Ruler goes after Assassin with a counterattack focus
-Assist vs Assassin with your scrollcase
Time slows to a crawl as you make your decision. You've got to fend off Rider and Assassin. You don't know Rider- but you've faced Assassin. He might have managed to get a hit on Ruler then but it's much more open here- she can handle him- she's got to.
"Ruler- Get Assassin!" You shout, feeling the cool night air and smoke rasp your through, before turning to Izabetha, a nervous edge in your voice. You're really not sure how she'll take you taking the lead here but you know Ruler can take Assassin so you've got to play it safe on that front he's a bigger danger right now. "You've fought Rider -you can take him right?"
"I had hoped to avoid us being seen as a team, but given the situation, there really is no alternative. Archer, we're working with them; target Rider." Izabetha's voice is as cold as always, with the slightest hint of pride creeping into it. But even so, it's a relief to hear her being so agreeable. "As for Rider, I know his games. They are far from enough to stand against an Einzbern. You should concern yourself with your foe."
Your gazes meet for the slightest of moments, before your attention snaps back to your respective servants and all hell breaks loose.
Concrete shatters under Ruler's sandals as she springs forwards, crossing the distance to Assassin in a single stride, the billowing smoke around her feet being blown away from the force of the burning fight that goes straight for Assassin's throat, shattering the blade he brings up in a desperate block. Bouncing backwards, Assassin hastily puts difference between himself and Ruler, who simply keeps walking towards him, fixing Assassin with an eagle's glare.
Meanwhile, you've run to cover, hunkering down near some stone planters filled with mostly weeds and one or two subpar trees. It's not much, but it's cover enough to get between you and Rider- there's no way you're getting caught in a crossfire.
On the other side of the square, Izabetha faces off against Rider and his Master, Archer standing behind her as the silver-wire halberd coils itself into a large, heavy greatshield that gleams under the streetlights as a second spool of wire snakes out from inside a pocket, adding its bulk to the shield. Having reloaded, Izabetha charges forwards towards Rider, opening fire at his Master. As before, a wall of ectoplasm springs from the Master's hands, snatching the lead from the air. But such a task takes time and attention. Meaning that Rider is left to deal with Archer's attack by himself, being forced to gun the engine and power forwards as a trio of arrows flash across the square, cleanly punching holes through the wall right behind where Rider was.
Having built up speed, Rider spins his bike around in an impossibly tight hairpin turn, his Master hunkering down and clinging onto the bike as smoke billows from the wheels. With an ursine growl from the engine, Rider charges forwards, casings flying from the side of his gun as the roaring drumbeat of it firing drowns out the sound of his engine, the briefest turn of the controls sending the hail of lead sweeping in a deadly arc across the square. But faced with that leaden rain, Izabetha refuses to falter or bow. With a single step forwards, she slams the shield into the ground, pressing herself against it's precisely angled bulk as she pours mana into the silver, bullets sent ricocheting off the gleaming metal as her wall holds.
Archer, in contrast, simply waits until the last moment before leaping into the air, the bullets whizzing harmlessly beneath her. At the apex of her arc, close to passing over Rider, she draws another three arrows from the quiver on her pack, gracefully shooting them one by one, moon-silver streaks falling to the ground like falling stars as Iza peeks out from behind her shield to fire another spread of bullets at the pair, catching Rider in a crossfire. He's forced to break off his attack run, expertly weaving and tilting his bike at night-impossible angles to ensure that not a single shot lands a proper strike, bullets ricocheting off the bodywork along with the one arrow that doesn't simply crater into the ground.
You're fortunately safe from all of this where you kneel by the planter, with only one or two stray rounds punching into the far side, setting your heart racing even more than it already is as you fumble in your purse and bring out the scrollcase Kiara gave you. You grip it shakily in both hands as it's interlinked rings gleam under the streetlights. You know what it did to you and Kiara- you don't know how well it'll fare against Assassin but you know you'd get eviscerated if you try to fight him with your blades so you've got to hope this can do something. You just need to find the right moment to use it.
As sparks fly from the top of the office building where Scathath and Flat fight, parts of the stonework beginning to crumble and fall away from the force of the blows being traded, Ruler and Assassin continue their dance, an endless back and forth among the billowing smokecouds that drift along the floor, each motion and disturbance sending another plume rising into the air.
Ruler absolutely has the advantage here, her movements graceful as she slowly, carefully, forces Assassin towards a corner. Despite the effect of her first strike on Assassin, she's being remarkably sedate in her attacks. She doesn't rush in, she doesn't try and set the world ablaze. Her motions are measured and perfectly controlled as she simply punishes every action Assassin tries to make; A jet of brilliant flame drilling through a hastily pulled bomb, forcing Assassin to hastily throw it away before it explodes on him. A quick backstep as he darts forwards to slash at her with a knife, the scratch it leaves on an arm healing in less time than it takes for her to launch a vicious kick at his knee, forcing him to awkwardly spring away to avoid a shattered leg. A searing swath of fire springs up in front of him as he tries to make a dart to the side, as Ruler then darts in again to deliver a white-hot punch that Assassin has to take in a cross-armed block, the crunch of cracking bone audible even over the roaring sounds of gunfire and engines coming from across the square.
"Are you running out of tricks yet, Assassin?" Ruler calls out as she continues to advance menacingly towards him, the flames that wreath her limbs flaring up even further into a hellish blaze for less than a heartbeat, the force of that ignition scattering the lingering smoke to the corners of the square, the now-cracked concrete exposed to the night once more. There is bile in her voice, hateful and judgemental. It's a bit scary, really- you're just glad you're not the one it's directed at. You thought she wasn't that big a fan of Kiara, but this is something else entirely. "How does it feel to see your web of lies burn? To be the one paying the price for once? A Master who's leaving you to do the dirty work yourself is exactly what you deserve, after all!"
"Shit-" Assassin gasps, frantically backing off from Ruler as he pulls off a burning glove, revealing a blistered hand beneath, the pair of them taking a brief moment to dodge another sweep of fire from Rider that arcs through the square. His grip's loose in one arm from the earlier blow, and he's started to angle his torso towards Ruler, keeping the ribs she wounded last night away from him. "You think I've never got my hands dirty? Think you've got me at the end of my rope? I'll leave your guts painting the fucking concrete!"
With that yell, Assassin hurls his cloak at Ruler, the heavy cloth twisting lazily in the air as it floats towards her, revealing well over a dozen different bombs on suicidally short fuses attached to its inner lining. "There's always another trick- that's why you'll never catch me!"
With a deafening blast and a window-shattering shockwave, the bombs explode, a mixture of smoke and flash and lethal shrapnel scything out in all directions, even forcing the conflict on Izabethas side of the square into a brief pause as they all try to avoid the edge of the blast.
You're mostly safe from where you'd hurled yourself to the ground behind the planter, the thick concrete and soil having absorbed the shrapnel, albeit at the cost of the tree, but your ears are still ringing from the force of the blast. A quick glance over to the other side of the square as you stand up again reveals that Iza's shield and the ectoplasm that now slathers several walls and most of the floor over there did manage to absorb the stray shards that reached them.
Ruler's taken the brunt of the blow full on, even a frantic backdash not saving her completely, as blood runs onto the rubble that was once a square from the myriad shrapnel wounds left in her. It's a painful sight, even when you know she can take it- you feel a tug in your chest as she hops backwards again, a pulse of flame washing over her as she roughly sweeps away the shrapnel, healing the wounds in a flash. But even that leaves a precious second where she's slightly off balance.
Naturally, that's when Assassin strikes; leaping out of the smoke from where he waited within a precisely calculated deadzone in the mass of explosions, Assassin springs towards Ruler. Without his cloak, he's left in just the well-tailored suit clothes underneath, but even then there's still a few pouches and holsters hanging from his belt. Holsters enough for the pair of wicked knives that carve curved trails through the lingering smoke as they streak towards Ruler; one aimed for her throat, the other for her heart, making good use of the moment of opportunity he's been afforded. At the height of his leap, the moon finally emerges from behind the clouds it'd been hidden behind, its silver light gleaming off Assassin's blades.
You've got to act now- if there was ever a spot you'd need to use the scrollcase it's now. Your heart pounds in your chest as you clutch it to your chest in a two-handed grip, as if in prayer. You reach out to it, feeling mana flow through you. It's a push, the slightest of tension in your chest as you balance the pull of Ruler with this extra expenditure… but you can do it. You can still connect.
A sweet scent begins to flow from the scrollcase as your mana begins to flow through it in that ever circling loop, a welcome, distracting scent compared to the acrid gunpowder stench, but you're prepared for it this time. You're not letting it affect you- with how fast your heart is beating, the finger-shaking rush of adrenaline of combat and the training Kiara gave you on it, you know how to keep yourself safe and even if you slipped you're far too on edge to let it get to you properly.
The rings of the scrollcase shift as you focus the mana flowing into it, a single seam forming down it's length. Gripping the scrollcase in a white-knuckle hold, you unfurl it, pointing the parchment contained within directly at Assassin, forcing one last pulse of mana through it. The sweet, relaxing scent of the scrollcase's incense intensifies as a glowing rainbow shines out from the parchment, the inked pattern inscribed upon it flaring up in response to your mana. A shifting pattern of rainbow lights, coiling circles that captivate the eye as they spiral in and around each other in an endless loop. And from where you're standing, it's right in the centre of Assassin's field of view.
There's a lump in your throat as the pattern glows and you display the sigil to Assassin, the world moving at a snail's pace as you wait to see if it works- what if it doesn't? Ruler's moving to block Assassin's attack but will it be enough?
But then you see it. A slight slackening of Assassin's tight, controlled posture, a loosening of his grip as he relaxes for just a moment, his focus shattered by the distraction of the pattern. There's panic in his motion, a swear muttered beneath his breath as he frantically tries to adjust himself in midair, to salvage his ruined attack.
Too little.
Too late.
Just as a single opening on Ruler's part was enough for Assassin to make this attack, this moment of weakness on his is enough for her. But unlike Ruler, Assassin has nobody here to help him.
You gasp as Ruler pulls on you, drawing yet more power out of you, the cracked outline of your circuits shining in response to the sudden load as her posture switches from that of a desperate defence a firmly planted stance, the clack of her geta on the rubbled concrete as loud as any gunshot in this moment, where she has every last drop of your attention. A grin spreads across her face as she clenches a fist, igniting it into a brilliant, molten-iron incandescent flare.
With the speed of a wildfire, Ruler slams her fist into Assassin's ribs, a blazing comet of an uppercut that strikes true into the exact spot she'd given a beating to last night, driving the air from his chest in an agonised cry and sending him soaring backwards and further into the air as his suit flash-ignites.
The ground cracks beneath Ruler's feet as she leaps upwards in pursuit, the blaze around her hand vanishing into the slightest of embers as she floats for just a moment, before launching herself down at Assassin, slamming the kick of a diving hawk at his face, her geta shattering through the lone knife brought up in a final defence to strike Assassin straight in his mask, shattering it as he's sent crashing down into the ground, a plume of water spraying up as he obliterates a fire hydrant with his impact. With a very satisfied look on her face, Ruler gracefully lands besides you, flashing you a brilliant smile before stepping forwards.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the square, as Assassin, leaps into the air, the duel of gunfire reaches its climax, the ongoing trade of gunfire and arrows and attack run after attack run having failed to leave any serious wounds; a handful of glancing hits on Archer and Rider, who's bike is starting to look far worse for wear. But as the moonlight bathes the square, the last remnants of smoke drifting ethereally around the rubble and ectoplasm that makes up most of its surface now, Archer shines radiant. Her skin gleams under the moonlight as she draws another arrow from her quiver, now a single piece of gleaming silver.
From behind her shield as she braces herself against the latest lethal onslaught of Rider, Izabetha gives Archer a quick nod as she retrieves one of the humming, power-laden spikes from her pouches. "On my mark."
She hunkers down for a moment longer, tensing her shield until the moment Rider passes her. Then, and only then does she make her move, a single word whispered under her breath. "Accel."
In the blink of an eye, Izabetha moves, leaving her shield buried in the ground and simply pulling a halberd out of the metal there, wires pulling the spike into place at the weapon's tip as Izabetha sprints towards Rider, faster than anyone should manage. Catching up to the bike in seconds, Izabetha swings her halberd at the bike, a desperate twist of the handlebars by Rider meaning that only the edge of the tip lands. But that's all Izabetha needed; as the spike makes contact with the back wheels of the bike, the mana held oh-so-unstably within surges out, surging through the metal of the bike and blasting the back end apart, sending both Rider and his Master crashing to the ground in an undignified slide that ends with them at the edge of the square. Leaving them easy pray for Archer, who calmly shoots after after arrow at them, gleaming trails left in their passage as they streak towards the pair, barely deflected at all by the hasty wall of ectoplasm hurled up by the Master as Rider drags the two of him in a mad dash for an exit from the square, a scattered, inaccurate burst of fire his sole attempt at covering their retreat. It's somewhat effective, forcing Archer's aim off just enough that he only takes a pair of arrows to the shoulder, silver pins nearly impaling him to the wall with the force of their hit. But then the pair of them are around a corner and out of her line of fire, bursts of gunfire rattling blindly into the square to dissuade any pursuit. Izabetha signals to the rooftops, but as Archer leaps up towards a vantage point, an engine roars into life and begins to vanish into the distance.
Meanwhile, as Rider and his Master crash to the ground from Izabetha's strike, Assassin rises from the dust of his impact, glancing around the square. With pained gasps, he brushes off the last embers around his shattered ribs, his suit charred and soaked from the water spray his impact caused. As he stands, he stamps his feet, kicking off the mechanisms attached to the back of his boots, frantically glancing around for a means of escape, a single broken knife and a pair of bombs all he has left to him.
Now the dust and spray has died down, you get to see the actual face behind the mask; broken arrogance in his gray-blue eyes, under what was some quite well kept hair, short, straight and ash-blonde. There's a clean, well-kept mustache above his mouth, blood trickling from a corner as he bites down upon it, but there's no sign of a beard. He's not that old, before thirty if you were to guess, and he wouldn't be unattractive, were it not for the murderous anger anger and desperation twisting his face. He quickly wipes the blood away with his free, weakened arm, the hawk-moth sigil ring on his finger shining under the moonlight.
"Damn that useless politician of a master." He mutters to himself as he backs away from the approaching doom that is Ruler, now walking normally, if not at all steadily thanks to his wounds. His voice sounds much different from how it did before. More much refined. "He wants me to do anything again, he'd better come out of his fancy 'Association Oversight' office and do something useful for once."
"What's the matter Assassin?" Ruler calls out as she approaches, cracking her knuckles menacingly. "That look suits you so much better. Nothing left to hide behind?"
Assassin's about to respond, but is drowned out by the noise of the office block where Berserker and Scathath were fighting collapsing, great sandstone walls rise up from the earth, tearing the concrete of it apart as they fuse into a sealed off pyramid that begins to sink down into the earth. You see the faint red gleam of Scathath's spear strike off it, before you catch sight of her leaping into the air away from that and towards you, carrying Flat with her. There's a brief swell of- relief? At the knowledge that they didn't get caught up in whatever just happened there.
Though you're distracted from that sight by a blinding flash of light and smoke that blankets the area, obscuring everything from view; while a quick blast of flame from Ruler helps clear it faster than it normally would have, Assassin's made his escape as well, vanishing into the streets and alleys that surround the square. With a glance around, you can see that Rider and his Master are gone as well, which would explain the engine you heard.
[] Go for the kill. You're in a better position than any of them are, you've got a chance to take one of your enemies out of the war for good.
-[] Chase Assassin- He's wounded and on foot, he can't have got far, and you are done with him being a thorn in your side.
-[] Chase Rider- He's got his master with him, who you'd hopefully be able to get something out of, but he's in better shape and in a vehicle so he'd be harder to catch.
[] Just stay here, regroup with Flat and Izabetha to discuss what happened and what it means.
