Scene #295: The Kisaragi Reckoning

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Jin Kisaragi	EARLIER Jin Kisaragi was never particularly fond of making his usual reports back to his world regarding what was happening in the Multiverse, not when Colonel Kagura was so fond of hearing them personally and asking him at least fifty questions. Like usual Jin's objective was to get out of it with as few new assignments as possible and, like usual, it wasn't going well. "Phew! This Serori woman sounds like a handful." The NOL's Black Knight scratched his chin thoughtfully on the other end of the vidphone, "Maybe I ought to pay a visit and take her on a date. What do you think, Jinny?" "What have I said about calling me that?" Jin's voice glowered in irritation on the other end, "In any case. I don't think you'd find her to your liking." "But she's a woman! That's imposible." Kagura's smirk made Jin pine for a more traditional radio, "Besides, your report omits a very important element: What are her three sizes?" A few moments of the Major's deadpan silence eventually gets him back on course, "Fine, fine. Well, it does sound like she's causing quite a bit of trouble. Go ahead and take her down." "Pardon, Colonel?" Jin's eyes furrowed. "Challenge her and beat her! Single combat. That's not too much trouble for the 'Hero of Ikaruga', right? After what she's done, that'll have to improve our position out there in the Union." Kagura's smile endured all throughout the ridiculous order, inevitably getting ahead of himself, "Oh, and make it public! ESpecially if you can say something like 'In the name of Justice I, Jin Kisaragi, challenge you to a duel!'" Dramatically posing and posturing, his finger pointed at at the screen, "Make it a video, I bet Tsubaki would squ-" "Colonel..." Jin's voice dropped low, and he thought the receiver might snap under his grip, "You've gone too far.." "Haaa, scary! You're scary, Major!" Kagura threw his hand up haplessly, laughing it all off, "No, seriously, I can feel you're killing intent through this line. Well, handle it however you see fit, but it's still an order, got it? Besides, wasn't she seen a lot around Ragna the Bloodedge..?" He dropped that last tidbit with one eye closed. "Fine, i'll do it." Jin sighed, "Major Kisaragi, out." NOW One short but tense discussion with the ex-general over the radio later, Jin was in position and awaiting Serori's arrival. Mountain rose in the distance, but the area was rather arid and thoroughly unpopulated, reducing any chance of collateral damage. The Major checked his time piece, then continued to endure the brief respite he had by his lonesome. Just get this over with already, he thinks.
Serori	Nothing like a challenge to brighten up the evening, hm? And here, Serori assumed she'd be laying low for a few days! Sure, going into hiding would be the smart thing to do, and she's not a complete idiot, but to actually lie around resting her injuries left her restless, surly, and itching for a distraction that didn't take the form of a too-clever elf. It was always like this after a big fight and a big win. Only a direct order could pin her down to sensible activity levels, and sometimes it could take more than that. Jin Kisaragi is a case where 'more than that' would have been required to keep Serori away. The last time she'd met him, their fight hadn't gone in her favor. Jin revealed himself to not only possess a terrifying psychosis, but a dramatic level of skill and power she hadn't expected a mere swordsman to wield. Serori had entered that fight cocky, and had left it feeling chilled to the bone, not only by all the ice Jin had conjured, but by the way he'd acted in battle, too. Sadistic, cruel, and lacking any kind of self-discipline, Jin was exactly the kind of unhinged maniac the Union would never in its right mind recruit -- so why had he worn their mantle? And why was he back again today, supposedly /representing/ the Union's interests by kicking her ass? Did it actually have anything to do with Serori's actions in Greenwich? Was this all a flimsy ruse to discover what had happened to Ragna the Bloodedge? Only one way to find out... Serori appears in the sky above the given coordinates, yellow-white power flickering around her hovering form as a rather subtle aura compared to her usual emanations. Fully armored in a tight-fitting chestplate and snug black undersuit, she looks pretty much exactly as Jin'll remember. The last time they'd met, she'd worn something similar. "So, you really did come alone?" Serori drops to the ground, landing about a dozen feet away from Jin. The saiyan's black glare scans the area. "All right, then. Let's do this."
Jin Kisaragi	It has been a long time since Serori and Jin last met in battle. The Jin Kisaragi she test herself against that day, however, is not quite the same one the Saiyan finds waiting for her today. Oh, he's got some imperious demeanor alright, crossing his arms and lifting his gaze snobbishly as the woman descends from on high. But where he was once guided by obsession, lashing out with all the temerity of a barely restrained beast in the zeal for his quarry, he was now strangely calm and collected, offering her a careless shrug for a greeting. "I am more than sufficient to handle the likes of you." He says, eyeing the woman's gear and finding it much the same as she remember. Once a General, now a mere warrior, and formerly listed among the known associates of one Grim Reaper... The Major's eyes narrowed with keen intent. Perhaps, once this was done, he could extract some information from her... But orders are orders, even if Jin kind of hates being given them. He'll settle into a guarded posture instantly, feet forward and hand clasped succinctly around Yukianesa's hilt. A proper stand-off proceeds between the two-the sort of a tumbleweed might blow right through-while each measures and gauges their opponent for an opening before making the first move. Then, Jin vanishes. Or at least he /seemed/ too, but the rush of wind and subtle displacement of air pressure ought to tell Serori a different story. Far from invisible, the Major was just /fast/, winking out of one place and into the next (There might even be that weird 'veep!' sound effect), which happened to be right on Serori's flank, mid-air and slinging Yukianesa free in a fluid draw-slash at the ex-general's shoulder, his eyes nothing but a placid, green focus of determination.
Serori	"You've changed." Just like you can't compare apples and oranges, you can't really compare a psycho nutjob to a cold collected guy who knows his business. Serori came expecting to face a Jin whose cruelty would manifest in the form of overwhelming brutal violence; instead, she's been given a Jin who seemingly has it /mostly/ together. The realization puts a hard, stormy scowl on Serori's face, and gets the fur along the back of her tail all lifted and bristly. For fuck's sake. No more time to think about it -- Jin's on the move! His hyperfast charge is surprising, but doesn't exceed Serori's ability to follow his trajectory. Though she can't exactly see his whole form, she has a good sense of his whereabouts thanks to shifting air pressures, the flattening grass, and the sound of his bamfing around like that shadowy girl from Crepe's world. It's enough /tell/ to open a miniscule window of opportunity -- but sometimes, that's all Serori needs. Serori bends to the right, letting Yukianesa slice through the narrow gap between her neck and shoulder. The dodge costs her a lock of wild black hair, but it leaves her in position for swift and immediate retaliation. As Jin lunges forward behind his thrusting blade, Serori balls a fist up and jabs it toward his gut. On any connection, she twists her fist to really drive the force home, and swings her arm upward to deliver the rest of the impact hard into his diaphragm and the squishy parts beneath his ribs. Leaves her in melee range, but she'll take the risk for now.
Jin Kisaragi	For all that Jin's changed and improved in the intervening time, it seems Serori has been able to keep pacethe fact that she evaded his strike by a narrow-thin margin has the Major quietly harumphing as his hopes for a quickly-decided battle were quashed; something told him it was more than just a lucky dodge. Fortunately, the Librarium Soldier's reactions are no less quick. Knowing he'd put himself in prime position for a vicious counterattack if he whiffed, Jin immediately twists his body in mid-air and rolls with Serori's blow, taking glancing blow along the ribs instead of the diaphragm (Which still sucks) and getting half-spun around by the even the ambient force of a partial impact. She follows through with it, but the physic of the matter on Jin's side as his body simply rolls off the thrusting corner of Serori's fist where she'd caught him rather than being thrust up limply at the end of her arm, or thrown into the air as he had the last time. Still smarting at this bruised rib, Jin's feet finally touch the ground. Melee may have it's advantages for him, but taking a direct hit from the Saiyan woman and her absurd strength was a considerable disadvantage, so the Major decides to make some space. He'll cast his right arm down, invoking what moisture is to be had from the air and coalescing it in a jagged curtain of ice that thrust out like a flourish from his side and at Serori. Maybe it will catch her, maybe it wont, but the idea is more to force his opponenet back so he can light her up with his /real/ attack: Several blades of ice dead-set on her upper torso.
Serori	The glancing hit is still satisfying. Serori allows herself a small smirk as she leans her weight down and forward, preparing to pursue her target. Taunting words catch him before her fists can a second time. "Not in the mood for conversation?" Did the temperature just drop? Goosebumps prickle up along Serori's bare arms in reaction to a passing chill. That's not a good sign. Apprehension widens the saiyan's snapping eyes an instant before the manipulated moisture manifests into a line of rippling ice. Another remembered lesson convinces Serori to backpedal in a swift attempt to evade the onrushing obstacle -- yep, that's right. Jin's tactic succeeds to perfection. Serori's brief dance with confidence ends in sharp, surprising agony. Certain she'd be able to escape the ice curtain, she's caught unawares by the secondary manifestation, and saiyan armor never was very good at deflecting /stabs/. One of the icy blades cuts right through the armor and opens an oddly frigid gash along her left side. Another blade lands beneath the first to equal effect. The twin slices push Serori to the right, her movement made desperately quick by the application of a near-invisible bubble of force thrust out from her left palm. The next energy blast leaving her right hand is too hasty to be shaped into anything other than a jagged wave of yellow light. Just as Serori's left forearm is gashed by one of the few blades still capable of reaching her, she tries to blow Jin away with the power of a point-blank cannon.
Jin Kisaragi	Jin had never exactly been the world's greatest conversationalist, so Serori's taunt just grants her a look of consternation from the Major, "I'll have plent to say to you after your beaten." His words are not much different from the vampiric ice he conjures: chilling sterile and formed perfectly to his purposes. His stratagem pays off, but there's no gloating or room for self-satisfaction in Jin's psyche the fact that many of those icebound blades find their mark, instead closing in to press the advantage now that there's blood in the water. Unfortunately, he underestimated Serori's capacity to counter with her energy projection abilities. The force bubble is an early warning, prompting Jin to halt his advance and begin the pivot on his heel in what would have been a sudden dodge-roll, but Serori's too fast on the uptake for him. There's a flash of blinding light, the oncoming heat particularly burdensome for someone of Jin's affinities as he raised his arm to shield his eyes.. ..or, you know, to conjure a green ars barrier a heartbeat before the blast would've taken him in full. There was a teriffic clash of crackling energies that culminated in an explosion that tossed up dust and rocks alike, still knocking Jin a ways back since there was no overcoming the laws of momentum in this instance. His barrier was shattered, but it had lasted long enough to keep the Major from taking the hit. ..still, sense both visual and aural reeled from the lingering effects of his proximity, Jin's sight plagued with winking bright dots and an unsteady equilibrium. He's staggered, and while the cover the explosion provides might prevent Serori from seeing it, he wasn't able to offer a reprisal just yet.
Serori	About twenty-four hours ago, Serori had limped back to the Citadel sporting broken ribs, internal bleeding, hairline fractures, and the kind of bruising you can feel to the bone. One night under Medusa Gorgon's care (and the care of a regenerative soak) had repaired the majority of her injuries, but something unable to be replenished through physical care alone is the deep reserves of spiritual energy Serori needs in droves in order to launch the kind of blast she'd just used on Jin. Smaller than her kin and less enduring as a result, she requires more time in order to make a full spiritual recovery. Aware of her limitations, Serori doesn't spend all her power on a single strike. The moment she meets resistance in the form of Jin's ars barrier is the moment she starts letting that beam die out. There isn't much /oomph/ left to the resulting explosion, not much to actually /hurt/ Jin, and she knows it. She needs to get close. No pain stops Serori from a lunging pursuit. Though weary on the inside and losing an ugly amount of blood thanks to those critical gashes Jin had laid open, she nevertheless sprints across the distance so quickly she appears to vanish. In an echo of Jin's opening assault, she capitalizes on her insane speed, and tries to find him among all the smoke and dust before he can get away. Sure, she can't /see/ him, but that doesn't stop her from stopping on a dime, spinning hard on her toe, and launching a mountain-smashing roundhouse kick at the spot she /thinks/ he occupies. "You're already /finished/!" The maneuver pulls her muscles tight around her bruises, but like she gives a fuck right now, anyway.
Jin Kisaragi	Jin doesn't have an exact memory of his fight with Serori-enough to recall her capabilities, but it's also not recent enough for him to determine that the blast was a far lesser one than the Saiyan might normally have used. Still, there are things about the situation that don't make sense: The best action in a course like this would be for her to follow up with a volley of similar blasts, yet nothing seemed to come. Ambient white light begins to fade from Jin's vision as his wits come back to him, putting his guard back up and trying to sense what direction Serori might come at him from. Sadly gauging her approach was one thing, avoiding it another. The confederate ex-general emerges from the smoke and ash right /next/ to Jin, her kick catching him right beneath his left armpit in a torrid moment of full impact. The entire jolt seemed pass through Jin's body in slow-motion, the sheer immensity of the blow transmuting into excruciating pain at the rate on which a snail crawl across a razor. He felt his feet leaving the ground, his entire body jerking with like it was hit by speeding truck, wind assaulting his face in an unleashed fury that had his tassles flipping about maniacally in the throes of his upheaval. Ah, he'd started flying at some point. The last time this happened, Jin had the virtue of gravity pulling him back down to this opponent. No such luck existed with the horizontal vector Jin was on now, so the Major decides to make some on his own by ignoring however many ribs that hit just cracked and gathering enough ice to form a jagged platform in which he catches himself, abruptly reversing course and accerating at Serori at least as fast as she'd sent him away. He'll slam the full force of that frigid converyance right into the woman's chest (Which will freeze her solid for a moment, if it hits), executing a front flip off of it and following-up with another draw-slice of Yukianesa diagonally across.
Serori	Impact! Serori's wicked laughter chases after Jin to add its insult to his injury. So, she's gettin' cocky, huh? And it looks like it's warranted, for once. The way he's going, there's no chance he can to recover the advantage -- right? Right?! Why else would Serori taunt him a second time? "You were a better fighter when you were crazy!" OR WAS HE. An icy platform races toward Serori at speeds she could only beat on a good day. Today is not a good day. The possibilities play out in a mental flash. A vertical vault /might/ save her, but then it's her ankles taking the hit instead of her armored chest. If she ducks, Jin brings the ice down on her head. Scooting left or right doesn't seem to leave her much room, and he's fast enough to outmaneuver that kind of predictable dodge. If she had another moment, she could risk Instant Transmission -- but there's just no time! Shocked into desperate action, she takes her only valid option, and floats backwards, to buy herself time for a proper defensive action. Skimming by at only an inch or two above the ground, she lets her aura flare to life. Yellow-white light surrounds her like a constantly flickering fire. Serori shouts, and thrusts her hands forward, palms toward Jin -- The aura solidifies. Jin's ice crashes into Serori's bubble-like barrier. The impact jars her back another few feet and drops her back to earth, where she digs in her feet. Shallow furrows are dug up by her skidding heels. Serori fights to keep her barrier alive, but ice is creeping over its cracking surface. The barrier shatters -- ice traps her inside a solid shell -- and before she can even /try/ to free herself, she's set loose against her will by Yukianesa's hungry edge. The diagonal slash makes a joke of her armor from shoulder to hip. Fragments of ice and fragments of chestplate burst into the air together. Serori staggers backwards, chattering teeth clenched tight to restrain her outcry. She's not sure what's worse -- the cold, or the shock. Sluggish now but still mobile, Serori vaults herself into a sudden, high leap. Taking her place in the sky at about thirty feet up, she sweeps her arm outward in a welcoming motion, but instead of any friendly greeting, Jin will face six explosive orbs. The orbs launch from Serori in an unpredictable fashion, their assault staggered to throw off his attempts. Each one of course explodes ridiculously because that's what they DO.
Jin Kisaragi	Jin knows when he's struck flesh and when he hasn't, and the staggered impact he feels as his iceboard smashes into Serori's barrier tells the Major that didn't go precisely as planned. No matter, since it seemed Yukianesa's ice could still seep all over the barrier itself as design. The aforementioned blade itself has more success, cutting true and biting with a bitter cold the saiyan seemed unlikely to have forgotten in the time since their last battle. Her movements were slower now-he could definitely see that much as the woman retreated into the sky once he landed, prompting a frown from the state-sanction Hero. Jin Kisaragi was capable of a great many thing, but flying wasn't one of them...taking to the air granted a succint advantage to his opponent. Of course, he wasn't /completely/ robbed of ways to deal with that. First though it looks like he'll need to pass through the trial of ridiculously exploding orbs. The hap-hazard movement of the energy bombs makes it extra-annoying, but that kick hasn't completely robbed him of his ability to move just yet. He'll wait for the first one the get close before moving, favoring his unbruised side, 'baiting' it into suddenly sweving at him on an odd angle before leaping backward free and clear of the explosion. The rest are dealt with in a simlar fashion, Jin's reaction speed and ingenuity a seeming match for the unpredictable movements of the blasted bomb. That's not to say he's free of injury-while nothing manages to land a direct hit (A good thing too, as anyone of them is liable to finish this fight in Serori's favor) there is such a thing as splash damage from any sort of explosive ordinance. Each successive blast sends dirt and (more importantly) rocks flying in all direction, catching Jin at the shins, shoulders and one stray fragment glancing his temples and drawing blood. His body was left aching and better, but the ruse was complete. Serori ought to be able to see it from her vantage point too now: Each explosion, seemingly random, now offered a dense field of risen dust and debris under which the major now had covered. Good luck sighting him for another attack like that! More importantly though, Jin remember with precision exactly where Serori was before the last blast, and wasted now opportunity in exploiting that knowledge. Ethereal light immediately swept up Yukianesa's scabbard, extending into image of a radiant bow that surged with frigid energy as Jin drew back the 'string' and nocked a gathering concentration of sorcerous ice into shape of an arrow. He aimed without seeing: His mind's eye had the target. "You're mine." He said succintly, letting the arrow fly, blowing all his cover away with the force of it's passage,
Serori	The dust clouds are cleared in a twisting rush, revealing Jin Kisaragi standing battered but strong amid scorched earth and deep craters; Serori does not notice him, however. Right away, she recognizes the more immediate danger howling toward her with the shrieking fury of a thousand fucking dooms. That arrow. Made of ice, sorcery, and Jin's intent to /win/, the sight of it freezes her heart long before it's made any physical contact. Alarmed, Serori makes a final plea for aid from home before she commits to an act of reckless stupidity. She flings herself /toward/ the arrow. Time slows. Fear, rage, and the heart-pounding drug dubbed /pure unfiltered adrenaline/ together unlock the destructive potential smoldering inside Serori. In an instant, she's delved deep into her reserves and opened the floodgates. No time to charge, no time to shout, no time for anything -- if she's going to kill, she's got to do it /now/. If she's going to win, she has to do it /now/! Golden light consumes Serori's body in a roiling /force/ so powerful it looses a rippling shockwave strong enough to make the ground briefly shudder. That /release/ transforms her body from dark to bright, her streaming hair becoming yellow, her eyes from hateful black to shining green. Her aura, too, is magnified to the point of incandescence. Power surges around the diving Super Saiyan. It gathers into her hands, coalescing from mere motes into large, crackling spheres, one surrounding each fist. Serori snaps her arms forward. The spheres release a searing column of yellow energy so hot it burns white at its core. As Serori finally lets out a savage roar, she gives all she has to /stopping that arrow/. Impossibly, the force forming the arrow competes against Serori's last-ditch cannon. The two weapons meet, and Serori's cannon explodes. Maybe seventeen feet above the ground, with Serori no more than four or five feet behind it, a supernova erupts over the battlefield. The light is blinding. When the brilliance fades, Serori is on her hands and knees on the ground, her arms and legs trembling in reaction. Shards of ice have speared through her in several places, and she seems to be having some difficulty recognizing up from down. She's no longer so Super. Serori faceplants.
Dracula Vlad Tepes	A large scythe suddenly embeds itself in the ground in front of Serori. The weapon is an elegant one, the blade formed from the curving silver wing of a bat and the long handle as vicious and twisted as it is menacingly beautiful. An air of finality suddenly fills the air and weighs down upon all present, as if life itself were about to meet an abrupt end. Darkness swirls around the scythe's hilt, seeping from the weapon and growing into a broad shape that hovers above Serori. Tattered black robes billow in the air. Skeletal hands stretch to either side. A leering skull glares out from under a dark hood in an ever-present scowl devoid of pity or remorse. This, clearly, is Death, and not any sort of false identity. "This is done. You are coming with me," Death rasps in a commanding tone, his voice scraping at the very souls of those who hear him. His cloak opens, revealing a swirling vortex of black and red chaos ringed by several curving spikes: teeth, ribs, perhaps fingers; it's difficult to tell. Whatever they are, they scoop up Serori gingerly from the ground and swallow her into his robes. Despite the potentially terrifying method, it's surprisingly not very uncomfortable. Like being suspended in floating water, if the water could somehow not be felt. Death's robes close again, showing no sign of those grasping spikes or Serori. He leers at Jin for several moments, then lifts his gleaming scythe... ...and hurls it up into the sky, dissolving once more into tendrils of shadow that seep into the weapon as it boomerangs off out of sight.
Jin Kisaragi	Jin has seen that form one time before from Serori. He'd researched it sometime late, so her understands the phenomenon: A Super Saiyan, once thought a legend, now all too real, a state which someone like Serori had increase strength, speed and power not unlike a supercharged capacitor of some sort. In general it was bad news, but she hadn't gone to those lengths to come after /him/, at least not yet. With little and less to hide beind at the moment, Jin merely raised his barrier and wait to see what would happen next. What it was wound up being a miniature nova in the sky over their desolate battlefield forcing Jin to avert his eyes and merely hope his opponent wouldn't try to take advantage of his vulnerability in the meantime. It turns out Serori is in no fit shape to do so, cancelling out his attack but not without taking some extensive damage in the process and-it seems-running herself dry in the process. There's a mirthless smirk in the Major's handsome features when the proud warrior impacts, now back to normal, and collapses from the strain of her gambit. His approach is cautious and slow, lest there be some sort of trickery at play here, but the nearer he gets the more Jin's confience grows until he's sauntering up to the Saiyan's prone form with a bloodided forehead, ripped uniform and sighing demeanor, "That was so stupid it nearly worked." The Librarian's commentary belied a certain regard for fight she put up-not exactly respect, but more akin to a grudging tolerance. Still, he done as he had been ordered. Jin could leave it here, but there was another benefit to this outcome, one even the 'changed' Kisaragi couldn't resist. "Now then." His voice projected, hopefully reaching Serori if she hadn't fallen unconscious yet, "You're going to tell me everything you know about Ragna the Bloo-" Sheer instinct forces Jin to leap back as an enormous scythe slams into the ground not far from him, the chill it sends up his spine comparable to what Yukianesa must due to those on her receiving end. The Major than watches on, largely helplessly, as Serori is..er..'rescued' by a means that hardly seems agreeable, but one supposes these are the sort of forces you ally yourself with when you join the Confederacy. Fitting company for that blasted snake women and his brother, Jin supposes... Death, he realized, was what he felt in the presence of this entity. The battlefied of Ikaruga suddenly returned to his mind, the fields of dead and dying rapidly intruding on Jin's mindscape as he remained locked the searing gaze of that towering, dark-robed manifestation of the force that had been either at his side or upon him for most of his life. Though he doesn't yield, he knows he's sort of many options of this...entity decide it wants to fight him as well. His hand goes to Yukianesa's hilt when that scythe raises, releasing it with some sense of unburderened relief when that dark spirit take it's leave instead, leaving the Major alone once more. "Hmph..." Thoroughly disappointed by the outcome, Jin lets it go with a wearied sigh, "All that concern about whether I was alone, and I never thought to ask the same of you...that's just perfect." Jin turned on his heel and began to walk in the direction of the nearest signs of civilization, already compiling a report in his head.