LinkOnScepter
The One who Strangles Concepts to death
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Hey, guys. Sorry I haven't posted in a bit. I'll see if I can get something in during the first week of the new year though.
A Bro's Life (AGG-ish Anime Bro Quest)
- Thread starter LinkOnScepter
- Start date
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LinkOnScepter
The One who Strangles Concepts to death
- Location
- Interwebs
Yeah so, probably won't be able to get something first week of new year, if only cause I'm on vacation right now and kind of just want to relax. But I can promise I'll try to get a new update before the month is over.
LinkOnScepter
The One who Strangles Concepts to death
- Location
- Interwebs
Nearly forgot. Gonna roll dice for you guys and Elizabeth. Will roll them here this time to show them off. 3d50 for you and 3d50 for Elizabeth.
Edit: Also 3d50s for Irina and Yamato.
Edit: Also 3d50s for Irina and Yamato.
Last edited:
Pretty good for us but poor elizabeth
Week 12: Battle Won
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LinkOnScepter
The One who Strangles Concepts to death
- Location
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[X] ...that you'll follow Yamato's plan. Whatever it is. (Yamato decides)
You turn to Yamato and nod, letting him know that you're willing to let him lead here. Yamato looks at the ground for a second, expression still indifferent but with his brows furrowed. A few moments pass before he looks up and says, "Irina, you and I will be going after the Kappa man."
"Wh-Didn't I-"
"The opponent over there is a close combat specialist," Yamato points toward Keiko, the fused woman moving to block off the path toward the retreating Keiji, "she has next to no ranged capabilities, and her mobility is of a lower quality than her ally. Thus, it is best that Hayato and Elizabeth face her. They can either defeat her or keep her at bay long enough for us to defeat her ally. In contrast, the Kappa man is fast, agile, and able to create water with his powers. He'll be able to easily outpace and escape from anyone who relies on closing the distance between them and their opponent. But Yameko and I all have ranged capabilities. Making us better suited to chasing him down."
"What does that have to do with me coming with you?" Irina asks, keeping her eyes on both the agents. She doesn't sound upset about the idea. In fact, you think you can see the hint of a smile on her face.
"We'll need someone to protect us in case he proves too much for us. And I feel that you're our greatest asset in regards to this matter," he looks at you with a slight pain in his eyes, "Hayato..."
"I got it!" you step forward, ignoring the pain in your back as you do so, "I'll take care of this bitch. You with me, Elizabeth?"
You glance at her but she doesn't return your gaze. She seems to be deep in thought about something. A nudge with your elbow brings her back to reality as she stumbles a bit. She clears her throat and then nods, "Um, yes. Sure. It will be easier if we fight together. Just don't slow me down."
"Trust me, I won't," you say, getting into your fighting stance and then glancing at Irina, "You be sure to keep my brother safe, ya hear? Can't promise I'll play nice with Estella if something happens to him."
"Ha! Do you know who you're talking to?" Irina cracks her neck while turning toward the retreating Kappa man, "Your brother and his girlfriend should focus on keeping up with me."
"Then we are agreed?" Yamato's question is met by a round of assent.
Yameko wraps her tails around his waist, just about draping herself over his shoulders while holding one of her hands out to him, palm up, "Your darts, Yamato-sama. Let us make haste and stop this ruffian from informing our foes."
Yamato takes them, thanks her, then moves to stand beside Irina, "We are ready when you are."
Irina chuckles then says, "Then let's go! Now!"
Your party splits, rushing toward your respective targets. Irina and Yamato are running toward where Keiji jumped from, Yameko holding onto Yamato's back. Keiko moves to intercept, the sound of metal clanking against metal following her. She raises one of her arms, blades shining and ready to carve into the closest target's flesh. Before she can get close enough, though, you move in and slam your fist into her side. It doesn't do any damage, though, because she instantly blocks your blow with one of her umbrella wings. Those things feel hard as steel and don't even bend under you attack. Still, though, you accomplish your goal. Getting her to back off.
She stumble back the sound of grinding metal coming from her throat as her mouth opens, "Alright, kid. You wanna go? Then come on! I'll cut you and your girlfriend into pretty little ribbons!"
"I am not his-," Elizabeth can't finish as Keiko moves for her first, arms rising as she gets ready to fight. You move to stand beside Elizabeth as she gets her own swords ready for battle.
[Combat Round 1]
[Hayato Status: Injured: -10 to All Combat Rolls]
[Elizabeth Status: Mostly Healthy]
[Keiko Status: Back to Full Health]
[Offensive Hayato + Elizabeth: 43 (Hayato UMT) + 50 (Yato UMT) + 41 (Rolls) + 75 (SDS) + 10 (Cutting Edge) + 10 (Killing Blade) + 50 (Swords) + 11 (Rolls) - 10 (Hayato Injured) - 35 (First Time Working Together) = 226 VS 100 (Fused CBS) + 80 (Fused Physical Resistance) + 10 (Dodge) + 20 (Draw The Curtain) = 210: Hayato and Elizabeth Win Round 1 Offensive!]
[Offensive Fused Keiko: 100 (Fused CBS) + 15 (Body Of Blades) + 24 (Rolls) + 15 (Body Of Blades) - 10 (Impregnable Defense) = 129 VS 53 (Hayato Physical Resistance) + 50 (Yato Physical Resistance) + 10 (UMT Passive) + 10 (Impenetrable Soul Armor) + 25 (Elizabeth Dodge) + 14 (Physical Resistance) + 50 (Swords) - 10 (Hayato Injured) - 35 (FTWT) = 167: Hayato and Elizabeth Win Round 1 Defensive]
[Keiko's Deflecting Curtain Allows for a Second Attack after losing an Offensive Round!]
[Offensive Fused Keiko: 100 (Fused CBS) + 15 (Body Of Blades) + 24 (Rolls) + 15 (Body Of Blades) - 10 (Impregnable Defense) = 129 VS 53 (Hayato Physical Resistance) + 50 (Yato Physical Resistance) + 10 (UMT Passive) + 10 (Impenetrable Soul Armor) + 25 (Elizabeth Dodge) + 14 (Physical Resistance) + 50 (Swords) - 10 (Hayato Injured) - 35 (FTWT) - 25 (Unexpected Second Attack) = 142: Hayato and Elizabeth Win Defensive]
[Combat Round 2]
[Hayato Status: Injured: -10 to All Combat Rolls]
[Elizabeth Status: Mostly Healthy]
[Keiko Status: Injured]
[Keiko ??? Check: 31 (Roll) + 20 (Mental Resistance) = 51 VS DC 20: Success!]
[Offensive Hayato and Elizabeth: 43 (Hayato UMT) + 50 (Yato UMT) + 4 (Rolls)+ 75 (SDS) + 10 (Cutting Edge) + 10 (Killing Blade) + 50 (Swords) + 22 (Rolls) - 10 (Hayato Injured) - 35 (First Time Working Together) = 219 VS 100 (Fused CBS) + 80 (Fused Physical Resistance) + 10 (Dodge) + 20 (Draw The Curtain) - 10 (Injured) = 200: Hayato and Elizabeth Win Round 2 Offensive!]
[Offensive Fused Keiko: 100 (Fused CBS) + 15 (Body Of Blades) + 14 (Rolls) + 15 (Body Of Blades) - 10 (Impregnable Defense) - 10 (Injured) = 124 VS 53 (Hayato Physical Resistance) + 50 (Yato Physical Resistance) + 10 (UMT Passive) + 10 (Impenetrable Soul Armor) + 25 (Elizabeth Dodge) + 14 (Physical Resistance) + 50 (Swords) - 10 (Hayato Injured) - 35 (FTWT) = 167: Hayato and Elizabeth Win Round 2 Defensive]
[Combat Round 3]
[Hayato Status: Injured: -10 to All Combat Rolls]
[Elizabeth Status: Mostly Healthy]
[Keiko Status: Heavily Injured; Desperation]
[Keiko ??? Check: 21 (Roll) + 20 (Mental Resistance) = 41 VS DC 50: Failure!]
[Keiko Chooses to ???]
[Offensive Hayato and Elizabeth: 43 (Hayato UMT) + 50 (Yato UMT) + 30 (Precise Strike) + 49 (Rolls) + 75 (SDS) + 10 (Cutting Edge) + 10 (Killing Blade) + 50 (Swords) + 26 (Rolls) - 10 (Hayato Injured) - 35 (First Time Working Together) = 298 VS 100 (Fused CBS) + 80 (Fused Physical Resistance) + 10 (Dodge) + 20 (Draw The Curtain) - 15 (Heavily Injured) + 30 (Desperation) = 225: Hayato and Elizabeth Win Round 3 Offensive!]
[Combat Won!]
You're not ashamed to admit that you don't know if you could've handled this fight on your own. You were dealing with Keiko just fine before she transformed, but it's clear that fusing with her Partner has made her way stronger than when the two were separated. She's a much harder target than before. Where you were able to mostly break through or get around her defense the first time around, you're not able to accomplish that as easily this time. Most of the time when you went in on your own, she would block then move to counter attack and make you pay for it.
Thankfully, you're not alone this time.
"Hayato, move!" Elizabeth yells as she moves in from Keiko's left. You had charged in first, going for an attack on her right. You had feinted a left jab to her face and moved into a right hook aiming for her stomach. However, Keiko's wings were more maneuverable than you thought they would be. The moment you moved from a left jab into a hook, the wings extended to cover her face and middle on her right side. Your blow landed with the sound of a metal pipe thudding against a metal wall. Leading to now where you have to jump out of the way of Elizabeth's falling sword. You mouth an apology for getting in the way, not used to fighting alongside someone with swords.
If she heard you, she didn't say anything about it. Her eyes were completely focused on swinging away with the sword in her right hand at Keiko. As with you, Keiko blocks it with a curtain of steel like umbrella plates. Sparks explode across the surface as she strikes, hitting from every direction she can manage to swing in. One thing you note is that she doesn't use her other sword for most of her attacks. Indeed, her left hand either keeps her sword out of the way, or uses it only as a feint before attacking with her right. After the eighth swing, Keiko goes on the offensive. Moving her right arm up, she deflect Elizabeth's next slash and sends her arm up. Her grip on her sword doesn't falter but Keiko tries to take advantage of the opening. Her left arm blade whirrs as she thrusts it at Elizabeth's wide open stomach.
"Watch out!" you shout, diving in to take the blow on Yato. Your arm gets in the way just in time to push the blade away with your gauntlet. You feel a shock go through your arm as it hits, rolling on your shoulder to divert the rest of it as you get to a knee. Out the corner of your eye you see Elizabeth thrust her weapon forward...and it's here she finally uses her left sword instead of her right. Keiko's wings clatter as they try to move in and block the attack aiming for her mid-section. But, unfortunately for her, she's too late.
The attack strikes home and the sword "vibrates" for lack of a better word. Your ears ring for a second before you see a wave of pressure crash into Keiko's mid-section. Your fused foe flies backward but manages to slow herself down by stabbing her blades into the roofing below. The lone eye on her headband squints in anger. Before you or Keiko can speak, she's dashing forward while holding her arm blades out to either side. She lifts her left leg and starts hopping on her right, flipping through the air to become a whirlwind of bladed edges. Her attacks are fast and numerous, aiming to cut you and Elizabeth a thousand times before you can react.
Unfortunately for her, you're made to take this kind of punishment. You stand in front of Elizabeth and hold both your arms up. Hunkering down you trust to your sheer hardness to keep both of you safe from the assault. Though you can't block every attack, you keep the vast majority of them off the both of you. Especially when you put your soul into defending you, expanding the area you can defend with a slight aura to you. Whenever you see an attack that you don't block, you hear the sound of steel on steel in your ear. That's probably Elizabeth which gives makes you feel a bit more confident.
Of course, you can't just stand here and let Keiko continue her assault. You don't know how long she can do this without getting tired considering her new fused state. But you're not willing to wait and find out. Irina, Yameko, and your brother are chasing after the other guy, and you don't want to spend too much time on this. Not to mention the longer you're on the defensive, the more time Keiko has to find a gap in your defenses to take advantage of. So, you wait. You wait and keep an eye on her whirlwind of attacks, watching for a moment where you can-
-There! You move your right arm up just in time to block the latest swing of her bladed arms. You move your arm outward just enough to catch where the guard on her weapon will be, letting her armblade and curtains spark against your gauntlet. At the same time you're cocking your left arm back while waiting for the redirected force of her attack to send her circling in the air. Waiting until you can see her bandana covered face instead of a blur of black and red. Waiting until her body is completely open for a straight punch to the jaw.
Then you deliver it.
Feeling something crack beneath your fists tells you all you need to know. Smiling you watch she falls away and hits the earth on her back. She keeps going, rolling until her blade body catches the roof again. You stay on guard and catch Elizabeth stepping around your left. Keiko eventually stops herself and glares at both of you. Blood leaks from the side of her mouth as she grits her teeth. She gets to her feet and looks ready to attack again...but then she stumbles as her left leg suddenly buckles beneath her. Her eye widens and she begins slapping her limp leg with the flat of her blade, "No! No! Not know! Come on! We can keep going for a bit longer! I-I just need a little more..."
"What's happening?" you ask, confused by what's going on, "Is she...talking to her Partner?"
"I don't know and I don't know if I care," Elizabeth says with a flourish of her blades, "We can ask questions once the fight's over. And the faster we end this, the sooner that can happen."
Elizabeth has a point. Though you're thinking less about asking Keiko questions and more about dealing with her now, so you can help out Yamato and Irina. Keiko is, after all, supposed to be a stalling tactic while Keiji reports things to his boss. If you're going to do accomplish either of those things, you need to end this before it goes on for too long. So...you think it's about time you pulled that out.
"Good point," you say while getting into the stance you need for that "Precise Strike" technique you learned. Placing your right leg in front while pulling your left leg back, holding your left fist up and focusing your perception onto a single point, "I think I have a way to do that. Think you could handle her for a minute or so?"
"No," Elizabeth shakes her head, "Unlike you, I can't stand still and not get cut by bladed weapons."
"Well, can you at least try to keep her in one place for like, ten seconds? That should be enough time," you think. You could put more power into it if you had more time, but you can't have everything when you're in the middle of a fight. Especially not when Keiko is already back on her feet, her left leg no longer buckled underneath her. She's more cautious this time. Instead of charging at the two of you, she's moving around you along the edges. Acting like an unsure predator who's not sure if the prey it's after is worth it. You follow her with your eyes as much as you can, but it's not something you can keep up while preparing your attack.
Elizabeth is on the ball though. She stands in front of Keiko, moving with her while keeping both her swords at the ready. She keeps her torso pointed toward the moving fused woman, while moving her legs in time with her opponent to keep her in view. The two step outside of your field of view and you focus back on your oncoming attack.
You close your eyes and temporarily forget the world around you. Forget the roof tiles and focus only on your feet. Forget about the wind blowing against your skin and focus only on your upper body. Take every bit of power you've got in your body and put into your arms and right fist. You move your ankle such a way that you can move it in the just the right way to put more strength into the attack. You-
"Hayato! Watch out!" Elizabeth's panicked yell draws you out of your focused state. You turn your head to the left and see her skidding back toward you. Her arms are up in a blocking stance, but you can already see the issue: Keiko is pushing her straight toward you. Your foe has locked her bladed arms with Elizabeth's own swords and is using her superior strength to push the girl back. You barely make out a wicked grin on the agent's face as she forces your friend to charge directly at you.
You reckon that it's only been nine seconds, rather than the requested ten. It's not everything you needed...but you don't really have a choice. If you move, your body will push all the strength you focused on your fist back into the rest of your body. If you don't move and try to focus a bit more, Elizabeth will ram into you and knock you off balance.
No choice then. This'll have to do.
"Duck!" you yell while twisting on your ankle to face the oncoming women. Gritting your teeth you cock your fist and get ready to punch. Elizabeth only barely manages to duck out of the way when you throw, your hand slicing through some of her hair as her head passes below you. The world goes black and white, a loud crack exploding through the air as your blow lands. You're vaguely aware of the sound of mirror shattering. You hear an inhuman shriek followed by a very human scream. The color returns to the world a second later. Your body screams as fatigue and soreness explode across your muscles and bones. But you tough it out and focus on what happened to your enemy.
What you see is Keiko on the ground to the right, while her partner is on the ground to the left. Seems they weren't able to keep the form up after getting hit by your attack. Which is good, you don't think you'd be able to pull that off again. Not without having some time to rest. Elizabeth stays crouched with her eyes on Keiko and the umbrella monster. Once satisfied that the two aren't getting up any time soon, she pushes herself to feet and flourishes her swords. She speaks between pants as she catches her breath, "Nice...shot. Didn't think you could hit that hard. How'd you come up with that?"
"Practice," you say shaking out your hand to get some feeling back in it. Even with Yato on the recoil sent shocks through your hand. You look at Elizabeth to ask if she's alright, but a groan from Keiko catches your attention. She rolls over so she's facing toward the sky. She tries to push herself to her feet, but her body doesn't seem to be listening to her. She falls back down and groans again her partner no better. The umbrella's tongue is out with its eyes swirling in its socket.
Elizabeth takes a step forward and says, "She's down. Lets make sure of it."
Before she can go any further, you grab her shoulder and hold her in place, "Wait..."
[] "...the others need our help, lets go," they won't be going anywhere. You need to get to Yamato and Irina.
[] "...let's just tie them up. We can call the police later," probably the best idea. Let them handle Keiko and you'll figure out what to do about the Kasa-Obake later. (CSC: Empathy + Diplomacy)
[] "...don't you have questions you want to ask?" now's the best time to get some answers.
[] Write in...
You turn to Yamato and nod, letting him know that you're willing to let him lead here. Yamato looks at the ground for a second, expression still indifferent but with his brows furrowed. A few moments pass before he looks up and says, "Irina, you and I will be going after the Kappa man."
"Wh-Didn't I-"
"The opponent over there is a close combat specialist," Yamato points toward Keiko, the fused woman moving to block off the path toward the retreating Keiji, "she has next to no ranged capabilities, and her mobility is of a lower quality than her ally. Thus, it is best that Hayato and Elizabeth face her. They can either defeat her or keep her at bay long enough for us to defeat her ally. In contrast, the Kappa man is fast, agile, and able to create water with his powers. He'll be able to easily outpace and escape from anyone who relies on closing the distance between them and their opponent. But Yameko and I all have ranged capabilities. Making us better suited to chasing him down."
"What does that have to do with me coming with you?" Irina asks, keeping her eyes on both the agents. She doesn't sound upset about the idea. In fact, you think you can see the hint of a smile on her face.
"We'll need someone to protect us in case he proves too much for us. And I feel that you're our greatest asset in regards to this matter," he looks at you with a slight pain in his eyes, "Hayato..."
"I got it!" you step forward, ignoring the pain in your back as you do so, "I'll take care of this bitch. You with me, Elizabeth?"
You glance at her but she doesn't return your gaze. She seems to be deep in thought about something. A nudge with your elbow brings her back to reality as she stumbles a bit. She clears her throat and then nods, "Um, yes. Sure. It will be easier if we fight together. Just don't slow me down."
"Trust me, I won't," you say, getting into your fighting stance and then glancing at Irina, "You be sure to keep my brother safe, ya hear? Can't promise I'll play nice with Estella if something happens to him."
"Ha! Do you know who you're talking to?" Irina cracks her neck while turning toward the retreating Kappa man, "Your brother and his girlfriend should focus on keeping up with me."
"Then we are agreed?" Yamato's question is met by a round of assent.
Yameko wraps her tails around his waist, just about draping herself over his shoulders while holding one of her hands out to him, palm up, "Your darts, Yamato-sama. Let us make haste and stop this ruffian from informing our foes."
Yamato takes them, thanks her, then moves to stand beside Irina, "We are ready when you are."
Irina chuckles then says, "Then let's go! Now!"
Your party splits, rushing toward your respective targets. Irina and Yamato are running toward where Keiji jumped from, Yameko holding onto Yamato's back. Keiko moves to intercept, the sound of metal clanking against metal following her. She raises one of her arms, blades shining and ready to carve into the closest target's flesh. Before she can get close enough, though, you move in and slam your fist into her side. It doesn't do any damage, though, because she instantly blocks your blow with one of her umbrella wings. Those things feel hard as steel and don't even bend under you attack. Still, though, you accomplish your goal. Getting her to back off.
She stumble back the sound of grinding metal coming from her throat as her mouth opens, "Alright, kid. You wanna go? Then come on! I'll cut you and your girlfriend into pretty little ribbons!"
"I am not his-," Elizabeth can't finish as Keiko moves for her first, arms rising as she gets ready to fight. You move to stand beside Elizabeth as she gets her own swords ready for battle.
[Combat Round 1]
[Hayato Status: Injured: -10 to All Combat Rolls]
[Elizabeth Status: Mostly Healthy]
[Keiko Status: Back to Full Health]
[Offensive Hayato + Elizabeth: 43 (Hayato UMT) + 50 (Yato UMT) + 41 (Rolls) + 75 (SDS) + 10 (Cutting Edge) + 10 (Killing Blade) + 50 (Swords) + 11 (Rolls) - 10 (Hayato Injured) - 35 (First Time Working Together) = 226 VS 100 (Fused CBS) + 80 (Fused Physical Resistance) + 10 (Dodge) + 20 (Draw The Curtain) = 210: Hayato and Elizabeth Win Round 1 Offensive!]
[Offensive Fused Keiko: 100 (Fused CBS) + 15 (Body Of Blades) + 24 (Rolls) + 15 (Body Of Blades) - 10 (Impregnable Defense) = 129 VS 53 (Hayato Physical Resistance) + 50 (Yato Physical Resistance) + 10 (UMT Passive) + 10 (Impenetrable Soul Armor) + 25 (Elizabeth Dodge) + 14 (Physical Resistance) + 50 (Swords) - 10 (Hayato Injured) - 35 (FTWT) = 167: Hayato and Elizabeth Win Round 1 Defensive]
[Keiko's Deflecting Curtain Allows for a Second Attack after losing an Offensive Round!]
[Offensive Fused Keiko: 100 (Fused CBS) + 15 (Body Of Blades) + 24 (Rolls) + 15 (Body Of Blades) - 10 (Impregnable Defense) = 129 VS 53 (Hayato Physical Resistance) + 50 (Yato Physical Resistance) + 10 (UMT Passive) + 10 (Impenetrable Soul Armor) + 25 (Elizabeth Dodge) + 14 (Physical Resistance) + 50 (Swords) - 10 (Hayato Injured) - 35 (FTWT) - 25 (Unexpected Second Attack) = 142: Hayato and Elizabeth Win Defensive]
[Combat Round 2]
[Hayato Status: Injured: -10 to All Combat Rolls]
[Elizabeth Status: Mostly Healthy]
[Keiko Status: Injured]
[Keiko ??? Check: 31 (Roll) + 20 (Mental Resistance) = 51 VS DC 20: Success!]
[Offensive Hayato and Elizabeth: 43 (Hayato UMT) + 50 (Yato UMT) + 4 (Rolls)+ 75 (SDS) + 10 (Cutting Edge) + 10 (Killing Blade) + 50 (Swords) + 22 (Rolls) - 10 (Hayato Injured) - 35 (First Time Working Together) = 219 VS 100 (Fused CBS) + 80 (Fused Physical Resistance) + 10 (Dodge) + 20 (Draw The Curtain) - 10 (Injured) = 200: Hayato and Elizabeth Win Round 2 Offensive!]
[Offensive Fused Keiko: 100 (Fused CBS) + 15 (Body Of Blades) + 14 (Rolls) + 15 (Body Of Blades) - 10 (Impregnable Defense) - 10 (Injured) = 124 VS 53 (Hayato Physical Resistance) + 50 (Yato Physical Resistance) + 10 (UMT Passive) + 10 (Impenetrable Soul Armor) + 25 (Elizabeth Dodge) + 14 (Physical Resistance) + 50 (Swords) - 10 (Hayato Injured) - 35 (FTWT) = 167: Hayato and Elizabeth Win Round 2 Defensive]
[Combat Round 3]
[Hayato Status: Injured: -10 to All Combat Rolls]
[Elizabeth Status: Mostly Healthy]
[Keiko Status: Heavily Injured; Desperation]
[Keiko ??? Check: 21 (Roll) + 20 (Mental Resistance) = 41 VS DC 50: Failure!]
[Keiko Chooses to ???]
[Offensive Hayato and Elizabeth: 43 (Hayato UMT) + 50 (Yato UMT) + 30 (Precise Strike) + 49 (Rolls) + 75 (SDS) + 10 (Cutting Edge) + 10 (Killing Blade) + 50 (Swords) + 26 (Rolls) - 10 (Hayato Injured) - 35 (First Time Working Together) = 298 VS 100 (Fused CBS) + 80 (Fused Physical Resistance) + 10 (Dodge) + 20 (Draw The Curtain) - 15 (Heavily Injured) + 30 (Desperation) = 225: Hayato and Elizabeth Win Round 3 Offensive!]
[Combat Won!]
You're not ashamed to admit that you don't know if you could've handled this fight on your own. You were dealing with Keiko just fine before she transformed, but it's clear that fusing with her Partner has made her way stronger than when the two were separated. She's a much harder target than before. Where you were able to mostly break through or get around her defense the first time around, you're not able to accomplish that as easily this time. Most of the time when you went in on your own, she would block then move to counter attack and make you pay for it.
Thankfully, you're not alone this time.
"Hayato, move!" Elizabeth yells as she moves in from Keiko's left. You had charged in first, going for an attack on her right. You had feinted a left jab to her face and moved into a right hook aiming for her stomach. However, Keiko's wings were more maneuverable than you thought they would be. The moment you moved from a left jab into a hook, the wings extended to cover her face and middle on her right side. Your blow landed with the sound of a metal pipe thudding against a metal wall. Leading to now where you have to jump out of the way of Elizabeth's falling sword. You mouth an apology for getting in the way, not used to fighting alongside someone with swords.
If she heard you, she didn't say anything about it. Her eyes were completely focused on swinging away with the sword in her right hand at Keiko. As with you, Keiko blocks it with a curtain of steel like umbrella plates. Sparks explode across the surface as she strikes, hitting from every direction she can manage to swing in. One thing you note is that she doesn't use her other sword for most of her attacks. Indeed, her left hand either keeps her sword out of the way, or uses it only as a feint before attacking with her right. After the eighth swing, Keiko goes on the offensive. Moving her right arm up, she deflect Elizabeth's next slash and sends her arm up. Her grip on her sword doesn't falter but Keiko tries to take advantage of the opening. Her left arm blade whirrs as she thrusts it at Elizabeth's wide open stomach.
"Watch out!" you shout, diving in to take the blow on Yato. Your arm gets in the way just in time to push the blade away with your gauntlet. You feel a shock go through your arm as it hits, rolling on your shoulder to divert the rest of it as you get to a knee. Out the corner of your eye you see Elizabeth thrust her weapon forward...and it's here she finally uses her left sword instead of her right. Keiko's wings clatter as they try to move in and block the attack aiming for her mid-section. But, unfortunately for her, she's too late.
The attack strikes home and the sword "vibrates" for lack of a better word. Your ears ring for a second before you see a wave of pressure crash into Keiko's mid-section. Your fused foe flies backward but manages to slow herself down by stabbing her blades into the roofing below. The lone eye on her headband squints in anger. Before you or Keiko can speak, she's dashing forward while holding her arm blades out to either side. She lifts her left leg and starts hopping on her right, flipping through the air to become a whirlwind of bladed edges. Her attacks are fast and numerous, aiming to cut you and Elizabeth a thousand times before you can react.
Unfortunately for her, you're made to take this kind of punishment. You stand in front of Elizabeth and hold both your arms up. Hunkering down you trust to your sheer hardness to keep both of you safe from the assault. Though you can't block every attack, you keep the vast majority of them off the both of you. Especially when you put your soul into defending you, expanding the area you can defend with a slight aura to you. Whenever you see an attack that you don't block, you hear the sound of steel on steel in your ear. That's probably Elizabeth which gives makes you feel a bit more confident.
Of course, you can't just stand here and let Keiko continue her assault. You don't know how long she can do this without getting tired considering her new fused state. But you're not willing to wait and find out. Irina, Yameko, and your brother are chasing after the other guy, and you don't want to spend too much time on this. Not to mention the longer you're on the defensive, the more time Keiko has to find a gap in your defenses to take advantage of. So, you wait. You wait and keep an eye on her whirlwind of attacks, watching for a moment where you can-
-There! You move your right arm up just in time to block the latest swing of her bladed arms. You move your arm outward just enough to catch where the guard on her weapon will be, letting her armblade and curtains spark against your gauntlet. At the same time you're cocking your left arm back while waiting for the redirected force of her attack to send her circling in the air. Waiting until you can see her bandana covered face instead of a blur of black and red. Waiting until her body is completely open for a straight punch to the jaw.
Then you deliver it.
Feeling something crack beneath your fists tells you all you need to know. Smiling you watch she falls away and hits the earth on her back. She keeps going, rolling until her blade body catches the roof again. You stay on guard and catch Elizabeth stepping around your left. Keiko eventually stops herself and glares at both of you. Blood leaks from the side of her mouth as she grits her teeth. She gets to her feet and looks ready to attack again...but then she stumbles as her left leg suddenly buckles beneath her. Her eye widens and she begins slapping her limp leg with the flat of her blade, "No! No! Not know! Come on! We can keep going for a bit longer! I-I just need a little more..."
"What's happening?" you ask, confused by what's going on, "Is she...talking to her Partner?"
"I don't know and I don't know if I care," Elizabeth says with a flourish of her blades, "We can ask questions once the fight's over. And the faster we end this, the sooner that can happen."
Elizabeth has a point. Though you're thinking less about asking Keiko questions and more about dealing with her now, so you can help out Yamato and Irina. Keiko is, after all, supposed to be a stalling tactic while Keiji reports things to his boss. If you're going to do accomplish either of those things, you need to end this before it goes on for too long. So...you think it's about time you pulled that out.
"Good point," you say while getting into the stance you need for that "Precise Strike" technique you learned. Placing your right leg in front while pulling your left leg back, holding your left fist up and focusing your perception onto a single point, "I think I have a way to do that. Think you could handle her for a minute or so?"
"No," Elizabeth shakes her head, "Unlike you, I can't stand still and not get cut by bladed weapons."
"Well, can you at least try to keep her in one place for like, ten seconds? That should be enough time," you think. You could put more power into it if you had more time, but you can't have everything when you're in the middle of a fight. Especially not when Keiko is already back on her feet, her left leg no longer buckled underneath her. She's more cautious this time. Instead of charging at the two of you, she's moving around you along the edges. Acting like an unsure predator who's not sure if the prey it's after is worth it. You follow her with your eyes as much as you can, but it's not something you can keep up while preparing your attack.
Elizabeth is on the ball though. She stands in front of Keiko, moving with her while keeping both her swords at the ready. She keeps her torso pointed toward the moving fused woman, while moving her legs in time with her opponent to keep her in view. The two step outside of your field of view and you focus back on your oncoming attack.
You close your eyes and temporarily forget the world around you. Forget the roof tiles and focus only on your feet. Forget about the wind blowing against your skin and focus only on your upper body. Take every bit of power you've got in your body and put into your arms and right fist. You move your ankle such a way that you can move it in the just the right way to put more strength into the attack. You-
"Hayato! Watch out!" Elizabeth's panicked yell draws you out of your focused state. You turn your head to the left and see her skidding back toward you. Her arms are up in a blocking stance, but you can already see the issue: Keiko is pushing her straight toward you. Your foe has locked her bladed arms with Elizabeth's own swords and is using her superior strength to push the girl back. You barely make out a wicked grin on the agent's face as she forces your friend to charge directly at you.
You reckon that it's only been nine seconds, rather than the requested ten. It's not everything you needed...but you don't really have a choice. If you move, your body will push all the strength you focused on your fist back into the rest of your body. If you don't move and try to focus a bit more, Elizabeth will ram into you and knock you off balance.
No choice then. This'll have to do.
"Duck!" you yell while twisting on your ankle to face the oncoming women. Gritting your teeth you cock your fist and get ready to punch. Elizabeth only barely manages to duck out of the way when you throw, your hand slicing through some of her hair as her head passes below you. The world goes black and white, a loud crack exploding through the air as your blow lands. You're vaguely aware of the sound of mirror shattering. You hear an inhuman shriek followed by a very human scream. The color returns to the world a second later. Your body screams as fatigue and soreness explode across your muscles and bones. But you tough it out and focus on what happened to your enemy.
What you see is Keiko on the ground to the right, while her partner is on the ground to the left. Seems they weren't able to keep the form up after getting hit by your attack. Which is good, you don't think you'd be able to pull that off again. Not without having some time to rest. Elizabeth stays crouched with her eyes on Keiko and the umbrella monster. Once satisfied that the two aren't getting up any time soon, she pushes herself to feet and flourishes her swords. She speaks between pants as she catches her breath, "Nice...shot. Didn't think you could hit that hard. How'd you come up with that?"
"Practice," you say shaking out your hand to get some feeling back in it. Even with Yato on the recoil sent shocks through your hand. You look at Elizabeth to ask if she's alright, but a groan from Keiko catches your attention. She rolls over so she's facing toward the sky. She tries to push herself to her feet, but her body doesn't seem to be listening to her. She falls back down and groans again her partner no better. The umbrella's tongue is out with its eyes swirling in its socket.
Elizabeth takes a step forward and says, "She's down. Lets make sure of it."
Before she can go any further, you grab her shoulder and hold her in place, "Wait..."
[] "...the others need our help, lets go," they won't be going anywhere. You need to get to Yamato and Irina.
[] "...let's just tie them up. We can call the police later," probably the best idea. Let them handle Keiko and you'll figure out what to do about the Kasa-Obake later. (CSC: Empathy + Diplomacy)
[] "...don't you have questions you want to ask?" now's the best time to get some answers.
[] Write in...
[X] "...let's just tie them up. We can call the police later," probably the best idea. Let them handle Keiko and you'll figure out what to do about the Kasa-Obake later. (CSC: Empathy + Diplomacy)
Sir Plusse
Overly Vicious Quester
- Location
- Kansas
[X] "...let's just tie them up. We can call the police later," probably the best idea. Let them handle Keiko and you'll figure out what to do about the Kasa-Obake later. (CSC: Empathy + Diplomacy)
Help Bro now, ask questions later. If they're too injured to move much AND tied up, that means they should still be here when we get back and we can interrogate them at our leisure!
Help Bro now, ask questions later. If they're too injured to move much AND tied up, that means they should still be here when we get back and we can interrogate them at our leisure!
Icipall
Don't worry, we can fanfix that!
- Location
- Cold snow fields of Finland
Huh, not what we expected.
And while Yamato doesn't know it, Irina is amazing ranged fighter as well.
Man, Hayato and Elizabeth dominated this fight!
Neat trick she has.
Might be their first time, but they they work very well together and are mostly in sync.
Hm, seems that you need to be able to keep succeeding in skill checks to stay fused.
[X] "...let's just tie them up. We can call the police later," probably the best idea. Let them handle Keiko and you'll figure out what to do about the Kasa-Obake later. (CSC: Empathy + Diplomacy)
Hm, we probably should just tie her up and go help our bro (not that they most likely need it) and conduct interrogation later.
Sir Plusse
Overly Vicious Quester
- Location
- Kansas
Makes sense. Elizabeth seems to have specced pretty heavily for DPS, so her optimal partner is a tank.
A good reminder that everyone involved in this is a total badass.
[X] "...let's just tie them up. We can call the police later," probably the best idea. Let them handle Keiko and you'll figure out what to do about the Kasa-Obake later. (CSC: Empathy + Diplomacy)
[X] "...let's just tie them up. We can call the police later," probably the best idea. Let them handle Keiko and you'll figure out what to do about the Kasa-Obake later. (CSC: Empathy + Diplomacy)
[X] "...let's just tie them up. We can call the police later," probably the best idea. Let them handle Keiko and you'll figure out what to do about the Kasa-Obake later. (CSC: Empathy + Diplomacy)
Eternal_0bserver
(Unverified Bookworm)
- Location
- Earth, Northern Europe
[X] "...let's just tie them up. We can call the police later," probably the best idea. Let them handle Keiko and you'll figure out what to do about the Kasa-Obake later. (CSC: Empathy + Diplomacy)