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Angela	The Blade Lineage operates chiefly out of the Backstreets of District 20. According to Watch Intel (IE: Those with the Hint advantage), District 20's Backstreets are under the thumb ... of The Thumb, one of five major Syndicates in The City known collective as The Fingers. But it's one of their sub-syndicates, The Kurokumo Clan, helps manage the 'protection' of the Backstreets so their duties include collecting protection money, punishing those who fail to pay their protection money, gathering items of interest to The Thumb or just generally taking their orders from them. Recently, as is known, the Blade Lineage Syndicate has taken up residence in District T. They are on the run from official forces from District S so they tend to operate in much smaller cells. They recently asked Berislav for a meeting but today is not that meeting. Though they are decidedly non-pacifistic and will kill for their goals, they consider protecting the virtuous to be one of their guiding principles. As one might expect, with two idealogically opposed samurai clans in one area, conflict is bound to occur. The Blade Lineage is the aggressor this time, in a sense, as they have interposed their bodies between a pair of men who look like they are in hard times and are fairly beat up--and a bunch of tattooed sword-wielding warriors of the Kurokumo Clan. Blade Lineage is composed of three ronin, two men led by a woman. The Kurokumo Clan numbers at least thrice their number. A sword is going to be swung any moment.
Sarracenia	Even knowing nothing about the situation, a certain princess in a red dress is quick to pick a side. Just the fact that they are outnumbered and standing between an army and two battered men is enough, and they get bonus points for being led by a woman.      And hoping to get both sides to pause a moment, she makes a dramatic entrance. Leaping up from one of the buildings she dives down on the head of her hammer, causing quite a bit of dust to kick up when she lands and likely damaging the pavement. Dust clouds are good at keeping people from just rushing in, after all. At least...in all those heroic stories she reads and watches.      As the dust starts to settle, she gives her massive hammer a flamboyant flourish to make sure that both sides can clearly see the weapon that is being wielded and the ease with which it is being wielded before she speaks. "Forgive me for interrupting, but it looked like a terribly one-sided and dishonorable fight was about to occur. I do hope I am mistaken. You all appear to be samurai, and from what I am told samurai are among the most honorable warriors to exist."      She gives her shimmering copper hair a toss after that, then continues. "I am Princess Sarracenia Sundew. I am sure I can be of assistance in some way in mediating this dispute. So please, lower your weapons a moment." she says, looking between the two sides.      Then she looks down at her dress. The bottom of it has gotten quite dusty thanks to her own entrance, and she huffs softly and tries to pat it clean. But that just gets dust on her metallic burgundy gloves, which in turn causes her to grumble just a bit.
Father Berislav	Berislav has been gathering information in the City for some time now. First, it was out of concern for Petra, to make sure that she was being treated fairly. As he came to understand the situation for many of those living here, more reasons have sprung up for him to continue his investigations. First it was the treatment of workers in Lobotomy Corporation, then, as he came to understand the company's place within the city, the lot of its average citizens.      Every discovery is less heartening than the last--from the life expectancy and ultimate expendability even of those citizens who have 'made it,' to the state of the Backstreets, to the shell game, deliberate or otherwise, of accountability, power and responsibility played between the various Wings, Associations and Syndicates. It doesn't need to be deliberate for the powers of the city to benefit from it; there doesn't need to be a council of robed, shadowy figures gathered around an ominous orb for the wealthy and powerful to realize what's best for them and how best to get it.      The latest news, that of a potential 'Thirteenth Association,' taken with the general state of the City, does not fill the priest with hope, but apprehension. At best, it's a way to organize talented, capable people and demand accountability of the more unpredictable members of the Elite community. At worst, it's a way to isolate and quarantine those who would threaten the balance of power here, by adding one more head to the ravenous hydra. To counteract that, to make it more difficult to return to that resting state, that quarantine should be broken--by finding or establishing like-minded allies within the existing structure; a coalition.      The Blade Lineage will be the first member of that coalition, if Berislav has his druthers. It's for that reason that he's kept close to the City, and for that reason that he's able to respond so quickly. A visit with a citizen of the Backstreets ends, sooner than he'd like it to. His Bible is closed, tucked under one arm. "We'll have to resume again another time," he says, after spying the commotion outside the window. "But please, keep the tea set!" The priest smiles, then makes his leave, sending a couple of text messages. He emerges, then, from around a corner, coming to stand alongside the Blade Lineage samurai, his reading glasses still perched on his nose as he retrieves the Bible and opens it. Reading aloud beside Sarracenia: "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'     "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'     "He will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'"     He looks up from the Bible with a disapproving frown.
Odette Raskins	Although Odette isn't the sort of person with a mind for factional maneuvering, she does still have her own network of informants (read: Watch allies) to keep happy so she can keep doing what she does best: Making sure less ambitious or more doomed folks like herself stay alive while the bigger movers and shakers tear each other's heads off for various reasons. It's not strictly this reason that she's come to District 20 today, but scoping out the area to make sure that Berislav's meeting goes on without a hitch. It just so happens, then, that her scoping happens to take place when the Watch's contacts in the Backstreets are in the middle of something with the Thumb's subsidiaries. Her better sense tells her that this sort of dispute is best left alone after the dust settles so she can treat the survivors, and she first passes right by that streets with the two opposing clans with her cap held down, but... ". . . but it looked like a terribly one-sided and dishonorable fight was about to occur." "'Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'" Odette really shouldn't be moving closer, but she does. She can't leave this whole thing to a princess and a father to handle, after all! "S... Scuse me! C-coming through! EMT here, what's..." She squeaks out anxiously as she beelines for the beat up pair, deliberately avoiding eye contact with any of the Blade Lineage and Kurokumo clan alike. She does spare a quick glance and nod at Sarracenia and Berislav, though, even as she's already digging in her big bag of medical stuff for the big rolls of medicated gauze and bottles of sterile-looking liquid. It just gets much more terrifying when she's about to have her back to all those guys with swords, and it shows in the way her arms clench closer to her bag strap.
Hibiki Tachibana	If there's one thing that musical magical girls and wandering samurai have in common, among other things, it's protecting those who are in immediate and dire need of being protected.     This might not be the day of the meeting with the Blade Lineage that Berislav worked towards, but Hibiki hasn't yet made herself scarce in the City since the mission from the Hana Association. It's as good excuse as any to get familiar with District 20 ahead of time, and while many members of the Watch would opt for the logical course of collecting information through any means they can...     Hibiki is Hibiki, and there's no better way for her to do that than to see the Backstreets of the District herself, with her own eyes. It also gives her time to think over the whole matter of the supposed new Association that Lilian will be heading - and where she stands on it. She helped out in the test to bring it into existence, and she implicitly trusts Lilian to lead it (which is part of why she helped in the first place), but...     This hands-on approach also, by the power of sheer (in)convenience, puts her there on the fringes of the brewing conflict - between the larger gang, and the three that she recognizes as having similar garb to Kim, back when they spoke with him. ...Well, 'spoke' is a bit of an overstatement when he seemed like a man of few words, but still.     "Oi." Compared to Sarracenia's massively dramatic entrance, Hibiki simply makes her way into frame at a decisive walk, interposing herself between the Blade Lineage ronin (who themselves are interposing for the civilians), and the Kurokumo swordsmen.     Where she glances back over her shoulder to see the beaten-up pair of men, before focusing back ahead. "You always bring such a big group just to harass two guys? It's a lot more even now, so you probably want to put the swords down."
Petra Soroka	"I hardly understand what it is here that drives you to stir up all this fuss, darlings. It's not as though there'd be any blood shed today had you kept your heads down."     Sauntering serpentine through the small crowd of monochromatically suited and tattooed Yakuza-esque henchmen, steady on battle-inappropriate heels, is a woman who immediately presents as the leader of this small cell of the Kurokumo clan. Her blunt black hair is loosely tied in a bun, silkily gleaming excess effortlessly framing her face. Like the rest, she wears a grey suit, with the majority of her exposed skin swirling with black ink designs. Unlike the rest, her suit jacket is unbuttoned up to the very last, revealing nothing but tattooed skin beneath it, and only precariously held in decency by that heroic lowest button with each swaying step.     In other words, she's dangerous.     "But isn't that always how it is with you? Bumbling into the natural enforcement of local peace and prosperity, toothpicks drawn and flailing with your teeth *so* gritted and your hearts *so* full of... rebellious intent. The moniker of a stray wolf, fleeing from its home and hungrily snapping at whatever crosses its path, feels apt, no? Your slavering jaw compels you to hunt for scraps of what you lost in the shadows of larger predators, poor thing."     The Kurokumo Clan cell's leader saunters her way right up within reach of the Blade Lineage members' swords, utterly fearless of them. A full head taller than the lead woman by virtue of her high heels, she tilts at her hip and boops her finger right on her nose, face held close. "But even a starving wolf knows to follow its master. Are you hoping to follow yours, love?" "Forgive me for interrupting, but it looked like a terribly one-sided and dishonorable fight was about to occur."     Her shock at being interrupted by *more* people than the Blade Lineage samurai she was clearly already familiar with is plain on her face for just a moment, before being reset into an unreadably elegant smile. At the same time that Saya is distracted, too, she takes advantage of Sarracenia's appearance to swiftly step backwards out of reach of the katana, so subtly unhurried that she seems to have hardly given any thought to something that actually must've taken highly honed intuition.     "Honor matches are honor matches, sweetheart. We'd hardly be able to uphold the order and safety we work so hard to grant our people if we lowered ourselves to the level of every freeloading upstart with a sword and a death wish, don't you agree?" "He will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'"     The woman looks up at Berislav during his speech, picking at the collar of her loose jacket with one perfectly manicured nail as if bored. With some private, subtly signal, though, the tension of her Kurokumo Clan underlings has heightened, katanas braced at the ready for an attack.     "Now, who's this Lord you're talking about? I'm not aware of any sick, broke criminal with the delusion to still refer to himself as a Lord, but I suppose my gaze tends to be aimed higher than that in the first place?"
Petra Soroka	"You always bring such a big group just to harass two guys? It's a lot more even now, so you probably want to put the swords down."     Finally, the woman's expression drops into a terse frown, eyes flicking between Hibiki and Odette skittering nervously around the back. Her hand drops to her side, fingers brushing along the fan held on her hip. It's as if she's reaching for a weapon, but unlike all the others, she seems to be unarmed.     "That's enough. You're interfering in Clan business, brats, so butt out already. Your cute faces can only buy so much of my patience when your mouths spew such cliched drivel." She flicks open the fan in front of her face, and the stances of the samurai around her instantly shift. Rather than being a delicate fabric fan, inscribed with the kinds of floral patterns you'd expect, her fan is grey metal all throughout, etched with the same cloud patterns as the gang's tattoos. A moment later, the Elites' trained eyes realize something-- the fan is actually a disguise for a firearm, mechanisms hidden within the folding outline but exactly as deadly, and illegal in the City, as any other.     "You're speaking to Kurokumo Clan Vice-Captain Sumi. Step aside and let the blade of order cut out these invasive pests clean, or face the consequences."     That's the signal for the samurai around her to charge forwards, a force of around a dozen attempting to surround and take down the Blade Lineage.
Angela	Of the Blade Lineage, the leader seems to be a young woman with her black hair in a bowl cut. The members of Blade Lineage present here aren't expecting help from anyone so when Sarracenia dramatically busts in and sends up a dust cloud, they are reasonably distracted--though the leader largely keeps her eye on the leader of the Kurokumo Clan members. Indeed, she says, "'Princess?'" The word sounds strange on her tongue. "You must be an Outsiders so I will warn you that picking a fight here may mean picking a larger fight than you expect." Of course, she doesn't seem inclined to stand down herself. These little clashes between clans is pretty common and this is nothing special in that regard but here does seem to be SOME personal investment from the Blade Lineage Salsu leading the group here. The leader of the Kurokumo detachment here might very well be explaining why all on her own. ''Are you hoping to follow yours, love?'' "We can visit her together." The Blade Lineage Salsu says. "She'll be well fed then." But it seems that Blade Lineage isn't the only type of group that barges in on situations like this to have their say. The astute might have noticed that she leaned forward on her forward foot for a moment before ultimately judging the Vice-Captain to be out of her blade's reach. The Blade Lineage are few in number--but they are all reasonably skilled swordsmen and the leader--Saya-- seems to have a similar sense of instinct that Sumi does. She pretends that she isn't as confused as Sumi is about the text that Berislav is reading from. Her hand tightens against the hilt of her blade when she and her men are called freeloaders. As Sumi goes for her fan, Saya actually slides a foot back and adjusts her posture. She's clearly aware that this woman is dangerous and has a dangerous weapon. Her two men press closer against one another. They fight against the samurai, protecting their Salsu as she is studying Sumi, looking for an opening with intense focus. She doesn't seem to be as chatty. "It seems that the decision was made for you." Saya admits, her eyes slanting towards Odette. "Please make sure those two are taken care of." She jerks her head towards the two civilians she interceded in order to protect--certainly against the rules of The City, but she IS from an outcast clan. She largely recognizes Berislav as someone noteworthy to the Blade Lineage clan but is quiet on that point right now--she isn't in a position to get chatty, she may be a skilled swordsman but she is definitely not an elite--nor the two with her.
Sarracenia	As she is joined by more and more people, Sarracenia's smirk grows. She returns Odette's nod when it is given, and looks toward Berislav with approval at the message as he reads his verses. Hibiki joining is a welcome surprise, and Sarra lets out a slight 'hee~' at what Hibiki says.      Sarra is a bit amazed at how much of her skin the evil leader is showing, and by all the tattoos. She cannot even imagine showing that much skin, much less letting someone be that close for that long as to get that much ink. Or getting ink at all. All of that is quite clear in her expression and how she stares for a few moments.      "An Outsider, hm? I suppose so. I have little idea what is going on here and just happened to be passing by. But, I am not the type to stand by quietly as something like this happens, and picking a fight that ends up larger than I expected is kind of my thing." she says with a somewhat rueful smile.      The henchmen charge forward, and Sarra can't fend off a group attack to save her life. She gasps as swords land cuts along her sides and arms, and she growls in annoyance.      'That's enough. You're interfering in Clan business, brats, so butt out already. Your cute faces can only buy so much of my patience when your mouths spew such cliched drivel.'      "If this is order, then this place needs a bit of chaos! And anyone who knows me can tell you I am a princess of chaos!" Sarracenia declares before that hammer starts swinging. She does not move forward, keeping herself between the Kurokumo clan and their prey.
Odette Raskins	Odette hears... A leader! Maybe there is someone that can be reasoned with here after all, even if the things she's saying sound less than comforting. Considering how nervous the EMT already looks just trying to slink her way through the crowd, it's probably no surprise that she's pretty slow to even turn around when the woman starts address the group. When she does, meanwhile... "... Cooool." That balance on those heels? That suit? Those tattoos? That plunging neckline? Of course she's going to stare without realizing she's doing it at all, distracted by how much style is oozing off of Sumi especially when she brings out that fan. She sniffs lightly and pushes her glasses back up against her face, blinking owlishly while looking from the leader to the samurai. "Cute...? Huh? D-drivel? Consequences? I-I'm just here to treat the...!" Caught flat-footed as the samurai advance, Odette lets out a startled shriek as she throws her arms up reflexively and throws herself backwards. She's not quite fast enough on the draw to avoid getting hurt, but she does get away with only a shallow cut across a forearm and the front of her cap split in two right down the middle. Only. Adrenaline keeps the pain out of her mind, at least, and the cut isn't so deep that she can't pitch the bottle in her hand right at that clan member's face with her good hand while she draws the injured one back to grasp around the ground. What's she looking for? Nothing in particular, nothing more than dirt, pebbles, bits of broken glass, pulverized concrete, and miscellaneous debris. She follows up her bottle toss with flinging that handful of crud right at the samurai's face before scurrying backwards even more, only able to spare a quick look over at Saya as she gets back up. "H-huh? R... Right! Y-you all be careful, too! A-and try not to kill each other!" The EMT blurts out before sprinting towards the two beat up dudes. "Y-you two! We gotta move! Where's it hurt? Can you stand?" She asks in mid-run, already in the middle of hastily wrapping some gauze around her arm and over the wound to stop her own bleeding as she glances between them and the oncoming samurai like she's scared any of them could jump on her any second now.
Father Berislav	You must be an Outsiders so I will warn you that picking a fight here may mean picking a larger fight than you expect.      "I'm aware. I'd prefer to avoid it."     I'm not aware of any sick, broke criminal with the delusion to still refer to himself as a Lord, but I suppose my gaze tends to be aimed higher than that in the first place?      The priest closes the book. His free hand rests reassuringly on Odette's shoulder, but he doesn't take his eyes off the Kurukumo samurai. "I can tell," he answers. "Whatever they've done, it can't be worth the abuse you have in store for them. Besides, I'm sure that we can make you whole, somehow, Ms..." You're speaking to Kurokumo Clan Vice-Captain Sumi. Step aside and let the blade of order cut out these invasive pests clean, or face the consequences. It seems that the decision was made for you.      "So it does." The priest sighs, then removes his reading glasses and smiles with chilling serenity. It isn't overconfidence, although there's not a shred of uncertainty in him. It isn't sadism--if Sumi or Saya have seen that look before, then they'd know it for what it is: peace with mortality. If they hasn't, then his abrupt shift into violent brutality is all the more unsettling.      As the samurai charge forward, there's a flash of steel on steel. The heavy frame of a large revolver clashes with the sharp edge of the blade, turning it aside. An adept swordsman could shift their footing, pivot the hips and turn the slice into a thrust, which is why Berislav follows up with a blisteringly fast front snap kick, aimed not at the chin but at the pommel of the sword. His foot races back down and he shifts his stance, pivoting to put a few other charging Kurokumo samurai between himself and his target.      A triggerpull from his other hand sends a full-metal jacket bullet, almost as large as a human finger, racing towards (and, ideally *through* his initial target, on to several others. His eyes carefully track the glint of oncoming swords. Both guns then swivel in seemingly random directions, his aim appearing to be erratic as four more blasts sound in such rapid succession as to invite comparison to a semi-automatic. His aim is, in fact, anything but random or erratic, with those four bullets making targeted trajectories to bounce off of swords, split into fragments, and cause even more damage to the oncoming crowd.
Hibiki Tachibana	That's enough. You're interfering in Clan business, brats, so butt out already. Your cute faces can only buy so much of my patience when your mouths spew such cliched drivel."I don't wanna hear anything about cliches from some stuck-up gang boss thinking she's above being in the wrong...!" She's seen a lot of those, you know. Even just Mr. Big was enough for one lifetime.     Hibiki was, of course, entirely expecting that the Kurokumo Clan enforcers were going to come at them; with how they were only getting tenser and tenser by the moment, it was just a matter of time. The instant Sumi makes that gesture with her fan slash firearm, she's already braced and ready for the first of the underlings coming in.     Whose vicious swipes manages to slice into one of her jacket sleeves, then narrowly into her side, and only barely draw blood below as she ducks low and swerves out of the way, reaching up and ripping off one of her face bandages in the process - right into position to stomp a foot down and rotate her body into an elbow strike straight into their chest, meant to knock the wind out of them and stagger them away.     And with /her/ immediate aggressor being forced back, she twists on her heel and lunges low and fast towards another trying to circle around their group. "Balwisyall nescell...!" Fist coming low and swinging up on an angle that'll crumple it into their gut, sinking it in--     "...Gungnir tron!"     --as gold bursts down from her knuckles and runs down the length of her arm, replacing ordinary clothing with the mechanical armor and undersuit of her Symphogear, finishing with her scarf flaring out behind her. With the increased power from her transformation, she gives a sudden twist of her punching wrist and a forward jab of her arm to try and blow them completely off their feet and onto the street asphault meters away.     This time, fists raised and set to square off, she'll be playing defense for at least one side of the injured that Odette is trying to tend to, so no one gets past to harass them. "If we gotta lay all of you out before you'll listen, then that's fine by me...!"
Petra Soroka	"If this is order, then this place needs a bit of chaos! And anyone who knows me can tell you I am a princess of chaos!"     An oversized hammer isn't a weapon that the Kurokumo Clan samurai are well adapted to fighting, and the man in grey in front of her's first instinct is to try and simply catch the haft on his blade, expecting to be able to physically overpower the unweildy attack. Instead, the magical hammer swings through, throwing him to the ground meters away and tearing his katana out of his hands, sending it clattering across the street. Another pair of them try to swarm Sarracenia on either side, stepping back from the hammer head whenever it flies near them and letting the other get a quick, harrassing thrust in, aiming to tire her out with repeated shallow wounds so that the hammer winds up tiring her out.     Sumi, meanwhile, lets out a single syllable of a haughty laugh. "Ha! One step into other world, and you're already so eager to decide what our people need? Society functions on two things, sweetheart: rules and hierarchy. Lacking them, people are no better than animals, like our sweet Saya and her pitiful little pack." "Cute...? Huh? D-drivel? Consequences? I-I'm just here to treat the...!"     After the brawl breaks out, Sumi steps between the swordsmen as they clash with the Salsu and the Elites, gliding steps with clacking heels on an entirely different, unbothered tempo to the fight around her. She slides up besides Odette as she works, appearing right behind her with her cool fingers splayed lightly on Odette's shoulder, dragged delicately to rest on the side of her neck. Sumi croons in her ear, bent down so that her lips are only an inch away, warm breath tickling as she talks.     "We're not going to *hurt* them, darling. Didn't I say no one would get hurt without those Blade Lineage dogs meddling? It's an adorable impulse to step in and treat them, but if you insist on doing it now, I'll worry that you might get a scratch on your pretty little cheeks by accident."     Her fingers trace up to pinch Odette's cheek before drawing away entirely, straightening back up. "You wouldn't mind waiting a touch to help them, would you?" "Besides, I'm sure that we can make you whole, somehow, Ms..."     "If you've interest in paying charity to the two unfortunate souls we came to collect dues from, by all means! Ahn is ahn and the message is delivered regardless, that the Kurokumo Clan won't tolerate a 'next time'-- a bailout is a miracle that never strikes twice, as anyone knows. But aside from that--!"
Petra Soroka	Bullet shrapnel sprays haphazardly through the samurai, the impact jolting back their swords and ringing in the air as if they'd crossed blades. One of them, frantically trying to wipe away the acid that Odette tossed from her bottle, doesn't raise his sword to shield his vitals from the ensuing metal shards, and they vanish into the skin beneath his suit jacket. He crumples to his knees, sword forgotten, hand pressed to his mouth and coughing blood through his fingers.     Sumi, however, flicks her fan open, and the metal pings off without cutting her. The goon that Hibiki punches in the gut flies right past her, causing her to flinch and make an unnecessary movement-- sidestepping, despite the biological projectile not hitting her where she originally stood-- which she notices herself afterwards, with a scowl. To reassert her dominance, she draws her fan up to chest height, arm extended and hand flowing a fraction of an angle behind, flicking the fan to horizontal at the end of the motion. Along the arc of the open fan, pointed at each of the Elites (minus Odette, plus Saya), are four gun barrels, implausibly nested within the fan.     "I'll show you cliche, brat. It's eat or be eaten, and any town needs an apex predator to keep the others in line." A hidden switch at the base of the fan triggers the gun to fire, launching a fanning spread of bullets in the direction of the Elites.
Angela	"Hahn...What was this, a 'warning' then? For not paying for your 'protection'? What fingers would you cut free first?" Saya counters. "We know our cause, as do you, and they are not so blind as to fail to see past your words of smoke and air." Saya's bushido code prevents her from attacking someone who is only being dangerously sexy so she grits her teeth in frustration when Sumi does not engage the fight. SHe still has to fend off goons, but it's clear that Sumi is the one she wants to go after and it's taking considerable willpower of her own to not throw herself directly at her even at risk to her own body and wellbeing. She doesn't have an argument for how premature such aid seems but she is not in a position to complain. Either they accept it or they are wiped out. Even if she is confident each one of her men can take on two Kurokumo dogs--the numbers disparity was much greater than that. One of the beaten men says, "Ooffh...my partner was laid off work, we couldn't make the payments... Thank you for your kindness, but it is best to leave us..." The partner in question seems to be having trouble breathing. Probably not life threatening but he isn't in a condition to flee. The man who thanked Odette just seems moderately bruised up and maybe just kind of generally exhausted. AT least the one who talked can stand up but he seems to be sticking to an awkward crouch with all the swords swinging about. Then Sumi opens fire with guns! She catches one of the Blade Lineage swordsmen in the leg and he goes down--that's one more person for Odette to worry about! And that's a significantly more serious injury! But Saya darts foward, using the opportunity to press in on Sumi and strike towards Sumi's fan directly with a stabbing motion from her Katana. "Even apex predators return to the cycle. Perhaps today is that day fo you."
Sarracenia	Sarracenia can't help a laugh and a grin as the samurai that tries to deflect her is knocked away, but that grin is soon a frown as they surround her and start wearing her down. "Perhaps society does need rules and hierarchy, but it does -not- need predators! You can lead people through kindness and trust! And you will get much more out of them in the end! You all are just thugs taking advantage of people! Do not pretend you are noble or performing some sort of service! Cities do not need your kind of 'protection'!"      Usually Sarra might hold back a bit against unnamed thugs, but they are cutting her and her allies with swords -and- threatening people who are being forced to pay. Sarra's teeth clench and her hammer's head starts to give off a prismatic sparkling glow. "And I am tired...like REALLY TIRED of bullies!"      The Kurokumo then find themselves on the receiving end of rage that is only partially inspired by them. That glow flows over all of Sarracenia's body, then finally infuses her eyes. She lets out a rage-filled cry and starts swinging that hammer with magic-boosted might. Each swing creates a shockwave as she tries to hammer the enemy samurai into the ground like so many giant nails.      Fan bullets and sword slices still get her even as she hammers away, but for several long seconds Sarra does not even seem to notice.
Odette Raskins	Berislav's and Hibiki's familiar presences continue to be reassuring for Odette despite all the terrified noises she's making across from the brutal efficiency of the former and the shining transformation of the latter. Even Sarracenia throwing her hammer into the mix is heartening to a degree, and with Saya and the Blade Lineage fighting behind her, she can really focus on the treatment! "Let's get any bleeding wounds closed up, and then... Okay. Bleeding wounds, then keep you off any breaks, or you can climb... On?" Alas, the EMT doesn't really get that far in her treatment before she's suddenly hearing the familiar voice of that really cool lady from earlier whose name she  can't really remember right now. It's not for a lack of trying, of course, but because it's rather hard to focus on names and triage when there's a hand on her shoulder and a voice in her ear that sends shivers through her spine in a way that reminds her of the first time she met Lucius and Lilian. Or was it the second time? It's really hard to remember specifics like that, especially when her gaze ends up fixed on Sumi right next to her. "Buh buh mahuh prebtty... Fuh?" Odette blurts out in utter confusion of many kinds as she looks up at the Kurokumo cell leader, trembling briefly a moment later as she starts to actually process what's being said. By the time she's able to form one entire coherent thought about if Sumi really means what she says, though... Sumi goes in for the kill again, and that pinch has Odette both closing her mouth entirely and squeaking again in the back of her throat. "Mmhuh? Wha? W-waiting? I buh... Mhn. Jeh..." It takes until Sumi actually uses the fan as the illegal firearm it really is that Odette finally snaps out of her daze, and just in time to actually hear what the one guy says about him and his partner. "H.. Huh? Oh. Shit. That's..." Internal bleeding, maybe, but she doesn't say it out loud. Not while Sumi might notice and turn her attention right back around too soon. When Saya rushes the dangerously sexy boss, however, Odette seizes on the opportunity and starts mixing several bottles together from her bag into its own bottle, expertly digging out and pouring things together while holding another bottle with her teeth. Once the mix is finished, she closes the bottles up and puts them away, then scurries over to the partner to force-feed him the stuff.. The mix tastes pretty awful delivered straight like that, but it should help open the airways and moderately hasten healing for any internal injuries he might have. Once Odette pours in about two-thirds of the stuff, she hands the rest of the vial to the man, then pumps her other hand in front of herself like she's trying to signal him to make a break for it. That just leaves getting to the newly injured swordsman. With him all the way over there and needing to buy time for those two to make their escape, though, Odette does the first thing that comes to mind: "I-I'll take care of that guy, then! That should be okay, right, Vice-Captain?!" She shouts, projecting quite a bit to try and draw attention to herself/away from the beaten men as she starts running with everything in her medical bag clattering loudly the entire time.
Father Berislav	It would be smart, 'clever,' as Olivier had mentioned in their talk, to cut it short here, to offer some form of repayment. Maybe he could offer his repair services, or patch up anyone the Blade Lineage samurai had hurt. Maybe he could even offer to take their beating for them. But what the Vice-Captain says does not make Waters Berislav want to do what's smart, or clever. It makes him want to do what he's dedicated his life to, ever since he first heard an animal pretending to be human justify why humans ought to be treated like animals too. It's eat or be eaten, and any town needs an apex predator to keep the others in line. Thank you for your kindness, but it is best to leave us...     "We won't be leaving you." Berislav says calmly, as Sumi opens fire. He returns fire with four more shots--more FMJs, but aimed not at any one participant of the fight. Rather, they shatter Sumi's *bullets,* with a heart-stopping ricochet whine. Five shots left--two in the left gun, three for the right.     "Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear." A charging samurai swings--he sidesteps, twirling the revolvers such that their long barrels rest along his forearms and their grips extend slightly from his closed hands.     The sword strikes one barrel, then the other, Berislav folling up a ligtning fast one-two parry with a straight kick aimed at the kneecap of the goon. "For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt." The grip of the right revolver crashes with an audibly grisly impact into the side of the samurai's skull. "Your lips have spoken falsely, and your tongue mutters wicked things."     "No one calls for justice;" Berislav recites from memory, coldly moving from one downed samurai to the next standing. The left revolver is twirled--prestidigitation, to distract from the right being twirled and swung. Two bullets remain in the right gun as the trigger is pulled again, sending the bullet on an impossible half-moon arc around the samurai's guard. "No one pleads a case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments, they utter lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil."     Sumi is the target for the next two--one shot hooks around from the right, baiting a deflection from her fan. The other is deliberately shot low, skipping across the ground with another audible ricochet cry following the thunderous blast, the bullet losing a substantial amount of velocity due to tumbling but still difficult to block for its low angle. "They hatch the eggs of vipers and spin a spiders web." One left in each gun, now--but the cylinders swing open early, and Berislav hurls empty casings at her with superhuman strength, his throw strong enough to have the projectiles make a zipping sound as they fly. "Whoever eats their eggs will die, and when one is broken, an adder is hatched."
Father Berislav	The last two bullets are incendiaries, causing tongues of flame to spit from the nose of each gun. They impact with the hurled casings and melt them into slag, showering Sumi's position with red-hot metal.     "Their cobwebs are useless for clothing," Berislav continues, charging her position with the time bought from the attack. There's no reason a man in a cassock should be able to move so fast--so gracefully. But he's upon her in two heartbeats. "They cannot cover themselves with what they make."     Close range, now, and she has to deal with a flurry of rabbit punches... "Their deeds are evil deeds, and acts of violence are in their hands." ...intended to be a distraction from the placement of his leg between hers.     "Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. They pursue evil schemes; acts of violence mark their ways." He shifts his weight and attempts to shoulder-check her to force her backwards, checking her fan with repeated swipes of the revolver's barrels.     "The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks along them will know peace." A jumpting back kick, his feet hit the ground, and the heart-stopping sound of cylinders swinging open, new cartridges gently clinking into place. Whir. Click.
Hibiki Tachibana	Lacking them, people are no better than animals, like our sweet Saya and her pitiful little pack.     Although it wasn't Hibiki that Sumi was talking to there, Hibiki nonetheless has her expression grow stiffer on hearing it - which unfortunately also comes with the rest of her body, which still isn't in a very good state after the whole situation with Quicknest. Dramatically ripping off some face bandages as she transformed doesn't mean they weren't there for a reason! She'll need to replace that later!     It does however make dealing with bullets a bit harder than it would be if she were at full capacity, and as the (literally) fanning spread of gunfire rings out, she crosses both arms up in front of herself to let her dense gauntlets take any shots that would've hit somewhere important. That leaves about two to strike in her side and graze her leg--     --and fail to slow her down as she pushes forward immediately after. "Odette!" Despite everything, it's not Odette /or/ Sumi that she's going towards. Hibiki beelines towards the shrapnel-floored man that Berislav put down, and clears the area around him out of any still-standing goons by virtue of a jumping, sweeping kick. When she touches back down, she's already moving again - but not before a glance to Odette, who she spotted coming this way.     "Can't help but to try and save even these guys, can you? ...Good. You got him!"     Tachibana Hibiki truly is a menace, interceding to let Odette help him with or without the Kurokumo Vice-Captain's permission. Enemy to good and polite girls everywhere.     For not paying for your 'protection'? What fingers would you cut free first?     It's eat or be eaten, and any town needs an apex predator to keep the others in line.     And of course it's then right back into the fray, with Hibiki's voice raised in Sumi's direction as she goes. "You two sound like you and her have history...! But this 'stray pack' chose to go outta their way to protect people who needed it!" Even if it's the Vice-Captain she's talking to, her focus is on part of the group still harassing Sarracenia.     ...which she interjects in from one of the men's blind spots; Hibiki weaves towards the underling from behind, lashing out with a snap kick to send him tumbling off his feet - just to grab him by the arm as he's going down, turn on her heel, and smash him into one of his compatriots to send them both down to the ground.     Karmic retribution for Sumi dodging the (unintentional) human projectile.     And then she's applying fist and boot to another, helping to take heat off the Princess. "--So I'll be happy to help turn over your idea of 'order'!"
Petra Soroka	"Hahn...What was this, a 'warning' then? For not paying for your 'protection'? What fingers would you cut free first?"     Sumi giggles, bright and sharp, when Saya finally makes a retort back at her. "Aww, love, you heard what they said! They offered to make *us* whole; I made no promises about whether they would end up the same! Lessons don't stick if you only have to think about them once, you know~" "And I am tired...like REALLY TIRED of bullies!"     Sumi pouts, reinvigorated on her bullshit by Saya playing into it the tiniest amount. Calling over to Sarracenia, raising her volume to be heard above the princess's growling and hammer swinging, her liltingly-sweet voice sounds especially condescending when put in direct contrast to Sarra's rough shouting. "Bullies? You *wound* me, Princess Sundew. If the Thumb tried to handle these slums with, ah, 'kindness and trust', it would hardly be a week before every enterprising mind in the District starting coming up with ways to take advantage of it. And then the crackdown after would be thrice as harsh, to bring back stability, no? An ounce of prevention is worth a gallon of cure."     The samurai to either side of Sarracenia step back in unison as she starts to glow, not sure what to make of it. They glance uncertainly towards Hibiki, maybe expecting Sarracenia to undergo a similar armored transformation. She holds still for a heartbeat longer as the hammer's magic finishes infusing her, and one of the Kurokumo takes the opportunity to bravely lunge in with her sword, attempting to cut short whatever Sarracenia is doing.     A moment later, and the crowd gathered to watch the fight gasps and shrieks as the intrepid samurai is launched past them and into the side of a building, cratering the brick and falling to the ground unmoving. The others try to give Sarracenia a wide berth after that, but with the shockwaves coming out and the clear necessity of taking her out, they can't simply avoid her, and one leaps on top of a barrel as a stepping stone to jump at her with an overhead strike, expecting that the heavy hammer will be slower to rise up to counter them than they will be to fall and slice at her. Another pair are knocked into the shockwaves by Hibiki, sent stumbling down to the ground and comboed into being launched right back away, stunned. "You two sound like you and her have history...! But this 'stray pack' chose to go outta their way to protect people who needed it!"     Sumi's mood takes a visible downturn as more of her samurai are bludgeoned to unconsciousness or death by Hibiki, Berislav, and Sarracenia. Taking a few more shots with her fan gun while backpedaling and weaving between her underlings to keep heat off of herself, she still-- obsessively, almost-- diverts some of her attention to retort back at Hibiki even while the magical girl is dispatching her samurai.     "Insofar as one forms a relationship with the rats scurrying inside their walls, I suppose. Drop some cheese and expect them to scurry over; it's hardly a moral boon to be enslaved to your nature. Besides, what of after you get your heroic thrills and vanish again? The tax collectors will still demand their dues, wherever the wretches flee to in the town."
Petra Soroka	"I-I'll take care of that guy, then! That should be okay, right, Vice-Captain?!"     Before breaking their brief, warm contact, Odette can hear the low, breathy giggle that her stammering elicits from Sumi. She still peels away, but not before the barest hint of teeth scratch the upper edge of Odette's ear, milimeters away from biting even in the midst of combat.     Now, when Odette calls out to her, Sumi tilts her head back and towards her, with loose strands of hair spilling out of her now-messier bun. The display of perceived obedience completely enraptures her, to the point that she doesn't even face towards a samurai that Berislav punches a hole through with his revolver, instead choosing to cup her cheek for a moment and smirk.     "Aren't you overeager, darling? You'll get yourself trampled, skittering around that way in a fight. Do both of us a favor, and--" Sumi intercepts Odette's path, longer legs cutting her off. Deliberately, she raises one foot backwards in the way, catching Odette's medical bag on the long, sharp heel of her shoe and snagging in the fabric, digging her other foot against the ground to maintain her balance as Odette's continued momentum swings her around. Forcefully bringing her heel down to the ground either pulls the bag of out Odette's hands, or pulls Odette's hands down to the ground with it. "Be *patient*, won't you? There's still more poor injured souls that might need your care soon after." "Even apex predators return to the cycle. Perhaps today is that day for you."     As Saya charges at her, Sumi snaps her fan shut again with a crisp metal clack, and then catches Saya's sword on the side as if using it like a wakizashi. The difference in size of their weapons still forces Sumi to retreat backwards step by step under Saya's assault, taking chip damage in thin slices as she goes. Even despite that, she giggles at Saya again, free hand held up to her mouth.     "Are you a worm now, then? Come to rot me back into the earth? I wouldn't--" "The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks along them will know peace."     Sumi is cut off by Berislav's concentrated flurry of attacks unabashedly on her life. She catches one bullet on her fan, as expected, and then stumbles as the other rips a bloody line through the hem of her pants. She hunches over in pain for a second, and despite leaning forwards, her suit is well-tailored enough that somehow her egregious neckline maintains itself. She's revving up to spit out a retort, but him pressing the attack prevents her, and she cuts off with a sharp swear instead.     The moment before he collides with her, she stomps down on the hand of a wounded samurai beside her, catching the guard of his katana on the tip of her high heels and flipping it upwards into her hand. She angles the blade across her body, attempting to catch the revolvers on it, and at the same time snaps her fan open and closed to use it as a rudimentary shield or offhand dagger respectively. Stumbling backwards and losing the fight, Sumi gets an angle to lower the gun flat while dual wielding the katana defensively, firing a series of rounds out of the end of the fan to press the Elites back. Meanwhile, only a third of the goons are still standing, but they know what their job is, and it doesn't include running: it includes slashing, stabbing, and nervously angling attacks away to hopefully avoid being crushed into a red paste.
Angela	(It is absolutely true that this may grant a reprieve to those poor men, but it will hardly save them). One of the Blade Lineage members does get cut down--the one Odette ISN'T tending to--leaving just Saya in fighting condition. This is pretty normal for Blade Lineage but she growls in frustration and fury. There is a little more going on here then just a matter of revenge and justice. They definitely know each other. And as much as Sumi is teasing her, Saya's anger is sincere if measured. "And you are not enslaved to your nature? People have always acted according to their will, you have stated yours plainly...!" She goes to strike at the fan, intending to damage it-trying to stop her from gunning down anyone else, at the least. ''Are you a worm now, then?'' "You'll know the difference between I and worms in a--" Sumi is cut off by Berislav and so, frankly, is Saya. She stumbles back a bit, caught off guard by Berislav's furious assault. She lowers her blade partially and glances down to Odette. "Will they live?" She catches her breath in the meanwhile. The wounded civilian downs the body and coughs heavily, bringing his hand to his mouth so nothing gets out despite the biological reflex. He takes the vial and gives her a nod. "Thank you." He says hoarsely. He and his partner make a break for it, running off in the distance. Saya instinctively moves her body to protect their retreat.
Father Berislav	A normal person would show more concern about having a gun pointed at them in such close quarters. Berislav, who has honed himself into something meant to fight back against exactly what the Kurokumo Clan represents, only shifts his stance and checks the fan with a knee. Instead of a ruinous gutshot, he is 'only' grazed. The priest 'notices' the bloodslick patch of warmth on his abdomen, as a dimly felt, faraway sensation, but his eyes are locked on Sumi's. The cadence of his voice doesn't even stumble.     "So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us." His leg falls, his heel becoming a hammer as it seeks out her ankle. "We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows." His elbow surges forward into her abdomen then pops upwards for an opportunistic strike at her jaw.     An approaching samurai from the side is shot without his even turning his head to look at them, the bullet bounced off of Sumi's appropriated sword after he spotted movement in the reflection. "Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like people without eyes. At midday we stumble as if it were twilight; among the strong, we are like the dead."     The other gun fires, its bullet strikes the ground, stripping the bullet of momentum to the point that its force is 'only' like one of his punches, a point-blank right hook bounced past her. "So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter."
Father Berislav	The crowd gathering is even more dimly felt than the pain and the warmth of lost blood--yet his bullets never so much as even come close to them. "Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes prey." One gun is twirled again, the barrel resting parallel with his forearm to keep track of her sword. The other is jabbed forward in a surprise thrust for her throat--a feint, meant to draw the fan upwards.     "The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice." If she takes the bait, his right leg sweeps, aiming to take her from 'off-balance' to fully grounded.     Whether it's her leg (in an effort to press an advantage) or her abdomen, what follows is a flurry of stomps, axe kicks and ground shots with the non-flipped revolver. "He saw that there was no one," continues the priest, increasingly impassioned throughout his assault, "He was *appalled* that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm achieved salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him."     "He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak."     Berislav doesn't give her space--always pressing, even when it's her 'turn' he takes trades or else cuts across her attacks with one of his own, always preaching, his voice almost now as loud as the guns. "According to what they have done, so will he repay wrath to his enemies and retribution to his foes; he will repay the islands their due."     "From the west, people will fear the name of the Lord, and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory--for he will come like a pent-up flood that the breath of the Lord drives along!" Each gun has three shots left. A rapid burst of all six shots, his arms finding different firing angles with such speed that his black sleeves are like the dancing of shadows spurred by flame. Six shots find her, each converging from a different angle, having curved impossibly through the air to find her.
Odette Raskins	"Can't help but to try and save even these guys, can you? ...Good. You got him!" "S-someone has to! Can't leave any of these people alone if they're gonna survive this and..." Odette starts to respond to Hibiki hastily, sounding enthused at first. She realizes halfway through, however, that she doesn't really know where she's going with that thought. Logically, it probably would be easier to leave the injured Kurokumo members to their fates, especially in the context of aiding the Watch's more direct objectives here. And yet, doing exactly that doesn't sit well with Odette, even with Sumi all but commanding her to stay put. Part of her is sorely tempted to, too, especially with all the confusion still raging about in her head. Between the strange, yet not entirely unpleasant feeling of Sumi's teeth on her ear drawing another whimpering noise out of her and seeing Sumi's poise with that confounding smirk even when surrounded by so many opponents/Odette's own allies, it's taking all of the EMT's focus not to just stop where she is just gawk. She's still distracted as all hell even while running, though, and it's not difficult in the slightest to sweep her right off her feet in the most literal sense. Odette even lets out a surprised squawking yelp when the strap catches around her neck briefly and pulls her right back around to Sumi, landing on her back painfully with her arms still held out far above her head when Sumi pins it to the ground. "Gwuh... H-huh? Patient? Injured... Gh! Th-that's exactly why I can't be patient!" Locking eyes with the samurai that just got perforated by Berislav's revolver, Odette actually thrashes about disobediently to free an arm and gesture wildly at said samurai, still trying to keep track of how many others still need treatment between both the Blade Lineage and Kurokumo Clan members. "I-I can take a little trampling! Or.. Uh. A lot, if it means they..." Once again, Odette's mouth moves faster than her brain, and she squirms out from under her bag. She gives it a good firm yank to try and free it from beneath Sumi when Berislav goes back on the offensive, then scurries about once again to resume emergency triage for both the last Blade Lineage member and the Kurokumo samurai that had just gotten shot through. "Th... They'll live, if I can get them closed up. J-just keep me covered!" There's more desperation in her voice now, too, as Odette starts to put the actual fighting out of her mind. She's got wounds to pack, bleeding to seal, and medication to douse the fallen fighters with.
Hibiki Tachibana	Besides, what of after you get your heroic thrills and vanish again? The tax collectors will still demand their dues, wherever the wretches flee to in the town.     "That's--" Hibiki trails off in reply to Sumi, though not for lack of an answer. It's because one of the remaining Kurokumo grunts is coming her way and she has to respond. A downswung katana is met with a swerve backwards, and then the deafening clang of metal on metal as blade meets gauntlet with a heavy reverb again, and then again still. Small nicks are rent into the mechanical arm-coverings each time, but she holds fast.     Until she can step forward to get inside his effective range between blows, and retaliate with a high-speed barrage of gutpunches meant to evacuate all the air from his lungs and floor him after a finishing elbow. "--simple, isn't it?" Just in time to turn back to Sumi, whose suppressive fire momentarily pins her in place, arms up to protect herself again as she calls from behind them.     "...That just means I'll have to be around for the long haul!"     Both in the sense of whatever immediate actions can be taken after this to keep the Kurokumo off their backs for a while - she'll figure something out - and being around to stay a pain in the Syndicate's ass. Long road to make the City any better.     But if Berislav in melee range is already a whole lot for her to contend with, then Sumi will really not like Hibiki stomping down then propelling herself forward to join in - partially to make sure she won't be able to keep both of them at bay, and partially because the best way to guarantee Berislav doesn't go for a kill in the midst of his raging, emotion-driven assault is to also be side-by-side with him to help seal the deal with her own hand.     And to that end, after moving to flank the Vice-Captain and keep her gun arm from getting any more clean shots by virtue of a blindingly fast series of kicks on that side of her body, she doubles back and primes her right arm back. Right as Berislav's shots ring out--     --she dives in, intent to smash her fist right into Sumi's side with bone-crunching force even for someone with augmentations. Will she be able to send her flying hard enough to avoid her getting riddled full of (as many) bullet holes? ...Maybe.     Maybe not.
Sarracenia	Sarra's hammer is just as quick in rising as falling, but in her fevered state she practically ignores defending. The lunge lands before the samurai makes his mark on the building, and the rather stylish barrel leap is also on target. Hibiki did her best, but there is only so much you can do when someone isn't putting any effort into their own defense.      The magic glow fades after the samurai's barrel leap, but despite that -and- just how sliced up the princess is now. Unlike Sumi, who remains stylish and elegant, her dress is cut and stained and dirty, as is the skin beneath.      "Nnng..." The princess stumbles, panting with pain and exhaustion. "...this is terrible...a priest seems more capable in combat than I do..." she mutters to herself. "...perhaps he is a warrior priest...?" she adds for her own benefit. Cope, as was described on the radio not long ago.      'An ounce of prevention is worth a gallon of cure.'      "The cure is worthless if it is as harmful as the disease!" Sarra retorts. "Besides, the only disease you are 'preventing' is one you are spreading yourselves! I already told you, stop pretending you are doing something noble and in service of the people! If you actually want to help, you should be using your power to aid those who cannot aid themselves! But as you said, you are only animals! If they are worms, then you are leeches!"      With red running down one side of her head from that overhead slash, Sarra plants her hammer head down and pulls out a Bullet Bill power-up. She makes sure there are only Kurokumo samurai in front of her, then squeezes it.      The princess is engulfed in an explosion of white smoke, and from that explosion a car-sized bullet is launched down the alleyway like a rocket. It explodes again just before hitting a building, and Sarracenia goes stumbling forward before leaping to wallkick off the building and goes spiraling into the air before riding her hammer back down. This time the landing is much more harsh, creating another large shockwave and leaving a bit of a crater.
Petra Soroka	"Gwuh... H-huh? Patient? Injured... Gh! Th-that's exactly why I can't be patient!"     When Odette flails around to free herself, Sumi pulls her heel out and steps back, clicking her tongue with a disappointed scowl. She's got a battle to focus on, and Odette's less fun to tease when she's indistinguishable from the other heroism-hunting animals.     "Tch. Go on, then. But don't come crying when you can't save everyone."     Sumi is barely managing to hold her own against Berislav even with the full extent of wielding both the katana and the fan-gun, alternating between blocking Berislav's lethal-intent attacks and trading out a few of her own-- less bloodthirsty, but equally deadly-- in the momentary gaps she makes for herself. She twists the fan to spread it out vertically, gun barrels lined up along Berislav's entire height, and when he kicks her hand to the side she adjusts to swap it horizontal, catching him with the edge of a bullet. Her bemusement at the unfamiliar scripture is mostly overwhelmed by his intensity and volume, and though he can't hear it over the din of combat, Sumi's lips contort into a hissed 'shut *up*' repeatedly.     Now bereft of allies, as the last of them lie dead or unconscious in the crater Sarracenia's last attack made, it's clear when Sumi's goal switches to running. She might have slipped away from Berislav's killshot, when clashing her sword against Berislav's overlong revolver and scraping down its length with a shower of sparks to temporarily disable his arm, or she might not have-- but when Hibiki punches her in the side, her opportunity to run is gone.     She's saved from one salvo of bullets, but Berislav is faster to take advantage of Sumi's staggered state than Hibiki is, and knocks her to the ground. She tries to push herself back up with one hand, unloading wildly unaimed shots from her fan with the other to try and get lucky to connect with Berislav, but a few stomps later and she's flat on the ground. Face bloodied, hair in tangled ruins, blood leaking out of the wounds beneath dark patches in her coat, Berislav's last round of shots punches through Sumi's chest and gut before she can try any desperate last measures.     Sumi chokes and spasms, gun slipping out of her hand. Clapping her palm to her mouth, she sucks in wheezing breaths, glaring up a Berislav, each exhalation splattering a red spray of aerosolized blood on her fingers. It's not a wound she's likely to walk away from, even with Odette here.     "B-bastard... freak fanatical monster. The Kurokumo Clan w-will--" Sumi's voice wobbles, then cuts off entirely with a hacking cough, changing tones entirely. "I-I... d-don't want to... I w-won't, here...."     Her eyes slide over to Saya, wide with panic. "... S-Saya. Wh-what happens... to your revenge... now? You truly... a-are a worm... and no s-samurai... to wait until after I... after I-I...."     Every member of the contingent of the Kurokumo Clan lies silent in the street where the fight broke out, and the crowd begins to disperse. None of the Blade Lineage fell in battle in a way Odette can't patch up, and the two downtrodden folk that the Clan had been extorting seem to have gotten away. Yippee!
Angela	Sumi's words strike Saya directly in the heart. She swallows faintly and closes her eyes a moment. She has dishonored herself, that is true, by accepting this aid. She approaches Sumi, intending to finish her off at first. Her blade hesitates-- ''You truly... a-are a worm... and no s-samurai...'' "I know you just wish to live but I cannot deny your words. ... I loved her, Sumi. Maybe I loved her more than I loved being a samurai. But I wouldn't have wanted it this way either. ... But I'll make it quick." She exhales out once and then strikes out once, a clear killing blow--so there'd be a flash of pain and be over fast. It's all that she can do at this point. She fans her blade to the side to clean it in a smooth motion and then slides the blade into the scabbard. She turns to Berislav. "I know not what drove you to such fury but ... ... The Thumb won't be silent about this." She sighs. "...It doesn't feel as good as I hoped. I hope it feels better for you, Father Berislav. I think her words will live ... as long as I do." Shaken, she gathers up her fellow Lineage members and bows her head to Odette, then Berislav in that order.
Father Berislav	That happened much sooner than I would have preferred. But maybe with luck this will be the catalyst for that 'Thirteenth Association'--pushing it from 'proposed' to a matter of fact.     Berislav looks over his shoulder at the dispersing crowd. "The wages of sin," he says simply. Chillingly so. Blood stains and dampens his cassock--his own, and others'. I know not what drove you to such fury but ... ... The Thumb won't be silent about this.      "I know," says the priest. "And I know that your friends can't eat ideals, or find warmth in them on cold nights. I know what it is I've done. I won't abandon you only because things get difficult. If you believe in what your Syndicate stands for, then believe that I'll stand with you. Tell your friend in the hat that I'll be visiting soon."      He makes for the concealment of the alleyways the Backstreets hold, but stops, when he sees Odette. "Please don't bother," he says, of any potential efforts to assist Sumi. "There are so many people in this City who deserve your help more than she does. People who can see something in themselves and others more than 'predator' and 'prey.'"      His guns disappear into that pocket space, his bloody hands briefly illuminated by the burning orange fields before they wink out. He turns, makes his way to disappear into the City again. "You and Hibiki can resent me for that. When you get tired of taking chances on unrepentant abusers, you'll come to understand my position."
Sarracenia	As the dust clears from her landing, Sarra gets a real glance of just what the aftermath of the battle was. She looks around, then hmphs and starts going to even the enemy samurai to apply healing mushrooms. But, some...do not seem to improve.      The princess seems confused. She tries another mushroom, but still nothing. She is still a moment, then her eyes slowly widen. "W-wait...are they going to d-...did they...did I actually..."      There have only been a handful of times that the princess took the life of an actual person, at least that she knows for sure she did. She stumbles back. "N-no...I d-did not...this was not how....it was supposed to go..."      Berislav speaks up about not bothering with Sumi, and Sarra looks that way. "..why would they be willing to...for this...?" Despite Berislav's words, Sarra makes her way over. Sumi is still alive, so maybe her mushrooms will help there.      She feels a little less bad about it when Sumi's final words are just to spew more venom. But, Saya seems to take it pretty hard. And makes the point of mushrooms moot. Not sure what else she can do here, Sarra starts to leave. "...I...I n-need to go..." she says, then turns and starts walking. Her steps steadily quicken, and soon she is running. More like fleeing after few more strides.
Hibiki Tachibana	Unfortunately, Berislav is indeed faster to capitalize.     Saya's words - and act - after the fact hit deeper still. There wouldn't be any stopping that, in more ways than one.     Hibiki spends a moment staring down at Sumi's corpse, her brow furrowed and the look in her eyes too complicated to easily read... but the way she tightens her hands at her side hard enough that the scrunching of her gloves is barely audible says a lot. After a few seconds of silence, maybe not realizing she was holding her breath, there's a long and muffled exhale.     She glances from the Vice-Captain, to the other Kurokumo underlings - some alive, some dead. And she remembers what she said only the other day, finding only one survivor in the Blood Fiend-ruined village. That she was just glad there was still one person to save. But there's being too late, compared to...     "I can't tell... if I'm getting used to this feeling, or if I never actually will."     After more quiet unease, she shakes her head, lifting it again to watch Berislav go with some hardiness back in her eyes. "...I won't," she says on the subject of resenting him, although the strain in her tone makes it hard to tell exactly how much she means that. Memories of the event with Lance spring back to her mind. "But as long as people are in front of me, I'll keep trying to do it."     Trying, at least. When the only options are doing nothing, or doing something that'll keep putting her in conflict with her own allies...     Then he's gone, and Hibiki turns back to Odette. "...Let's help who we can here. There's still plenty who're breathing and need it... even if I'm sure they'll have plenty to say to their bosses when they go back. We'll figure out what to do in the long run when we talk with Kim later."     Her head turns just enough to watch Sarracenia hastily leave after, and she winces beneath her scarf.
Odette Raskins	"Tch. Go on, then. But don't come crying when you can't save everyone." "I-I... d-don't want to... I w-won't, here...." Sumi's an enemy. Objectively, letting her die here would be the best outcome. Berislav's the one leading the charge on the situation here in District 20, and Odette barely knows anything about the situation. There's plenty of people around that need treatment, too, and her medical supplies are already a bit of a mess after getting swung around and stomped on by the leader of the Kurokumo cell, so it'd be some kind of... Dramatic irony? To not be able to save her in time. A glance at the other injured Blade Lineage members tells her that none of them are in immediate danger of bleeding out, and she moves into position besides Sumi. "There are so many people in this City who deserve your help more than she does." "N... It's not about who deserves it. I-if someone's dying, then I have to..." Odette mumbles as she digs through her bag, digging out small bundles of cloth scraps and half-used gauze rolls to start packing into one wound. ""E-even for an enemy, I have to save... I can't not try to...!" The desperation is still evident in her tone, even though she's already starting to realize the futility of her efforts. If only she was faster than this. "But I'll make it quick." Odette only has enough time to glance up and over at Saya. "Wha.. I-I could've...!" She starts to protest shakily, turning her gaze right back to that new wound, then to the remaining ones she has yet to even start touching.  Does she even have that much blood packed away in her bags? Even after restarting her heart, would there be enough blood for everyone else at the rate Sumi's losing it just while Odette's assessing the damage right now? No, not even close. She draws in a shaky breath while clenching her hands against Sumi's corpse, straining to suppress an uncomfortable noise in the back of her throat. That bloodied and gloved hand comes up to brush against the edge of her ear idly, against her cheek, and then she looks up and over at Hibiki. Odette just nods slowly and gets back up, barely keeping her jaw tight as she struggles not to just shout out some of that frustration. Bersilav and Hibiki are right, and Odette knows that, but it doesn't make the knot in her stomach any less unbearable, even while beginning triage for the rest of the injured.