Description: Built to keep students in class, the Southtown schools also serve as points of refuge throughout the city of Southtown for those who have no where else to go. With Gedo overrun, it was only a matter of time before the invading force would seek to secure the other schools as well. As the lone adult with any experience in fighting at Pacific High, the burden of defense seems to rest heavily upon Rust Howard. He's been informed, however, that there is help available when the time comes. Faced with dealing with not one but two fearsome opponents from his past, surely he and Hakuya Suigetsu also holding up at the campus, will need some of that promised back up when Igniz and strange ally, the Ojike no Oni make their appearance leading a unit of armed troops.
Kichiga drops Marisol's Hamper.
Pacific High. One of the few places that come close to being considered a 'safe haven.' Whether it is because it simply escaped immediate notice of the invading forces, or just by blind luck, it is hard to say.
Ayame, the rather unusual ambassador of certain powerful people, has made it crystal clear that Pacific would not be safe forever. With it, the one who carries the incredible burden of trying to figure out how to keep his school safe - one Howard Rust - holds a trump card of shady origin. If he calls, he will get help when it is needed. But who from? And at what price?
He's already mulled it over with the rest of the faculty. Some think he himself might be a mole for the invading forces. These accusations and tensions make such mulling over pretty worthless - it really does rest upon him to decide. Is he going to need this? That young woman didn't sugarcoat her warnings. He already has it on speed dial so that he doesn't fumble around with that tiny cellphone that is much too small for his big fat American working man fingers when it counts. If it ever does.
It's overcast once again, somewhat warmer than the last week. The streets are dead silent. He's already standing out there, wearing the same thing as every day, with Ol' Rusty already drawn and held in his right hand. In his left, the cell. Tired, droopy eyes survey the parking lot and beyond from the front gates left and right. Every sound, every stimulus, real or perceived, gets a start out of him. A gentle eastern wind blows through the campus every once in a while. Which doesn't help, given the whole superstition surrounding such.
They /are/ coming. Who? When? That's what he doesn't know. But there he is, outside, shouldering the burden of seeing to the safety of the campus while the rest of the faculty huddle inside for safety with (most of) the children.
Rolento Schugerg is probably not the type of ally many would care to have. His loyalty to Geese lately has been less questionable and more absent; certain affairs requiring his attention keep him in the dredges of the Middle East for months at a time, and it was only after a very generous offer that he put those matters into El Gado's hand. What he has done during the conflict has been nearly invisible. Certain important people in the chain of ground command on both NESTS and Shadaloo forces turned up dead. Crucified. The horrors of the murders intended to be very public. Some assaults were cut off with a flash of steel and blur of yellow uniform, the Southside Syndicate forces unsure what happened, but left with a number of bodies. Rolento has not given over any of his men. They are too important for such a pointless city. His use for Geese Howard has ended, and such is at best a token show of support in return for a last injection of liquid funds. He would prefer NESTS and Shadaloo to set themselves up here. Then he could proceed to bleed them dry...
He was told to assist in defending one of the schools, but the time he was told he'd arrive has passed already. Where is the mysterious aide? Unknown. It's questionable if he'll bother to do anything in the first place...
Like many have fortold days before the assault, Gedo High was fortified. Men stationed at every quadrent as it became less of a school and more of a staging area, shuttling supplies to keep NESTS and allies prepaired with the most advanced weapons, an on site repair area, food, shelter, and even recreation.
With the amount of men stepped up and more active combatants entering this field, Gedo High began to swell, its walls no longer able to hold all of the supplies no matter how many walls they knock down or jury rig up in its quick transformation into a place of learning to a place of vile contraptions.
Igniz now turns his attentions towards Pacific High. Having been there once before, but repelled equally as he had been in Gedo High, one may say that Igniz was returning to cleanse the land of the evils that had repelled him. See fit to judge all before him in a sea of holy fire, leaving all before him either devout followers, or banished into the inferno that he himself would prepare.
Rust will see the assault, Igniz himself taking great steps forward towards the campus, behind him many of his own men ready to assault Pacific high at a moments notice. Forgoing stealth or even tactics, he will use only sheer overpowering force in this skirmish. Home to fighters as great as Gedo High, the lord of NESTS would not be lulled into a false sense of security.
Once at the gates, Igniz raises a single hand. Chi dances about his palm as he aims it upon the central gate, barred and locked shut to prevent intruders. The globule of chi races towards the lock and gate, colliding with terrible precision as it detonates the gate. Debris and twisted metal rain towards the ground, peices of fence wrenched into the air from the assualt on the gate alone.
"Go forth," Igniz declares, "and claim this building in my holy name!"
Men, heavily armored and weidling powerful weapons of war bumrush forward directly past the god of NESTS, floating in his jet black armor, his hair and cape blowing in the wind unmoving even as his men hurry forward.
The tide of war has been stretched even farther. Now, its simply a flood.
It might be Rust's imagination, but the eastern wind grows gradually colder, heavier, louder. It seems to whisper in its own indistinct voice, no discernable words, as though heard from a great distance away. Surely, it's just nerves.
Not far, on a rooftop, crouches a figure out of a nightmare that still doesn't have a desc I should really work on that. Tattered black changshan streaked with red, leering demon mask sprouting ropes of black, white, and red hair, hands tucked into his sleeves... the Ojike no Oni, secretly grandfatherly Justice teacher Kichiga Kyoufumaru, observes the nearby Pacific school, face twisted into contempt. The gall of these idiot foreigners, sprouting their own cancer on Japanese soil, flaunting themselves instead of keeping their heads down where they don't belong. He's surprisingly patriotic for a psychopath.
The Demon waves one hand in front of him, his new cane sliding out into his grip. Longer than the previous one, more finely crafted - the odd fight as his alter ego has given him a little more money to spread around, and Raizo pays his teachers well. The black wood is tougher than the previous cane, carved with the images of intertwining snakes along its length, shod in gold with a heavy steel head, laquered red, in the image of a Japanese ogre's head. Heavier, better balanced for fighting. He can't wait to bury it in soft flesh.
With Gedo locked down, Kichiga has proven too valuable for the evil alliance to waste guarding it, and he has been sent to Pacific - something which he leapt at for the previous reasons. Keeping low, he crosses the roof and leaps, gliding silently across the space between buildings, making his way toward Pacific from the skies. The only sound he makes is the faint click of his geta on each landing.
Gedo High's defense had been not one of holding, but of delaying. Daigo had taken Tenma, the leader of the Guardian Kings, out to face Igniz in order to make sure that the big boss of NESTs himself didn't just overrun the school with a few flicks of his hand. The rest of the Guardian Kings had taken the rest of the students out through a back way. Other people had been fighting as well, though it was so chaotic that Hakuya barely even knew what had been going on. All he knew was that, after fighting a seemingly impossible battle against a masked European and the demon Marise, the next little while had been spent with very little information and mostly just mindlessly following Daigo's orders. Help here. Do that. Resupply here.
Now? Now, Daigo had asked of the second Guardian King something more substantial. Go and see if Pacific High had fallen yet. Help defend it if possible. This invasion wasn't over yet. And so, Hakuya had gone. Through the city of Southtown, though one could barely recognize it as such any more. The streets were empty except for soldiers, and much of the familiar buildings looked so different, now. Even the ones that hadn't been shot up or blown up looked odd. It was just... unbelieveable.
The young Suigetsu heir had to sneak his way there, but eventually he had, working around soldiers, moving as stealthily as he knew how - and he wasn't any kind of stealth expert. But he'd made it, somehow, and was just now approaching the gates - where he can see Igniz, the man himself, just begin to order the attack. Not that way, then. Hakuya turns and runs down an alley, before climbing the wall and hopping down into the parking lot of the school, somewhat away from the man, Rust, and his tiny cellphone - and the oncoming tide of soldiers. Unaware of the Oni leaping through the buildings above him, or what he's about to get himself into.
They will come. You will need help.
The shop teacher's nerves don't just play with him. They strangle him, as the eastern wind picks up a bit of chill and strength. So much so that he thrusts Ol' Rusty in its direction, sweat starting to roll down his brow. Tense. He breathes heavily, mentally already exerted from the stress of knowing this inevitability. It will come, and he himself would stand no chance. Damn it, he thinks. He should've chickened out when he had the shot. Just should've said nobody was in charge, left it at that.
Too late.
Moments after the faint clicks reach Howard's ear to coax him to look that way, the front gates explode under the power of NESTS' divine leader, showering shrapnel everywhere. His right arm flexes inward, shielding his eyes from a light threatening to take away his sight even without looking directly at it as pieces of gate and fence bounce off of him like cheap little 25 cent rubber balls from those dispenser machines at grocery stores, threatening to leave a few debilitating bruises in their wake.
Men start rushing the gates. They make good on overwhelming the one man's stand, the teacher - perhaps the one shining beacon of hope the school has among the grown-ups - is knocked over, prone on his back. This resistance may be over exactly as soon as it starts.
But he's not going down without a fight.
"SON OF A BITCH!" He yells above the shouting of voices and cries of weapons as he is forced to keep men - each one individually likely his match or even better - at bay from taking him out clean. He may be at wit's end, but the man is resilient. He just has to punch his thumb on one number...
The cell opens up, and Pacific's first - and hopefully not last - line of defense manages to yell this much into the phone moments after his thumb presses down on the number he hopes is it, hoping beyond hope he hit the right key he preset the number to. "HEY!! HELP! HERE! PA--- PACIFI--"
The cellphone explodes in his hand as one of the NESTS soldiers shoots it with some exotic laser gun, earning another blinding flash and a colorful grimace. If he hit the wrong number, it's all over.
A few block aways, Rolento tilts his head at the sound of rupturing steel, barely a whisper in the ambient noise of war that costs the entire city like a smog. He sits within a dimly lit room, carefully assembling one of his patented grenades. One slip of his hand would cause it to detonate, but he works with a speed and precision that is more fearless then confident. Some moments later, the door is knocked upon insistently. "Enter." he calls out. Slowly, a USPL soldier peeks in. He has only a small group intended to defend his installation, and all of them are expendable peons. "Sir... Distress call from Pacific High."
Affirmative." Rolento states, continuing to labor over his grenade. Long seconds pass, before the fidgeting soldier continues. "Isn't our current mission to..." He stops there when Rolento looks up.
"Affirmative."
An awkward silence, then the man leaves. Schugerg resumes working over his grenade, finally finishing it and inserting the pin. Again, the door is knocked, and the person allowed to enter. "Sir... The lord of NESTS is in the attack force."
Rolento pauses, tilting his head to the side. Then slowly picks himself up, latching the finished grenade upon the bandolier. This makes matters different. Not every day can he target one of his greatest foes directly.
"I'm engaging. Fortify the defenses."
Try as Rust might, his swings knock away two or three men. Through superior cloning techniques, Igniz has not created one or two super soldiers, but many willing to fight from birth. Mixed in with hired men and other sorts of no good nicks, his force is rather impressive. The Pacific high teacher may have difficuly pushing them all away. If that is even possible to begin with.
They spread out almost immidiately, moving into position with rifles and lasers, whatever had tickled their fancies in the NESTS weapon selection. There was no other reason for them to have such firepower. For now, that is all they required. Heavy weapons, big guns, and muscles to carry these weapons into battle, as well as allow them endurence. Throw away soldiers were only so good if they weren't tough to boot.
Igniz allows his men to do almost all of the work as he strides slowly behind them, their whirlwind like wake spreading about the campus as he follows, weapons reporting as shots ring out almost immidiately in every direction, creating havoc by the mere sounds of gun fire. Pacific High was a nice school positioned directly near the ocean so that the students would be able to use the beach for sports clubs and other sorts of activies.
It may as well be winter, now, as no one will be swimming any time soon. The beach is off limits once more and the NESTS overlord and his men move about, willing to gut the entire school and force its occupence out. Igniz was not a terrible man. He would not kill those that did not resist. Those that did resist, however, would be beaten to an inch of their life and them thrown out from the gates of his new holy land.
The crusades worked like that, did they not?
The slender figure inside of the peices of machinery is anything but a fool. This is a war zone. One should expect anything.
Igniz makes Kichiga sick. He can taste the man's cloying god complex from all the way over here, like too much heavy cream. He hates people entirely full of themselves, it makes him want to gargle acid.
A new taste spikes through Igniz's sickeningly sweet aura, however, and he glances down in time to spot a figure running through an alleyway beneath him. He vaguely remembers his outline from one of those WARNING: GOD DAMN DELINQUENTS' sheets Raizo hands out that basically contain the entire roster of Gedo - one of the Guardian Kings, if memory serves. As of yet, it is no matter. He may not even be needed, if the soldiers of NESTS do their jobs, and that fact rankles him as he settles on a roof overlooking the school proper, standing on the corner, the eastern wind blowing the hair of his mask around.
Far more fascinating to Kichiga is panic, hot, flying across his tongue as he breathes in the air. Unerringly, his red eyes track down, down, down... and he almost laughs. What luck! The trash didn't wash down the gutter after all. Kichiga holds out his left hand, bracing his cane on the rooftop for balance, and swings out. A small censer on a chain emerges from his sleeve, and Kichiga grasps the chain, swinging it down at the field. A mist of blood red seeps forth, drifting on the wind, settling over Pacific. The old man screws his eyes shut with the effort of spreading some of his mind over such a wide space, heightening everything, sending terror onto the students of Pacific below.
"Give me your fear," he hisses to himself.
Well, that's not good. When the first wave of soldiers appeared at Gedo, Hakuya had been with the other Guardian Kings - and the four of them, at least, could take out an initial flood of soldiers like this, with some nameless Gedo students jumping in to help, hot blooded and intent on repelling any attackers. But, seeing Rust out there in the parking lot getting more or less bumrushed without thought by the NESTs soldiers, Hakuya can't imagine the man with his lead pipe can do much by himself. No knock to his skill, of course, Hakuya doubted even Daigo could've done much in the same situation. So what's a lone Guardian King to do, when faced with these ridiculously bad odds?
Rush in headlong, of course.
Hakuya doesn't see Kichiga above him, as he's too focused on Rust and the soldiers surrounding him. Sneakered feet rush over the pavement as the Suigetsu heir races to the rescue! And even makes a decent showing by being able to shoulder check one soldier into another, sending them both toppling to the ground. But then the teen himself is overwhelmed, and he begins to struggle alongside Rust, grappling with the soldiers. Why this kid is helping Rust, and from out of no where, to boot, is likely a good question, but at least he seems intent on providing some aid... as futile as it seems right now!
Time to arrival: One minute, nine seconds.
Rolento slithers along adjacent to the wall outside Taiyo. A shadow, moving low to the ground. There is no sound to belie his presence, no sudden movements to catch the eye. All forces remain focused at the defense within. After all, why would they fear this kind of attack? Reinforcements would be loud and boistrous. Numerous. They made no tactical error. Guerilla combatants cannot be included in generalized attack plans.
Three men stand at the threshold of the gate, aiming weapons inwards, scanning the flanks and sides. Rolento looms above, snapping his powerful arm around the leftmost one's throat. Not only breath, but the very flow of blood to his head, is cut off instantly. Steel plunges into his central nervous system, instantly killing him. The second falls the same. The third begins to twist, sensing something wrong, but a strike to the solar plexus takes any warning breath from his lungs. Another flash of bowie knife, and he is down.
Kichiga, amusingly, might be the one most likely to notice his arrival from his less then tactically sound position. Although he doesn't remain subtle any longer then that. Two grenades are yanked out, and he then hurls them. One to the left. One to the right.
The explosions are deafening. Modified overpacked AV explosives, infused with specialized shrapnel. High end combative armour does nothing. The rear of Igniz's troops are badly wounded.
"This school has no tactical value to me." he calls out, as he pulls out the pin of a canister with his teeth. "Although the opportunity to engage NESTS is not one I will pass up." Smoke erupts out, immediately enshrouding Rolento. It wafts out, beginning to cover the ground a few meters high. Within, sight is completely useless. Even infrared is ruined. But from the sudden shrieks of pain starting to come out, it doesn't seem Rolento is especially bothered.
As long as Hakuya and Rust don't mind horrific murders, backup has arrived.
Those two or three men? Sheer luck of a well-placed kick to the gut of one of them, throwing them back into one or two others nearby. As he told his student Vince and later his Neo League opponent Kaida, in a pinch, you absolutely, positively need a good kick. Any such advantage in pushing them back is spent as Mr. Rust uses Ol' Rusty as a crutch in even kneeling up. His left hand is badly burned from the cellphone explosion. Intact, but twitching as his nerves work out the pain that courses through his palm, part of the glove flayed off from the explosion. It stings to even /think/ of clenching his fist.
It's only a matter of time before the NESTS officers overwhelm him completely - brute force, firepower, /numbers/. The only thing he has against them is that he'll probably be conscious for most of the inevitable beatdown. At this rate, maybe even a matter of seconds. If he's all Pacific has to defend themselves, it's rather pathetic. Then again... what could one expect out of a notorious 'rich kid' international school where most of the people grew up with silver spoons in their mouths?
Those that linger near the front of the main building run away screaming upon the sight of the invading force. Kichiga may find himself a veritable buffet of fear in the air - and also the scent of urine, which may or may not be to his preference. They got Mr. Rust, is the general consensus of the screams. They couldn't see him above the sea of soldiers. This is what will send everyone left in Pacific into a panic - a perfect time for a certain second force to slip in, give them a reasonable offer.
At the very least, Pacific's shop teacher does his damned hardest to not fall on his back, clumsily pushing back against soldiers about as big or bigger than he is, well-trained from birth. It's a completely losing prospect. Hakuya's bold rescue knocks away one that was just moments away from clocking the teacher in the back of the head with the butt of their mysterious futuristic rifle.
Howard turns his head behind himself to the sight of a white hoodie. "H-Hey! Get in--" He doesn't know who that is, but that sure doesn't look like a soldier - looks more like what a kid would wear. One of his, or...
Soon, smoke is everywhere. There are screams all over. The kids?! No, they sound deeper than... his speculation gets cut short for the moment as he gets clocked a pretty solid blow to the chin, nearly bowling him over in the confusion. He only gets pieces of his help's call. This school has no tactical value, is this a goddamn massacre?!
That bit of speculation time is granted as he catches a fist. The opportunity to engage NESTS is... what?! Covered by the fog of war of enemy soldiers, screams, and so many questions, he has yet to lay eyes upon those two individuals of whom their sight alone could shatter what little resolve he is able to muster against enemy forces that, quite frankly, could run him over like a speedbump the moment he lets down his guard enough to get a decisive hit in.
Clones, soldiers of NESTS. All sorts of combatants on Igniz's side begin to be decimated. Many of Rusts well placed kicks knocks men everywhere, thrusting them about as they goe, strewning them about on their collective backs. They aren't getting up any time soon, especially with the heavy gear and their half active brain that has just been kicked into their skull.
They got it lucky.
The men Rolento has had to deal with had less of a nice run, one beheaded and killed instantly. The second and third die moments after however, getting to feel exactly how they did. And this however, isn't the last. An impressive explosion cuts into the side of Pacific High. The numbers of soldiers lifted into the air from the explosions are much more numerous than expected, the men even blasted from inside the building, left helpless as they lay. No one is going to help them up. Being trampled is all they can hope for.
Hakuya will find himself plowing through soldiers. Still, this only gives others his attention. At least, their attention is given as he becomes a threat. Anyone who fights back is a threat. All of them given the same, exact fates. Several men comes towards Hakuya, attempting to drive him back. To waylay him as he pushes through to help Rust.
Igniz is treated to his men dying in groves, being defeated over and over again as he watches. This will not do. This besieged building has just begun to feel the power of the NESTS cartel.
"Why do you bother to resist? Even if you manage to overcome my soldiers, you cannot best a god." Igniz announces a smile about his face, in hand a weapon appears. Not an overly complicated one, but instead, a sword. Shuffling towards the melee, Igniz does not see any reason to hurry.
He finds himself having plenty of time here.
Kichiga continues to dispense the Psycho Mist, sweat beading on his forehead. It's the greatest manifestation of his Psycho Power, still so mysterious even to him, that he has performed - and he's losing his grip on it. The mist around the censer starts to flicker, and the waves of panic and terror start to ebb away. He sags against his cane. He's not quite able to do that on such a large scale yet.
He sees Rolento taking down soldiers, and... doesn't particularly care. These soldiers of NESTS, they are empty to him, like so many stalks of celery. He cannot bring himself to care how many of them live or die. No, his interest is in the fighters, the people who feel and act so much more strongly than the normal prey of the world. Rust Howard... is something of an investment. Perhaps he can finally break a fighter as he has broken so many others for decades. What an intense experience that must be--!
To Kichiga, then, the best thing he can do to Rust is isolate him completely. The fog rolls down beneath him, but he can still pick out those bright beacons - there, then, that must be the Guardian King, moving to assist the teacher. The Demon straightens, lashing his left arm back, the censer rolling out and extending farther, and swings down. Red mist limns the chain as it travels straight down, plunges into the fog, and seeks Hakuya's neck, dragging him back and up.
COMBATSYS: Kichiga has started a fight here on the left meter side.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kichiga 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Hakuya has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Kichiga 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Hakuya
COMBATSYS: Kichiga successfully hits Hakuya with Medium Throw.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Kichiga 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Hakuya
It's been a confusing few days since NESTs - and Shadaloo though Hakuya was less aware of them - began their assault on Southtown. And here, now, in the parking lot of Pacific High, where the Pacific Resistance, his friends, went to school, it was only getting more confusing. The Suigetsu heir rushes into battle headlong, driven by his innate desire to protect people - in this case Rust, even if the man was older and ostensibly more capable than he was. But there were of course other students to protect, as well. And after seeing Gedo students fall to the likes of NESTs, Hakuya had already had his fill of it. He would protect this school, too! If only for Marisol and the rest's sake.
That's all well and good, but the second he shoulder rushes the soldier into another, the men otherwise just turn immediately, not even showing a hint of surprise that someone else was suddenly there, and advance on him. Hakuya blocks a rifle buttstock and shoves that one back, before turning and slapping aside a knife that somehow got into the mix. A soldier's booted foot hits Hakuya's hip though not hard enough to cause more than a stagger, and on and on it went, a chaotic melee of soldiers... and red mist? The mist was sudden, and Hakuya didn't even notice it, consciously. He more felt the fear that was being eminated by it, or perhaps that it was absorbing, from the natural fear being put out by the students in the school.
Add to that the sudden explosions from Rolento's grenades going off, the soldiers crying out as they're killed, Rust's exclamation that he should get out of here (or at least, he tries to say that), and you've got a mess. So it's no wonder that amidst all of that, when the chain lashes out to try and wrap around his neck, Hakuya only JUST BARELY notices it - and not in time, either. Gloved hands immediately snap to his throat, grabbing at the chain, but it's too late. Windpipe is closed off, his breath trapped, and the Suigetsu heir is yanked off his feet and backwards, being roughly slammed against the wall of the parking lot he'd hopped over moments before, then hauled into the air, being strangled. Struggling, the Guardian King looks to be in some bad shape for a moment, being hung by a chain noose, simply flailing. But after a moment, that wall proves to be his savior.
Sneakered feet plant on the wall, and suddenly throwing his shoulders forward, Hakuya's weight shifts dramatically, and it seems that the young teen has a kind of death wish, as he pulls hard against the chain, momentarily making it impossible to breathe. But this is false, as instead Hakuya seems to be of the mind that someone was on the other end of that chain, and he seeks to pull that someone by his very own weapon down off his perch, literally using the chain's grip on his neck as the fulcrum.
Wherever Rolento has settled himself is questionable, although men continue to assail Rust, nearly drowning him despite his immense robustness and sheer strength. But suddenly one man leveling his rather effective looking rifle spasms, staggering forward and reaching behind. He then slowly topples over, a blade lodged in his spine. A moment later, another suddenly lets out a rather pained sound, splatter of blood flying forward and potentially decorating Rust. Behind him is a powerful looking German man, yanking out his blade and allowing the crippled soldier to collapse. Crippled, but not dead. Yet. White eyes peer towards the Pacific teacher, no mercy, compassion or humanity within. His scarred visage a grim mask, allowing blood to drip from his knife as wisps of smoke dance upon the ground.
"I am Rolento Schugerg, your designated reinforcement. However, combative success against Igniz is less then ten percent. I recommend a withdrawal, then reclaiming when Igniz vacates the area. Possible advantage: Keeping him constrained to a budding supply depot, allowing retribution elsewhere."
Rolento snaps out his hand. A knife shoots past Rust, close enough to likely brush his cheek. It hits another soldier leveling his weapon in the throat, and with a gurgle he thuds to the ground clutching the weapon.
"Your thoughts?" Igniz is still approaching through the concealing smoke, sword rather obviously in tow. But that's not a concern until he commences the stabbing. In the very near future.
It is really hard to say if Pacific's great(?) hope is giving as good as he's taking. Weary, battered, and overwhelmed, he is stuck on the defensive. Any successes he attains, vague as the nature may be in which he is acquiring them, he is losing twice as much ground. He is forced back into a sitting position against the ground as he backs up over the toolbox he left out (and why did he leave it out here to begin with?), a noisy clatter as the tools within have another laugh at the man's expense. Before long, the NESTS soldiers are pretty much all over him. It is unlikely he will stand again.
He hears little whispers. Familiar whispers, as a little bit of the red mist finally wafts his way. He shudders to a feeling so familiar, from a fear so fresh. Right from Gedo's parking lot! /He's/ here. The Demon... even from just being somewhat close in proximity, Ojike no Oni's got a free sip of the 30-something man waiting for him if he so cares to in his encounter with the Guardian King.
And if that weren't enough... he is asked a distinct question from the little hateful whispers and suggestions that add insult to the injuries piling up by the soldiers. One of those soldiers move as such that he can see Him from his eye, a divine presence flooding His light into a man not so blessed to have a second meeting.
Igniz!!
His face contorts into a wide-eyed grimace as his view of Himself deigns to speak before him. Why does he bother to resist? He swears on the inside. Both of them! Ojike no Oni, and now Igniz! The very people representing the most intensely frightening moments of his life, right in front of him. He almost forgets to breathe. The fright is such that by the time some other NESTS knucklehead manages to nail him in the back of the head with a rifle butt, he hardly registers it. Scared stiff.
"I... I, uh..." He stammers. Way to go, you, a tiny part of him thinks. You're here for the long haul, for good or for ill. This could be your very last stand. Two people you'd have given anything to never fight again, right here. That punk girl was right. There was no way he could...
Blood splashes upon his back, a precursor to the announcement. Rolento Schugerg, designated reinforcement, with clear, sound advice that speaks to the inner survival instinct. At least, the withdrawal part. Rolento Schugerg of the siege of Metro City. A part of the 'powerful people' that don't want to see this school fall, according to the girl.
Withdraw? And then what? How could he take... the thought is broken as a knife flies by his cheek, leaving an incision so fine it doesn't draw blood. His eye widens. Time slows for a moment as the enemy soldier gurgles and falls nearby.
His thoughts? Behind that soldier, the American flag flies. The American dream. Being able to do anything with hard work. Becoming a star fighter... he's picking that up again. Holding a good paying job with a tangible effect? American dream. If he runs...
He can do math. "If I--" He strains to speak underneath the pain already wracked upon him, clearing his throat. "If I... run now, that's a... that's a... one hundred percent chance!" A one hundred percent chance of what?!
He lets out a loud yell that doesn't shake the battlefield. His right shoulder pops loudly as he swings Ol' Rusty outward in a circular blow, pushing any soldiers off of him that haven't already decided to focus on the man trying (or rather, succeeding) at thinning their numbers, the collected injuries and mind-numbing pain starting to fade in his psyche.
"That... that I lose everything... I ever, that I ever... worked for!" You know, that's bold words and all. But now he's saying this as he stands before a relentless monster (or two, plus a lot of other lesser, relentless monsters) that cares not for resolve. Hell. Maybe nobody does.
Ol' Rusty is pointed backward as he stands, coughing twice over as he struggles to will himself to make eye contact with the divine Igniz. Yeah... he kind of... regrets saying all that, now, if his wandering eyes are any indication. But the grip on Ol' Rusty is firm, as is his stance.
COMBATSYS: Rust has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Kichiga 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Hakuya
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Rust
COMBATSYS: Rust takes no action.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Kichiga 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Hakuya
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Rust
COMBATSYS: Igniz has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Kichiga 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Hakuya
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Igniz 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Rust
His men continue to flounder, throwing themselves haplessly against the building and its inhabitents. Now, even Pacific High fights for its very will. The combat zone that Gedo High had turned into now finds itself smack dab in the middle of Pacific High.
The world heaves as man after man on Igniz's side begins to die. Over and over again, his exploitable, numerous resource of men and clones alike are used to propell himself into a higher part of this world. Why, even Igniz is able to string together a sizable force without having to hire them.
To get the better, more trained, he may. But, as it stands, some of his best work happens to be created.
While the world thrives during this incersion, Southtown sufficates. No where else are any other megalomaniac or rich boss entirely as fixated as here in Southtown. In its current state, battles will be fought, victories won, and even cruel defeats. What this all may bring isn't really certain. It will, however, be a starting point of something much bigger.
The loud vocalizations have brought something else towards Rust and Rolento. As if to dive to the heart of the resistance itself and quell it, Igniz approaches both of them, a magnificent bee line as he floats through the air, stopping yards away as he stands with a smile, poised towards both of their figures.
"I could not help but overhear your conversation." Igniz muses, "It is unfortunate that the tactics that this dog speak of will not work. Our numbers are greater, we are stronger. We have banded together. Your only hope is to flee. However..."
The overlord of NESTS makes the sword disappear like magic, both empty palms facing either target before motion for both to come at him. "There is another option..."
COMBATSYS: Igniz calculates his next move.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Kichiga 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Hakuya
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Igniz 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Rust
COMBATSYS: Kichiga blocks Hakuya's Strong Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Kichiga 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Hakuya
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Igniz 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Rust
In a way, Rolento is envious. These men are endless. Each stout, loyal, strong. All they lack is specialized training, at least the type he desires. What could the dictator do with a true army to call his own? He had not witnessed the mobile force with his own eyes until now. Interesting. He is glad he came back to Southtown. Although when Rust speaks thusly, Rolento moves to gently place a hand on his shoulder, and turn the younger teacher towards him.
And then slug him as hard as he can right in the stomach.
The movement from an ally is likely unexpected, but has more then enough force to drive every ounce of breath from him with change to spare. "Negative. Death will not suffice here. You will become a footnote in the minds of those who survive this war, an echo amidst the ghost of pain, horror, and fear. There is no psychological value to such a meaningless sacrifice."
He then turns, to gaze evenly towards Igniz. He is making no move to assume a battle stance, beyond his prior move of disrupting the forces and carving his way to Rust's side.
"Your victory here is assured, Igniz. I am willing to listen to alternatives."
It's all Kichiga can do to keep from laughing as he hauls Hakuya up the wall, feeling the sharp spike of sheer terror as Rust realizes what's going on. Isolated... trapped from anyone he could call a real ally, judging from how Rolento handles himself. It's beautiful!
So, well, yeah, Kichiga forgot he was carrying up a fighter and not just some student. He has only an instant as he feels the chain pull, snapping his left hand around it and jamming his cane down into the corner behind him. He gets one foot down off the very edge of the roof just in time. The cane and chain flare as Kichiga uses mind and body to resist, wrenching himself painfully, but keeping on his feet - which is all that he really needed.
Now, Kichiga does laugh as Hakuya's momentum plays out, the sound coming harsh and grating through the mask's voice modulator. He drops back to a less precarious position, hooks the chain with his foot, and does a backflip to haul the teen the rest of the way up the wall.
Then, it gets a little weird. For a moment, everything is hanging in the air, until Kichiga flips back forward /in midair/, stepping onto the chain of his own censer and running up it to Hakuya before he can crash into the roof. "You'll help no one today, /whelp/!" He flips the cane around in his right hand, the censer sliding up into his sleeve as he tries to drive the ogre's head into his chest to spike him down into the roof with even more force.
COMBATSYS: Hakuya fails to interrupt Phobia from Kichiga with Blind Crescent.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Kichiga 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 Hakuya
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Igniz 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Rust
Even as Hakuya pulls on the chain with all his might, he keeps an eye out - sort of - for what's happening with Rust, and this new man... that he's never seen before, but at least seems to be helpful? If 'killing people indiscriminately' can be counted as helping. Though it's difficult to see through the smoke and dust in the air, Hakuya can make out the bloodstains of slain men. He can also make out Rolento slugging Rust in the face after he makes some kind of firm declaration.
Uh, what?
But as much as he'd like to help Rust against the fearsome looking Rolento, or the equally intimidating Igniz, he's kind of got a chain around his throat. And what's worse, pulling on it seems to do little, even if he can feel the person on the other end falter for juuust a moment - then recover. ...And then haul upwards. "Ngghk!" Hakuya calls out in his choked off voice, and is roughly pulled into the air, indeed sent flying over the rooftop the Oni is on. A brief moment, Hakuya gets to view that Oni, and his eyes widen - particularly when the old demon races up the /chain/ in order to reach him. What the nuts?! So stunned is the Guardian King by this that Hakuya can't even think of a defense. And it's only by reflex that his gloved hand comes out to try and intercept the ogre's head of the cane - and fails, instead being driven into the rooftop with a loud *crunch* and a choking, breathless gurgle.
A moment later, and Hakuya rolls over onto his hands and knees, coughing for several moments as his breath comes back to him. "Hah-hahahh..." Hakuya says, then slowly gets up, looking to Kichiga. "You're... with them?" The Suigetsu heir asks, staggering a bit. Woo. He was seeing stars. That'll take a moment.
Howard is not a squeamish man. This is war. The death around him is a grim reminder, the grimmest of reminders, of what is at stake. Even as a mere civilian who just so happens to seemingly delude himself into thinking he might stand a fraction, a decimal... some infinitely small modicrum of a chance against one of the greatest powers this world will ever know. One that left him buried half-way into the road with one strike, so many months ago. Has he forgotten that?
No, he hasn't, as evidenced when Igniz addresses him and his unlikely help, floating with that ominous yet obvious sign of strength by never touching down upon the ground with his very feet. Mr. Rust here is not in the company of ordinary men. The tactics the terrorist over there speaks of won't work, Igniz says. His numbers are greater, He is stronger. They have banded together. The only hope, flee.
He doesn't want to hear that, clenching teeth as he tries to point Ol' Rusty at him. If he backs down now, what of the kids? What of everyone in here? They're actually counting on him to be able to /fight/, even when at times like these he's not sure he can count on himself. But if there's another option...
A hand on his shoulder. He turns his head, coming face to face with a man most over in Metro City - hell, anywhere - would equate with madness, ruthlessness... a truly dangerous psychopath, worthy of the hefty moniker of 'terrorist.' It's an odd feeling. Standing face to face with someone like that, another human being of that kind of repute.
It is not as odd a feeling as it is a painful sensation when a fist is driven into his stomach with the sort of speed, precision, and force that could be expected of a man who cut his teeth in some of the harshest battlefields of sometimes the pettiest of goals. With one punch, Rolento does what most men would struggle to do in ten, twenty... maybe even up to fifty or more against one who could (once) pride himself on his ability to take a punch.
Ribs shatter as Pacific's one capable fighter among the faculty's eyes nearly bulge out of his head, saliva and vomit flying out of his mouth alike as he is knocked flat on his ass, senseless, and completely out of breath from one, good, hard punch. He gurgles, wheezing above Rolento's reasoning.
It is difficult to suck in breath. Ol' Rusty falls out of his hand, hitting the dirt and rolling along to some place in front of where the teacher now sits, head bowed as an immense pain nearly all but undoes what his decision did for reversing the pains and injuries inflicted upon him by the NESTS forces up until this point.
Breathe in, breathe out. Somehow he works in a whispered blue streak between breaths, a tear going down his right eye.
COMBATSYS: Rust drops his guard to recover.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Kichiga 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 Hakuya
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Igniz 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Rust
Igniz stands, looking towars both his 'opponents'. He awaits for both of them to respond. Obviously he's going to strike when the time is right, but directly as Rolento speaks about alternatives. He speaks about giving up and and letting the god of NESTS take it all for himself. Rolento is willingly offering the entirity of Pacific High to the Overlord of NESTS.
Igniz chuckles, shaking his head. "I'm afraid I will not fall for that, Rolento." Igniz proclaims, the sword reappearing in hand as he weilds it towards Rolento. Rolento, a long time known troublemaker of both NESTS, R, and many other sydnicates is simply attempting to lul Igniz into a false security.
This isn't really hard to do, persay, but still, Igniz needs proof of these so called alternatives.
"Well, well, well." Igniz muses, "I'm really afraid there isn't. I came here to take Pacific High by any means necessary. No matter what the resistance is, I was ready to quelch it. I'm overjoyed that you have all seen the light." Igniz exclaims brightly as he weilds the sword without malice or skill, simply as is. Pointing it towards Rolento and then Rust Howard.
"Hmm hmm hmm." He muses as the man vomits, showing a truly horrible side of humanity. 'It' simply struggles. Igniz is overtaken by the terrible human side. He dislikes it utterly. The sheer sight was enough to send him into a spiral of disgust.
"Disgusting." Igniz snaps, striking out with his blade towards Rust Howard, leaving the blade extending as it attempts to strike directly into Rust, extend and drag Rust into the air from the spiny bits as it turns out to be a chained whip. A powerful, crushing strike is nothing but what Igniz gives Rust.
Kichiga's landing is a lot more graceful, shoving off of Hakuya with the chain and gliding back to the roodtop, geta clicking. It's like he calls gravity a bitch and tells it to get him a sandwich he'll fall as fast as he wants. "Nothing quite so simple, child." His voice is impossible to place, varying from a high-pitched shriek all the way to a low, grating rumble.
"War is an entirely new beast, is it not? So many people, so much terror and rage and despair... it floods the air, can you not feel it? Can you not taste it?" He kicks off the ground, springning forward at Hakuya, once again disdaining the ground. Red energy forms a long blade from the end of his cane. "You are a student, yes? Gedo... that hive of brutality. They say that those who lash out at the world are fragile inside, with some terrible knot within. Will you show me yours, child?"
His foot hits the ground just in front of the Suigetsu heir, other black-clad leg lifted high and slammed down onto a shoulder. He continues to press down after the kick, flinging himself up again and twirling around, immediately dropping behind Hakuya with the blade. It doesn't cut clothes or flesh, but burns hot and cold through the entire body, striking at the soul itself.
COMBATSYS: Hakuya just-defends Kichiga's Foul Punishment!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Kichiga 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Hakuya
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Igniz 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Rust
An uncharacteristically cynical thought passes through Hakuya's head as Kichiga nebulously states his allegiences, the thought being: 'That seems to be the theme recently.' Maybe it was just the lack of oxygen to his brain making his thought processes loopy, but in any case the Oni's talk of war gives the Guardian King time enough to gain some semblence of air back in his lungs, his vision no longer so spotty... if still a little bit wobbly. Sliding his feet apart, raising his hands, the young teen adopts his normal fighting stance, his gaze focusing on the oddly dressed old man with a serious expression. Whether Kichiga were with NESTs - and thus Igniz - or not, didn't quite matter. Kichiga was attacking him... that was what mattered.
He doesn't say anything to the questions put to him, viewing them as merely distractions for the battle at hand. He didn't really want to get into another discussion of how the world worked with yet another person. Marise had given him too much to chew on, at Gedo. He didn't need /more/ right now. And so when Kichiga's cane flares with energy, Hakuya is all too prepared to intercept. A foot lashes out, and the King's hand raises, catching the heel in a mostly harmless fashion, though it still allows for the older man to flip over him, and bring down that blade of red energy - only to be caught.
Though the energy blade would not have cut flesh, and thus someone trying to 'catch' the blade would just be setting himself up for more damage in a way, this teenager seems to have a trick up his sleeve. For he DOES catch the blade, with a crackle of blue energy flaring at the palms of his hands, the energy harnessed between other fields of energy. No time to reflect on it, however, as Hakuya is already in motion again. Pushing the blade away, the Suigetsu heir drops low, then rushes forward, seeking to catch Kichiga around the waist and simply lift him up, rushing towards the edge of the roof...
"I have no intention of combating you at the present, Igniz. I lack the manpower. Your victory is assured. This foolish man... these rag tag students... Is this it?! Is this all your hope and perseverance can bring?!" He calls out over the fight, derision and mockery in his voice as his arm sweeps to take it in. "Pathetic! Inexcuseable! Where are those students of world renowned fight? The teachers, capable of besting even fighting tournaments? In this entire school, I see nothing but a losing battle."
He does not so much as flinch as the horrific assault is leveled on Rust. No glance is spared to the potential fate that is wrought upon him. He just slowly wipes his bowie knife clean on a thigh, in two long strokes. Then sheathes it at his lower back.
"Within the Mekong Delta, there was a camp of Vietnamese sympathizers. They refused to give away those they harbored. They stood before me, wielding pitchforks and brandishing cutlasses. They had heart. They had conviction. They died, beneath fire and shrapnel. That is cold reality. I killed every single one of them."
And then he begins to back away, smirking his scarred face towards Igniz. "There are no heroes here. Only victims. Do what you will with this school."
COMBATSYS: Igniz successfully hits Rust with Sagital Edge Slice.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Kichiga 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Hakuya
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Igniz 0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0 Rust
Humanity is full of really icky things. Vices. Desires. Or simply icky bodily fluids, as is the case of the vomit. If Igniz cares to look into it with anything more than disgust, the man had something with a lot of fragrant cheese on it. This may or may not be valuable tactical combat data.
The man, or at least the remainder of one, continues to wheeze as he bleeds out the agony with every breath. Why the hell is that guy suggesting he not fight? Does he care that he lives? Is he really that important to those 'powerful people' that sent Rolento? It's hard to feel anything nearing 'important' when a single punch renders him far more, say, 'impotent.' A little taste of embarrassment and a whole course of weakness, just for Kichiga to lap up on the sidelines if he ever has a moment to spare to catch a whiff.
Wait... fall for what, a trick?! There's one thing here that isn't a trick - the sword now pointing at him and Igniz's disapproval as he snaps the whip out. Like a flash, the blade strikes into the teacher like a coiled serpent sinking its fangs into its next meal, tearing out a part of his shirt with a spatter of blood as he is hurled helplessly into the air.
There is an odd disparity in the way time traverses. Rolento all but surrenders while his junior partner of the moment, a somewhat overweight schoolteacher, struggles as he is being sliced apart like ham... or tetanus-tastic bacon. Either or. The little story about the Mekong Delta, refusing to give away those harbored. That all were slaughtered. No heroes, only victims. Do what you want with this school, Rolento says.
The teacher won't have it.
His right hand snaps out to the whip, his elbow and shoulder cracking in duet at the movement as he clasps it around the weapon. Blood flies out from said right hand as it wriggles free of his grasp and, for the effort, adds yet another slice to the brutal combination, leaving Howard to hit the ground in a pained crouch as he shakes out his right hand, wheezing all the while at what little breath he can muster. His left foot bumps into his best friend (when an inanimate object is your best friend, you probably have issues), now coated in his vomit - and now his blood from his right hand.
He looks up to the divine man himself, hopelessness radiating out of him like a shining beacon that may give the Demon some emotional diabetes. It hurts to clench his fingers on /that/ hand now. It is numb. Like hell he can hold it left-handed, what with that still flinching and twitching every so often from the burn.
His eye twitches, right eye still letting loose a stream of tears. What's he going to do... kneel there, dazed, faint? Lose all sense of what he's doing... he /is/ the last line. Him and... that other kid? He doesn't know where he is now, he doesn't have much energy in which to process much thought as to wonder about him, as opposed to all the kids.
He rises. Shakily. Unsteadily. But he rises, all the same, pressing his lips together inward, lowering his head. Well... do or die, isn't it. It's down to this.
His blood loss by itself is severe enough to give many significant pause. He takes that bold step forward, huffing with every exerted muscle, every iota of resistance one of his knees tries to give him in moving, and dashes up to Igniz at a pace that is better described as stumbling.
At which point, he throws his head forward. All of it. His entire neck and back into it, all the way to the abominable combover that marks a man suffering from early age onset of male pattern baldness - another thing for Igniz to be disgusted by.
Disgusting, ugly, but all too real combover of a man that has yet to give in to the fact that he /is/ going bald. Whether that compares to this sort of scenario, it is sometimes hard to truly get a read on one so desperate.
8==D
COMBATSYS: Igniz counters Hardhat Rush from Rust with Void Genocide.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Kichiga 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Hakuya
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Igniz 0/-------/--=====|=======\====---\1 Rust
Rolento's cynicism hits a note with Igniz. No, Rolento isn't bluffing. This isn't a joke. Rolento is willingly backing out of fighting the god of NESTS. Igniz's smile grows wider, so wide that its almost impossible to miss from space. Here, Igniz stands. He feels as if he has arrived. Once more, of course.
"There was never any doubt." Igniz exclaims, "Gedo High has fallen, and now in turn so will Pacific High. No school will be safe. They will be converted into supply depots that aid our war effort deeper into Southtown." Igniz exclaims, "I do not care how many walls he have to knock down, quarters we have to convert. The beach access here will be useful. Our ships will be able to unload many supplies without having to use the harbor."
Even before Rolento, Igniz barely bats a brows, recoiling his bloody blade, allowing it to disappear simply with a flick of his wrist. His plans, while obvious and told, Rolento could have probably found out before hand.
"Ah, much like today? I was hoping Pacific High would send fighters I would be able to test. This is not the case, however." Igniz declares as he turns towards Rust. For now, Rust is humanities ugliness in a package. The emotion, the bloody, battered truth. Even when defeated he yet still forgets about retreat for the hopes of striking at Igniz in a weakened point, attempting to fight the godliness of Igniz's own presence.
Even baldness, something Igniz retracts from once he sees it. None of his men are bald. Not K9999. Not Kula. Not Zero or Krizalid. He himself has locks of flowing hair. To be bald well, that would be entirely horrible for a man like Igniz. The sight in itself should be removed.
Only then does Igniz realize that Rust is charging, if you can call it that. Haphazardly rushing towards a man who had prepaired for a sudden attack for Rolento. There is no sudden attack. There is no immidiate threat save for Rust.
Rush moves directly into the trap, Igniz raising a single hand towards Rust, a chi amplifier floating upwards in turn, swelling immidiately with a powerful white light. There, it powers out directly into the rushing figure of Rust. The blast errupts immidiately into the mad, stopping his mad dash as the power overwhelms him. So immidiately that it does so in a way to thrust him back several feet before stopping. The concentrated force on the single strike is what some fighters can only hope for on their best strikes.
"Disgusting." Igniz quips, turning away form Rust immidiately after the assault is stopped cold. "I am doing this place a favor by swallowing it in my holy fire. It will appreciate my divine presence more than any of these 'students'."
COMBATSYS: Hakuya successfully hits Kichiga with Tidal Crush.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Kichiga 0/-------/-======|===----\-------\0 Hakuya
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Igniz 0/-------/--=====|=======\====---\1 Rust
Catching the older, oddly dressed fighter about the waist, Hakuya's intent is a simple one: he was here to help Rust, and being up here on a rooftop away from Rust is not exactly conducive to the whole helping thing. So the plan is simple. Once caught, the Guardian King rushes forward with Kichiga in tow, lifting the Oni up, almost over the younger man's shoulder. To the edge of the roof they both go, and then Hakuya /leaps off the building/ while holding Kichiga. All the momentum gained from running is then channeled into spiking Kichiga into the asphault of the parking lot, the two falling the how many ever stories the building they were on - a number Hakuya didn't even know, really - with Kichiga poised to take most of the damage, Hakuya using the older man to break his fall.
The Demon is not entirely bothered by Hakuya just kinda... handling the hell out of his psycho power. It dissipates rapidly, allowing for him to pull the cane in front of him as Hakuya charges.
If only he fell a little faster.
With incredible alacrity, Hakuya spins around and catches him before he even touches the ground, and he's entirely off-guard. Wind rushes out of his chest with a wheeze, so he can't even do that when he is carried right off the building and slammed into the ground. He is extremely soft and pleasant to land upon.
There is a moment, and the old man slowly arches himself off the ground, spine cracking back into place. Rather than waste time physically standing, he vanishes into a cloud of blood red mist. He's in the smoke, now, the NESTS soldiers invisible to him, but everyone of import is uniquely identifiable - Rust, a maelstrom of delicious terror; Igniz, like a vat of the creme inside a Cadbury egg; Rolento, tightly controlled and bland like a saltine cracker. And Hakuya, separate from the others, and assuredly racing toward Rust even now. That cannot be allowed to happen.
The red mist blooms again behind Hakuya, the Demon exploding forward out of it, tipping forward and standing on his left hand. One leg swings around, trying to intercept the student at the face region, the other following at the chest. Eloquently, Kichiga growls his fury at being so abused.
COMBATSYS: Hakuya endures Kichiga's Heavy Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Kichiga 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Hakuya
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Igniz 0/-------/--=====|=======\====---\1 Rust
For an old man, Kichiga does pretty well for getting slammed into a parking lot from several stories up. Soft and squishy he may be, and it allows to Hakuya come out of the slam relatively unhurt. It takes him but a moment to make sure of that fact before he's rolling off the demon, then scrambling to his feet and beginning to rush through the remaining soldiers, towards Rust. He had to help protect this school, and he wasn't going to get distracted by this random person who didn't even identify himself as being with NESTs! ...Or, so he thought. Hakuya doesn't catch the disappearance into a bloody mist, nor was he entirely aware that Kichiga was still, you know, conscious after that body slam.
The foot inches from his face kind of clues him in, though.
Hakuya's reaction is fairly simple. He gets kicked in the facemeats. Followed by another geta'd foot slamming into his chest. It staggers the young Gedo fighter, one step, two... then no more. Apparently rather than defending, the teen just pushed himself through it, gritting his teeth and bearing through the pain in order to have his gloved hands shoot out once more to try and grapple the Oni. Should his hands find purchase, the Guardian King will grunt with effort, a loud, sharp, "Hyyaah!" as he attempts to pull Kichiga forward and into a toss past Hakuya's own body. But far from over, the 'hip toss' would be complimented with Hakuya spinning around and raising a leg to slam his knee into Kichiga, sending him back into the air. If that manages to be successful, then one more grab would see the old man brought upwards, over, then down in a rough suplex.
The horrific assault against Rust, who refuses to back down even in the face of the destructive force of NESTS' god, elicits no look of pity or compassion. He repeats what he stated before, almost insistent. "I have battled this self-proclaimed god in single combat before. My chance of success is five percent. Your assistance has already been shown insufficient to tilt this tide to my favor. I am unaware of the combative prowess of the only other talented fighter I can see, but he is engaged with another opponent of comparable skill. Do you wish me to risk serious bodily injury when such will matter to nobody? Is your stubborn pride here just so you can be pat on the shoulder, no longer able to battle in meaningful engagements, and to be told 'You tried your best'?! Pathetic!!" With that, Rolento suddenly moves to shift behind Rust, and snap his arm around his throat. Attempting to squeeze suddenly, and cut off the flow of breath and blood into his head. "Your request to continue engaging is denied. We will extricate for now. This battle is lost." Of course, given he's trying to black the aging teacher out, his opinion potentially doesn't matter at the moment...
COMBATSYS: Rolento has joined the fight here.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Kichiga 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Hakuya
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Rolento 0/-------/-------|=======\====---\1 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Igniz 0/-------/--=====|
COMBATSYS: Rolento successfully hits Rust with Quick Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Kichiga 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Hakuya
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////// ]
Rolento 0/-------/-------|=======\=======\1 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Igniz 0/-------/--=====|
The odds are against them. The price - absolutely everything. A price that Rolento seems all too willing to sell out. A price the shop teacher is not willing to pay - cash, credit, nor debit - but with every moment of resistance, is borrowing time from some nefarious metaphorical lender. That nefarious metaphorical lender comes knocking for payment all too soon.
A brilliant white flash of light, oh so familiar for that split second, washes over him. There is nothing but white. White all around, giving him a brief, sweet release from all the world throws upon him... save for that terrible sensation of pain going to his ankles that doesn't last. He feels weightless. Numb. As though he were falling deep and deeper into the deepest abyss of the last train out of this mortal coil, eyes squeezed shut, upper body thrown back so hard his neck should have snapped. Falling. Helplessly tumbling, until a hard stop forces his eyes open to take in everything before him.
Before that... the world according to everyone else.
Upon contact with the latest sampling of Igniz's power, His heels dig into the dirt and concrete, grass blades and artificial rock hurled about like miniature tidal waves. This continues up until the point he - once again! - comes into slapstick capers with his toolbox. The innocently malicious object holds its ground admirably against something far larger going at unsafe speeds, relieving him of traction as he instead spends much of the remaining flight time twirling in the air backwards... until he hits the ground, rolling like a 193-pound bowling ball up until Igniz makes the strike, embedding him inside a wall right at the main campus' front building.
"Aaaaaaeeeee... uuuuuuooooooh," he wheezes pathetically as dazed eyes flutter open at the trail he leaves behind. Moments later, they shut as his teeth grind against one another. This time, this time he's full conscious. What he was doing moments ago, what he's supposed to be doing... and every single last ache in his body chiming in as if to reassure him that yes, they're all there and they love him very much. By which one means, 'we sting and need you to know this.'
Moments later the wall cracks around him and collapses, showering him anew in bruises and maybe a good fracture here and there as a giant dust cloud escapes from the new wreckage. Maybe even a new place to bleed from, as if he didn't have enough already. His right arm, bearing Ol' Rusty by some kind of miracle given his grip is weak. Igniz tore his dominant hand up. He tore it up real bad, with that... blade whip thing of his. With one loud groan of an exhale, the teacher goes face down in a pile he can't even fully crawl out of. The combover, frayed and undone by that terrible blast of deific proportions, flaps about in the eastern wind. All it needs is to be painted white for the perfect picture. Is this the point where he gives up? The debate rages on as the fingers on his right hand, numb and weak, fight to keep hold on the rusted length of pipe. Perhaps the Demon may be able to bear witness if that kid over there gives him a moment of peace to enjoy the view.
All in all, it's an improvement over the last time he got blasted by... by that. A small one. Really small. Very slight. Like a tiny, invisible silver lining. All that training and getting-in-shape business... all paying off in spades, right here, he works up a snort for that.
The tail end of Rolento's declaration of action fights through ringing ears. Really, only one key word sums it up.
'Pathetic.'
Damn, he hisses silently, I can still... he's taken from behind, arm around his throat. Choking. He struggles, but Rolento's strength far surpasses his. Fainting. Like a rampaging toddler at a daycare that needs to be stopped, he struggles. He feels light.
Rolento makes a mistake. He doesn't grab the teacher's right arm.
It's weak, his hand barely has any strength in it. He points it backwards, the tip knocking over a bit of the ruin. He leans forward, trying to pull himself through. No dice. C'mon. One strike. Just... one, good, solid strike, give me that. I'm not going down without a fight, because... these kids here count on me to do just that!
Pragmatism is winning over idealism on the material plane. Rolento is not in the wrong, if he does hold enough interest in seeing the teacher live for whatever reason. But Howard... even as his vision starts to grow faint, thinking, maybe, there needs to be a compromise.
I leave it to you, he utters wordlessly.
His right shoulder creaks as he yells a choking, gurgling, loud cry that would make the Spartans give pause as he overhead fastballs Ol' Rusty like a goddamn harpoon. It flies through the air like a cruise missile. A brown and gray blur. He throws it straight and true, right arm giving out with the last of the strength he can give it due to blood loss.
But he stays awake, stubbornly. Maybe he needs another one of those hard punches to the gut.
COMBATSYS: Igniz overcomes Thrown Weapon from Rust with Chaos Tide.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Kichiga 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Hakuya
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Rolento 0/-------/-------|=======\=======\1 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Igniz 0/-------/------=|
Igniz's gaze falls upon Rolento, turning away of whatever Rust has become after the assault. Be it bloody smear or barely alive, Igniz does not continue to mull over the possibilites. His interest is in something else. The school itself is much more important to be dealt a terrible blow than it is to rip the life from a man. He could so easily. Rust in particular was not worth his time.
"Rolento, if you do not wish to face me, then why are you present?" Igniz exclaims, prodding the man farther. Rolento may be present only to kill his man. To save lives to a man who kills for a job would be rather ironic, to say the very least. Igniz does not put it past him, even as Rolento begins to stangle Rust in hopes to keep him down so that he may not attempt to suicidely run himself into the overlord of NESTS path any more.
Igniz begins to walk away, floating without a second thought. He would go elsewhere, and with that, bring ruin to wherever he would travel across this place. There, the god of NESTS would declare his school his with an overwhelming victory.
"Ha ha ha. Do not listen to him," Igniz exclaims with a smile, "He only wishes to get in the path of your glory, to reap the benefits of looking like a man that cares. He has killed hundreds in his life time. To care for the greatest example of human filth." Igniz snears. For once, he shows some sort of emotion. To hate is something he has not felt in a great time. To hate humanity, and in itself mortality, is why Igniz does not declare himself a human.
Igniz is a god. A demi god. He is above normal humans.
Even with all these bonuses stacked against Rust, even when being restrained by Rolento, Rust proves to never give in. The battlesuit picks up the object as it begins to break through the air, attempting to harpoon the overlord of NESTS there an then in the back. He has an overwhelming chance. Failure was .00001%. Success was almost fact.
Spinning around, Igniz crosses his arms upon his chest, all four of the chi amplifiers charmed by Igniz's grace to life, lifting up to deal with Ol' Rusty as it comes. The combined charged of all four amplifiers is enough to light a city. As it discharged, directly into Ol' Rusty, the pipe is blasted away, twisted and burned as its state becomes molten. The four pilliars seek out, snaking about as they each aim to bite into Rust's chest and impale him against the air.
"Do you see how glorious your fate is? This is what he had attempted to steal from you!"
COMBATSYS: Kichiga blocks Hakuya's Silent Crescent.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Kichiga 1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Hakuya
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Rolento 0/-------/-------|=======\=======\1 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Igniz 0/-------/------=|
Hakuya gets a hold of the Demon, and manages to pull him forward. He sees his red eyes up close, pure contempt, an almost inhuman expression from what little can be seen. Sure enough, after the throw, he makes some kind of miraculous recovery, flipping around in the air to meet knee with hand, sending a shock up his arm but putting him in control of his own flight. The Suigetsu comes on, but Kichiga is already ready, the censer swinging out of his sleeve.
Instead of throwing it, however, he brings it above his head, swinging it like a helicopter. Red foam bubbles out of his mask's eyeholes as he reaches deep inside, forcing his mysterious power into the censer. An extremely thick cloud of mist blooms down, falling over the both of them.
It's terrible inside the mist, cacophonous shrieks, quiet whispers, and agony everywhere. But perhaps worse is the demon's modulated voice itself, coming from everywhere and nowhere. "You asked for my alleigance, and I said it was not so simple. I am Ojike no Oni, I am apart from these petty organizations! NESTS... Shadaloo... they provide me the backdrop. I have no desires of seeing Southtown broken! No, only its people! Suffering! Discord! I will see Southtown become Hell, and I will be its Demon! He will be the first to be shattered... and for no other reason than being the weakest before me."
Amidst everything else, a cold chill may pass up Rust's spine, despite the words of that monologue being heard by Hakuya and him alone.
Look, sometimes you just gotta monologue.
COMBATSYS: Hakuya fails to reflect Wicked Censer from Kichiga with Solaris Sunder.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Kichiga 0/-------/-------|=======\=------\1 Hakuya
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Rolento 0/-------/-------|=======\=======\1 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Igniz 0/-------/------=|
The chain of motion that made up one of Hakuya's strongest attacks is an easy one ot break out of, he knows, yet the ability to be punishing with it makes up for all the times it's gotten out of - if it ISN'T reversed, people get hurt by it. Which is probably why they try real hard to get out of it - it doesn't hurt so bad. So Hakuya is pretty used to people breaking out of his combo, and when Kichiga flips himself away, Hakuya recovers quickly, sliding his feet into a standard position, hands coming up to prepare... for... well, okay, he can't really prepare for /that/.
Staring in mild shock as red foam bubbles out of the mask, the shock somewhat turns to surprise as the blood red mist settles in over him... and then it turns to a mild sense of horror as he can begin to hear things. And not nice things, these. Whipping his head around, Hakuya seems not to understand what's going on. But he does, eventually. The mist - or maybe it's the voices screaming at him - begins to burn into him. Not a physical burn, but a burn much deeper than that. A startled cry might be heard through Kichiga's monologue, and then in the middle of the red mist, a sharp blue crackle of energy can be seen - then is snuffed out entirely, followed only by Hakuya's cries of pain.
Once the mist clears enough to see, Hakuya is on his knees, panting heavily. Hands clench and unclench... but he doesn't seem TOO bad off. Shaky, hurt, but not yet down. Gasping for breath that isn't tasting of /fire/ he eventually gets back to his feet, staggers, then stabilizes. His eyes come up, looking surprised at all this. Not just the attack he just endured... but also the monologue. Up until now he'd just believed Kichiga had been some crazy guy in a mask. Which admittedly isn't a terribly wrong assumption. But the words that the Ojike no Oni speaks ring clear in Hakuya's mind. Glancing back to Rust, Hakuya frowns momentarily. He can't help the man any more. Because he had to help something much bigger.
Reaching back, Hakuya pulls up his hood, drawing it over his head. And all of a sudden, his voice, his expression, all change. Rather than the cheerfully passive youth that wants to protect everyone, Hakuya now becomes quiet, serious and sombre. "Then, demon, I must apologize," the demon slayer's voice rings out. "I did not recognize you in my haste. But now you shall have my full attention."
COMBATSYS: Igniz successfully hits Rolento with Chaos Tide.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Kichiga 0/-------/-------|=======\=------\1 Hakuya
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Rolento 0/-------/---====|=======\=======\1 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Igniz 0/-------/------=|
"I was contracted for the defense of Southtown. It is in my monetary benefit to retain the present hierarchy." A rather simple response by all accounts, although he hardly seems enthralled by the prospect. There's no true passion or fervor in him, someone going through the motions and little more. This is infinitely subtle by any stretch of the imagination, yet Igniz would be more then capable of picking up on it. In fact, he bears no overt malice towards the reigning God himself. He has mostly ceased assaulting NESTS of late, caring more about furthering his budding Middle Eastern army then his old vendetta.
"Negative. Hundreds is an understatement. Through my direct hand mayhaps, but my word has ended more lives then that." Although when that horrific onslaught is leveled towards Rust, Rolento shifts suddenly. One hand grasps him by the shoulder and rather brutally shoves him aside, likely to force him to swandive across the pavement if he's not quick on his feet. He yanks out his baton, twirling it once before leveling it towards the encroaching storm of chi. It doesn't work. Igniz shatters his guard like a balsa wood shield, sending him hurtling backwards and slamming into a building. He is lost in the destructive explosion, but the God would know he had braced himself, perfectly absorbing the kinetic half of his blow. Leaving him still standing, leaning against the charred crator behind, wisps of burning fabric trailing around.
"Your assault was unfocused. Although not trivial, estimating your full potential for condensed assaults in this manner, I consider the damage pathetic." He then glances towards Rust, holding up his weapon. "I will distract Igniz. You are to immediately lead any survivors outside Pacific walls. The battle is lost. But the war is what is important!! Swallow your pride and follow my orders!!"
With that he leaps into the air, reaching into his vest. A gleaming blade is procured, and then hurled towards Igniz. It's rather forceful, intended to strike at a vital spot that cannot be ignored; distracting him, as much as anything else.
Howard really would like to know, for that short time he has to muse while he's on the verge of blacking out entirely in the crazed military man's grasp... why is Rolento so interested in saving /him/? Why him, over this school? A man who so easily dispatched a fair number of the shock troops, just to walk up and tell that... that... that guy with that /hair/ that he's willing to give the school up! That's not the sort of help he was looking for. Going so far as to stop him from putting up the best, maybe even last god damn fight he can ever hope to manage. Getting out of Gedo alive? Luck. It can only last so long. Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows. Whatever it is, it's running out, quick.
So why is he still fighting? Ayame asked him why he hasn't run. He wasn't sure then. He's not sure now. His hopes bleed out like the blood and oxygen both leaving him, his vision growing fuzzier and fuzzier yet as Igniz laughs about his glory. Howard's own. What glroy?
Howard Rust is a man. A mortal man. He is not a match for a deity made flesh.
He coughs and sputters, bending over further in his attempts to fight a grasp he can't break out of. A chill runs up his spine. It is a warning. He looks up, one eye shut as Igniz turns around and... he winces, turning his head within the confines of the range of motion Rolento's grip would allow him. He doesn't have to see it to know - to know that Igniz just bested what might be his last possible play.
The melting length of pipe flies into the air, bits of molten metal spraying about like a sprinkler. It is not a legendary weapon forged by ancestors and cared for over the years. It is not a masterwork of modern engineering. It is a busted, rusted length of pipe that has crumpled and eroded away its last. That it didn't liquify on contact with Igniz's barrier may have meant that the .00001% failure rate was so very close to reality. A one-in-ten-million chance. Howard and Igniz are not going to have ten million meetings. In fact, that searing feeling that's coming suggests this'll be the last...
He can't clench his left fist hard enough to harden himself for the last impact. A sharp sting goes through his side as his shoulder is clenched and shoved off to the side, into the pavement with a pathetic, slow roll and another hard wheeze. Ugh. A few coughs. He can breathe again. What kind of mercy is that when the rest of you just... doesn't want to...
His one open eye meets Rolento's scary face as he lays down the law. He will distract Igniz - he is to immediately lead any survivors outside Pacific walls. He grimaces. You know, if you put it in terms like that sooner...!!
His head turns again as a red mist nearly obscures the complete battle between the crazy Ojike no Oni and... that kid. Take everyone and go, he says. The 'go' part is hard, what with... being a bag of broken bones, leaking blood in alarming amounts... the chill crawls up his spine just by being this close. He doesn't want to look. He doesn't want to face him. No. Not so soon. He's no match. He can't... can't get up, can't...
He raises his right forearm in front of his face at a rather opportune time in which to catch a superhot Ol' Rusty. He all but screams as it makes contact with that giant open cut in his right palm, letting it drop as the mostly molten object tries to settle into the grooves of the ruined pavement. The pain is excruciating. Even he can't endure it, for long... not like this.
He looks up again. That kid. Can that kid really stand against him? He needs to... he needs to get them all out... god damn it! He slams his burnt left palm into the pavement twice in frustration. All of a sudden, his voice, his expression, all change. Rather than the panicking, desperate middle-aged man that wants to be able to stand up and fight off a man like Igniz... he becomes louder, focused, and resolute. He casts a glance down to the melting pipe. Ol' Rusty, he thinks. We're parting ways yet again. However long it takes... if we never see one another again, let's make this a good farewell.
He pushes himself up on his left arm, the far less injurious option as he cries in pain again. His knees pop. His neck cricks as he coughs again. He can only do this with his right hand. It shakes. Come on. Just for a second. Just for a second more, okay...
He scoops up Ol' Rusty in his right hand, damning it to some of the most severe of burn wounds as he screams again, getting up to his feet. Ol' Rusty is held back - gently, not forcefully as to throw off the temptation to let go. You're going back in the red mist after so little time, after all it said, after all he did... after all he did, he... he really has a lot to say.
This kid he's fighting now. That's... that's going to be the first one out. Just do that. Mr. Rust approaches with as much haste as his grievous injuries allow, one step, two steps... more like some centimeters dragged, some more centimeters dragged...
That's when he hops a little into the air, trying to meet with the agile Demon's floatiness. The strength left in his arm will have to be what gives him momentum, saliva and blood flying out of his mouth, face... a tear out of his eye. He's like flying debris /himself/.
Ol' Rusty, the melted, nearly liquid pipe is thrust forwards with one last yell. It's not going to be a graceful pass and sheathe. It's going to be one, hard, deadly slam if he can land it on the Demon, looking to press the whole red-hot weapon. One last, glorious slam to turn it into a scathing hot pile of slag. Ol' Rusty, this one, deserves no less.
COMBATSYS: Igniz reflects Stinger from Rolento with Nega Genesis.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Kichiga 0/-------/-------|=======\=------\1 Hakuya
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Rolento 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Igniz 0/-------/-----==|
Igniz watches as Rolento, war hero or mercenary, throws Rust out of the way. A timeless, shameless act in an attempt to save the beat man once more. Igniz is not swayed by this move. It irks him to see Rolento, a man who had said that he would not be getting involved, turn about and instead do exactly that.
The god of NESTS watches as Rolento slows the oncoming holy wrath, still causing him to be blown backwards from the force. Even as Rolento gets up, he dares to speak unfit words about the strength that Igniz had possessed.
"You doubt my power?" Igniz asks, a soft smile continuing about his lips as he looks directly towards the beaten man. He wants to hear a yes, but in turn, he hears nothing. Instead, he speaks of slowing the god of NESTS down. This immidiately earns a chuckle from Igniz, who now has a purpose while Rolento still stands. At least, this purpose that he may very well follow.
Even as he lets Rust escape, grasp his pipe and continue on, Igniz's true opponent now stand before him. Rolento wishes to do battle, and the god of NESTS can only give him what he wants. Well, that isn't true. Igniz wants to do battle. Rolento is only keeping him busy.
A knife immidiately is hurled towards Igniz, cutting through the air as it attempts to find a vital spot.
It doesn't. What is finds is much less vital, a wall of white chi Igniz summons by a flick of his wrist, sending both the knife and the portal blown outwards as it aims to overtake and erupt upon Rolento for a hideous combination of his own weaponry and Igniz's power.
COMBATSYS: Kichiga fails to interrupt Condemned from Rust with Behold Hell.
- Power fail! -
[ \\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Kichiga 0/-------/---====|=======\=------\1 Hakuya
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Rolento 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Igniz 0/-------/-----==|
Kichiga glides back to the ground, the mist dissipating, the censer sliding back into his sleeve as though it never existed. The mask tilts up, and Hakuya gets the distinct impression that the man behind is /so contemptuous you don't even know./
"Self-righteousness. Disgusting."
The Demon falls into his stance, legs planted wide, hands out, palms forward, fingers curled into claws. One geta slips forward, as he prepares to spring... and then something else takes his attention. It takes all of his attention.
The emotions are not even discernable anymore. Rage, terror, desperation, stubbornness, it's all mixing into a single patina, and Kichiga exults in it. It's a taste he can savor so rarely.
The taste of a person being pushed to his final breaking point.
The demon turns away from Hakuya as Rust comes on, already shrieking in laughter. "Yes... YES! COME TO YOUR DOOM! BEHOLD SUFFERING!" He jumps back, and holds out both arms, sleeves flying wide. Thick chains explode out, reaching for Rust, pulsing with red power... and one after another, he powers through them. Fragments of metal dance through the air. "HAHAHAHAHAHA! FEEL YOURSELF REDUCE! YOUR HUMANITY ERODES AWAY! YOU ARE NOTHING MORE THAN AN ANIMAL!!"
Rust is upon him, and one final trick - chains explode from beneath the neck of the changshan, enfolding Rust's arm and pipe... to no avail. The strike powers through, blasting into the top of Kichiga's head. The demon face cracks down the middle, and he crashes into the ground hard, bouncing away like a ragdoll through the air.
A laughing ragdoll. He doesn't stop, even when he crunches into the debris-strewn ground of Pacific's lawn yet again, slowly picking himself up. A few red flecks fall from the face of the mask, but the damage appears superficial. That's because you can't see the blood pouring from the man's scalp beneath.
Hakuya's hands tighten with a familiar creak from his leather gloves. The demon's comment as to the sudden change to the Guardian King's demeanor isn't commented on... or, at best, the creaking leather is answer enough. He doesn't really care to respond. Again, he's had this discussion already with Marise. In a similar situation, in fact. He would put the demon down, and that'd be the end of that... at least for now. Demons had that tricky ability to seemingly come back from the dead. The events of Casino 7 had lead them all to think that Marise would be dead... but alas, apparently someone /could/ survive that much dust.
Just as Kichiga and Hakuya would've began to trade blows once more, in comes Rust. And for a moment, that serious expression is forfeited to a more surprised, boyish one as Hakuya looks up and over at the not-too-good-looking Howard rushing in to strike at Kichiga. The Ojike no Oni is also surprised, and even as he's struck down, the demon laughs maniacally, as if the pain merely fueled his rage, gave him exactly what he wanted. Why was Rust over here, though? A quick glance back told him of the story - he'd caught bits and pieces of what the god-being, the mercenary and Rust had been speaking of. Something about... abandoning Pacific High? Maybe? But even if that were the case... the demon would not let them go until it was down.
So, as Rust attacks, Hakuya follows suit. Rather than anything fancy, however, the young man just seeks to step up as the Oni picks himself up from the ground - and swing a fist right for the old man's mask-covered facemeats, aiming for a single, solid slug to the face. Whether that would put him down or not remained to be seen.
COMBATSYS: Rolento dodges Igniz's Reflected Stinger.
[ \\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Kichiga 0/-------/---====|=======\=------\1 Hakuya
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Rolento 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Igniz 0/-------/----===|
Well, Kichiga and Rolento are soul mates in one regard. The frantic ranting when they are on the verge of losing. But he has assessed that the weird mask wearing individual's combative threat has been mostly neutralized. There will be at least two individuals of fighting worth extracted from this corpse of a school. Really, that is why Rolento stays. Pacific is dead. But he refuses to let warm bodies expire if he can use them elsewhere. It's as simple as that. After all, he has no intent of matching Igniz in a full battle. Distract he promised, and distract he will do. It shouldn't take much longer.
Although it certainly won't be easy.
"I have no doubts about your capabilities, Igniz. I am merely stating that you should not underestimate me. I have defeated Heidern. Staggered Vega himself. Shattered cities and conquered more." He twirls his baton, and holds it up. "Do not patronize me by using such casual assaults!!"
The incoming knife is eyed, and Rolento moves. Snapping beneath it in a heartbeat, and hurling himself across the intervening distance. One booted foot skids across the ground before he hurtles himself into the air, juxtaposing himself into the sun. Igniz might have a split second of being forced to squint or compensate for that intense halo of scorching light, and it is at that moment he drops his baton with a snarl, throwing all his force into slamming into the other man's face. Enough to wake him up if it hits, if nothing more. He's rather good at being a mosquito.
Kichiga says, "!"
One can't deny there is some sort of primal /feeling/ behind the exchange, his right hand the very picture of agony. Burnt. /Screaming/ in pain, but yet trying to pull it all in one last shot like a frightened, cornered animal. That is what he is, isn't he. The laughter following those forceful screams ring in his head, even as fresh, smaller blood trails run down his forearm from the catch that almost was. (And how much blood has he lost?) He breathes in and out at a panicked pace, grabbing his right hand roughly by the forearm - as at this point the overwhelming burning sensation in one hand now greatly outstrips the other - lifting it up at protest from his matching elbow as he starts to frantically blow at the hand. Something for him to remember Ol' Rusty's latest by, which is not really a comforting thought of any kind.
Kichiga may find amusement in all the hissing that happens within intervals not clearly defined. He falls back against a wall, trying to work it up. They've got to go... and to think a /terrorist/ is intending to be their savior, for whatever reason. He coughs. Wheezes. The usual motions of fatigue and weakness. The kid in the white hoodie moves in - moves in like there's next to nothing to fear. Why is that? The teacher doesn't understand. After what happened in Gedo... one potentially decisive strike or not, the laughter sticks. All the way down to his shaken core. There are many holes through the man's armor. No weapon. Two badly injured hands. By all rights he should not even still be conscious. It's adrenaline alone that's keeping him pumped. Or at least, breathing.
He hates what he sees. Kids having to step up and do the fighting in his place, for what little good he is now. He shuts his eyes again as another surge runs up his arm and through his right hand. Can't... focus... well, what are you going to do - are you going to fight, or are you going to be a teacher. Right now, with this choice, you can't do both. This may be the only moment of peace you get. For a given value of peace. Are you going to help the kid? Or are you going to gather yourself so you can actually walk in, yell to the kids inside that must still be screaming.
"Ah... f-f... uuurrrgh." He spits a little bloodied saliva out. You got no choice but to trust the kid. Whoever that kid is. Breathe in. C'mon. Something like this is how you survived that six story fall with just a broken arm so long ago, right? (Do you know how hard it is to internally reason with yourself?!) He coughs again as he starts to slouch towards a sitting posit-- no! Don't slouch, don't slouch, c'mon... feet, don't fail me now.
Especially not you, sarcastic left knee that's trying to lock in on me. Especially... not you, he internally scolds as he shuts his eyes again and wheezes.
COMBATSYS: Rust gains composure.
[ \\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Kichiga 0/-------/---====|=======\=------\1 Hakuya
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Rolento 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Igniz 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Igniz blocks Rolento's Mekong Delta Air Raid.
[ \\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Kichiga 0/-------/---====|=======\=------\1 Hakuya
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Rolento 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Igniz 0/-------/----===|
There is no simple reason for why the god of NESTS does not immidiately turn tail and begin to wildly strike at both Hakuya and Rust. Why, he was here to knock out the head of the opperations. While good fighters in their own right, none have the tactical advantages or smarts that Rolento has. The strongest must fall first. That is a golden rule.
"But are you a god?" Igniz quips, asking of Rolento as he lists off his list of accomplishments. Many of them are rather impressive. To defeat and main and even give Vega a run for his money. Igniz's megalomaniac tendencies stand before Rolento, something that has been built up over the many years. Not even now will it crumble to a simple laundry list of sorts.
Rolento makes a movement, attempting to swat down Igniz with a halo of scortching light, followed by the baton slammed down towards his face. Forcefields are raised as all four of them come up in defense of the god of NESTS. The strike still comes, knocking Igniz back a fair deal, but relatively does nothing to destroy his already prominent demeanor.
"My my. You are a fighter. You are correct, I never should have doubted you." The god of NESTS exclaims as he leads forward with his fist, a flash of peach as he arcs out to slam towards Rolento, attempting to knock him out of the air with a moderately fast, but devastating assault.
COMBATSYS: Kichiga blocks Hakuya's Strong Punch.
[ \\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Kichiga 0/-------/--=====|=======\=------\1 Hakuya
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Rolento 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Igniz 0/-------/----===|
It's not adrenaline that keeps the demon going. He doesn't feel strongly enough for such things to pour through his veins. It's something else, some combination of his psychosis and the terrible evil power that flows through him. He shouldn't even be standing anymore, much less able to snap his cane out at the last minute, interposing the ogre's head in between his face and Hakuya's fist. Shock travels up his arm, more painful than it has any right to be, and the force sends him backwards in a barely-controlled glide.
"Hahahahahahahaha! There is nothing left here for me, child... no more progress to be made. It is a delicate process... shattering a person is a lot like forging a sword, in some respects." It can't be all bluster - blood is dripping down, dark stains almost invisible on his red-and-black outfit but continuing to drip to the ground.
Slowly, Kichiga brings his cane around, resting it down in front of him, the ogre's head leering out. It takes him some time to pull the mist around him, slowly bubbling up from beneath his clothes. "This battle... is won."
The mist finally swarms up over his face, and with an echoing laugh, Kichiga is gone.
(Actually he only teleported into that alley over there, to limp away. That's not a dramatic detail, though.)
COMBATSYS: Kichiga has left the fight here.
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Rolento 0/-------/---====|=======\=------\1 Hakuya
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Igniz 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Rust
Fist lashes out, and is intercepted. And then before Hakuya can even think to follow through, Kichiga is laughing, monologue'ing, then he's off no longer there, that strange blood mist enveloping the masked old man. This leaves the Guardian King a little bewildered. The man was a demon, to be sure... but perhaps a different sort of demon from Marise. This one was twisted, just as the Devil was, but had differences. Namely, Kichiga didn't (yet) inspire that kind of respect that borders on fear, in him. He was just a crazy old guy that was reaching demonic influence. So, the demon vanished, Rust and he are free to leave... but will they?
Hakuya reaches up to pull his hood - executioner's hood, so Marise had called it - and once more Hakuya looks like a normal teenager, a lot less serious business. He even casts a guileless gaze over to Rust as the older man tries to get himself back under control after being savagely beaten by the god-being over yonder. "Um..." the King starts. "I'm from Gedo High; Daigo sent me to help, but..." he glances over to said god-being and the mercenary fighting him. Then, back to Rust. "Are we really just going to give up...?" He asks, frowing a bit. Surely all three of them could take the guy with the long, silky hair and the odd clothes. Right? Either way, the teenager looks to the beaten Rust for instruction, for now.
COMBATSYS: Hakuya gains composure.
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Rolento 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Hakuya
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Igniz 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Rust
COMBATSYS: Rolento interrupts Fierce Punch from Igniz with Mekong Delta Escape.
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Rolento 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1 Hakuya
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Igniz 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Rust
Ah, excellent. Rolento quickly figures out that the fight with the peculiar man with some manner of psychic residue has been completed. Rusts' intervention turned out to be much more useful elsewhere, as he tried to smack and strangle into him. Quite literally. Taking a few moments to observe Hakuya, sizing up the youth, his scarred form returns to Igniz. "Our chance of victory has increased beyond futile levels. Thirty four percent, if my offhanded appraisal of the remaining fighter is accurate. But I would still not recommend a concentrated assault upon the NESTS leader."
Of course, he had a conversation to continue. How rude of it, to include his data in the midst of deliberation. In a split second, he reacts. The fist only grazes him as he twists, and snaps out his baton. A loud crack echoes forth, as he literally smacks it across Igniz's face. Disorienting him more then anything, assumably, but in that fraction of a moment he backflipped a dozen yards away, assuming a defensive stance. Poised to evade or attack.
"God is a collaborative conceptual ideal that allows human beings to cope with mortality and pain. A psychological tool perpetuated through hazy historical records, delusional episodes, and outright lying. However, I assume you are referring to existing within an ascended realm mentally and physically from the common human being."
He then smirks, adjusting his beret. "Under those conditions, affirmative. I could be considered a god."
Cough, grimace, wheeze, these words are bandied around a lot to describe the shop teacher's condition and current means of coping with them. All of them are quite appropriate as he gets an eye open to try and get a grip on how Hakuya is holding. His trust is well placed, right. It has to be, because... argh! He starts to make sideways steps across the wall he rests upon, taking in a deep breath. He clears his throat. C'mon. /Say something./
He turns his head away again at the echoing laughter and the swarming red mist. Though the Demon and the shop teacher are both well away from one another, just looking upon it... just /thinking/ about it, makes it harder to keep focused. Between his attempts to gather himself and coming face-to-face with that monster again, it's a net loss in his fight to stay conscious.
Thirty four percent chance to win, huh. That's... that's a whole lot higher a chance than the guy first gave. Much more optimistic, compared to when the would-be ruler of Metro City socked him, and otherwise restrained him from getting involved. The teacher still flinches. Pain. One hand burned from cellphone explosion. The other hand, searing agony with an open wound and something even more severe. It'd be a small wonder if that hand didn't have to be amputated. Blood loss. Broken ribs. No weapon. We've been over this not long before.
The kid introduces himself. Gedo High!! He winces again. Damn, if he didn't fail to get in to help... he sucks in breath again. If Daigo sent him to help... could they do it? He seemed to hold up so much better against Ojike no Oni.
Look at yourself, dammit, he thinks. He exhales loudly before at last working up the strength to talk. "I... I don't know.. l-look." He coughs. "He's... he's been here before, long... long ago. He fought through... fought through... Marisol, Luc... I, uh, you know, the, the Pacific Resistance, and... and me." He actually didn't put up much of a fight back then. Too weak. Too out of shape. Even /in/ better shape there's not much of a measurable amount of success.
He waves his right hand erratically again, as though moving it about in the air would get rid of that burning feeling. It does not. It makes it worse. He purses his lips together. C'mon. Say it. You /are/ the grown-up in charge out here, for a given value of being in charge.
"Someone... someone needs to, to go inside," he motions with his left hand towards the doors to the main building. But right next to it, a hole in the wall from when Igniz blasted him into it, if one is more inclined to go in that way. He starts to slouch against the wall with his injuries starting to win him over. He's fighting his damned hardest not to. "I don't know, I don't know if... if, if... ah, shit!!" He hisses as his side gets at him. "Don't know if... they're, they're safe in there."
The voice trails off into continued sour expressions of outright agony.
COMBATSYS: Rust takes no action.
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Rolento 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1 Hakuya
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Igniz 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Rust
Even with his ally escaping from the scene, Igniz's courage is distilled to a science. The science of NESTS of course. Capable of so much, why else would the god of NESTS do anything else but rely upon it, amongst other things.
Now, even as he delivers a powerful blow, Rolento finds himself a hole to dig himself and escape the brutal force of it. Most of the force, however, still finds itself into the figure of Rolento. No matter how much he can avoid it. The loud crack that smacks Igniz in the face is a lot painful than it sounds. Only sending Igniz a small distance away. The trade of blows however was in his favor, undoubtably. There are very few things that the god of NESTS cannot take. Having an armored shell such as his jet black battlesuit does stack odds in his favor in this categoery, however.
Igniz is very accepting. Many people have doubted his godhood. Told him a god couldn't bleed. Told him that a god couldn't exist.
None actually tried claiming themselves a god in his presence however. Rolento was either terribly brave... or stupid.
Igniz's face twists towards Rolento, even with the gleaming red mark left upon the god of NESTS face, quickly bruising. "You?" Igniz smiles, "You call yourself a god? Hmmmm." Igniz shakes his head, "Well well well. This will not do at all. There is only place for one god in this world I am afraid." Igniz exclaims, ignoring such foolish things as 'percentiles' and 'chances'. Victory is his from his holy order. Even as his men continues to harass the school due to Rolento focusing on him rather than his men.
Rolento, however, has gotten Igniz's full attention.
COMBATSYS: Igniz calculates his next move.
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Rolento 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1 Hakuya
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Igniz 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Rust
Igniz asks if Rolento if he's a god, and it seems that Rolento has seen that movie, because he answers 'yes'. Unfortunately it seems that in this case it's not the right answer. Grimacing, Hakuya looks from the two much stronger fighters back to Rust, and then attempts to follow along to what the man is saying, nodding his head vaguely at the words, focusing on what Rust is attempting to say overall, rather than the specific words. Mentions of his friends are made - Luc and Marisol - which catches Hakuya's attention. But that isn't what's important right now. What is important, is something Rust's stammered words actually come in quite clear for Hakuya. 'We need to make them safe.'
Another glance back to Igniz and Rolento. The Suigetsu heir is no tactical fighter, but he can tell strength. Igniz was -strong-... but it wasn't like he'd never fought powerful opponents before. The stakes had been a good deal lighter, but nevertheless, he had some experience. And Rolento himself was strong, too; surely the both of them would have some chance. Thirty percent?
That's way better than 1%, and Hakuya had pulled that off before.
Settling gloved hands onto Rust's shoulders, Hakuya tries to speak calmly and slowly. "If you want, go to check on them. But if we don't stop that guy, then no one will be safe." A year ago, Rust's comment to go check on people's safety would've immediately sent the Guardian King running to do just that. But Igniz had already rolled over Gedo... he wouldn't stop at Pacific, either. "Collect yourself... then let's take him down. We have to. Or he'll just keep hurting people."
With that decided, Hakuya gives Rust a small smile, then turns - and begins to rush at Igniz. As the man begins to focus attention on Rolento, he has another opponent to deal with now, for whatever that might be worth. The Guardian King darts in, moving low to try and scoop the god-being up with arms about the man's waist. With a quick snap, then, the Guardian King will attempt to turn and slam Igniz into the ground with a sharp, fast hip toss. "Hyyyaah!"
"By your terminology, I could be considered one. My mental capacity is far beyond the reach of many others. I am capable of feats of precision and deduction your suit might find difficult to imitate. Affirmative. However, I do not care for labels. And if I did, I would assuredly be a devil."
Well, Rolento has gotten the dubious pleasure of Igniz now focusing his entire mind on him. He can feel it, keen like a blade. An oppressive feeling he is unaccustomed to. This is not a trivial man. Many might mock the self-proclaimed 'god', but he can feel his options fading away. His infinite, unpredictable actions shrink to naught. He is a deer within a hunter's scope. At least he is capable of realizing this.
"My chance of survival has almost vanished for the immediate future. Unfortunate. I had hoped Igniz would continue using less precise assaults. If you wish me to remain combatively useful, I recommend using assaults he cnanot easily dodge. He will not attack either of you." He glances towards Hakuya, aware that Rust is in little condition to fight. "Do not risk being incapacitated. Guerilla combat is a superior option to defeat."
With that, he rushes forward as well. Trying to angle himself so that Hakuya will attack a more difficult spot, whirling his baton a few times before then leaping into the air. But suddenly descends, free hand snapping out to try and catch Igniz by the throat... trying to then slam into him, and hopefully make him collapse backwards. Enough to stagger with any luck...
Sometimes it's easy to play hero. Sometimes, it's really easy to delude oneself into /thinking/ they can be the one to save everyone. Did Howard make that mistake, conscious as he is of his limits? He didn't want to risk the kids. Sure, some can fight. Those that can, most of them are probably far more skilled than he is. But they're the kids. They may be years away from the real world. But they're the kids. This isn't the sort of shit you waltz up to and then run off to buy ice cream after the fact.
He flinches as Hakuya puts his hands on his shoulders. Careful! They're tender. His mouth hangs open a little as Hakuya invites him to go check on them. Really? The guy who's fighting to stay on his feet, likely bleeding to death... too dizzy to think much of anything in protest, he tries to collect the words to protest because he's the grown-up here, not this one!
'Collect yourself... then let's take him down. We have to. Or he'll just keep hurting people.'
But /can they/. The chances of this aren't looking good. No, wait. They aren't good. He doesn't know how this guy can smile like that! He stretches out his left hand just as Hakuya turns around to rush at him. Dammit, kid, get back here, that's not what he...
He looks behind his shoulder. Can he really chance himself to those soldiers that undoutbedly have crawled inside by now? He has no means of communicating inside or outside, the cellphone got blasted. Grunt. Collect himself and then let's take him down, that's easy for you to say, you hooligan! You're not the one who's bloodied half to death and practically without arms to use!
He sucks in a deep breath. No choice here, huh. He pushes off with his left elbow, the respective shoulder creaking. His body's just ready to lock up and go stiff. Still on the job, huh. Yeah. Maybe he is. Don't confuse this for resolve, what you're doing is dumb. But where else is there to go? Hell if he knows, the staff didn't discuss their plans as to where to move the kids if need be too well, other than 'out of the country.'
He has yet to learn how difficult that would be.
He starts to stagger across the ruined pathways, dragging his feet. Coughing. Rubbing his eyes. He doesn't look directly at Igniz, or even that... that hair he's so jealous of. Pop goes his left knee. Screw you, left knee. He spits on the concrete again. C'mon. Ryu said even in a worst case scenario, tyrants can't hold this forever.
He doesn't want tyrants to hold this to begin with!!
COMBATSYS: Rust focuses on his next action.
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Rolento 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Hakuya
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Igniz 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Rust
COMBATSYS: Rolento successfully hits Igniz with Quick Throw.
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Rolento 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Hakuya
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Igniz 0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0 Rust
COMBATSYS: Igniz blocks Hakuya's Quick Throw.
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Rolento 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Hakuya
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Igniz 0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0 Rust
Percentiles and percentages do not matter towarsd the god like Igniz. He stands for something more than simply numbers. He stands for his own godlike utopia. Igniz, a god of NESTS, stands for his own world. Something unable to be comprehended by many, and fought against for more. The god of NESTS is anything but simple.
Both Rolento and Hakuya move after the god of NESTS. Their moves quick, their abilities even quicker. Still, Igniz is not a man to be easily cornered, persuaded into an assault that he could not escape from. His options limitless, his abilities overpowering.
Still Rolento comes down upon him, able to catch Igniz by the throat and slam into him, causing the god of NESTS to falter backwards, and with that, stagger. Hakuya's own strike comes, beating down upon Igniz like a ton of bricks. Hakuya only manages to get the tackle in, rather than the scoop. The forcefields reinforce and repell, sending Hakuya backwards as quick as he came, the damage done.
Looking sternly towards Rolento, Igniz shakes his head. "Then you are an elite. A demi-angel. You hold no powers of a god yet you still wish to have such prowess." Igniz exclaims, "Do I sense jealousy? It matters not..." Igniz exclaims, turning away from Rolento. He had been foolish to think that the man would know anything in the wildest... and like that Igniz disappears.
Bullets fire, screams are heard all over. The battlefield is undoubtably a terrible place.
Reappearing besides Rust, through shifting his chi so fast that he appears to teleport, Igniz stops, even as the man concentrates. Igniz stands, his face turned down towards Rust.
"Why do you fight still? Beaten. Battered. Bruised. You are for all purposes dead but here I see you, staggering and attempting to get towards me. I feel sorry for you..." Igniz exclaims, waving a hand as if to order an unseeable servent.
The servent obeys, his cape scrawling across the ground as it reaches for Rust, attempting to blast upwards in a spiral of power with him entangled upon it before grasping and hurling him back towards earth itself.
Hakuya is no hero. Though his words sounded pretty heroic, the teenager is actually pretty conflicted about the whole thing. Who does he protect? The greater population, by stopping Igniz here and now? Or just these few people, in Pacific High? The latter would mean that Igniz would gain yet another foothold in Southtown. The former would mean... that more students would die. How could he justify one over the other? And in truth, even as he strikes Igniz - and bounces off of him - the Guardian King does not know what to do. He assumed Rust would be more able to wander into the school to check on the students, since he wouldn't be fighting someone like Igniz.
Or, at least, he wouldn't, if Igniz didn't take the fight to him.
As the Gedo student gets his feet back from the sudden balance shift of being repelled by forcefields, he can't help but notice that Igniz no longer is there. A quick glance around shows where he got to, however - and is noted with some alarm. Switching directions, the Guardian King attempts to rush straight for Igniz's back, shouting out, "Don't!" as he does. His goal? Simply to drive a fist straight at Igniz's kidney, a stiff, brutal punch.
Bit by bit, Rolento attempts to erode Igniz. He should realize his attacks are careful, efficient, risking little and gaining little. But that erosion counts when he is at a handicap, and the threat shouldn't be underestimated. Although it turns out that his deduction was wrong. The man takes time to dispose of the least threatening man in the group. A tactical error within his assessment. Speaking of gods and jealousy is ignored this time around, caring more about capitalizing on Igniz' diverted attention. Attempting to rush forward and slam into his back from behind with a shoulder, then twist to hook his neck from behind. Trying to flip him and send him flying with a snarl, having no compunctions about proverbial backstabs! It won't save Rust... but with any luck, his sacrifice won't be in vain. He'll try to give him that much -- he had more then enough warning.
COMBATSYS: Rust fails to interrupt Red Noah from Igniz with Brick Stacker.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Rolento 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\1 Hakuya
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Igniz 0/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Rust can no longer fight.
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Rolento 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\1 Hakuya
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Igniz 0/-------/=======|
If you want Igniz taken down with a flurry of quick attacks, don't look at this man. It takes a lot just to walk, even as sheer grit forces him to keep his head on the sidelines - if not in the game proper. That kid over there? From Gedo High, a school he failed to help with one Raizo Imawano. That man probably has no faith in him any more. The people inside? Probably have no faith in him any more. Himself? Definitely doesn't have much faith in himself any more.
What the hell is he supposed to do like this? He spent some of those last couple of seconds thinking about it. He still has his feet, yeah, maybe he could... could punt that god damn toolbox or something. Hell. I don't know, he grunts. The one supposed to be in charge, and he has absolutely no idea what good he'd be for now.
Igniz disappears all of a sudden. The man nearly stumbles in his step. Where'd he g-- the hairs on the back of his neck are trying to illegally smuggle themselves across the border to somewhere other than on his person, like maybe to that nice piece of real estate near that tiny concrete crater. It's a great place to be fossilized, they hear.
The words are unmistakably for /him/. The question is a good one. Why does he even bother? His co-workers will continue to find ways to belittle him, his students will (with few exceptions) continue to be barely competent at using tools in his class, he'll continue to grow old... pretty sad, isn't it. Easy to feel sorry for. He doesn't even bother to face him. The Demon, were he able to stick it out, would've gotten himself quite the delicious snack off of that total feeling of hopelessness.
The cape acts quickly. It envelopes him, tangling him into its deadly spiral. His eyes go wide. His mouth hangs open in alarm, wheezing some pathetic utterances as he is lifted up from the earth that he'll one day sleep a long sleep within... maybe even today?!
His left arm flails out of the tangle helplessly. It comes within inches of the NESTS god's face as the shop teacher is carried up, up and away. Well, not so much away. Up and up, yes, before it spits him right back into the concrete.
He impacts the ground harshly, an imprint of himself as tiny cracks race out of the hole moments after. The wind leaves him entirely with that last blow, leaving him to dazedly look up at the sky and how some of Igniz's hair blows in the eastern wind. His left hand reaches up once more. Man. Why does someone like him get... get to have hair like that...
The toolbox, now before a decline, rolls down, rattling gleefully before it collides with his head, spilling its contents all over the place. The teacher blacks out, left arm going limp.
COMBATSYS: Rolento successfully hits Igniz with Colonel Carrier.
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Rolento 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Hakuya
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Igniz 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Igniz counters Strong Punch from Hakuya with Void Genocide.
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Rolento 0/-------/---====|=======\=====--\1 Hakuya
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Igniz 1/-----==/=======|
Rust fights back. This ends in his ultimate demise. Thrust forward with untimely grace, Rust finds himself grasped and thrusted about like a ragdoll before plutting towards earth. Despite his final moments. His grand fight until the end it ends in failure. Something that the god of NESTS is entirely sure of promoting today.
He does not have time to waste, even as he throws Rust away. Hakuya is coming quickly from his other side. He has to react or leave himself open. So terribly open. The assault of the Gedo boy rushes in, attempting to pry Igniz off with a precise punch to the kidneys. The boy only gets the glowing palm of the god of NESTS in an attempt to drive the boy backwards. The spike shuttles itself heavily into Hakuya's chest, enough to send him flying backwards and directly off the gods side. He hasn't any time to waste.
%"I will do as I wish." Igniz hisses, just as Rolento comes down upon him.
Unable to react quick enough, Igniz finds himself slammed from behind, unable to escape the manuever with a quick leap or teleport, instead, hooked from the neck, flip and sent flying. Igniz tumbles towards the ground, wounded and pained in many places. The armor weighs him down a great deal, slowing him down, leaving him open in places he would preferably not be. That will all change soon. There is no doubt in the god of NESTS mind.
He has few things to do still. Those few things will not lead him astray, either.
Hakuya's attempt to save Rust is kind of a bust, no rhyme intended. Though the Guardian King attempts to do what's in the first part of his title, he ends up being a little too slow. In a number of ways. By the time his fist is in motion, the elder man is already falling to the ground like a ragdoll. And to Hakuya's eyes, despite the fact his fist is -in motion to Igniz's kidney as Igniz is attacking-, the god-being has time enough to eat a burger and fries before he turns and plants his palm on the Gedo boy's chest, spiking him backwards with a sharp blow. It's hard enough to send Hakuya flying across the parking lot, clearing maybe ten or twenty feet before he slams into the ground, rolls...
And ends up in a low crouch, supporting himself on one hand and knee pressed to the ground. Panting heavily, his cheek and arms torn open by superficial wounds from rolling along the asphault, Hakuya simply does not look like he's in that great of shape after such an attack... but he's not down. Slowly, the boy shows Gedo determination by staggering to his feet, wobbling only a little. One eye is closed to ward off blood getting into it, a gash on his forehead making the right side of his face a bit more red than it should be. But in the end, he's standing, and ready to fight.
Darting back towards Igniz, Hakuya seeks to one more throw his arms around the larger, armored god-being's waist, feet planting in order to give him a stable footing. He lifts, and then begins the ritual of binding his grandfather taught him.
It's made to work against demons, but would it work on a god?
Drop by drop, bit by bit, Igniz is losing ground. Rolento can tell this clearly, and it's doubtless that the God himself does as well. Hakuya clings to life, requiring a further investment in resources to remove. This gives him another turn to deal with the man before he might divert his resources. As long as he plays his hand carefully, that is. He can tell from the resounding clang of his baton that his suit is thoroughly bolstered with kinetic shields. And from the smack to his unprotected face, the man beneath is of nearly peak physical conditioning. No matter. He is a multi purpose assailant, and can use his shaft for more then just smacking asses.
"It would seem that your divine armour is beginning to weigh heavy on your shoulders. I have been theorizing..." Suddenly he shoots up into the air, rushing towards Igniz. Balling up, and then rolling towards the man as Hakuya unleashes his ultimate attack. Only to erupt up, trying to catch him from behind; and slam the baton beneath his chin, arching up. Making him an easier target for the demon killing assault. Hopefully it misses; it would surely work on his like. "If a God needs to breathe?!" Assuming it worked, he'd test the theory. With a lot of strangling.
COMBATSYS: Hakuya successfully hits Igniz with Midnight Sun.
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Rolento 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Hakuya
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ <
Igniz 1/---====/=======|
COMBATSYS: Igniz fails to counter Medium Throw from Rolento with Brutal God Project+.
- Power fail! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////// ]
Rolento 0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0 Hakuya
[ \\\\\\\ <
Igniz 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|
Grabbing Igniz about the waist and hefting upwards, Hakuya suddenly ducks low and lashes out a leg. There's no attack with this, the Gedo teen simply seems to be sweeping his foot out in a wide circle. For what? As his sneakered foot travels, it leaves behind a blue-white streak across the ground, eventually forming a circle around the two. Immediately after, Hakuya rises, then slams the armored form of the god-being into the ground, hard enough that the man actually bounces off from the asphault. Grabbing him up once more, Hakuya performs this throw twice more, spiking the armored form into the ground a total of three times, before he's siezed a fourth time, then thrown upwards. Once in the air, Hakuya turns, and slashes his hand over the blue ring 'boundry' around both he and Igniz, and suddenly blue light just slams into Igniz from above, the collective kinetic energy built up from the first three throws slamming the god-being into the ground one more time.
Igniz isn't prepaired, no matter how much preparation he's stacked on in hopes of catching them off guard. Hakuya rips forward, breaking through Igniz's defenses as he goes. Unfortunately, he reaches him before he's able to react. Even a god can be hurt. Hakuya strikes across Igniz's armor, much of it falling off, the armored figure bounches three times before he's crashed int othe ground a fourth. Blue light and other sorts add in to the damage. Still, the god of NESTS is not yet to fall over.
Once more lifting, he faces Rolento. It is time to teach the pest a lesson.
The lesson is taught to him instead as he throws himself forward, bloddied by being thrown off the asphalt even if his suit requires hover technology to lift,not his own forces. Its something that boggles the mind.
Rolento grasps first, stranggling Igniz as he isn't able to return. The god of NESTS is left without air, his neck being forced into a terrible position with so much force upon it.
The god of NESTS stumbles, beaten and brutalized terribly with no strategy or recourse.
He is helpless.
The Midnight Sun is shown, but it does not end Igniz's fighting ability. Instead, he gets up to face Rolento, but the mercenary proves to be quite quick with a simple attack of choking the god-being, proving that while gods may not bleed, they do need oxygen. Igniz staggers, and Hakuya watches the man for a moment, panting a little as he's expended quite a lot of effort this fight so far. First fighting Kichiga to a stand still, and now Igniz. He can tell that last round of attacks had its toll on the god-being, though whether he was as bad off as Hakuya was, that's another story entirely. Lurching into action, the Gedo fighter resolves to finish this; Rust went down, but that doesn't mean his spirit, his need to protect the school doesn't live on. Hakuya was sent to help, and that's exactly what he aims to do.
Sneakered feet plant firmly, and fists lash out, both at the same time, seeking to strike Igniz at either of his sides. Hands retract, then flash out again, once more seeking to strike, this time on the god-being's armored chest and stomach. The final attack in this combo would be seen as Hakuya ducks down and seeks to drive his shoulder into the larger man's gut, trying to shove Igniz back and perhaps giving Rolento an opening to exploit - so far, the mercenary seems pretty good at doing that sort of thing.
For a brief moment, Rolento saw the shadow of death. A rare thing, that. Few people in this world have summoned that spectre. Heidern. Vega. Kain. Geese. It's no surprise he witnessed such in that attempted grasp. Had he any hesitation or fear, he would be shattered and upon the ground. Nobody here realizes the threat of the man he has within his arms, wrenching Igniz's head to the side, face firm. Only Rust, a fool who ignored it and fell as anticipated. Unacceptable. The threat within this fight was not worth the chance of success, even if it seems they will prevail. Meaningless... will they do any better when Igniz returns? If he is even defeated?!
This series of thoughts ends in him pushing the suited man away. Clinging tenaciously will likely end in a few hundred thousand volts shooting through him, if he's lucky. Retreating in a few swift kicks, he backflips and positions himself on the corner of a building. "..." He prepares. Hakuya can flail, distract him, for the last few moments needed. But he's the one who will have to make the last, final push to end this battle! No matter how worthless it might be to the war!!
COMBATSYS: Rolento focuses on his next action.
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Rolento 0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0 Hakuya
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Igniz 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Igniz counters Howling Harvest from Hakuya with Medium Punch.
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Rolento 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 Hakuya
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Igniz 0/-------/-------|
Igniz is bested. There is no question. His gambits were overpassed in every way. The three fighters had managed to overwhelm the god in his own game, his own calculating odds finally turned against him.
That does not mean in any way that the god of NESTS was finished. With his attention turned now towards Hakuya, who had happened to do all he could to draw the Overlord of NESTS attention, nothing better would suffice it would seem.
Eventually, when the Midnight Sun was shown, Igniz would no longer ignore the Gedo High student, and instead, cripple him as he did Rust.
Hakuya rushes out, intending to finish what Rust started. He manages to get close attempting to strike. Igniz strikes hard and fast, not even pulling any punches as he immediately attacks the one place where mortals have their greatest weakness held out in plain sight.
Their pelvic region.
Even before Hakuya can begin his blows, a crushing blow would be delivered as Igniz rose once more with a smile. A smile a serial killer would hold after murdering his own family.
"Did you not learn anything? Do not provoke me any further. I will not hold back in my attempt to eliminate you."
That's wonderful. Do they not realize the reason Rolento wanted to retreat? To preserve manpower!! What point is this victory if he has lost two fighters in the bargain? Pathetic, short sighted fools. Of course, things are not set in stone yet. Igniz remains upright. Long enough to incapacitate Hakuya as well. He has no recourse but to use his ultimate assault. Kicking himself into the air, he lands in a crouch before slamming his baton into the ground, leaning back and bowing the wood with a grimace. "GO!!" he roars, and then shoots forward. A broad arc, that takes him into a tight ball. He bounces twice on the ground, spiraling madly, before erupting up to slam into the hole of the armour that Hakuya opened; aiming to slam one steel booted food as hard as he can, and hopefully bring the God to his knees!!
Fists come out, but unfortunately Igniz's fist is a little bit faster. Despite his downed state, the god-being is definitely not out, and he proves it with a swift, crushing blow to the nether regions. Normally this is a particularly devestating move to any fighter. And of course as Hakuya gets hit, his own strikes fall short, hitting nothing at all. But the one thing that Igniz doesn't count on, or overlooks... is that Hakuya is a Gedo student.
Gedo students learn inside the first week not to care about punches to the goods.
So no sooner does the punch come than Hakuya staggers, stabilizes, then surges forward to deliver his counter strike. A fist lances out again, intent on striking Igniz in the face. Swirling in place, Hakuya then brings his other fist around in a backhand hammer blow, seeking to slam it across the armored god-being's chin. A final strike would see an uppercutting blow delivered once more to the chin, borrowing moves from his friend Marisol to complete the attack.
Regardless of whether he's successful in his strikes, however, the Guardian King will then collapse to his knees, sinking down and seeming to pass out without fully making it to a prone position.
COMBATSYS: Hakuya can no longer fight.
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Igniz 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Rolento
COMBATSYS: Igniz blocks Rolento's Mekong Delta Attack.
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Igniz 0/-------/------=|=====--\-------\0 Rolento
COMBATSYS: Hakuya successfully hits Igniz with Rising Dusk.
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Igniz 0/-------/------=|=====--\-------\0 Rolento
Even as Rolento is able to level his attack once more upon Igniz, god of NESTS, he is unable to land it clearly. The arc he travels as he fires his batton into the ground is just enough to slam into Igniz's considerable defenses. The four peices of armor rise up, forming together to repell Rolento at a wonderous angle. Igniz floats, his armor cracking and shattering around him.
Hakuya doesn't give up however. He continues forward despite the punch Igniz had delivered. Hammer blow and backhand are enough, the uppercut adding just enough to push Igniz through his pain threshold. Finally defeated, Igniz decides this is the time to back out on.
Even as Hakuya falls, Igniz falters, manuevering out the same way he came. The attack, in turn, will falter. His men will be carved down by the resistance.
Still, the victory is not one that was not hard fought. The victory in itself, while bittersweet, has the taste of death. With the school carved up and bodies strewen across, even the flowers that will grow here will be red in months to come.
Even after the entire campaign reaches an end, it will still be there.
COMBATSYS: Igniz takes no action.
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Rolento 0/-------/--=====|
COMBATSYS: Igniz can no longer fight. Is this the end of lovable Igniz?
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Rolento 0/-------/--=====|
Log created on 17:27:55 03/08/2009 by Hakuya, and last modified on 17:29:12 03/28/2009.