Description: Jinchuu Second R0: Tran, Hakuya, Tenma
Welcome to Linhai River.
Linhai, naturally, isn't your typical Southtown area. no highways, no skyscrapers, and perhaps most importantly no noise pollution due to line upon line of Mini-Van/18 Wheeler trucks. This particular spot is simply man and nature, mountainous (wet and/or dry) paths with a promise to lead travelers somewhere, but no promise that said somewhere is someplace safe.
The air is chilly, the day itself cloudy and the atmosphere quiet- A little too quiet to be honest, but perhaps that's just how it is up in the mountains.
It's been a long walk, but from where Tenma, Tran, and Hakuya stand (assuming the three are togeather, thus using the tried and true 'Buddy System', they'd see that from here on out it's downward if they're to reach Linhai Town, the walk may be about a mile or so left to go. However the path isn't entirely clear, there is a forest to cut through as their (hopefully) last obstacle now that the rocky area is coming to an end.
Mind the typos.
Ha ha ha. 'Walking'. Dr. Richard Tran didn't fly first class to the nearby province of Ching Chong Wing Wong in order to /walk/ the rest of the way into Taizhou. Walking is for idiots. Idiots and /suckers/. Dr. Tran, for one, is no sucker. He's /number one/.
Cooincidentally, that's exactly what's stenciled on the side of his completely radical rental dune buggy, amidst the wash of flame trailing from a pitch black dog skull biting a man in half.
Suffice to say, Tran is never getting his security deposit back, and it's /totally worth it/.
The small vehicle (with a big heart) roars over yet another hillside, ramping into the air in the sweetest manner possible. Dr. Tran is laughing, loud enough to be heard even over the roar of multiple engines. He stops only for just long enough to start shouting.
"HAHAHA, JUST TRY TO CATCH UP, DOUCHEBAGS! HAHAHAHA!"
How Hakuya and Tenma had come by their vehicles was another story entirely. They both had had enough money to get a flight to a nearby province, like Tran had, but in the process of wandering about trying to find some method which they could cross on their own into Taizhou (renting anything wasn't going to happen with them both being 18), they had encountered some trouble. Namely in the form of some ricer gangs. Being young Japanese punks in a Chinese town, young /Chinese/ punks felt it was necessary to pick on them.
Summarily, the Chinese ricer gangs had gotten their asses kicked. And left ridiculously over customized but also insanely powerful ATVs as well as cars behind.
Seeing as ATVs were better for overland travel, that'd been what they'd taken.
Eventually, they'd met up with Tran, and a race had happened!
Gloriously, Hakuya's ATV, blaring La Cucaracha, decked out with an insanely huge spoiler for no reason, crests a ridge and takes to the air as majestically as a bird in flight. If that bird had, you know, been customized by ricers.
"Uh, Tenma! I don't think Mr. Tran is in hsi right mind. Isn't this kind of dangerous? The first tournament that ninja guy held was all weird!" At least this time he hadn't been kidnapped to freaking /Taiwan/ and left to drive a busted ass boat back to Japan.
There is, of course, no way that Tenma Kiryuu was going to be left out of this.
Whatever's going on, it's clearly going to be messed up and exciting, and who's going to keep the Gedo swordsman out of that sort of a situation? Nobody, that's who. Especially not some dumb hayseed Chinese punks.
In fact, Tenma feels pretty good about himself after claiming the ATVs as forfeit, even if they're ridiculously overdone and seem to have been refitted by a bunch of idiots who've watched the Fast and the Furious movies too many times; while Hakuya's ATV is equipped with a huge spoiler, the one ridden by the King of Blood instead features frankly enormous exhausts which may be made out of duct taped coffee cans, and the noise it makes is completely ridiculous.
Just, balls crazy.
"WHAT?!" Tenma calls over the cacaphony as his ATV nearly crashes behind Hakuya's, the more abrasive boy not really having a firm grasp on how this whole 'driving' thing works, and showing little inclination to learn. It's not like he can hear Suigetsu anyway. "I THINK THAT QUACK IS COMPLETELY NUTS, MAKING THIS INTO A RACE!" Tenma continues, basically repeating what Hakuya just said, as if he hadn't heard it - because he hadn't. "BE CAREFUL, WHO KNOWS WHAT KIND OF CRAZY STUFF THAT PERVERT KIDNAPPER NINJA HAS GOT SET UP!!"
Yeah, seriously.
And so today we learn that boys just want to have fun. That's all they really want! And these boys thus far have proven that the rocky terrains and oversized puddles are simply no match for their vehicles, even tameing some sweet jumps along the way!
But those sweet jumps come at a price.
A DEADLY price.
As the trio storm closer to the forest, in fact they're well on their way of rushing right on inside, they'll come to find that they quite suddenly have company- Like, out of nowhere. Semi-large drills burst up from the ground as the vehicles pass, and what tunnel upward are rather curious-looking technological creatures. Some even come dropping from above, the presence known by an unsubtle roar of engine, single wheeled red-eyed robotics (that are most certainly not Roadkill Rodneys. Seriously. Honest) are hot on their trail. Dust billowing behind them, the current group of seven hostiles are making similarly sweet jumps and sick flips as they chase ofter their targets.
How do we know they're hostile? Well, good point, they could be friends looking to phone home. Who here wants to find out?
Dr. Tran races along, heedless of the masses questioning both his sanity and his /amazing racing ability/. They are probably just jealous of how fast he's totally going, and of his bitching lab coat (with the sleeves torn off to show how /hard/ he is.) But then-- drills!? Robots?!
"Hahaha, what." The laughter ceases, quickly replaced by disbelief. This doesn't last for very long, either.
"Oh, I see how it is! You little robot bastards want a piece of this! Well come on! COME ON!" Tran's engine revs, tires spinning and kicking up all manner of nature itself as he totally drifts around a dense cluster of trees.
"I'LL RACE YOU ALL INTO PASTE, HAHAHAHA!"
Apparently the pervert kidnapper ninja has plenty in store for them.
Tran was totally beating Hakuya and Tenma up until now, largely because they're both more cautious than he is. Ricer ATVs, while ridiculously decked out, also seem to have pretty badass engines. At least these ones do. Even if Tenma's is fuck-all loud and Hakuya's CONSTANTLY is playing La Cucaracha. He doesn't even need to tap the horn, it just is a constant stream of it.
But now they were all in it together, now that /robots with drills and wheels/ were totally coming after them.
"Tenma!" Hakuya cries out, looking back to the other Guardian King. Remembering how /damn loud/ it is, though, Hakuya just shakes his head, points out towards where the nearest robot can be seen, then gives his estimate of how many he can see by holding up seven fingers. Then he revs his ATV to try and pull abreast of Tran's totally bitching dunebuggy, just as they hit the forest line.
Of course, as Tran declares that he will totally bring it to the robot bastards by racing them into paste, Hakuya just... nods a bit. Right. Tran totally saw them.
Now all they had to do was get the hell out of the forest, going really fast. With you know. Robots after them. And trees in their way.
The cockroach, baby, is all up in this.
"I hate this thing," Tenma mutters in an inaudible complaint, his expression flattening as a particularly harrowing fall actually leaves him floating a few inches above the ATV's seat on the way down, landing all the more roughly for it.
The lean young man does see the pointing, though, his dark blue eyes following the direction Hakuya indicates, which of course leads him to witness robots, which are chasing them, like something out of a bad sci-fi movie with too much of the budget spent on FX and too little spent on script or acting.
"GO CHASE SOMEONE ELSE, YOU STUPID TRANSFORMERS REJECTS!!" Tenma Kiryuu bellows back at the chasing robots, over the cacaphony of his riced-out ATV's comically huge exhausts, before he remembers to look forward, cursing as he hauls too roughly on the vehicle's controls to keep it from careening right into a tree as he follows stupid Tran and his stupid dunebuggy.
COMBATSYS: Kurotora Roller Bombs has started a fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kurotora Roller Bombs0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Hakuya has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Kurotora Roller Bombs0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Hakuya
COMBATSYS: Tenma has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Kurotora Roller Bombs0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Hakuya
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Tenma
COMBATSYS: Tran has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Kurotora Roller Bombs0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Hakuya
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Tran
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Tenma
NEGATIVE the robots reply in their robot-speak, but to those who don't speak audible code it sounds more like, well, R2D2s submerged in water. Their eyes flicker rapidly as the accelerate and chase their targets with expertise on the road as expected from hax AI.
The group of seven are quite clearly all on the same level despite weaving around in slightly different patterns from one another, as if they're attemption to form some sort of position. Eventually it forms some sort of awkward 'V', But you know what? It's more or less just a distraction for the sudden ambush upon Tran, three more of the mechanical terrors come ripping out from the bushes from the doctor's either side- The first one miscalculated so ends up getting slammed into and ran over, slowing down the vehicle for a brief second- The second all that's needed for the other two to gain hot on Tran's tail. A large cloud of dust kicks upward and one bursts forward, hitting a jump that launches it into the air, then proceeds to spiral wheel-first toward Tran's back in an attempt to knock him right off the vehicle.
For now it seems the others are having a little difficulty gaining on Hakuya and Tenma.
COMBATSYS: Tran blocks Kurotora Roller Bombs' Burning Wheel Jump.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Kurotora Roller Bombs1/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Hakuya
> /////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Tran
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Tenma
Giving the crazy eye to Hakuya as he tries to pull abreast, Tran does the only sensible thing and applies more pressure to the pedal (already pushed down as far as it can go). Even though he intends to outrace everybody here, anybody who even crawls out of the woodwork with designs on out-speeding him, Dr. Tran sees no reason not to be civil.
"HEY, EVEN THOUGH IT SUCKS, I LIKE YOUR BIKE THING! NICE TUNES!" How is someone that small so /loud/? It defies comprehension.
"I'M STILL GONNA--HA, EAT IT, ROBOT--MAKE YOU EAT SO MUCH DUST YOU TURN INTO A--HANG ON A SECOND!" Already half looking over his shoulder, the doctor sees the rolling mechanical terror take to the skies, on a collision course with his own backside.
This would perhaps be a better plan if he were not a /man/. With a mighty flex, Dr. Tran turns his entire backside into a surface akin to an ironing board made out of /solid iron/. It's like the purest ramp there is, letting the Rollerbot go rebounding off.
"KEEP YOUR TIRE TO YOURSELF, ASSHOLE, OR SO HELP ME I'M GONNA TURN YOU INTO A TOASTER!" Tran pauses, unsure of how he's going to carry out this threat, or even if it really is. What does a robot hope for in life? Unsure, Tran continues to despoil the forest with his off-road /fury/.
COMBATSYS: Tran takes no action.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Kurotora Roller Bombs1/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Hakuya
> /////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Tran
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Tenma
What the - Tran is still thinking this is a race!? Hakuya looks mildly aghast. They'd fought before, sure, and he had a somewhat negative view of the guy (which was washed away within a week by pure \^_^/ force, so in fact Hakuya was back to thinking Tran was pretty cool), but he hadn't really been able to get a grasp for the sheer depth of Tran's /crazy/.
"Uh, thanks!" Hakuya partially shouts back in response to the comment on the constant Lu Cucaracha. He wasn't sure what else to say. He can only watch, occassionally steering around a tree, as Tran totally turns his back and ass into a totally sweet ramp for the rollerbot to just roll himself right over, probably leaving tire treads as it skids up his back.
To /that/ Hakuya responds with: "Whoa."
Since none of them are targeting him or Tenma, however, the order of the day seems to be to get the hell out of the forest, where they could fight these things more easily. Who knows, they might even have an effective maximum range they could operate at. They were pretty small, after all, and it wasn't unconceivable they could just run out of gas. So, Hakuya revs his engine, making Lu Cacaracha all the louder, and races after Tran, right next to (but slightly behind) his dunebuggy.
COMBATSYS: Hakuya takes no action.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Kurotora Roller Bombs1/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Hakuya
> /////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Tran
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Tenma
Unfortunately for Tenma and his lack of ability re: driving, this means his own garish ATV is bringing up the rear, though he's offset enough that he doesn't have to worry about getting in the way of the wackiness surrounding Dr. Richard Tran and his dunebuggy. "WHAT DID HE SAY??" Tenma shouts towards Hakuya, barely able to hear his own shouted words, much less anyone else's, over the roar of the exhaust. Well, whatever it was, it probably wasn't important anyway; Tran is clearly some sort of crazy person, turning himself into a human ramp for that Rollerbot.
While Hakuya is content to just let the robots be, as is his wont, Tenma... Is not.
See, he's the violent one.
"GET LOST, STOP CHASING US!!" the Kiryuu heir shouts back at the robots, even though they can't hear him, and who knows if ninjabots can even understand people talk? That's not the point, though. The point is that he's not going to sit back and let these robots disrespect them by chasing them. Instead, he (possibly foolishly) takes one hand off the handlebars of the bike, and reaches into his pocket to pull out one of the many kunai he stole from Seishirou Ryouhara what seems like forever ago; twisting, Tenma hurls it at the nearest rollbot, hoping to take out its wheel, or tire, or /something/.
These things are /freaking him out/, man.
COMBATSYS: Kurotora Roller Bombs dodges Tenma's Thrown Weapon.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Kurotora Roller Bombs1/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Hakuya
> /////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Tran
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Tenma
*VROOM* Somehow, someway, the Wheel-warrior manages to emit a very confused sound when it ends up not plowing into Tran but instead accidentally launching itself straight up into the air and smashes into a very sturdy low-hanging branch. This results in it landing unceremoniously onto it's back, allowing Hakuya to run -right- over it, forcing it to sink into the dirt and serve as a temporary speed bump. Poor robot.
The triangle formation behind the group gain some ground, and it'd appear that Tenma's weapon throwing skill isn't exactly up to par here- The blade is flung toward one of the Ninjabots only to be swiftly evaded and collected by the following 'bots mechanical cable, brought inside it's little mechanical cubby.
The group soon end up hitting a fork at their path, one to the left the other to the right, and there's no sign which way is the right or the wrong.. Well. Actually that's not entirely true, one hint is that four more of the mechanical terrors come bursting out from the ground from the left path, as if guarding the correct way. They proceed to rev up and roar forward onto the single lane, the small group making a beeline straight for Hakuya this time, dropping three blinky-light mines into the ground after passing Tran. The layout is a little tricky here, some sick driving will allow the man to get out of the way otherwise he is going to get some serious... Serious air.
COMBATSYS: Kurotora Roller Bombs successfully hit Hakuya with Exploding Charge.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Kurotora Roller Bombs1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Hakuya
> /////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Tran
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Tenma
Hakuya isn't a skilled driver or anything. In fact, prior to him getting on this ATV, there has not been one instance, ever, that Hakuya has ever driven any kind of motor vehicle. Except that one occassion where he'd had to drive a boat back to Japan, but that had had oddly specific instructions on how to do it included in the wheelhouse. Seishirou was not anything if he wasn't a completely obsessive-compulsive jackass.
So when the little wheeled terrors seem to be expert navigators (to an extent, what the hell speed bump), weaving around trees with crazy skill, and furthermore, being able to calculate his /own/ trajectory through trees in order to leave some freaking mines in his path - Hakuya is BONED. The young man even waves his arms in a panic, taking his hands off the accelerator as he tries to figure out what to do. "Tenma, uh, Tenma!" He asks. It wasn't like a punch or something, they were freaking MINES planted directly in his path with no way to change direction. So without thinking of anything he could do - he runs over them. And the mines go off. And wow he never imagined getting the seat of your ATV shoved up into Namble and Bamble would hurt quite so much. The ATV gets thrashed, too, but for whatever reason it doesn't fall apart. Perhaps because the ricers put armor freaking plating on the underside.
Whatever the case, it looks like shit anyway, even if it keeps moving. And Hakuya is practically bent in half over the steering bars, looking nonplussed and in pain. Oh, he might've also gotten hit by the concussive blast of the mines, but first he's concerned about the Lil' Kings.
"Ow..." He inaudibly utters as he just... drives, unable to think of a counter.
COMBATSYS: Hakuya takes no action.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Kurotora Roller Bombs1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Hakuya
> /////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Tran
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Tenma
It warms Tran's heart, right down in the deepest depths of his cockles, to hear the sound of tires thumping over his enemies. Well, it was only the one enemy in this case, and they were someone else's tires. But it's the principle of it, you understand. It's /invigorating/.
So when more robots pop up ahead, Dr. Tran is one hundred percent ready to go all road warrior on their robotic ass-analogues.
"YEAH, COME ON, I'LL RIP OUT ALL YOUR HEARTS, YOU ROBOT BASTARDS!" The dune buggy, subject to Tran's tyrannical whims, speeds forward and slowly rises off of its front wheels as it pops a dangerously aggressive wheelie.
And then-- the robots just go whizzing right on by to go lay some stupid little bullshit mines or something. /UNACCEPTABLE/.
Inexplicable anger prevailing against his better judgement, Tran jerks the steering wheel to one side and /slams/ the shift backwards, improbably causing the dune buggy to spin about in a perfect 180 turn, still on its back wheels. It skids as the emergency brake deploys, tilting dangerously upward, on the verge of capsizing.
Finally, it comes to a halt, right at the fork in the road. Tran counts to 2, then punches the steering wheel so hard the entire front end of the vehicle does a body slam right in the trailing robots' path.
"Tch," mutters Tenma as the wheeled robots prove reluctant to get hit with thrown knives. He realises that his ATV is a bit overbalanced, though, and with a yelp he throws himself forward to put both hands on the handlebars again to get the thing back under control, the vehicle weaving without any real intent behind it. "I /hate/ this thing!" he reiterates, for his own benefit.
With Hakuya setting mines off with /his own ATV/, Tenma starts to get actually irritated, leaning down against the handlebars to present less air resistance as he guns the engine and... Man what is that? Does this thing have nitrous? What the hell?
"HEY, HEY YOU STUPID NINJA TINKERTOYS!!" Tenma bellows, heading down the better guarded path, of course, and filled with righteous fury, he hits the red button on the riced-out ATV's dash.
Suddenly, honest to goodness FLAMES flare out of the oversized comedy exhausts as the ATV is hurled forward with an EXXXTREME boost of speed, Tenma's expression rapidly going from 'intent and angry' to 'oh god, oh buddha, this was a bad idea!' as his machine lunges with terrible ricer vengeance at one of the robots.
Just, like, KABLAM.
COMBATSYS: Kurotora Roller Bombs dodges Tran's Huge Random Weapon.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Kurotora Roller Bombs1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Hakuya
> /////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Tran
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Tenma
COMBATSYS: Kurotora Roller Bombs interrupts Large Random Weapon from Tenma with Premature Detonation.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Kurotora Roller Bombs1/----===/=======|=====--\-------\0 Hakuya
> /////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Tran
> ////////////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Tenma
Things.. Just got EXTREME.
The Guardian Kings and Tran are zooming about this way and that, it actually is helpful in a way as it constantly causes the en mass of robotic nuisances to have to switch positions and swap targets with no solid plan until the last possible moment. And even then those are guaranteed thanks to these psychos.
The group of four (with the two that recently joined after making things difficult for Hakuya making it six instead) are on Tran's sights, though the cloud of dust from both burning rubber and the big-assed explosion doesn't make Tran's route entirely clear. So what happens instead is that it -seems- like he's about to play some Mecho-bowling but they fan out to the left and right making his vehicle crash down with three of the mechanical terrors on each side at first.
The group then pick up speed, bursting ahead and beeline right toward Tenma, unaware that that's -exactly- what he wants. And so it's Tenma that ends up making a strike of the year, with the collission resulting in a massive eruption of exploding explosioness.
Flames go up, the concussive force is astounding, enough to blow out a large crater in the ground that, in turn, causes trees to tilt and uproot, then come crashing down to the ground and taking a few more of it's forest buddies with it.
Almost comically one after another dominos and pretty much just blocks up the left road pretty bad, with Hakuya's path kind of trapped in front and back. Granted it is not impossible to continue forward but it's a nuicence, allowing the seven that had almost been lagging behind to continue their zerg-rush, attempting to cut off Tran's path and proceed to circle both the doctor and the sword-wielding guardian
/Holy crap/. Dr. Tran was barely able to appreciate the first batch of explosions, so enraged was he over being snubbed. The second one, now, that's much more impressive. The collateral damage alone is amazing, as bits of the forest come crashing down. The doctor barely even notices that he doesn't actually crush any robots; it is pretty dusty, after all, and it's not like he has a good view of what's directly underneath him.
Still, odds are good he got one or two, right? Who knows, it's good enough for him. Revving again, the dune buggy drifts in place, marking out a sharp circle as it corrects the direction.
Inevitably, Dr. Tran totally peels out, regardless of the robots in his path. Unconcerned with the possibility that they might actually pose some kind of a barrier, only aware that by stopping he has endangered his status as 'inevitable winner of the race,' Tran drives. Right through the robots, if neccesary. That'll show 'em for /daring/ to obstruct his path.
Pain is no stranger to Hakuya, but the occassional shot to the nuts is a little bit too much pain for even the Guardian King. It fades, though, and then the man is back on track! With a damn tree crashing right in front of him. Thinking quicker, this time, the Suigetsu heir figures that he'd lose time by going around the falling trees, so instead what he does is jumps over it. Without any kind of ramp. That's right. You know what he does?
Hakuya leans over in his seat, and punches the damn ground so hard his ATV, still playing La Cucaracha, leaps right over the fallen trunk.
Of course, being a kineticist, he might have put just a bit of chi English on that punch to redirect the kinetic energy, but whatever. Point is, he sails over the tree.
Landing hard, just as Tenma has that other rolling thing explode right in his face, which causes the Guardian King to look back in alarm. And, seeing that Tran, too, is a little besieged, well. It's time for Hakuya Suigetsu to start attacking /back/. Revving the engine, he guns it to get right in line with Tran's dunebuggy. He then accelerates, leaning over the handlebars like Tenma had showed him how to. He catches up - and then tries to reach out and grab one of the rollerbots right up off the ground. Then he aims his ATV towards a tree. Guns it even faster, laying the throttle open.
And then, he turns juuuust slightly away, so he can pass right by the tree. The rollerbot, however, will -not- go past the tree. He will go right into it.
***KABOOM***
That's the sound that happens when the overdriving, riced out ATV runs over a rollerbot and the thing /explodes/. The machine flies through the explosion, pretty much, like something out of a mid-'80s action television series, with Tenma hunched down over it and bits of fiery debris going /everywhere/. The Guardian King himself hardly gets out of it unscathed, but the ATV really takes the brunt of the damage; not only is its totally sweet garish body kit /ruined forever/, but one of the ridiculous exhaust pipes is gone entirely, the other dragging uselessly behind the vehicle.
Upside: Tenma can now hear things.
"Haaaa ha ha ha ha ha!" Tenma Kiryuu laughs like a MAD-TRAN, exulting in the carnage and the not dying, and sitting up on the back of the ATV. "I still hate this thing!!"
As the go-bots continue to try to cut them off, Tenma finally notices this particular fact, and frankly he's getting both sick /and/ tired of it, so he reaches over his shoulder and pulls his bokken free of its impromptu 'long piece of cloth' back strap. There's plenty of blood for him to complete the link on the fly, though it's a little bumpy going, and a heartbeat later the blessed wooden blade is alight with crimson misty blood-energy. So, riding on the back of the burned ATV like a singed road warrior, one hand on the handlebars and the other grasping his chi-emanating bokken, Tenma grins wildly, showing teeth. "OKAY, YOU FREAKIN'... WHATEVER THE HELL YOU ARES! TIME TO LEARN AN /IMPORTANT LESSON/!"
He sweeps the bokken out, leaving a reddish after-image behind the slash, from whence is born a crescent of roiling blood and chi that streaks towards the first available robot in front of him.
"...STAY THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY!!"
COMBATSYS: Kurotora Roller Bombs dodges Tenma's Dharmapala.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Kurotora Roller Bombs1/-----==/=======|=====--\-------\0 Hakuya
> /////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Tran
> ///////////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Tenma
COMBATSYS: Kurotora Roller Bombs blocks Hakuya's Tidal Crush.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Kurotora Roller Bombs1/----===/=======|======-\-------\0 Hakuya
> /////////////////////////// ]
|=------\-------\0 Tran
> ///////////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Tenma
COMBATSYS: Kurotora Roller Bombs interrupts Random Weapon from Tran with Premature Detonation.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Kurotora Roller Bombs1/--=====/=======|======-\-------\0 Hakuya
> //////////////////// ]
|=======\-------\1 Tran
> ///////////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Tenma
WHen the smoke clears, it looks like only 2 of the revvin' machines survived the onslaught, with Hakuya managing to snag one of the second that are making an effort to cut off and surround Tenma and Tran. However it would appear the effort expended wasn't really necessary, as one intends to stand his ground, and the other is insitant on getting in on some of this robo-bowling action.
Hopefully the lesson being learnt here is: Dont drive into these things or possible side-effects could include: Heavily Injury, Possible Death, or Robo-STDs. Well, the doctor wanted to see explosions so bad, he gets one of his very own, as slamming into three of the droids results in not only smashing them up, but yet another eruption of explosive power slinging Tran and his vehicle god knows where, but hey there's water nearby so maybe that.
Hakuya does manage to snag one of the droids; it's surprisingly easy actually but the only problem is that it manages to shift its weight somehow allowing it to lean backward so the wheels slam up against the tree, revs upward, and then springs right off and proceeds to ride around in small circles as if it lost its way.
The leaders of the circle are the first to home in on Tenma and, thusly, are the targets of his bloody attack- Fancy dirtwork allows them to make spot-on shifts in direction, causing them to dodge the wave but also as a result pushes them off in directions away from Tenma; with remanervering it'd appear that they'll go for Hakuya instead while the falling trunk is smashed into and split cleanly instead.
Ah but one last thing, the circling robot is doing his thing for a reason: The top of its head opens and it fires off a flare up into the sky- Orange sparkles follow it's path until it explodes into a cloud of red smoke. Ladies and gentleman: It's 30 seconds till this place becomes 'Bot Country.
In the face of certain explosion, Dr. Tran's Diabolical Dune Buggy does what is natural for its kind: /it takes to the air/ in the face of the massive explosion, despite its entire front half looking like a sentient swarm of angry baseball bats attacked it.
Soaring through the sky, trailing smoke and debris, crushing the tender, fragile branches that obstruct his path, the doctor only has one thing to say. "THAT WAS GREAT, HAHAHAHA!"
Then he lands and it's not so great anymore because /whiplash, ow/. It's still relatively great, just...not so much. Great, but less. Good.
Immediately, the dune buggy begins the process of peeling out anew, because Dr. Tran's religion forbids him from ever going easy on the gas. Spitting up dirt and rocks and some robot chunks that got stuck in the hardy machine behind him, it's with another cackle that the apparently insane doctor goes from 'sliding back and forth in place' to 'i'm going so fast aw fuck' down the road.
"KEEP UP, KIDS, OR THE ROBOTS WILL EAT YOU! HA!"
Well, that was... unexpected! Hakuya actually blinks as the robot he's holding kips up and plants its tire on the tree he's smashing it against, then rolls on up the tree to abate most of the force used to smash it. "Huh," Hakuya says, blinking in honest surprise and looking to his hand. He just barely focuses back again on what's in front of him in time to swerve wildly from a tree looming ahead, sending him skidding a bit, and notably, directly -under- Tran as the man flies overhead, cackling madly.
Damn, that guy -was- insane.
Revving the engine, Hakuya speeds away before Tran can crash into him, taking, at least momentarily, the lead. It doesn't take long for Tran to catch up, though, having a mildly better engine than ATVs do in his dune buggy. "Oh, you're still alive!" The kineticist shouts over as the man declares they need to keep up. And keep up Hakuya decides to do... that is, after taking out the signaling bot. That signal can't mean a whole lot of good for them, he thinks, and taking it out in an act of vengeance sounds like a good idea.
Racing over towards it, Hakuya pulls on the brakes hard as he approaches, and sends his ATV into a drift. At the same time, the Suigetsu heir twists, bringing one leg around the back of the seat and lashing out with it to hit the robot and knock it into the air. Further twisting, Hakuya kips both of his feet up, and then bicycle kicks the robot in mid-air, sending it flying into a tree, should all go well. Without even breaking too much speed, Hakuya then does an almost breakdance-like maneuver on his seat, twisting around, and then once more sits himself properly in the ATV's seat, zooming off again.
COMBATSYS: Tran takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Kurotora Roller Bombs1/---====/=======|====---\-------\0 Hakuya
> //////////////////// ]
|=======\-------\1 Tran
> ///////////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Tenma
These rollbots are no joke, no joke at all; their agility is pretty impressive, and even Tenma would probably give them props, were he the sort of person to do that to devil robots.
The brutally singed ATV pulls ahead, it seems, as avoiding his attack makes the roller bombs get the hell out of his way, which is something he feels pretty good about... Right up until he sees the whole 'flying dune buggy' thing happen, as it goes right /over/ Hakuya's ATV. "HEY!!" Tenma calls out towards Dr. Richard Tran, pointing at the crazed lunatic with his chi-emanating bokken.
He needs the other hand to steer.
"HEY!!" Tenma repeats. "YOU'RE A /BAD DRIVER/!"
COMBATSYS: Tenma assists Tran.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Kurotora Roller Bombs1/---====/=======|====---\-------\0 Hakuya
> //////////////////// ]
|=======\-------\1 Tran
> ///////////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Tenma
COMBATSYS: Kurotora Roller Bombs dodges Hakuya's Blind Crescent.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Kurotora Roller Bombs1/---====/=======|=====--\-------\0 Hakuya
> //////////////////// ]
|=======\-------\1 Tran
> ///////////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Tenma
Things are heating up fast, the road is still -generally- going downward, but there are plenty of short hills along the way as well as plenty of bothersome shrubbery and trees. Starting to leave the wreckage behind in the dust, Tran gets a good start on his semi-getaway.. He has lost the now smaller group of robot's attention for the time being. Maybe they've left him for dead despite his very much still being alive!
Hakuya's attempt at taking out the signaling robot doesn't go quite as planned, unfortunatly. It was very well excecuted especially considering the vehicle the Guardian King is managing to impressivly steer despite it's.. State. But this 'bot is completely fresh and thus is able to escape by pulling into reverse at the snap of a finger, then proceed to circle the young student while giving off an electronic 'La Cucaracha' of its own.
Ah, Robot humor.
But Hakuya does draw away easily enough as it ends up smacking back first against a tree in mid-taunt.
There's a gentle roar coming from the left of the group. Then the roar isn't quite so gentle, it becoming a fairly chaotic chorus of roars. The calvary has arrived and Tenma is the first to find that the numbers are fairly rediculous. The now group of twenty ninja-bots have burst into the fray, lined up in a massive square formation and they're making a beeline right at the blood-slinger. Their path isn't straight forward however, they make their presense the most rock and roll way possible and that's flying right off a ramp of dirt; timed with the intent to rain down right atop him, then continue on as if the teen weren't there at all.
"HEY! YOU'RE A /BAD DRIVER/!"
Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech.
Dr. Tran comes to an immediate halt, the squealing of brakes echoing throughout the forest. His head rachets backward, naked fury burning evident in his eyes. He puts on a pair of sunglasses with stern composure.
"/WHAT/." With a violent motion, Tran flings the sunglasses off of his face as hard as he can. They go careening off a tree into the nearby river, but he just /doesn't care/.
"Bad driver? I'll show him a bad driver. HELL, I'll show everyone how to drive, how to be an /AMAZING DRIVER/, with over /ONE THOUSAND AWARDS/ for /BEING FAST/!" Once again, the dune buggy skids along in a violent half-circle, reversing direction like it's being driven by a violent schizophrenic, charging right back toward the huge amassment of robots.
"THIS IS HOW YOU DRIVE, ASSHOLES! I LEARNED THIS LITTLE NUMBER IN THE /WAR/!" Leading by example(???), Tran approaches the one-wheeled robot horde and jerks the buggy to the side again while simultaneously ripping on the emergency brake. The result is basically what happens when a motorized vehicle attempts to perform a spinning clothesline, hopefully scattering the roller bombs every which way by physically knocking them there with its rear-end, thereby setting them up for further punishment from the Guardian Kings, /hint hint/. "IT'S CALLED A /JET-STREAM ATTACK./ DO IT, YOU PUSSIES!"
COMBATSYS: Hakuya just-defends Kurotora Roller Bombs' Overrunning Swarm!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Kurotora Roller Bombs0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Hakuya
> /////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Tran
> ///////////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Tenma
Damn, these things are fast as hell. Hakuya even did a smooth ass move - if he said so himself - to try and kick the crap out of the signal bot, but it dodged nearly effortlessly. Well, that was saddening but not nearly as rough as it could've been. After all he doesn't get attacked again, and the thing doesn't try to blow up on him!
Until, you know, the entire /swarm/ comes over the ridge.
"Oh cr- TENMA! WATCH OUT!" Hakuya cries. Gunning his ATV over towards Tran and Tenma, the kineticist does the only thing he can think of to do to try and save his friend from a horrible death, where literally rocks will fall and perhaps everyone (Tenma) dies. Except in this case the rocks are partially sentient wheel robots. Hakuya just guns his ATV /straight at/ Tenma's and rams it, imparting a bunch of kinetic energy to get Tenma's bike moving forward a lot faster. And then? And then Hakuya stands up. One foot planted on the foot rest on the side of the ATV. One foot on the handlebar, where the accelerator is.
And then Hakuya Suigetsu begins to do a bunch of tight donuts, practically in place, and starts punching the shit out of robots.
As the swarm falls, Hakuya just throws out hands, intercepting each robot as it falls and sending it back the other way it came. None of it has enough force to injure or anything, but just enough to knock them away without hurting Hakuya. And, oddly enough, he seems to all be knocking them directly towards Tran.
Who has it in the mind to team up, even side-swiping his dune buggy into the swarm. Hell yeah.
Hakuya picks up on the intention immediately, and as soon as he swats the last one away, he sits back down in his ATV, revs the engine, and breaks his totally sweet donuting to race, almost dead on, towards Tran as if playing chicken. As the dunebuggy swipes all the bots back towards him, Hakuya leans forward, and then extends his hands out to either side, his legs clenching the seat of the ATV hard. Then he, too, turns his ATV into a sideways swipe, but then tilts over, deliberately shoving his (thankfully gloved) hands into the ground and more or less launching himself, ATV-first, at the bots. He'll then follow that motion up, knocking the swarm of robots into the air, every single one of them... then follow them up into the air, ATV and all.
And then he does the reverse what he did before, punching each and every robot back into the ground, this time hard enough to -spike- them into the forest floor below, making each one bounce.
Hakuya will totally land some feet away, on his ATV, playing La Cucaracha triumphantly.
By this point, Tenma isn't even sure what's happening, but whatever it is... It's pretty ridiculous.
With Hakuya ensuring his safety from robot death, and proving once again that the best defense is whatever Hakuya Suigetsu is doing at any given moment, the leader of Gedo High's infamous Guardian Kings has no time to marvel at the tremendous vehicular skills of Dr. Tran, despite his stopping on what was very nearly a dime from top speed, and then demonstrating his need for speed once again, there's nothing for the Kiryuu heir to do but to go along with this proposed teamup.
Its sheer balls-swelling ridiculousness calls to him. It calls out to his blood.
And Tenma is all about blood.
In the aftermath of Hakuya's own insane ATV acrobatics, Tenma comes next, and he has to deal with all those little bastards on the ground; he leans all the way over to one side, so the ATV comes up on one set of wheels, and then uses his bokken and the sudden pressure of all his tremendous chi to give the four wheeler a boost so that it straight up flips upside down, tracing a lazy corkscrew tracjectory over the Kurotora Roller Bombs. /As this happens/, Tenma lashes out with his bokken, striking in a wide arc at every horrible deathboth he can reach, the ATV somehow landing on its much-abused wheels on the other side in a tremendous, but surviveable, crash.
COMBATSYS: Kurotora Roller Bombs blocks Tran, Hakuya and Tenma's Jet-Stream Attack.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Kurotora Roller Bombs1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Hakuya
> /////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Tran
> //////////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Tenma
Have you ever seen a wall just.. Crumble? That's kind of what it looks like right now, when Hakuya just goes bonkers on the Great Wall of Robots, the swarm flies off in verious directions, the a way of mechanical ninjabots goes sailing along with them. It kind of looks like like when a dog goes nuts digging into the ground and sends dirt flying everywhere.
Yeah, it's like that. Then the wave just gets bigger as the second SUV joins the en-mass slidefest, it kind of looks like he's surfing on them when he continues his combination.
The mass of robots that are either circling on the ground or laying there in a stunned state is left to Tenma's fate, and just.. Jesus. The earth erupts like a geyser or something, as the backwind of the wide arc sends the small monstrosities flying in various directions still.
Clunk thunk thud whonk BING. They come crashing to the floor- And yet despite the beating the wave of Roller Bombs take, they're almost instantly back up and running, granted there are sparks flying about every which way now, following their mad dashing.
Come to think of it, it almost seems like they didn't take as much punishment as they should have. Their armor-mode reserved usually for standing mobile must have had a 'stuck in the air' clause.
IT's a scattered mess, but of all the flailing machines, it seems two of them are back on attackmode post haste, from their 'chests' their cables sling out- Reaching toward Tenma's wrists with the intent of slinging him off his danged vehicle. But is it too little too late?
There. That'll show 'em. That'll show all of 'em, robots and teenagers both. And the trees, too. Hell, Dr. Tran has basically shown everything just what comes of calling a bull a bad driver. You get the /horns/.
The Dune Buggy Dr. Tran Custom comes to a halt after its part of the /daring maneuver/ is executed, idling for a moment as he watches the carnage. That's probably pretty impressive, but the doctor still decides halfway through that he's seen enough.
He's got a race to win, after all.
And so just like that, he's zooming off down the pathway again, heedless of man or beast or exploding robot. The getting is good, so Dr. Tran gets out, before the robots decide to get fresh with him again.
"AND THAT'S HOW IT'S DONE! NOW SEE IF YOU CAN KEEP UP AGAIN OR IF YOU'RE GOING TO CRY INTO YOUR MOTHER'S PORRIDGE LIKE LITTLE BABIES!" The dune buggy accelerates in that particular fashion that only the completely mad can acheive. "AND THAT GOES DOUBLE FOR YOU, ROBOTS!"
COMBATSYS: Tran takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Kurotora Roller Bombs0/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Hakuya
> /////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Tran
> //////////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Tenma
The complete, utter, total and sheer ridiculousness of what just passed doesn't seem to faze Hakuya as his ATV lands and he skids off with it, simply hauling on the accelerator to get away from the mass of robots behind him so that Tenma can follow up both his and Tran's attack with his own. He seemed pleased with him, that much is true, because he pulled his part of just fine. And looking back, he can see Tenma beating the crap out of the swarm, just as necessary, and with just as ridiculous aerial acrobatics.
See, when you're a Guardian King, sheer balls-swelling ridiculousness is just a matter of course.
As for what to do next, well. /Clearly/ no one could survive that much dust, not even robots. Hakuya feels very little need to attack right now after just delivering a good solid ass whupping, so while the robots prove that indeed they -can- survive that much dust by trying to cable the hell out of Tenma, the second Guardian King guns it, following after Tran. And not just because they're still technically in a race, but because it seems like a good idea to get the hell out of dodge.
COMBATSYS: Hakuya takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Kurotora Roller Bombs0/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Hakuya
> /////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Tran
> //////////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Tenma
COMBATSYS: Kurotora Roller Bombs successfully hit Tenma with Restraining Cable.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Kurotora Roller Bombs1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Hakuya
> /////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Tran
> ////////////// ]
|=======\-------\0 Tenma
Jostled by his ATV's rough landing, Tenma Kiryuu is unfortunately ill-prepared to deal with what happens next. The Guardian King's arms are suddenly ensnared by the cables launched by the weird rollerbots, his dark blue eyes widening in surprise and alarm as he's caught.
The wost part about this is that it means he can't bring his weapon to bear either, his bokken held tightly in his right hand, but his arms held out to full extension to either side of him by the robots.
"Oh yeah, you assholes think that's gonna work on me, huh!? Well, let me tell you something you don't know!" Tenma shouts at the robots; intimidation might not work on the Kurotora Roller Bombs in the least, but that's never stopped him before. For Tenma Kiryuu, words are weapons as much as anything else. That's one of the reasons he so rarely gives anyone their actual name, when referring to them.
Despite the rather extreme pain he's in, the King of Blood grins hugely and arrogantly, supremely secure in whatever mysterious knowledge it is that he holds.
Leaning back with the tension being exerted on him, Tenma lifts one of his legs from the safety of the ATV's side, and, well, uses it to jerk one of the handlebars forward, stepping on the vehicle's throttle in ignorance of all possible safety laws. "I'M AN EVEN WORSE DRIVER THAN THAT CRAZY OLD QUACK!!" Tenma bellows, and if the rollerbots aren't careful, well...
...They're going to get dragged along behind the ATV.
COMBATSYS: Tenma takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Kurotora Roller Bombs1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Hakuya
> /////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Tran
> ////////////// ]
|=======\-------\0 Tenma
Careful? Careful isn't their top priority which basically means that surely enough, they end up getting dragged along like cans on the back of a wedding car. It's.. Kind of funny in a way, but persistant flexible buggers they are, they don't let go- Hopefully no sharp turns are in order for -their- sake.
Were they not mechanical the Roller Bombs would certainly all be pondering what the hell just happened, and be stunned long enough to ponder it. Instead things go from 'we're down' to 'get back up and destroy'. Though there seems to be a bit of good news, despite the crazy driving, there's light at the end of the tunnel, the sunlight is getting a little brighter and it's 'evident' that the group is near the finish line!
But the Finish Line comes with a price.
A DEADLY PRICE.
It'd seem at first that the group of now thirteen have been left in the dust, but the small stampede proceed to lean forward and there's a tremendous roar as flames burst from their backs and send them blasting even faster, dirt flying upward like a speedboat does to water. The single-file group would proceed to blast past Tenma, past Hakuya, and toward the 'winner' of the 'race', then four of them suicidally attempt to ram themselves not only against the side of Tran and his vehicle, but maybe even send him careening into one of the trees, that sounds like a good time!
COMBATSYS: Tran blocks Kurotora Roller Bombs' Combo Attack.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Kurotora Roller Bombs1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Hakuya
> ////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Tran
> ////////////// ]
|=======\-------\0 Tenma
"GO TO HELL, NERDOFF!" Dr. Tran, in outraged response to Tenma, flips his best finger up behind him as an important reminder of who is a great driver. Tran is a great driver. Once again, even though he has nothing to prove, Dr. Tran is going to /prove it anyway/.
"Ain't no-one gonna stop my ride..." Tran starts mumbling to himself darkly as the bomb-bots quickly begin to catch up, going so far as to ignore both of the awful student drivers behind him. Not that he can blame them; after all, they're gonna have to take out /the winner/ if they want any shot at victory.
The winner is Dr. Tran. That is the implication, though he has not technically won yet. It's really only a matter of time, though.
At least, it is if the doctor continues driving like he is. Bomb-bots buffet his bumper, knocking into the dune buggy like tiny metal battering rams. Unfortunately for them, each attempted collision is met with resistance, in the form of /aggressive driving/ the likes of which would never see the light of day in any sane driving school.
Cutting off the entire line before it can pull up alongside him, Tran does the unthinkable; he lets off the gas and applies brakes, giving the robots a rapidly approaching view of the spare tire strapped to the back of his buggy(safety first!). Then, just as the first one impacts, he guns it again, effectively taking the small machine's power and /making it his own./
As a result, his cackling only grows louder and more powerful.
COMBATSYS: Tran takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Kurotora Roller Bombs1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Hakuya
> ////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Tran
> ////////////// ]
|=======\-------\0 Tenma
Hakuya swerves wildly as the rollerbots swarm past him on the road, attempting to converge on Tran, as if the 'leader' in this little race, being the closest to the finish line, needs to be taken out at all costs. The Suigetsu heir kicks at the bots as they pass, though he doesn't really do a concentrated attack, feet maybe knocking one or two of the bots a bit askew but easily being corrected, no damage at all happening.
Clearly, the three of them had shown these bots who was boss, and now it was time to get out of here. Tran seemed to have the right idea: they need to gun it. Or at least, Hakuya was in favor of doing that. Who knows if there's not, like, a secondary swarm coming? Bigger than the last, even! A huge carpet of the things! Hakuya could totally envision this, and he doesn't think he can punch them all away this time, if they're that many.
So rather than trying anything super special, Hakuya just aims his ATV straight after Tran's dune buggy, blaring La Cucaracha despite all the damage his ATV has taken. Triumphantly. After all, they're totally about to cross the finish line.
COMBATSYS: Hakuya takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Kurotora Roller Bombs1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Hakuya
> ////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Tran
> ////////////// ]
|=======\-------\0 Tenma
By this point, Tenma's shoulders hurt like you would not /believe/; a normal person would surely have had both arms dislocated by this point, assuming they weren't outright thrown off of the ATV, but of course, the Guardian King is no normal person. Not by any stretch of the imagination. Just look at the ridiculous things he commonly mistakes for good ideas.
"Agh, goddamn!" Tenma grouses, still dragging the two Kurotoras behind himself and steering with one foot on the ATV's handlebars, as he sticks by Hakuya's own machine. Even if he is blasting La Cucaracha. Repeatedly.
So it's probably for the best at this point that Kiryuu has too much on his mind to give Tran any more crap about his driving, what with the suicide robots trying to suicide the dunebuggy... TO DEATH.
COMBATSYS: Tenma takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Kurotora Roller Bombs1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Hakuya
> ////////////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Tran
> ////////////// ]
|=======\-------\0 Tenma
A few of the Kurotora 'Bots don't make it to Tran thanks to Hakuya's interferance, the kicks send them wobbling and flying off in opposite directions, one of them so unlucky as to smash into a tree resulting in a good old-fashioned explosion that the trio leave behind. Unfortunatly it isn't a chain explosion as the others manage to be a little quicker on the maneuvering mark.
Tran's clever use of his opponent's is.. Well. Clever. The dunebuggy is probably doing a wheelie from the assisted burst that pushes him ahead yet again of the group and he's the first out of the wave of trees at last.
That's the GOOD news.
The BAD news is that there's company at the end of the tunnel, twenty of the mechanical terrors to their left, the right side leading downward, but back into the forest. Oh. But it gets worse.
the path our heroes have taken has not taken the group directly south but rather southwest which means that this particular exit brings the boys to a cliffside; this cliff looks over Linhai, but is more specifically leads to a large man-made pool of water.
The two that have been a pain in the butt for Tenma finally release their grip and tumble away, but now the last army is blasting toward our heroes aiming to sideline them with extreme prejudice.
The cliffside or the roadside.
The choice is yours.
COMBATSYS: Tran endures Kurotora Roller Bombs' Overrunning Swarm.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Kurotora Roller Bombs0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Hakuya
> //////// ]
|=======\-------\1 Tran
> ////////////// ]
|=======\-------\0 Tenma
Dr. Tran is not in the habit of taking anybody's shit, /especially/ not robot shit, no matter how many of them there are and how much there is. And rest assured, this is a /heaping pile/.
"Ha. Haha! HAHAHAHAHA!" Clearly, Dr. Tran has been driven (more) mad by the impressive swarm of machines that have decided to try to stop him one last time. When he stands up, one foot resting on the steering wheel in the pose of a rogue conquistador, he only lends more credence to the theory.
This may lead one to wonder just how the dune buggy has not slowed in the slightest, since his feet are no longer anywhere near the gas. The answer lies in a pedal that has been mashed so far down into the metal that it has become stuck, /fused/ in some unholy amalgation of steel and speed.
Riding his vehicle like a surf board, Tran defiantly welcomes the swarm of bomb-bots. He is momentarily engulfed by their sheer numbers, completely obscured from view. Suffice to say, they completely wreck his shit. /It is not enough./
Bursting out from the other side like a glorious man-phoenix, covered in grease and bruises and explosion stains, Dr. Tran rockets through the air. There is no sign of his ride. It doesn't matter anymore.
All that matters is when his body is propelled violently over the side of the cliff, afterward quickly falling to the water below. All that matters is his triumphant cry as he dives.
"FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirst!"
COMBATSYS: Hakuya endures Kurotora Roller Bombs' Overrunning Swarm.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Kurotora Roller Bombs0/-------/-------|=======\==-----\1 Hakuya
> //////// ]
|=======\-------\1 Tran
> ////////////// ]
|=======\-------\0 Tenma
Hakuya emerges from the tree line hot on Tran's rear wheels. So he's right there when, you know, the whole posse of Kurotoras roll on up to say hello. In a way it is appropriate that his ATV is stuck blaring La Cucaracha, because these things are certainly numerous enough to /be/ cockroaches. They just keep coming! And in huge numbers, too. And all of them are intent on exploding themselves right up alongside Tran, Tenma and himself.
Well, okay, mostly Tran right now. But Hakuya is /right there/ anyway, so he sees it when the world simply goes the color of a Michael Bay film. The explosion overtakes him, and rather than being right on top of it like Tran is, he's riding right into it. It isn't a pretty sight at all. Pieces of the ATV fly eeevverrrywhheerrree. Perhaps even bits of Hakuya?! It's hard to tell with all the dust and flames in the air. Oh poor, poor Hakuya!
Except... wait. What's that noise? It comes distantly at first, but slowly creeps into hearing. The sound of the mighty La Cucaracha, though now badly distorted. Well /above/ the cliff they were all driving towards, Hakuya sits on his ATV looking pretty dazed and badly singed, doing flip after flip in his suddenly airborne ATV. The choice isn't even his as to whether to go over the cliff or down the road - his ass is going over the cliff, like a Chinese ricer comet.
"S... Sec, Second?!!!" Hakuya cries out as he falls towards the lake, and makes a huge splash down the second it happens, La Cucaracha /finally/ cutting out. Damn.
COMBATSYS: Tenma endures Kurotora Roller Bombs' Overrunning Swarm.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Kurotora Roller Bombs0/-------/-------|=======\==-----\1 Hakuya
> //////// ]
|=======\-------\1 Tran
> /// ]
|=======\=====--\1 Tenma
"Oh, this is bullshit," Tenma Kiryuu says, when he sees what's coming. He'd probably be upset at the possibility of Tran winning the race, if anyone other than Tran himself had ever truly acknowledged the existence of the competition; leave it to the craziest doctor since Frankenstein to make up his own rules about things.
With his arms finally released, Tenma is able to take ahold of the ATV's controls with his hands instead of his foot, which doesn't... Really make much difference, by this point, as there are two problems in the way: Kurotora bombs, and also /a cliff/.
Hence, bullshit.
With little choice left, Tenma just blazes right on through, and his ATV goes over the edge of the cliff like a blazing fireball, the Kiryuu heir himself propelled ahead of it, limbs flailing.
He doesn't call out anything race-related as he falls, though. Instead, what he shouts is:
"FUCK THAT PERVERT KIDNAPPER NINJAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--"
And then there's an incredible SPLASH.
COMBATSYS: Tenma takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Kurotora Roller Bombs0/-------/-------|=======\==-----\1 Hakuya
> //////// ]
|=======\-------\1 Tran
COMBATSYS: Tenma can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Kurotora Roller Bombs0/-------/-------|=======\==-----\1 Hakuya
> //////// ]
|=======\-------\1 Tran
Well, really. What else is there to say? The result of the sheer INSANITY of our three heroes is pretty obvious; it becomes perhaps the largest traffic accident in Taizhou history- But don't quite me on this. They leave behind a pileup which results in an explosion that one would normally only see in movies, plenty of orange and red, and a massive cloud of black smoke that floats up into the sky.
Uh The End
Log created on 18:41:28 04/11/2010 by Hakuya, and last modified on 01:51:49 04/13/2010.