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Post by cmd1095 on May 17, 2024 5:08:16 GMT
Serena let out a slow exhale as it seemed they'd gotten a few moments of respite, but she couldn't relax. Tendo was looking to be in bad shape. The poison was probably tailored to him based on how things had gone, fucking with his enhanced respitory system most likely. The fact Benkei seemed totally fine all but confirmed this... if it was a tailor made poison then she wasn't sure the hospital could even handle it... and that was assuming they would even help. Serena wasn't convinced the hospital staff wouldn't be in the yakuza's pocket. If they were emboldened enough to attack during the funeral in broad daylight, that meant none of the heroes remaining in this city were enough to deter them... this city was just like Hosu now.
Glancing at the texts from Rogue, Serena then looked to Benkei "make sure you have your phone on and gps enabled. If we get separated I need to be able to find you. As for Tendo... Rogue knew this city better. She might know where we can go"
Then she'd text Rogue back, sending their current location "we're on the move, but going too slow. Tendo has been poisoned, possibly tailored to him, he's not doing well. And they've got an order out to kidnap Benkei. Traitor is Jogo, some sort of intangibility quirk. He'll be after us soon, need somewhere to treat Tendo, then get out of this city."
With that status update sent, Serena then put out a ping to the Bear Den, she cursed herself for not having them on standby this whole time. She knew how dangerous today was going to be, she should've talked with Momma Bear and Black Bear and had backup ready and waiting nearby, but it was Noc's funeral, they hadn't been invited. Still, they'd deploy quickly. The Yakuza might've taken over this city, but they might still hesitate to go into an all out war with such a big agency over one hero student. She just had to keep Benkei safe long enough to rendezvous with reinforcements, or worst case, rendezvous with them to go rescue him.
With the steps she could take immediately handled, she'd pick Tendo up again, using a drip feed of surrounding heat to enhance her enough to carry him on her back "We should keep moving, that damn flamey bastard gave us time but the traitor will be on us soon... and Benkei... you're not useless. We all got blindsided there, and you landed more hits than I did... all I could do was cauterize a wound and throw some chairs around." she said, not looking him in the eyes as her own welled up with tears of frustration "it was a bad matchup, we did what we could. Now what we need to do is get to safety. We'll be able to fight these bastards again on our own terms, when we're ready."
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Post by notdomino on May 17, 2024 6:16:34 GMT
The day only seemed to be getting dimmer. The dark clouds would begin to show cracks. Pushing through would be a gloomy dusk that would bring them into the night.
"No you did hit him. He... like... warped through the follow through though." Benkei didn't really know how to describe it. Having seen it up close, he'd try his best. "It's not teleportation, it's like woosh. It's fast... that's for sure." He stooped down. From his pocket he'd reveal his phone. He always had it on, but he really wishes he had his gear on. His headset was a much better tool for situations like this. He wanted to make a quick store run, but his instinct were telling him otherwise. Hell with the way Jogo's quirk could knife through space, a few feet might as well seem like a few meters.
It would take long for Rouge to find them within a few quick jumps. "I'm here." Without too much words, she quickly pressed the back of her hand against Tendo's forehead. "...same as Tatsuki." She sighed. The difference was there weren't any cuts. She checked ears, and neck. "Looks Jogo did a number on you guys..." She sounded more than disappointed."Him being a traitor hits a little too close to home... "
Benkei quickly snapped to Serena. "What about Dr. Brine? ...Musutafu is hours away though. Even by bullet train, it'll still take a while..."
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Post by cmd1095 on Jul 20, 2024 4:31:47 GMT
Serena's brow furrowed in thought as everything became overwhelming. She knew they were low on options and time. Tendo was poisoned, and it likely would kill him given time. He needed treatment immediately, but bringing him to a hospital was just going to advertise their location and likely get them attacked again. Most smaller clinics wouldn't be equipped to handle an assassin's poison either. Dr. Brine was hours away, so he was out, and the nearest Bear Den branch wasn't much closer, they had medical staff and security there but time was against them.
She ran through their options, and checked her map of where they were and considered where they could go... and a sickening realization hit her.
"I know someone we can go see, he's a master of poisons, and has a pharmacy and clinic not far from here..." Serena said, her facial expression and tone indicating there was a pretty hefty "but" involved. Her tone was hard to make sense of, a mixture of disgust, uncertainty, and... fear? It wasn't like her to show fear towards anyone, certainly not a physician. But that undertone was buried underneath a venomous amount of resentment. Whoever it was, she had history with them. "but to be frank, under any other circumstances I wouldn't trust him. But we're low on options and time..."
Serena sent over the coordinates of their new destination "if his story is as my investigation into him has turned up, we can use him..." she said curtly as she prepared to move "he owes me, and push comes to shove, I can force him to help."
She spoke those words with a venom neither Rogue, Tendo, nor Benkei had heard from her before. It dripped from her words like acid to the point one could imagine it melting the ground beneath her feet, opening a pit for her to bury the object of her ire within. Whatever her history with this person was, it was definitely not a friendly one by even the most unhinged leaps of imagination. She had spoken to actual villains in the heat of battle with more warmth in her voice than this even as they tried to kill her.
"come on, time's wasting, and this is just going to get more unpleasant the longer I take to think about this." she said, then walked off to lead the way.
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Post by notdomino on Jul 25, 2024 4:55:05 GMT
Rouge would provide some direction here. She knew how the ninja operated. "We need to assume he's not very far... though the he would've attacked already if he were here." She rubbed her chin. "I'd have the advantage over most people in a tight alleyway like this, but I think our best bet would be to first find someone who can help before thinking of battle." She looked to Serena to see her thoughts. "He can swim through physical things to get to his target. We can't be sure of any surface or object, really. A shifty bastard, that's for sure. "
Benkei would keep quiet. He recalled one of the elites pointing him out to be a target... He'd lug Tendo over his shoulder to play things safe and made sure to stay within Serena's line of sight. "He's starting to get a little quiet. Let's get going" A weak hand would raise and become a. thumbs up. They wouldn't want to count him out just yet.
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Post by cmd1095 on Aug 15, 2024 17:27:00 GMT
Serena listened to Rogue's explanation of the intangible man's quirk... so it wasn't intangibility, just his body being able to slip itself through things, he was still physically there, even still in contact with things, they just didn't impede him. If it worked like that then... a dark thought entered Serena's mind. Memories of one of her earliest villain encounters leading to a twisted idea on how to take this villain down... if his body was still physical, and it's cells came in contact with hers, even if he could slip through her she could... but that would kill him. She couldn't even claim she didn't know it would be lethal, if she did that, she wouldn't be a hero anymore. That was just murder... she'd be expelled for sure, if not jailed. But... it was still tempting. She did hate him... if nobody saw her do it...
She shook her head, dispelling the thoughts... no. She was a hero damnit, a HERO. Not a murderer. The shadows of the alleyway looked supiciously like the figures from her panic attack hallucinations for a moment in the corners of her eyes, judging her for even entertaining the thought, but they faded as she focused on the here and now... still... that dark thought festered in the back of her mind
"Come on, let's get this over with. The less time I have to think about the conversation I'm about to have the better." she said, leading the way through the streets. She tried to take them through back roads with enough space from the walls, they didn't want to be too cramped with someone who could swim through objects pursuing them, but they also didn't want to be on a main road where civilians could get dragged into this mess... not to mention they'd be easier to track that way.
Eventually they'd come upon what seemed to be a privately owned clinic and pharmacy, a small place, but in a decent part of town so it was probably doing ok for itself. When Serena reached for the door handle, she hesitated. Looking at her closely one could see she was starting to tremble, her breath quickening. She paused for only a moment, then forced herself to open the door. Leading them all inside.
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Post by notdomino on Oct 5, 2024 7:24:42 GMT
Rogue checked the angle of the entrance. There weren't too many obvious aimed for someone to track them, but their stalker was someone who didn't need angles. The shinobi could make his own. Benkei would lug the unconscious police officer on his shoulder. Seemed like he was stable but having him unconscious was worrisome. "Not a fan of how this is going." Rogue would shoulder some of Tendo's weight. She'd check his pulse... -weak but he was piping hot as far a temperature went. "I agree, the faster we get him treated the better. I'd rather he not end up like..." She let it slip... Biting her lip, she look into the distance. It was fresh on her mind.
Benkei frowned, but it was heroes to overcome situations like this. In the saddest way, he'd experienced this sensation too many times for it to phase him immediately. He'd have to mourn both Dusk agency members. He squeezed his fist tight. He wanted to fight, but knowing he was a target was driving his nerves through the roof. It was no different than when those demonic Yakuza heads demolished his whole family. "We'll make it through together, Serena." He was hoping to reassure himself just as much as he wanted to reassure her. The group would enter, but not without a watchful eye tracking their every step.
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Post by cmd1095 on Oct 6, 2024 22:27:17 GMT
Serena managed a forced smile at Benkei's reassurance. It may have been more for himself than for her, but having someone by her right now helped, giving her enough composure to bring them inside.
The clinic was a small place, innocuous enough at a glance. It seemed it doubled as a pharmacy as well despite the small space. Locked glass cabinets with shelves of various bottles of who knows what lined the walls, and there was various measurement and medical tools off in one corner. A check in counter by the door separated what passed for a waiting room with a few chairs. And a small corridor lead to a back room where presumably check ups and treatments that required any degree of privacy could be done. It was about as small of a clinic as you could get. Every inch of the place optimized to serve as many uses as possible.
For those with more informed backgrounds though, there was another aspect to the place. Everything was laid out rather meticulously. The doctor here would likely be working in one of a few set locations... each with perfect view of the whole place. No blind spots, and if they had some kind of ranged attack quirk good line of sight on any potential intruder. It was a place designed by someone who expected a potential fight and was prepared accordingly. To an untrained eye it was innocuous enough, but clearly they weren't dealing with some civilian med-school graduate
By the check in counter, an older man sat filing some paperwork. The door rang as the heroes entered, prompting him to look up. "Good day, how may I help..." his eyes met Serena's and looked over the girl "you... fine heroes. I hope you're not here on villain business. My villain insurance policy is rather stingy."
Serena's eyes flared with barely restrained fury "Don't play dumb, we both know who each other are. I've no doubt you've kept tabs on your loose ends, your subjects especially. Long term experiment data is so hard to come by after all"
The doctor sighed "hello subject thir he was cut off by Serena's fist smashing a hole in his desk, followed by him being lifted out of his chair by the neck. A sizzling sound came from Serena's hand as some sort of secreted liquid started to burn it, but she either didn't feel it or didn't react
"Do. Not. Call me that." she hissed "or by my name. You will refer to me as Karma. And no, I'm not here for you this time. Or at least, I won't be if you cooperate. We both know I can have you thrown in Tartarus if I testify to half of the things you've done. So you're going to shut up and help me. Understand?"
The doctor looked into Serena's eyes, then glanced over to the corridor leading to the treatment room. If Benkei or Rogue followed his glance, they'd spot a young girl fearfully peaking around the corner. Serena hadn't spotted her yet, focused entirely on the man as she was.
"Yes, I'll help, no need to threaten me. I don't want a fight" the doctor said as the hand sizzling stopped, he looked to Tendo "what's the issue"
"Poison, your specialty. Heal him, and speak of it to no-one. And don't try anything funny, or hero or not I will snap your neck like a"
"Leave daddy alone!" the scared girl cried out, running out and ineffectually hitting Serena in the leg
Everything froze, Serena's head slowly turning to look at the little girl, then back to the doctor, then to her again. The room became ice cold, colder than any of the times Serena had chilled a room before. The glass shelves nearest to her began to crack, and fog formed from every breath.
Serena stared at the girl and the medical facility behind her. In her eyes the clean, pristine environment flashed between its condition in reality, and a grimier, blood stained one from her memory. The little girl's face distorted into a mirror of her own.
"What are you doing to that girl... you bastard... you're still experimenting on! I'll fucking kill you!" she began, raising her free fist to strike him without any restraint. In that moment, it looked like she was genuinely about to kill the man in cold blood
But just before her fist made contact she was frozen still by the child screaming and looked over... she saw the girl's face again, terrified of her. And looked at the situation. Her holding a man up by the neck and about to kill him, the cracking glass, the way everyone's breath fogged up the icy chilled room. She didn't look like the hero here at all... she was scaring the girl as much as any villain. And had she called him... dad? Had she nearly just killed an innocent girl's father?
Serena dropped the doctor, who wheezed for breath as she trembled and took a few steps back. "Just... just heal him... I'll... I'll be outside"
The room warmed as Serena sprinted out the door, completely forgetting to bring Benkei with her to keep him in sight as she blindly fled out of the room.
The Doctor, meanwhile, came around the desk to retrieve Tendo to go treat him. And his daughter, still crying and shaking, elected to cling to Benkei's leg, identifying him as a hero who had come to stop the villain who'd just left.
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Post by notdomino on Oct 10, 2024 7:22:05 GMT
Benkei gently would lay his ally in front of the doctor, but froze when Serena became enrage. He'd seen her get mad before but not like this... not like this. Rouge recoiled at the sight of young girl in this place. Did the man not have anyone to look after her. "SERENA?!"With palms wide open, she almost instinctively aimed them a Serena when she raised her fist at the girl. Even Benkei's knuckles sparkled with the faint creation of stars just in case they had to restrain Serena. In a sigh of relief, both would allow their tense shoulders to rest when she put the man down. Benkei allowed the girl to grab his leg, and even stooped down to comfort her. "It'll be okay, promise." Rouge found herself torn. Go check on Serena and leave Benkei unattended, or stay and leave Serena at a disadvantage with a mysterious ninja on the loose. With this little girl, and this doctor who knew how to work on poisons... there was a lot more to protect inside, than outside. Serena was also very self sufficient... whether that be to her advantage or detriment. She was a bit like Nocturne in that way. With a sigh, Rouge found herself standing against the wall, keeping her eyes peeled for any sudden movements. She hated leaving the girl be, the two formed a bond of sorts. While Tendo and Tatsuki often teased and gave Serena shit, Rouge was always a supporter from her first detective mission in Kansai. Serena would be allowed some grace and room to gather herself. "Ninpo!" a familiar voice There was never a trace of someone tailing them. Not even once did any of their senses relay the shinobi being there. How long had he been watching? Sure Rouge said he could be following, but this was quite literal. Descending upon Serena were multiple black balls, a central explosive and four white poison grenades. These were different than the ones used on Tendo. The explosion would get funneled by the smoke and aggravate the chemicals for a more powerful combination. The resulting expression of smoke and flame would look like a pale pink flower in bloom. "Ghost blooming, oleander!" Standing on the opposing rooftop was Jogo. Next to him was a hulking fellow with brown skin and dreadlocks. He wore a mask to hide his face, and white robes, hosting two katana. "Can you stall her,Mars? I don't like asking for help, but I need less distractions from grabbing that damn brat. SHE is a distraction." The shinobi asked. He was hoping Serena would fall victim to "Mmm, if that's what we need done." With an audible "hup" he'd leap down. Beside him, Jogo would enter an elegant dive, aiming to disappear directly into the ground beneath, like an olympic athlete diving into a pool. Mars would land with a resounding thud. The mask protected him from the fiery smog, and Jogo simply held his breath. "Guess I'm your opponent, little lady." With an outstretch arm, and the other offering a blade, he was suprisingly polite and fair. "Do you practice swordsmanship? How bout we have a go?"
Legal Name:??? Alias: Mars Quirk Name: ??? Picture: Notable Achievements: -Not very known -In a group of masks, he typically is the tallest and most hulking, but nothing really outstanding about him. _____________Inside At the sound of the explosion, Rouge would find herself in a defensive stance with her blade drawn, and a palm ready to spew webbing. Benkei would clutter the younger girl close to him, and take a firm defensive stance to watch the doctors back. He'd sheild them both behind a star shield. It was happening! |
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Post by cmd1095 on Oct 10, 2024 15:57:50 GMT
Inside, the layout of the clinic's true function would be come quite obvious now that combat was breaking out, as Rogue and Benkei would quickly realize how optimized for a potential battle it was. But they had a child to protect as well... and the doctor looked less than pleased by them being here now that they'd brought danger to his doorstep.
"Sweetie, come with Daddy, you can watch him work on the patient today" the Doctor said, picking up the young girl and Tendo to bring to the back room, then looking to the two heroes in his lobby "I'll still help you despite the trouble you bring. I owe your friend a lot for my past actions. But you will keep the fight out here. Should any harm come to my daughter from this I will end the patient myself." Not a very civilian doctor thing to say, but he was making no pretense of being an innocent man at this point, there was a hardness in his eyes that promised he would do exactly as he threatened if push came to shove.
With that the Doctor would bring the two noncombatants to the treatment room. His body was secreting some kind of liquid now in preparation to defend himself, it hadn't done much damage to Serena before when he was doing it reflexively, but the smell alone indicated the liquid had some nasty chemicals in it, and the way it pooled on his skin implied he had control over it. It seemed he could handle himself, but he had no intent to help them fight and put the patient or his family at risk in the process when he could simply stay on the defensive and do his job.
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Serena stumbled outside, breathing heavily and mind racing. Just what had she almost done? Was she really about to get even more blood on her hands? The doctor deserved it, she knew this. But it wasn't her place to deliver the death penalty... and in front of his daughter too. It boiled her blood a man like that had a child, but that wasn't the child's fault. Everything about this situation was stressing her out and ripping open old scars just to pour salt into them. The temperature around her fluctuated as her quirk reacted to her emotional turmoil, pulling in and releasing heat erratically.
Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, she wouldn't get much time to sort her emotions out... she would instead be provided with an outlet for her rage and stress.
The shouting of the word NINPO snapped Serena back to reality. As distraught as she was her survival instincts ran deep, and they kicked back in as the danger of their situation reasserted itself. She saw small spheres descending around her. Based on how Tendo had been attacked she could only assume they were poison explosives. So she reacted fast, her body stiffening as her quirk sucked all the kinetic energy out of the air around it, making it act more like a solid for a moment as the explosions went off, the poison smoke and flames wrapped around her, but never made contact with her skin.
After a moment Serena released the energy in a pulse away from herself, adding in a little extra to give it more oomph and blow away the smoke, leaving her standing in the center of the explosion with smoke and sparks surrounding her, unscathed... and very, VERY angry.
She did have to take a moment to catch her breath however. She'd been working on this defensive strategy ever since her encounter with Laughing Monk, trying to find a way to prevent enemies who could bypass her quirk to harm her body from making contact... unfortunately the technique had kinks to work out... as it rendered any part of her protected by it utterly immobile. The air wasn't less solid or frozen in place for her than for outside forces and thus it locked her in place... and also made it impossible to breathe if she covered her face or torso as the air couldn't be pulled in or her lungs couldn't expand respectively. Still, it had come in clutch... it seemed all her poorly matched fights were paying off.
The situation was still bad though... with Jogo slipping underground to go past her and attack inside, and this newcomer being an unknown factor. Serena wanted to retreat indoors to be able to stop Jogo... he'd have to become solid to grab Benkei and in such a small space she was fast enough to punish that moment of tangibility... but unfortunately she had to assume this new guy would be at an advantage in there. If he was using explosives in a space like that, Serena could shield herself again but everyone else would be screwed... and she had no intel on his quirk. If Jogo had brought him, that meant he probably had a quirk that compensated for strategies that could thwart Jogo's.
As much as she hated to leave Benkei guarded by just Rogue, she couldn't risk letting this newcomer inside. Rogue was capable though, and she knew how Jogo fought. And Benkei was strong too, as much as she wanted to protect him herself, she knew he wasn't just some civilian who couldn't fight. Plus, as much as she REALLY hated to admit it, the Doctor being there was an asset. She knew he was plenty capable as well, if he was dragged into the fight Jogo would still have a hard time in a 3v1. Or that's what Serena hoped anyway.
To her surprise, the newcomer jumped down instead of pelting her with explosives from afar... and... offered her a sword? Was he nuts? Why would he give up one of his weapons to his opponent as a ninja? Sure honor codes were a thing but she didn't expect this from a Yakuza assassin of all people... still, she could use an extra sword. The hidden blade Nocturne had given her was short and she wanted to avoid revealing it's hidden steel if she could help it lest it be confiscated by UA or something.
Walking forward, Serena would accept the offered blade, then step back. This man was probably a better swordsman than her. Nocturne had taught her and all, but the gap in experience between a girl who'd gotten a year of training and an assassin who used swords in their daily work would be immense. Still... blades were especially deadly with her quirk. She'd draw the sword and take a ready stance... she just needed one good opening to deliver a decisive blow.
"I am the hero known as Karma, I thank you for your offer." Serena said, kind of getting caught up in the honorable duel vibes this man was giving off. She didn't make the first move though, she wanted to see what this man could do before she overcommitted and blew all her kinetic energy reserves on attacks that wouldn't work. She needed to find ways to make the most out of every drop of energy she could gather, not just keep throwing it around like she had been. She couldn't keep brute forcing it, she wasn't Alain... so how could she best use her energy?
The thought lingered in the back of her mind as she readied herself for the newcomer's assault. The culmination of all her past losses and awful matchups were in the process of crystalizing into something in her mind, but she couldn't grasp it yet, not with so much else distracting her here.
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Post by notdomino on Oct 11, 2024 5:18:51 GMT
With a chuckle, Mars unsheathed his own sword. It felt well with his size, and notably for Serena's height it likely was a bit too long, possibly even heavy. Traditionally speaking, a sword's length and weight were to match the weilder's frame. Notably Mars had wingspan, weight and two feet of height over the girl. Karma. That is who she introduced herself as. This Yakuza member was easy going, and presented that in his motto. A statement he said often.
"One step at a time." He would nod, "My name is Mars of the Yakuza, Tokyo division. Some call us Masks..." He chuckled again."That's perfect. One of the Ryujin stances." He'd slide one foot behind the other to a aligned stance to his, and raise his weilding arm ever so slightly over his shoulder whilst pointing the tip at Serena. The reasoning of his giving her grace and respect was more apparent "I wish I could've faced your sensei to prove Tokyo's dojos better. Alas, I'm to buy time against his pupil." He'd take lumbering steps forward. They were slow and heavy at first, but the man was well trained. The steps became light and almost slight as his speed increased. The first move of his seemed pedestrian at first. In beginner classes, a master would often shout where they were aiming for their student to defend. Mars would to the same. In his mind, he could imagine them on the mat with other swordsmen in attendance. They were watching their bout, waiting to see who would come out victorious.
"Atama!" The"head" call was a feint, as his wrist flicked the blade to the blunt side, and bring his hand up, prepping some force to slam right into Serena's skull. This a rather wide movement, and had plenty of gap time before the powerful downward swing. Upon the down swing, the weapon seemed to warp a bit. The path of the swing was much more skewed toward Serena's shoulder. He was aiming for her collar bone. If defended, there would be a fight of strength to lift his blade off. Depending on if she were right or left hand, bring the weapon up the wrong way could gift him a way to knock his foe off balance early. Not only that, but his free hand was at the ready. As someone who regularly handled two blades, not having a second sword allowed for some freedom.
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Post by cmd1095 on Oct 11, 2024 5:48:26 GMT
"Sorry to disappoint by being just a pupil" Serena replied wryly, it was nice to have some proper banter against a villain who wasn't absolutely insane for once. "but on the bright side, when I win, I'll prove that the Ryujin school is so superior that even a mere pupil can best the Tokyo dojos
Serena had to admit, in any other circumstance she'd have loved to fully indulge in this fight properly and ACTUALLY prove the superiority of the Ryujin dojo. Bringing a blade made for her and testing her skills against someone else appealed to her naturally competitive spirit. But Mars said it himself, he was here to buy time for Jogo, and that meant she couldn't afford to waste any. If Jogo wanted her out of the way, that meant it was all the more important to end this quickly and get back to Benkei. Matters of pride were secondary to matters of family.
Mars charged forward, and before he shouted out his attack location Serena had decided on her counter. The moment he switched to the blunt side of the blade she had her opening. He must've not known her quirk, his blunt slam towards her head wouldn't do anything. She was surprised as the blade warped mid-swing. A product of his own quirk perhaps... a nasty trick in swordplay if she were fighting fair, but she wasn't
The blade would slam into her collarbone as he planned with Serena feigning being too slow to react as she brought her blade up as if to block. But the blunt side of the blade wouldn't do any noticeable damage or even cause her to flinch as it simply stopped, like he'd slammed it into a wall.
Instead of finishing the fake blocking motion she changed halfway through and simply thrust forward while his strike connected, aiming to trade blows. She used stored kinetic energy and the energy she absorbed from his strike halfway through her own to accelerate her thrust at superspeed towards his midsection. Aiming for a debilitating stab through his guts at an angle so she'd avoid fatally damaging his internal organs, but would inflict enough damage to force him to yield lest he bleed out. He was a big guy, but if his quirk didn't bolster his durability she was stabbing with more than enough force to pierce through him
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Post by notdomino on Oct 30, 2024 1:18:51 GMT
In a simple flick of his wrist, the katana he held would flip blade side to Serena's shoulder as she sped forwards thrusting her blade into Mars' midsection. He didn't want to use this much deadly force on a minor, but nowadays with so many kids wanting to be heroes, he didn't have much choice. The wound? It was agonizing. He could feel pain encroaching as the blade pierced all the way through. Through the teeth of his mask, blood seeped when coughed up blood. At the same time, Serena would find her shoulder becoming rather wet. All a blade needed was friction to achieve a cut and with that speedy entry it was more than enough to achieve a cut. If she could block his force, then he'd just trade... cut for cut, though he was on the worse end of the stick. He'd take steps back to alleviate his body of the cold blade in his body, and realign for another clash. So her quirk blocked his first strike, and she had the power to accelerate like that. Was it super strength? No... strength didn't always mean durable. Blood gushed from his would, coloring his white robes in a crimson tone. "This isn't a true battle of swords, but quirks it seems.... Meaning the Ryuujin school breeds nobodies." He huffed.
He was fine with this. He was only here to stall after all, not to win. In a way, he felt as though Jogo set him up by not disclosing the targets abilities. If blunt trauma and force wouldn't work, he'd just keep grazing her with delicate slashes instead. He flick his own weapon clean of any blood. Again the blade seemed to warp with his swing. It looked as though the weapon were a silver blur when he swung it around. It was a simplistic trick, but a rookie swordsmen likely wouldn't notice something like this. "Shall we continue?" His voice seemed strained, and his muscle tightened as much as his stance did. This positioning was slightly different. This time the sword was pointed toward the sky. It would give him plenty leeway for one of his unorthodox slashes.
With a step forward, and a horizontal swing, the blade would seemingly warp toward slashing at her already wounded shoulder. As it go closer it seemed to curve even further, and make a sharper angle toward her neck. If Serena were paying a attention, she'd begin to notice. Mars' katana had rather long handles. It was natural, as it matches his weight and size, but... he was a person who was proving so far to rarely use two handed attacks. His hand position on the handle was always different, whether he was choking up on the handle for power, or grip on the lower end for more finesse and speed. It wasn't a true warping, but just strong wrists supported by a hulking yet flexible and balanced body. The blade would simply bend to his will while in motion, and change slash pattern. With how he was manhandling the weapon, it was almost as if he commanded a whip. "Pivot section!"
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On the inside, the doctor's office was decorate in webbing at this point. "Ryuujin style; Fukahire." The audible clink of Jogo returning his wakizashi to it's sheath as he skidded to a stop. Rouge would fall to one leg, cursing the man to high hell as he struck her with Nocturne's swordsman ship. It was a move only possible if incredibly fast or elusive. Jogo was both. "SEIKEN." In a matter of seconds, Benkei would come to his former agency-mate's aid. His attack would come to no avail as the assailant seeped back into the floor with his Swim quirk. Again only a star shaped crater would be sizzling in the young heroes wake and Jogo disappeared again. "Benkei stay away from the walls!" Rouge called out ready to pounce, even if it only meant doing so at half strength.
"But that just makes me a sitting duck!" He called back in frustration. How was he supposed to gaurd against this?
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Post by cmd1095 on Oct 30, 2024 3:02:27 GMT
Serena barely acknowledged the cut on her shoulder. It was impressive that the man could cut using the blunt side of his blade, but she knew it was a risk when she relied on her quirk to stop bladed attacks. Unless she locked the weapon down entirely once it was in contact with her it wasn't too hard to drag the blade along her skin to cut it even with the minimal kinetic energy... but unlike the wound in her opponent's midsection, the cut on her shoulder was shallow, it would be hard to get far past her armor with friction alone, it was one of the reasons her hero outfit featured armor despite a defensive quirk. The wound stung, but she'd suffered worse... far worse... wounds like this wouldn't even slow her down.
"Apologies, as much as I'd love to engage in a battle of pure swordplay. We both know I'm rather short on time here. Perhaps another day" she said as she withdrew the blade and jumped back to let the wound begin really bleeding. Unfortunately the man didn't seem like he intended to back down. "You really should retreat now, I avoided your major organs but you'll bleed out if you don't get that treated soon." she cautioned as he raised his blade to the sky
So much for ending it quickly while she had the element of surprise then, a nagging dark thought in her mind cursed her for pulling her punches. If she'd gone for a lethal blow there... no. She was still a hero, she had to take him down without killing him.
The slash coming towards her shoulder was warping again, it was hard to read, so Serena chose a safer diagonal guard. When the target changed to her neck, her blade still blocked it, though not with as much leverage as she'd have liked, the force would've knocked her off balance if not for her quirk letting her absorb the force on her body. She let the blade slide off her own as she pushed it high and ducked beneath, stepping quickly to Mars' side and countering with a horizontal slash at his leg, she didn't enhance her power this time, only using the energy she'd gotten from the slash she blocked to accelerate her slash. She didn't need a deep cut, just enough to limit his mobility.
Whether she connected or not though, Serena would back away and observe Mars' swordplay, starting to get a sense for how his weapon was designed. She hated to admit it, but he was definitely better than her with a blade. For all the advantages her quirk gave, the way he was wielding that thing was something she simply lacked the experience to match.
"I can barely keep track of the blade, I might need to charge up... but I don't have a lot of them without my quiver here..." Serena lamented as she reached towards her utility belt, but she hesitated. She was likely going to need them for Jogo. After a moment's deliberation she decided against it. She didn't need that yet, had to make them count, and ultimately even if she couldn't match Mars, so long as she guarded her neck his shallow cuts weren't a real threat to her. And he wouldn't last long trading blows with his gut messed up like that
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