The Cathedral

Subject: Re: The Cathedral Mon Nov 25, 2013 10:14 am

Mai squeaked a bit as Noel still just stood there, doing nothing while those two rams were bashing their horns together verbally.
"Noel! You idiot, get over here!"
She grabbed the arm of her friend with both hands and pulled the girl over behind one of the pillars, holding her close to give them a smaller frame alltogether- they wouldn´t be noticed like this, right?
Mai had to stare at Jin and Ragna... considering the words Jin was spouting and the look in his eyes, she couldn´t help but remember the way he looked at her back then, when out of nowhere he was trying to kill her.
She never thought about it before.. but maybe it was because she had met Ragna before...?
Fearing for the worst, she held Noel close, the face of the small girl pushed slightly into her clevage to spare her the sight Mai had to see..

Subject: Re: The Cathedral Mon Nov 25, 2013 10:22 am

"Mai..." Noel said in a tiny whimper as she leaned against the bluenette, her body shaking with terror and dread at both the Major's current state and the appearance of Ragna the Bloodedge.

"Wh-what should we do?" She asked her friend, her eyes quivering with fear. "I...I want to help..."

Yet, what can she do? Yes, she had the Nox Nyctores Bolverk, but what chance did she stand against the SS Class Criminal?

"But I don't know how..."

Subject: Re: The Cathedral Mon Nov 25, 2013 6:36 pm

Hearing the signal sound off in her collar, she'd drawn back...well her curiosity was one thing that had earned her trouble in the past. She was stealthy enough to draw back before being caught. So much had happened...she was bearing witness to a battle between the SS Criminal and the target, Jin Kisaragi...the intensity of the clash had mystified her briefly. It wasn't until she'd sensed two more presences: both very familiar to her, that the signal had brought her back to her duties. Making sure to silently re-scale the pillar she was behind, the nimble kaka assassin made her way back into the heightened shadows. Determining it would be best to meet up with Shiori once again.

Guest

Still hidden behind a pillar on the second floor, Shiori noticed her partner swiftly jump floors in absolute silence... even she would've been surprised if she didn't know of her closest friend's talents in agility and stealth. Not even turning towards Chacha, Shiori muttered: "Do we need more..?" The frail-looking girl wanted to get out of here quickly, as she knew the motives of Jin Kisaragi's disappearance. Now for her the matter was to get out alive fast, or to snatch more intel.

Guest

His attack had been easily blocked, but Jin had one free hand, which comes in handy when your opponent is trying to punch your face in. Though it was definitely unsuited to try and absorb the brunt of any attack in his situation, Jin merely put his arm in the way of the attack and took a one-inch hop off the ground so the attack would push him away instead of breaking bones or doing any sort of permanent damage.
"Playing rough aren't you, Brother?", he said as the punch made its impact and pushed him off.
Once he landed, around one foot away, he'd plant Yukianesa into the ground not only to stop any further backwards momentum, but also to strike back, aiming for his pointy tomb of ice attack to rise from directly under his brother's feet. But that wouldn't be enough yet, so Jin prepared his sword, ready to meet whatever attack Ragna would come at him with, and if Ragna didn't come attacking, he'd meet the cold blade swinging horizontally at his abdomen. "But we have all the time...", he said almost softly.

Subject: Re: The Cathedral Thu Nov 28, 2013 10:32 pm

Mai bit her lip, hearing Noel whimper like that and speak out what she didn´t dare to think.
"There`s nothing we can do, Noel... look at Jin´s eyes. They´re just like back then, when he went crazy and attacked us... only a thousand times worse. And opposing him is Ragna the Bloodedge... we`ll be lucky if we can walk out alive in the first place!"

With that said, if Ragna could bring Jin to his knees, they might be able to restrain him by working together... or vice versa, though at this point, she would rather take her chances with trusting Ragna not to kill them rather than trusting Jin to notice they weren´t his enemies.
She held Noel tight, trying her best to keep a low profile.
"If... if one of them gets knocked out, we can try and drag them away to break up the fight, but until then, we need to stay hidden...!" She whispered into her friends ear.

Subject: Re: The Cathedral Thu Nov 28, 2013 10:42 pm

Noel was honestly shaken by the entire situation. She wanted to help, to both bring the Major home and Ragna the Bloodedge to justice. It seemed like an impossible dream, but she was willing to do anything in her power to stop this madness.

But...she knew Mai had a point. As she was now, she stood no chance against either of the two. She knew that her only option was to wait it out.

"You're right..." She turned to face the other girl with a smile "Thanks, Mai." As she let Mai hold her, she could not help but feel warm and safe in her arms.

Subject: Re: The Cathedral Sun Dec 01, 2013 4:21 am

Seeing the increasing display of both skill and combat between the Hero of Ikaruga and the SS-Criminal had been something of a mesmerizing event that had at first taken her in. The want to stay and to learn more about what was going on was here. As she made her way back to Shiori's side, she had made the decision of a personal preference, wanting to see more battle...though she knew of the danger. This data could prove vital to some future attempts of combat for whoever they'd gathered it for. She'd drop the idea for Shiori to decide.

"Well Shiori...I think we should stay, we can get down the Hero's style...and if we act, later...the finish can me smooth if necessary." Her words were somewhat full of sense, though it mostly her wish...the danger was high, but she felt that they could handle it.

Subject: Re: The Cathedral Sun Dec 01, 2013 4:51 pm

Ragna barely had time to react to the blade shaped ice formation that shot up from the ground, his legs bending then straightening quickly to leap backward a couple of feet. The blade had shot up quick enough to leave a nice cut across the front of his clothing and a small cold cut across his chest which took little time to seal up. With the pillar of ice now between him and his brother, he'd swipe his blade forward, letting the tip etch into the white floor below as another dead spike was sent forward, trailing along the surface and aimed to shatter through the ice and into Jin on the other side. He didn't expect the attack to land, so he quickly regained his stance, preparing himself for Jin's next attack.

"That's where you're wrong. I'm kind of in a hurry." He whispered quietly to himself. He never expected his little brother to be one of the opponents to be guarding his path, but it did feel good to vent some of his anger out on him. His focus was on whether Jin would leap to the side, either left or right, at which point he'd pursue him, running towards his brother while his footing was still unstable. If Jin went upward however, the Grim reaper would hold his ground.

Subject: Re: The Cathedral Mon Dec 02, 2013 11:12 pm

Mai shivered a bit as the tension was growing with each passing second. Those two were intent on killing each other-

-and then it happened, Jin fired that ice blade Mai had seen from him before, Ragna being practically unbothered by it- he didn`t even have to step aside, he just blocked it with an attack of his own.
To her eyes, these guys resembled nothing like the two boys she knew from her teenhood, but rather murderous monsters... at least right now, they had nothing in common with the Jin and the Ragna she knew.

"Don´t thank me yet." She whispered to Noel, holding her tightly. The thought of losing her in this situation was a scenario she didn`t want to dream about, but right now she had to think about it if they wanted to survive.
"We... we need to get further back, those guys are destroying the place..."
She said that, but didn´t move a muscle. Her body was paralyzed with fear, and all she could do was hold onto Noel and pray for the best.

Subject: Re: The Cathedral Mon Dec 02, 2013 11:25 pm

Noel nodded in agreement, turning to glance at Jin and Ragna with a sense of dread. She knew that she didn't stand a ghost of a chance against either of them and decided that it would be best to wait it out and act later.

"Okay." She nodded and took charge, taking Mai's hand as they moved further away from the combat zone.

Guest

Shiori considered Chacha's interest in this battle, but she nonetheless quickly dismissed the idea of staying: with the amount of people here and the action going on, it only served to increase the risk factor of their mission. "We're leaving. This work is not ours to do."
With her words spoken, she turned towards the offices to avoid sneaking near the crowd, as it would allow her to make her exit by the windows safely.

------------(Exit)----------->

Guest

Sure of having gained an advantage by this strike, Jin was hoping to pursue his assault, but as he prepared to launch his next move, some darkness-made beast head plowed through his pillar and was coming straight for him. Trying to make it quick, Brother?, he thought as Ragna was surely trying to accelerate the pace of the fight.
Jin wasted no time and jumped in an attempt to fly over it like his attack plan was, but he got surprised for the spike actually hit his feet, changing the false hero's aerial trajectory to a kind of failed frontflip. Finding himself off-balance in mid-air, he still had to do something to avoid being utterly helpless as he knew that would spell untimely death: so he took a hold of his blade and quickly drew it out, aiming a fast slash in front of him to gain some ground and some time to stand up because with the he'd crash flat on the ground and that sure wasn't a good thing. He'd surely have to roll at a side because an attack would surely be coming his way as he'd be laying face-down on the cold floor of the Cathedral.

Subject: Re: The Cathedral Wed Dec 04, 2013 3:11 pm

Ragna would once against display his relentless nature as Jin was exposed after his leap. Ragna of course needed to step back to avoid the outward slash his brother utilized to grant himself some time, but once he was up and over, crashing into the floor behind him, the grim reaper would rush him. He wasted no time dashing towards his opponent, reckless abandon becoming evident as he focused everything into attack and once he was upon Jin, he'd take his blade and aim to stab it downward, focused on pinning Jin to the floor with the large metal sword. He showed some restraint though, he did not aim to kill his little brother here, so the sword was focused more towards his shoulder region, avoiding his lungs and causing pain but not some fatal injury were it to land. If Jin were to roll out of the way though, his sword would strike into the ground and the Reaper would be left exposed for a moment with his blade stuck in the floor.

Subject: Re: The Cathedral Fri Dec 06, 2013 7:19 am

Noel took over and led her out of the danger zone, thankfully, and a sigh passed her lips.
"Thank you, Noel..." Mai whispered quietly, almost too quiet to hear, as Noel tugged her along.
She really wanted to kiss that girl again. but if she did that now, she would probably never let go.
...if they would survive this, she would. She`d kiss Noel, and if she was anything more than a dumbass, she`d get the idea.
Swords clashed a few feet away from them, a bit of icy debris brushing past Mai`s face as they seeked cover.

Subject: Re: The Cathedral Fri Dec 06, 2013 7:33 am

"So..." Noel nodded as she drew Bolverk not to engage any of the combatants, but to protect herself and Mai should the battle reach their location "What is the plan, Mai?"

Noel knew that Mai had always been the leader among her group friends; it was either her or Tsubaki who would rally them whenever the situation turns bad. She would always do her bit here and there, contributing to the group in her own little way. She looked up to her, admired her for being so brave and loyal to her friends. One would guess that this is where her budding feelings came from.

Now, she was ready to take action. Sure, she still placed her faith in Mai to plan a way out, but now Noel was ready to back her up properly if she needed to.

"In case you have any doubts, I have your back, no matter what!" She stated confidently with a smile. She decided then and there that should they survive this, she would sort out whatever budding feelings she has for the bluenette beside her.

Guest

Ragna having dodged his slash, Jin was facing the ground as he hit the floor unheroically. Being at a disadvantage wasn't something he was accustomed to: he only failed to defeat his opposition once at the Academy, and by the time he looked up, his big brother was aiming to impale him with that big chunk of metal he called a sword. Jin tried a smooth move, sliding along the ground at his left side to get a foothold back in a position that didn't reek of immediate danger, but he was far underestimating his brother: "It'll take more tha-"
The creepily high-pitched voice talk of the crazed younger brother stopped in a scream of pain as his right elbow was pinned to the floor, and the heavy blade cut him almost to the bone. The pain was too strong for Jin to realize that Yukianesa's scabbard just dropped out of his hand. As he screamed, Jin shook and wriggled, and eventually he managed to sneak away and rolled on his side, trying to hold his bleeding elbow. Freezing the wound wouldn't do any good, and now he was at a natural disadvantage. While the possibility of killing Ragna got farther from his reach, Jin's ecstasy at fighting him dulled the pain a bit. In fact, he was even giggling as he recalled the excitement of the fight: "So that's how you play, Brother?", Jin coughed as he stood up, tightening his left hand's reverse grip on Yukianesa as he could still fight, and would do so until conscience parted away from him.

Subject: Re: The Cathedral Fri Dec 06, 2013 4:32 pm

As Chacha made a pouty face at her compatriot, upon seeing the action itself increasing several levels; she was forced to agree. This degree of skill and combat was beyond anything either she or Shiori could handle. So making her way out after Shiori, she crept off towards the offices in order to make a hasty escape. Being sure that she remained completely out of sight, since nothing less would serve her exit.

(Exuent after Shiori)~~~~~~~~~~~~>

Subject: Re: The Cathedral Fri Dec 06, 2013 7:53 pm

Ragna's blow landed for the most part and his little brother was left with a severe injury upon his arm. The grim reaper frowned as he glanced down at the blood splatter on the floor, the damage so much more real when inflicted on someone who didn't share his regenerative qualities. Rather than holding his blade out once more, he'd place it back in its holder and would turn his back to Jin as if he was telling him that the fight wasn't worth continuing. Despite his desire for answers, he had no interest in killing Jin, that blood wouldn't be on his hands.. So he'd start walking towards the door leading to the next room, wary of his brothers presence should he decide to persist.

"Get out of here Jin. I didn't come for you this time." His right hand lifted to scratch the back of his head as he thought about the current situation. "If you wanna die, then crawl away and do it somewhere else." He couldn't afford to waste any more time on this, or energy for that matter when he was unsure of what waited for him up ahead.

Subject: Re: The Cathedral Fri Dec 06, 2013 10:48 pm

Mai looked over at her old friend Jin in worry, seeing how he could barely stand at this point but still insisted on fighting Ragna.
Ragna, on the other hand, turned her back on him and was walking away... was he stupid? He was turning his back on someone like Jin just like tha-
...of course not. Ragna knew what he was doing... if Jin would attack, Ragna would counter attack instantly- his pose gave that away.
Mai gave Noel a little nudge. They had to detain Jin now, if they wanted him alive, because should he attack Ragna afterall he might really die soon.
"Noel... ready?" She whispered, letting go of her friend to get the special Ars ready that vigilanties used to detain criminals. If Noel used it on Jin the same time she did, maybe it would be powerful enough to bring Jin down alive.

Guest

As her body had healed out the slight outward injury, Youna regained consciousness. She hoped it all had been a bad dream, but here she was, sitting back on a wall, rubble everywhere at her side... What had she done to deserve that? She closed her eyes again, trying to see a reason for her to keep with what she had gone through...
At the very least, you are alive...
Great, now Florence was rubbing salt in the wound...
You could have gone through much worse, weren't I there.
What are you meaning?
Do you remember? That one time, when you were bounty-hunting in the docks? I had to save your life. Just two days ago, against that redhead too, I had to do that. Now imagine... How would these have turned out without my presence, and without the healing I gave you...
... Quiet.
That lowlife of a man would surely have raped or killed you, or perhaps he would've just kept you around, just as a little dog for kicking. That other girl also, she might just have killed you right then and there... maybe you would have regained consciousness just in time to see yourself bleeding from your heart until death ensued...
Youna couldn't tolerate Florence's almost delighted tone in her mind, telling her about what more she could've taken... She had enough of her.
"Shut up!", she shouted out loud. Her voice resonated through the corridor where she was, also surely everywhere around too... Great. Now if there were people inside, even NOL, she was just asking for punishment. At least Florence stopped talking. Pulling herself on her feet, she quickly took her sword back in hand, put it back in its sheath, and walked outside the building, wondering... What made me go through that?
-----------------(Getting the hell out of here)-------------------------------->

Subject: Re: The Cathedral Mon Dec 09, 2013 12:06 pm

Noel nodded as she put Bolverk away and instead proceeded to prepare the restraining ars. Seeing the crazed look in Jin's eyes earlier immediately told her that he would end up getting himself killed should he decide to continue attacking Ragna the Bloodedge.

"I'm sorry, Major." She thought resolutely "But this is for your own good."

Turning to Mai, she gave the blonde a steely stare, adding a quick nod that told her she was ready.

Guest

As his right hand was bleeding uncontrollably, Jin was still ignoring everything else: Ragna was back turned on him! He dared walk away on that fight Jin had awaited for so long? That would not be allowed! They would fight until death did them part.
As the false hero took back to his feet, right arm dangling uselessly at his side, Ragna had covered around 20 feet of distance. To catch up quickly and start that fight back, Jin made a board-shaped icicle on the ground and used it to propel himself forward in his brother's general direction as he then took off the ground in a wide-arcing jump, aiming to descend with a vertical slash, the sword aiming at Ragna's skull. "I am not done yet! Brother!", Jin screamed as he charged at his brother for around the second time.
Were the target not wary, this could be a one-hit-kill, but Jin had almost made sure his brother would pay attention to him. Jin only wanted the fight to start back. He wanted to see his brother bleed, scream, and finally die again. Though he could do without the two first parts and go straight to the last, irrevocable one...

Subject: Re: The Cathedral Tue Dec 10, 2013 6:25 pm

Ragna had expected Jin to make some sort of desperate attempt to force this battle to continue, the gentle little brother he cared about, swallowed up by the madness inflicted by that Nox Nyctores. What the Grim reaper had not planned for was the impressive speed of Jin's approach while in his current condition. He was not fully aware of what Yukianesa was capable of so utilizing it for move not wasn't even a thought in his mind as Jin ascended upward and dropped down to bring his blade into Ragna's head. Unable to avoid the strike but at the very least, capable of lessening the damage as he turned to face Jin, his body tilting to the side so that Yukianesa's edge passed harmlessly by his face, several strands of white floating here his head had once been.

Unfortunately, as it continued downward, it sunk into Ragna's shoulder, causing him to grit his teeth in pain, a muffled cry of agony as the curved sword cleanly cut through his collar bone and lacerated his flesh, drifting closer to his chest where the damage would only be more severe. The grimoire hand of his lifted up as the blade slowed in his body, fingers wrapping around it to prevent further movement while his glove and hand were slit open by the keen edge. "B-Bastard....Just stay down goddamnit!!" He managed out as his free hand lit up with dark every and a quick upper cut was thrown towards Jin's stomach. The attack was not just powerful, but explosive to a degree because if the punch landed, a blast of dark energy would erupt from his knuckles, launching Jin upward were it to land.

Subject: Re: The Cathedral Thu Dec 12, 2013 5:30 am

Finally, they were ready to keep Jin from doing something collossally stupid, but then he just went ahead. No matter, seconds determined life and death at this point. Running up to Jin with the rapid moving techniques the Hazuki family taught her, Mai grabbed Jin on his shoulders and yanked him downward, her elbow attempting to twist his wrist, and thus his sword, out of the way as she was pulling him to the ground, making Ragnas punch hit thin air.
"Noel! Now! Do it now!!"

» The literal Cathedral