Description: Adelheid's search for the BLECE test subjects locates one (1) slightly used Ichiro. At the same time Shadaloo's mercenaries arrive to take him into custody. The brainwashed Taiyo warrior makes this equation far more complicated with his unpredictable violence, but in the end Adelheid and Shurui drive away the soldiers decisively, and take Ichiro in to cure his burning STD (SIN-Transmitted Disease).
The ragged rasping sounds that escape from the shadowy figure's lips as it scrambles and leaps from rooftop to rooftop under the dimly lit Southtown night sky is eerily reminiscent of both the husky growls of a rabid animal and the labored breath of a wounded man. The creature's long, loping stride and athletically powerful leaps and vaults would almost be graceful, if not for the moments when its progress is halted by wracking coughing fits that leave a trail of bloody vomit smears dotting its path across the Southtown roofline. "Yess..." the haggard creature purrs as it crests the edge of a rooftop, the jagged tip of the metal spear in its hand thrust into the tile roof next to its hunched form as it watches what may very well be its next victim walk the street below.
The only sign of the stalking predator on the rooftop that can be seen from the ground beneath is a flickering golden flame that inhabits the cavity that up until a short time ago housed the monster's left eye; that, and maybe the lethal glint of the metallic weapon at his side. The Shadaloo-issued uniform jacket long ruined and discarded, the primal creature's upper body's only clothing is the thick coating of the blood that slicks his muscular arms; the blood of his previous victims, no doubt. Running a hand over his freshly shaved pate, the experiment of SIN straightens and vaults over the side of the third story building to land down on the street below. The soles of his metal-clad Shadaloo-issued boots thud against the pavement with surprising quietness as a sick grin flashes across the sweat-sheened face of the crazed killer and he sizes up his next target.
There was no shortage of work in Southtown for opportunistic hired guns willing to operate without scruples or morals getting in the way. The Syndicate, desperate for manpower against the encroaching tide was paying top dollar for suckers willing to stand in the line of fire as hopeless meat shields. And the NESTS/Shadaloo conglomerate that was tightening its choke hold on the city was content to pay less money to the slightly less suicidal sorts who wanted to make a buck but weren't as brave or foolish as those the Syndicate was hiring. Case in point, one Sheila Sterlin.
A beautiful, no-nonsense, combat savy woman with a knack for solving 'problems', her actions during the war were discrete and subtle, keeping her out of the limelight and most definitely out of the path of the dangerously bold resistence fighters the city had managed to assemble. Easy money, handling low key odds and ends jobs without the risks associated with more front-line work. She'll ride the war out and disappear into the shadows before anything can possibly resolve, moving on to her next target of opportunity.
Orders came down the pipeline. 'Locate Project Iota. Deliver to the facility at the park to help bolster defenses. Be quick about it.' Sounds like a milk run at first glance, but the nature of the target for collection makes it a bit less certain. A small troop of six combat veteran soldiers where dispatched under her command to help persuade the wandering experiment unto cooperating. Sheila didn't suspect it would be a problem.
The armored vehicle rumbles through the streets of Southtown, bouncing over potholes created by errant tank shells and general lack of maintenance as it rolls onto the street Ichiro has dropped down. SIN scouts had kept an eye on him from a safe distance, making the 'finding' part of this little operation a breeze.
It would seem his next target is a lucky one tonight, for the sight of the armored troop transport rounding the corner is enough to startle them into bolting forward in an eager bid to not be caught out in the open by one of the invasion forces units. The front tires and rear treads grind to a halt, the troop transport sliding to a stop right near Ichiro. Men pour out of the back of the vehicle, keeping their distance from Ichiro at first in an attempt to gauge his disposition, "All right, kiddo. Time to go back to the barn. Why don't you hop on in here. Seth has bigger plans for you." Sheila stays comfortably in the passanger seat up front. No sense in getting her hands dirty with grunt work after all.
The SIN division of Shadaloo isn't the only organization looking for Ichiro Oe. In fact, the fervent Taiyo warrior's exploits during this affair have drawn the eye of the youngest of the world's factions, one with very different goals from either the 'defenders' or the 'attackers' in this little war. At first glance, it was a struggle between good and evil, but Adelheid Bernstein knew better. He had read the briefs. He knew who was involved in defending, and who was seizing the assets within Southtown. The platinum blonde sees it as far simpler, yet far more complex: it is a struggle between bad and worse. An attempt to expose and depose one tyrant, only to seize his assets for more nefarious aims. It's all gotten very old to the Prince of War.
The armored transport rolls up below, while honed sensors and warriors scan for energy - and emergency transmissions - over the city from far above. The night sky is covered in drifting clouds, the full moon obscured infrequently as they wisp across her surface, and suddenly, a skyscraper in the air imposes itself between the shiny silver satellite and Southtown below, passing swiftly, a dark behemoth across the evening sky. It is there, and then it is gone, but the airship now holding position high above the city has a bead on both the SIN transport... and the ire-fueled power boiling up within Ichiro. He's changed, indeed.
"Your comrade is directly below." The black-uniformed Bernstein informs the not-so-blind girl operating with him on this nighttime extraction, "One way or another, we get him out." Adel is right there with the schools fighters, on this point: he's not leaving these veritable zombie puppets running around, robbed of their will in service of the selfish murderers that seek control of Southtown. No, it's about the worst sin he can think of, the treatment of NESTS 'agents', SIN and Shadaloo's Dolls... and now this. The whipping turbines diffuse their audible displacement of air well, staggering with one another as the carefully engineered aerodynamics collide and disperse the soundwaves, though it keeps the area directly around the massive sky battleship a veritable hurricane gale while it's in flight.
Moments later, Adelheid steps into one of the rocket-fueled pods littering an aft bay on either side of the vessel, "Launch Alpha." he intones, and the chute opens, the armored, manned artillery shell erupting downward, roaring through the sky in a breakneck path for the ground, its main booster remaining unignited, though halfway down.... a circular array of jets around its length fires, reversing its force and slowing the descent to a rushing whistle of wind, one which abruptly dissipates into the cracking din of crushed concrete as the street is ripped and cracked by impact, a triad of clawlike metal limbs whipping out from the bottom to 'land' the decidedly abrupt dropship in the street, the cabin depressurizing as a sliding door opens. Eventually, this prototype will become the coin-operated shelters in post-Fallout America. It's not nearly as good at that as it is at this.
"Insertion successful." It's the first non-trial trial run. So he went first. Brave. Booted feet step out of the pod, which has inserted itself in the now-ruined section of road between Ichiro and his captors, "Belay that, Oe. You know it's not where you belong."
When Adelheid picked Shurui up in his massive airship seemingly out of the blue and told her further of his plans, she was skeptical. Attack all the big bads? Shadaloo, NESTS, the Syndicate, SIN, whatever else is out there? Impossible. Sure, she'll consider giving him a hand, but what could she do?
Shurui knew the answer to her own question when the subject later came to one Ichiro Oe. Ichiro. Shurui remembers him, definitely. With a pang of sharp regret that has plagued her ever since learning of Hotaru and Frei's fate. However, while Frei and Hotaru have since been recovered, Ichiro was still at large, his body wracked with power his body was never meant to control. The clock's ticking, and it's hard to tell how damaged his body will get if someone doesn't stop him sometime or later. But how? Hotaru's healing cost Marise much of her lifeforce, and Frei... well, his ability to sense chi is completely gone, leaving him blind in a way that Shurui could sympathize with, due to her experience with the plague that targeted those with Psycho power.
%$t And yet, she can't leave Ichiro without a hope of regaining his former sanity, even if it may come with the realization of what he's done. Ignorance is not bliss. Thus, when Adelheid steps out of his pod, a second pod comes crashing down, a dazed Shurui crawling out afterwards, still freshly bandaged from her previous engagement at Gedo High. Glancing up to sight Ichiro for the first time without a screen to stand between her and her second sight's perception of his aura, the Gedo girl's eyes widen. ".... shit..." Is it too late? "Damn it..." She moves over to Adelheid, attempting to whisper lowly in his range of hearing: "... You think you got a way to cleanse him? A friend and I barely managed with Hotaru, and that was a bit ago."
Of course, it may not matter. To be free of SIN, even for a short while, would be better than a lifetime of being held in their influence. And yet, she can't assume Adelheid has prepared for everything. No. That's just not her nature to expect that.
The predatory grin quickly fades from Oe's face as an APC of the same type that originally unleashed him upon Southtown's battered populace skids around a corner, scaring away his prey and unloading a squad of troopers. "NO!" the SIN test subject growls as he spins toward the cautiously advancing men that just ruined his fun. "I... I DON'T WANT TO GO BACK!" the young man snarls as he clutches at his scarred face in pain. Oe's knuckles whiten as his grip tightens on the metal-alloy spear in his right hand, as if the weapon would be any help against the myriad of voices screaming in his head. An images flashes through the conflicted man's mind as a familiar name is called out to Oe from within the APC's cab. Seth. A flash of fear and pain crosses the former Taiyo student's scarred visage as voice that belongs to the head of SIN wrests control of the youth from the other confused and angry voices. "Y-yes..." Ichiro replies wearily as he lowers his weapon "...plans..." he echoes with a step toward the APC doors.
Mere inches from the APC door, the SIN test subject is stopped in his tracks by the thunderous 'landing' of Adelheid's pod. "WHAT?!" Ichiro howls as his head whips back toward the intruder, a look of fear and confusion on his face. "NO! A TRAP!" he growls in confusion as one of the Shadaloo soldiers makes the mistake of trying to push him into the ACP so they can make a hasty escape. Spinning toward the trooper, Ichiro's spear twists and blurs toward the unfortunate man's torso and the jagged point plunges straight through his battle armored chest.
"I'M NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" Oe bellows to all parties as he lifts a booted foot and kicks the already deceased man off of his weapon. Leaping away from the APC, Oe rolls and lands in a crouch a good distance from both Adelheid and the SIN recovery crew. "I'm not going anywhere," he repeats as his one good eye locks on the newly arrived Shurui, even as a new voice suddenly begins speaking in his mind. A soft, calm voice.
COMBATSYS: Adelheid has started a fight here on the right meter side.
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|=------\-------\0 Adelheid
COMBATSYS: Shurui has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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|-------\-------\0 Shurui
> //////////////////////////////]
|=------\-------\0 Adelheid
COMBATSYS: Sheila has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Sheila 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Shurui
> //////////////////////////////]
|=------\-------\0 Adelheid
COMBATSYS: Invader has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Sheila 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Shurui
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Invader 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Adelheid
COMBATSYS: Ichiro has joined the fight here in the center.
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Sheila 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Shurui
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Invader 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Adelheid
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Ichiro 0|-------|-------
The soldiers are confident as Ichiro begins to advance toward the vehicle. Seth had ingrained the experiments with a certain inherent loyalty to the director of SIN - a loyalty that would only crack under extreme circumstances. It was what made this job - the capturing of a wild animal - such a cinch. In theory. For all the wandering he has done as a crazed thing through the steel jungle of Southtown, calling him home to the living monster that 'gave' him this power should be a fairly smooth undertaking.
The blond woman watches from the passanger seat, one hand at her cheek, fingers tapping lightly. Dressed in a tailor fit black suit and white dress shirt and accompanying black tie, she looks the part of a hitman more than a street soldier, and that's perfectly fine with her. Blue British eyes watch the poor boy respond to the call to come home, a soft 'tsk' at her tongue. Even when this war is over and she has retreated to find work elsewhere, some lives will be forever changed no matter the outcome.
Suddenly things get complicated. A metal box from the heavens lands with a sudden thud on the pavement and one of her soldiers is sporting a new hole through his torso, crumpling to the ground a bloody, punctured mess. "The hell-" The young man that steps out is recognized by his profile. A radio in the cab is grabbed first, "Base, we have a problem." Sheila's voice hesitates as a second pod lands and a far less known figure stumbles out of it. "It's the Bernstein boy."
The truck's front passanger door opens up and Sheila slides out. She's not about to let the mission go south so fast if she can help it. For the immediate moment Shurui is ignored. It's hard to know what she is about until she acts. Adelheid though? It's not hard to guess what he's here for. Word had been disseminated about him being a likely threat to operations...
"Will hold him off... but need backup." is the last thing she says into the radio before leaving it on the seat of the truck. Little does she know the base is in no position to spare forces just now. Dress shoes hit the pavement, the well dressed young woman bringing her hand to her collar to adjust her necktie. When she lowers her hands, there is a dim blue glow about her fingertips and as she takes a second to adjust the sleeves of her coat, a faint trace of frost is left behind.
"Hold him off," she orders, waving her left hand into a point toward Adelheid. The soldiers take their aim and fire in unisen toward the young man turned faction head, sending a brief volley of three rounds per rifle his way. Sheila moves in closer before sliding to a stop. Her right hand lifts, fist clenched, her left hand bracing it at the wrist with a tight grip, combining the chi from both limbs into a sphere of brutally cold energy that launches toward Adelheid. It's a yard out when it expands into a wider wave, making it more difficult to avoid. Just buy a second to think, then deal with the boy, Sheila muses.
COMBATSYS: Adelheid dodges Invader's Medium Shot.
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Sheila 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Shurui
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Invader 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Adelheid
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Ichiro 0|-------|-------
COMBATSYS: Adelheid reflects Thunderball from Sheila with Dark Barrier.
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Sheila 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Shurui
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Invader 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Adelheid
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Ichiro 0|-------|-------
"I have a few ideas." Adelheid replies, his eyes on Ichiro and the APC, the troops now around it, rather than Shurui herself, "Step one is to keep him from being drug back with /them/. Keep him from being used as a weapon. From being subjected to more experiments." The young Bernstein's voice takes on a slightly different tone. Something new, something more intense, slightly darker. He has no sympathy for these villains, no understanding of what they've done to Oe, no willingness or desire to -learn- about it, either... as Rugal found out when this operation pushed his son over the proverbial edge, perhaps for the better... though that depends who one asks, "Just hold your own, keep trying to get through to him; but above all, they do not leave here with him. This goes no further - it's the least any true warrior would want."
While they may be the farthest from Adel's own experiences, his own missing childhood, he's learned to respect Southtowns school-based fighters, by and large. Some more than others, but no one deserves this fate, in his book. The Shadaloo goons tkae their positions, Sheila gives the orders, immediately identifying herself as the leader even if the coming assault didn't show her potential all the more clearly. Burst-fire erupts from numerous assault rifles, but the prodigal Bernstein is no longer there. In a blur of motion, projected from within himself, a shockwave gusts outwards and he darts to the side. Booted feet touch down with deceptive lightness, the Prince of War's crimson eyes narrowing as that brilliant bolt crackles to life, the frigid energy all but tangible to him even from a distance, as he reveals his own mastery - one half genetics and one half focused training - over chi itself.
The sphere sheers the air as it comes in, crashing solidly into a nigh-instantly conjured, whirling shield of dark energy, its crackling mass wavering with a visible shockwave that travels out to its edges... and then crashes back inward like an inexorable tide, dark winds ripping outwards, through the icy burst, and then the entire mass simply blasts back the way it came, as if it had run into a slingshot perfectly aligned to add its own potential energy to that focused down on Adelheid, a wind-shorn gale of ice and hurricanes whipping back for its initiator.
"Yeah, I know. I'll going to appeal to him, but I'm not expecting any miracles. Just be prepared- his aura's really unstable." Shurui's dark eyes travel through the mob of soldiers, noting them all before coming to rest back on Sheila. "That woman. Over there. She's different than the others." It's a quality that Adelheid already seems to recongize. Any other others are cut off promptly as the soldiers open fire, causing Shurui to dash out of harm's way.
A true warrior, Adelheid says. The words grate on Shurui's ears, even while she knows that the young man saying them truly believes in his words. There's a lot of things Adelheid says that makes her want to snap back, if only because she's heard less truthful men use them over and over. However, for better or worse, Adelheid believes in what he says, and it's up to Shurui to see past her previous prejudices. On the battlefield is no time to mince words; they agree on wanting to get Ichiro out of here.
"Ichiro, that's enough!" Shurui yells as she moves towards the SIN experiment, stopping a safe distance back. "I'm not here to 'take you back'. I'm here to try to fix what they-" she motions to the soldiers nearby- "-have done to you. My friends managed to get Frei and Hotaru, but we hadn't gotten you yet." She approaches carefully, a keen eye kept on Ichiro's aura for signs of danger. "That guy I came with- he saved me about a year ago. He might have the technology to heal you. If not, I'll take you to Hotaru's. Frei's there too. But Hotaru and Frei are the reasons I'm here- you wanna know what happened to Frei? The stuff they did to him- probably the same stuff they did to you- made him unable to hear chi. He's numb. Hotaru nearly *died*."
A harsh tone, but a neccessary one, Shurui feels. She stands there. "We're here to help you. You'll be free. From those guys, and from whatever they did to you. *Free*. But not alone."
COMBATSYS: Shurui takes no action.
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Sheila 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Shurui
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Invader 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Adelheid
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Ichiro 0|-------|-------
"...enough?" Oe repeats slowly as recognition begins to flicker through his embattled psyche. Frei... Hotaru... "...Shurui?" Ichiro enquires quietly, memories of the blind girl finally managing to pierce the angry fog that clouds his mind. Ichiro's shoulders sink slightly as the tension in his battle-ready muscles begins to slip away. "What they did to me..." he replies quietly, his voice on the brink of quavering with emotion as he tears his monocular gaze away from Shurui to rest on the violence coming from Adelheid and the SIN operatives.
New voices come to life in the cacophony of sound that reflect the young man's twisted and confused consciousness, calm and sensible sounds that speak with the voices of his friends. Unfortunately for Ichiro, the shadow of SIN's programming is ever-present, and Seth 15's voice speaks loudest of all.
"No... NO!" Ichiro growls, his features darkening as he spins his spear into a ready position near his waist. "YOU'RE TRYING TO TRICK ME!" Oe shouts. "THEY GAVE ME LIFE," he adds as the flame of chi in his empty eye socket suddenly flares up ever brighter. "I -AM- FREE!" Trembling with power and rage, Ichiro's inner wells of violent spirit swell with energy as the BLECE treatment that infuses every cell in his body begins to drain his own life-force and transmute it into a tangible force.
"THEY GAVE ME POWER!" Ichiro screams as he breaks into a blurring sprint toward Shurui, sweat beginning to pour down his face as his body begins to overheat. Reaching out for the girl's throat with his free left hand, Oe attempts to life Shurui into the air before thrusting his spear toward her midsection in an attempt to silence her lies in much the same way as he just silenced the life of the SIN Trooper before her.
COMBATSYS: Sheila blocks Adelheid's Reflected Thunderball.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Sheila 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Shurui
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Invader 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Adelheid
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Ichiro 0|-------|-------
Bullets spray through the air, filling the location Adelheid was occupying a moment before with smoking hot metal, but the young man has already relocated, gathering his energy to him in the process. It's to be expected. "Retarget!" Sheila barks a simple order, keeping the men focused. If they lose their focus they'll become useless, lost to panic and easily scattered. The soldiers obey, lining up to take another controlled burst-fire shot right about the time Adelheid demonstrates his own chi mastery, creating a discus of concentrated energy to not simply deflect the icy wave but to send it flying right back at its creator.
Sheila's arms come up, the woman bracing for impact, a shimmer of subtle blue coursing over her forearms as her own aura moves to counteract the incoming energy. Perhaps it is because she's quite familiar with the energy blasting back at herself that she manages to weather the storm, letting the worst of it splash against her limbs and be warded off by her own impressive aura.
"Cancel that - surround and contain!" she orders, deciding that trying to restrict Adelheid's movements are the best option now. "And stop that-" She's about to call some off to deal with Ichiro. The kid needs to be contained and controlled, he /needs/ to be gotten back to base, that's the job. But he goes after Shurui with his spear and Sheila shakes her head, "Ignore that, focus solely on the Bernstein boy." If Ichiro keeps that unknown factor occupied for a bit, all the better. Unfortunate the girl might have to eat a spear for it, but that's the risks she assumed stepping into this. There's no easy answers in war.
Her left hand waves, ordering the men on, but she's right there with them, charging into the fray, her hands aglow once more with that deathly chill. Seeking to help the men cage Adelheid in, she attacks first, owing to nearer proximity, her hands extended, palms facing each other. A shimmering mirror of icy chi appears on either side of Adelheid before Sheila claps her hands together and brings the mirrors smashing toward each other in an attempt to smash him between them.
It all takes place right before the men rush in, some aiming to punch, rifle-butt, and kick the Prince of War into brief submission all in an attempt to contain him if but for a brief moment!
COMBATSYS: Adelheid blocks Invader's Savage Beatdown.
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Sheila 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Shurui
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Invader 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Adelheid
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Ichiro 0|-------|-------
COMBATSYS: Adelheid parries Sheila's Tomorrow Never Dies!
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Sheila 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Shurui
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Invader 0/-------/-------|=====--\-------\0 Adelheid
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Ichiro 0|-------|-------
COMBATSYS: Ichiro has left the fight here.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Sheila 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Shurui
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Invader 0/-------/-------|=====--\-------\0 Adelheid
COMBATSYS: Shurui has left the fight here.
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Sheila 0/-------/-------|=====--\-------\0 Adelheid
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Invader 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Invader has left the fight here.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Sheila 0/-------/-------|=====--\-------\0 Adelheid
COMBATSYS: Adelheid has left the fight here.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Sheila 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Sheila has ended the fight here.
COMBATSYS: Invader2 has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Sheila 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Shurui
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Invader2 0/-------/-------|=====--\-------\0 Adelheid
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Ichiro 0|-------|-------
A cursory glance is spared for Ichiro and Shurui as the latter tries to talk down the SIN-altered warrior, innocent childhood (and fun-loving lacrosse stick) traded for anger, power, and a nasty looking spear. It's something that Adelheid can relate to on a symbolic level, but nothing he has time for right at this moment. The Shadaloo agents dispatched to reclaim Ichiro are the primary concern, because if they fail in that aspect of the objective... it doesn't matter if they're able to get through to Oe or not, he'll be right back where this whole mess started. So the Prince of War steels his will, refocuses his attention, even as Sheila manages to ward off the chilling blast levelled back at her, "Impressive." He murmurs... apparently they didn't dispatch -total- mooks to deal with him. All the worse for their survivability, really, because the Bernstein bloodline has only one response ingrained in their instincts to any challenge.
Adelheid pushes it, shifts that invisible slider on his combat EQ higher, cranks up the volume, and bursts into motion. Surround and contain? Good luck keeping -up- with him. Icy mirrors of energy slice in to sandwich him, and the young fighter lurches forward, and to the right, slamming a palm into the adjacent concentration of energy as he shifts, apparently treating it like a temporary, tangible wall with which to vault into a sort of spinning handspring, coming about clear of the detonation zone, a trace of snowy grey whisping off his black-gloved fingertips like smoke on dry ice. He touches down lightly, crimson eyes closing as he draws a deep breath... just as he's rushed. He responds intuitively, and immediately, eyes snapping open as a slamming elbow misaligns a rifle butt, a pre-emptive fist shatters an incoming set of knuckles, he interjects a braced leg in the path of a sweep, standing his ground defiantly as the bruising strike lashes in. It's a flurry of such motion as weapons and limbs are levelled on Adelheid, none slipping past his adept guard.
Each half-instant is another blur of motion, each assault becomes little more than a stinging distraction, and the surrounding soldiers? Are suddenly surrounding empty space, the Prince of War all but exploding out of the dogpile, launching himself into a graceful front-flip skyward.... his momentum redoubling on his way back to the ground, angled in for the leader of this little outfit. Rout the commander, and the rest will be far easier to demoralize and defeat. His inner strength surges to the fore, the wind behind him erupting with sheer momentum, the platinum blonde seeming not to touch the ground at all before all of it is directed forward, a clothesline inviting Sheila along for the ride.
.... should she be acquired? Well, she becomes the cow catcher on the Doom Train, as both go hurtling down the street, straight back for the APC, a hand closing on her neck and face as the young Bernstein heaves forward with all the force his decidedly thick arms can muster, along with an implosive shockwave of power that releases intangibly but audibly at the moment of impact, throwing all his strength behind the attempt to create a brand new door in the side of the Shadaloo transport: with Sheila's head and back.
COMBATSYS: Shurui blocks Ichiro's Unsportsmanlike Conduct.
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Sheila 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Shurui
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Invader2 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Adelheid
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Ichiro 0|-------|------=
"Yeah. Shurui Chiang," the girl coaxes. "That girl who got you to Futuba Mansion so you could heal?" Her slight wry smile betrays a hint of guilt at the reminder of this particular factoid. "Came back to get you. If you don't come with me, your body'll give out on you sooner or later. Probably sooner." She takes a step.
And Ichiro objects. Rather loudly. The wry smile and the fake relaxed pose lapses to readiness in a heartbeat as her senses pick up the stirring of corrupt energy from within Ichiro's body. The indication that he'll strike, and that words would only prolong a difficult battle. Better to not waste anymore time on diplomacy. Whatever SIN did to its experiments' brains, Shurui can't undo with a few simple calls to reason in a hostile environment.
".... I call bullshit." He attacks, and she's ready, a hand hitting just enough to dislodge the trajectory of Ichiro's grabbing hand. "They made you weak!" The second hand attempts to dislodge the speak as well, but it only diverts it from her body's baseline, instead causing it to cruise painfully against her side, drawing out some blood. "I'm taking you now, even if I gotta beat you down first!" Using her closeness to the former lacrosse player, Shurui attempts to entangle her arms against his and sharply twist him against her jutting right knee, throwing him off to the side and stepping away.
COMBATSYS: Ichiro fails to interrupt Grimalkin Waltz from Shurui with Cross Check EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Sheila 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Shurui
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Invader2 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Adelheid
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Ichiro 0|-------|----===
More flashes of memories fly through Oe's confused mind like lightning strikes as Shurui continues to speak. The standoff at Gedo High. The explosion of glass that took his eye. Shurui leading him to Hotaru's Mansion. The ambush. "It was YOU!" Ichiro growls as his thrusting spear hits her side. "YOU took me to... that... that place," Oe continues as he draws back the spear in an attempt to grasp it with both hands and deliver a brutal blow to the blind girl's head that probably won't compare to the pounding anguish in his mind, brought on by the brief disjointed memories of the tortuous experiments that SIN inflicted on the young man. Experiments that were the result of his capture at the Futaba Estate.
"YOU WERE AGAINST ME THE ENTIRE TIME!" The SIN operative roars, even as Shurui's arms manage to tie up his own, denying him a firm grip on his metal spear and resulting in a powerful knee strike that sends him stumbling away from the blind fighter. "I'll NEVER go with you..." the teen utters darkly, shivering with fever as he grips his bruised ribs.
COMBATSYS: Sheila fails to counter God Press EX from Adelheid with Goldfinger.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Sheila 0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0 Shurui
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Invader2 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\0 Adelheid
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Ichiro 0|-------|----===
Her attack wasn't that slow. To a typical person it would have been a flash of cold followed by a crushing collision of two fields of unforgiving chi. Against Adelheid, however, it seemed to last an eternity as the young man slips up between the crashing mirrors to land both free of the chi attack and beyond the range of the troop of soldiers desperately trying to keep up with him. The suit-clad blonde is already drawing back when the young man descends with a rush of chi driven force and gravity aided momentum. It seems, she has but a split second to ponder, that the threat level this kid represented should have been much more clearly communicated than 'inconvenience', but complaining about incomplete intel is a task better saved for /later/.
A static defense against the inhuman speed Adelheid achieves is a hopeless endeavor and thus it is the hired gun twists to the side, attempting to whip herself into an intersecting kick in order to catch Adelheid by the side as he would explode past her.
She's pulled from the air in the very attempt, unable to find any traction with which to stop the train she just got pulled aboard. A split second later she's being crushed against the outside of the armored vehicle, her upper back taking the brunt of the impact strong enough to sheer metal into a crater and leave her lost somewhere within. The troop of soldiers are left to operate without orders for a moment, but their collective intelligence can't think of any reason to veer off from their previous orders, especially now that it seems the young man has bested their commanding officer. Giving it the ol' college try, they leap for Adelheid again, attempting to overwhelm the superior fighter with raw numbers!
COMBATSYS: Adelheid interrupts Burial Ground from Invader2 with Genocide Cutter.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Sheila 0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0 Shurui
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Invader2 1/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1 Adelheid
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Ichiro 0|-------|----===
WHAM. Metal crunches, armor plating shears away, and one might think the Shadaloo transport got the worst of the onslaught, if they happened to miss Sheila disappearing within, and -making- the gaping wound in the side of the military vehicle in the first place. Adelheid's booted feet touch ground lightly, an alert, ever-shifting stance immediately reacquired. He's not finished yet, not by a long shot. There are crimes to answer for here, and the fate of a warrior who's given the young Bernstein no reason to doubt his true spirit. Even if he is a bit, well... deluded, just now.
"Don't be a fool!" The platinum blonde calls, turning to face Ichiro and Shurui for a moment, "These disgusting fools took you from there after attacking your -friends-, nearly killing all of you. None of you were strong enough to resist, numerous enough to hold them off - but you can be strong enough -now-." It's really Oe's only option, from where Adelheid is standing. Break free, or consume himself with the hatred and anger that boils up from the inevitably confusing chaos within his very heart.
Suddenly, the squad of soldiers is on him once more, with far less orchestrated efficiency than before. It's like half a defensive line trying to pile on a quarterback... if said lither player happens to be the strongest on the field. For a moment he disappears in the leaping mass of meaty mook, a few pummeling blows launching ineffectively at the target of the tackle beatdown, but then it all goes horribly wrong. Adelheid is airborne, and so is most of the squad, suddenly erupting outwards like a set of bowling pins reacting to a cannonball.
As he ascends, the Prince of War's foot reaves a sudden, rising reverse roundhouse, his heavy boot ripping through the air, crunching through bone, carrying him ever skyward... even as a brilliantly luminescent arc of brilliant silver chi courses along the path of his leg, a crescent moon with a tearing edge of red energy, borne of Adel's own determination and fury... they will not hold him, they will not stop him. Surround and contain? .... that carries a decidedly verbiose warning label.
"No, I didn't," Shurui hisses painfully as the spear cuts against her side, "Those fuckers over there did!" Forcing Ichiro away with her attack, Shurui doubles back, preparing for her next opening. "They took you because of your chi. Left those of us without proper chi to die. They wanted a loyal guinea pig, so they brainwashed you. You may think you're strong, but your body's crying out. You feel it, don't you?!"
Even as she sincerely tries to do so, Shurui doesn't quite believe a simple talk will exactly knock Oe out of his horrible state. And after being nearly killed by Hotaru, she's not willing to rely on words alone. Ichiro's proving easier, but he's still just as deadly a target if she keeps her guard down. "The mindwash treatment's gonna be hard to break in this situation," she yells over her shoulder at Adelheid. "The solution is to take him out of here and detox his body befor- hey, watch out!" The warning may not be needed for the Prince of War, but Shurui warns, all the same, as multiple auras of soldiers close around him.
She's got to hold up her end of the fight, as well. Thus, pressing in towards Ichiro, she swings in with a series of jabs and kicks, attempting to overwhelm him further by wearing down his defense. All while keeping wary of that sharp spear.
COMBATSYS: Shurui successfully hits Ichiro with Combo Attack.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Sheila 0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0 Shurui
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Invader2 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Adelheid
[ ||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Ichiro 0|-------|--=====
Careful to avoid his ruined eye socket, Ichiro Oe wipes at the sweat beading down his face with the back of his hand as Shurui discusses his situation with Adelheid, using words that he knows he should understand. Spinning the point of his metallic spear back behind his right shoulder, Oe awaits Shurui's onslaught with a hateful sneer; planning out his next opportunity for violence even as the horrible fever that consumes him begins to dim his vision. "No..." Oe groans as the quasi-blind girl presses him backwards, the blackout that threatens to send him unconscious keeping him from managing to put up any sort of competent defense against the jabs and strikes. "... I... don't know what's going on..." Ichiro groans as he is forced to plant his spear into the ground next to him to keep from collapsing to the ground.
"N...nothing MAKES SENSE!" The young man howls, his voice quavering with emotion as his building confusion over the discrepancy between Adelheid and Shurui's words and Seth's programming inevitably leads to rage. Crouching down like a feral beast, the former lacrosse player fixes his eerie dual-eyed gaze on the girl. "GYAAAAAAAH!" the test subject finally growls as he springs toward the grey haired girl, twisting in the air and attempting to skewer her in the trapezius muscle with his jagged spear tip as he sails by.
Badly jarred but not down for the count, Sheila kicks open the back door of the transport and slides to her feet looking worse fo the wear but still conscious. She's just in time to hear Adelheid address Ichiro, trying to speak reason to Ichiro; trying to get through to him on any level, aiding Shurui's efforts. 'Save your breath,' she'd offer him the advice if she wasn't glad to see him seemingly distracted for a moment. She's seen the files, the conditioning the captured kids went through. Takes more than words to crack that shell. Seth's work was... very thorough.
The woman's eyes shift to the sight of her soldiers making another rush for Adelheid, hoping numbers will overcome a fighter that's no doubt fought far more than them simultaneously as part of the training dictated by his severe father. She doesn't even bat an eye at the outcome as Adelheid's rising form reaps a bloody path through the lot of them, scattering bodies in all directions with ease. Some men are down, injured beyond fighting, a few are still rolling around, signs of consciousness in the way they move.
"Keep moving!" she barks. "Form up on me." a wave of her hand, a snap of her fingers as she tries to get the dazed, bewildered, and admittedly shaken and terrified troop back together. A few try and can't make it, but the rest get to her side swiftly. "Side arms," she orders, as many of them have already lost their rifles in the rather one-sided exchanges of attacks. "Everyone fire!"
They do as ordered, those who are able, drawing side arms and taking aim at Adelheid, and within the span of 2 seconds, 6 rounds fire off in his direction. Perhaps a few might clip him yet. Sheila? She stays to the side of the men, left hand going to her waist, right hand resting at her side, sharp, blue eyes attentive as she takes a moment to get a better fix on Adelheid's reaction, speed, and manner of combat.
COMBATSYS: Sheila calculates her next move.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Sheila 0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0 Shurui
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Invader2 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Adelheid
[ |||||||||||||||||||| ]
Ichiro 0|-------|--=====
COMBATSYS: Adelheid reflects Hot Lead Injection from Invader2 with Dark Steel.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Sheila 0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0 Shurui
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Invader2 0/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Adelheid
[ |||||||||||||||||||| ]
Ichiro 0|-------|--=====
It's not so much that Adelheid expects his - decidedly and entirely objectively wise - words to spurr Ichiro to immediately change course, turn on his captors, come back to reality and find himself once more... but he can sense the turmoil roiling within the young warrior, feel it in similar if less encompassing fashion to how it dominated Shurui's senses, replaces her sight. He can feel the echoes that fill the air throughout the brainwashed operative, see the hesitation in his fighting style. No, even if he can't shake the programming... the seeds of doubt are planted, and should be nourished. At the least, it should make Shurui's job easier. Keep Oe occupied while the wayward Bernstein battles his would-be wardens.
Landing in a three-point crouch some distance from the APC, and where the goonsquad has crashed about the street, Adelheid recovers from his attack far quicker than those on the business end of the lethal, legendary technique, "You know you are lost! You know this pain is -THEIR- doing!" Adelheid encourages, shouting to Ichiro as the soldiers reform, and their leader reappears. There is no surprise or concern on the platinum blonde's face. Indeed... the Prince of War might be -pleased- at her re-emergence in less dire circumstances.
Pistols come free, semi-automatic fire filling the air between the Bernstein heir and the line of murderous commandos... and in the same flash of an eye, both of his hands blur forward. While the scattering of shots is not the most accurate, some would have grazed him, some would have hit him, and the slightly off shots? Well, those, too, get the luck of slamming full-on into the whirling wall that erupts before him. Crackling with black, arcing energy, the greyish barrier of purest windshear, a nighttime thunderstorm of impressive proportions, covers his body, rising higher than the Prince of War himself... and several times wider. One by one the bullets smack into the resilient shield, tiny ripples flaring outwards, as each is repulsed, abruptly indeed, on similar trajectory to their approach.
In short? Each painful, metal round is suddenly a redoubled, blurring bolt crackling with that same dark thunder that infuses the conjuration, threatening to tear abruptly through the ill-fated firing squad.
COMBATSYS: Shurui dodges Ichiro's Slashing EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Sheila 0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0 Shurui
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Invader2 0/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Adelheid
[ |||||||||||||||||||| ]
Ichiro 0|-------|-======
"Keep thinking! Think!" Shurui urges Ichiro on, even if at the same time she presses him back with her fists and feet. "Think of what happened to Frei, to Hotaru! You fought alongside Frei when they attacked, right? You were captured by them!"
Ichiro just gets more and more enraged. Shurui could keep talking. But time's ticking, and she doesn't know just how long the Prince of War will keep up with all those soldiers. Already what he's done is an impressive feat; if he was any less of a warrior Shurui would find herself having to fend for herself in the battlefield. Still, time. Ichiro's body is failing. Every second Adelheid buys for her will be wasted on circles of logic as she attempts to vocally fight against SIN's programming.
Time to see if she can shorten this dance. Eyeing Ichiro's aura, Shurui leaps back as he surges forth, artfully pressing back from that deadly spear with not an inch to spare. Landing in the asphalt a few meters away, the Gedo girl does not waste time in attempting her counterattack. Flinging her arms wide, she releases a series of Psycho missiles, shining grey as they speed in the air towards Ichiro's general direction.
COMBATSYS: Ichiro dodges Shurui's Riot Act.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Sheila 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Shurui
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Invader2 0/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Adelheid
[ |||||||||||||||||||| ]
Ichiro 0|-------|-======
The view of a lab from inside a tank full of an odd viscous liquid. Laying on an operating table in the same laboratory. Shadowy figures that resemble Hotaru and Frei suspended in tanks of their own. Shurui's words inspire even more flashes of insight and memories that send spikes of pain through the young man's tortured mind. "Hnnn... no," Ichiro growls through gritted teeth.
"S-seth..." the young man gasps even as the blind girl launches shimmering grey energy his way. The sudden barrage of energy snaps the young athlete's attention into focus and his constant feverish shivering fades, if only for a moment. Sliding his left leg out in front of his body, Oe sends himself into a crouch that lets the first missile pass harmlessly overhead. Drawing his leg back under his body, Ichiro then thrusts himself upwards and back to flip backwards over another burst of psycho energy, then throws himself into a side roll as soon as the balls of his feet touch the pavement to avoid the last of the volley.
"I- I know..." Ichiro mutters as he turns his dual-eyed gaze on Adelheid. The muscular young man's words do have a ring of truth. Ichiro is nothing if not lost, and even if he's not sure exactly WHAT was done to him, the memories of immense pain and suffering that bubble to the surface of his memory DO seem to be connected to SIN. Unfortunately, Seth's programming was very thorough, and the truth is the last thing that the SIN director wants Ichiro to embrace.
"I KNOW THAT I'M TIRED OF TALK!" Oe finishes with a hateful sneer, the golden flame flickering in his left eyesocket growing in step with his rage. Gripping an end of his spear in each hand, Ichiro's face contorts into a look of pure pain and fury as he embraces the enticing lure of his BLECE treatment, allowing the experimental process to draw on more and more of his own life-force as it transforms his vitality into potent and deadly chi. "HNNNNNNGGG!" the test subject groans as his cheeks grow visibly gaunt and his skin flushes with heat. The young man looks dangerously close to snuffing out his own existence, which is not really in ANYONE's best interest right now.
COMBATSYS: Ichiro gathers his will.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Sheila 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Shurui
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Invader2 0/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Adelheid
[ |||||||||||||||||||| ]
Ichiro 1|----===|=======
COMBATSYS: Invader2 blocks Adelheid's Reflected Hot Lead Injection.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Sheila 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Shurui
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Invader2 1/----===/=======|-------\-------\0 Adelheid
[ |||||||||||||||||||| ]
Ichiro 1|----===|=======
Six rounds in unisen fire for Adelheid, only to encounter resistance of the most horrifically effective sort. The barrier of chi explodes into existance, providing complete protection from any of the shots fired his way. There's no time to bark an order, no chance to tell the men how to defend themselves from the onslaught of their own ammunition returned, augmented by an obscene amount of chi imbuing each shot. The men either survive or fall based on their own skill of recognizing the threat and dealing with it.
Three make it, slaming their left gauntlet-covered wrists forward, hitting a button with their right finger, only to have a small, durable riot-shield unfold into the path of the bullet in a flash. The impact shatters the plastic shields, sending shrapnel and lingering chi flying, but their quick thinking spared them a far worse fate. At their sides, the three others are struck squarely in the chest by the rounds. What would have normally been bullets barely able to penetrate the thick body armor they bear connect with cannonball-like force, detonating with chi and sending the men flying backward along the street into an uncontrolled enough spiraling tumble as to suggest that they won't be a problem any time soon.
Troop numbers dwindling, it's becoming abundantly clear that they're on the losing side of this exchange if something doesn't turn around quick. If Adelheid isn't slowed, she'll be out of men soon and forced to abandon the objective. "Plasma grenades, men," she growls, her words terse, her hands clenched, a shimmer of thin blue energy coursing over what skin is visible. The three soldiers still standing respond quickly, reaching to their belts to pull free black, round canisters. Arms drawn back, they hurl them through the air toward Adelheid before dropping to pull additional grenades from the belts of their fallen comrades and throwing them as well toward the Bernstein scion.
SIN tech, each round, black canister will detonate with a plasma explosion the likes of which can even catch some of the world's strongest off guard. Wide spread busts of concentrated, super-heated matter will explode around Adelheid, perhaps catching him off guard or at least leaving him unaware long enough for Sheila to launch her own attack.
The blonde woman extends her left hand, palm forward, eyes narrowed in concentration as she flash-freezes a sphere of energy to the side of Adelheid. Colder than the most distant comet, the sphere hovers for a split second, giving off vapor and rendering the air around it blisteringly cold. Even with the cover of the grenades, it would be impossible to miss. Doing something about it in time might be another matter, however, as the young woman points her right finger forward, sending a small one-inch long ice-bullet hurtling toward the sphere. The travel time is near instant and when it impacts the ultra-compressed energy, the result is a final detonation far more severe than the plasma grenades could hope to create - cold enough to freeze skin brittle and even turn human blood solid, Adelheid will have but a split second to defend himself!
COMBATSYS: Invader2 successfully hits Adelheid with War Crimes.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Sheila 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Shurui
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Invader2 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Adelheid
[ |||||||||||||||||||| ]
Ichiro 1|----===|=======
COMBATSYS: Sheila successfully hits Adelheid with Goldeneye.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Sheila 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Shurui
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Invader2 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Adelheid
[ |||||||||||||||||||| ]
Ichiro 1|----===|=======
Ichiro draws forth his BURNING SPIRIT... the power within him ringing out a dissonant note even to Adelheid's ears as he focuses his own inner strength with that burning over from the SIN experimentation. He looks aside only for a moment, as the onetime Taiyo lacrosse star succumbs to his programming, a bit of a frown crossing his features. Deceptively delicate brow furrows, but... it looks like Shurui is holding her own. Holding her own and then some. As he looks back to his own opponents, well... things are looking up as well. He can't really feel bad for the maimed (or worse) soldiers that explode out of the battle. In an indirect sort of way, they brought it on themselves.
He -can- feel bad about the odd canisters that roll his way, though. Normally, even targetted by anti-vehicle munitions like the mercenary terrorist Rolento utilizes, he'd be totally clear of them. He leaps high, quickly, arcing forward.... but the plasma payload detonates in a massive, superheated radius, the shockwave catching him in the back in midair, and suddenly he's lurching through the air, out of control. .... straight into the abominable snowball.
The icy explosion puts out the fire, but it's hardly refreshing. Adelheid is launched backwards, his flesh seared paradoxically by the extreme cold, and he lands back in the scorched section of street on his back, skidding as he crashes the back of his head off the asphalt. Only midway through the sudden trip does he plant one hand, which hurts all by itself, and launch himself into a handspring that brings him back to his feet. That... hurt. But it didn't take him out of the fight. Not by a longshot. He narrows his eyes at Sheila and her remaining troops, spitting a red-tinged expectoration to the side. Every instinct in him says that's about all they have, at the moment. That the all-out assault didn't have quite the impact they were looking for. So? The Prince of War charges, blurring into motion with abrupt acceleration indeed, his feet barely touching the ground as he rushes the concentration of soldiers.
The platinum blonde's charge pulls up short, just enough distance for his arms to finalize the assault, grabbing for the uniform of the nearest Shadaloo goon, at which point the soldier would be bodily whipped about, and released full bore for his closest compatriots, a makeshift mook missile aligned for maximum mayhem.
Shurui frowns as Ichiro deftly avoids her onslaught; she clearly underestimated his agility. "Seth." That name. "Forget about Seth. Think about Frei and Hotaru." It's useless to keep talking to him, as Shurui has thoroughly convinced herself, but as long as her main aim is to knock him clean out, it won't hurt to keep doing it. ... Or would it? It seems to only serve in making him more angry.
And that's something they don't want.
The surge of Ichiro's power felt by Adelheid caused him to frown. Shurui, meanwhile, looks nauseous. It's like staring in the face of a fresh car wreck, with what was recongizable signs of a normal person warped into something that physically could have been marked with oozing puss. That's what Shurui's body feels that it's looking at, even if Ichiro's warped wounds actually make him temporarily stronger instead of weaker.
She has to stop it quickly, or they'll lose what they came here for. Darting forward, Shurui whips her foot around, attempting to connect it with Ichiro's jaw, hopefully knocking him out of his charging stupor. Nothing fancy, or clever; just a quick boot to the head. Fast and to the point.
COMBATSYS: Shurui successfully hits Ichiro with Light Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Sheila 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Shurui
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Invader2 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Adelheid
[ ||||||||||||||||| ]
Ichiro 1|---====|=======
NO!", Ichiro growls at Shurui as she continues to badger him. "I'M DONE THINKING!" The girl's snap kick connects with Oe's jaw solidly, snapping the test subject's head back in a manner that would appear quite painful, if it wasn't for the crazed look that glows in the young man's eyes as he slowly brings his head forward to fix his voracious madman's stare on Shurui. "HAHAHA!" Ichiro cackles madly as the fever that cooks his brain begins to send the young man plunging into madness.
"TALK ALL YOU WANT," Oe invites, "YOU'LL BE DEATHLY SILENT SOON ENOUGH!" he threatens as he springs backwards away from the girl, his metal-clad Shadaloo-issued boots dragging across the pavement as he creates some distance between the grey-haired girl and himself. Once he has a little breathing room, the insane test subject stashes his spear under his left arm, leaving both his hands free to reach inside the black leather pouch on his hip, from which he draws out two small steel balls, around 1 inch in diameter. Offering the spheres up towards Shurui, one in each palm, Ichiro closes his eyes and concentrates as best as his fevered brain can.
"BOUNCE SHOT!" Oe intones as a wave of golden chi flows down each arm, charging both of the steel balls and sending them flying at Shurui from different angles; one bounce off of the pavement at their feet and rebounding on course to hit the blind girl in her gut, the other ricocheting off of a nearby building wall and streaking straight toward the side of the girl's head.
COMBATSYS: Adelheid successfully hits Invader2 with Power Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Sheila 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Shurui
[ \\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Invader2 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Adelheid
[ ||||||||||||||| ]
Ichiro 1|--=====|=======
The combination of attacks works. Sort of. For once, the formidable Bernstein boy is caught between too many projectiles to avoid them all at once. And thus - he's unable to avoid the worst of it. The soldiers feel a moment of elation. This is their success. They survived and succeeded where their fellow cohorts did not. For Sheila, it's no such thing. The attacks, savage against most people, would not stop the young man and she knew it.
"Watch o-" she starts to warn as the Prince of War makes his move, bursting through the last detonations of plasma to attack in a moment when the last three standing would be the least expecting it, having assumed even if he survived, he would at least be knocked down.
For their lack of readiness they pay severely - one man seized, helpless to stop himself from being pulled off his feet and used as a buldgeoning object to send his two partners flying. All three go airborn, tumbling as they land, a couple unconcious, one barely able to so much as move, groaning in pain as he rolls over onto his back.
Grimly, the woman watches as her troops fall to the last man. She'll need to take a shot alone. She's no martyr. She's getting paid for this. But she's not one that cuts and runs easily either. Even as Adelheid may have to recover from the momentum of having flung the men aside so easily.
It's with some surprise that she notices one of the men dropped earlier charging alongside her. It seems one has a bit more fight left in him and is determined to show this Adelheid guy what's up. They attack as one, with the soldier going for a tight hold on Adelheid's left arm, aiming to twist it and lock him into place for a split second, allowing Sheila to lash out with a solid kick, aiming to drive a now well-scuffed dress shoe into the Bernstein ex-heir's chest, a lancing wave of that freezing chi of hers accompanying the strike!
COMBATSYS: Adelheid parries Invader2's Judo Toss!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Sheila 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Shurui
[ \\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Invader2 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\0 Adelheid
[ ||||||||||||||| ]
Ichiro 1|--=====|=======
COMBATSYS: Adelheid just-defends Sheila's Medium Kick!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Sheila 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Shurui
[ \\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Invader2 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\0 Adelheid
[ ||||||||||||||| ]
Ichiro 1|--=====|=======
His body burns. His breath comes painfully. The tips of his GLORIOUS hair? Singed. It smells kind of bad, as a sidenote. Many would second-guess their course after the tremendous onslaught of fire and ice. Many would decide that the soldiers and their commander are out for blood, after all. Much of the fight hammered out of him by grenades and blizzardy energy, Adelheid is firmly committed to just the opposite. No hesitation. No restraint. He pushes himself to his limits, and then reaches for more. The Prince of War's inner chi rumbles outwards, infusing every fiber of his muscles, his motions somehow even more graceful, shifts in momentum more sudden: If they are going to step up it, threaten him, threaten Ichiro, threaten Shurui.... threaten the course of what -matters- in this war?
Adelheid is damn well going to match it, and then sprint past as hard and as fast as he can. The grip on his wrist comes in, even as he tugs his arm back, the last soldier finding his grip, executing the sudden twist.... but then it -stops-. Dead in the middle of the motion, Adel's arm turns no further. Corded muscles flex, his uniform arms bulge, and his limb just /freezes/. For a split second. Then he suddenly turns it back the /other/ way, forcing the soldier to either let go, or pull his own limbs out of place. The sudden dislodging motion culminates in a shove, one that never comes close to the soldier's chest, but explodes from his palm like a shockwave, an invisible blast erupting outwards, testament to the sheer amount of power at play here.
Power that Sheila now rushes full on into, as Adelheid drops to a crouch, his elbow reaving a visible tear through the air itself, a silvery aura boiling from his arm as he drops that elbow directly down on the snapping leg, the force behind it utterly nullifying Sheila's kick... and more than rapidly propelling her limb back down beneath her. Better hope she finds her footing fast, though, because the crouched Bernstein? He doesn't even pause. It seems like the same motion, one moment hanging in triple-pronged slow motion, the silvery power burning all the brighter, forging a brilliant gleam in his right palm as he /leaps/ for the commander.
Leaps, and thrusts his arm for her /face/, seeking to clamp incredibly, unnaturally strong fingers around her face and squeeze, squeeze, -squeeze- as he lifts her bodily off that ground with that single arm, should his grip be found, and fires her like an artillery shell with the sudden detonation of a tremendous, ragged edged column of windshear point blank into her very skull. It looks like they managed to piss him off, at least.
COMBATSYS: Shurui dodges Ichiro's Bounce Shot.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Sheila 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Shurui
[ \\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Invader2 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\0 Adelheid
[ ||||||||||||||| ]
Ichiro 1|--=====|=======
"Whatever." Shurui's eyes don't discern the mad grin on Ichiro's face just yet. While her ability to guess or, in the case of people she's close to, actively percieve the emotions on a person's face is startlingly accruate at times, here she's more distracted by by the boiling welt that is Ichiro's aura. She's sick of staring at it. Sick of the mess others have made in one lone student's personal mental signature, something that should be closed off to all such manipulations.
She'll have to keep working at it.
While disgusted, Shurui is hardly distracted to the point of missing the vital cues that sound alarm bells in her head. The balls in Ichiro's hand become visibly charged with his energy, ringing out in Shurui's mental ear. He sends them coursing towards her, and her body instantly reacts, leaping back from the first and bending back to avoid the second, each failing to leave a mark. Straightening, she launches off the balls of her feet into a run, closing in on Ichiro and unleashing her momentum in a fist aimed against his gut. Again, messy and ungraceful. Her father would have sighed in disappointment. However? If it gets the job done in this case, she'll swing with it.
COMBATSYS: Ichiro interrupts Strong Punch from Shurui with SDF Lacrosse.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Sheila 0/-------/-------|=======\==-----\1 Shurui
[ \\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Invader2 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\0 Adelheid
[ |||||||||||||| ]
Ichiro 0|-------|-----==
Sneering in contempt as the steel balls he launched at Shurui are deftly avoided by the improbably deft maneuvering of the blind girl, Ichiro quickly bursts into a flat out sprint toward the grey haired girl as he attempts to close in on her before she can fully take get her bearings and launch an effective counter attack of her own against the furious test subject.
His spear lighting up with Ichiro's own brand of golden chi, the youth swings his wickedly sharp spear tip in a figure-eight patter in front of his chest, ignoring Shurui's counter punch as he grazes off of his muscular six pack abs even as his spinning spear manages to bite into her midsection and chest with all of the pain and efficiency of a high speed blender. A look of sublime blood lust rises to the angry young man's face as the girl's blood is shed by his brutal attack; it is the first time this entire encounter that the test subject feels content, that his purpose is being carried out with the utmost effectiveness.
After slashing at Shurui a few dozen times, Ichiro reverses the spin of his spear and suddenly lunges forward, catching the girl with a brutal blow to the midsection as he shifts his grip on the spear so he is only loosely holding the weapon by the last quarter of the haft and shifting his weight around to powerfully roundhouse kick the girl off of his brutal weapon.
COMBATSYS: Sheila blocks Adelheid's Scorpion Deathlock EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Sheila 0/-------/------=|=======\==-----\1 Shurui
[ \\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Invader2 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Adelheid
[ |||||||||||||| ]
Ichiro 0|-------|----===
The feeble attempt to get a tight enough hold to contain Adelheid fails horribly, leaving the last soldier standing stumbling as the young man's arm is pried free with a reversal of force that seems borderline inhuman. A grunt heralds his reaction as he staggers to the side, still reeling from feeling a portion of the devastating Genocide Cutter performed earlier on the entire troop.
Sheila is in a far worse situation. Her foot snaps out only to have Adelheid drive her shin toward the ground, forcing her into a forward lean to correct for it lest she lose her balance all together. Crisp, blue eyes focus back on the intense youth, slowly getting up to speed on how he fights, how he weaves himself through the attacks sent his way and retaliates with talent even many of the fighting greats in the world could never hope to possess. It takes everything in her power just to keep up for one brief, fleeting moment in a critical need to defend herself, watching as he transitions from defense to offense with literally no hesitation or loss of speed.
His hand slams out for the young woman's face, but in this instance her own training comes to her aid, both of her own hands snapping up to intersect his in time to seize his wrist. Chi rips along his arm, threatening to detonate into her even as she keeps his crushing grip at bay, "Nnnrgh..." Her ability to keep back his limb would be shattered by the subsequent rush of chi were it not for her own shift in aura to retaliate defensively. The silvery energy is met with a calm barrier of blue, nullifying much of the intended blast though at great cost to her own reserves.
In a manner not unlike Adelheid, Sheila attempts to turn defense into offense in a bid to secure that hold on his wrist tighter, twisting his arm and driving a rush of chi into his flesh intended to chill the muscles and reduce their capacity to wreck harm. Trying to distract him from trying to wrest himself free, she snaps a left kick up, aiming for a body blow with staggering force designed to crush some of his ability to fight much longer.
At her side, the last soldier standing makes another attempt to bring Adelheid down, flinging himself at the young man bodily in a flat out tackling manuever, paying no attention to anything else but the desperate need to prove that the young German is actually /not/ some kind of immortal!
COMBATSYS: Invader2 successfully hits Adelheid with Takedown.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Sheila 0/-------/-------|=======\==-----\1 Shurui
[ \\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Invader2 0/-------/-======|=======\=------\1 Adelheid
[ |||||||||||||| ]
Ichiro 0|-------|----===
COMBATSYS: Adelheid dodges Sheila's Charged Combo.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Sheila 0/-------/-------|=======\==-----\1 Shurui
[ \\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Invader2 0/-------/-======|=======\=------\1 Adelheid
[ |||||||||||||| ]
Ichiro 0|-------|----===
And so, Ichiro's confusion and rage boils over. It's a sensation that Adelheid has felt many times before, from fighters several times superior to the Taiyo spearman.... and although he's not the target this time? It's far from comforting. Shurui rushes full on into the onslaught, but he knows from experience that the slip of a girl is hardly without her own strengths... and that she is made of sterner stuff than anyone would guess. After all, she's survived things both in and outside battles that would cripple others physically, mentally, and spiritually... and fights on without more than a second thought. That much earns the Prince of War's respect, and gives him confidence of her own ability to hold out against the maliciously modified Oe for at least a little longer. Long enough.
As established by her underling, getting a grapple on Adelheid can be a little bit tricky. Sheila tightens her hold, and Adel promptly shifts it all OVER the place, twisting his arm, taking a step back, a powerful flex dragging the mighty limb high, and then he suddenly weaves away with a subtle explosion of wind beneath his feet. She may have caught his assault, deflected much of the fury intended to explode her back across the battlefield, but the Prince of War is hardly going to let that slow him down. As her fingers slip free moments before he's blasted with that icy, secret agent chi, he twists about, landing on one anchoring foot from the quick backwards leap.... and coming face to face with the final soldier, who slams full on into his chest with the body tackle.
It's rather less than spectacular. Air leaves Adelheid's lungs about half way, his heavy boots skid back across the cracked asphalt, and beneath his dark uniform, a quiet little bruise rises where the SIN commissioned Shadaloo subsidiary soldier slams his shoulder in. Dark crimson eyes just freaking NARROW /so hard/. Then? It's Sheila's final helper's turn to face Adel, this time directly, one on one, a knee snapping up suddenly for the Southtown Invader's ribcage, an explosion of ragged grey chi threatening to at least -feel- like it's ripping right through him, before the young Bernstein wheels impossibly quickly on his anchoring foot, launching a roundhouse - and an outpouring crescent of brutal windshear - at the soldier's skull.
Like before, Shurui sees the attack as it comes. Her body reacts.
She's not quick enough this time. Her senses detect attacks all fine and good, but that doesn't make her untouchable by any means, especially when someone exploits an opening for all it's worth. Shurui's mouth betrays a cry of spit-laced pain as Ichiro's spear slashes against her midsection, blood splattering through the air. Another grunt is heard as Ichiro savagely kicks her back, her body skidding across the ground. Coughing blood, she stumbles up, a hand coming up to wipe the itchy trail of blood from the corner of her face.
Call it what you will (as Adelheid had): a stern wish to live, a success of trailored DNA, or just plain inability to die with some dignity after a nice stabbing, Shurui still keeps going. "Let's see how YOU like it," she says, reeling her hand back as she closes in. It looks like a repeat of the earlier attack, yet this one, if it lands, ignites as a spear of paralyzing Psycho power, cutting through his midsection and out the back in a massive spike of grey. It only dissipates when her other fist connects with Ichiro's stomach, allowing him to finally fall back.
COMBATSYS: Shurui successfully hits Ichiro with Subtle Knife.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Sheila 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Shurui
[ \\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Invader2 0/-------/-======|=======\=------\1 Adelheid
[ ||||| ]
Ichiro 0|-------|=======
Oe pants heavily as his most brutal attack ravages Shurui, inflicting the brutal damage that Oe's psyche craves. "Y-yes," Ichiro moans as he the sight of the girl's blood manages to quiet his pain for a mere moment. Sweat runs down the young man's face in sheets and his bare chest is slick with perspiration as he tries to gather himself up for the next assault that is sure to come. "Almost... over," Ichiro gasps as his body temperature reaches critical mass.
"Almost... time to... rest..." he groans as he puts a weary hand to his brow, the BLECE project having sucked away nearly all of his bodily reserve. So wrapped up in trying to keep himself conscious as he is, Ichiro isn't even really conscious of Shurui's next attack, and the blade of psi energy cleanly slices through his body as she unleashes her brutal attack upon his bare midsection, the gray energy slicing into his stomach with a spray of red gore.
"Gnnn... seth...." Ichiro moans as his consciousness begins to leave him. "I've failed you...." he sobs quietly, sinking to his knees and clutching his stomach in defeat. The pain in the young man's mind is mercifully quieted for a moment as he slowly sinks to the cold pavement below and Oe quietly slips into unconsciousness before the BLECE project can fully claim the young man's life-force and it is extinguished forever. "Quiet.... so quiet..." Ichiro moans softly as darkness takes him and he is welcomed by peace at last, if only for the moment.
COMBATSYS: Ichiro takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Sheila 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Shurui
[ \\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Invader2 0/-------/-======|=======\=------\1 Adelheid
COMBATSYS: Ichiro can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Sheila 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Shurui
[ \\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Invader2 0/-------/-======|=======\=------\1 Adelheid
COMBATSYS: Adelheid successfully hits Invader2 with Grosse Stob.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Sheila 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Shurui
[ < > //////////////// ]
Invader2 1/----===/=======|=======\===----\1 Adelheid
Again Adelheid's skill in combat impresses, sparing him the entirety of the mercenary's intended retaliation. Her foot slices through the space he ceased to occupy a micro-second prior while her hands snap back to correct her balance accordingly, following the momentum of the strike into a full spin before assuming a defensive position that leaves her hands raised, palms forward.
From the distance, she's there to watch the final act play out in full. Ichiro's violent combination against the grey haired girl, Shurui's determined, effective counter attack, and the brazen charge of a soldier who hasn't quite comprehended the degree to which he's outmatched. Pouring his all into the tackle doesn't amount to much and leaves him painfully vulnerable to counter attack.
It ends - not in spectacular fireworks, impressive explosions, or flesh destroying chi detonations, but rather a simple, effective kick of bone crushing force into the man's ribcage, taking the already injured soldier out of the fight without a single word from him as he crumples to the ground. The numbers aren't hard to crunch. With Ichiro collapsing, the soldiers taken down, and both Adelheid and Shurui still fighting strong, it doesn't take Sheila much to know when the gig is up. The next logical step is escape. She'll never collect on this mission, but there are worse alternatives.
Wiping her mouth on the sleeve of her black jacket, she glances toward Shurui then back to Adelheid. There's no point to trying to take the girl hostage to give her a bargaining chip. Not only can she clearly fight well enough to make such an attempt a risky one to begin with, but the time it would take to even pull it off is far longer than it will take for Adelheid to intersect and put a stop to it.
It's time for plan B. Taking steps back, the young woman slips her hand into her pocket, pulling out a small black device with buttons on it no larger than a car remote. The soldier sent flying by the roundhouse of Adelheid sails past her as the hired gun presses the button on the remote, holding it down as she turns to bolt. The Armored Troop Transport parked to the side of the alteracation takes only 0.87 seconds to detonate, sending a spray of shrapnel, a cloud of smoke, and a plume of flame into a wide radius around Ground Zero!
COMBATSYS: Sheila takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Sheila 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Shurui
[ < > //////////////// ]
Invader2 1/----===/=======|=======\===----\1 Adelheid
COMBATSYS: Invader2 can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Sheila 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Shurui
> //////////////// ]
|=======\===----\1 Adelheid
COMBATSYS: Adelheid overcomes Mass Grave from Invader2 with Crown Prince.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Sheila 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Shurui
> //////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Adelheid
When one's primary training comes from Rugal Bernstein, it pays to be swift on one's feet. Adelheid learned very quickly how to stay one step ahead in the flow of most combat. The last of the aggravating soldiers falls away, kicked to the curb both literally and figuratively, and the platinum blonde once more turns towards Sheila. Yes, she is outmatched, suddenly outnumbered, and in a very bad spot. But it wouldn't stop /him/... so he doesn't readily assume it will stop /her/. Then, she holds down that button, and runs. There's one thing about growing up with an illegal arms dealer, one of the world's largest suppliers to paramilitary and terrorist groups of all shapes and sizes: he becomes very familiar with explosives. None of the soldiers had anything beyond their grenades that looked like a sizeable remote detonator.... which leaves.... he snaps a scowl towards the previously torn APC, which is about to go all to pieces.
He stares, but he does not stand still. A lot can happen in 0.87 seconds. In this case, Adelheid's hands are already at his sides, and all the chi he's gathered for the rest of this fight is dwarfed. The wind in the street kicks up, flaring luminescence gathering between his splayed fingers, pulsing larger, larger, and larger in merest instants. Even as she makes her escape, the chi-sensitive Sheila would sense the culmination of the Prince of War's own remarkable talent for energy manipulation. For Shurui's 'vision', it fills his entire being, pours forth in every increasing waves, all centering on his hands. The silvery power twists, coalesces, and exponentially erupts as he slams the two fluctuating masses of energy together, fusing them as one in the same moment that the transport /explodes/ in its massive, steel augmented fireball. The explosion is going to consume the area he stands in, and probably the area where Shurui stands bleeding beside the battered Ichiro, as well. He doesn't have time for complex calculations, glancing over his shoulder and taking a single step to the side. If he can take out enough of the blast....
The wave of fire roils forward, and the blast is released from Adelheid's hands, his arms bracing before him as the tremendous, ragged halfmoon crashes free. As tall as Adelheid, and several times wider (because let's face it the dude is thinnish), the massive silver and grey tidal wave of wind collides with the ever-expanding explosion. Steel is simply /consumed/ fire over powered, as the apex of Adelheid's techniques rips a broad path straight -through- the explosion. It wavers, it slows, but it forges onward, blasting superheated air out on all sides, destroying the shrapnel that used to be the Shadaloo APC... and crashing right back to and through ground zero, the crater and remains of the exploding transport sent lurching, shattered, a large portion of the detonation simply -devoured-. The Prince of War releases a deep breath, eases the tension of out his muscles, and stands in the center of the now charred block, buildings, mostly abandoned now, taking the brunt of the impact. Window glass tinkles to the ground like so many snowflates, landing shattered with bits of brick, concrete, and plaster, along with a particularly boisterous fire escape that screeches down the side of a tenement, and crashes to Earth.
"Desperation." From Calvin Klein. Adelheid's words end there: no eulogy for the soldiers caught in the blast by their own commander, no long monologue and analysis of the fight. He turns back towards Ichiro and Shurui, eyeing the latter first, and checking to see how badly she might be hurt... how much of the explosion he turned away. He sprints over quickly, offering aid to whoever needs it, "Are you two alright? Can you move?" He inquires of Shurui, kneeling to move the injured Ichiro on his own, back towards one of the decidedly sturdy, blackened drop pods, "Extraction, primary drop point." Adelheid instructs the miniaturized communicator concealed in his uniform, and there's an audible thrumming from overhead, as
out of the gathering stormclouds two magnetized grapples shoot down, coming up just short of the ground, ready to be affixed to the top of each transport.
The energy disrupts Ichiro's body, managing to even draw blood. He'll hurt when he wakes back up, for sure, but at least he'll be away from SIN's influence. As well as Seth. As Ichiro mumbles his last words to his current master before slipping into his coma, Shurui mumbles, "Yeah... well... think how I feel." Not that she really wanted him to; it just feels ironic that he feels like he's failed someone while at the same time she finally feels she's paid her debt. There are others, most likely. Ones Shurui doesn't know about. She won't feel responsible for them. Hotaru.... that was the one that hurt Shurui the most.
She needs to see Hotaru, soon. To remember how bad Hotaru's state could have been, and marvel at the progress she's made.
But the battle's not over yet. Sheila has one last trick up her sleeve, sacrificing the remaining soldiers for one last devastating move. Shurui's attention is drawn behind her to Adelheid's movement, or rather, the movement of his chi, overwhelming and powerful, demanding her sense's attention. Then, the blast takes over, Shurui's eyes squinting as the world goes white and yellow with flame and chi, flowing around her, Ichiro, and Adelheid like water diverted by a stone.
And it's over. Coughing up some pink phlegm as Adelheid stops to pick up Ichiro, Shurui wipes her mouth. "Yeah... Sure. I can walk... Not gonna walk to China, though." She clears her throat. "Gonna need one of your medics to get these wounds treated, though. Again." Two battles in one day... she'll be sore tonight.
The battle ebbs, and the exhileration fades to exhaustion as adrenaline allows the exertion and injuries to catch up to him. Adelheid may be in better shape than Ichiro, or Shurui thanks to her pre-existing wounds, but he's bruised, battered, and burned by an ample dose of plasma. Still, the operation isn't over, not quite. He leaps to the top of the pods, catching the descending lines and grappling one, and then the other to the hovering ship overhead, "I'll get him up." He reassures his impromptu new teammate, pulling Oe into his own drop pod, and nodding to hers, "They'll haul us back up quickly." He informs her... at least, that's how it always worked in /testing/. No reason for it to be harder now, right?
"Medics should already be standing by...." he glances down to the rather unconscious Ichiro, propping him up as stably as he can. Something tells him the kid has been kicked around enough, "For both of you." In Adel's book... responsibility lies with SIN, and those behind these experiences, rather than Shurui, or any of the defenders at Hotaru's estate. Such philosophical debates have a time and place, however - and this is neither. He doesn't signal for the pickup until he's sure Shurui has secured herself, the doorway resealing behind her.
"Get them taken care of." He murmurs to himself, or perhaps the unconscious Ichiro, cracking a painful kink out of his neck and staring down at a clenched fist. He seems to keep getting more blood on them, despite the best intentions... but that too is a concern for later. Some things just have to be done, "Then find the rest. Then make them pay." Deceptively delicate features tense, teeth gritting together momentarily. This isn't over.
Log created on 22:12:28 05/30/2009 by Adelheid, and last modified on 23:12:06 06/04/2009.