The Cathedral

Jin sighed. The wait was getting quite long now. This "Bloodedge" wasn't even showing up as early as he had expected. I maybe overestimated him a little... Heh. Still, this place feels odd. I can feel that blighter coming, but he's taking his time...
His eyes briefly looked around for a moment: just in the unlikely case that someone would be here at his face this night... ... Nothing. I hope nobody's showing up: I won't have to tolerate their "Go back to your post!" bollocks.
Then again, as sad as it was, waiting was mandatory if he wanted to see who the Bloodedge was with his own eyes.
Truly, Jin felt shivers of excitement: finally, he would have some of the physical action he longed for. In fact, the more he waited here, the more he was excited about meeting and fighting his fated enemy. This was almost, at this point, what he lived for.
I'm waiting for you, Bloodedge; more and more eagerly each passing second. Don't you disappoint everyone and not live up to your word.

Closing silently the door to an office at the other side of the Cathedral's first floor, Shiori was taking a glance at the entrance. That sealing Ars at the entrance is doing its job fine... but why aren't there even any NOL officers? She was mildly annoyed: empty places made efficient spying more difficult. But now was not the time to talk, so she made gestures so that her partner Chachakaka could go a bit forward, and try to have Jin Kisaragi on her sights. I didn't think they'd send me to do reconnaissance work..! But I guess sometimes Chacha's specialization must be exploited too. Taking that last thoughts of her with a faint smile, Shiori remained immobile, and hidden to the eyes of Jin.

Having followed Shiori into the Cathedral's first floor entry, the kaka was already conceiving a plan best used to achieve a good spying position, after all she'd need to stay out of his range of focus. Having known and met Jin Kisaragi personally she would not make any mistakes for such a task; though his demeanor seemed lacking its usual tact. The file brief on his disappearance from his post and choice of focus let her know that he had changed violently and suddenly; the visual was a confirmation of that. So this is the Hero of Ikaruga after the academy... Feeling no reason for her thoughts to get in the way of her job, using his little title for her own amusment while she looked around for a good perch, while she didn't need to be right upon him; getting closer was going to be key. No good perches well then... Her mind quickly shifting through her choices, perhaps behind one of the columns and hiding her presence all but completely would about cut it...

(From Outside the Branch~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>)

The Double SS Criminal had made his way through the branch in a surprisingly uneventful manner, as his path had taken him almost nowhere as far as resistance had been concerned. Where was everyone? By now he'd have run into some kinds of guards, yet there wasn't a single soul before him. The whole situation stank to high hell, granted that no one had come forth, but it didn't matter really. As long as he destroyed the Cauldron then he was enacting the reason that he had come to face off with thus far. The Bloodedge could sense someone nearby, it was easily stronger than most of the fodder that came his way, believing it was their duty to stop him. He hadn't been able to place it, but kept walking forward, planning to destroy the Cauldron and be done with it. Even though he couldn't be sure, he could have sworn there was something feint lingering, even if he couldn't quite say from which direction; he was more focused on the power directly before him.

------------(From just outside)--------------->

As Ragna had made his way inside, Youna had just been standing in place outside, so she ran inside as fast as she could. Surely, with his endurance, he'd have taken many steps ahead in breaking shit, but everything was intact: he didn't do the slightest hint of property damage up to wherever he was; that's what she noticed. But hell, he wasn't stupid: he surely knew people were here and they'd follow the trail of destruction, he knew that it would make him easy to find, so he avoided things of the sort. Only makes finding him harder...
But as she had headed deeper, she noticed the Bloodedge, a hundred feet in front of her. This time, no hesitation was allowed. Despite her legs being slightly shaky, and feeling a little lack of breath, she gripped her sword tight and shouted at him: "Ragna the Bloodeeeedge!" while she dashed at him, ready to do a vertical strike with it should she reach close range. She was predictable, but surely he couldn't use such a heavy weapon or energy attacks of any kind to counter her straightforward swift assault, right?

Having sensed the initial impressions of a high seithr signature, the kaka turned her attentions back towards an earlier section of the previously empty Cathedral. It seemed to be sure as anything else that while she was certain it was no one earlier that she was wrong. As she focused her finely honed eyes upon the entry of Ragna the Bloodedge, the well established SS criminal was of no huge surprise to her. Though to find a strange girl that she knew nothing about taking action against him struck her as odd, unless the girl was either A: a fool or B: a vigilante who believed she could take him. In either of which case, things were finally getting interesting here; the assignment had been dull though all of this had some great potential.

"Well...time to observe..~" she had barely uttered the whisper, while Shiori moved off site, she was fine with this development since it let her finally take in some intel on the capabilities of one such figure as Ragna. She keep tabs on this presently nameless Vigilante to see if it served any such purpose later.

------(Continuation from other Ragna)------>

The Grim Reaper's mismatched eyes half-lidded as he felt the approach of another presence. Something had been pursuing him and even announced itself as it closed the distance. Ragna's gloved right hand grasped at the hilt of his blade and swiftly he would turn, drawing it outward so that the vertical swing would strike against cold hard steel and his stare would meet his attacker's own gaze. "Look dumbass, I'm kind of in the middle of something right now and I don't have time to play games." His sword-arm dropped somewhat, bending inward to let her blade drop further down only to straighten his arm and force it upward, attempting to remove any attempt of blocking by pushing the blade aside. "Just get lost." Words were not enough for these people, he had warned plenty of enemies in the past to stand aside and they simply refused. Unfortunately, that meant he needed to make it clear that it was in their best interest to stand aside. With his left hand curled tightly into a fist, he'd throw a punch straight towards her stomach, focusing on that gathering of nerves known as the solar plexus to wind her and knock her aside. Ragna was far stronger than most ordinary people and he showed little restraint against those who obstructed his path, so the poor girl would feel the blunt of his strength if she ended up with his knuckles in her gut.

------(From nowhere)------->

Suddenly appearing out a portal, Rachel didn't bother to have Nago be her staircase. And for good reason: she looked unexpectedly messy for a reason that was soon to explain itself: the portal closed without Gii or Nago passing it.

After a few steps, the portal closed while she dusted her clothes quickly. At first she only walked slowly towards the girl, and even looked like she was ignoring Ragna completely. The vampire only picked up the girl to have her rest in a safer corner, though, and immediately walked back to Ragna, though still as slowly as she had been moving the whole time.

"Enough time wasted, Ragna. You have too much to do today to be exhausting yourself on training dummies." She sounded a tiny bit less adamant than usual, but still very much so, and her eyes clearly said she was not going to tolerate any quip regarding her current less-than-optimal state of mind and body.

Rachel was a bit disappointed in herself. Her glance seemed to be less intimidating than ever, she looked so out of it that Ragna was asking if she was alright. As much as she wanted to slap him silly for his attitude, the rabbit-looking girl knew that she did not have any margin of error this time, with Takamagahara being out of commission forever. "These matters are none of yours Ragna. What awaits you is probably much worse than what I have been through right now."

She took a second of silence and cleared her throat to signify that whatever she was going to say next was apart from what she said just now, and thus important: "The curtains and the scenery have fallen despite my efforts to save it. It may look like a loss, but it also means that I join the actors' cast. But for now I must attend to another important matter. Things need to happen, and I will make sure they do. I will see you around~"

Rachel smiled nostalgically as her last words this time contrasted with the usual farewell she used to give him at this point. She turned her back to him slowly to enter another of those portals only she knows where they go or come from. "And do not forget... do not ever give up..."

------(To somewhere else)-------->

He heard noises of fighting. A girl, a chirpy-voiced one at that, had gotten beaten into the dust. His focus was settled and his senses were on high alert. His sight was ready for the moment the Bloodedge would wander in front of him... to meet his doom. The excitement was building up, and his eyes started to widen as he smirked almost dementedly at the idea of that incoming fight.
Yes... Yes! You're coming close, Bloodedge! Just come one step closer and you'll be right here in front of me... I've been waiting for this!, he thought in a frantic ecstasy as the wanted criminal was closing in.

"Any sign of him yet?"

Noel and Mai had just arrived at the Cathedral area, hoping to find any trace of the missing Major. Alas, there seems to be no trace of Jin Kisaragi.

Still, the gunslinger could not help but keep her guard up. Something felt amiss due to the lack of presence in the branch.

Mai had arrived at thier destination too, and began looking for a possible shortcut to the lower levels until...
...Someone barked out the name of the person they were looking for.
Mai stared over in an instant, but it was hard to believe what she saw- Jin was there, facing a guy she knew from her childhood. She never got to know his name back then, but now, that phantom of her past had a namr...
"R-ragna the Bloodedge...!" Mai whispered out to Noel, stopping in her tracks and running to hide behind one of the pillars... Who knew if he remembered her at all. If he didn't, they would probably be killed by him, so she did her best to hide.

"M-Major?!"

Noel saw the sight, stopping in her tracks when she saw Jin Kisaragi facing off against another person. Upon closer inspection, she noticed that the other man had a red coat, white hair and mismatched red and green eyes. All these matched the physical description of the man she was supposed to avoid.

"R-Ragna the Bloodedge..." Unlike Mai, she stayed where she stood, unable to move due to the inner turmoil she was experiencing: To help the Major or to let him face the SS Class Criminal alone?

Coming back from looting a bit of equipment left in stock, Shiori looked at the scene from the second floor, noticing Jin had already engaged Ragna the Bloodedge. Oh my, I am apparently a little late... Never mind, it's time to work.
She swiftly but silently ran to her right, where she'd get the perfect view of the fight, hopefully her position in the second floor rendered her difficult to spot, Jin and Ragna fighting in one of the only places she could be seen from, and the noise they were making far overwrote that of her steps.
Less than a minute later, Shiori had seen every detail: Jin's out-of-character ecstasy, Ragna's unsurprising rage, and even Noel and Mai trying to hide from the fight, but little did they know that she was up there... but now Chacha could get caught. Out of worry, Shiori pressed a little device of hers, that signaled nearby presences to Chacha via the simple twinkling device on her collar. Didn't think we'd run into you again...