Scene #8048: Friendship vs Yakuza

Owner	Pose
Tamamo	The other of the uniformed, sword-carrying pair steps forward automatically, to take Lilian's card. He only looks at it briefly before carrying it to the head, but there's a definite hint of a (thin, hard) smile when he does. Susumu takes it without looking, seeming to instead be focused on Lilian's words and their subchannels. It's harder to tell what he's thinking, but 'confused' he definitely isn't. To her, and to Cantio's offer of future dealing, he says, "We'll certainly be in touch, if you're as capable as you look. But now, let's see to that. I find my gut's usually trustworthy, but it'd be terrible if we gave you something you couldn't handle, wouldn't it? Please pardon our caution, then." That's what he says, but it's hard to disguise that he's purely looking forward to the show, too. It takes a moment, seeing that, for Tamamo to say, "Oh, might you allow me to appoint my miko as my champion, for this case? I should not like to personally interfere, as one who is so little a warrior, myself." "Well, now, can we be certain of what needs certainty, if you don't reveal some of your own ability?" "I am the artist." Susumu takes a moment to process this answer, before, "Aha, I see, I see. In that case, there's no problem if she represents your share. Please forget I ever asked. We'll give you a place to sit." "Of course." The ring is a simple, raised platform of wood, covered with enough sand that it's unclear how deep it is. A few steps at the edges are brushed with the same, from those walking in and out. There are benches around the outside, for others to go and sit on. Yukou, a man built like a wrestler, clean-shaven and with a topknot, steps up to it. "I'd like to test myself against you all, honestly, but even I balk at taking on eight at once. And having you go up one at a time... that would hardly be fair, would it?" Jiro, the older-looking, bald and bearded man that looks like he started at 'wiry' and then just kept adding lean bulk, steps up by him. "If we're together... but hey, how well do all of you know each other, really? Not just the one you're here for, but each other." He suddenly laughs. "Oh, but don't mind me. I'm just thinking about how nice it is to fight alongside someone you've known a long time. You can't get that feeling with people you just happened to meet. Show us some of your own comradery, eh?" Before she does sit down, Tamamo goes to Lilian, to give her hand a subtle squeeze while passing along a few protection talismans, saying, "I know you would make me proud of your efforts, even were I to say nothing. I shall be watching, closely, even should you not see me." Not just Lilian, but several others get a few of her talismans on the way up. Kale gets a purification charm (those having been useful several times before), Ishirou gets a set of talismans that can be dropped to make an intangible wall that confuses one's sense of direction when one tries to cross, Rita is given a charm to summon a bolt of lightning, Candy a defensive/offensive field of ice, Hibiki a blessing of quick-charging energy and stamina, and Cantio a fiery explosive trap, though with a look like Tamamo may not be entirely certain it's safe to let her hold one. Stepping up onto the ring is a sudden change. It's not a regulation sumo ring, but a storm-blasted plain. Clouds roll in a dark sky, lightning flashes in the distance. There's haze on the horizon, like the sun is only a little ways off from appearing. Thunder and wind strike all here, and there's sand, but also stone and dry soil. The first drops of rain fall. Yukou and Jiro are standing there, faint waves of golden light, or perhaps golden vapor, rising from their tattoos. The 'audience' aren't in sight at all, but the two yakuza are a starker, stronger presence, here in this empty place.
Kale Hearthward	Yes! Purification charm! Kale attaches it to one of his sword hilts, as he had before. "Alright, is this going to be big enough?" asks Kale, as he starts to step into the ring. "I tend to-" Everything changes. "- have... a pretty high range, yeah, this will do," says Kale, looking around. "Hmm." He looks around a bit... holding his hand out to feel the rain on it. This is impressive. "... Alright, then," he says, kicking his boots into gear. "Let's get started..." He draws his sword, and moves in. "And put on a show!" Kale takes the vanguard spot, as is his usual tactic. He moves in fast, sword at the ready, watching the pair, eyes flickering to their tattoos... ... but just as he gets close, he pulls up suddenly, dancing back briefly in an attempt to bait them out, before actually attacking - a feint, in an attempt to throw them off balance!
Cantio	Susumu's caution actually has Cantio relaxing a bit, visibly relieved upon hearing that response. "Oh, of course. I'd be more concerned if you didn't. Our group is a little..." She looks over at the eclectic crew, pursing her lips briefly as she tries to figure out a descriptive enough word for them all. Instead, she just gestures around with a little 'you know?' kind of look on her face. As the reigning champs prepare to head into the ring, Cantio takes the explosive trap from Tamamo. She thanks Tamamo, then justifies that look almost immediately as she turns it around in her hand several times as if trying to figure out what makes it tick by sight alone (and, thankfully, without tugging or tearing it apart). Before she heads in, however, Cantio turns to the yakuza once more and gestures at her floating camera/lighting drones. "Oh! Before we start... Is it alright if I capture footage of this challenge, or would you prefer that I didn't?" She asks directly, prepared to recall them to her side if she's given the negative and to leave them where they are if there's even a single objection. Either way, she heads on in and slips the explosive trap into a pocket for the time being, eyes widening once the room turns into a plain. Stumbling briefly at the sudden shift, Cantio regains her footing sooner rather than later and holds her attache case forward. "Thank you for facing us! We'll make sure this won't be a fight to forget!" And with that declaration, she begins to walk forwards. The case falls apart and reassembles itself into a long claymore while Cantio raises it high, gripping it with both hands as she continues moving. She's clearly aiming for an attack from that high stance, and her gaze is focused squarely on Yukou. Despite how predictable the attack may be, however, it still comes down as a blisteringly fast slash aimed at Yukou's center mass to test his reactions and the difference in their physical abilities.
Ishirou	Ishirou smiles and gives Tamamo thanks, because she's always looking out for them...though not helping this time. Maybe this is a test for him? Hmm...maybe she's just not feeling up to it? Hard to say, but oh well! With the field changing and the not-yakuza are apparently activating their tattoos. That must be with the ink they're here to get...so it'll at least give him a chance to see it in action. While they're charging, Ishirou is summoning the AVCS into existence, which is more like a power armor. Folding over his form, and protecting him from direct strikes. What follows up are some pieces that slot into the arms, legs, and back giving him flight capability. This is usually called the 'flight unit'. With it, he takes flight to get some mobility and distance. He /also/ takes a moment to scan the two, trying to get a feeling for their capabilities and strength relative to everyone else. From there if he has some knowledge of that, then he can better predict what they can do. From there, then he can better support. However, in the meantime, he lays down a barrage of energy bullets to try and suppress the two.
Candy	EARLIER "I'm gonna go get to work on that weapon. Not much time's gonna pass for you, and I can be back here in time for the test--but I wanna have it ready for you. Something tells me your tests are gonna be... vigorous, you know? Hahaha." He's simply gone, the moment he's given leave, as if the world had suddenly realized he wasn't supposed to be there. He is instead supposed to be about 30 minutes walk from the castle, in the first relatively uncrowded space he could find. Pacing with a furrowed brow as birds are frozen in the sky overhead, Candy ponders options in silence. He's probably seen all the 'traditional' stuff a hundred times over by now. I told him I'd give him a weapon like he'd never seen. They all sssseemed to like the Mandate. But obsssidian is a terrible choice for the kind of swords they're used to. You'll need quite a bit for the weapon you're envisioning. Clay, coal, water, wood, lacquer, silica, palladium, a range of lanthanides-- I don't even know what half that shit is, but I'll play you for it. The process is a mixture of old and razor's-edge new (even by the standards of a modern Earth).
Candy	NOW Candy isn't sure how long he cheated time to labor over his creation; how long the industrial, rugged take on a tatara forge took to get working and then dissassemble. How long the unorthodox blade took to alloy, quench and knap. How long the crossguard took to filigree just right, or how many times he had to redo the wrap on the handle. True to his word, however, only a few moments seem to pass--albeit, with a faint cacophony in the distance, an absence of his longcoat, and the sleeves of his work shirt rolled up. Setting his gift--enclosed in a polished, lacquered wooden box--someplace where it can easily be seen, but won't easily be endangered, he accepts the talisman from Tamamo on his way up to the ring. "Thanks, Ms. Tamamo," he says with a slight smile. Climbing into the ring, Candy takes the ribbon from his hair. It shifts in his grip, becoming a flame-wreathed macuahuitl. The obsidian teeth seem to catch the light strangely, and the wahy depicted on the turquoise flat seem almost alive. Candy sprints forwards along with Kale, flickering in a zig-zag to create confusion as to which one he's going to attack. After the feint from Kale, two Candies attack--splitting off from one point. Both of them go low, making two-handed swings with their grips eased all the way to the butt of the grip--but only one attack is real.
Rita Ma	"How well do all of you know each other, really?" Everyone here is someone that Rita knows, but not necessarily 'well'. For that, her eyes fall on Hibiki, Candy, and after a little hesitation, Lilian. "Show us your comradery." Rita swallows nervously. "I'll try my best, Mr. Jiro." Right now this second, she's feeling less confident in that than she usually would. She accepts the lightning charm with a gracious bow, and clutches it tight in her hand as she enters the ring. They must know we can beat them eight-on-two, right? Unless they're even scarier than I thought. But that's not the point. We have to impress them, too. And impressing them with how well we can work together... right now, that feels almost hopeless. Rita startles and spins around when the arena presents its true interior, but soon adjusts after worriedly asking "Where's the exit? We can still get out after, right?" When the fighting begins, Rita lingers in the back. Only when things have become chaotic enough does she spin a Hibiki-decoy, visually perfect down to imitating the original's body language and movements. They've done this routine together before, or something like it. When the real Hibiki goes in for an attack, Rita's decoy does too from the opposite angle, forcing a choice of which one to defend against.
Hibiki Tachibana	"Our comradery, huh..." Despite her go-getter attitude towards throwing hands to prove themselves, Hibiki can't help but go a bit quieter for a moment, side-glancing between Lilian and Rita specifically...and then all of the others. Her hands slightly tense up at her sides, but she looks back towards Yukou and Jiro with her energy back in force. "I know exactly what you mean. It's...a feeling you can't get anywhere else. Don't worry about us. You'll get to see plenty of that." Before they head out, Hibiki gladly takes her respective talisman from Tamamo - if she was worried about lacking in any energy for the battle ahead, she sure won't have to anymore. The bunrei is giving a small smile and a nod, one with a little bit of reassurance that things will be fine in it. And then, it's time to head out. Moving onto the wooden ring happens at the same time as her instrumental-blasting transformation, leaving a Gungnir-clad Hibiki slightly surprised at the sudden change in environment but suited for the windy and sand-strewn battlefield they find themselves in; her hand tugs at her scarf, facing down their two opponents. They really make for an imposing (and dramatic) sight here, especially as droplets begin to fall. "...Alright. Then here we come!" Hibiki, naturally, is going to do what she does best and brace herself before diving right in. Jiro is who she zeroes in on first, a lunge off the ground kicking up dirt behind her and coming in on the man from an angle off to the side - closing in at equal speed with her Rita-made decoy, she steps in with a charging punch...! "Hah!" Though she doubles-up on the feint at the last second, kicking off the ground and opting for a spinning, air-cracking jump kick that's going to try and trip him up even if he correctly guesses which Hibiki is the real one. The impact is going to hit unnaturally /hard/--almost like the force reverberates through his tattoos, and then out to the rest of his body.
Lilian Rook	"Fine." says Lilian, clear in just a moment that she was replying to Cantio. "This group is fine." Her eyes slide between Susumu and Tamamo while the two speak to each other. They linger on the latter of the two with a faintly pleading look that still seems to have taking the conclusion as foregone, then does her best to diffuse her disappointment with reality by saying "Well, as long as I'm not also required to take my top off for an even match." The ghost of a more typically Liliesque smile flickers towards Yukuo. "It wouldn't." she says. "You'd get tired from the first four or five, so then it wouldn't exactly be a convincing victory afterwards." By all accounts, it seems she merely accepts Tamamo's talismans with appropriate respect and grace on the way up. It's much harder for anyone else to notice the faint lip print on her neck. Her good humour is sent by the time Jiro starts asking questions. "Everyone we know is just someone we happened to meet. Isn't that how life is? Unless of course you'd like to talk about fate. But I have full confidence that everyone foolish enough to be here is foolish enough to look out for one another as well." She doesn't look all that surprised at the stormy arena. No one can know if it's because she picked it up from Tamamo's insinuation, because she recognized it in some other fashion, because she saw this future already, or if it's because she's just pretending and keeping a poker face. She remains silent for the first few moments of battle, circulating magic through the layered protections inherent in a couple of the bunrei-given ofuda. Specifically, she seems to be watching Candy and Hibiki. Actually, she's specifically watching the decoy Candy and Hibiki. The moment the fakes make motions to strike-- -----[stop]----- Lilian glides over to the illusory Candy, false sword a split second from completing its task, and draws Night Mist over skin with as rough a sawing cut as she can manage with such a fine-edged weapon. She slides over to the Hibiki decoy, putting away her sword again as she goes. Planting both her feet in the sand for stability, and spinning her entire body to get a wheeling back kick into the exact point the decoy should be punching. Then she drifts back to where she was just standing. -----[start]-----
Tamamo	The first strikes goes to the away team, and for a moment, it looks like the two tattooed men are just going to stand there and take it. Then Yukou is stepping forward, counter-charging at Cantio and grasping her blade in both hands as it falls. He grunts under the weight of the blow, ground cracking together with the sound of approaching thunder, but twists aside to ram a shoulder into her. It's hard enough to risk throwing her out of the ring -- that is, it would be, if they were really in that smaller, ordinary looking platform. And they still are, in a sense. The spaces are closely linked. The distance she's liable to be thrown, if she takes that shoulder check, is more like a city block, with force to match. The counter-charge is fast, but not enough to meaningfully throw off the attacks from Kale and both appearances of Candy. Three strike points land as he, by some instinct, focuses on the real Candy, but the saint-like figure inked over his back glows and his skin hardens further than steel, driven back but not downed. Candy gets the first retaliatory strike, in a tackle meant to grasp his leg and throw him bodily into the air. Jiro likewise has to deal with two appearances of Hibiki, and he's weaving out of the way of the punch that doesn't land just before the kick does. The smallest motion prevents him from taking each on the chin, his hands finding, somehow, two different feet kicking him into one place. Duplication, rather than illusion. Obviously. He's also driven back, skidding in the dust, but recovers quickly, driving his own spinning kick through the illusionary Hibiki first, then making an angle correction to aim one knee into the real Hibiki with the barest contact with the earth and what must have been absurd strength from just two toes. Without checking what happens to her, he's leaping through the air in time to step on Candy (if he hasn't avoided being grabbed) and flying straight into Kale, one punch cocked and ready. Though one strike should be all he has time for before landing, even the barest brush with Jiro lets him apply uncanny amounts of force that threaten Kale's air-worthiness and send Jiro further up, high enough to aim a rising kick at Ishirou's flight unit, somehow not minding the barrage, even though it's clearly hitting him. When he lands, Yukou is already rushing for Rita with ground-quaking steps, sizing her up with the kind of look one would expect in a professional match -- having, likely, little idea what she's capable of, but knowing she must deserve respect to have stepped into the ring. Jiro is instead running at Lilian's return-position, a serene smile on his face, his surface thoughts betraying the twenty different closed- and open-hand strikes he intends she contend with, but not either the speed with which they're delivered or the unthinking flow he's capable of demonstrating every time he's blocked or parried.
Ishirou	There is no time for Ishirou to gawk at the Yakuza man jumping right at him. Even with his barrage of fire he charges. That's scary! Instead, he tries to move, trying to stay ahead of him and using the firepower to keep him from getting a clean hit. To this end, he manages to avoid getting a clean hit on Ishirou, as he lessens the blow. On the other hand, he DOES hit with enough force to send the flight unit spinning erratically and trying to recover. Just barely managing to keep the unit from crashing, he raises...and the shield glows revealing he further lessened the dent even more. "Gotcha," he says, seeing an advantage. He'd have to land, which would give people an edge if they struck...there! He cycles through what possibilities there are at the moment and notices that Hibiki was ready to unleash something. Data floods through to Hibiki's link to give her the opening she needs. "Hibiki, wait for my signal," he radios. He turns, firing a large beam of energy at the flying Yakuza to try and blast him back to the ground...right into the ready arms of Hibiki, "THERE NOW!"
Cantio	Yukou catches Cantio's blade, and she lets out a surprised yet intrigued noise at his maneuver. "Sharp reflexes, strong hands... This'll be a good show." She sounds almost excited as she comes to that conclusion rather quickly, grunting in exertion as she leaps backwards with his shoulder-charge rather than fighting against it. Although the impact still sends Cantio flying back and bouncing a few times, she manages to land on her feet by the last bounce and circles right back around to start closing the distance again. "Candelario! Rita! I'll get you an opening!" Cantio shouts as she spins once to build up momentum, then hurls her sword at Yukou like it's some kind of flying sawblade. A laser discharges from underneath it before reaching him, though, launching it upwards and hovering in midair to instead point straight downwards at Yukou like a hanging executioner's blade. As it lingers in midair, however, Cantio herself comes charging in with a rather bad imitation of Yukou's own shoulder-check against her. She clearly doesn't have the martial arts skill to do something like that effectively alone. What she's compensating with, then, is pure physical might and speed along with the potential distraction in her sword flying all over the place. It's only after her own ramming maneuver that the sword finally fires (rather than falling) at Yukou, blasting lasers downwards to try and wear down his defenses with sheer quantity.
Kale Hearthward	Kale swings wide, after making his attack, putting what he thinks is enough distance between him and the pair. That turns out to not be the case - as he turns, Jiro leaps through the air and blindsides him, smacking him square on the beak, and sending him reeling. "... Right, not at all safe in the air..." He rubs the side of his face with his free hand, and focuses. The next time Jiro takes to the air, Kale's ready - he winds up and launches a pressure bomb, trying to throw him off balance and leave him open for the rest of the group!
Tamamo	Cantio's question about recording gets a shrug. Good enough? The gift Candy leaves will be investigated later. 'Everyone we know is just someone we happened to meet.' "Oh, that's true, isn't it?" Jiro says. "But there are the people you've just met, and the people who stuck by you, and you by them. The longer the life, the fewer... but never mind that now, eh?"
Rita Ma	Rita's expression betrays confusion. Her decoy shouldn't have been capable of a blow like that. Which means... Candy? Lilian? Her eyes dart to both of them with an uncertain look. But she isn't given long to contemplate. Yukou's charge isn't something she can afford to take on the chin. But if they still think all the illusions are solid, then... "Thanks, Ms. Cantio. Thanks, Mr. Ishirou. But please don't worry about me, okay?" She slips free of her second skin, invisibly, leaving it standing in place as a decoy. Yokou sees the fake Rita standing dumbly in his path, frozen with what might be shock. He doesn't see the real one crouching, her arm cocked back. Rita isn't sure she can check his forward momentum; strength aside, the logistics of mass don't permit it. But she can redirect it up. She becomes visible again in the instant that her fist connects with his jaw in an uppercut, hard enough to create a visible shockwave. There is still an equal and opposite reaction, but 'down' is the opposite of 'up', and 'down' is a direction she's braced in: the ground beneath her feet cracks as Yokou is launched skyward. That's when she uses Tamamo's charm. Rita doesn't know much about lightning, except that it strikes the highest thing around- which, Kale willing, Yokou is swiftly becoming.
Candy	The decoy Candy dissipates when struck--having already made his 'cut' thanks to Lilian's very real sword. Candy himself doesn't avoid being grabbed--it's rather a novel thing for someone used to long-range engagements and ambush strikes. His impact is hard enough to crack the ground, knocking the wind from him. Still, he's tougher than his appearance would suggest. "Fuck," he croaks, bringing the Turquoise Mandate up. One hand holds the grip, the other rests beneath the flat, with scarcely a second to spare. Jiro's stomp is turned aside, and Candy disappears from his prone spot. "Lilian!" he calls. She can see Jiro approaching, surely--but that's not why he's calling out. With the Mandate held high, the flames smolder and turn to a wreath of too-real billowing blue-grey smoke. With two cuts, an illusory cloud of that same smoke billows into place before her, giving her a brief window to attack from the smokescreen. He won't be capitalizing on it himself, though--not with Cantio giving him and Rita an opening. "Let 'im have it!" A thrust of his legs normally carries Candy only so far as the average person. The augmentations to his physique instead see him traversing the distance between himself and Yukou with an audible crack, his hair blowing wildly behind him. Upon the tattooed man just moments after Rita' devastating uppercut, Candy rains down blows, not allowing a moment's respite. The flat of the macuahuitl is used to bat away defending limbs (and clinch attempts), the weapon's flames making a return alongside the billowing smoke. Extreme heat is suffused into each sawing strike, while choking, stinging smoke irritates the eyes and lungs on misses and parries. Candy's hips and shoulders are used to drive every rapid, punishing swing, his feet constantly shifting position to avoid another low tackle like before, strafing in tandem with several illusory copies of Cantio's sword, meant to further confuse and harry.
Hibiki Tachibana	Wait, did Rita's decoy actually hit? No, was that...? By the time Hibiki lands back down on solid ground after her kick, she's smiling just a little bit under her scarf. You can't see it. She has to worry about the counterattack in the next instant though, instinctively picking up on that absurd burst of strength the moment before the knee connects. Her own leg comes up, and the resounding clash of his limb into her leg armor fills the air before she force sends her flying backwards through the air. Not out of control though, as she makes a set of flips that put her back on her feet. "Looks like they're the real deal...!" Alright. She doesn't have to hold anything back, then. Ishirou's feed hits at that exact moment, and she spends a split second going over it before nodding to no one but herself, while he's in the sky setting her up. Her legs tense, and with Tamamo's blessing filling her body with energy... She kicks forward again in a burst of speed, skidding to a stop just below Jiro's airborne position. One of her gauntlet's pistons slot back, and she manually yanks it back beyond its mechanical limits even further--before leaping skyward. Whether Ishirou's beam actually lands and grounds him or not doesn't matter all that much. Because the magical girl aims to blindside him while his focus is on it either way, and drive her fist into him with enough force to send them both a good dozen meters higher into the sky. And then with her fist buried in his frame, move to spin in the air with him before her gauntlet's internals slam back into place with the sound of a hammer pounding into metal--producing that trademark pilebunker-like second impact that'll send him rocketing back down to earth, right back into the middle of Ishirou's blast!
Lilian Rook	"Apologies Hearthward, but you are visibly a bird. Everyone is going to know that your thing is flying." says Lilian. She is pointedly looking away from Rita. That probably answers her question as much as anything. "I see it, Candelario." she adds, in just the right tone that conveys both her meanings at once. "Veteran masters are my speciality." The sheer variety of the testing flurry of attacks Jiro throws out at her is a bit of a pain, but it's not as if Lilian has to actually fight him exactly like a martial artist. Her style has always been two thirds cheating. Loose and shallow, high-speed reading of his incipient intent is enough for her to put her hands up and begin weaving through blows, flowing between straights and hooks and forcefully displacing palms and elbows and with counterstrikes that begin slightly before there's anything to react to, taking advantage of her shorter size. Whenever he starts to overwhelm her via sheer ferocity, Lilian blinks just outside, or egregiously inside, his reach. "Throwing too many attacks too fast with too little lag for an enemy to deal with. It's very impressive, but I'm sorry to say I'm the one persont that doesn't work on." says Lilian, being vaguely distracting right up until the smoke bomb goes off. Lilian doesn't wholeheartedly bet that someone like Jiro would have no way of reacting to her in the fog. She just lets him think he doesn't. In that instant, she slaps an entire fistful of Tamamo's cursing, energy draining talismans to his arms and upper-middle back, no more than the irrelevant movement of slips of paper as far as causality is concerned, and then after using the requisite pulse of magic to inflict grave dikiniten misfortune, she lures him out of the wrong side with her shadow, then suddenly strikes from behind at a flying leap, both legs planted to his back, to send him right into the crash zone of his partner.
Tamamo	Cantio may not have the bulk to tackle a supernaturally empowered sumo wrestler on his own turf, but she does have lasers, which prove increasingly effective. Rita dodges the tackle and goes for the uppercut, which doesn't move Yukou far, but does, critically, lift his feet from the earth. This puts him definitively off-balance in the moment Candy rushes him, still under Cantio's barrage, and though he gets his feet under him again, his buffed up toughness is wearing out, producing bloody line after line after scratch from the assault, and leaving him puffing in exertion to turn aside the macuahuitl blows. Though not as tough as his fellow, Jiro is still a hard one for Ishirou to land a decisive blow against, more owing to the way he turns light brushes against 'anything' and his immense, precisely applied strength into uncanny mobility. This isn't enough to avoid the blast of Kale's pressure bomb, however, and Ishirou's laser blast still ends up hitting when Hibiki catches Jiro on her fist and slams him into it. It's not like he's armored -- there's a slight give there, even with his physique, but a sense of dense mass. That close, she can feel the movement of his chest when his breath is forced out of him on impact with a "Guh!" Combined with the mass of curse talismans he couldn't avoid, discharging their magic and rapidly draining his energy well before even superhuman speed could hope to tear them off, it's little wonder there's a trickle of blood at his lip. Whatever damage is being done to most of his body, the tattoos conceal -- or, perhaps, they protect. Driven again together, Jiro's the first one to regain enough breath to speak. "Hah, good! It's not like I held back, but I'm sorry I ever doubted. An old man needs at least this much of a beating as a wake-up call, haha!" Yukou's quieter in his contemplation of the opponents before him. "Pinning an opponent this slippery -- I'll give it my all. Thank you for the opportunity to learn. If I can, maybe I'm not that old, after all." When Yukou claps his hands together, the ground and the sky break. Rain falls, the earth heaves, lightning crashes, and the phoenix that decorates his arm burns with light. The rain does nothing to to stop the flames rising around him, and that follow him as he lunges across the quaking arena. Cantio's the first in his path, Yukou's charge promptly shifting to a dive that threatens to hook his leg around hers and send her into an easily-grabbed spin from the sheer force, there to be thrown with joint-dislocating power straight up at Ishirou, an improvised goddess-type projectile. Being in the air is a defense against some things, and it does limit the approach vectors of attacks, but it doesn't keep Kale out of reach. While Cantio is flying, Yukou launches himself straight at him, aiming to grab him and bring him crashing to the ground, under the yakuza's bulk, and in the middle of a crater, out of which he again leaps. When Yukou comes at Rita, it's by slamming the ground, which rises and falls in broken pieces, followed by a series of thundering stomp and deceptively powerful open-palmed strikes aimed to unbalance her and then toss her outside the ring (that they're presumably somehow still inside). The phoenix flames, though they look like they should burn, instead feel only uncomfortably warm and dangerously solid, like an extension of each strike. Jiro doesn't have a pheonix on his arm. He has a crane, but it still burns with light. Nothing visibly occurs with it, but in the span of the next flash of lightning overhead, he's already inside Hibiki's personal space, his previous position a cloud of dust.
Kale Hearthward	Kale gets grabbed, and gets slammed down into the ground, piledriven into the crater! He doesn't get out, at first. When he does, he comes out swinging - giving it everything he has, trying to catch Jiro off guard with one quick dashing strike...!
Ishirou	Ishirou's got enough data to make things very dangerous for these two...until they decide that /they/ are weapons that can be used too. Cantio goes flying at Ishirou like a missile, which strikes him because he doesn't (necessarily) want to hurt her! He also sees the attack on Hibiki, and he only has one move. He throws both Talismans down from Tamamo, one aiming for Hibiki's attacker, the other one heading for the other one. They activate with the illusionary wall, buying Hibiki time to move, and a shot at disorientating the other. This exchange devastates the Flight unit. Ishirou sees all of the things go red and start flashing warnings at him. He struggles but manages to hold a hand out to grab onto Cantio and flip her up, so they can land on top of the flight unit, as he transforms it into fighter mode. He rushes down again, aiming to try and maneuver Cantio into a better position. Once more data starts going out, hopefully, able to take advantage of the Talisman's duration. He also aims to add his own speed to Cantio's own for whatever attack she's looking to perform.
Rita Ma	Rita is quickly put onto the back foot by the shifting terrain- a bad circumstance for someone who favors agility in the first place, and few of her tools help with that. She leaps and dodges with uncanny agility at first anyway, but- She spares a glance backwards. In this other-space, where is the ring's edge? Hesitance creeps in. If she retreats or maneuvers any further, then she might get disqualified. If she's disqualified, then- I showed my teamwork with Hibiki, with Ms. Tamamo. But I haven't shown it with Ms. Rook. If I can't stay in, how can I help her? Rita stands her ground accordingly, trading blow for blow. At first it seems to be going well, despite the terrain being turned against her- she has the toughness of a far larger beast, and the swiftness of something too strong for its size to boot. But she's too greedy on the offense like this- 'hungry', maybe?- and while luminescing with blinding vital force for her finishing move, she fatally overextends herself. A flaming crane punch catches her right in the chest. She grabs at Yokou's extended wrist to try and halt herself, leaving claw-furrows down his arm in the process, but she's flung back anyway- The ring. I have to stay in. If I don't, how can I help Ms. Rook?! . . . Oh. Rita, betrayed by being a featherweight, soars backwards. Disqualification is imminent, even with her finisher nearly ready. But- "Ms. Rook! Help!" That's teamwork too, isn't it? And if Lilian can rescue her, Rita can swiftly open up against Yokou with that scouring, explosive light of hers.
Cantio	"You've given us plenty to learn about, too. We still have quite a ways to go in terms of skill and control! And... You can transform, too?" It's not quite the same transformation Cantio's thinking of, but it's a visual power gulf nonetheless. She's more than willing to meet his power with her own, though, as she transforms into her own empowered state with her clothes being replaced by a plasticky black and purple leotard with accompanying metallic thrusters/wings that float behind her and glow ominously. They don't do much to help her avoid Yukou in his element, but it does give her the extra push she needs to not get utterly wrecked once he catches her. Cantio gets summarily yanked right off her feet with a startled yelp, and instead of catching herself or stopping the spinning, all she can do is brace and think of how to capitalize on being hurled at Ishirou. On the plus side, at least she's not being hurled at the ground. Maybe the slight delay between being thrown and actually crashing into him will soften the blow! It doesn't help that much, and she inadvertently grabs onto him to arrest her trajectory before she can go flying further. "Ow, ow, flipping... O-oh! Hey, Ishirou. You okay?" She hasn't let go just yet, taking a moment to just try and get her bearings straight again after getting spun around so much and nearly dropping off if not for Ishirou assisting her onto the flight unit. It's not until he's flying forward and feeding data that she can recall that oversized sword back to her hand. "I think I've... Got an idea." Technically, Candy's earlier maneuver with those illusory copies of her weapon gives her the idea, but she's totally stealing credit there. "You said he's more resilient than evasive, right?" She raises her sword with one hand, then flings the blade forward in that boomerang-like motion once again. "We just need to keep his attention spread thin, and we'll have our chance!" Like before, the blade flies straight towards Yukou while spiraling wildly and just barely avoiding skimming the ground. Unlike before, however, the blade splits into countless fragments, and they start swirling around him Yukou a glass tornado that's also firing lasers and incredibly loud noises at him the whole time. The intensity of the volleys varies wildly, a clear attempt to overwhelm his defenses with sheer sensory overload. Cantio herself, meanwhile, still has the handle, and she retries Tamamo's explosive trap from an inside pocket (of the leotard?). She attaches it to the hilt of the sword where the blade had once been, and she uses the speed boost from Ishirou's flight to take aim with her sword handle. Once she's locked on, she launches it forward with that added speed, sending it rocketing around Ishirou's thrown talisman before detonating the handle and the trap all at once right on top of Yukou in a big gleaming explosion!
Tamamo	Having already taken her fist once, Jiro elects to go for the clinch, a multi-point lock that was easy enough for Lilian to deflect but is significantly harder without both of the main powers she'd there employed, threatening Hibiki with a shoulder-wrenching, spinning trip followed by, like Cantio, a trip through the air to impact Candy. But Jiro doesn't leave it at just that. Though Yukou seemed to trust his own choice of projectile to do a good enough job for him, Jiro follows up by being right there at the estimated impact time (whether or not Hibiki avoids it), to take Candy from the opposite direction with an elbow strike spun into his side from behind, immediately followed by a twisting grasp of his clothes to lift and carry him into the air, to subsequently rush Lilian, shifting grip to strike at her with Candelario, held by his ankle. Though he's probably interested in the question of how and whether Lilian plans to rescue him, Jiro's human flail attacks are punctuated with imperceivably fast strikes from his feet, that occur whenever lightning strikes, rather than whenever he thinks of them.
Lilian Rook	"If I had a dime for every time someone called me slippery . . ." Lilian stops to both recover her breath and consider the value of this assertion, given how much money she already has. "Well, I do wonder about synonyms. Slippery is for showers, not battles." For the time being, her attention is wholly focused on them powering up, casually running her mouth in polite battle banter to drag out a little time to feel them out in her head. "Old, is it? Aren't you very technically dead? Not to diminish the feat that obtaining embodiment in this realm is. I'm glad you're getting something out of this after all, though. You're . . . not bad." Jiro flash stepping around is much harder to deal with. Even if Lilian knows he's going to do it, the milliseconds long window between movement and strike to do something about it is uncomfortably close to her mean reaction time. The fact that she responds to the blurring surprise advance at all is rather impressive, but Jiro catches her by the arm just as she slips the main thrust of his clinch, making a noise through gritted teeth at the stress suddenly shocking her shoulder. Dedicated to the particular task at hand, sand flies from her footwork as she circles around him and moves into and under his attempts to advance the clinch, struggling to slip her arm free. She needs to have both hands, seeing Yukou coming at her with Candy, if she doesn't want him to simply get brained across Jiro's pecs without her there. Then-- '"Ms. Rook! Help!"' Caught up in the cold fire of battle, struggling to differentiate this duel from a real skirmish against something arbitrarily horrible, Lilian reacts on sheer instinct. Night Mist is drawn in plain view, albeit too fast to see, fortunately glamered in katana form to match the miko outfit already. Lilian abruptly reverses her sideways momentum and throws herself the other way, allowing her feet to leave the ground and swinging around Jiro's greater bulk as an anchor. Using him as her center of gravity, she hurls a fan of Tamamo's protection talismans against Candy in mid-swing and then slashes at Yukou's inner wrist in passing, rolling her body to graze right beneath where she anomalously accelerates through half her arc for no reason, just as Candy blips. Finishing her split second rotation, Lilian uses all her built-up momentum to plant a high-angled flying kick to the Jiro's jaw as she whips back towards him, then arches her back and slashes through the back of his leg from that impossible upside down position, rotating him into path of the cut she'd just made at his partner-- hanging in space, paused in time, exploding across his clinching bicep with shredding force. Enough to slip free. Probably with the aid of fresh blood. Free enough to relocate across the arena faster than thinking, altogether within the space of a heartbeat, taken together with her escape. Without really thinking about it, she braces her stance, 'digs in' with a wave of black-crackling 'flight' magic, and catches Rita in her arms; sliding back, but not nearly enough. She breathes precisely one measure of relief, and then all of a sudden remembers to feel and look suitably disgusted, dropping Rita like a sack of bricks slightly too late, and switching over to a constant barrage of 'fire talismans' --really just rapid cannon-like automatic blasts of magically-catalyzed flame from her own reserves-- concussing and blinding the two tattoo'd fighters with the explosive blaze, constantly trained to break their line of sight to the other Elites.
Candy	Sweat trickles down Candy's cheek. "He's gonna gas me out, I gotta switch," Candy calls to Cantio and Ishirou. Looks like I was right about the tests. Goddammit, tap out already! Lifting a hand to shield his eyes from the phoenix burning on Yukou's arm, he spits a swear in the downpour. Turning to throw a playing card towards Ishirou ('squeeze me' written on the back with a winking smiley face), he is caught blindsided by Jiro's elbow. Ishirou's card will 'blink' him to a safer spot. But Candy is in a decidedly unsafe spot, at the moment. "That's! Gonna! Hurt me! More than! Her!" He cries at his assailant. "IRISH! YOU BETTER! NOT LAUGH!" Candy manages to wriggle free, thanks to a curious, powerful force that pries Jiro's hand from his ankle. If he's got a danger sense, it's probably going off--because things stopped for Lilian, too, in that short moment of cheating, giving her a free swing. It's not as if she doesn't have plenty of those on the regular, but Candy is generous. Of course, cheating out of a grapple doesn't get one out scot free. Momentum from being swung flings him rapidly towards the ground. He's protected from impact with the ground by Tamamo's ice talisman. It scrapes and winnows down from the force of the throw--but when it shatters, Candy is left standing, spitting pooled blood from his mouth. Running up on Jiro again, as rain beats down upon his face, macuahuitl held ready, he takes a(nother) page from Lilian's playbook. Reality seems to decline unfavorable trades for Candy, subtly shifting him out of the way at 'just' the right moment. Blue-grey smoke, rather than sawing teeth, serves as his first attack, blasted in hot gouts at Jiro to burn and blind him. Candy strikes with the obsidian teeth, bringing them down upon shoulders and dragging, or else striking with the flat and his own considerable strength to take the fight out of his faster opponent. It's a highly reactive, opportunistic style, a very different approach from his aggressive opening. Clinch attempts are warded off with thrusts, or batted away with bone-breaking force. On its own, it would be oppressive enough. But when Rita calls for help--"Go! I got him!"--Candy steps it up. On top of the reactive, defensive style meant to keep Jiro in check, Candy is also making use of the environment. The moment a clap of thunder is heard, a playing card is flung, packed with enough explosive energy to rival a hand grenade. They reliably seem to come from unfair angles, and timed as they are to match the thunderclaps, are that much harder to track by ear.
Hibiki Tachibana	Landing back on the ground, with the machinery in her punching arm emitting the hiss of expelled steam, Hibiki readies herself again--though not before a nod up to Ishirou. Good combi. Very good combi. They're not done yet, though. Yukou and Jiro are getting serious. Heaven and earth shudder, and the battlefield alights with phoenix flame. It's an awe-inspiring sight that puts into perspective that these guys, Yakuza or not, are /genuinely/ divine - but she doesn't back down either. Even as the 'ring' quakes and shudders, and quickly begins buckling underneath the force of Yukou's attacks. It's not him she has to worry about though. It's Jiro, who has closed in before she could blink. She only has a split second to react and move, lacking any easy out like Lilian might have had - but it's Ishirou who comes to her rescue once again, the bewildering, intangible wall coming in between her and him just in time. In that instant while the effects last, Hibiki shifts her footing and plays /into/ the grapple, taking advantage of the disorientation it causes to play into the grapple, minimizing the strain on her arm and, when she's tripped, tucking in all four limbs to take the launching strike cleanly. It's the metal of her Symphogear that gets dented in slightly as she goes flying, flipping and turning through the air to (thankfully) shoot past Candy rather than plow right into him. At which point, the series of pistons in her leg armor shoot forward then slam back in as she kicks behind herself, ejecting a burst of force behind her that leaves a small crater in the earth below, abruptly stopping her in her tracks and blasting her back in the opposite direction - back towards Jiro, while he's attempting to engage in using her friend as a human weapon against Lilian. "And I got him TOO!" Lilian gets the double go-ahead to help Rita, in time with Candy's own call. She doesn't time her assault with the thunderbolts raining down, but she sure does descend on Jiro like one, going to try and blindside him with a heavy blow before breaking out into a series of equally devastating strikes from multiple angles meant to keep him off-balance while Candy is also occupying his attention. Somewhere in the middle of the brawl, she gets in to grab him by the shoulder, grab on tight, and move to flip him off his feet upside-down and into the air for a moment - and before he hits the floor, she stomps in hard enough to embed her foot in the ground, for a high-powered and very sudden shoulder strike that'll send him careening right into one of those highly explosive cards. Taste of his own medicine.
Tamamo	Fire, swords, lasers, scouring light, talismans that baffle and others that explode (playing cards, too) attack Jiro and Yukou from all angles. They don't just go down. They keep fighting through each successive assault. Constant pressure, never letting up, is the only way to push them back, as the earth and heavens each continue to roar, dust turns to mud as rain falls, lightning comes ever closer, and cracks begin to grow into chasms. But the two are finally pushed together, beaten and bruised through what skin shows outside their glowing tattoos, bleeding and drained by curses and stranger things, until Yukou falls flat onto his back, and Jiro sits cross-legged beside him. The scenery changes. The two yakuza retain all signs of their defeat, but not their fiery power-up, laying or sitting on the sand-covered platform. Little else is different about those they'd fought, other than 'being closer together,' and not high in the sky. Tamamo had been sitting, but now she's walking quickly to meet with Lilian -- and to see Rita on the ground. Susumu had been sitting, but he stands to clap his hands. "What can I say? I've no concerns left about your strength, your skill, nor even your teamwork. That uppercut was nicely done. Well done, and thank you for indulging us." It seems like the two are content to just stay where they are and catch their breath, so Susumu continues on his own, "We've worked out the immediate details of what you need, and you'll have it in a week's time. You've my word on that. As for that those other matters, we can discuss those another time." Referencing the 'favor.' "I wouldn't be so rude as to rush you."