst of psionic energy lances down her arm, spearing to a point far beyond her hand... and trying to embed its pointed length in Koichi's chest.
The fist lands in Koichi's grasp, the chi is expelled-- and he feels part of it backlash into his own arm. At some point, he'll probably equate this to the time that this same attack-- one of his favorites-- was smacked aside by way of a cleverly-placed belt by a doctor who would be a fighter. Kenji's jaw tightens up, dropping to the ground while the elder man staggers.
Stumbling himself, shifting back and to the side, the young Osakan lets out a huff as he carefully examines the situation-- or for as much as Kenji actually stops to think about something. Letting out a grunt at his taunts, many that there be, Kenji charges one more time in an arc, trying to circle himself to the elder Suigetsu's side. Trying to keep himself moving roughly in time to let Tenma and Stasya take their turns at striking him, Mr. Secretary takes a lunging dive through the air and attempts to return Koichi's favors from earlier: By trying to grab the man's face, lift, and spike his head into the roof. If he can, a surge of chi bubbles up from below and -explodes- upward, a column of white-blue energy that'll send him flying up into the air.
"URRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
COMBATSYS: Koichi endures Kenji's Claymore.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Stasya 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 Kenji
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Tenma 1/-----==/=======|=======\==-----\1 Koichi
COMBATSYS: Koichi endures Stasya's Halteclere.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Stasya 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Kenji
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////// ]
Tenma 1/-----==/=======|=======\===----\1 Koichi
COMBATSYS: Koichi endures Tenma's Dharmapala.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Stasya 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Kenji
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //// ]
Tenma 1/----===/=======|=======\====---\1 Koichi
The three fighters charge... and Koichi simply -does not move-.
Tenma's crescent wave of bloody chi simply slams into the older man head on, slicing into his mesh shirt and cutting it open, the old man's own blood spraying from it. He's forced a step forward or two from the impact, but he still doesn't break his stance. Not even as Stasya follows through with her own attack, that lance of psychic energy bursting forward and seeking to impale him, does he move. He lets it happen, as though he had suddenly turned masochistic, and he lets out a cough of blood as the spear hits him, and goes straight through his chest. Still, he does not move. Kenji is next, and the repayment for the firm hit is done in full. Koichi's head is grabbed, and he's slammed down into the ground, only to be thrown straight up into the air again by a sudden explosion of chi. He does a flip in the air, and ends up lying on the ground again, this time face-down.
Koichi Suigetsu is still a moment. ...But then he gets up.
"Hmph," he says again. It's as if the man has spent the latter half of his life saying nothing but that. It conveys his sentiments of disapproval, of being unimpressed, and most of all, just being an old bastard. But the fact the man is still standing after all this is nothing short of pretty damn amazing. But, at least he does add something else: "I see. I can see why Hakuya would speak highly of you. But..." He trails off, and then his eyes slide to Tenma. Bloodied and torn, the man doesn't look like he's got much left in him... but even so, he suddenly reaches a hand out for the young Kiryuu, "I won't let you get off easy!"
Koichi's grasp aims for Tenma's wrist. Should he grab hold, the older man will place the arm into a joint lock - and then he'll punch Tenma's elbow, hard, a strike that has in the past shattered bones. Even as the strike is completed, Tenma would be swept into the air, another limb grabbed, locked, and the elbow or knee struck at again, just as hard. This process is repeated four times in all, in rapid succession, should the move go unhindered, hurting each limb of Tenma's rather seriously. But it doesn't end there, no. As the last limb is slammed, the Kiryuu boy will be swept into several powerful, swift spins, and then launched high, high up, into the air... and Koichi leaps up after him. Catching Tenma in mid-air, he'll then begin to descend quickly, adding force, weight, and gravity, all to drive Tenma down into the ceiling, and indeed potentially -through- it with all the force.
COMBATSYS: Tenma endures Koichi's Midnight Sun+.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Stasya 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Kenji
[ < > //// ]
Tenma 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=------\-------\0 Koichi
When Koichi goes barrelling at Tenma, the lean young man's only response is to smirk confidently. Yeah, let the geezer do what he wants... The leader of the Guardian Kings has his own plan. So, Tenma is grabbed by the wrist, and placed in a rather painful armlock, which proves to be less fun than he was probably hoping. The worst part, though, comes as Koichi's fist strikes the Kiryuu demon hunter's elbow, letting out a sick wet crack of shattering bone as the joint is broken, a strangled gurgle of pain the only noise that escapes Tenma.
Oh, no, wait. The worst part is that Koichi isn't /finished/ yet.
His remaining limbs are battered, though only the first joint breaks, as Tenma now has an idea of just what the Suigetsu elder is doing; then there's the flight upwards, before he's driven right into the rooftop, with the old man on top of him, leaving a rather impressive dent.
"Ghk," Tenma manages to say, feeling really rather extensive pain throughout his whole body; the savage assault was quite effective, leaving the young swordsman down one arm; worse, it's his sword arm. But when he looks up at Koichi, Tenma's dark blue eyes are sharp, undulled by the severe, severe pain, and his mouth pulls into a big, bloody, shit-eating grin. "That all you got?" he croaks out, before focusing as fast as he can.
There's no time to do the usual ritual, no time to engage in the usual pleasantries; all he can do is reach over quickly to grab his chi-emanating bokken with his left hand, blood red prayer beads clicking faintly, and then focus his power through it as quickly as possible. The bokken blazes with bloody energy, and Tenma swings it across at Koichi, with violent force, and if it impacts? Well, then a distinctive effect kicks in, as Tenma's chi moves /through/ the Suigetsu elder, ravaging his own life force. "THERE'S NO WAY HAKUYA'S RELATED TO SOME WEAK PIECE OF SHIT LIKE YOU!!"
COMBATSYS: Tenma can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //// ]
Stasya 0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0 Koichi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kenji 0/-------/--=====|
The fact that Koichi permitted the strike doesn't escape Stasya's notice. Pushing away, the girl's expression is one of tight-lipped annoyance, even as she hits the rooftop in a low skidding crouch and flicks her hair out of her eyes. Soon enough the reason why the old man permitted them all to get quite so close becomes clear; his aim is to snare Tenma while the three of them are still attempting to recover from their attacks.
And yet, Tenma makes no effort to escape. Stasya should have expected this recklessness from him by now, but she's still startled when their team leader allows himself to be snared. The girl flinches at the sound of shattering bone, moving instantly forward... but it's at that time that Tenma demonstrates just what it was he was planning all along.
As the young man rears back to strike, Stasya angles in in a flitting whisper of blonde hair and pale skin. The girl aims, quite simply, to slam into the elder Suigetsu's back, a burst of sharp-edged psionic force lining her shoulder attempting to add further encouragement for the Suigetsu head to pitch forward into the attack...
All of their attacks land, but ... perhaps in a way that makes Kenji uncomfortable. Maybe it was too easy? Kenji stands ready for whatever the man may throw at the three of them next, watching on with a stern expression and his stance, if you can call it that, one of preparation. But then he reaches out for Tenma, and starts going to town on the Kiryuu swordsman's limbs. He throws him into the air, and then...
Wow.
Even Kenji has to stand back in awe of the strike, but moreso at Tenma's tenacity-- with him getting right back up and being himself. Tenma and Stasya strike again, and the third member of the Guardian Kings isn't going to stand idly by and do nothing. He charges in as well, springing into the air and thrusting his leg forward. It's awkward, as Stasya's attacking from one side and Tenma from another, but the Guardian King isn't going to let that stop him at all. Trying to plant his foot down in a hefty kick in it's own right, should it connect, it'll be followed with a surge of chi through his leg-- one that tries to push itself -into- the Suigetsu elder before detonating into a short burst, a shockwave of sorts-- and possibly give him a good rumble through his insides.
"BRING HAKUYA BACK!!"
COMBATSYS: Stasya successfully hits Koichi with Cortana.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > // ]
Stasya 0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Koichi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kenji 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Koichi Toughs Out Kenji's Magnum Spike!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ]
Stasya 0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Koichi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kenji 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Koichi fails to reflect The Sealing Sword from Tenma with Solaris Sunder.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ]
Stasya 0/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Koichi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kenji 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Koichi can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Stasya 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Kenji
When you really don't like someone, it's pretty satisfying when you successfully manage to kick their ass.
That was the feeling as Koichi steps away from the downed Tenma, thrown like a Mac Truck had fallen on top of him into the roof. The feeling doesn't last too long, though, when he notices Tenma getting back up from the blow, even if he's got his sword arm broken. The Kiryuu boy is hurt, of course, but not out. And as the three Guardian Kings launch their newest assault, he has a feeling that perhaps this won't end too well.
After all, when you really don't like someone, it's pretty satisfying when you successfully kick their ass.
It goes wrong when Stasya manages to get behind him, his attention focused so solely on Tenma that the psychic Russian gets her attack off without a hitch. He grunts in pain, then staggers forward a few steps, clearly put off balance, wavering, and about to collapse... but just barely making it back to something like a stable footing. With a cry that is likely frustration, the man changes his tactics right then. Flexing his muscles as Kenji dives in, he simply absorbs most of the pain the kick dishes out, the spike of chi energy seeming to roll off of him. It likely hurts, he just doesn't /care/. All so he can focus on Tenma's sword slash. His hands raise, and with a defiant roar, he 'catches' the blade, or rather the energy spiking through the blade. But it's weaker than before, his hold on that energy. Flexing his arms, he seeks to drive the energy away, but slowly, slowly... the energy beats the old man. Hands is thrown clear of the energy, and the bokken impacts on the elder Suigetsu's side hard enough to crack a rib. The blood-red chi follows, flowing through the man, and this time, he does lose his feet, nearly being blown off them and backwards.
Koichi lands, rolls, and lamely hits up against the side of the meager railing of a catwalk. For a moment he's merely still. But eventually, he rises. Not to his feet, but simply becomes more verticle. He leans up against the catwalk's railing, and rolls his head again, more popping noises issuing. "Mmngrh," he mutters. "I guess you win." Pushing a hand up against the railing, he eventually forces himself to stand, looking a good deal worse for wear, bloodied, burnt in a few places, and his clothes torn. "Hakuya is already returned to you. He is at home, resting. My purpose here was to see whether his so-called friends had it in them to train with my grandson." He doesn't say it, but considering one of his eyes isn't fully open, as well as the rest of his condition, it's a pretty sure bet what he thinks of the three Guardian Kings.
"Keh," mutters Tenma, spitting up another gob of blood onto the rooftop, supporting himself with his left hand and his bokken; his right arm dangles uselessly at his side, and he generally looks bloodied and battered, barely able to get back up. The tall, lean Japanese teenager breathes raggedly, his shoulder moving obviously with each breath, but the glare he gives Koichi is as level as anything.
The news that Koichi brings meets the same stoic glaring from Tenma that the old man's attempts to get to his feet do; for once, the Kiryuu heir manages to not give away what he thinks of this turn of events. "Good, now you can drag your sorry carcass out of here," the swordsman says; he doesn't really get why the Suigetsu elder seems to have it in for him, specifically, but that's pretty much the usual way people behave towards him anyway, so he's not too depressed about it. "Next time you're jealous that Hakuya is like, a hundred times stronger'n you are, just do what normal old geezers do. Buy a car, date some twenty year old chick. Trying to beat up a buncha schoolkids ain't exactly psychologically healthy."
Sass and bluster. It's what's for dinner!
Recovering from her own strike, Stasya straightens up and watches impassively as Tenma finishes the old man. And when Koichi reveals that Hakuya is already at home, a disgusted expression slowly creeps across her face. Stasya, normally known for her patience and tolerance... lets out a snort of derision. Tenma doesn't -exactly- express what it is she's thinking, but he comes pretty close.
"In that case, if we are done with this pointless exercise," she finally adds, tying her hair back and casting an unreadable glance at Tenma's right arm, "we are going to get Tenma looked at. And we are going to see Hakuya."
She lets out another huffed breath, letting that sound suffice as her opinion on how Koichi has chosen to assess them, and then she moves on over to Tenma. She doesn't try to help him get up if he doesn't ask for the aid, knowing how he is, but she makes herself available. And she takes a closer look at his arm, not seeming to like what she sees.
Did he just-- seriously? He completely tanked his kick?!
Even though Koichi Suigetsu is given the ol' heave-ho from the power of their collective attacks, Kenji Ashima is still taken aback from the tenacity and stamina from the older man while he himself is now panting a bit. To say the damage he's taken hasn't taken a toll would be a big lie, perhaps the same for the damage that everyone else has taken.
Pulling himself up straight, he looks up at Koichi, then Tenma and Stasya. "Yeah!" he adds, providing a little buffer to things, even pointing at Stasya with an enthusiastic nod. Moving over next to Tenma, as well, he starts digging his cellphone out of his uniform's pocket. Looking back to Tenma with a nod, he starts punching in numbers. "I'll call my mom, get her paged. She'll be able to get you in to get looked at faster..."
Indeed, this is one of many areas where having immediate family working in medical care pays off-- and he steps off to the side first to speak into the phone.
Koichi ignores Tenma's jaunts; they seem to roll off him like water, being much too old to really care what the young man has to say in the first place. That he's a Kiryuu only makes it that much easier to not care. Instead, he simply begins to slide his feet under him, and works himself back to his feet, leaning on the railing a bit more heavily than he probably should to maintain any kind of dignified air. He got beat, that much is plain and simple, but the Guardian Kings didn't come out of it all that well, either! "Hmph," he finally says. "Pointless, you say?" The elder Suigetsu starts shaking his head as he moves for the door, his eyes looking a little unfocused, as if he weren't really looking at something. Most certainly he wasn't looking at the three Kings as he moves for the door.
"Pointless to you, perhaps. But to me, Hakuya's training is of a grave importance. Have you ever wondered why Hakuya, indeed all the Suigetsu, have no attacks that center around the focus of one's chi? All three of you-" well, technically two, but he didn't know anything about psycho power, "-have such means at your disposal. But do you manipulate your chi? Or does the chi manipulate you? Think well on the recent events. I believe most of you were part of that nonsensical 'Jinchuu' tournament, were you not? There are dark times on the horizon. And the demons shall be coming once again."
With that overly cryptic remark that only old people seem to have a knack for, the man turns and begins to walk down the steps leading back into the building, no longer bothering the three Kings.
The idea of getting fussed over in front of an outsider certainly doesn't appeal to Tenma at all, so it's lucky that Stasya understands him so well; Kenji's offer of help doesn't get any overt thanks from the leader of the Guardian Kings, but Tenma doesn't tell him to go jump off the roof, so that's sort of the same thing. That's just how he rolls.
"Tch," Tenma grits out, as Koichi makes his cryptic departure. "What a buncha crap, like he's so superior just 'cause he's got the spiritual awareness of a doorstop." That is about as close to echoing his father's likely sentiments about the Suigetsu clan as Tenma would ever come, especially if he actually KNEW anything about them; unfortunately, information about other clans in their 'industry' wasn't high on the list of things the Kiryuu family felt their wayward heir needed to learn.
Once Koichi is finally, surely gone though, Tenma does allow Stasya to check his arm more carefully, and he will accept the assistance; even his pride has its limits, after all.
Log created on 19:31:50 09/03/2008 by Tenma, and last modified on 23:08:19 09/05/2008.