Description: Whilst Zaki and Miu head steathily down to the lower levels of the targeted warehouse reputed as the location of the elusive Abobo, a team led by Hyo Imawano and Sakura Kasugano hit the rooftop-- literally, blowing it wide open to attract attention of any lingering guards and draw any threat from the pair of girls below.
One question just about everyone newly recruited (or press ganged, as the case may be) into the planned strike into the bitter heart of Outer Sunshine's mazelike industrial warehouses and plants is bound to have is just /how/ Hyo intends to get a strikeforce the likes of which would be needed even for a precision strike on the gangers' potential headquarters /into/ the district without triggering a bitter battle of attritition for every foot of territory from the district's borders.. to the warehouse's very doors. It's a question that's likely answered in dramatic fashion when the evening of the assault comes around, the post-midnight sky broken only by the artificial projections brightening the smoggy sky over the bastion of Inner Sunshine.
Under this shroud of night, the failing roof of the dilapidated building bordering the industrial area plays host to a group with a very select set of skills. To each of those invited to the rendevous, Hyo Imawano offers a simple, reinforced shoulder harness with similarly heavy duty, locking carabiners - identical to one worn by the ninja himself. Stray, billowing clouds blot out moon and stars in passing, leaving shapes in the sky above difficult to discern as a number of lines descend seemingly from nowhere, black against the night, weighted at one end, and fitted with clasps a short distance up from that which look almost (gasp) made to lock into the harness.
The sky also suddenly provides: two black-suited, head to toe men best described as ninjas crossed with special forces officers. These stoic operatives make sure everyone is properly fitted, and briefly explain the process. Which is basically this: Once locked in and signalled, they are reeled in one by one several thousands of feet into the air, towards what the sensitive among them would readily recognize as a resonant chi signature, cloaked at range but increasingly unnatural and powerful with proximity.
This proves to belong to a massive citadel of a floating battleship, dark and sleek against the night sky, brighter here above the lower clouds that ensconce the city below. A soft, starlit glow illuminates gunmetal and gleaming black hull near hovering engines projecting what appears to be artificially harnessed, amplified, and repurposed chi energy itself. A small drone intercepts the weighted line as the fighters approach the single bright point in the deep of night: bay doors sprawled open to a landing bay at the skyship's aft, otherwise occupied by well-secured supplies and similarly tethered, armored craft from several nations and eras.
The ninkou vessel's dispatched worker drone whirls and rapidly ascends with its weighted length of line, affixing it to a high point on a pre-existing line that almost innately zips its passengers down and into the bay as their line is reeled back. Two men in black uniforms with engineering pips on their uniforms await as each boards; it's all treated as entirely too routine, most likely, for anyone /not/ accustomed to the process. There are certainly no points lost among any member of the precisely oiled machine's team where style or efficiency are concerned, however.
While it may well be suddenly readily apparent how Hyo intends to bypass Abobo's lines, the details of their mission remain a commodity carefully guarded by the ninja. As the group is led through hardened corridors and lifts that take them from the landing bay, to a Ready Room far closer to the warship's beating heart, those answers loom large. The briefing room is already notably populated, though the three levels of seating surrounding a central presentation area is hardly filled to capacity. Those arriving are meant to supply the operation's raw military force; hardly the Initiative's strong point on a good day.
An eyepatched man Hyo introduces, and everyone seems to address, as simply 'the Colonel' or 'Colonel', gives everyone scarcely enough time to be situated before he brings a three-dimensional overlay of their target up from the projecting console dominating the center of the room. "Listen up:" the grizzled officer, silver-haired by years rather than unusual genetics, demands with intensity and wisdom that casts swift silence over most of the room, and draws even Imawano's attention to him.
The Colonel continues, "As you all know, Operation Daybreak's primary objective is the facilitation of intelligence gathering within target structure. We will be commencing a twofold shock and awe insertion to enable Charlie Team to slip in uncontested and gather evidence of these mooks' real purpose here."
A glowing cigar brightens ruggedly wrinkled features. "Alpha Team and Bravo Team will lock down our LZ and our perimeter, respectively. Secure the warehouse, if possible, but Alpha Team's LZ /must/ be held for extraction, and Bravo Team's perimeter must hold to prevent reinforcements from complicating the op. Alpha Team will be led by Hyo Imawano and Sakura Kasugano, you'll be airdropped here..." visual cues ping what looks like several missiles hammering into blinking points in the target warehouse's roof. "Inserting into the structure's upper floors. Use your discretion on enemy disposition in assessing primary and secondary objectives; your main objective will remain to keep this area secured as an option for Sky Noah to extract in the event you are overrun, or Charlie team concludes their recon."
The Colonel pauses, the overlay zooms back out, and shifts to street level, "Bravo team will deploy around the warehouse, securing her perimeter and then hardening positions to prevent reinforcements from entering the warehouse. Your secondary objective also remains to assess enemy forces and disposition, and secure the warehouse if possible. This will facilitate all missions. Charlie Team is already en route, and will insert from a pre-determined location into the warehouse from below, once Alpha and Bravo deploy. Questions?"
Well. This is... unexpected. The concessions Sakura makes to the need for stealth are... well, she has a nice charcoal-black and dark-grey motif for her schoolgirl outfit, down to the shoes and the gloves--but the white headband remains. And she has streaks of black underneath her eyes, like a football player. Oh, and black leggings. Sure, it's warm, but she can handle a little heat, no big deal there.
"Didn't know you had all this, Imawano," murmurs the schoolgirl, tightening her gloves a touch more. This is definitely something beyond the scope of what she thought possible for herself--she is, in many, almost all, ways, just a schoolgirl who also fights. There's something extraordinary about that, true--not many schoolgirls -do- what she does--but this...?
But she covers it with humor and by quashing her nerves fiercely. Her comments come just -before- the Colonel starts talking, and she quiets down for that--irrepressibility or not, she knows to listen when experience is talking. So she keeps her mouth shut and just listens. Hell, as the man continues, she starts to grin. This is gonna be -interesting-...
"We understand our mission, Colonel. We will hold." Hyo's confirmation is a calm murmur from where the young warlord stands near, carefully studying the diagram of the facility as he listens. With Alpha Team's concerns negligible, the mission quickly progresses. Several hours of preparations and specificities fill the wee hours of the morning, until a calm a few hours before daybreak fills the city. At this point, just about everyone who isn't running hot on adrenaline, planning to operate all night, they're conking out for a variety of reasons, in all the phases of sleep. It's the perfect time to catch an entire group unawares, but preliminary scans show far less enemy presence than even the Initiative's most optimistic projections.
The optimist in the room this time suggests that, perhaps, they're simply focusing that much more force into patrols outwards through Outer Sunshine; most of the rest of the room, Hyo included, look askance at this man. Imawano can't afford to be that hopeful. "The plan hasn't changed, the resistance is just likely to be lighter than anticipated. We'll be able to secure the facility properly, have a real look at this situation. Maybe draw Abobo's forces back into a punishing loss retaking their own stronghold." Okay, maybe he is a /little/ optimistic. At the least, the shinobi is /not/ calling an abort; not on account of /less/ opposition, at the least.
Sakura and Hyo are the first to deploy, via a means that the holographic display did not exaggerate: armored insertion pods that are more missile than escape capsule are reinforced and cushioned for one bracing warrior. They're prepped and fired in pairs, tonight, with Imawano and Kasugano the first payload to descend from the heavens, building astounding velocity before powerful energies counterthrust just enough to brace the pod properly as each thunderously breaches the warehouse roof.
There are times in a ninja's life when stealth is the rule of law; there are others where it is all about theatricality and deception. Imawano plays his ruse with confident aplomb, out of the pod and aside into shadows and crumbles of rooftop even as the blast doors slide open.
Even in the pale gloom of the industrial district at night, movement is visible from the air, the murky labyrinth of pipes and walkways patrolled by scattered groups of thugs and ruffians. The Sunshine breed is no different to that found in a thousand other cities, even organized as they seemingly have been - at least compared to the norm. It's odd though... the numbers visible near the particular warehouse singled out by Imawano's initially stealthy approach seem thinner than they should be, shy of the dozens upon dozens expected. But resistance could hardly be called 'lacking' in a true sense; it's enough that nobody less talented, well-equipped or prepared would even dare to push past this outermost fringe.
Among the patrolling groups nearest the warehouse, and quickest to get up to the roof when the thing just up and EXPLODES, are two pairs of men; the first consisting of a black man in his forties, thickset and muscular, short dreadlocks flapping in the wind as he charges up the fire escape on one flank, and his younger, whiter companion, whose shaved head and knockoff assault carbine attest to his military background. Both are dressed accordingly, in urban camo and tank tops. The second pair come out from the inside via the suddenly debris-strewn stair access and are flashier by far; one dressed in a bright azure catsuit of all things, and the other the bizarre combination of kickboxing shorts and a fur-lined bomber jacket. These two are arguing as they emerge onto the upper floor, guarding their heads against falling rubble. Because that's the kind of thing you do when there's a floating fortress in the sky and the BUILDING IS BLOWING UP.
"'ey, esse, I told you thees was a bad idea! We're not being payed enough for thees!"
"Shut up, Vaude! One more night, and that's /it/, we make it out and we make it good, buddy, all we have to--"
"You... see what I see, esse?"
"...I-It's fine, just follow my lead, man! Just follow my lead..."
COMBATSYS: Cooper has started a fight here on the left meter side.
COMBATSYS: Vaudeville has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
One hopes that the pods are soundproofed; otherwise, there is probably a high, muffled scream--one of pure, adrenaline-powered thrill. Actually it might come out even with the sound-proofing--it's not as though these are subtle things, after all. Hyo may be the first out of his pod--Sakura needs a moment to calm herself, grinning over that ride. She'll have to see if she can do it again sometime, because that was amazing. Hinata'll be -so- jealous...
The door to Sakura's pod pops off and she gathers herself before grasping the edges... waiting, waiting... and there. Guards of some sort... and dressed, uh... very... oddly. Gah. Now she wants to puke in her mouth a little. Maybe a lot. Fortunately she didn't eat much for dinner. Surely they'll be approaching the pods. She's crouched, tensed, ready...
... and then... she can't wait -too- long. She'll have to do something that goes against -every- instinct she has.
She has to trust Hyo. Right. One... two... three... Her arms tense and flex and she literally launches herself out of the pod, leading the way with a lunging, powerful shoulder block--aimed right for Vaudeville's chest, intending to impact the way she's seen Roy do it, on the field.
COMBATSYS: Sakura has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
Into shadow, beyond fallen chunks of ceiling, Hyo feints around behind his own pod, all but translocates to appear behind Sakura's, crouched; waiting. They don't have any choice but to trust one another, now, behind enemy lines - faced with life and death, success and failure that translates into a difference for untold multitudes of people... perhaps both within Sunshine City, and without.
Imawano's own thrill is decidedly more subdued than Kasugano's; adrenaline hits him, but the shinobi channels it. It breeds clarity of focus, precision of movement, an almost overactively adaptive instinct to the changing battlefield.. things that have been etched into Imawano's being since his earliest nights. He is ninja; his kung-fu is strong. Behind black mask, the equally black-garbed activist assassin is stoic, nigh-expressionless. Dark brown eyes are narrowed dangerously, as the black blur appears as if splitting out of Sakura's charge.
The shinobi hides his own with her form, crouched in shadow, launches high - springing as if from her forehead, to the duo hesitantly cresting the stairs; his katana leaves its saya in the same instant the shinobi lunges, crossing over to the opposite flank and looking to deeply cut the bomber jacketed compatriot of Sakura's prey from shoulder to hip, as Hyo lands decisively inside his personal space.
COMBATSYS: Hyo has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Vaudeville with Strong Punch.
Grazing Hit
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Cooper 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Sakura
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Vaudeville 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Hyo
COMBATSYS: Cooper blocks Hyo's Power Strike.
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Cooper 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Sakura
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Vaudeville 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Hyo
Above, clouds half-obscure the Sky Noah's distant form. It doesn't stop the resounding crash of two more pods striking into the warehouse, a floor lower. Another pair are fired a short time after, and the warship ascends, firing engines to circle swiftly... moving into position to deploy the second assault squad to the streets far below, where gangers already begin to stir, alarmed by the all-out offensive.
Despite his reassurances, Cooper, the greasy-haired American in bomber jacket and fetching, totally matching shorts, actually intends to remain hung back along the edge of the metal staircase leading down to the lower levels of the warehouse - where the crashing of feet resound as a number more men respond to undoubtedly meet the second level of incoming 'heroes' below. His plan is ruined when Hyo Imawano comes in hard and deep, but he reacts quickly, throwing up a boxer's guard to catch the slash on thick forearms shielded by leather that fails him-- the cut severing through to flesh sharp and fearsomely enough to draw a pained hiss.
But he shows his stripes immediately, gritting it out with a snarl as he thrusts off his back, bandaged foot, the other raising into a fast, brutal front kick to drive the shadowy, terrifying Imawano backwards by retort. That deadly katana is not something he wants near. "Who the hell are you?!"
Vaudeville's garish colours conceal a skilled fighter, at least by the standard of street scum. The flashy, dark-skinned Puerto Rican stares wordlessly for a moment before with a wild shake of his head he enters a wilder, positively startling series of front flips, leaping higher with the second to drag himself so very nearly clear from the incoming American football-playing (?!) schoolgirl. She's rewarded with a yelp as he's flung into an unruly spin instead, barely shifting in the air to come down toward her shoulders. Both hands press down, seeking to grip onto her monochrome fuku and then divert his direction in mid-air to one final flip, to toss Sakura over his head and off toward the metal pod she just now exited. Easy, right?
"Thees was a baaaad idea, esse!" He cries, utterly convinced of how easy this is going to be.
As if in answer, there's an almighty *clang!* and the side fire door, previously situated down a corridor from the unusual landing zone of the assault team - but now more aptly described as 'past a whole load of rubble' - comes blasting off its hinges, tumbling end over end until it comes to a stop against a collapsed roof section. An indistinct, but clearly boisterous yell rings out, quickly drowned in a sudden storm of searing lead as the lead of the pair charging the fire escape simply lets rip with his assault carbine. The *rattatattatatta* of suppressing fire is far louder than it should be in such close quarters, but there are just /so many bullets/.
It all covers for the insertion of his comrade, the big black man laden down with melee weapons of various shapes and sizes as he slips past the doorframe and takes up a careful vigil across the shattered top floor of the building - electing to do no more until the way is clear.
Clear of /everybody/ it seems, there's no discrimination in their counter-breaching offensive.
"That's it, brudda! Gun 'em all down! We get paid more that way!"
COMBATSYS: Barclay has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
COMBATSYS: Lucerne has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
COMBATSYS: Hyo blocks Cooper's Medium Kick.
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Barclay 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Sakura
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Cooper 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Hyo
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Vaudeville 0/-------/----===|
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Lucerne 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Hyo dodges Lucerne's I Know Gun-Fu.
COMBATSYS: Sakura dodges Lucerne's I Know Gun-Fu.
COMBATSYS: Sakura dodges Vaudeville's Medium Throw.
The impact isn't perfect, but Sakura doesn't worry about that immediately; she hits the ground running and keeps going for a few steps--and that just takes her right out of the way of Vaudeville's attempt at a grab. "God, could you -be- any more stereotypical??" she asks, in what sounds, to the guy, like perfect, unaccented, Midwestern American English. It's the way she is--she's notorious about obsesssing over things, and for a while, English was one of them.
the last word is somewhat drowned out by the roar of gunfire, and with that, the battle is truly joined.
Sakura mutters a curse--a Japanese one, so, pretty mild by ratings standards--and changes her plan immediately. She goes into a crouch, very quickly, then leaps up, spinning in midair to face Vaudeville--the flying lead passing underneath her position as she draws her hands to her chest. "Haaaaaaaaaaaaah..." is what she cries, bright, blue-white energy flaring into existence in her cupped hands, and then, she throws them forward and down, completing the cry with a sharp, "...DOUKEN!!"
The force throws her up a bit higher, letting her flip backwards, as Vaudeville now has to deal with sprayed lead and blue chifire.
There is no answer to Cooper's terrified question. Just the lock of dark, deadly eyes. Blood spatters the edge of his katana spartanly; not for the last time this morn. A forceful elbow impacts that driving forward boot even as it strikes inward, the jarring impact absorbed by powerful guard as Imawano refuses to give ground in those instants after his landing. He hasn't finished his assault yet, after all. Shoving that kick aside, the blade is brought from low, across. It's deceptively simple, like Imawano flicks his wrists and accelerates that length of steel to terminal velocity, but the swordsman exercises exquisite control, precision.
It's possible that Hyo could open several key arteries in those moments, were he so inclined; not unlike another warrior might snap the man's neck. Despite the apparent casual lethality, the stroke that crosses Cooper's chest next is still not aligned to slay him.. though that may be cold comfort indeed if the razor-edged longsword manages to open him across his abdomen, and then drive its point up and into the underside of his right breast as Hyo's stance inverts. Poor Coop's jacket is little armor against ancient Japanese steel.
In the next flash, that blade would be withdrawn, along with the ninja entirely, leaping skyward to the pitted ceiling. It's out of the line of fire, at least for the moment, and by all immediate appearances... Hyo doesn't land. It means he's still up there; in the dark... somewhere above the vector of the new assailants' charge.
COMBATSYS: Barclay focuses on his next action.
COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Vaudeville with Medium Hadouken.
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Barclay 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Sakura
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Cooper 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Hyo
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Vaudeville 1/-------/=======|
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Lucerne 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Lucerne successfully hits Vaudeville with I Know Gun-Fu.
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Barclay 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Sakura
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Cooper 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Hyo
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Vaudeville 1/---====/=======|
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Lucerne 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Lucerne successfully hits Cooper with I Know Gun-Fu.
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Barclay 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Sakura
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Cooper 0/-------/--=====|-------\-------\0 Hyo
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Vaudeville 1/---====/=======|
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Lucerne 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Hyo successfully hits Cooper with Iai-giri Kai.
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Barclay 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Sakura
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Cooper 1/-----==/=======|===----\-------\0 Hyo
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Vaudeville 1/---====/=======|
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Lucerne 0/-------/----===|
It's not a good guy to be a plucky hired thug in your early to mid-twenties.
As the storm of bullets fills the air, each of the men already inside has enough to worry about as it is; they simply can't /move/ at the level that warriors like Imawano and Kasugano can, let alone when faced by the onslaught that they're presented with. The answer that Cooper doesn't receive is not even noticed, because he's too busy jolting this way and that as bullets catch his left flank, jarring through flesh into bone from the ankle up-- five or six times he's struck, even before Hyo's punishing blade comes in to further bleed the life's blood from his screaming veins. The answer to that is a gurgle, his attempt to move only causing it to drive at a harsher angle, crimson ichor erupting from his throat. It's all he can do to stay /conscious/...
And his friend doesn't fare any better, his attempted flip of the schoolgirl seeing him land in a tight crouch as bullet hell erupts, the bright blue eyes in his dark-tanned face widening to saucers. Desperately, he leaps to join Sakura in her altitude, but he does so a little too late, sent spinning for the second time, limbs ragdolling as he's caught in mid-air by hot-burning lead. The Hadouken practically explodes him outright, catching the poor Puerto Rican gangster at dead centre and projecting him like some inhumanly-catsuited pinball off the pod he tried to fling /her/ back into. He bounces several times before making it to his fight.
Across the room, bloodied and limping, both men meet each other's gaze and reach a quick decision.
"Charge!"
"Charge, esse!!"
What follows is difficult to describe-- because neither man is really that /bad/ at what they do, simply brutally outclassed in this arena. A kickboxer and a man who described himself as a 'thrash boxer' but is effectively little different save in the flair behind his attacks, both have an ample arsenal of foot-based strikes. Cooper comes in first, fastest and by far hardest, his bomber jacket leaving his form with an outlashing of an arm to reveal a firmly muscled torso, muscles rippling around the bullet holes as he launches into a scything heel kick, limb jolting up and then axe-ing down to catch Sakura as she ought to be landing, right atop the head. He's not done though, spinning about with blood and saliva dripping from his mouth, teeth gritted as he hurls himself into a second kick from the other leg, this one a mighty thrusting affair that drives her upward, back the way she came-- up to the ceiling, were it still there.
But it's not, and she's met instead by the form of his fellow thug-for-hire, catsuit turning him into a cerulean blur as he flips into the air and comes around with something bought in a knockoff Chinese supermarket o' moves; it's closest to Chun-Li's famous Spinning Bird Kick, but with an added, vertical rotation. Unwieldy in practice, it's impressive nonetheless, a gyroscopic storm of kicks sent out every which way as he seeks to tear through the airborne girl like a rotor blade. Seeing /him/ coming is hard enough - predicting the course and variety of the impacts he seeks to make with not one, but both feet, is next to impossible.
A similar task faces the pair by the fire escape. The crazy with the assault carbine has the easier task by far, quickly pounding in a fresh clip with a shit-eating grin before simply turning his weapon toward the shadows and unleashing a series of tightly-controlled bursts, aiming at shifts in the shadowy pattern real or imagined as he seeks to either hit, or drive the Imawano ninja out with more hot dakka.
His companion waits until a result is found, biding his time and watching with dark eyes alert as he reaches to his hip to withdraw a Ka-Bar combat knife. Flipping it about until he grips the heavy tip between two burly, dark-skinned fingers, he's ready, when he thinks the time has come, to whip the blade forward for a collision course with the stealthy Justice student. The toss is good either way-- fast, and carrying serious weight behind it. The question is whether he can either spot or derive the ninja's precise location.
A lot hinges on luck, but this man - in particular - clearly does not lack skill.
COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Vaudeville's Clear the Dance Circle.
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Barclay 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Sakura
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Cooper 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Hyo
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Vaudeville 0/-------/------=|
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Lucerne 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Hyo instinctively dodges Lucerne's Hot Lead Injection.
COMBATSYS: Sakura fails to interrupt Hurricane heel from Cooper with Shou'ou Ken EX.
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Barclay 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\0 Sakura
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Cooper 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Hyo
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Vaudeville 0/-------/------=|
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Lucerne 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Barclay successfully hits Hyo with Pigsticker.
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Barclay 0/-------/------=|=======\-------\0 Sakura
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Cooper 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Hyo
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Vaudeville 0/-------/------=|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Lucerne 0/-------/-----==|
Well, they aren't -complete- pushovers. The spinning, dance-like whirlwind kick slams against Sakura's guard, arms upthrust. It pushes her away from the incoming Cooper, just enough that she takes what she considers a calculated risk--meeting the oncoming Cooper head-on, gathering herself and taking a long step before launching herself into the prepatory motion for her rising uppercut.
It is not skill, or timing, but her body that betrays her--for, no matter how much she wishes to deny it, there are physical realities that she cannot ignore. Cooper's legs are just longer than her reach. The heel impacts squarely on the top of her head, stunning her for the second kick, which hurls her away. She lands hard, on her back, with a pained grunt, resisting the urge to grab the top of her head and make sure there's no cracks in her skull...
... but she can't leave Hyo to face all of them alone, no atter how much she might want to, and so she rises to her feet. She might be a moment, getting back into the fight, what with her vision flashing yellow and red and black, but it won't take long to fade.
She can practically hear Kei's voice in her ear. "God, Sakura, you're -so- hard-headed."
It may be cruel or cowardly, at a glance, to piss off at least half of that eccentric duo and leave Kasugano with the both of them.. but appearances can be deceiving. Not only does Hyo trust Sakura's ability to handle both on her own from the onset, Cooper's losing blood at an absolutely alarming rate, and Vaudeville? Well, that particular member of Abobo's unusual posse never had a chance to begin with, the poor thing. No, the shinobi quickly assesses the newcomers to be the real threat, all of a sudden.
The fresh clip serves to purge Hyo from the shadows, though the sheer grace and fluidity of it might suggest that the shinobi had intended every step, every graceful tuck and leap against ceiling corners, rather than adapting to the rounds as they leave the barrel. The ninja reappears, so to speak, inverted above the heavily armed duo... that patient, calculated knife finds its mark in his shoulder, soundlessly removed in nearly the same instant, and stowed away, scarcely slowed by the wound seeping dark crimson into black cloth. The depth of the wound was limited only by the shoulderpad he wears, and his own strength; this man knows what he's doing, Hyo feels it even as all his attention is focused on the gunman.
Imawano does what he left the shadows to do, he descends in a brutal flash of fury, blade's edge /gleaming/ in brilliant, white-cored luminescence. In the half-instant before he touches down, that hurtling, full bore return to Earth leads into a singular, descending stroke of his katana, the path arcing in energy and /exploding/ outwards as Hyo lands, an eruption of fiery chi threatening to rip Lucerne's legs out from under him... assuming the shinobi does not nigh-literally slice him in twain on the way down, of course.
It's difficult to say when the ninja radios back, precisely; his voice is so calmly cold, it's almost disembodied in the rampant chaos, easy to lose. It might reassure Sakura, however, and it certainly rings as a continued turn of fortune for Abobo's patrols. "Situation yellow; anticipate pacification possible. Charlie and Bravo are Green."
COMBATSYS: Lucerne fails to interrupt Tenraizan from Hyo with Killing Field.
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Barclay 0/-------/------=|=======\-------\0 Sakura
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Cooper 0/-------/-----==|=======\=------\1 Hyo
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Vaudeville 0/-------/------=|
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Lucerne 1/-------/=======|
Not so hopeless after all, the mismatched pair of kickboxing thugs each make their separate landings-- Vaudeville staggering and stumbling following his deflected, intensely dizzying assaulting motions, breathing hard and shaking his head as he tries to pull his wits together; all in all it takes him about as long as it takes Sakura to recover from his partner's brutally powerful strikes, by which time the shirtless, bloody Coop has stared bright-eyed toward her and is frantically gesticulating to his companion.
"Vaude! Set me up, man! S-Set me up!"
His voice is frantic with desperate adrenaline as he bleeds out from the bullet wounds and - most critically - Hyo's ferocious spearing of his torso, from which a thick rivulet of ichor is running. But he's got the energy to respond when the tan, blonde Puerto Rican complies by quite gratefully taking a knee and extending his cupped palms. Grinning fiercely, the greasy-haired American takes a couple of strides forward and then kicks his heel into that provided surface, launching himself off into a horizontal /spring/ toward Sakura...
"INCOMING!!" His bellow marks the once-more vertical straightening of his leg, before it falls down toward the top of the hard-headed schoolgirl's hard head. Goofy the setup might be, but as before-- there's nothing lacking in the execution, or the power behind it. Cooper's a former championship-level fighter, if not ever in quite the same league as Kasugano herself, and it shows. "This time /stay/ down! I wanna get paid!"
The muscular black 'soldier' - himself a former mercenary for Blackwater - is rather less bombastic in his approach, clinical and cold as he watches his own comrade's wild gunfire draw forth the Justice shinobi, and watches his subsequently-tossed blade penetrate the silver-haired boy's stealthy guard. Already reaching behind to withdraw another hefty combat knife, he's flipping it about his hand to secure a reverse grip suitable for in-fighting when the ninja comes silently screaming from the ceiling. "Oh /fuck/."
His warning is far too late to save his comrade, who barely has time to jerk the muzzle of his assault carbine up, baring yellowing teeth in a rictus grimace as he squeezes the trigger desperately. A single bullet gets out, thudding past Imawano's flaming blaze before the man is almost sliced in two, a gout of blood exploding from his midriff, the gun strewn away through the rubble as he flies backwards through the fire escape, screaming bloody murder once he strikes the railing-- pain upon pain as his spine almost cracks asunder.
"Son of a bitch..." The basso snarl comes from behind Hyo in that instant, and if the Justice student isn't as fast as he assuredly can be, he'll find a steel-toed combat boot suddenly planting heelfirst to the back of his neck. What follows isn't pretty in the least, but at least that chambered knife is withheld for the moment; the thickset African-American using his body weight instead to drive his fearsome opponent forward, facefirst into the rubble. "You wanna tangle with the bad boys, huh? YOU WANNA FUCK WITH US?!"
If he can get that much, Barclay throws in a few hard stomps for good measure, cracking nose and mouth to unforgiving, shattered stone.
COMBATSYS: Vaudeville assists Cooper.
COMBATSYS: Barclay successfully hits Hyo with Curb Stomp.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Barclay 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\0 Sakura
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Cooper 0/-------/----===|=======\====---\1 Hyo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Vaudeville 0/-------/------=|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Lucerne 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Cooper successfully hits Sakura with Flying Axe Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Barclay 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\1 Sakura
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Cooper 0/-------/---====|=======\====---\1 Hyo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Vaudeville 0/-------/------=|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Lucerne 1/-------/=======|
Alright. That's it. That boost from the catsuit-wearing bastard is enough to make Cooper fast enough to kick Sakura in the head--again. It doesn't hurt quite as much, but, it does have the unique effect of, well... -pissing her off-. She doesn't rage, doesn't scream, doesn't yell, just a grunt of pain as she's smacked in the head again...
... all that rage just transforms into a pure, burning desire. To beat this asshole into the ground. She ignores Catsuit for now, since he's decently far away, and centers her attention on Cooper. She doesn't care how he -looks-...
... she just cares about how he -fights-. And while she never took either of them lightly, she's putting all her attention on the kickboxer-ish guy now.
She snarls, mostly to herself, as she backs up a step or two, only to put all that momentum back into forward, imitating her mentor, Ryu--
--by lunging into a side-on kick meant to take Cooper right in the breadbasket, leaning her body back to ensure maximum power into it.
They know from experience that just asking politely doesn't work very well with these guys. More people are dying, and while these marauding looters may not be doing the killing, Imawano is /certain/ the answers all tie back together.. otherwise, none of it makes sense to the shinobi. In the instant of carefully bisecting his compatriot along one side of his body, threatening to break morale if not maim the man out of the fight right off, Imawano is momentarily vulnerable. A half-second later, and the ninja would be gone; but Barclay finds his mark, the military vet driving Hyo to the ground, bleeding his face into the debris painfully.
There's no question it would be painful, right? Imawano doesn't make a sound, he rolls out of the hammering like he doesn't even feel it. Pushes past the pain. Rises and flicks blood from his sword, as it slides smoothly back into the saya, metallic whisper ending in locking finality. "This structure is being seized in connection with crimes from assassination to kidnapping." Nothing these idiots are likely to know a lot about, in the shinobi's estimation, "You will all stand down while we investigate, or we will pacify the area." Imawano speaks it like it's not a threat; there's no hint of anger, it's almost sympathetic promise. If one believes Imawano Hyo feels sympathy.
As it stands he looks to be considering about eighteen different ways to incapacitate everyone still standing against them, as dark eyes flicker between opponents, unfased by his own pain... ready to fight on, should they choose. Which the shinobi clearly expects they will. It's hard to find good help these days.
COMBATSYS: Hyo calculates his next move.
COMBATSYS: Cooper blocks Sakura's Medium Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Barclay 0/-------/----===|=======\=------\1 Sakura
[ \\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Cooper 0/-------/-======|=======\====---\1 Hyo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Vaudeville 0/-------/------=|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Lucerne 1/-------/=======|
Cooper is ill-fated indeed, though following an only-slightly unsteady landing from his own kick, he does manage to mount an admirably quick cross-guard in time to receive Sakura's retort. The fighting schoolgirl strikes hard - far harder than she /should/, by the kickboxer's estimation - and it sends him stumbling back, limbs flailing for a moment as he yelps back against the pain of both this and freshly stung injuries.
"Not..." He gasps out, pushing forward again, almost falling to a knee before he manages, with one last Herculean effort to throw himself into a short charge, bracing one hand to the opposite arm and lashing out a solid elbow strike toward the throat-- or it's intended for that location. He's falling even as he throws it, eyes rolling up into his head as the blood loss quickens, sending thick gobbets spattering beneath his toppling frame. If he's lucky, he might get the girl in the chest, at least. And he looks like kind of a nerd...
He'll probably die happy if that can come to pass.
"If I have to carry you," quips the catsuit-clad 'thrash boxer' as he pushes himself upright, lurching like a marionette courtesy of his own wounds; though at least not literally bleeding away into unconsciousness, "I'm keeping half your pay, esse! 'ey, girly!" Suddenly he's into a headlong, lunging dash, hurling himself the last few feet in what curiously seems to amount to a wrestling-style spearing takedown. With both hands securing a grip, he seeks to drive her down onto her back - a painful notion, in this environment - but if he gets even that far, she'll feel the whole world begin to move an instant later, as he maintains his grip and spins out into an alarmingly acrobatic sequence, first hurling her upright then extending a leg as he rotates, rushing around once then on the second rotation catching her in mid-air with a high-angled heel drop to the gut.
"Nobody keeps up with Vaudeville Sanchez~!"
Meanwhile, the other pair are taking matters less with the resolve of desperate underdogs, and more as though they were still in control; the large, black Barclay in particular staring Hyo down with unharnessed ferocity as the ninja addresses him from his own, impassive mask. Snorting derisively, he flicks a glance past the silver-haired swordsman to the fire escape, where his companion is cursing in Swedish as he pushes himself upright, shaking head to toe. They're given time to prepare, and that may cost the Justice student; his foe certainly seems to believe it will, a cruelly confident smirk pulling his thick mouth to one side.
"We'll stand down? Don't think so. You're trespassin' on property you /got no right to/; we're paid to be here, this is our /job/, you understan' me? Only bitch here who be backin' down is YOU. Or I gotta make it clear?" Suddenly he's doing exactly that, bullrushing in to risk that katana's biting tip as he brings up the reverse-gripped knife. It jolts forward in his grip, but rather than seek to drive the blade in toward the undisputed master of search, a hard twist of the wrist sees it driven forward like a punch, bringing both fist and protruding hilt to bear in opening a nasty welt across the temple and eyebrow of Imawano.
It's hard enough that he doesn't /need/ the blade, though, driving it in enough that it could both split and stagger, setting the boy up for the return of the downed Lucerne, who's there like a jackbooted spectre, blood coating his urban camouflage as he seeks to grab Hyo on the rebound with one arm under each of his own and a tripping, spinning takedown, driving him once more facefirst toward the rubble.
He's still cursing in Swedish as he does it. Apparently he's quite the foulmouthed lad. If you speak Swedish.
COMBATSYS: Cooper can no longer fight.
COMBATSYS: Cooper successfully hits Sakura with Elbow Crunch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Barclay 0/-------/----===|=======\==-----\1 Sakura
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Vaudeville 0/-------/------=|=======\====---\1 Hyo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Lucerne 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Hyo blocks Barclay's Black Eye.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Barclay 0/-------/----===|=======\==-----\1 Sakura
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Vaudeville 0/-------/------=|=======\=====--\1 Hyo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Lucerne 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Hyo dodges Lucerne's Judo Toss.
COMBATSYS: Sakura fails to interrupt Scissor-Leg Takedown from Vaudeville with Shou'ou Ken.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Barclay 0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0 Sakura
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Vaudeville 0/-------/------=|=======\=====--\1 Hyo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Lucerne 1/-------/=======|
Sakura is not proud of herself. This fight has been terrible for her--not enough practice fighting multiple opponents--and she's being swarmed. Their attacks are coming too fast for her to react to. It's a valuable lesson--if she lives to learn it... the elbow crunches into her sternum, making her gasp again, and throwing her off-balance--she tries to set herself before Vaudeville gets to her, but only has a half-second...
...and then she tries to use her Shou'ou Ken again. With the same result as last time--she's speared into, thrown to her back, and then spun around and into the air to get heel-dropped. Once again she hits the floor, and, this time, she's much slower to rise. It's hard to accept. She'd considered herself, if not amongst the elite, certainly a rising star...
... and these two punks are putting the lie to her ego. One might call it a good lesson, and a good puncturing of ego. But this isn't some silly SNF or tournament fight. This is a fight for her -life-. She has no illusions about what these men will do if she should fall here...
While not surprised, there's a bit of a frown as the arrayed gangbangers turn down the chance to surrender. On some level, Hyo is aware that Sakura is getting swarmed, pressed by desperate thugs with no choice but the same fight or flight she's started to feel. Imawano can sense it, on the edge of his mind, brushing up against his senses like a soft breeze through the battlefield, but that distraction is pushed away, for the moment. Sword and saya angled back, Imawano simply meets that surging hilt with his own wrist, stepping into and against that sheer force, the pommel of Barclay's combat knife leaving a painful bruise etched across the shinobi's black-covered arm.
The ninja weaves /under/ the swing, and then up, backflipping overtop of the gunman's renewed charge and leaving him to hurtle towards his comrade, the ground Imawano occupied suddenly empty as the ninja kicks off the ceiling, to a point /behind/ Lucerne. Aware of the tense and urgent nature of a combat situation like this, Hyo moves to remove the shooter from the equation entirely. His leg leads as he ascends anew, this time back /into/ Lucerne, ripping arcs of dark-edged energy reaving in time to those impossibly swift, twisting kicks. Each seeks to pummel Lucerne higher, thriceover, the ninja seemingly teleporting into him with renewed momentum after each rotation.
Should the shinobi's technique strike true, the last swing is accompanied by the drawing of his sword in an ascending cut, one with momentum and razor's sharpness enough to carry Hyo just beyond and above his quarry... before he crashed back to Earth in a downward slice that would take Lucerne with him, carve a potentially fight-ending wound into Abobo's gunman, and launch him in an explosive wave of releasing energy back towards his partner as Imawano lands with a rumbling impact.
COMBATSYS: Hyo successfully hits Lucerne with Ankoku Gen'ei-shuu.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Barclay 0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0 Sakura
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Vaudeville 0/-------/------=|=====--\-------\0 Hyo
[ \\\\ <
Lucerne 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|
Cooper's fortune prior to passing out amidst the shattered debris of the warehouse roof seems to buoy his comrade further, confronting Sakura Kasugano with a formidable challenge in the form of two surprisingly well-executed attacks; if it can really be a surprise at this point. Her sole standing opponent intends to rub it in though, careless of her misgivings, flipping through his final motions with a peal of taunting laughter.
"You see, girly? You see how great I am? Haha!"
Grinning ear-to-ear, the tan, blonde Puerto Rican springs back to his feet with a jubilant flourish. Nimble even so bloodied upon the unruly rubble, he takes stock for but a moment before surging forward into another dash that becomes a cartwheel, the catsuited warrior tumbling neatly from his extended hand then twisting about as he takes to the air from this single point of pressure. What follows is a fairly textbook butterfly kick, the out-snapping of his limbs brisk and powerful, their full extension carrying a cleaving brutality that will carry the fighting schoolgirl back across the room if he can hit, before spinning about to land clean.
"'ey!" He barks across the room if he gets a second chance to be smug, "You pair of meatheads done yet?!"
The answer may be a resounding 'yes' from one of them. There's really nothing Lucerne can do, carried into that destructive storm of motion and deadly cutting fury by Hyo Imawano - a fighter he doesn't /begin/ to compare to, in any sense. Higher and higher he goes, bloodied and torn, almost in half by the time he's sent plummeting back toward the devastated upper floor of the warehouse. He's not cursing any more, because he can't.
"Shit!!" Barclay is left with an incoming projectile to deal with, one that used to be his comrade, though he's big and burly enough that he answers by simply bracing himself and /catching/ the falling gunman with something halfway between a hug and a shoulder tackle. He's enraged as he props the man to one side, dazed and near-unconsciousness. Quick strides carry him skirting around Imawano until they flank him, though how much of a threat the eviscerated form of Lucerne might be... well, it probably doesn't matter that the dark-skinned knife-fighter is talking up an angry storm to cover for his recovery. Probably. Maybe.
"Kidnappin'? Assassination? I /wish/ the money were that good. This is burglary, and guardin' shipments. Those two idiots do the former, me an' mine do the latter. Wanna bring your fancypants operation down on some real targets? Last chance to turn tail and run, boy. I ain't holdin' back. This is my LIFE." The last, forceful syllable is delivered with a grunt as Barclay stamps forward, the grace in his movements well-concealed by a seemingly lumbering stagger into proximity, as his knife-bearing hand comes around to make a long, careful slit across the thigh. His aim is good-- almost too good, for a hired thug. But only almost.
Only Hyo's former suspicions do anything to assure that this mission might not be a dead loss.
Again it's the Swede who makes the secondary assault, but this time the distraction is for a larger, more impressive reason. Throughout Barclay's speech, he has somehow risen and clenched a large, horny fist beside him. His forearm is shaking hard enough to be something more than either adrenaline or near-death anxiety, seeming to vibrate to the very bone as he steps forward and draws it back, sighting as though down the length of a sniper rifle before he picks his target and aims a single, devastating punch for the other flank-- and the other leg, indeed, his piercing knuckles seeking to penetrate flesh and muscle to crack through to the pelvic bone. There's another, single word uttered in Swedish, but this time it's a full-blooded /roar/.
Apparently both men just as passionately about their criminal welfare.
Only one of them is due to his the ground facefirst once he's done protesting it, however...
COMBATSYS: Lucerne can no longer fight.
COMBATSYS: Hyo parries Lucerne's Bonebreaker!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Barclay 0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0 Sakura
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Vaudeville 0/-------/------=|=======\=------\1 Hyo
COMBATSYS: Barclay successfully hits Hyo with Hamstring.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Barclay 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Sakura
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Vaudeville 0/-------/------=|=======\===----\1 Hyo
COMBATSYS: Sakura dodges Vaudeville's Flying Double Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Barclay 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Sakura
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Vaudeville 0/-------/------=|=======\===----\1 Hyo
Breathe, breathe. Harsh, labored breaths. "All I see," gasps Sakura, "is a flashy jerk who's playin' for the wrong team..." He reminds her of someone else, that's for sure, with that quick, agile build, not slowed down a whit by his injuries. It's something she'll have to learn how to do! But she's recovered enough that she doesn't panic when he goes into that flipping motion, when he pushes off--she ducks low and 'shoots' forward.
It's almost like a tackle except, she doesn't intend to catch him--she intends to go -underneath- him, turning in mid-lunge, impacting on her right shoulder and rolling across her back to her left shoulder. A moment later she's popping up again, back on her feet.
That energy flares again, the blue-white power that she trained herself to exhibit, and it bursts into existence--a smaller globe, barely as big around as a basketball--and she thrusts her hands forward, trying to catch the man before he lands from that acrobatic manuever.
Her shout is less jubilant, but more focused, more serious--though the words are the same. "HADOUKEN!"
It's not a game, not the same as fighting in the arena, for sport and glory. Out here, it's life and death, instinct and intellect, existence by the metaphorical sword indeed. The more literal blade flashes low, spine almost gently guiding the fading thug's bonebreaking fist aside, surprising leverage exerted by the light length of steel, which flashes as it darts back towards the incoming knife... which comes an instant earlier, tearing deep into the shinobi's leg and severing rather important tendons, to say nothing of the pain.
Teeth clench, breath catches, and the ninja falls, momentarily, to his other knee; it's more painful than it is maiming, debhilitating in the moment, but the shinobi refuses to pause. To even blink; dark eyes /lock/ onto Barclay, something in the ninja's entire demeanor altering to guide his instinct to this new quarry, preparing to strike even as he's wounded. "Then you're a fool for not letting us finish our business." Hyo retorts simply. He doesn't believe for an instant these men have nothing to hide.. the shinobi's always wary to play odds unreasonably, but some gambits are all but essential.
The shinobi rises, reclaims his stance with a threefold strike, two quick cuts with the tip aimed at seizing his space back from Barclay, with a final, stepping lunge accompanied by a fierce kiai, as Hyo seeks to run his opponent through. It's times like this one almost wishes he /would/ aim for something decisively vital, at least for a moment. Kasugano's call, the surge of chi in the small space, the smile /almost/ touches the ninja's lips.
COMBATSYS: Vaudeville interrupts Small Hadouken from Sakura with Cartwheel Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Barclay 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 Sakura
[ \\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Vaudeville 0/-------/----===|=======\===----\1 Hyo
COMBATSYS: Barclay endures Hyo's Crushing Strike EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Barclay 1/-----==/=======|=====--\-------\0 Sakura
[ \\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Vaudeville 0/-------/----===|=======\====---\1 Hyo
"Eh!?" Vaudeville really can't say much more to his young opponent's biting quips, because he's in the middle of eating delicious Hadouken by the time he can crack his mouth wide enough to do more than exclaim in shock. Caught wrong-footed - by grace of his feet being just about still in the air - he's blasted in the midsection hard enough by the deceptively small energy projectile that he doesn't even go flying, he simply crumples inward as though-- wait, no, rewind. What? WHAT? Suddenly there's a puff of cerulean energy, and a blaze of azure catsuit slicing through it as the warrior-stuntman adjusts his trajectory by folding about the incoming blast, mouth pulled into a grin that's part pain and part pure, unmitigated glee as he flips sidelong...
And catches himself on an outflung palm on a relatively clean patch of floor. The Puerto Rican springs from this point of contact, his legs cutting an arc above him as he sways through a final tumbling sidelong flip to bring both heels crashing down upon the schoolgirl's head-- bellowing a boisterous laugh as he does so, flipping off to land with his arms spread in a gymnast's celebratory pose before promptly collapsing to a knee.
"Oye..." As impressive as it looked, eating that one /hurt/. He's left his last legs behind.
Could this be the end of lovable Vaudeville?
"WHO'S THE FOOL?" Booms Barclay at the other end of the shattered rooftop, retracting his crimson-smeared blade without any of the flair or flourish exhibited in the lithe acrobat battling Kasugano. It's at least characteristic that he shows no fear whatsoever, even stepping forward as Hyo rises with that simultaneous lashing of brightly gleaming blade. There's no smile to echo Hyo's own, but there is resolve to beat his-- the strapping ex-mercenary stepping hard into the cuts, pushing himself along the weapon that snickersnacks into his muscle and bone, flaying deep but not stopping him. Quite the opposite, when that final impaling thrust comes in he actually grabs the katana and /hauls/, throwing himself close then abruptly spinning around.
It's more speed and grace than he's shown yet, but there's brutality in it too, as he loops one arm around Hyo's throat and then raises the other, attempting to cross it through and complete a simple, but fiercely effective rear naked choke; the knife raised in his crossing arm, as he hauls back hard and severe, wrenching Imawano back against his body and leaning toward his ear.
"You're the /fool/, boy, to fuck with a man's livelihood. You in enemy territory, and I pity the fool."
COMBATSYS: Barclay successfully hits Hyo with Nighty-Night EX.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Barclay 1/----===/=======|=====--\-------\0 Sakura
[ \\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Vaudeville 0/-------/----===|=======\=====--\1 Hyo
Her entire world is ringing dully. Repeated impacts to the head--no matter how hard-headed she is, she'll probably have a concussion. For now, however, she remains (relatively) clear-headed. And she has had enough. More than enough. Her expression sets, and that laser-like focus that she had on Cooper transfers itself to Vaudeville. She isn't even really fully aware of Hyo's predicament--she'd probably go to help if she could otherwise.
Fine. They seem to like kicks to the head--Sakura will oblige him. She gets a run up, and then she takes a low leap. Her target? Vaudeville's face. Her weapon? The side of her sneaker. She flies into a classic jumping side kick with her right leg, her form perfect. If she lands that kick, well, she'll thrust her left leg down, land it, and flick another kick high into Vaudeville's face.
It's probably okay. It's only a -little- bit vindictive...
Even anticipating Barclay's aggressive, sacrificial charge, Hyo suddenly finds himself caught up in the chaos of the moment, eyes widening in surprise as the thug twists about and.. choke him?!? For a long moment Imawano cannot find breath, throat crushed, blade caught by his adversary's seemingly foolish, but deceptively effective ploy. For a moment, it threatens to suddenly remove the shinobi from the battle, his preparations fading in a choke of lost breath. Then, he is gone from Barclay's grasp; there are several of him. The ninja fills the hallway, black clad figures glowing with luminescent energy. They all lash out simultaneously...
It comes from all directions, sweeping strokes of blades of steel and chi, all but indistinguishable as the shinobi and his copies cut copiously in at the knifewielding veteran. It's all but overwhelming to even the non-chi-sensitive, the overwhelming charge of focused will and deadly, icy intensity; the air temperature drops by degrees, already scarce light seemingly drawn into those faintly shimmering ninja dopplegangers.
They strike in perfect unison, a shredding symphony of blades meant to suddenly wound Barclay most profoundly, perhaps to rip from limbs and blades the ability to defend himself from the duo's continued assault. The shinobi is unrelenting, and so his projections are unrelenting: the savage yet perfectly precise strokes of ghostly katana are innumerable, flashing one into another as if the entire series was one impossible to memorize technique.
The cursed line is not noted for their merciful ninjutsu, and apparently Barclay's threat.. and his drawn line.. are taken seriously by the shinobi. In a sense, Imawano simply respects his adversary's wishes... in another, he merely reacts to the changing battlefield dynamic. His own need for a moment to prepare, secondary to Sakura's potentially pressing injuries. To Hyo's cursory glance, the girl has this.. she's learned quickly how dangerous this can get, but Kasugano is nothing if not adaptive.
COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Vaudeville with Light Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Barclay 1/----===/=======|======-\-------\0 Sakura
[ \ < > ///////////// ]
Vaudeville 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 Hyo
COMBATSYS: Hyo successfully hits Barclay with Ankoku Gen'ei-jin EX.
[ \\\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Barclay 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|======-\-------\0 Sakura
[ \ < > ///////////// ]
Vaudeville 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 Hyo
Bam, pow indeed; this time there really IS no response that the battered if decidely tenacious Vaudeville can make to Sakura's yet more decisive advance. The first kick near enough takes what remains of his addled head off, and he's still wearing a stupid grin as he eats the second, ragdolling end over azure catsuited end before coming to a rest in the rubble a few feet away. He's really not a big guy, and it's even more noticeable when he lies still like this-- a testament to how much this lifestyle has meant to all the men here. How much the next paycheck means to them; no matter where the source, or how it's been earned.
Barclay struggles with the same earnest desire, even if his formidable presence and far more aggressive, ferocious manner makes him seem a darker creature. When Hyo slips from his tight, enclosing grapple, he's left to gape for a second - and this costs him, the convergence of that forbidden ninjutsu closing a cage of the silver-haired swordsman's own design. The chill envelops him, freezes him until he not only can't move; but will not allow himself to, frozen in inaction and given only the decision to attempt to brave the assault.
But such a thing is beyond most mortal ken, and this man - as skilled as he is, as dangerous - isn't among that stalwart few. Each slash draws a fresh wound, slicing through thin material and rending muscle as he's forced irrevocably to collapse to his knees, now, as the others already have. But unlike them, he remains conscious through the worst that this pair of young, ludicrously talented fighters can deliver. His pupils are dilated, stare wild as it finds Hyo through the fading haze of pain and chi doubles. It's hard to stand, to act at all.
Barclay doesn't need to do much, a shaking hand reaching behind to pull from a rear harness the boxlike form of an MP-90 submachine gun. It's a far cut above the ordnance these men would normally be able to acquire - another hint that perhaps all has not been as it seems? Hyo should worry more about the squeezing of that trigger, prompting a ferocious blaze of gunfire empowered by the spirit of the very, genuinely powerful warrior behind its apparition. He probably doesn't even know himself, the role his latent chi-channelling plays in imbuing the uproarious hellstorm of low-calibre bullets with added strength...
But in his eyes, there's a belief that's only helping it further.
COMBATSYS: Vaudeville takes no action.
COMBATSYS: Vaudeville can no longer fight.
COMBATSYS: Hyo dodges Barclay's Holdout.
[ \\\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Barclay 0/-------/------<|======-\-------\0 Sakura
> ///////////// ]
|=======\-------\0 Hyo
Sakura turns to see if Hyo needs assistance--and then her own body reminds her that she's on the verge of collapse herself. With a grunt, she drags herself forward. Should Hyo somehow fail... but she knows his caliber. He won't.
He's a goddamn ninja, after all. That man is probably as good as dead.
The final, 'real' Hyo crosses over his opponent with a final, imbued slash, the katana's wide, waving edge wetted yet again with the veteran's blood. While the shinobi may have a killer's instinct bred and honed, he takes little pleasure in 'pacifying' the chattel. These men don't even know what goes on under their own noses; from his own observation, Imawano is certain of that much. Drugs, avarice, anarchistic ideals gone horribly wrong in addled minds... Hyo doesn't know precisely why they fight on to the bloody end, but the ninja does not slow despite his wounds.
As that submachinegun comes down, spraying fire, emptying a clip in a blaring hail of the loudest moments one can possibly experience, Hyo twists from his stance as his sword is sheathed with graceful precision, and slides low to the floor. The kick on the weapon, the wild spray, the bullets pass hopelessly above him, back into the walls and window of the fire escape from whence they came. Hyo's descent brings him in closer to his quarry, and when he rises, the ninja's dark eyes are already locked on Barclay's.
His blade sings, flares brilliantly in even the dim light as it crosses on the draw into a chest-level, horizontal slash. Half-instants before Hyo steps in, flowing to an overhead chop, intent on bisecting that deadly weapon, and sending Barclay hurtling aside in a spray of his own lifeblood.
COMBATSYS: Barclay interrupts Juumonji-giri EX from Hyo with Combo Grapple EX.
[ \\\\ < > ////// ]
Barclay 0/-------/---====|======-\-------\0 Sakura
> ////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Hyo
Brilliance... is relative. From the gutter, where men like these fight their entire lives in search of not meaning, or personal betterment, but for the mere pursuit of survival alone, to be 'brilliant' is to make it through another day evading death or starvation. Hyo's flashing blade does not strike the mortally injured Barclay as any more startling a spectacle than the sun rising every morning over the decaying streets of this city, and that singular, flashing strike a good deal less awe-inspiring than the feel of crisp dollar bills.
Which is why, as the submachine gun clatters to the floor, he's able to reach out as if in a dream and clasp the slashing blade tight. His fingers bleed, spattering more of his leaking ichor across the broken concrete, but the thickset, dark-skinned man remains resolute even as the superior strength of the silver-haired swordsman sees the katana tip still dig into his chest. His teeth grit, his eyes /blaze/, and then he hauls.
It should be suicidal, the sword driven deep beside his heart by a mere inch or two as he drags Imawano in close enough to thunder forward to meet him by perhaps three or four; distance now is measured by the same tiny token as the seconds the former mercenary allows himself to keep breathing. He doesn't speak, merely letting out a pained grunt as his forehead strikes the staggered Justice student's, dashing him off a skull that's too thick, too bullish to let Barclay admit he's been totally, utterly defeated.
For men like this, it's never over. Not until they lie vanquished.
"!!" Damn these feisty guards. Sakura forces her tired, hurt body to move again, rolling forward as Barclay actually dares to pre-empt Hyo's attack. It might be presumptive of her, but she bets that Hyo just wants this over with. But, lacking the power to really -do- anything... she practically stumbles over nothing, and, upon going down to one knee, finds her right hand on a chunk of ceiling.
"Guess it'll do," she murmurs to herself, and then, she pushes to her feet, again, sets herself... and reaches back with her right hand, leaning back, and pushes off into as perfect a pitch as she can manage, hurling the rock like a missile for Barclay's head. Shoma would be proud, or should be, if he weren't to be mortified by the thought of a -girl- pitching baseballs overhand. Who knows.
She's too worn out to even quip--just wants this -done- with...
As the crazed veteran powers through the cuts meant to end him, Hyo's skull is rattled by the sudden impact, dropping him back as his nose erupts in blood. The skeletal garrison is proving far more formidable than the Justice scion anticipated, and Imawano is running out of time to waste dancing this brutal dance.. not to mention needing /some/ measure of wits about him not to render their initiative to hold this area a total wash.
The shinobi grits his teeth, flexes his legs, and lunges back in, seeking to simply plant his sword's pommel harshly between his opponent's eyes, intent on knocking whatever fight might be left in the thug /out/. He doesn't call out, doesn't radio a status check, not yet... they're still fighting for their lives.
COMBATSYS: Barclay endures Sakura's Thrown Object.
[ \ < > ////// ]
Barclay 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Sakura
> /////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Hyo
COMBATSYS: Barclay interrupts Medium Strike from Hyo with Face First.
- Power hit! -
> ////// ]
|======-\-------\0 Sakura
> //////// ]
|=====--\-------\0 Hyo
COMBATSYS: Barclay can no longer fight.
> ////// ]
|======-\-------\0 Sakura
> //////// ]
|=====--\-------\0 Hyo
*crack*
Rock meets head with the sort of sound that should end a man so desperately clinging to his last thread of life-- and at this point, dignity, his wavering, wobbling posture barely maintained on knees like bone-capped jelly as Hyo surges back in. But the projectile sends Barclay's head swaying in just the right direction to meet the sword's pommel with a forehead striking just as hard and fast, a sneering clench of the enforcer's teeth driving the weapon away, diverting the expected impact enough, that even as he's passing out...
The world's most tenacious former military operative reaches to seize the blade once more, and drags Hyo Imawano down with him as he plummets toward the broken ruins of the warehouse roof. Every bit of weight the huge man has in his torso is used to haul the ninja down atop him, with force just short of crushing. They've both been fighting for life-- and it won't be long until he found himself atop a corpse. Either way, the battle is over on this level of the building, and even as sounds echo from below, at the rooftop all is still.
Log created on 21:51:26 07/07/2012 by Zaki, and last modified on 11:42:35 07/15/2012.