Description: In the midst of a field of swords, Dr. Tran faces his most fearsome foe yet: two ninja. At the same time. Even with his new ally, can he prevail against impossible odds?! As it turns out, he really can't.
There really isn't anything like the Huangys Ruins, the atmosphere about the area is almost dream-like- And not exactly in the pleasent sort of dream sense.
Such an abandoned, desolate area has just enough non-human life within an area that was clearly occupied by human beings. So much nothing, and yet plenty of something, that could be either simple or difficult to navigate.
Likely no one in their right mind would really want to traverse such a place, as the air is heavy with grief with a siren's song of mystery mixed here and there.
Two parties have similar goals, and differing reasons which lead them to the Huangyan Ruins, the sky thick with cloud and a light trickling of rain that has no effect on the fires spread about here and there. One amongst a pile of rubble is a dark and mesh-clad Yurika Kirishima (sporting garb traditional to the Kirishima clan), having actually received information second-hand from Ibuki. Impressed with her partner's intel she had decided to follow along and assist, and of course accepting that this particular mission would make the brunette the leader.
SOME TIME AGO
Dr. Richard 'The Most Dangerous Man In Taizhou, Seriously You Guys' Tran is surfing , sliding quickly on but one of the many crystalline strands that lace, web-like, across the sky which itself seems scorched by the weaponry that has been deployed in the city.
Aside from the part where if he falls, he splatters into a billion chunks on a hell of molten pavement, it's pretty fun. Hell, that almost just makes it more exciting.
Then his cell phone buzzes and just ruins it. Sliding to a halt, the doctor flips it open, his expression quickly moving from consternation to confusion.
"New team? Wait, I had an old one?"
NOW
Dr. Tran, mercifully on terra firma once more, has no patience for subtlety or caution or any of that crap. Walking forward as though he has nothing to fear, Tran stands out like a sore thumb, his coat unnaturally clean in this city. The rest of him doesn't really match it, but he's been busy and it's impossible to find a shower around here.
At the very least, he is silent, not out of any desire to be stealthy, but instead because of the mood of this place. It feels solemn, so heavy that he can almost feel it pressing down on him. Unpleasant.
/Clearly it's important./
Professionally speaking, Eagle is not in a particularly personable mood on the inside. The inside does not matter so much when you are a professional entertainer, having to give smiles and fun shows to passers-by with faces much too long, too bloodied to humor the notion.
He hardly had regrets on the front that Alan R. B. was a terrific showman with true talent in putting on an entertaining performance. It sure beat just about everything that's happened on this god damned miserable tour - excluding the whole failure to fulfill his end of the contract while his former partner was off bawling in the backroom over some nonsense. If he ever finds Seishirou in the flesh, by God, there will be gentlemanly airing of grievances!
The journey to this part of Taizhou is... a true eye-opener, viewing the ruins where few dared to try and heal the scar. It is a most painful reminder of what happened in these parts... and Eagle, though not one to dwell on such things, would feel offended that the extended theatrics would so very much come this far.
Nonetheless... once more, he has a show for an audience of, apparently... deer, bears, and other sorts through the overgrowth. He walks alongside the American doctor Richard Tran (Eagle has never questioned that he is a doctor), still walking off the pain in his leg from that dreadful landing into Taizhou to begin with.
"Look lively." Eagle says out of the blue - or perhaps, more appropriately for this part of the world, the ash gray. "If fortune holds as it has, we will be having an audience."
IT's always been that way. Vague message and/or command, ending in a surprising, hardly rehearsed encounter. The worst kind!!
The Huangyan Ruins are just a tad off putting but this is where the message from her clan elders she'd found next to herself when she'd awoken, she'd read it over and determined that at least some if not all of her mission here would be found within the ruins. Sighing as she looks over them the part of herself that is a school girl shivers at the thought of being in such an odd place.
The part of her that defines itself as a ninja is sweeping the terrain looking for places to blend in and places to use to get a tactical advantage during a fight, it also takes note of the threatening storm overhead and the fact that new fires could spring up at a moment's notice due to the storm.
Flattening herself against a scorched rooftop Ibuki spies her partner a bit below and ahead of her and keeps her eyes peeled for anyone else showing up, the information she was after could be useful to others as well and it wouldn't surprise her in the least bit if there were someone else after it. Slowly standing up from her hiding spot she leaps down quietly and makes her way stealthfully towards Yurika, her brown gi naturally blending into the blasted terrain as the layers of ash and broken buildings have mixed into a greyish brown dust that swirls and dances in the wind and lays over most everything in one way or another.
Looking at Yurika for a moment she shakes her head as it seems the girl considers her the leader of the mission, not a job Ibuki particularly wants or needed in this situation, she'd rather they just work together like they did against the older guy with the shinai, it'd be more convienent in the teenager's opinion. That's when the guy clad in the...wait is he wearing a white lab coat? Shaking her head Ibuki watches carefully as Tran and his companion Eagle stride down the ruined street. With a quick look to Yurika to get ready, the brunette ninja steps out into the street to block Tran and Eagle's path, "I'm afraid you can't go this way right now, sorry about that, turn around and go back okay?" She asks pleasantly before it dawns on her she's meet Eagle not that long ago, "Oh! You landed safetly too huh?" She sticks out her fist and gives him a thumbs up, "Good job!" She coughs, "But you still can't go this way right now, okay!"
Yurika actually seemed a little distracted; despite spending so many years in a glamourous environment, this kind of place.. Well, it was all too familiar, reminding her of her home before Seijyun. Though there is quite literally nothing left there, no secrets, no treasures, nothing.
Yurika doesn't make it clear if she hears Ibuki or not, and her partner should realize that the fellow kunoichi is too stubborn/logical to compromise in this particular situation. She glances back to Ibuki, also noticing Tran and Eagle, then of course follows along.
At her partner's side, Yurika crosses her arms, giving the other pair a not nearly as pleasent look, lips twisting behind her mask. Letting Ibuki do the talking, but the other could practically -feel- that Yurika thinks she's being inefficient.
"Lively? Are you blind, or something?" There's nothing lively about this place, in Tran's opinion. It's deserted! Animals and fire don't count, though they might count as being 'alive', poetically speaking.
"There's nobody here but us, some swords, and /mystery/." Spoken right as Ibuki and her partner hop out of hiding, appearing to materialize out of nowhere like some kind of ninja girl duo. Tran doesn't acknowledge them, even after one gets friendly with his partner.
Unless, by acknowledgement, you actually refer to reaching up with one hand and casually attempting to backhand her out of the way without so much as slowing down. Then it counts.
"/Nobody/. /Here/."
COMBATSYS: Tran has started a fight here on the left meter side.
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Tran 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Yurika has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Tran 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Yurika
COMBATSYS: Eagle has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Tran 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Yurika
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Eagle 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Ibuki has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Tran 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Ibuki
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Eagle 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Yurika
"But someone is always watching, good doctor." Eagle dispenses this nugget of wisdom in the face of the good (or bad, or possibly badass) doctor's highly educated observations as he gives regards to a doe that just stands there dumbfounded.
No more dumbfounded than the Englishman may appear when Ibuki just pops out of nowhere cheeringly, does he remember her... oh yes. He is ready to address her about his current predicament and need for passage in the most gentlemanly way possible.
Dr. Tran cuts off any pre-emptive regards in his continued claim there's 'nobody here.'
"Hmm... yes, one supposes I did not just see someone who I met on that dive." Eagle concedes with a bow of his head and a low chortle as he snaps out the sticks in short order, spinning them with such speed and skill that a cool breeze puts out a nearby flicker of flame.
The flame comes back a few seconds later. Eagle scoffs at the thought he might have lost his touch, among a ruin where there is no joy or laughter to be had. but, the symbolism aside, the cool must be kept.
"Well then, for those not here, shall we, then?" He gestures with a stick before bringing them up in a ready stance, turning slightly from side to side with every passing moment for those not here who would stop him (if they were here, of which they aren't if the Doctor is to be believed).
COMBATSYS: Eagle takes no action.
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Tran 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Ibuki
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Eagle 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Yurika
COMBATSYS: Ibuki dodges Tran's Quick Punch.
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Tran 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Ibuki
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Eagle 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Yurika
Seeing that Eagle is about to acknowledge her, Ibuki looks contemplative and starts to premptively nod her head in good cheer at whatever Eagle is going to say and due to this it looks like she's going to take a nice back hand to her masked face as she's not /really/ paying attention right?
Well that was a fine hello from the lab coated man, try and be nice and they try to back hand your face...Ibuki's eyes snap open as she steps slightly to the right to slide out of the way of the offending attack, and as she easily manages this feat of nimble skill she finds herself perpendicular to the good doctor and his arm so helpfully outstretched she grins beneath her mask, "Don't say I didn't give you a chance to leave!" She winks cheerfully to the doctor and his companion.
"Hmm, I don't know if I should take it as a compliment or be offended that they're ignoring me...I mean I'm a ninja so stealth is nice but it's quite annoying to be ignored." Ibuki muses aloud as she reaches for the outstretched arm, and should she managed to lay her hands on Tran she'll slide in close slam one of her hips into his side and hurl the man to the ground over her shoulder in one heck of a hip throw!
A light sigh passes Yurika's lips to the expected response of Ibuki. Though she had to admit, as bothersome as it was, it did play a hand in keeping Yurika's morale up (as she didn't exactly have the highest of expectations of her partner.). If Ibuki wasn't cheerful, clearly something would be very wrong.
A glance is given instead to Eagle and her operagloved hands grasp her elongated tuning forks, mimicing his twirling action. Eagle and Tran. Talk about an odd couple.
"I recommend pondering relevant things," Yurika suggests as she joins in Ibuki's attack, whether she gets the throw or not, she intends on leaping, stomping down on the Doctor, then spring off of him to close the distance between herself and Eagle.
COMBATSYS: Tran blocks Ibuki's Quick Throw.
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Tran 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Ibuki
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Eagle 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Yurika
COMBATSYS: Yurika successfully hits Tran with Light Kick.
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Tran 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Ibuki
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Eagle 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Yurika
It's not too long after Ibuki dances out of the way of his mighty palm that Dr. Tran realizes something is amiss. He can't quite put his finger on it, but it's there. Maybe it's something Eagle said.
"So what? They can go to hell, like I'd give 'em a free show. Peeping toms, that's all they'd be. Disgusting." Ah, but there's the source of Tran's sudden feeling of unease. It's a /ninja/. A teenage girl ninja. A /cheerful/ girl ninja, full of happiness and sass and any number of things that are complete abhorrent.
For a second, it's all the doctor can do not to start retching violently, a task at which he performs admirably, no doubt to the benefit of everybody involved.
Then she grabs at him, and Tran is having no truck with that. While her hold is firm, he manages to set himself firmly, so that all she really manages to do is painfully yank at his arm really hard and sort of bump hips.
"I have just met you," Dr. Tran announces, "And I already hate you more than I think hmmmpgh grrk express." It becomes difficult to finish his sentence once Yurika jumps on and then off of him, but by god he /perseveres/.
Snaking his own arm forward to counter-catch Ibuki before she lets go, Tran just tries to hold her still for a second. Just a second, so that he can quickly kick at the back of one knee and then follow-up by bringing his foot in close and kicking her away.
Eagle quirks an eyebrow at the matching tuning forks. Hm, whoever that is... a young lady? She's not too bad at that spinning thing. She may have promise yet, in comparison to that... what's-her-name now, that detestable young girl with the headband squirming about without attention or care! (...look who's talking!!)
His loyal compatriot under fire, Eagle bounds atop a stable pile of rubble in an impressive balancing act that is more accidental than actual intent upon realizing his footing at this part of the ruin is not as sure as he would be lead to believe.
With the mysterious girl actually named Yurika springing towards him courtesy of a Tranboard, he, too, attempts to time his forward hop so that both the heights of their jumps may meet at the same time, in roughly the same space.
With a grunt of exertion, Eagle playfully keeps a stick held back behind himself in mid-leap in a flagrant disregard for any sort of proper defensible midair stance he ought to take against an enemy whose capabilities he hardly knows, telegraphing an equally showy overhead swing that threatens to swat Yurika down to the ground and - assuming his own landing is undisturbed - have him teetering forward on one leg for a moment, for landing on his somewhat more injured leg.
COMBATSYS: Tran successfully hits Ibuki with Light Kick.
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Tran 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Ibuki
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Eagle 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Yurika
For her part Ibuki is a tad confused by what Tran is saying to Eagle, "Umm for the record I'm not a peeping tom!" Is her only reply as the Doctor regards her and gives her a look of violent disgust and the girl is further confused for a moment, though she smirks at Yurika, "Fair enough, thanks for the back up on that one!" She enthuses as her attempt at throwing the doctor fails completely and she tries to back away from him.
Though Tran's next comment makes Ibuki just shrug, "Well you're a pretty bad judge of character then, I'm a great friend." She says as her attempt to back away from him is used against her and he launches a nasty little kick combo to knock her down and back from him, "Guh!" She grunts out as she falls back before suddenly instead of falling backwards and away from Tran she's sliding towards him and past him, should this go her way...well Tran is going to have his neck set in a new way...as she'll slide right past him instantly stand up wrap her arms around his neck and give it one really good snap in repayment for that hit!
COMBATSYS: Yurika dodges Eagle's Liverpool White.
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Tran 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Ibuki
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Eagle 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Yurika
Yurika couldn't help but smirk a little, not that Ibuki could see it, appreciating the 'thanks' from her partner. Or finding it amusing, she wasn't exactly sure. Eagle would find that Yurika's control over her momentum boarders inhuman, or at least it appears so at the moment, perhaps it's more the fault of how telegraphed the attack was, in mid-preperation Yurika leaps off of.. Well. -Something- that causes her to double-jump and send her over the attack. Was her opponent.. Hurt?
Suddenly it was shark to blood.
After making a landing ideally behind her foe, she wastes no time tapping her forks gently, then bursts forward with a forward swing, distorted energy surrounding the weapon as she aims to smash it into his back, then her opposite swings right at his injured legs knee.
The technique here is a little unusual as normally she uses her sound chi to dull the nerves, but this time she seems to be manipulating a more intense pain within them, allowing her to finalize with a wide sweep to knock him right off his feet. All the while the pleasent sound of her weapons seem to circle her body, keeping the elegant fighter charged up.
COMBATSYS: Ibuki successfully hits Tran with Kubiori.
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Tran 0/-------/-======|===----\-------\0 Ibuki
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Eagle 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Yurika
"Of course you are. Why wouldn't you be?" The disgust is evident as Ibuki completely misses the point, which is expected but also only serves to fuel the fires of Dr. Tran's long-standing loathing of her entire demographic.
You could say it's a blinding hatred as Tran turns his head away, unable to bear the sight of her for a moment longer. The next thing he knows, she's up on his shoulders and SNAPPING HIS NECK OH GOD HELLO PERMANENT PARALYZATION CITY
Or, well, maybe not. Though there is a nasty snapping sound, and Dr. Tran's head is turned to an alarming degree, he is still up and standing and pretty clearly even angrier than before, somehow.
"Oh my god. You just sit /right there/ and don't move while I take care of this." Reaching up, Tran feels about his neck for a second, gently probing and searching by touch, and then snaps his head around in the opposite direction, almost as violently as Ibuki did.
"Alright, alright. Let's try this again, now."
COMBATSYS: Tran gains composure.
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Tran 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Ibuki
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Eagle 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Yurika
COMBATSYS: Eagle fails to interrupt Tragic Hesitation from Yurika with Medium Strike.
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Tran 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Ibuki
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Eagle 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Yurika
The man blinks in mid-flight when he can swear that this person he just met in midair has simply bent their momentum in thin air to their will. My my, an acrobat. (If he was paying more attention to Tran's complaints about ninjas he could have probably expected this!) He winces with the landing briefly - that brief moment more than enough for the perfectly positioned Yurika to make her play.
The man exhales loudly as he is solidly struck in the back, trying to pivot with a backhand swing in an attempt to regain his balance and, of course, shoo her off. It is not entirely /elegant/, but it works-- well, it does when it doesn't sail clean over their head.
He catches a glimpse of that warped coloration moments before it is introduced to the very back of his knee. His teeth clench with a hiss as he twists his leg and falls clean off his feet into a small hill of debris for him to roll down and make his already ruined, dirtied white suit just that much dirtier.
He does not hear the proper sounds of bodies hitting rock, dirt, and brick, but a pleasant little hum that hardly drowns out the intense pain in his knee.
"Belatedly, my friend," he calls to Dr. Tran, "I do believe I... concur!" On one hand, no audience to laugh at the accident. On the other, he's having a devil of a time finding some kind of way to sit right-side up against the difficult terrain.
Making her way past Tran and winding up behind him Ibuki's eyes get focused for a second as her hands wrap around his neck and give the brutal twist that marks the signature of her previous move. For half a moment she allows herself to look past her opponent and towards Yurika and Eagle fighting, wishing her partner luck and hoping that Eagle didn't get too pumeled up as he had helped her during her ride into Taizou!
Then she's all business again as she focuses on Tran and how he seems to freak out a little bit from the fact she snapped his neck but not so much that he can't do something about it, as he snaps thigns back into place the ninja girl smiles underneath her mask, "Well first, I totally am not you jerk!" She enthuses as she slides something from gi belt, "Second, you can't tell me what to do!" She sets her stance as suddenly leaps into the air towards the top of some rubble that's thankfully not on fire...during the crest of her jump the kunai she pulled out a moment ago blazes with Chi energy.
"Nope! Let's try this now!" She yells as the fully charged metal blade is hurled at Tran's body her voice still cheerful and energetic as she does so. She compeletes her leapt arc and turns to look at Tran and then Eagle, "Go Partner!!!" She cheers for Yurika as her hit connects with Eagle!~
Yurika believes she missed something, as she's uncertain what Eagle was referring to in his comment toward Tran. But her expression remains stoic, stance almost frozen as Eagle pays an unfortunate price for his otherwise admirable risk.
But she's simply faster, or at least that is how it appears to be at present.
Though her expression twists; if this were a cartoon a vein would buldge from her forehead in response to Ibuki's enthusiastic cheer, "Focus!" she snaps back while approaching her foe once again at his side- He seems to be down, and seems to have no intention of backing off like a good sport. One foot firmly grounded, she uses the other to try to stomp on Eagle's injured leg so it rests sideways. Finally, after sheathing her weapons, she'd grab his ankle and pull the appendage, leaning backward.
COMBATSYS: Ibuki successfully hits Tran with Kunai.
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Tran 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Ibuki
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Eagle 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Yurika
Dr. Tran pauses. His eye twitches, and Ibuki's kunai jabs into his chest with no resistance whatsoever. Blood begins to flow, but Tran doesn't even seem to notice. "I...you...just said..." His hand spasms.
"I JUST AGREED WITH YOU, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, I HATE YOU SO MUCH!" Gripping his forehead with his hand, Tran tilts his head back and screams, a long, hard scream full of the frustration that comes just from being near this /incredibly infuriating/ girl.
When it's done, he appears drained, looking far more haggard than he did just moments ago. "You know what, fine. I don't even care anymore. Not about you, not about him, or her, or this entire stupid city, or...whatever."
Shaking his head, Tran reaches forward with deceptive speed to clutch at Ibuki's neck. It is perhaps the most unenthusiastic choking he has ever attempted, and when he spins around to kick the ninja, there's a strange lethargy in his movement.
"Let's just make this be over."
COMBATSYS: Eagle blocks Yurika's Quick Throw.
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Tran 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Ibuki
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Eagle 0/-------/----===|=====--\-------\0 Yurika
Just a minor setback, this falling over the difficult terrain bit, Eagle thinks. Just a tiny misstep. This whole thing is all part of some bloody crazy act Seishirou is running just to make himself a giant ham, and by golly is he going to have a piece of that. And of him. A grand return to the world scene, after it has so faded.
This is not what he would call an ideal stage, to put it mildly, when Yurika holds his injured leg in place with one foot. He grunts again.
"That is not the first appendage I would ask fo--" His tone changes when she starts trying to yank his ankle. "That's not where I'd need them!!" With what leg strength is there, he tries to resist her pull - it might unsteady her somewhat, but with a little tug-o'-war he minimizes the damage but maximizes the embarrassment inherent, wrenching himself free with one final tug and side-roll across incredibly uncomfortable debris of land. He does not pause to consider the pain in his weaker leg.
/Her/ legs are in reach, swinging his left arm inward to try and sweep her off her feet, working up to an awkward crouch where he spins the sticks above him once before trying to thrust said sticks down on what would, hopefully, be her prone form and not the dirt and ruin.
COMBATSYS: Tran successfully hits Ibuki with 3 2 1...Dr Tran.
Grazing Hit
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Tran 1/------=/=======|=====--\-------\0 Ibuki
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Eagle 0/-------/----===|=====--\-------\0 Yurika
"What?!! No you didn't! You said I was one." Ibuki looks unconvinced of Dr. Tran's recollection of events in regards to herself being called a Peeping Tom, "You know you should work on that temper, it's going to land you in hot water someday." The ninja teen offers helpfully to Tran as his fit continues.
As the man screams Ibuki's eyes widen in total surprise before she just refuses to look at Tran for the moment as he's acting like a five year old or something. "What you're going to give up and leave now?" She says hopefully turning around at just the right time to see the hand coming for her throat which does indeed land though she backs away enough the follow up kick traces along her shin painfully.
As she's choked she grits her teeth and focuses on breathing, or in this case holding her breath properly as she launches a hard punch followed up with an elbow strike right at the kunai she'd thrown into his chest moments before.
"Sure! I can do that!" She manages to squeak out enthusiastically despite his fingers still on her throat.
COMBATSYS: Yurika parries Eagle's Chest Blow!
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Tran 1/------=/=======|=====--\-------\0 Ibuki
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Eagle 0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0 Yurika
Another amusing moment taken as a grain of salt by the Kirishima heir, she doesn't even offer a snappy comeback to her opponent's request. But his resilience does force her to back off as he had hoped. The young ninja then taps her forks again before his retaliation. It seems, at first, that Eagle's retaliation bears fruit, as he lands the sweep quite well, the impact a bit.. Harsh. But not nearly as harsh as the follow-up drives of his sticks. The unfortunate part, however, is that in the end Yurika seems to fade away, leaving a slab of now-shattered concrete in her wake.
Yurika, whom at some point had slipped -behind- Eagle (again) during her replacement technique, drew her hands back struck as if swinging with a golf club, distorted energy once more following her attack with intent of a chi-assisted launch of Eagle off the ground. She leapt upward to follow, moving almost a blurr with a short series of strikes and kicks finalized with a downward swing to send her foe back to the ground in an impressivly short amount of time.
Interestingly, she didn't aim for his leg at any point.
COMBATSYS: Tran interrupts Strong Punch from Ibuki with Dr. Tran Bites the Bullet.
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Tran 1/---====/=======|=======\=------\1 Ibuki
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Eagle 0/-------/----===|=====--\-------\0 Yurika
"One what? /You/ said you were 'a good friend'." Tran puts what would be a false, syrupy-sweet emphasis on the phrase were he not already so exhausted from this entire encounter.
"And then you disagreed." He sighs, and then Ibuki, still struggling and strangled, begins to non-verbally show her displeasure with the situation by trying to hit where it hurts. For once, this is /not/ the area directly between Dr. Tran's legs, and thank goodness for that.
Conveniently, the doctor does have the presence of mind to twist to the side and barely dodge, letting each strike in turn glance off of his body, though the second still rips the kunai out of his chest in a tiny spray of gore.
Again, Tran doesn't seem to react, although it's certain that it must hurt like hell. Perhaps it's because he's a man with /duty/, and duty demands to be done. In this case, duty consists of hauling back and punching her in her stupid ninja face while she's still held in place, hard enough to break his own grip on her.
Shaking it out afterward, Tran finally gives notice to his bleeding stab wound. "Just forget about the whole thing, it doesn't matter, let's keep going."
COMBATSYS: Eagle counters Tragic Waltz EX from Yurika with Canterbury Blue.
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Tran 1/----===/=======|=======\=------\1 Ibuki
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Eagle 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Yurika
Sweeeeep and a... miss? Is that how the saying goes? (Read: no.)
"Hm." Eagle amusedly (for what little amusement can be gleaned) muses as sticks hit dirt and rock with enough strength to send small debris scattering everywhere. Faster than his eye can see, indeed, left with only a modest hum in the wake of a body.
There is no pause in this musing. There's a cue to be seen when one of the sticks is rapidly spinned, the other arm suddenly turning towards his back as he raises his injured leg. The golf swing is stopped impeccably by the stick of the first arm to face Yurika. If maneuvering behind him is her one trick, maybe it is time to put the horse down.
There is no aerial rave to follow. The spinning stick is suddenly thrust towards Yurika, stepping forward with his back turned as he leans into the thrust to add force to an already potent thrust roughly around chest level.
There is no wisecrack to be had in this exchange. The 'gotcha' is, for the moment, enough.
Ibuki raises an eyebrow in confusion and then her eyes widen as realization hits her, "I thought you were calling me a peeping tom still." Ibuki admits despite the fact that Tran is choking her, yeah she's got a lot of lung capacity it seems. She smirks in spite of her situation as the Doctor responds with fake sweetness.
"Well I am a good friend and I am not a peeping tom, okay?!" Again she enthuses her words with spunky energy and while her hit does indeed land home, Tran turns his body enough that it doesn't land home as much as hoped instead she suddenly finds herself sprayed with a bit of his blood just as she smashes her in the face knocking her from his grip and for a moment looking like she's been ko'd...
But her balance restores itself her head tilted back from the blow rights itself and with a twinkle in her eye she wink at Tran, "That was a good hit! But it's not over yet Doc!"
With that said she inhales after being choked for so long and talking so much and resets her offensive stance using the moment to recenter herself she looks ready to fight some more suddenly, "Ha!" She roars out a strong kiai! Though her eyes flick to Yurika as she gets equally hammered by her opponent and she squints her eyes slightly in sympathetic pain.
COMBATSYS: Ibuki gains composure.
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Tran 1/----===/=======|=======\-------\1 Ibuki
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Eagle 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Yurika
It'd seem that Yurika's assumption of Eagle's weakness was.. A bit flawed. And it's a lesson that she learns in a rather harsh way herself. On one hand, Eagle's technique is extremely impressive, Yurika finding herself stunned when her swing is stopped so.. Smoothly! Indeed, actions speak louder than words on the part of both fighters in the exchange as the blow is enough to get an audible grunt from the ninja then sends her staggering and falling onto her backside, but then getting to her feet with a look of disbelief.
Just.. Wow. That's the kind of subtlety the older Kirishima can respect.
"Point taken," she replies anyway, refusing to reach toward her very pained chest. And so she unleashes another attack, this time she ends up hopping backward again as she clashes her forks togeather, a pleasent tune following a not so pleasent buzzsaw of sound that's launched toward her foe. She is quite capable of switching things up a bit. But nothing outside of her comfort zone.
"Faaaaantastic." Dr. Tran shakes his head sadly, Ibuki's constant enthusiasm seeming to drain his own. "A hilarious misunderstanding! A good laugh is had by all! Delightfully zany!" The sarcasm is being layered on pretty thick, without so much as a hint of a smile.
"Still gotta see this through, though." Energy begins to coalesce around the doctor, steam chi rising up in a cloud around him, consistently growing ever thicker until he's little more than a vague blur inside. "Although it's getting kind of hard to remember why."
"I'll be out in just a minute, alright? Alright." From within the cloud comes noise; cloth tearing, wet smacking, coughing, choking, and an unusually loud spit. Just what is he /doing/ in there?
COMBATSYS: Yurika successfully hits Eagle with Tragic Serenade.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Tran 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\1 Ibuki
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Eagle 0/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Yurika
Before retracting the outstretched stick, Eagle gives it a little circular wag on the 'point taken.' Tran comments about how it's 'getting kind of hard to remember why.'
"It's another one of those infantile scavenger hunts, one would assume," Eagle comments over to his steaming teammate (and he could certainly go for a good steam room visit riiiiight about now) while, ultimately, playing down the apparent weight of the information that they were so willing to take that singer over.
The forks clash, the tune a reminder to keep his eyes focused (...ears?) on the opponent at hand. An odd distortion of light and color sees him crossing his arms together, sticks pointing upward, as he kicks off his stronger leg to try and jump it.
His knees do not respond to this choice of action in kind as they caress the crushing cadenza. A little bit of sting to your legs in midair is distracting but not immediately painful...
Until you have to land.
The gentleman's eyes widen as the bones around his leg feel like they just want to shake loose, to say nothing of what happens when he slams his knee into a particularly sturdy steel chunk a ways away from the backpedalling Kirishima ninja.
She - once more - holds the positioning advantage. The pain halts him long enough that /his/ current position ruins any possible element of surprise as he tries to make the most of his reach even from this far, leaning his upper body forward in a thrust towards the ground with both sticks in an attempt to position them underneath Yurika's legs and then swing both arms outward, hopefully to catch her by her ankles and sweep her off her feet.
"Yep!" Ibuki's response to Tran's sarcasm is simple and energeticly enthusiastic. She smiles beneath her mask, "You know, just for your own benefit...sarcasm doesn't suit you very well at all." She gives a quick shrug before he goes into his next move...
The chi is pretty massive and Ibuki's a tad worried as she doesn't know what's about to happen she grits her teeth, sets her feet and really readies herself for whatever is to come next, "Well if you can't remember why you should turn around and leave!" She encourages one last time before...he disappears into a cloud?!!
Ibuki isn't sure what's going on in there at all and that makes her more nervous than anything else but given the situation she's not about to run in there and get her bell rung again after his last attack, she instead stares at the cloud waiting for it to vanish before she launches a attack of her own, her senses primed to every detail around the cloud and the man hiding inside...she'll be ready. For once she doesn't reply to Tran as he tells her he'll be out in a minute.
COMBATSYS: Ibuki focuses on her next action.
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Tran 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\1 Ibuki
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Eagle 0/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Yurika
COMBATSYS: Yurika interrupts Fierce Strike from Eagle with Fatal Rondo.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Tran 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\1 Ibuki
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Eagle 1/---====/=======|=======\===----\1 Yurika
Ah yes, Eagle's leg. Well, Yurika will get back to that soon enough, but the ninja still has a bit more of the combat-reputation she'd gained thus far to shake off. She confesses she didn't expect her opponent to fall completely into her trap- Perhaps he's not as brilliant as she originally suspected him of being.
Oh well, at least he's polite; were she not so busy playing the part of the bitchy ninja, she'd be fawning over him. Maybe.
But the slowdown of his leg plays such a big price that opens up her counter attack: Her forks clash togeather again, and she proceeds to twirl on one foot and by the time he strikes she'd already created a semi-circle of musical chi that she ends up getting knocked out of-
But with the large half-ball already completed, and Eagle trapped within it's vortex, he finds himself launched upward as once again his body and nerves are assaulted by one of her biggest musical techniques, Yurika pushing herself to her feet all the while.
Also she kind of feels bad for Tran. She could almost understand where he was coming from, as she was in his same scenario at one point. But she'd gotten used to it. Somewhat.
COMBATSYS: Tran successfully hits Tran with Dr. Tran Sets Them Straight.
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Tran 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\1 Ibuki
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Eagle 1/---====/=======|===----\-------\0 Yurika
"Ahhhhhhh." A relaxed sigh finally comes out of the cloud, which slowly begins to disperse, revealing Dr. Tran in his latest form; that of a totally hard post-apocalyptic warrior-priest. You can tell because he ripped the arms off his coat to show his WICKED GUNS. And, since there's no sense letting that clean fabric go to waste, he even managed a quick bandage job over his gaping chest wound. What /skill/.
"Alright. Better. Not perfect, but better. Doin' okay. Yup." He sort of sounds like he's trying to convince himself, but at least it's not 'unrestrained hatred and fury at an unjust fate he cannot escape'. Perhaps he has finally reached the 'acceptance' stage.
"To hell with that." Maybe not. "Whatever's here is mine, and I guess his a little bit," with a nod at Eagle who has clearly seen better days but is still trying his hardest by gosh. "So..."
The doctor shrugs, then reaches out for one of the swords stuck in the ground, yanking it out. He tests its balance for a moment, mutters, then snaps it in half. Only then does he look up again. "If you're sticking around, go ahead and get on with it. I ain't going anywhere."
COMBATSYS: Tran focuses on his next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Tran 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\1 Ibuki
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Eagle 1/---====/=======|===----\-------\0 Yurika
Seen better days would be putting it very lightly! Contending with the issue of being off his A-Game after a series of embarrassments (and pleasant surprises, mostly embarrassments) but there is, at least, one thing he could proudly show to all involved - especially if certain people are watching.
Eagle can dance.
"N'haaah!" It's an odd grunt to describe what it's like to be, in a sense, pulled into that large ball of chi as he is lifted straight up into the air in a somewhat cute ballerina twirl into a series of other very interesting twirls, dips, and other such moves you'd see on a dancing stage and not what is, actually, a man writhing in pain while his body shakes with something that is most certainly not dance fever!
Alas, the same could not be said about taking a short bow - when the power releases, he corkscrews into a partially destroyed wall that sends bricks on a happy race down another hill. But no, that's not the worst of it.
The music is /stuck in his head/. For its deadliness, it is catchy. He will be cursed with humming it, maybe even to the grave! The madness, that song. His head shakes until he can bring his palms (...or rather, the sticks in his palms, how he managed to hold them altogether is impressive) to it. His fabulous moustache is frazzled.
"Hmm... yes, yes, that was... quite a number." He pushes against the soft dirt with his sticks to right himself up, which proves difficult as he's doing this... on soft dirt, putting so much pressure on the sticks that it's more a wonder he doesn't accidentally push one or both of them all the way down inside.
"Regardless of such a play," a play he fell for, he tries to exude at least a shred of confidence to compose himself, spinning the stick in his left hand up before pointing it down towards the ground in rapid succession, even as far away as the two may stand now.
"The show must go on."
COMBATSYS: Eagle gains composure.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Tran 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\1 Ibuki
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Eagle 1/-----==/=======|===----\-------\0 Yurika
Ibuki gets a load of Tran as the cloud disperses around him and her reaction is a moderately bemused expression as he's trying to look very post-apocalyptic for some reason and she rolls her eyes slightly, "Not a good look for you doc, but nice effects!" She yells over to him before she sets herself for what she's about to do...her eyes deadlocked on that bandage!
"Well, I apoligize for what's about to happen to you! And you're definitely not getting what's here, that's mine!" She says with one of her winks before her form blurs and she races forwards a kunai in one hand.
The Ninja girl's attack is pure basics it's an absolute straight punch with the kunai adding extra impact to the hit, if it lands it's going to hurt like hell if it doesn't, she'll be wide open!
Or at least that's what she wanted Tran to think until she was deadly close to him her eyes for a moment extremely focused as she tries to slip past his defenses dropping the kunai, and raising her left hand as a ball of chi surrounds it, right as she tries to slam it right into the good Doctor's ribs with explosive force if it should land true, "Toraaaahhh!!!!"
Stance straightened once more, Yurika takes a moment to study the condition of her foe. Much to her surprise he doesn't seem to be showing any extreme amount of pain which.. Is pretty admirable, really. Not quite as admirable as being able to dance, though.
"Retreating is always an option," the ninja offers helpfully, "Whatever your after, is it really worth your leg?" A bit uncharactaristic for her to give such a warning sign, but maybe he believes she won't attempt to beat his leg to uselessness?
And with that, she attacks once more, a sprint in her step as she appears lighter than ever on her feet, arms a touch outstretched and she hops into the air, leg darting out to a speedy flying kick.
This a feint, of course, as she seems to have decided she'd mixed her tactics enough to return to striking from behind. Her arms draw back as her forks continue to resonate, then she thrusts her weapons forward, stopping just short of the back of his knees, but the weapoon extends in the form of sound blades, 'piercing' the joints then vibrating rapidly. Needless to say she's going for an intense amount of pain, but the technique itself has the power to back-up said nerve shock. And then she'd jerk her weapons back as if removing a sword from its stone.
COMBATSYS: Ibuki successfully hits Tran with Raida.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
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Tran 0/-------/-======|=======\==-----\1 Ibuki
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Eagle 1/-----==/=======|==-----\-------\0 Yurika
"Always naysaying! For no reason, even!" Giving his half-sword a quick twirl to test its balance, Tran continues on like a nattering old stepmother.
"And apologizing, honestly! If you're that sorry why are you even attacking me! There's just no honesty, honestly." He grouses, he gripes, he gets a blast of energy to the ribcage; it hits right where the horrific stabwound is, too, although he's not sure that's intentional; not because he doesn't think she would, but because he's not sure she'd think to. He's also not sure which would be worse, and he can't really devote much thought to it because the sheer force of the hit knocks him clean off his feet. Into more swords.
Which start snapping just like the one he just let go of after enduring massive torso trauma.
When he rises to his feet, one of them is actually stuck in them. With a far-off look born of being in so much pain that it simply ceases to register clearly, he plucks it out, tests its weight, and then lets it rest in hand. "And so argumentative," he picks up as if he never stopped.
Then he launches himself into the air in a completely different direction; Yurikaward. "Don't listen to her, it's not! Give your leg and whatever limbs you've got if you have to!" Tilting, he comes down at the musical ninja as if he were playing a game of musical ninja, does a backflip, and then tries to further crush her with his body. "Otherwise we kill ourselves in shame! No other choice!"
COMBATSYS: Eagle dodges Yurika's Tragic Sonata.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Tran 0/-------/-======|=======\==-----\1 Ibuki
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Eagle 1/-----==/=======|==-----\-------\0 Yurika
Bravado and a cool catchphrase can really only get you so far in trying to get your 'game' face on, when the rest of your body should be feeling that numbing feeling that comes with repeated trauma within and without.
"I've been assured it was worth more than an arm and a leg," in a manner of speaking, though the joke does not play out too well in tone. He is, ultimately, dealing with someone with clearly professional experience. Unrehearsed performances are always tricky when you're dealing with someone who is on equal or maybe even superior standing to oneself in the worst ways.
His leg hurts just thinking about what that invites.
"Please, Doctor, let's not be too--" Eagle is cut off, as he only has so much time to banter when someone hell bent on eliminating you for the prize with a forward sprint. In a way, he falls for the feint, leaping upwards with arms crossed with a forward hop - enough that when she passes through behind him, there is, largely, empty air where she may have intended to catch him.
It is not a fruitless exchange - he swings both sticks into what is thin air /himself/, landing with a prolonged crouch on uneven brick footing that goes... about two stories down. With a loud exhale, he pivots somewhat slowly to turn back and face Yurika.
On one hand, he should curse himself for ultiamtely falling for the first trick she's used a handful of times by now. On the other - assuming he's not tipped over - perhaps he may have assurance she can't do that to him /again/ from here unless he is completely underestimating just how much control of her momentum she has.
If you can call turning your back to a drop with little room to maneuver anything remotely resembling an advantage.
It's back to a stalemate at a distance that, largely, favors Yurika.
COMBATSYS: Eagle takes no action.
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Tran 0/-------/-======|=======\==-----\1 Ibuki
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Eagle 1/-----==/=======|==-----\-------\0 Yurika
"I don't remember doing that, just asked and told you to leave." Ibuki looks thoughtful as her attack slams home into his chest and sends him rocketing away from her into the swords and other assorted debris!
"I don't particularly enjoy beating people up you know! So I apologized in advance!" She grouses at the Doctor as he's sprawled on the ground, she sets her feet again and readies herself to fight him again once he gets up...then he jumps towards Yurika, "Huh?" She is suprised and totally flat footed for a moment...and then she gives chase!!!
As she races after the Doctor she shouts energetically, "What was all that talk about not going anywhere huh?!!" Ibuki seems now deadset on finishing her fight with Tran after he basically runs from her and engages her partner, "Watch out Yurika!!!"
A little hacked off she leaps towards Tran and tries very hard to first plant one foot on his head, then the other, and finally using his head for spring board to put herself between Tran and Yurika, "If you're going to fight...fight me Doc!! We're not done yet!"
COMBATSYS: Tran successfully hits Yurika with Dr. Tran's Summer Splash.
- Power hit! -
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Tran 1/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Ibuki
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Eagle 1/-----==/=======|=====--\-------\0 Yurika
"Hmn, I see.." Yurika replies. Well, it would appear Eagle has just as good a source as Ibuki. Or maybe they were the same source? It wasn't worth conteplating right now though, as Yurika would rather finish beating people up first, then asking questions later. Hmn, her foe is smartening up though, should she mix things up again? She had to admit that she was having a difficult time reading his moves now.
Suddenly TRANBUSH. Yurika turns in time to see Tran flying at her like a nutjob, and perhaps doesn't heed her partner's warning soon enough, ".. What in blaz-" she intended to fend him off, but the doc is pretty aerodynamic; the power of SCIENCE proves the ninjas undoing and she hits the ground. Hard. And if that weren't enough the following stomp is just so hardcore that he ends up making the ground below her spiderweb and then push the musician further still through the war-torn concrete a few inches. Ow. Owww.
That is finishing move quality action right there, and yet after a moment Yurika shakily raises her arms and pushes herself to the side, wheezing a bit. In normal circumstances he'd pay for that, but she's going to leave her energetic partner keep on him a moment longer.
However she would provide a little assistance, she taps her forks togeather in such a way the it provides a much more pleasent tune than before, and lets them resonate against Ibuki's back, soothing her partners nerves and hopefully giving her a little advantage in their reconfrontation.
COMBATSYS: Yurika assists Ibuki.
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Tran 1/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Ibuki
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Eagle 1/-----==/=======|=====--\-------\0 Yurika
COMBATSYS: Tran blocks Ibuki's Hien.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Tran 1/------=/=======|=======\==-----\1 Ibuki
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Eagle 1/-----==/=======|=====--\-------\0 Yurika
Having done his best Mario impression, Dr. Tran backs off a bit; nobody could survive that many cracks in the sidewalk. Except...then Yurika proves that she can by getting up. Just what has Eagle been doing this entire time?
While he's wondering, Ibuki gets between him and Yurika. /Ugh./ Tran takes a deep breath to keep himself calm, since he can feel the anger rising like bile in his breast again. "I didn't want to deal with you anymore! Hearing you talk is like rubbing a rusty cheese grater over my entire brain!"
"And..." Tran trails off and glances at Eagle again. "...since SOMEBODY decided to take a break, it looks like I have to deal with both of you. I guess I do have to go through you anyway. No matter how much it sucks." Mumbling that last bit, the doctor charges straight forward in a headlong rush toward the girl ninja.
"Psyche!" And then he twirls his coat around, seeming to vanish amidst the billowing folds. Where did he go? Can Dr. Tran turn /invisible/!? As it turns out, no; he's just good at jumping, having elected to go up and over Ibuki on another collision course for Yurika. He's like a horseshoe, trying to ring his arm around her head as he lands, so that he can tighten up and then just take off with her, hip-bumping violently into anything nearby on a magical adventure that spans such exciting locations as: some swords, some kind of statue I guess, some other swords, a pile of rubble, I think that's a wall, and then finally the COLD HARD GROUND.
What has Eagle been doing this entire time? He's either hatching a brilliant plan or he is simply posing for an invisible photo shoot in front of a two story fall behind him. It's hard to say which. This sort of thing may happen a lot.
He turns his nose upward in (relatively) good humor at Dr. Tran's assertion, more to hide the chortle at his timely interference that may have saved his leg (and an arm, maybe some other important parts while he's at it). However, there is a curious thing to see here - where Yurika goes after she meets the pavement. She's quickly off to the side of that young girl... hm. Pity, they would meet again like this as they did. However...
He gives a momentary flick of one of his sticks to make sure he still at least has his grip in the wake of still having that awful tune stuck in his head, choosing to chance tactical safety from yet another back strike as he suddenly rushes forward with a thrust to cover the distance - intending to gut Ibuki up front before leaving a rapid series of alternating thrusts with either hand.
This may be a trap. As far as Eagle can see, however, this is as great an opportunity as any to put the interlopers on the defensive with a pincer attack on the quest for Peanut Butter hula. (...What is peanut butter hula?)
COMBATSYS: Ibuki interrupts Oxford Red from Eagle with Yami Shigure.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Tran 0/-------/------=|=======\======-\1 Ibuki
[ \\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Eagle 1/=======/=======|=====--\-------\0 Yurika
Ibuki is waiting for Tran to attack her, she's set her feet for it in preperation for her next move, "Too bad you've got no choice on this one!" As he comes right at her she grins widely and pulls a Kunai from her gi, slowly charging it with Chi. She narrows her eyes and gets ready to hurly it at the man with anger issues when suddenly he spins and goes after Yurika, "Gah!!! No!!"
As she turns to give chase there is Eagle standing in her way with an attack of his own, growling she yells, "Get out of my way!!!" She waits till the last second as the attack was already too close to stop completely before she hurls her Kunai past Eagle stabbing into his shadow and holding deadly still as his sticks ram straight into her gut making her take a step back as she coughs loudly before she's looking at the man again with a kunai in each hand, "Here we go!" She roars as her form blurs!!!
She attacks from front, back, both sides, it looks like there is an Ibuki in every direction as she attacks Eagle ruthlessly with those Kunai, cutting trails into his flesh with them for getting in her way...had he stayed out of it, this would've been Tran's fate!!
COMBATSYS: Yurika parries Tran's Dr. Tran's Peanut Butter Hula Quest!
[ \\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Tran 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Ibuki
[ \\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Eagle 1/=======/=======|======-\-------\0 Yurika
"..." Yurika could only shake her head at Tran. Well he was a tenacious booger, she had to give him that but it was just so.. So -childish-. ".. Psyche? Really?" Yurika finds herself saying aloud without even realizing it! Well the nice thing about Tran coming upon her, however, is that the tricks that may have grown a bit stale on Eagle, are now fresh for the picking on the other opponent. Her forks cross with another light chime as her grows closer and then just has his way with the poor musician, smashing up against this, breaking through that, and eventually shattering violently upon the ground into bits of rubble.
The hunk of rubble that had apparently been the young ninja following her misleading tune.
Apparently having been tailing Dr Tran, Yurika overhead swings, with the intent of slamming her tuning fork right over his head, followed by a quick combination of a second strike toward his ribs finalized by a kick forward toward an already bent to the side STOP sign.
COMBATSYS: Yurika successfully hits Tran with Tragic Minuet EX.
[ \\\\ < > /////////// ]
Tran 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Ibuki
[ \\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Eagle 1/=======/=======|=======\-------\0 Yurika
As Dr. Tran finishes his mildly erratic attack, he finds himself bamboozled. Rocks? Really? How did he not...and when...god /damn it/.
"Ninja." How many ninja girls can there even be? Why does it feel like there are /so many/ of them? Is it a result of a ninja surplus? And what strange twist of fate dictates that Dr. Tran keep running into them? If only he knew.
Then he's double-bamboozled because Yurika beats him over the head with a tuning fork and then kicks him into a stop sign, which itself tumbles down in a small dust cloud. "Grkk." Despite it all, the soul still burns.
Rising slowly from the rubble like a giant Japanese monster (not that he's Japanese), Tran's steps are labored, his breathing heavy, his eyes dull. His gaze strays down to the ruined stop sign, and he bends over to heft it over one shoulder, like he was some kind of Cody, and then advances a step on Yurika.
Then he basically teleports right up into Yurika's grill, moving so fast it's hard to keep up, reaching for her neck. It's common knowledge that a good choking heals all ailments, and Dr. Tran is going to give her a /great/ choking.
And then hit her with a stop sign.
That part isn't very medical.
That polite instruction of getting out of Ibuki's way is heeded much too late - but part of the way through the routine he can't help but notice that Ibuki is not quite there after the first half of it or so. He just can't help but follow through. It's a force of habit from years on the entertainment circuits. Audiences love a good kata or routine. He has mentally wired himself to pull the whole series of strikes through even when it's a bad idea.
He finds himself held in the ending strike of that stance, standing all rather still. Ninja tricks? Slow of wit from his head being rattled by that song? His eyes attempt to follow.
He fails. His body recoils back and forth as Ibuki cuts trails through his long-ruined shirt with a few new splashes of red alike, the last of which sees him unsteady on his feet as he starts to trip away, clutching his abdomen (somehow, still with stick) in one hand - his head is dizzy enough just trying to follow Ibuki's movements on top of that, let alone a small bit of blood loss.
He stops stumbling with his stronger leg. "If I may... be allowed a cliche," he wheezes, "I do believe we should be... wrapping this one up, yes?" It is a shame, how quickly their circumstances turned considering how the two of them first met. With movements like that, hm, she could go far if she went more, shall we say, public with her little ninja gig. (Not that he has any right to openly consider it a 'little ninja gig' when she's cut him open a few times in that one fleeting moment!)
With a powerful swing of his left arm, he throws his body into a spin, stretching out his arms akin to a helicopter as he twirls forward. One must beg to ask why a man in such a dire situation of great import (according to the people who set this mess up, anyway - assuming there was a setup) would decide the best way to handle a threat is, indeed, to spin with arms outstretched into someone - let alone one so small and agile like Ibuki.
Something can be said about how that single foot manages to effortlessly navigate the rubble and dirt that should make such forward movement nearly impossible.
COMBATSYS: Eagle successfully hits Ibuki with Manchester Black.
Glancing Blow
[ \\\\ < > //////// ]
Tran 0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0 Ibuki
[ \\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Eagle 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\0 Yurika
As she slows back down to normal human speeds, Ibuki grimaces...those sticks to the gut had hurt a lot and her vision was a bit blurry do that so she silently watches Eagle for a moment as she tries to right herself and clear her head. She was in a bit of pain but she refused to show it and it seemed the other guy was too...she gritted her teeth but made her voice as chipper as she could, "Maybe so...but you really should just give up and leave." She insists, "Okay?"
She sees the attack and suddenly shifts her stance waiting for the attack but still dizzy from her prodding she can't quite make it completely out of the way but she does manage to hold it together long enough to turn the helicopter spinning attack against her into a sling shot for as she takes the first hit to her gut she pivots on her foot reaches up with her leg and grabs onto the end of Eagle's other stick and lets herself be launched away from him, taking a moment to catch her breath she looks up at him with a smirk, "I'm not that easy to take down!" She says...
Suddenly she pumps chi throughout her entire body focusing it on her legs as rushes forward to close the distance again before suddenly she goes into a spin of her own leaving trails of chi in the arc of her spinning kick, "Ha!!!" Hopefully this'll knock Eagle for a loop!
COMBATSYS: Yurika blocks Tran's 3 2 1...Dr Tran EX.
[ \\\\ < > ////// ]
Tran 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Ibuki
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Eagle 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\1 Yurika
Yurika passes only a glance back to Ibuki- Looks like she's holding up pretty well, though she is still chatterboxing like mad over there. The sigh she gives is a bit of an exasperated one, yet she smirks as well, "Oi.." And it looks like she has to the count of three to deal with Tran. Luckily for her he's risen like a kaiju instead of a tentacle monster.
While he moves fast, it isn't fast enough for her not to see him; but it -is- fast enough for her not to leap out of the way or some other evasive maneuver. While he does get a lock, she raised her an arm upward to take off a lot of that tension, then the swing of his sign clashes with her crossed forks, making not only a less than stellar sound, but the force ends up knocking her back as well, though with a backflip she does land upon her feet.
A moment of silence.
SUddenly the air about the ninja seems to lift, the atmosphere around her shifts in what could only be described as the most -awkward- way to, "Doctoooor!~" she squeals in the giggliest schoolgirl way possible, and runs right at him, arms extended, "He he he he, look at me, look at me, isn't my outfit the -cutest-! I got it from the mall, and when I was at the GAP I saw Tommy and I was gonna ask him out on a date but I had a fight to come to, omigoood I hope he thinks I'm pretty when I get back!" though once she's close she'd abruptly leap off the air to try and drive her knee right into his grill, assuming she makes that impact, she then would spring backward off of him, the momentum likely to drive him onto his back as well!
COMBATSYS: Tran effortlessly dodges Yurika's Power Strike.
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Tran 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Ibuki
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Eagle 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\1 Yurika
If he had the time to spare, Dr. Tran might again question just what the heck Eagle is doing over there, /clearly/ making him shoulder all the weight of this battle. He doesn't, though, since he's sort of occupied with Yurika and her idiot impression. It seems to pull speech from deep within the doctor, no matter how much he doesn't want to talk anymore.
"Does anybody really talk like that? And what's the point? Am I supposed to be so disgusted that anybody would be so inane that I let my guard down?" Tran pauses, hand thoughtfully cupping his chin, staring at the stormy skies. He's not even looking at Yurika as he steps to the side, letting her rush harmlessly past. "Because the thought that you thought that is almost enough to make it work."
And then he's moving again, seemingly given new life by his harsh critique of Yurika's tactical espionage action, lunging in low and half turning to present his shoulder to the young Miss Kirishima. He pauses just a beat.
"Seriously though. Don't do that." Then he twists around like a spring uncoiled, fist blazing a vicious horizantal arc.
COMBATSYS: Eagle reflects Tsumuji from Ibuki with Picadilly Silver.
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Tran 0/-------/----===|=======\==-----\1 Ibuki
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Eagle 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Yurika
At the end of the spin, Eagle looks about as good as spun out from injury and weakness. He brings both sticks together as if trying to hold them like... a handle? It's hard to say, but he has some notable difficulty standing with his back straight up.
Ibuki suggests he gives up and leaves and... tempting as it might be, he shakes his head. She claims she's not easy to take down. Indeed, she's proving persistent. Skilled... light of weight, fast of speed... skilled, yes, the way she breaks free of that spin.
She glows an awesome color, rushing forward to take him down with a spinkick. He rears the two held sticks in his hands back with a sort of slow, casual pace as though lining up a golf swing...
And swings it up to intercept the foot with such perfect timing that whatever chi she's channeled should rush back down her leg in a most uncomfortable sensation while, hopefully, popping her up into the air for a brief moment.
A brief moment required for him to lower his head and bring his sticks in an 'X' shape. From there, it's a series of what appears to be a completely made up combination of strikes in an attempt to juggle her up against a nearby wall that should be able to stand repeated collisions with someone so light.
He is limited more by injury than a lack of imagination, trying to keep her propped up and pinned with the same silly-looking spin seen earlier, a couple of general-purpose swings, even that same golf swing somewhere along the line to pop her up a little further... leaping upwards in an overhead swing to spike her down and, for the finish, picks her up in a headlock.
"A warm round of applause for our guest for the evening," he utters in reference to Ibuki before finally sending her off with one final strike - a teasing (but vicious) bop on the head with the stick to knock her out of the headlock.
Ibuki spins towards Eagle with all she's worth hoping to at least injure the man some but not only does that not happen she finds herself suddenly caught in her own attack reflected back at her via some method...and she finds herself painfully struck by her own chi an nicely launched into the air easily enough.
Being bounced back and fourth between the strikes of Eagle and the blows from hitting the wall again and again she grits her teeth and starts focusing despite the fact that she can already feel herself losing consciousness her eyes rolling back up into her head and as she goes out cold and the attacks don't stop she is given a golf club smack that cracks her head and for all intents and purposes ends her attempts to fight...or so it'd seem.
As Eagle slams her into the ground and then puts her into a headlock she slips out of it as he bops her...
Then her body totally acting on pure instinct drilled into her for years and years by her instructors in her hometown she stands up again, Eagle should've known after seeing her fight before even unconsciousness doesn't always stop her from doing something...as she leaps into the air and pulls out kunai after kunai that falls like a bladed rain upon the spot that Eagle stands...or at least to her unconscious mind that's what she does before landing, standing her ground for a moment more and finally collapsing on the ground in a heap looking like a beaten and bruised mess.
COMBATSYS: Ibuki can no longer fight.
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Tran 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\1 Yurika
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Eagle 0/-------/--=====|
COMBATSYS: Yurika dodges Tran's Dr. Tran Bites the Bullet.
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Tran 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\1 Yurika
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Eagle 0/-------/--=====|
Yurika takes a massive hit in pride when her little act not only fails, but is viciously called out on it. Now, she -is- rather graceful, she can take a roasting or two, but she can't hide the redenning in her face at all after with a light 'Oop!' she ends up faceplanting to the ground from what should have been a simple to recover from technique.
Once she's too her feet though, which doesn't take long, she in time sees Tran's streaking fist and drops to a crouch again. One might even say she dodged a bullet..
YEAAAAAAAH
After that she seems to steal a technique from Eagle's book, she twirling right -back- at Tran in wide-arcs with her forks extended. Though she wishes she were brandishing that STOP sign.
COMBATSYS: Yurika successfully hits Tran with Combo Attack.
Glancing Blow
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Tran 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Yurika
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Eagle 0/-------/--=====|
Well, at least Yurika took that well; maybe too well, judging by her recovery and subsequent evasion of his train-like fist. It's unfortunate, but sheer stubborness alone is enough to keep Tran going at this point. But then Eagle beats the crap out of Ibuki so hard her shadowy ninja masters probably felt it, so it doesn't really matter so much anymore.
Tran gives it a shot anyway, but he's just too tired when Yurika comes a-spinnin' with her forks, clipping him upside the head and sending him sprawling down to the ground, barely held up by yet another sword poking up out of the ground.
Grasping it like a lifeline, Tran groans, and then with the last of his strength swings it around clumsily like a baseball bat in Yurika's general direction.
COMBATSYS: Tran can no longer fight.
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Eagle 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Yurika
COMBATSYS: Ibuki successfully hits Eagle with Kasumi Suzaku.
Glancing Blow
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Eagle 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1 Yurika
Eagle is pretty sure he's done with Ibuki there. Somehow sparing the index and thumb on his left hand to adjust his ascot while maintaining a grip on the respective stick with the other three, he (very foolishly) turns away. His mistake is only cued by a light sound he barely picks up in the wake of coming in on the tail end of Tran's and Yurika's little comedy. He may have to ask what just happened between them later, he was too busy over there with the young girl who has proven, in the end, cooperat--
The first of many kunai strikes into a pants cuff, something he notices when he feels an uncomfortable tug while taking steps back towards the remaining two fighters. He peeks over his shoulder briefly as if to say something sassy...
"Oh, piss." He gets off that much as he is literally staring down a whole storm of those things battering him like scornful stones through a glass house, hardly able to defend himself against the sheer /volume/. He frees himself from that first pinning kunai by the sheer force imparted by so many tiny little knives slicing him up, tearing off a piece of his pant leg down by that foot. Do you know how expensive those pants are?!
One of the kunai has the audacity to strike him on the back of the head with the 'ring' end, which knocks him for an additional loop of swimming vision. His steps already unsteady (it's a minor wonder he doesn't just trip over that big rock there and bust his head open or something), he happens upon brief flashes of vision. That other girl spinning, some large... blunt object?
He clicks his sticks together in an 'X' shape as his brief means to center his focus, rearing back one arm before going into - once more - a spin. Not just any spin - a powerful enough spin that if Yurika (or the large sword) are close enough, they might be sucked in to a battering array of spinning blows...
Ended with an upward strike to send Yurika up, if he comes that far. Normally speaking, this would be the part that he'd finish it with a brief bow and a raised stick, but his ability to gauge distance and location is so bloody off that it's just as likely Yurika would probably knock him out just by landing on top of him from the missed finishing touch - or get whacked by that sword.
Either result would end with him lying prone and hardly conscious, the additional dizziness afforded by the spin doing no favors for his consciousness.
COMBATSYS: Eagle can no longer fight.
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Yurika 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Yurika dodges Tran's Huge Random Weapon.
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Yurika 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Yurika blocks Eagle's Manchester Gold.
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Yurika 1/-----==/=======|
The Kirishima heir would not want to be Tran right now, he's got to be some sort of human pincushion at this point and it's almost a little painful to look at. As for herself, despite some big blows she had taken, Yurika is as light on her feet as ever, noticing a little late that Ibuki had gone down; but not without blessing her with a little assistance on her side in the form of Kunai, 'Thanks' she murmurs under her breath, it seemed to have dazed Eagle just enough so that she'd have more 'time' to deal with the duos attacks.
However her face is still as red as a beat- She's probably lucky that Tran was as bushed as he was or he likely wouldn't have let up on his taunting. Thank god!
The swing of the sword, Yurika nibly leaps into the air and just misses getting her feet chopped off- And quite possibly inches from decapitating his partner while he's at it! And as for Eagle's twirling attack, well.. The musician lands right atop his shoulders as he sends Tran's sword -flying- away, and she's pretty much just riding out the attack until he collapses, sheathing her tuning forks once he collapses to the ground kicking up a bit of dust in the process.
She takes in a calm breath, "..." then hops off Eagle's back, giving her tender chest a light rub, then would move to haul Ibuki over her shoulder if necessary. She's no powerhouse, but she can lift a body without too much trouble, "We're not done just yet, roo-" .. "Ibuki. Let's hurry before there's more trouble." She has no problem talking to unconscious bodies.
Though are we really surprised?
COMBATSYS: Yurika takes no action.
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Yurika 1/-----==/=======|
COMBATSYS: Yurika has ended the fight here.
Log created on 20:06:25 05/26/2010 by Tran, and last modified on 14:44:22 05/28/2010.