Homecoming (Shugo + Invites)

[Valo Morei]

I'm sick of all this fighting...

The thought was all that ran through Valo's head as he stepped out into the rain, pressing a button to shut the receiver on his ear off. Hailey would let him know if he was needed, but for now, he wanted to cherish the sound of the raindrops hitting the earth. Putting on his jacket and his hands in his pockets, hood on his head, he started to walk, not even sure what his destination was.

But what else is there for me to do at this point...?

He lost track of how long he had been fighting the same battle. How much time had passed since the same battle had started at 552. How the time was flying by and he was only getting older. How there seemed to be no end in sight. How he was finally wearing down, not physically, but mentally. He had just grown tired of it finally. He felt like he was fighting a losing battle, and an unescapable one at that. It wouldn't end until either /he/ or Valo died...

I wonder if it's pointless to keep searching... Jayne...

Ever since her disappearance, he had done all he could to try to find her, but to no avail. He wondered if she was okay, he knew how she always found herself in trouble. Maybe she had learned to take care of herself though. If she was okay, he wondered if she still thought of him. He was still sorry he ever got her involved in all of this, that he had left her without a word to ensure her safety. But now that the battle had reached its intermission, he couldn't find her no matter how much he looked. He saw her only once, and her cold gaze had pierced right through him, he still remembered it. It was on a night just like this, actually...

"Wait! Stop! Somebody help!"

Valo snapped out of his thoughts and looked up. In front of him was a man sprinting in his direction, what looked like a bag in his hand. There was a girl behind him, running behind slowly, she looked like she was wearing heels and couldn't keep up, still screaming for help. Valo caught on instantly, and when the guy came close to him, in one swift motion he had grabbed the bag from the guy's grasp before he could even realize what was going on and kept walking like nothing happened. The man looked down after a couple seconds before panicking, and turned towards Valo, who just paid him no mind, but held the bag down by his side as if to taunt the guy. In anger, he charged at Valo from behind, and Valo moved his head to the side to dodge the guy's fist. He quickly reached up to grab the guy's arm with his free hand and pulled him forward and over him, throwing him onto the ground. The guy groaned in pain and looked up at Valo in anger, and Valo merely responded by staring at him, his eyes shining with a red hue. The guy became scared and climbed up to his feet, running across the street scared and screaming.

Idiot.

Calming down and his eyes returning to their blue state, he let out a sigh and looked towards the girl who had finally caught up, holding out the purse to her, finally realizing how heavy it was. She was panting and started to complain about her heels, but reached for the bag and started to thank Valo. But something about her distracted him, something about her appearance... "...It was no problem. Just be careful...[/i]" He said to her before just walking past her and continuing on his way.

Deja vu...this was the same thing that happened when I last saw her...

The girl was wearing office attire, and had blue hair tied up in a ponytail. They looked alike, but there was something odd about this girl. It was too uncanny. He was so lost in thought that he almost didn't hear the footsteps coming at him from behind, and he jumped to the side quickly to narrowly avoid a knife. It sliced through part of his jacket, but he managed to avoid direct injury. Grunting quietly, he looked at his assailant and managed to duck in time to avoid another slash and pushed his hands in front of him forcibly, activating his Qi to push himself aware from the person. Once there was finally distance between them, he got a good look at who attacked him and saw the blue haired girl holding a long knife, smirking at him.

"Making myself look like her almost worked...doesn't matter now. We got you right where we want you, Sky Dragon."

A large group walked out of the alleyway behind him. A quick glance told him there were at least a couple dozen. Looking across the street, he saw the man from before coming back with another group, and yet another had appeared behind the woman. Several of his opponents had weapons, but from the looks of it, no guns...to part of his relief. He was virtually surrounded. He didn't know how they knew him, or how they found him, but the Sky Dragon title was something that he left behind at 552, which could only really mean one thing... Haru...

"How dare you try to use her against me like that...[/i]"

Valo clenched his fists. The girl began to laugh. His opponents closed in from every side. His gaze didn't break. One of the men on his side attempted to bring a bat down on Valo from above, and Valo stepped back quickly, bringing his fist up to smash into the guy's face before using that same arm to elbow one of the guy's approaching from the back of him in the face. He ducked underneath another bat swing and caused one of the guys to hit one of their own allies, and Valo planted his feet before uppercutting the one who had swung the bat. As the guy flew up into the air, Valo grabbed the guy by the foot and pivoted his body, planting his other foot as he threw the guy into a few of the ones running at him. Another one of them tried to jab at him with a knife, and Valo sidestepped, the knife slicing right past his face, hitting the receiver on his ear, before slamming his fist into the man's gut, sending him flying back and causing him to lose his grip on the knife. Valo quickly backflipped from that spot and kicked the knife while it was still in the air, hitting the back of it and causing it to fly forward, meeting its mark in the leg of another of his opponents, who fell to the ground and began to scream in pain. Two more of them came from either side, their fists flying at him. He reached his arms out and caught them in his hands, standing his ground. He didn't give them a chance to pull away as he grabbed their wrists, turning his body quickly to lift them off of the ground, spinning several times to build momentum before tossing them at more of the large group around him. It was at this point that his opponents were hesitant to just charge him head on. He looked over at the blue haired girl again, who was playing with the knife. More of the men appeared behind her, reinforcements.

"If you know that I'm the Sky Dragon...then you also know that you can't touch me, no matter how hard you try.[/i]"

While his speed and strength far surpassed these peons, he wasn't sure how long he could keep this up. They were sure to overwhelm him with numbers at some point, if he didn't take care of them quickly...and with the receiver out of commission, he couldn't call for reinforcements himself.

[Amakusa Takehiro]

[/i], and following would be a sickening CRACK! Should they turn to see the source - which was certainly likely - they would see the giant who had disappeared for a time, standing atop one of the suits. Slowly, he would rise from a crouch to his full, imposing height, cracking his knuckles and popping his neck. He would say nothing, but give a smirk in Valo's direction. Some reunion, huh?[/ul]

[beige]"Well, if it isn't the Sky Dragon... long time no see, Valo."[/beige]

[/i] And the one standing there would have his back to Takehiro, a shorter Asian man - though not by much at all - would cross his arms, stepping off of the two. He grinned, and his demeanor made it quite obvious that he had some relation to the giant.[/ul]

[beige]"You seem like you could use a hand."[/beige]
[orange]"These men seem weak, Uncle."[/orange]

[beige]"Tell me you haven't lost your edge."[/beige]

[/teal]

[Date Masamune™]

I always knew how to make an entrance. People said it was often too flashy, but what can I say? I like flashy. That's why I raced towards the outer wall of the crowd of people that had gathered. As I came in close, two people from the outside would attempt to throw punches at me. I smirked. The best way to fight a crowd was from the center. At least that's what I always did and it worked out for me so far. As their firsts drew closer, I would lean backwards and move into a slide tackle type position. Luckily from the momentum that I had gathered while I ran at my enemies and due to the rain, I was able to slip right past them. As I slide between people to the center of the crowd, I would put my arms out and hold them there. The electrical charge and the heat energy dissipating from my vambraces would hit the legs of some unfortunate people. It wasn't enough to completely take them down, but immobilize them for a few moments.

"You two?!"

Needless to say I was pretty surprised. Turned out my bestfriend and one of the best teachers that 552 had ever seen were in the middle of this fight. I kind of smirked. It felt good to be fighting alongside people like them again. People that I knew I could trust. The Paladins were fine and all, but they were gone. These guys... hell I couldn't get rid of them if I tried.

I would assume my fighting stance. My right leg forward with my foot pointed towards the enemy and my left leg back with my foot pointed out towards the side. If they were brought together, they would make a right angle. You know, just so that you can picture that better. With my knees bent, my left arm would curl up to guard my torso and face, meanwhile my right arm would be forward to attack. I kept my hands open, but my fingers were curled halfway to forming a fist. That was one mistake I noticed in a lot of fighters, they closed their hands into tightly balled up fists. If someone balls up their fists, they've ultimately limited their moves. The few seconds it takes to open your fist to do something, could straddle the options of life or death. Keeping your fist open allows for more options and one can just simple close their fist in the course of an attack.

"So do you guys look for trouble or does it just follow you around?"

I joked outwardly to my old comrades. Waiting for someone to approach, I would shoot out my fist as a punch aiming to break their nose. From there, I would pivot on my right foot, bringing my left elbow around in a circle to strike someone in the jaw. From there my stance had changed. My footing was reversed, and as for my arms, my left was out with my forearm up vertically and my right arm was back with my fist being held by my side tightly. At once I would push out a strong attack filled with electricity and heat energy. The force of the punch from my right fist as I shot out and rotated my body with it for a follow through, would be enough to knock one man straight into two others and knock the three of them down to the ground. With one of them out for the count, and the other two dazed.