Post by Lucien DeChain on Mar 11, 2013 21:59:47 GMT -8
Delilah's Post
It had taken two days to get together the resources she would need to find and infiltrate this tower. Now, only two days before 'Unfettered' would give Athena his answer, she felt she was ready. Body and mind were set on the task before her, so that she might bewholly committed to her undertaking.
Infiltrate the tower and locate the stolen fruit.
Vague, but without cameras or other more advanced forms of intel, her options were limited.
Currently, she found herself poised outside the tower, crouching behind the remains of a car and a partially collapsed building. Beside her was...Nick, of all people. She needed someone long range while she went close up, in case that became an issue. He also knew when to shut up, so that was a point in his favour.
They were both armed. Delilah had all three of her knives, her sword, the new boots, the earring, tool belt, C.F. badge...everything she could fit on her person, she had. Nick was dressed similarly to her, in a black sleeveless shirt with form fitting cargo pants, a quiver and long bow were slung over his shoulder. He was a talented sniper, this one, but his real skill with the bow came in close quarters combat.
So, they waited, for three hours watching the goings on of the building in silence, looking for a way in that would let them go unnoticed for as long as possible. They also were on the lookout for guard changes, ideas of the enemy's numbers and whatever else that could be useful.
So far, it had been...quieter than she had expected. But the Japanese style tower was apparently a legend around here. The sort that made her hungry to go inside.
"Looks clear." she would turn her head to look at Nick. "Cover us from the outside while Luc and I go in."
"Gotcha." he gave her a wink.
Delilah turned to Lucien. "You ready?"
((OOC: Delilah's stats
Str: 42
Dex: 53
Con: 48
Int; 52
Wis: 44
Cha: 37))
Leon's Post
<<< This 6 floor monstrosity is known or more known as an urban legend. Some scarcely believe it to be real. But the rumor had made its self known. The legend speaks of a ten floor japanese building guarded by fighters of a calibur never seen before and making it past the first floor is an achievement in itself. But why someone would want to dare challange such a beast? Well the prize spoken of what happens when you reach the top and defeat the tower is enough to corrupt the purist heart. Its speaks of riches and power beyond ones wildest imaginations.
The stake out gets the appearance down a simple way, and every now and then someone would walk a balcony, but they did not appear to be guards. If local talk where anything to prove, each floor was still guarded by a single fighter, and even Barker's men don't toy around with the building.
Lucien's Post
Lucien found it rather off-putting that his commanding officer would bring him along on a mission of this scale, but he didn't complain. After all, Lucien wanted to help in whatever way he could, and if that meant retrieving a piece of fruit from an old castle, well, so be it. He had his new staff with him, and since it was a slightly cold night, Lucien decided to wore that comfy black hoody that he got from... Where did I get that again?
Lucien, when asked, would give a nod, and say "Yeah, ready." He was kind of nervous about what they'd find in there, but having Delilah with him gave him a certain sense of comfort that not that many people could have said to experience. That is, if anyone got close enough to kill him, Delilah would kill them first.
{OOC: Lucien's stats:
Strength : 8
Dexterity : 21
Constitution : 14
Intelligence :25
Wisdom : 23
Charisma : 13}
Leon's Post
They would find only one entrance on the first floor if that was their aim, but many small paper lanterns on the inside made it at least bright enough inside to see clearly if they so chose.
Delilah's Post
Nodding, Delilah broke away from cover and strode up to the building calmly. Now that she was closer, it appeared to be a gauntlet of sorts, like something one would see inMortal Kombat a video game. The idea both amused and excited her.
A test of her skills. What fun.
She went inside, eyes soft, face hard, and always ready.
Lucien's Post
Lucien followed his captain in, remembering the rumours about this place. If they were any indication of what they would be facing, well, Lucien would be ready. If he were to have a game face, it would have been on right now.
He stayed vigilant beside Delilah as they walked in to the entrance of the first floor, the soft light of the paper lanterns allowing his eyes to adjust without strain. Lucien scanned the room, trying to see whatever threats lay before them.
Leon's Post
Simply it was what appeared to be a young man no older than sixteen sitting on a grey stone throne. He was wearing a dark blue school uniform and had light blue hair. His eyes where almost violate in color, but he did not seem strained. His uniform was well kept except for a few rips in the sleeves.
He looked over at them as they entered the first floor as a smile slowly crept accross his face.
"Challangers? Even now? Or esspecially now that power is truely needed?"
Delilah's Post
Her eyes immediately settled on a young looking man with blue hair and bright eyes. The uniform threw her off a bit (who wore uniforms when school was no longer in session?).
"The latter," she said briskly, still striding towards him, though her pace had slowed. "Though I do so love a challenge."
Delilah would stand before him, "Which of us would you face?" she asked, gesturing to herself and Lucien. "Are there any rules?"
Lucien's Post
Lucien strode forward alongside her, slightly perturbed at the notion that the man would pick his opponent, though he wouldn't let it show on his face. He wasn't just little obsessive-compulsive Lucien right now, he was a Crow, and a representative, and he would act as such. He kept his gaze upon the odd looking young man, noting that the uniform could use a good tailoring. While Delilah was talking, Lucien would stay silent. She was better at the talking thing, anyways. He would simply stand strong, with staff in hand.
Leon's Post
The man would stand and begin checking his hands and sleeves before spitting off to the side.
"You can pick whoever fights me, one on one or two on one. You can even have one fight me and the other go up to the next floor its up to you. You may use whatever weapons you have with you, but we can do the same. Lets just hope you know how to take a few punches."
Delilah's Post
Delilah glanced sideways at Lucien, sizing him up for a moment before facing forward at the gentleman with a slightly raised eyebrow.
"Son, I hope you know how to take a few. Both of us should make quick work of this." She popped her knuckles restlessly. "Delilah Black. This is Lucien Dechain. Luc, watch and learn."
Though she sounded uncharacteristically cocky, Delilah knew better than to underestimate her opponents. This was the first fighter of a challenge tower. He was used to getting beaten up by people stronger than he was. He'd likely learned a few tricks as well. It would be foolish to assume she could beat him just like that.
But still, she kept up the charade. She would have the first go of it, deciding to take her hits first and gauge the opponent. Delilah darted in, pivoting on her right foot for a high round-house kick towards the young man's head.
Leon's Post
The guy watched, his eyes widening as Delilah's attack came in, he could only put up a simple defence raising both arms to block the incoming attack, he was hit hard enough to be picked up and thrown across the room, landing he'd use his left arm to push up off the ground to get back to his feet. His arms burning. She outmatched him pretty well.
((Str: 15
Dex: 20
Con: 25
Wis: 15
Int: 15
Cha: 20))
Lucien's Post
Lucien would look sideways at Delilah, somewhat perfectly timed, but somewhat surprised by her aggressive confidence. It made him feel better, too, though.
So, when she darted in and opened the fight with a roundhouse kick, Lucien thought that he should take the same sort of aggressive strategy for his own. He ran forward as the man flew backwards, aiming for his new landing position.
He would lunge at the man just as he was recovering to his feet, planting his feet at a position to the left and slightly back of the man, and swung the back end of his stick in a large arc, gathering lots of momentum to stirke at the man's achilles tendons, hoping to sweep the man right back offhis feet.
Leon's Post
The guy saw Lucien coming in, and simply slid his legs further apart in a horse stance, taking the blow full force to his left ankle solely instead of both, the guy would then spring towards Lucien twisting in the air aiming to grab with both hands onto Lucien's shoulders, tugging himself in and probably Luc off balance he'd aim to drive his right knee into Luciens stomach.
Delilah's Post
And such was the bane of fighting a pair of bonafide ninjas. Ninjutsu's idea of 'honour' was making it home at the end of the night. Fighting dirty was how they trained; hair pulling, biting, pinching, scratching, eye gouging...
...groin kicks.
Delilah was above nothing, and she was very much okay with that. Thus, when the man began to grab Lucien for a knee to the gut, she shifted behind their opponent and brought her own knee up...into the poor man's groin.
Whether or not it connected, the position behind him (as well as his entanglement with Lucien at present) would allow for her to lash her arms around his throat, aiming to choke him out quickly.
Leon's Post
Delilahs kick to his groin caused anger to flare over pain, and being hit that hard a fighter that has been in street brawls like himself knew thirty seconds was all you had until the real pain hit, but this was all if Lucien was caught in the grab in the first place, so continueing this assumption, the guy's hands would grab hold tight to the cloth as he let out his yell of pain he'd also aim to clam his teeth onto Lucien's neck. A street fighter was just that, a street fighter.
He knew martial arts sure, but style only got you so far in a real fight. Now should delilah start chocking him he'd bit down harder aiming to rip Lucien's throat out should the choking continue. He was calm about ti because choking was a simple matter you are cutting off the air supply to the brain, it was when you began choking the blood supply to the brain when you need to panic.
Lucien's Post
Lucien was caught in the grab, but had enough time to realize that the knee was coming for his midsection that he would deflect it out of the way, extending the man's knee past Lucien's body, giving Delilah a pretty much perfect target for...
WHACK - AAAAH!
The man screamed, dug in tighter to him, and tried to bite down on his neck. Oh Fuck! Lucien would inwardly curse as the man bit down into the side of his neck. As seething pain flew through his body, training took over, and he lifted both his hands to attempt to gouge out the man's eyes.
Whether the man released his bite to scream or not, Lucien would, still partially supporting him, swing his body around and, if Delilah would go along with the movement, he would lead the man's head to the ground, thumbs still pressed into his eye sockets. If the bite followed to the ground, Lucien would also attempt to wedge his elbow into the man's collarbone in order to create a slight amount of distance between his neck and the man's teeth.
Leon's Post
The impact and elbow move would be enough to rip the guy from Luciens neck, teeth scraping and pulling skin off as it did so, nto deep enough to be life threatening, but it'd be a bitch for a while. If Delilah was still hanging on he'd reach up to grab her fingers from hsi neck, but pass out shortly after.
Delilah's Post
Delilah dropped the man as he passed out, slowly exhaling as she looked over at Lucien with a grimace. That wound could be problematic. She reached into her back pocket and produced a mostly clean rag she carried with her around the shop. She would hand it off to Lucien.
"Nice on the eye gouging. Keep pressure on that until it clots." Delilah would glance around for a moment until she found the stair case, starting up it without a glance backward.
Every bit of her training told her to go back and kill the man she and Lucien had just fought. But she thought that was unnecessary. For whatever reason, it seemed wrong to slaughter these fighters senselessly when there was a great power at stake. Killing people who weren't really threatening her life was not the way she wanted to gain this power. So, she left the man lying there as she ascended the staircase.
Leon's Post
On the next floor would be a black man wearing a dark purple tank top and black cargo pants. A white belt and black shoes finished the look.
"You defeated Ovan?"
He'd look them over before going to his seat and pulling out two small candies.
"Eat these, it will heal your wounds and replenish your energy."
Lucien's Post
Lucien would sigh as the man released his bite, and slipped into unconsciousness. He sat there for a full three seconds, pressing the man's eyes around their sockets, just in case...
A rag was thrown in his face, and he realized that he was probably bleeding. I have something to help this, too... He thought as he reached into his pocket pulling out an alcohol towelette and pressing it hard against the wound, hissing as the alcohol sterilized it. No sense getting tetanus or anything. Afterwards, he placed Delilah's cloth on the wound, and ran up the stairs after her.
Lucien stared at the dark-skinned man, ready for anything. A sneak attack? A hidden blade? A booby trap? Nope, a candy. Staring at it, he decided the man seemed genuine enough to want a fair fight against healthy opponents, so Lucien took him at his words, and popped the candy into his mouth.
Leon's Post
Luciens wounds heal up after a few seconds without so much as a scar or red spot. He even somehow feels better than when he came in. (Con +10 for five replies)
Delilah's Post
Delilah, who hadn't even so much as been touched in the last fight, pocketed the candy for later. It wouldn't do to ignore such hospitality. She had managed to come across one of these on her own earlier in the year and currently resided in the same pocket.
"Thank you." She took a couple of steps towards him, eyeing him up and down. Then she looked behind her at Lucien. "I think you can handle this one, yes?"
If Lucien obliged,Delilah would nod politely to the black man and head upstairs for the third challenger.
Lucien's Post
Lucien looked to Delilah, staring for a moment before nodding. Before she took off, Lucien would say "Good luck, Delilah. I'll catch up with you in a moment."
Once she was gone, Lucien would step forward to a fair distance away from the black man. As Lucien knew fair well, size was no measure of strength. So, though he was alone now, he would still remain confident.
"My name is Lucien DeChain." He would stand perpendicular to him, his arms relaxed at his sides, both hands holding his staff, which was pointing directly at the man.
Leon's Post
Delilah would reach the third floor and a man in his early twenties would be standing there, blonde spiked up hair, blue eyes, a white headband to keep the hair out of his eyes. Green tank top, blue jeans and regular running shoes. He had his arms folded and a fuck off look on his face.
Downstairs with Lucien the man would nod.
"My name is Ralph."
The man would then charge up with a yell.
"Strong Burst!"
And the acceleration of his punches would cause air pockets to shoot out towards Lucien like bullets.
Str: 25
Dex: 25
Con: 20
Int: 15
Wis: 20
Cha: 20
Delilah's Post
Delilah grinned as she met the next challenger, the look on his face told her everything. And she found it rather amusing.
She came to stand before this man after sauntering towards him, still smiling widely.
"I suppose you're not the kind for chit-chat?"
Before he could reply (if he even wanted to), Delilah would nod as if to herself.
"Good. I'd hate for you to waste my time."
She slipped into a small Ichi-monji ko kamae stance with her left arm forward. One foot was turned at a 45 degree angle to the outside while her foreleg was pointed towards him. The distribution of her weight was a perfect 60%, 40% ratio. She held her hands in front of her, right arm held out, left arm drawn back in a close guard.
She winked at him, beckoning.
Lucien's Post
Lucien would dodge the punches in amazement, seeing the man's speed was incredible. He decided that facing this opponent head-on wasn't the best course of action.
So, instead, he would weave around the flurry of punches, stepping forward and back, hitting backfists into the man's forearms when he could, and eventually would find himself at the man's right side, facing him. From there, one of his fists would come spiraling downwards into the side of the man's ribs with a considerable amount of force, while the other hand, holding the staff, would slam into the side of the man's head, staff splayed along his forearm, pushing the man's balance onto his opposite foot.
If all so far went to plan, Lucien would try to kick out the man's close leg, since there would have been no weight left on it.
Leon's Post
The guy wouldn't change his look as he unfolded his arms and walked toward her. He'd continue just doing that unless otherwise hindered.
Ralph was not happy with this situation, though he was able to deflect the punch to his vulnerable ribs, not the higher attack that pushed him off balance before he had a leg kicked out from under him. He'd quickly roll back, not going to his feet instead just going to a kneeling position where he'd have clasped his hands together.
"Strong Rushmore!"
His body would be prepelled along the ground on one knee and foot in a slide as his hands caught fire like a spear of flame.
Delilah's Post
As he came into range, Delilah would poise her body as if to throw a punch...and then she would drop, going for a leg sweep to kick the man's ankles out from under him.
If this weren't successful, it would bring her back to a standing position with a light spin almost immediately.
If it did work, she would pounce, jumping to her feet and arching her leg high up and over her head, aiming to drop her heel down on his chest before he hit the ground, compounding the impact. This would also give her a place to stand on; pressing her foot down onto his sternum, she would pivot, aiming a kick for the side of his head as his head bounced back up off the ground.
Leon's Post
The man would watch as she moved, as she dropped down he would raise his leading heel up as her leg would be caught under it, he'd simply grind his heel into her leg.
(OOC: Str: 40
Dex: 20
Con: 35
Int: 15
Wis: 35
Cha: 25)
Lucien's Post
Lucien would position his pole end on the ground, getting a high grip with both hands, and would run and swing himself into the air, using the staff as a polevault, avoiding the so-called strong rushmore altogether. From the air, he would position himself to land right on top of Ralph, bringing his both knees up to hit the man's jaw with the forward momentum from the jump.
If this worked, Lucien would follow the man down, using his shin bone to grind into the man's throat and turn his head onto his side.
Delilah's Post
His leg pinned hers with ease, crushing it under his weight. She felt none of the pain, but kept her momentum moving; shifting her hands around behind her, she performed a handstand, spinning the rest of her body up to attempt to kick out at his face with her free leg.
If she had ANY IDEA who she was fighting right now, she might have been a little awestruck. But Delilah never believed in the internet. Or learning about other schools.
((ooc: 1/2 physical nulls used))
Leon's Post
Ralph caught the hit in the jaw and fell back as Lucien went through his motions. Ralph however had both hands burst into flames.
"S-strong BANANZA!"
Fire balls would burst in every direction exploding on contact with everything they hit as Ralph would reach to grab anything on Lucien.
Delilah's foot would make contact with the guy's face, taking a step or two back a red mark left on his cheek and blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.
"That was pretty good."
Delilah's Post
Following the speed from her kick, Delilah was able to get back to her feet onceAndre the man stepped away. She made a quick flourish with her hands at his words, as if to bow...
...and then it turned into a punch, aimed for his solar plexus. An elbow from the same arm would immediately follow for his ribcage. Her left hand came around to his floating rib, trying to grasp it through his skin with her viselike fingers and haul him up slightly on his tip toes. Meanwhile, her right hand would retract, twist, and then attempt to slam into the centre of his chest with a palm strike.
Lucien's Post
Lucien's eyes would widen as he heard the man screaming his attack. So close...! Lucien had little time to do anything.
So, what he would end up doing, well, he didn't quite like it himself. But he would quickly plant the butt end of his staff into the man's open mouth as he finished saying the words, jumping straight from his shins into the air, basically doing a one-handed cartwheel on top of the vertical staff, which was in the Ralph's dirty mouth. This would leave him enough distance to react to the fireballs.
He would remove the staff from the gross food hole of his opponent, swinging it in a big vertical circle and slamming right down into one of the fireballs that was directly above Ralph's head.
Leon's Post
Delilah's first two attacks would hit, before Andre would back peddle and twist throwing one hell of a punch. Andre's psychokinetic energy powering his muscles making the punch very powerful.
(Str: 70)
It was aimed right for her face.
Ralph's head went right to the floor as the staff was used to pin him to the floor. He choked a bit when it was removed and the staff going through the fireball which exploded and hitting him on the head.
Ralph would roll away as quickly as possible.
Delilah's Post
The punch and her close range connected with easy brutality. Delilah was blown backwards off her feet from the blow. The fact that she felt no pain allowed her to roll up and out of the slide, back onto her feet.
She laughed, obviously unscathed...lucky she ate that fruit of Leon's.
"I'm sorry, was that supposed to hurt?"
Yes, yes it was supposed to and her nose would be broken right now. But she thought it might be fun if she riled him up a little.
((OOC: 2/2 nulls used))
Leon's Post
"You where actually on my good side.... I suggest you try and stay there."
Andre's eyes would narrow slightly as she was beginning to irritate him. He'd use the psychokinetic energy to inhance the muscles in his legs as he made a single push off the ground to fling himself forward throwing a front stomping kick for her midsection.
(Str: 70)
Lucien's Post
While Ralph was rolling, Lucien would chase after the man, lunging at the man's back, and placing his stick horizontally across the man's throat, grabbing it from both sides, pushing the man's head down. He was essentially using the stick to choke the man while he was in a full headlock.
In Lucien's mind, a man who always calls out his attacks has to be able to speak in order to attack. So, cutting off air and blood to his brain, well, that was a valid defense.
Knowing he had this man on the ropes, the threw in a quick kick or two to the man's back, waiting for the choke out to take effect.
Leon's Post
Lucien's attacks work and eventually Ralph falls unconcious.
Delilah's Post
She was right, riling him up WAS fun! But maybe fun wasn't the best thing to be having right now. This guy was intense.
He lunged at her for a kick to her midsection, which she was fortunate to be fast enough to dodge it. She slipped slightly off to the side at just the right moment, letting the blonde man move past her...and then, with his back exposed, she would attack, aiming a strong punch for the back of his head, right where his head joined with his spine. This would knock out anyone else, but it was obvious these were not regular fighters.
Best case, it did knock him out, but she wasn't betting on it. Worst case, he dodged it and killed her with those weirdly strong limbs of his. More likely, the hit would find a home and daze him for a bit
Leon's Post
Andre did take the hit, it bent him forward and he used his abs like a rubber band as he came upright and twisted throw a long punch for her gut. Pulling that back quickly he'd aim a high hale marry for her face. Some of the blond hair on the back of his head began turning red.
Lucien's Post
Lucien, satisfied with his victory, searched Ralph's seat, trying to find any more of those candies. He wasn't injured much, but they would sure help later on...
After that, he would race up the stairs to find Delilah finding a blonde kid. It looked like she was holding her own, but it also looked way too intense for Lucien to just jump in. Besides, Delilah wouldn't like him helping at this point, anyways. So, Lucien would watch, and wait for her to tag him in.
Delilah's Post
His strike struck home, and this time, she DID feel the blow. It took the wind right out of her lungs and left her legs weak.
CRACK
His fist collided with her jaw and the room spun for a moment. It was a good thing her body wouldn't let her think about the pain at the moment. She was pretty damn sure he had knocked one of her molars loose and blood was filling her mouth rapidly.
She let her body carry the force of his hit, rechanneled it and aimed a baseball bat kick to the inside of his knee and then an elbow to the temple as she twisted her hips around in a circle to gather momentum.
Leon's Post
Andre would take the hits as he turned in a small spin throwing a twisting punch for her chest.
Delilah's Post
She caved her body inwards to absorb as much of the impact as she could, but she felt a little crunch when his hand met her sternum. A feral growl moved past her lips and she seized his arm, bracing the elbow inward with her palm to bar the joint and catching his wrist with the other, bending it in the opposite direction of his elbow to apply leverage on the shoulder, and then using the rest of his momentum, throw him past her.
This time, Delilah would jump into the air, aiming a drop kick for the already injured back of the man's head, which, hopefully, would be the end of THAT.
Leon's Post
Andre would go to the ground as he was thrown, sliding on his stomach, hitting the ground and throwing himself into a standing position he would turn his head back hearing the motion of clothing behind him and bend forward, extending a leg backwards to slip past her leg if possible and catch her on the chin, though her kick would also hit him in the head as aimed for and he would hit the ground, still conscious, just injured and tired.
Delilah's Post
Her teeth clacked together as his foot connected with her jaw, sending black and white dots all over her vision. She hit the ground hard, break falling at the same time the man himself fell. She lay there for a moment, breathing, wincing. Then she sat up, spitting a wad of blood and a tooth out into her palm. Grimacing, she reached back in and jammed the tooth back into place, took one of the candies out of her pocket and tossed it back.
Once the healing kicked in, Delilah got to her feet and looked over at Lucien,as if surprised he were there. She wiped the last of the blood from the corner of her mouth and gestured to him. "Glad..to see you made it," she made a face as her ribs popped back into place. Ow. She waved for himto follow her up the stairs to the next room.
Lucien's Post
Lucien stared as her rib relocated and her tooth reattached. Damn, his captain was pretty awesome. "Glad to see you made it, too."
He followed her up the stairs, not slowing down, ready for anything, but slightly hesitant. He turned to Delilah just as they got to the top. "Let's stay together for this one, ma'am?"
It was more of a question, since he didn't give orders to her. She, of course had the final say, and even that was dependent on what awaited them on the fourth floor...
Leon's Post
Standing in the middle of the room reading was a young twenty something female with long brown hair. She had a yellow hoodie unzipped over a dark blue shirt, blue jeans and some shoes.
She'd look up with a bored yet serious face and solemnly spoke alittle monotone.
"This is where you stop climbing."
Delilah's Post
Delilah would just nod at Lucien's request."I think that's probably for the best."
Upon arriving at the fourth floor, they came face to face with a young woman, perhaps a little younger than Delilah herself. She reminded her vaguely of Olesya (probably the attire). The raven haired woman would lift an eyebrow in response to her words.
"You're welcome to try and stop me."
She wasn't here for power's sake. She was here for her friend. Her commander.
And no one would deter her from that path.
Her hand went behind her back and she drew the katana there, bringing the blade up over her head...and back down, as though making a cut to an invisible enemy.
Though the actual blade was no where near the girl, the wave of energy that followed it would be enough to bowl the girl over easily if it connected. Even having her deal with it would be enough for Lucien to slip in and start his work on the girl.
((ooc: -10 cha for using Shinju's special ability))
Lucien's Post
Lucien, seeing Delilah pull out her katana, instantly knew what he needed to do. He would sprint forward, behind the blast, and keep himself hidden behind it for as long as possible before drifting slightly off to the side.
He would carry his weight and momentum forward, and with both hands slam the tip of the staff upwards into her lower jaw. Then, as she rose into the air, he would adjust his grip on the staff to a one-handed grip, lifted up his back leg and pushed himself forward, 'stabbing' the staff into the center of her chest as she fell.
If all went to plan, pefect. If not, well, things happen. But either way, Lucien would finish the movement by using the forward momentum from the staff stab to tuck himself into a roll, turning as he comes up to face her. He would be behind her, at a 45 degree angle, in a perfect positionfor a flanking bonus.
Leon's Post
Min keeps her calm dimeanor as the blade energy flies in. Sticking a hand out its obsorbed, spotting Lucien she points her other hand and fires the blade energy at him.
Lucien's Post
Lucien was just about to come in to do that swinging staff attack, but just as he went to swing the end to the girl's lower jaw, Delilah's energy blade was fired back at him. He would swing his staff up just in time to slightly redirect the blast, but he was still hit with about half of it. Because of the nature of the attack, it didn't leave any bruising or cuts, but it HURT.
Lucien was pushed back by it, sliding on his feet backwards until he caught himself, and started forward again, trying to get behind her like the original planned action. Getting to a fair distance away, he would dive-roll in an arc past her and come up behind her, staff in hand, and ready for, hopefully, a little better strategy from Delilah...
Delilah's Post
Welp. Should have expected that, especially after the last guy she fought. Shit.
Though she was impressed with her little cohort. Took it like a champ, he did. With a scowl, Delilah sheathed her sword and cleared the distance between her and the girl in a few quick strides, pivoting on her heel and aiming a round house for her head.
Leon's Post
(Str: 50
Dex: 50
Con: 50
Int: 25
Wis: 55
Cha: 50)
Min watched Lucien for the briefest of moments catching his plan rather easily, instead her eyes shifted to the dark haired woman on the attack.
Min would lift a hand in attempt to catch the shin/calph of the oncoming kick, shoot a free foot out to kick out the ankle of Delilah pushing and twisting as she retracted the leg leaning inwards to grab with her other hand and force Delilah's body to bend.
That same tripping leg as it was pulled back would now be hurling out towards Lucien to keep him away in a back kick. Either aimed for him or his staff if it where in swing.
Lucien's Post
Lucien would see the kick coming back at him, as a forward-backward kick combination was pretty easy to telegraph. He would narrowly avoid getting hit with it, instead using his staff to stop the kick from retracting by placing it on the achilles tendon, and pulling inwards to hug the staff with his body, holding the staff in place with his forearms, clasping his hands together on the top of her foot, and wrenching upwards. Essentially, putting her foot in a guillotine lock.
He would then try to manipulate her balance by tugging her foot from side to side, hoping that she would fall to the ground. Hopefully, what he was doing would be clear to Delilah. His ribs were aching, and his neck was still throbbing from the energy blade.
Delilah's Post
The girl caught her calf with ease and, unable to shift from her current position, her leg was drawn in towards the girl by her ankle, forcing her to bend her knee. There was nothing she could really do about it; She was going to fall forward. But, she could still salvage this if...
...There! An opening!
Whether or not Lucien's guillotine foot-trap-thing would work, Delilah's hands would lash out as her body caved forward, grabbing the girl by her hair and yanking it as hard as possible towards herself (to make the lock more painful, if Lucien's move was successful). As she fell back, Delilah would fall slightly off to the side, pointing the girl's head through the gap and THREW her head down, trying to get her head to hit the floor. Immediately, Delilah would follow up with an elbow aimed straight for the back of the girl's head, aimed to crush.
Leon's Post
Min would hiss a bit as Lucien grabbed her ankle, and when her hair was pulled, she would lean forward some as Delilah was pushed to the ground. Min would let go with one hand planting it to the floor so as not to actually let her head touch the ground, she'd be leaning fully forward and with a show of strength lift the light anarexic looking boy into the air twisting her lower body slightly and flinging it hard towards the ground to break Lucien's grip... Or just break Lucien. There wasn;t much she could do about the elbow at this time.
Delilah's Post
The second her elbow landed, Delilah deftly moved her body, kicking out at the kneecap of the girl's planted leg before attempting to straddle her, digging her knees painfully into her upper arms. Keeping one hand firmly in her hair and pushing her head to the ground, the other hand would begin pounding the back of the girl's head into the floor until she was unconcious.
Whatever Lucien did at this point was entirely up to him, as Delilah's back was turned.
Lucien's Post
Lucien yelped slightly as he was flailed around like a... Well, flail. When he hit the ground with a thud, the impact would be enough to release his grip on her ankle. Trying to recover quickly, he evaluated his position, and the position of Delilah. I'm in a blind spot. Well then.
While Delilah was on top of her, back turned, Lucien would scramble forwards, trying not to draw too much attention as he crawled towards, well, the girl's legs, which were spread precariously enough so that Lucien could see LET'S JUST LEAVE IT AT THAT.
What he would ACTUALLY do is wait til the girl flailed her leg so that it was on her side, and when the position was right, he would secure her knee by placing the staff overtop of it, and with the other hand he would summon all his might as he would punch her on the inside of her upper leg, hoping to shatter the girl's femur.
This had gone on long enough, and Lucien was sick of this girl.
Leon's Post
Min would take the hit to the head, lifting the leg she had planted off the ground using the impact to her head to begin her forward flip with on hand still on the ground it would look like a forward hand spring, only Min would twist as her legs came around bringing her knee's down hopefully on Delilah.
Though she didn't expect Lucien grabbing her, which kept her upside down, the hit to the upper thigh hurt, but she tensed enough the impact didn't do anything other than give her a good charlie horse.
Delilah's Post
With Lucien holding the girl's legs above her head, delilah had time to roll up to her feet. She would begin to kick out at the girls head and arms, hoping to make her crumple and finally hit the ground
Lucien's Post
Lucien would hold on for dear life, using all his strength to try and keep her legs secure. If Delilah's moves were working, it wouldn't be much longer now, so Lucien just wanted to get it done.
If he were to find a single bit of exposed skin, perhaps between her jeans and her shirt if it was riding up, he would take a deep breath, prepare himself for the inevitable assault on his brain from his disorder, and would bite the girl wherever he could, clamping down and breaking skin.
Leon's Post
There was no need fpr Lucien to bite, cause from the angle and the vicious onslaught Min eventaully passed out.
Delilah's Post
Delilah dropped the girl as gently as she could onto her back. She exhaled long and slow, pushing her hair out of her eyes. 'Alright. Four down, two to go." She reached across and gave Lucien's shoulder a squeeze. "Sorry about that. If you need another one of those candies, ask."
She started up the stairs to the next floor, anticipation building in her chest.
Lucien's Post
Lucien relaxed his grip as he realized the girl was unconscious. Panting from the strain, he was clapped on the shoulder by Delilah, who apologized to him. Lucien looked slightly confused. "Sorry for what? It wasn't your fault. I'm hurting, but I'll be ok for now."
He rubbed his ribs and neck, and started up the stairs after his captain. Lucien didn't know if he could even be considered a threat in the next fight, but he would try his damnedst.
Leon's Post
And waiting there was a man in his early twenties. dark grey beanie, white eyes, dark grey shirt, some track pants and running shoes.
"Got past her, huh? Guess its my turn."
Delilah's Post
Coming up the stairs Delilah would notice the fifth man on the challenge tower. Something about him seemed familliar, almost...his demeanour, the way he held himself. Casual, but confident. It reminded her very strongly of Mathew.
"Guess so."
She ran at him. A reckless openng move perhaps, but she knew nothing about this man or what he could do.At the very least, this would create an opening for Lucien. She started with three fast jabs to his face before moving into a hook kick to take his knee out from behind.
Lucien's Post
Lucien would run forward with Delilah, but at the last second jump to the side, and jump back to land right beside the guy just as Delilah was doing her kick sweep to his opposite leg. Precisely timed, he would trap the guy's arm against his body using his free hand, and would jam the end of the staff between the guy's two bottom ribs using his other hand. Maintaining a powerful, wide base, his stance would be strong, and his strikes would be as powerful as possible.
If there was time, and if all went according to plan, Lucien would look to Delilah, and gesture back to the wall directly behind them, grinning. To the untrained eye, it would look quite disturbing.
Leon's Post
Delilah's jabs would find air as Kiz began his boxing form dancing around her attacks, twisting and moving back, avoiding both Lucine and Delilah.
"Gotta do better than that. Your opponent isn't going to sit still every time."
Delilah's Post
Her fists meeting nothing only served to put a little smile on the mechanic's face. This wasn't too far off from what she usually did herself, actually. And she knew how to break it.
Her style switched from an almost MMA style of attacks to what would appear to be wing chun, moving through 'Kaze no kata' with fluidity and grace. Now, tapered hands would aim strikes out of his feild of vision; for the back of his jaw where his lymphnodes were, for the liver just beneath his ribs on the right side. A palm strike was aimed to his chest, but it was a feint; as she pulled her hand back, her lead leg came up for a kick aimed under his jaw.
Whether or not this connected, Delilah would lunge forward, 'flashing' her hands in his face to distract him as she attempted a stomp kick to his midsection.
Lucien's Post
Lucien would stay on the left,making sure the man was distracted by Delilah's wind and void attacks. Amused by such a display of the Sanshin, Lucien decided it was time to feel the Three-Year-Old Heart as well.
He would swing the staff behind him, holding it in both hands, and keep the momentum going as he would turn his body slightly, making the end of the staff, which was pointing towards the man, go in a figure-8 motion, before hopefully connecting with the back of the man's neck, slamming him forward and disorienting him.
Leon's Post
(Str: 58
Dex: 60
Con: 60
Int: 45
Wis: 60
Cha: 55)
Kiz ducked forward with a half step, placing his forehead basically in her clevage, as he'd throw his right fist forward into her lowar abdomen to cause the rectus abdominus muscle swelling to cause the abdomenal wall to pulse to slow the amount of oxigen Delilah was able to take in.
Lucien's swing would probably hit though, depending on how this worked.
Delilah's Post
At this close range, there was no way for Delilah to avoid the hits. His face found her chest...and while that was some what startling, the hit to her abdomen was even more alarming. Reflexively, Delilah's hands came up and grabbed the man's ears, keeping him close to her as she fought to put breath back in her lungs (maybe even suffocating him in her boobs). Her knees would start coming up into his exposed midsection now, thrown with all the force she could muster
Lucien's Post
Lucien would find the situation rather comical, despite the fact that this was, indeed, a dangerous opponent. Lucien would step forward, hoping that Delilah'shuge rack chest was creating a blind spot for him.
He would step forward, stomp on the man's foot and grind his foot down and twist, offering the man a spiraling downwards fist right to the kidney. If that worked, the man's body would try to right itself, causing strain on his ears and neck. If everything went to plan, his other leg would twist at the hip and deliver a nice solid knee right to the man'sanus tailbone.
Leon's Post
Kiz didn't like being grabbed so he began taking the knee's to the gut wrapping his arms around Delilah and taking a step back as Lucien's fist hit his kidney and pissed Kiz off he'd twist to knock Delilah into Lucien before he proceeded to motorboat as Delilah's strikes hadn't really been hurting him that much for some reason.
Delilah's Post
The only reaction garnered from her at the moment would be this:
"Gaaahhhh!!!"
LILAH DOES NOT LIKE.
One of her hands dropped to her tool belt and the mechanic drew her tanto knife. She would then proceed to bash the butt of the hilt into the back of the man's exposed brain stem to knock him unconcious.
If that didn't work, She would stick the knife (edge out) between her teeth, move her hands to his jugular and carteroid arteries, digging her thumbs in to cut off circulation...just long enough for his brain to pass out from blood loss. She was still not trying to actually kill anyone.
Though she was starting to forget why.
Lucien's Post
Lucien was knocked back, but not over, as his ass-kick failed, and his opponent was now... He was boob-ing the captain.
Lucien, fearing for anyone's life who dared do such a thing to Delilah, silently prayed that she didn't actually eviscerate the poor man. Lucien would, again, try to help with the lower-body, since Delilah pretty much had the man's head under... Control, let's call it.
He would position himself slightly behind the man and thread his staff between the man's two legs, acting like a cantilever, just below the knees. He would then press forward, sending one of the man's legs forward and the other one back, hoping to trip him up and make Delilah's choke move more effective. That is, if it was even needed. If not, the move would simply allow for the man's deadweight to fall to the ground.
Leon's Post
Kiz would shift his legs when one of his ears had been released turning to the side, giving him air, his right hand would go to catch the wrist of the hand with the blade hilt coming to smash his neck, the other would slip between Delilahs legs and lift with mostly his forearm as his hand was grabbing her ass. He'd twirl to hit Lucien in the face with Delilahs legs.
If that worked or not he'd drop back to slam her on the ground and he himself going to his back like a fireman drop.
Delilah's Post
The man's hand slipped between her thighs and Delilah instantly felt alarm and indignation course through her. As his hand grabbed her ass (AAAARGH STOP TOUCHING MEEEE D: <) her legs shifted and her hips swiveled sharply to the side, attempting to pin his arm between her legs and snap the bone with sheer force and proper leverage. If his arm was still functioning at this point, THEN he would be able to take the mechanic to the ground.
Lucien's Post
Lucien would get smacked right in the face with a pair of legs. His attack was too committed at that point, and there wasn't enough time to dodge the attack of swinging legs. Stumbling back, he would be slightly disoriented for a second before rushing forwards.
If Delilah and Kiz were on the ground in the suplex-thing, Lucien would simply lift up and slam down, aiming a sharp knee right for the man's stomach, hopefully hitting his floating rib and crushing it. He would then quickly side roll off the man, aiming to grab the guy's nuts through his sweatpants and tear them off as he rolled.
Leon's Post
Kiz's arm would twist oddly, but not snap as he'd taken most true leverage away from Delilah the moment he lifted upwards. Though when they went to the ground he had barely any time to do much else besides flex when the knee came in hitting him in the side, his own fist flying upwards at the descending body to punch Lucien in the adams apple.
Delilah's Post
Delilah hit the ground with a dull thud, free arm coming out so as to break fall properly and absorb most of the impact, her chin tucking into her chest to avoid getting her head to bounce off the ground as she forced most of her fall on one side of her body. Still. Ow.
Snarling, Delilah scissored her legs, kicking up and over the man's head to place one knee on his neck and one on his head, grinding it in place. The action would also knock his arm off to the side as she...mounted him, for lack of a better word,
Lucien's Post
Lucien would lean to begin the sideroll just as the man's fist connected with his neck. Since he was already leaning away and committed to the roll, it only grazed him, but it still hurt, and Lucien began to choke.
He still managed the roll, and as he came up, grabbing the man's balls, he would yank, quite literally tearing the man's balls off. He would groan at this, thinking that it was a bit brutal, even for him and Delilah, but this man had offended his captain with his vulgar actions. And therefore deeply offended him.
If the balls came free or not, Lucien would stomp his foot on the man's ankle, rolling it to the side as he would press down, causing a lot of pain... But not as much as the ball-ripping.
Leon's Post
For some god aweful reason the more Lucien tugged on Kiz's nuts the more his own hurt, so if he proceeded to yank the balls free Lucien would share the pain.
The amount of pain Kiz was in could only be described as giving birth multiplied by I ripped your ovaries out through your anus. So he fell unconcious rather quickly.
Delilah's Post
Delilah rolled off the man and onto her feet. She leaned backwards and braced her hands against the wall, reinflating her still injured diaphragm back to the way it was before. With a hissing pop and a gasp of pain, it was back in place.
Raising an eyebrow, Delilah would look over to Lucien noticing the considerable amount of pain he seemed to be in. She took her healing candy thing out ofher pocket and tossed it to him.
"C'mon kiddo. Last floor."
Lucien's Post
Lucien crumpled to the floor, as he was in so much pain it wasn't even comical. The fact that his larynx was smashed in didn't help this fact at all. He gasped for air as he shivered in the fetal position, trying desperately to open his airway. Finally, he managed to roll onto his stomach and lift his chin up so that his face was forward along the ground, which would open his lungs up to his throat, and reinflated himself, coughing.
A candy was tossed at him then, and he stared at it for a moment, coughing, and then turned to the side to vomit. Shaking, he breathed heavy, and rose to his knees with trepidation. Panting like a dog, he turned to Delilah.
"Hah... hah... Just.. Gimme a minute... Oh God."
He vomited again, trying not to get any on himself or on the candy. After he was done, he shakily unwrapped the candy and plopped it in his mouth.
After a few more seconds, he was up and able, but still traumatized. He looked down and saw he still had a pair ofbloody testes wrapped in scrotum and fabric in his hand. He smiled, and walked with Delilah towards the staircase.
Leon's Post
And final stage of the area the guy would stand with a rather large smile, well kept combed back black hair, black eyes, tall and lithe. He kept his cool and wore a nice white suit with baby blue dress shirt.
"I take it this would be your final step on your foolish drifters journey?"
Delilah's Post
Coming up the final staircase, the pair of Crows would come face to face with a rather...well dressed young man. An odd serenity seemed to radiate from him, something Delilah felt she could admire. But she was also very wary of it as well; this is what she often displayed to her own opponents, and she knew how unassuming it seemed.
The sixth challenge. She knew this would be the ultimate fight. The final test of her strength. It was all or nothing now. She had come this far...and there was no going back.
She strode calmly into the centre of the room, a small smile on her lips."It would. Though I don't consider the need to help a friend foolish." She shrugged, settling into shizen no kamae, or a natural posture. "That's the whole reason I'm here."
She turned her head to look over at Lucien, seeing if there was anything he wanted to add.
Lucien's Post
Lucien would stare at the man, studying his features. He seemed familiar... Stepping forward alongside Delilah, he would recognize him.
"Delilah, I know him. He was in the papers, years back, with the whole PHS 1368 incident? The school captain... Legend?" He would stare in awe at the man, the infamy of the school slightly irking him. He would shrug it off, adrenaline still coursing through him, but trying his hardest to stay calm and relaxed.
"At any rate, that last guy... You might want him attended to. Here are his balls." He held out his hand and tossed the package at the ground, off to the side. It made a splat, and blood ran onto the floor. With his hand free, he held the stick in both hands, palms down, in a neutral stance of hira-kata-yaburi no kamae. {OOC: wide stance, knees slightly bent, shoulders relaxed, palms down, facing directly at opponent with staff ends pointing to sides}
Leon's Post
Legends face would harden at Luciens remark.
"If brutality is all you seek you'll find no pity from me."
Legend would clench his fists at the thought of it all.
"The need to help a friend is all well and good, but at the price of anyone elses friends along the way makes no allies."
Delilah's Post
Delilah only turned her head to glare sideways at Lucien. The little display he had just did was as shocking to her as it was to the man...Legend, Lucien called him. "I will deal with you later." She turned back to Legend. "Apart from...that," another meaningful sidelong look at Lucien, "Your other comrades are more or less unharmed. Unconcsious, but they will be fine in a few hours.
"But this young man is under my command. As such, I take responsibility for his actions."
Delilah took another few steps closer to Legend. "But tell me why it is you're here? What do you stand to gain from guarding the fruit that was taken?"
Now she was genuinely curious. This man seemed to be the honourable sort as well...but that remained to be seen.
Leon's Post
"I made a deal to keep things of power such as the fruit away from those like Barker."
Lucien's Post
Lucien would keep his mouth shut, realizing his little show of.. well, balls, probably ruined the whole non-agressive thing that Delilah was wanting to do. Yeah, he would keep his mouth shut, looking slightly embarassed and wanting desperately to sanitize his hand.
Delilah's Post
"Well, then. You're in luck. I'm happy to say that I'm nothing like Barker."
She hoped.
"...but I suppose you've heard that before," she said with a wistful sigh. "And I suppose that means we have to fight?"
Leon's Post
"I'm sorry to say, but it does. Easiest way to get to know someone."
Delilah's Post
Delilah nodded her head in agreement. It was true. "If there's no other way," A metallic sheen started to coat her bare arms and neck, turning her skin into quicksilver. "Then I may as well give it my all."
Her Qi now active, Delilah took a step inward towards Legend, aiming a roundhouse kick for his face...which she immediately retracted, lifting her other leg into the air as her first came back down to the ground, now aiming a spinning back kick for his cheekbone.
(OOC:
Qi Activated! Level; Tungsten
New stats!:
Str: 42 + 17
Dex: 53 + 3
Con: 48 + 20
Int; 52 - 7
Wis: 44
Cha: 37 - 10
Str: 59
Dex: 56
Con: 68
Int; 45
Wis: 44
Cha: 27)
Lucien's Post
Lucien would prepare himself as well, though, since he didn't have a fancy schmancy Qi like his commander, he would simply extend the staff to its full length, stepping forward, about on par with Legend, but to his left, and try to slam the staff sideways into his stomach. Whether or not that actually hit, he would then draw the staff back to himself and carry the momentum, extending the staff the other way to try to hit Legend in the lower back.
Leon's Post
Legend would watch the oncomming attacks shifting slightly having under estimated the both of them so early was not something he'd like to do esspecially since the girl's Qi took form, the boy however he was unsure of.
When the kick came in he took a reposte only to be caught with her feint, taking the spinning kick to the cheek, the staff slamming hs arm as he pulled his arms in to protect his body. However when it hit his lower back he grinned slightly.
(Str: 80
Dex: 70
Con: 75
Int: 70
Wis: 85
Cha: 70)
Delilah's Post
As the hit connected to his lower back, Legend's hips should have been jostled forward slightly. Her kicking foot came back down to the ground and her Qi shifted as she threw her weight upwards, trying to drive her metal knee cap into his pelvic bone to dislocate the hips; if he pulled backwards to avoid that, it woudl slam into his sternum instead with great force. She would send a chop to his throat to temporarily stop the flow of blood (causing unconciousness with one inside and then outside strike to the same side before using the same knee to come up and kick him hard in the chest in an effort to send him flying back into Lucien so he could pick up where she left off.
Leon's Post
Legend's hips did move, in fact at the sight of Delilahs fluid reflexes Legend allowed his hips to keep moving as he stepped in to Delilah shifting and sliding to let the knee brush off his upper pubic area. shooting both hands forward to push up against her shoulders and upper chest simply to knock her off balance to held him avoid the next string of moves esspecially the one for his throat.
He however was not ignoring Lucien at all, just not prioritized.
It had taken two days to get together the resources she would need to find and infiltrate this tower. Now, only two days before 'Unfettered' would give Athena his answer, she felt she was ready. Body and mind were set on the task before her, so that she might bewholly committed to her undertaking.
Infiltrate the tower and locate the stolen fruit.
Vague, but without cameras or other more advanced forms of intel, her options were limited.
Currently, she found herself poised outside the tower, crouching behind the remains of a car and a partially collapsed building. Beside her was...Nick, of all people. She needed someone long range while she went close up, in case that became an issue. He also knew when to shut up, so that was a point in his favour.
They were both armed. Delilah had all three of her knives, her sword, the new boots, the earring, tool belt, C.F. badge...everything she could fit on her person, she had. Nick was dressed similarly to her, in a black sleeveless shirt with form fitting cargo pants, a quiver and long bow were slung over his shoulder. He was a talented sniper, this one, but his real skill with the bow came in close quarters combat.
So, they waited, for three hours watching the goings on of the building in silence, looking for a way in that would let them go unnoticed for as long as possible. They also were on the lookout for guard changes, ideas of the enemy's numbers and whatever else that could be useful.
So far, it had been...quieter than she had expected. But the Japanese style tower was apparently a legend around here. The sort that made her hungry to go inside.
"Looks clear." she would turn her head to look at Nick. "Cover us from the outside while Luc and I go in."
"Gotcha." he gave her a wink.
Delilah turned to Lucien. "You ready?"
((OOC: Delilah's stats
Str: 42
Dex: 53
Con: 48
Int; 52
Wis: 44
Cha: 37))
Leon's Post
<<< This 6 floor monstrosity is known or more known as an urban legend. Some scarcely believe it to be real. But the rumor had made its self known. The legend speaks of a ten floor japanese building guarded by fighters of a calibur never seen before and making it past the first floor is an achievement in itself. But why someone would want to dare challange such a beast? Well the prize spoken of what happens when you reach the top and defeat the tower is enough to corrupt the purist heart. Its speaks of riches and power beyond ones wildest imaginations.
The stake out gets the appearance down a simple way, and every now and then someone would walk a balcony, but they did not appear to be guards. If local talk where anything to prove, each floor was still guarded by a single fighter, and even Barker's men don't toy around with the building.
Lucien's Post
Lucien found it rather off-putting that his commanding officer would bring him along on a mission of this scale, but he didn't complain. After all, Lucien wanted to help in whatever way he could, and if that meant retrieving a piece of fruit from an old castle, well, so be it. He had his new staff with him, and since it was a slightly cold night, Lucien decided to wore that comfy black hoody that he got from... Where did I get that again?
Lucien, when asked, would give a nod, and say "Yeah, ready." He was kind of nervous about what they'd find in there, but having Delilah with him gave him a certain sense of comfort that not that many people could have said to experience. That is, if anyone got close enough to kill him, Delilah would kill them first.
{OOC: Lucien's stats:
Strength : 8
Dexterity : 21
Constitution : 14
Intelligence :25
Wisdom : 23
Charisma : 13}
Leon's Post
They would find only one entrance on the first floor if that was their aim, but many small paper lanterns on the inside made it at least bright enough inside to see clearly if they so chose.
Delilah's Post
Nodding, Delilah broke away from cover and strode up to the building calmly. Now that she was closer, it appeared to be a gauntlet of sorts, like something one would see in
A test of her skills. What fun.
She went inside, eyes soft, face hard, and always ready.
Lucien's Post
Lucien followed his captain in, remembering the rumours about this place. If they were any indication of what they would be facing, well, Lucien would be ready. If he were to have a game face, it would have been on right now.
He stayed vigilant beside Delilah as they walked in to the entrance of the first floor, the soft light of the paper lanterns allowing his eyes to adjust without strain. Lucien scanned the room, trying to see whatever threats lay before them.
Leon's Post
Simply it was what appeared to be a young man no older than sixteen sitting on a grey stone throne. He was wearing a dark blue school uniform and had light blue hair. His eyes where almost violate in color, but he did not seem strained. His uniform was well kept except for a few rips in the sleeves.
He looked over at them as they entered the first floor as a smile slowly crept accross his face.
"Challangers? Even now? Or esspecially now that power is truely needed?"
Delilah's Post
Her eyes immediately settled on a young looking man with blue hair and bright eyes. The uniform threw her off a bit (who wore uniforms when school was no longer in session?).
"The latter," she said briskly, still striding towards him, though her pace had slowed. "Though I do so love a challenge."
Delilah would stand before him, "Which of us would you face?" she asked, gesturing to herself and Lucien. "Are there any rules?"
Lucien's Post
Lucien strode forward alongside her, slightly perturbed at the notion that the man would pick his opponent, though he wouldn't let it show on his face. He wasn't just little obsessive-compulsive Lucien right now, he was a Crow, and a representative, and he would act as such. He kept his gaze upon the odd looking young man, noting that the uniform could use a good tailoring. While Delilah was talking, Lucien would stay silent. She was better at the talking thing, anyways. He would simply stand strong, with staff in hand.
Leon's Post
The man would stand and begin checking his hands and sleeves before spitting off to the side.
"You can pick whoever fights me, one on one or two on one. You can even have one fight me and the other go up to the next floor its up to you. You may use whatever weapons you have with you, but we can do the same. Lets just hope you know how to take a few punches."
Delilah's Post
Delilah glanced sideways at Lucien, sizing him up for a moment before facing forward at the gentleman with a slightly raised eyebrow.
"Son, I hope you know how to take a few. Both of us should make quick work of this." She popped her knuckles restlessly. "Delilah Black. This is Lucien Dechain. Luc, watch and learn."
Though she sounded uncharacteristically cocky, Delilah knew better than to underestimate her opponents. This was the first fighter of a challenge tower. He was used to getting beaten up by people stronger than he was. He'd likely learned a few tricks as well. It would be foolish to assume she could beat him just like that.
But still, she kept up the charade. She would have the first go of it, deciding to take her hits first and gauge the opponent. Delilah darted in, pivoting on her right foot for a high round-house kick towards the young man's head.
Leon's Post
The guy watched, his eyes widening as Delilah's attack came in, he could only put up a simple defence raising both arms to block the incoming attack, he was hit hard enough to be picked up and thrown across the room, landing he'd use his left arm to push up off the ground to get back to his feet. His arms burning. She outmatched him pretty well.
((Str: 15
Dex: 20
Con: 25
Wis: 15
Int: 15
Cha: 20))
Lucien's Post
Lucien would look sideways at Delilah, somewhat perfectly timed, but somewhat surprised by her aggressive confidence. It made him feel better, too, though.
So, when she darted in and opened the fight with a roundhouse kick, Lucien thought that he should take the same sort of aggressive strategy for his own. He ran forward as the man flew backwards, aiming for his new landing position.
He would lunge at the man just as he was recovering to his feet, planting his feet at a position to the left and slightly back of the man, and swung the back end of his stick in a large arc, gathering lots of momentum to stirke at the man's achilles tendons, hoping to sweep the man right back offhis feet.
Leon's Post
The guy saw Lucien coming in, and simply slid his legs further apart in a horse stance, taking the blow full force to his left ankle solely instead of both, the guy would then spring towards Lucien twisting in the air aiming to grab with both hands onto Lucien's shoulders, tugging himself in and probably Luc off balance he'd aim to drive his right knee into Luciens stomach.
Delilah's Post
And such was the bane of fighting a pair of bonafide ninjas. Ninjutsu's idea of 'honour' was making it home at the end of the night. Fighting dirty was how they trained; hair pulling, biting, pinching, scratching, eye gouging...
...groin kicks.
Delilah was above nothing, and she was very much okay with that. Thus, when the man began to grab Lucien for a knee to the gut, she shifted behind their opponent and brought her own knee up...into the poor man's groin.
Whether or not it connected, the position behind him (as well as his entanglement with Lucien at present) would allow for her to lash her arms around his throat, aiming to choke him out quickly.
Leon's Post
Delilahs kick to his groin caused anger to flare over pain, and being hit that hard a fighter that has been in street brawls like himself knew thirty seconds was all you had until the real pain hit, but this was all if Lucien was caught in the grab in the first place, so continueing this assumption, the guy's hands would grab hold tight to the cloth as he let out his yell of pain he'd also aim to clam his teeth onto Lucien's neck. A street fighter was just that, a street fighter.
He knew martial arts sure, but style only got you so far in a real fight. Now should delilah start chocking him he'd bit down harder aiming to rip Lucien's throat out should the choking continue. He was calm about ti because choking was a simple matter you are cutting off the air supply to the brain, it was when you began choking the blood supply to the brain when you need to panic.
Lucien's Post
Lucien was caught in the grab, but had enough time to realize that the knee was coming for his midsection that he would deflect it out of the way, extending the man's knee past Lucien's body, giving Delilah a pretty much perfect target for...
WHACK - AAAAH!
The man screamed, dug in tighter to him, and tried to bite down on his neck. Oh Fuck! Lucien would inwardly curse as the man bit down into the side of his neck. As seething pain flew through his body, training took over, and he lifted both his hands to attempt to gouge out the man's eyes.
Whether the man released his bite to scream or not, Lucien would, still partially supporting him, swing his body around and, if Delilah would go along with the movement, he would lead the man's head to the ground, thumbs still pressed into his eye sockets. If the bite followed to the ground, Lucien would also attempt to wedge his elbow into the man's collarbone in order to create a slight amount of distance between his neck and the man's teeth.
Leon's Post
The impact and elbow move would be enough to rip the guy from Luciens neck, teeth scraping and pulling skin off as it did so, nto deep enough to be life threatening, but it'd be a bitch for a while. If Delilah was still hanging on he'd reach up to grab her fingers from hsi neck, but pass out shortly after.
Delilah's Post
Delilah dropped the man as he passed out, slowly exhaling as she looked over at Lucien with a grimace. That wound could be problematic. She reached into her back pocket and produced a mostly clean rag she carried with her around the shop. She would hand it off to Lucien.
"Nice on the eye gouging. Keep pressure on that until it clots." Delilah would glance around for a moment until she found the stair case, starting up it without a glance backward.
Every bit of her training told her to go back and kill the man she and Lucien had just fought. But she thought that was unnecessary. For whatever reason, it seemed wrong to slaughter these fighters senselessly when there was a great power at stake. Killing people who weren't really threatening her life was not the way she wanted to gain this power. So, she left the man lying there as she ascended the staircase.
Leon's Post
On the next floor would be a black man wearing a dark purple tank top and black cargo pants. A white belt and black shoes finished the look.
"You defeated Ovan?"
He'd look them over before going to his seat and pulling out two small candies.
"Eat these, it will heal your wounds and replenish your energy."
Lucien's Post
Lucien would sigh as the man released his bite, and slipped into unconsciousness. He sat there for a full three seconds, pressing the man's eyes around their sockets, just in case...
A rag was thrown in his face, and he realized that he was probably bleeding. I have something to help this, too... He thought as he reached into his pocket pulling out an alcohol towelette and pressing it hard against the wound, hissing as the alcohol sterilized it. No sense getting tetanus or anything. Afterwards, he placed Delilah's cloth on the wound, and ran up the stairs after her.
Lucien stared at the dark-skinned man, ready for anything. A sneak attack? A hidden blade? A booby trap? Nope, a candy. Staring at it, he decided the man seemed genuine enough to want a fair fight against healthy opponents, so Lucien took him at his words, and popped the candy into his mouth.
Leon's Post
Luciens wounds heal up after a few seconds without so much as a scar or red spot. He even somehow feels better than when he came in. (Con +10 for five replies)
Delilah's Post
Delilah, who hadn't even so much as been touched in the last fight, pocketed the candy for later. It wouldn't do to ignore such hospitality. She had managed to come across one of these on her own earlier in the year and currently resided in the same pocket.
"Thank you." She took a couple of steps towards him, eyeing him up and down. Then she looked behind her at Lucien. "I think you can handle this one, yes?"
If Lucien obliged,Delilah would nod politely to the black man and head upstairs for the third challenger.
Lucien's Post
Lucien looked to Delilah, staring for a moment before nodding. Before she took off, Lucien would say "Good luck, Delilah. I'll catch up with you in a moment."
Once she was gone, Lucien would step forward to a fair distance away from the black man. As Lucien knew fair well, size was no measure of strength. So, though he was alone now, he would still remain confident.
"My name is Lucien DeChain." He would stand perpendicular to him, his arms relaxed at his sides, both hands holding his staff, which was pointing directly at the man.
Leon's Post
Delilah would reach the third floor and a man in his early twenties would be standing there, blonde spiked up hair, blue eyes, a white headband to keep the hair out of his eyes. Green tank top, blue jeans and regular running shoes. He had his arms folded and a fuck off look on his face.
Downstairs with Lucien the man would nod.
"My name is Ralph."
The man would then charge up with a yell.
"Strong Burst!"
And the acceleration of his punches would cause air pockets to shoot out towards Lucien like bullets.
Str: 25
Dex: 25
Con: 20
Int: 15
Wis: 20
Cha: 20
Delilah's Post
Delilah grinned as she met the next challenger, the look on his face told her everything. And she found it rather amusing.
She came to stand before this man after sauntering towards him, still smiling widely.
"I suppose you're not the kind for chit-chat?"
Before he could reply (if he even wanted to), Delilah would nod as if to herself.
"Good. I'd hate for you to waste my time."
She slipped into a small Ichi-monji ko kamae stance with her left arm forward. One foot was turned at a 45 degree angle to the outside while her foreleg was pointed towards him. The distribution of her weight was a perfect 60%, 40% ratio. She held her hands in front of her, right arm held out, left arm drawn back in a close guard.
She winked at him, beckoning.
Lucien's Post
Lucien would dodge the punches in amazement, seeing the man's speed was incredible. He decided that facing this opponent head-on wasn't the best course of action.
So, instead, he would weave around the flurry of punches, stepping forward and back, hitting backfists into the man's forearms when he could, and eventually would find himself at the man's right side, facing him. From there, one of his fists would come spiraling downwards into the side of the man's ribs with a considerable amount of force, while the other hand, holding the staff, would slam into the side of the man's head, staff splayed along his forearm, pushing the man's balance onto his opposite foot.
If all so far went to plan, Lucien would try to kick out the man's close leg, since there would have been no weight left on it.
Leon's Post
The guy wouldn't change his look as he unfolded his arms and walked toward her. He'd continue just doing that unless otherwise hindered.
Ralph was not happy with this situation, though he was able to deflect the punch to his vulnerable ribs, not the higher attack that pushed him off balance before he had a leg kicked out from under him. He'd quickly roll back, not going to his feet instead just going to a kneeling position where he'd have clasped his hands together.
"Strong Rushmore!"
His body would be prepelled along the ground on one knee and foot in a slide as his hands caught fire like a spear of flame.
Delilah's Post
As he came into range, Delilah would poise her body as if to throw a punch...and then she would drop, going for a leg sweep to kick the man's ankles out from under him.
If this weren't successful, it would bring her back to a standing position with a light spin almost immediately.
If it did work, she would pounce, jumping to her feet and arching her leg high up and over her head, aiming to drop her heel down on his chest before he hit the ground, compounding the impact. This would also give her a place to stand on; pressing her foot down onto his sternum, she would pivot, aiming a kick for the side of his head as his head bounced back up off the ground.
Leon's Post
The man would watch as she moved, as she dropped down he would raise his leading heel up as her leg would be caught under it, he'd simply grind his heel into her leg.
(OOC: Str: 40
Dex: 20
Con: 35
Int: 15
Wis: 35
Cha: 25)
Lucien's Post
Lucien would position his pole end on the ground, getting a high grip with both hands, and would run and swing himself into the air, using the staff as a polevault, avoiding the so-called strong rushmore altogether. From the air, he would position himself to land right on top of Ralph, bringing his both knees up to hit the man's jaw with the forward momentum from the jump.
If this worked, Lucien would follow the man down, using his shin bone to grind into the man's throat and turn his head onto his side.
Delilah's Post
His leg pinned hers with ease, crushing it under his weight. She felt none of the pain, but kept her momentum moving; shifting her hands around behind her, she performed a handstand, spinning the rest of her body up to attempt to kick out at his face with her free leg.
If she had ANY IDEA who she was fighting right now, she might have been a little awestruck. But Delilah never believed in the internet. Or learning about other schools.
((ooc: 1/2 physical nulls used))
Leon's Post
Ralph caught the hit in the jaw and fell back as Lucien went through his motions. Ralph however had both hands burst into flames.
"S-strong BANANZA!"
Fire balls would burst in every direction exploding on contact with everything they hit as Ralph would reach to grab anything on Lucien.
Delilah's foot would make contact with the guy's face, taking a step or two back a red mark left on his cheek and blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.
"That was pretty good."
Delilah's Post
Following the speed from her kick, Delilah was able to get back to her feet once
...and then it turned into a punch, aimed for his solar plexus. An elbow from the same arm would immediately follow for his ribcage. Her left hand came around to his floating rib, trying to grasp it through his skin with her viselike fingers and haul him up slightly on his tip toes. Meanwhile, her right hand would retract, twist, and then attempt to slam into the centre of his chest with a palm strike.
Lucien's Post
Lucien's eyes would widen as he heard the man screaming his attack. So close...! Lucien had little time to do anything.
So, what he would end up doing, well, he didn't quite like it himself. But he would quickly plant the butt end of his staff into the man's open mouth as he finished saying the words, jumping straight from his shins into the air, basically doing a one-handed cartwheel on top of the vertical staff, which was in the Ralph's dirty mouth. This would leave him enough distance to react to the fireballs.
He would remove the staff from the gross food hole of his opponent, swinging it in a big vertical circle and slamming right down into one of the fireballs that was directly above Ralph's head.
Leon's Post
Delilah's first two attacks would hit, before Andre would back peddle and twist throwing one hell of a punch. Andre's psychokinetic energy powering his muscles making the punch very powerful.
(Str: 70)
It was aimed right for her face.
Ralph's head went right to the floor as the staff was used to pin him to the floor. He choked a bit when it was removed and the staff going through the fireball which exploded and hitting him on the head.
Ralph would roll away as quickly as possible.
Delilah's Post
The punch and her close range connected with easy brutality. Delilah was blown backwards off her feet from the blow. The fact that she felt no pain allowed her to roll up and out of the slide, back onto her feet.
She laughed, obviously unscathed...lucky she ate that fruit of Leon's.
"I'm sorry, was that supposed to hurt?"
Yes, yes it was supposed to and her nose would be broken right now. But she thought it might be fun if she riled him up a little.
((OOC: 2/2 nulls used))
Leon's Post
"You where actually on my good side.... I suggest you try and stay there."
Andre's eyes would narrow slightly as she was beginning to irritate him. He'd use the psychokinetic energy to inhance the muscles in his legs as he made a single push off the ground to fling himself forward throwing a front stomping kick for her midsection.
(Str: 70)
Lucien's Post
While Ralph was rolling, Lucien would chase after the man, lunging at the man's back, and placing his stick horizontally across the man's throat, grabbing it from both sides, pushing the man's head down. He was essentially using the stick to choke the man while he was in a full headlock.
In Lucien's mind, a man who always calls out his attacks has to be able to speak in order to attack. So, cutting off air and blood to his brain, well, that was a valid defense.
Knowing he had this man on the ropes, the threw in a quick kick or two to the man's back, waiting for the choke out to take effect.
Leon's Post
Lucien's attacks work and eventually Ralph falls unconcious.
Delilah's Post
She was right, riling him up WAS fun! But maybe fun wasn't the best thing to be having right now. This guy was intense.
He lunged at her for a kick to her midsection, which she was fortunate to be fast enough to dodge it. She slipped slightly off to the side at just the right moment, letting the blonde man move past her...and then, with his back exposed, she would attack, aiming a strong punch for the back of his head, right where his head joined with his spine. This would knock out anyone else, but it was obvious these were not regular fighters.
Best case, it did knock him out, but she wasn't betting on it. Worst case, he dodged it and killed her with those weirdly strong limbs of his. More likely, the hit would find a home and daze him for a bit
Leon's Post
Andre did take the hit, it bent him forward and he used his abs like a rubber band as he came upright and twisted throw a long punch for her gut. Pulling that back quickly he'd aim a high hale marry for her face. Some of the blond hair on the back of his head began turning red.
Lucien's Post
Lucien, satisfied with his victory, searched Ralph's seat, trying to find any more of those candies. He wasn't injured much, but they would sure help later on...
After that, he would race up the stairs to find Delilah finding a blonde kid. It looked like she was holding her own, but it also looked way too intense for Lucien to just jump in. Besides, Delilah wouldn't like him helping at this point, anyways. So, Lucien would watch, and wait for her to tag him in.
Delilah's Post
His strike struck home, and this time, she DID feel the blow. It took the wind right out of her lungs and left her legs weak.
CRACK
His fist collided with her jaw and the room spun for a moment. It was a good thing her body wouldn't let her think about the pain at the moment. She was pretty damn sure he had knocked one of her molars loose and blood was filling her mouth rapidly.
She let her body carry the force of his hit, rechanneled it and aimed a baseball bat kick to the inside of his knee and then an elbow to the temple as she twisted her hips around in a circle to gather momentum.
Leon's Post
Andre would take the hits as he turned in a small spin throwing a twisting punch for her chest.
Delilah's Post
She caved her body inwards to absorb as much of the impact as she could, but she felt a little crunch when his hand met her sternum. A feral growl moved past her lips and she seized his arm, bracing the elbow inward with her palm to bar the joint and catching his wrist with the other, bending it in the opposite direction of his elbow to apply leverage on the shoulder, and then using the rest of his momentum, throw him past her.
This time, Delilah would jump into the air, aiming a drop kick for the already injured back of the man's head, which, hopefully, would be the end of THAT.
Leon's Post
Andre would go to the ground as he was thrown, sliding on his stomach, hitting the ground and throwing himself into a standing position he would turn his head back hearing the motion of clothing behind him and bend forward, extending a leg backwards to slip past her leg if possible and catch her on the chin, though her kick would also hit him in the head as aimed for and he would hit the ground, still conscious, just injured and tired.
Delilah's Post
Her teeth clacked together as his foot connected with her jaw, sending black and white dots all over her vision. She hit the ground hard, break falling at the same time the man himself fell. She lay there for a moment, breathing, wincing. Then she sat up, spitting a wad of blood and a tooth out into her palm. Grimacing, she reached back in and jammed the tooth back into place, took one of the candies out of her pocket and tossed it back.
Once the healing kicked in, Delilah got to her feet and looked over at Lucien,as if surprised he were there. She wiped the last of the blood from the corner of her mouth and gestured to him. "Glad..to see you made it," she made a face as her ribs popped back into place. Ow. She waved for himto follow her up the stairs to the next room.
Lucien's Post
Lucien stared as her rib relocated and her tooth reattached. Damn, his captain was pretty awesome. "Glad to see you made it, too."
He followed her up the stairs, not slowing down, ready for anything, but slightly hesitant. He turned to Delilah just as they got to the top. "Let's stay together for this one, ma'am?"
It was more of a question, since he didn't give orders to her. She, of course had the final say, and even that was dependent on what awaited them on the fourth floor...
Leon's Post
Standing in the middle of the room reading was a young twenty something female with long brown hair. She had a yellow hoodie unzipped over a dark blue shirt, blue jeans and some shoes.
She'd look up with a bored yet serious face and solemnly spoke alittle monotone.
"This is where you stop climbing."
Delilah's Post
Delilah would just nod at Lucien's request."I think that's probably for the best."
Upon arriving at the fourth floor, they came face to face with a young woman, perhaps a little younger than Delilah herself. She reminded her vaguely of Olesya (probably the attire). The raven haired woman would lift an eyebrow in response to her words.
"You're welcome to try and stop me."
She wasn't here for power's sake. She was here for her friend. Her commander.
And no one would deter her from that path.
Her hand went behind her back and she drew the katana there, bringing the blade up over her head...and back down, as though making a cut to an invisible enemy.
Though the actual blade was no where near the girl, the wave of energy that followed it would be enough to bowl the girl over easily if it connected. Even having her deal with it would be enough for Lucien to slip in and start his work on the girl.
((ooc: -10 cha for using Shinju's special ability))
Lucien's Post
Lucien, seeing Delilah pull out her katana, instantly knew what he needed to do. He would sprint forward, behind the blast, and keep himself hidden behind it for as long as possible before drifting slightly off to the side.
He would carry his weight and momentum forward, and with both hands slam the tip of the staff upwards into her lower jaw. Then, as she rose into the air, he would adjust his grip on the staff to a one-handed grip, lifted up his back leg and pushed himself forward, 'stabbing' the staff into the center of her chest as she fell.
If all went to plan, pefect. If not, well, things happen. But either way, Lucien would finish the movement by using the forward momentum from the staff stab to tuck himself into a roll, turning as he comes up to face her. He would be behind her, at a 45 degree angle, in a perfect position
Leon's Post
Min keeps her calm dimeanor as the blade energy flies in. Sticking a hand out its obsorbed, spotting Lucien she points her other hand and fires the blade energy at him.
Lucien's Post
Lucien was just about to come in to do that swinging staff attack, but just as he went to swing the end to the girl's lower jaw, Delilah's energy blade was fired back at him. He would swing his staff up just in time to slightly redirect the blast, but he was still hit with about half of it. Because of the nature of the attack, it didn't leave any bruising or cuts, but it HURT.
Lucien was pushed back by it, sliding on his feet backwards until he caught himself, and started forward again, trying to get behind her like the original planned action. Getting to a fair distance away, he would dive-roll in an arc past her and come up behind her, staff in hand, and ready for, hopefully, a little better strategy from Delilah...
Delilah's Post
Welp. Should have expected that, especially after the last guy she fought. Shit.
Though she was impressed with her little cohort. Took it like a champ, he did. With a scowl, Delilah sheathed her sword and cleared the distance between her and the girl in a few quick strides, pivoting on her heel and aiming a round house for her head.
Leon's Post
(Str: 50
Dex: 50
Con: 50
Int: 25
Wis: 55
Cha: 50)
Min watched Lucien for the briefest of moments catching his plan rather easily, instead her eyes shifted to the dark haired woman on the attack.
Min would lift a hand in attempt to catch the shin/calph of the oncoming kick, shoot a free foot out to kick out the ankle of Delilah pushing and twisting as she retracted the leg leaning inwards to grab with her other hand and force Delilah's body to bend.
That same tripping leg as it was pulled back would now be hurling out towards Lucien to keep him away in a back kick. Either aimed for him or his staff if it where in swing.
Lucien's Post
Lucien would see the kick coming back at him, as a forward-backward kick combination was pretty easy to telegraph. He would narrowly avoid getting hit with it, instead using his staff to stop the kick from retracting by placing it on the achilles tendon, and pulling inwards to hug the staff with his body, holding the staff in place with his forearms, clasping his hands together on the top of her foot, and wrenching upwards. Essentially, putting her foot in a guillotine lock.
He would then try to manipulate her balance by tugging her foot from side to side, hoping that she would fall to the ground. Hopefully, what he was doing would be clear to Delilah. His ribs were aching, and his neck was still throbbing from the energy blade.
Delilah's Post
The girl caught her calf with ease and, unable to shift from her current position, her leg was drawn in towards the girl by her ankle, forcing her to bend her knee. There was nothing she could really do about it; She was going to fall forward. But, she could still salvage this if...
...There! An opening!
Whether or not Lucien's guillotine foot-trap-thing would work, Delilah's hands would lash out as her body caved forward, grabbing the girl by her hair and yanking it as hard as possible towards herself (to make the lock more painful, if Lucien's move was successful). As she fell back, Delilah would fall slightly off to the side, pointing the girl's head through the gap and THREW her head down, trying to get her head to hit the floor. Immediately, Delilah would follow up with an elbow aimed straight for the back of the girl's head, aimed to crush.
Leon's Post
Min would hiss a bit as Lucien grabbed her ankle, and when her hair was pulled, she would lean forward some as Delilah was pushed to the ground. Min would let go with one hand planting it to the floor so as not to actually let her head touch the ground, she'd be leaning fully forward and with a show of strength lift the light anarexic looking boy into the air twisting her lower body slightly and flinging it hard towards the ground to break Lucien's grip... Or just break Lucien. There wasn;t much she could do about the elbow at this time.
Delilah's Post
The second her elbow landed, Delilah deftly moved her body, kicking out at the kneecap of the girl's planted leg before attempting to straddle her, digging her knees painfully into her upper arms. Keeping one hand firmly in her hair and pushing her head to the ground, the other hand would begin pounding the back of the girl's head into the floor until she was unconcious.
Whatever Lucien did at this point was entirely up to him, as Delilah's back was turned.
Lucien's Post
Lucien yelped slightly as he was flailed around like a... Well, flail. When he hit the ground with a thud, the impact would be enough to release his grip on her ankle. Trying to recover quickly, he evaluated his position, and the position of Delilah. I'm in a blind spot. Well then.
While Delilah was on top of her, back turned, Lucien would scramble forwards, trying not to draw too much attention as he crawled towards, well, the girl's legs, which were spread precariously enough so that Lucien could see LET'S JUST LEAVE IT AT THAT.
What he would ACTUALLY do is wait til the girl flailed her leg so that it was on her side, and when the position was right, he would secure her knee by placing the staff overtop of it, and with the other hand he would summon all his might as he would punch her on the inside of her upper leg, hoping to shatter the girl's femur.
This had gone on long enough, and Lucien was sick of this girl.
Leon's Post
Min would take the hit to the head, lifting the leg she had planted off the ground using the impact to her head to begin her forward flip with on hand still on the ground it would look like a forward hand spring, only Min would twist as her legs came around bringing her knee's down hopefully on Delilah.
Though she didn't expect Lucien grabbing her, which kept her upside down, the hit to the upper thigh hurt, but she tensed enough the impact didn't do anything other than give her a good charlie horse.
Delilah's Post
With Lucien holding the girl's legs above her head, delilah had time to roll up to her feet. She would begin to kick out at the girls head and arms, hoping to make her crumple and finally hit the ground
Lucien's Post
Lucien would hold on for dear life, using all his strength to try and keep her legs secure. If Delilah's moves were working, it wouldn't be much longer now, so Lucien just wanted to get it done.
If he were to find a single bit of exposed skin, perhaps between her jeans and her shirt if it was riding up, he would take a deep breath, prepare himself for the inevitable assault on his brain from his disorder, and would bite the girl wherever he could, clamping down and breaking skin.
Leon's Post
There was no need fpr Lucien to bite, cause from the angle and the vicious onslaught Min eventaully passed out.
Delilah's Post
Delilah dropped the girl as gently as she could onto her back. She exhaled long and slow, pushing her hair out of her eyes. 'Alright. Four down, two to go." She reached across and gave Lucien's shoulder a squeeze. "Sorry about that. If you need another one of those candies, ask."
She started up the stairs to the next floor, anticipation building in her chest.
Lucien's Post
Lucien relaxed his grip as he realized the girl was unconscious. Panting from the strain, he was clapped on the shoulder by Delilah, who apologized to him. Lucien looked slightly confused. "Sorry for what? It wasn't your fault. I'm hurting, but I'll be ok for now."
He rubbed his ribs and neck, and started up the stairs after his captain. Lucien didn't know if he could even be considered a threat in the next fight, but he would try his damnedst.
Leon's Post
And waiting there was a man in his early twenties. dark grey beanie, white eyes, dark grey shirt, some track pants and running shoes.
"Got past her, huh? Guess its my turn."
Delilah's Post
Coming up the stairs Delilah would notice the fifth man on the challenge tower. Something about him seemed familliar, almost...his demeanour, the way he held himself. Casual, but confident. It reminded her very strongly of Mathew.
"Guess so."
She ran at him. A reckless openng move perhaps, but she knew nothing about this man or what he could do.At the very least, this would create an opening for Lucien. She started with three fast jabs to his face before moving into a hook kick to take his knee out from behind.
Lucien's Post
Lucien would run forward with Delilah, but at the last second jump to the side, and jump back to land right beside the guy just as Delilah was doing her kick sweep to his opposite leg. Precisely timed, he would trap the guy's arm against his body using his free hand, and would jam the end of the staff between the guy's two bottom ribs using his other hand. Maintaining a powerful, wide base, his stance would be strong, and his strikes would be as powerful as possible.
If there was time, and if all went according to plan, Lucien would look to Delilah, and gesture back to the wall directly behind them, grinning. To the untrained eye, it would look quite disturbing.
Leon's Post
Delilah's jabs would find air as Kiz began his boxing form dancing around her attacks, twisting and moving back, avoiding both Lucine and Delilah.
"Gotta do better than that. Your opponent isn't going to sit still every time."
Delilah's Post
Her fists meeting nothing only served to put a little smile on the mechanic's face. This wasn't too far off from what she usually did herself, actually. And she knew how to break it.
Her style switched from an almost MMA style of attacks to what would appear to be wing chun, moving through 'Kaze no kata' with fluidity and grace. Now, tapered hands would aim strikes out of his feild of vision; for the back of his jaw where his lymphnodes were, for the liver just beneath his ribs on the right side. A palm strike was aimed to his chest, but it was a feint; as she pulled her hand back, her lead leg came up for a kick aimed under his jaw.
Whether or not this connected, Delilah would lunge forward, 'flashing' her hands in his face to distract him as she attempted a stomp kick to his midsection.
Lucien's Post
Lucien would stay on the left,making sure the man was distracted by Delilah's wind and void attacks. Amused by such a display of the Sanshin, Lucien decided it was time to feel the Three-Year-Old Heart as well.
He would swing the staff behind him, holding it in both hands, and keep the momentum going as he would turn his body slightly, making the end of the staff, which was pointing towards the man, go in a figure-8 motion, before hopefully connecting with the back of the man's neck, slamming him forward and disorienting him.
Leon's Post
(Str: 58
Dex: 60
Con: 60
Int: 45
Wis: 60
Cha: 55)
Kiz ducked forward with a half step, placing his forehead basically in her clevage, as he'd throw his right fist forward into her lowar abdomen to cause the rectus abdominus muscle swelling to cause the abdomenal wall to pulse to slow the amount of oxigen Delilah was able to take in.
Lucien's swing would probably hit though, depending on how this worked.
Delilah's Post
At this close range, there was no way for Delilah to avoid the hits. His face found her chest...and while that was some what startling, the hit to her abdomen was even more alarming. Reflexively, Delilah's hands came up and grabbed the man's ears, keeping him close to her as she fought to put breath back in her lungs (maybe even suffocating him in her boobs). Her knees would start coming up into his exposed midsection now, thrown with all the force she could muster
Lucien's Post
Lucien would find the situation rather comical, despite the fact that this was, indeed, a dangerous opponent. Lucien would step forward, hoping that Delilah's
He would step forward, stomp on the man's foot and grind his foot down and twist, offering the man a spiraling downwards fist right to the kidney. If that worked, the man's body would try to right itself, causing strain on his ears and neck. If everything went to plan, his other leg would twist at the hip and deliver a nice solid knee right to the man's
Leon's Post
Kiz didn't like being grabbed so he began taking the knee's to the gut wrapping his arms around Delilah and taking a step back as Lucien's fist hit his kidney and pissed Kiz off he'd twist to knock Delilah into Lucien before he proceeded to motorboat as Delilah's strikes hadn't really been hurting him that much for some reason.
Delilah's Post
The only reaction garnered from her at the moment would be this:
"Gaaahhhh!!!"
LILAH DOES NOT LIKE.
One of her hands dropped to her tool belt and the mechanic drew her tanto knife. She would then proceed to bash the butt of the hilt into the back of the man's exposed brain stem to knock him unconcious.
If that didn't work, She would stick the knife (edge out) between her teeth, move her hands to his jugular and carteroid arteries, digging her thumbs in to cut off circulation...just long enough for his brain to pass out from blood loss. She was still not trying to actually kill anyone.
Though she was starting to forget why.
Lucien's Post
Lucien was knocked back, but not over, as his ass-kick failed, and his opponent was now... He was boob-ing the captain.
Lucien, fearing for anyone's life who dared do such a thing to Delilah, silently prayed that she didn't actually eviscerate the poor man. Lucien would, again, try to help with the lower-body, since Delilah pretty much had the man's head under... Control, let's call it.
He would position himself slightly behind the man and thread his staff between the man's two legs, acting like a cantilever, just below the knees. He would then press forward, sending one of the man's legs forward and the other one back, hoping to trip him up and make Delilah's choke move more effective. That is, if it was even needed. If not, the move would simply allow for the man's deadweight to fall to the ground.
Leon's Post
Kiz would shift his legs when one of his ears had been released turning to the side, giving him air, his right hand would go to catch the wrist of the hand with the blade hilt coming to smash his neck, the other would slip between Delilahs legs and lift with mostly his forearm as his hand was grabbing her ass. He'd twirl to hit Lucien in the face with Delilahs legs.
If that worked or not he'd drop back to slam her on the ground and he himself going to his back like a fireman drop.
Delilah's Post
The man's hand slipped between her thighs and Delilah instantly felt alarm and indignation course through her. As his hand grabbed her ass (AAAARGH STOP TOUCHING MEEEE D: <) her legs shifted and her hips swiveled sharply to the side, attempting to pin his arm between her legs and snap the bone with sheer force and proper leverage. If his arm was still functioning at this point, THEN he would be able to take the mechanic to the ground.
Lucien's Post
Lucien would get smacked right in the face with a pair of legs. His attack was too committed at that point, and there wasn't enough time to dodge the attack of swinging legs. Stumbling back, he would be slightly disoriented for a second before rushing forwards.
If Delilah and Kiz were on the ground in the suplex-thing, Lucien would simply lift up and slam down, aiming a sharp knee right for the man's stomach, hopefully hitting his floating rib and crushing it. He would then quickly side roll off the man, aiming to grab the guy's nuts through his sweatpants and tear them off as he rolled.
Leon's Post
Kiz's arm would twist oddly, but not snap as he'd taken most true leverage away from Delilah the moment he lifted upwards. Though when they went to the ground he had barely any time to do much else besides flex when the knee came in hitting him in the side, his own fist flying upwards at the descending body to punch Lucien in the adams apple.
Delilah's Post
Delilah hit the ground with a dull thud, free arm coming out so as to break fall properly and absorb most of the impact, her chin tucking into her chest to avoid getting her head to bounce off the ground as she forced most of her fall on one side of her body. Still. Ow.
Snarling, Delilah scissored her legs, kicking up and over the man's head to place one knee on his neck and one on his head, grinding it in place. The action would also knock his arm off to the side as she...mounted him, for lack of a better word,
Lucien's Post
Lucien would lean to begin the sideroll just as the man's fist connected with his neck. Since he was already leaning away and committed to the roll, it only grazed him, but it still hurt, and Lucien began to choke.
He still managed the roll, and as he came up, grabbing the man's balls, he would yank, quite literally tearing the man's balls off. He would groan at this, thinking that it was a bit brutal, even for him and Delilah, but this man had offended his captain with his vulgar actions. And therefore deeply offended him.
If the balls came free or not, Lucien would stomp his foot on the man's ankle, rolling it to the side as he would press down, causing a lot of pain... But not as much as the ball-ripping.
Leon's Post
For some god aweful reason the more Lucien tugged on Kiz's nuts the more his own hurt, so if he proceeded to yank the balls free Lucien would share the pain.
The amount of pain Kiz was in could only be described as giving birth multiplied by I ripped your ovaries out through your anus. So he fell unconcious rather quickly.
Delilah's Post
Delilah rolled off the man and onto her feet. She leaned backwards and braced her hands against the wall, reinflating her still injured diaphragm back to the way it was before. With a hissing pop and a gasp of pain, it was back in place.
Raising an eyebrow, Delilah would look over to Lucien noticing the considerable amount of pain he seemed to be in. She took her healing candy thing out ofher pocket and tossed it to him.
"C'mon kiddo. Last floor."
Lucien's Post
Lucien crumpled to the floor, as he was in so much pain it wasn't even comical. The fact that his larynx was smashed in didn't help this fact at all. He gasped for air as he shivered in the fetal position, trying desperately to open his airway. Finally, he managed to roll onto his stomach and lift his chin up so that his face was forward along the ground, which would open his lungs up to his throat, and reinflated himself, coughing.
A candy was tossed at him then, and he stared at it for a moment, coughing, and then turned to the side to vomit. Shaking, he breathed heavy, and rose to his knees with trepidation. Panting like a dog, he turned to Delilah.
"Hah... hah... Just.. Gimme a minute... Oh God."
He vomited again, trying not to get any on himself or on the candy. After he was done, he shakily unwrapped the candy and plopped it in his mouth.
After a few more seconds, he was up and able, but still traumatized. He looked down and saw he still had a pair of
Leon's Post
And final stage of the area the guy would stand with a rather large smile, well kept combed back black hair, black eyes, tall and lithe. He kept his cool and wore a nice white suit with baby blue dress shirt.
"I take it this would be your final step on your foolish drifters journey?"
Delilah's Post
Coming up the final staircase, the pair of Crows would come face to face with a rather...well dressed young man. An odd serenity seemed to radiate from him, something Delilah felt she could admire. But she was also very wary of it as well; this is what she often displayed to her own opponents, and she knew how unassuming it seemed.
The sixth challenge. She knew this would be the ultimate fight. The final test of her strength. It was all or nothing now. She had come this far...and there was no going back.
She strode calmly into the centre of the room, a small smile on her lips."It would. Though I don't consider the need to help a friend foolish." She shrugged, settling into shizen no kamae, or a natural posture. "That's the whole reason I'm here."
She turned her head to look over at Lucien, seeing if there was anything he wanted to add.
Lucien's Post
Lucien would stare at the man, studying his features. He seemed familiar... Stepping forward alongside Delilah, he would recognize him.
"Delilah, I know him. He was in the papers, years back, with the whole PHS 1368 incident? The school captain... Legend?" He would stare in awe at the man, the infamy of the school slightly irking him. He would shrug it off, adrenaline still coursing through him, but trying his hardest to stay calm and relaxed.
"At any rate, that last guy... You might want him attended to. Here are his balls." He held out his hand and tossed the package at the ground, off to the side. It made a splat, and blood ran onto the floor. With his hand free, he held the stick in both hands, palms down, in a neutral stance of hira-kata-yaburi no kamae. {OOC: wide stance, knees slightly bent, shoulders relaxed, palms down, facing directly at opponent with staff ends pointing to sides}
Leon's Post
Legends face would harden at Luciens remark.
"If brutality is all you seek you'll find no pity from me."
Legend would clench his fists at the thought of it all.
"The need to help a friend is all well and good, but at the price of anyone elses friends along the way makes no allies."
Delilah's Post
Delilah only turned her head to glare sideways at Lucien. The little display he had just did was as shocking to her as it was to the man...Legend, Lucien called him. "I will deal with you later." She turned back to Legend. "Apart from...that," another meaningful sidelong look at Lucien, "Your other comrades are more or less unharmed. Unconcsious, but they will be fine in a few hours.
"But this young man is under my command. As such, I take responsibility for his actions."
Delilah took another few steps closer to Legend. "But tell me why it is you're here? What do you stand to gain from guarding the fruit that was taken?"
Now she was genuinely curious. This man seemed to be the honourable sort as well...but that remained to be seen.
Leon's Post
"I made a deal to keep things of power such as the fruit away from those like Barker."
Lucien's Post
Lucien would keep his mouth shut, realizing his little show of.. well, balls, probably ruined the whole non-agressive thing that Delilah was wanting to do. Yeah, he would keep his mouth shut, looking slightly embarassed and wanting desperately to sanitize his hand.
Delilah's Post
"Well, then. You're in luck. I'm happy to say that I'm nothing like Barker."
She hoped.
"...but I suppose you've heard that before," she said with a wistful sigh. "And I suppose that means we have to fight?"
Leon's Post
"I'm sorry to say, but it does. Easiest way to get to know someone."
Delilah's Post
Delilah nodded her head in agreement. It was true. "If there's no other way," A metallic sheen started to coat her bare arms and neck, turning her skin into quicksilver. "Then I may as well give it my all."
Her Qi now active, Delilah took a step inward towards Legend, aiming a roundhouse kick for his face...which she immediately retracted, lifting her other leg into the air as her first came back down to the ground, now aiming a spinning back kick for his cheekbone.
(OOC:
Qi Activated! Level; Tungsten
New stats!:
Str: 42 + 17
Dex: 53 + 3
Con: 48 + 20
Int; 52 - 7
Wis: 44
Cha: 37 - 10
Str: 59
Dex: 56
Con: 68
Int; 45
Wis: 44
Cha: 27)
Lucien's Post
Lucien would prepare himself as well, though, since he didn't have a fancy schmancy Qi like his commander, he would simply extend the staff to its full length, stepping forward, about on par with Legend, but to his left, and try to slam the staff sideways into his stomach. Whether or not that actually hit, he would then draw the staff back to himself and carry the momentum, extending the staff the other way to try to hit Legend in the lower back.
Leon's Post
Legend would watch the oncomming attacks shifting slightly having under estimated the both of them so early was not something he'd like to do esspecially since the girl's Qi took form, the boy however he was unsure of.
When the kick came in he took a reposte only to be caught with her feint, taking the spinning kick to the cheek, the staff slamming hs arm as he pulled his arms in to protect his body. However when it hit his lower back he grinned slightly.
(Str: 80
Dex: 70
Con: 75
Int: 70
Wis: 85
Cha: 70)
Delilah's Post
As the hit connected to his lower back, Legend's hips should have been jostled forward slightly. Her kicking foot came back down to the ground and her Qi shifted as she threw her weight upwards, trying to drive her metal knee cap into his pelvic bone to dislocate the hips; if he pulled backwards to avoid that, it woudl slam into his sternum instead with great force. She would send a chop to his throat to temporarily stop the flow of blood (causing unconciousness with one inside and then outside strike to the same side before using the same knee to come up and kick him hard in the chest in an effort to send him flying back into Lucien so he could pick up where she left off.
Leon's Post
Legend's hips did move, in fact at the sight of Delilahs fluid reflexes Legend allowed his hips to keep moving as he stepped in to Delilah shifting and sliding to let the knee brush off his upper pubic area. shooting both hands forward to push up against her shoulders and upper chest simply to knock her off balance to held him avoid the next string of moves esspecially the one for his throat.
He however was not ignoring Lucien at all, just not prioritized.