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Yari Takane If Yari Takane has a weakness, it's that she can be a little /too/ predictable for a ninja. Out in the Asian Plains, near a small town of medieval eastern stylings, it's said that a very potent strain of nightshade can be found growing underneath specific cherryblossom trees.

Yari's a sucker for such things. Dressed in a simple kimono, sword, trowel, and a bag in hand, it's not long before midnight that the ninja is out in the small clearing, kneeling down before a few plants, and carefully digging them up.

Little does she know, that she's not the only one out under the moonlight and slowly drifting cherry blossoms amidst the light wind that sets her hair aflutter.
Nagato     Vacations usually stop a lot of people doing work. Usually. Nagato's out and about in the Asian Plains, having done some research, it was time to end something once and for all. At least, she hopes it'll be once and for all. Nagato's made a call to a couple of people, specifically two she can trust to keep this out of the public light, Yuna and Momoyo. The latter because Nagato knew she could help bait the Ninja.

    Setting up a small area, Nagato only has her axe with her, "Kagurazaka, Kawakami. I wouldn't have asked you two for assistance in this if I knew I could do this alone but I know I cannot. I'll give you now to back out if you need to. The mission goals are to draw Yari out into the open and ambush her. Seriously wounding or hampering her to the point of being unable to do her job in the future is all I'm hoping for." the next few words might put Yuna at ease. "Do not kill her. She will need to live with what she's reaped."

    Nagato pauses a moment, just in case people /want/ to leave, but if they do not... "Kawakami. I need you to advance forward and draw the ninja out. You said yourself you knew her quite well. Kagurazaka, you'll back me up and we'll pincer the Ninja, making sure she doesn't escape. If this is clear, let's move."
Momoyo Kawakami      Momoyo cracks her knuckles, dressed in her usual school uniform. "Just make sure she doesn't get away... I'll only do a fair fight, after all. I'm following Nagato's orders, but you're only here as a witness... let me do the hard work. Do everything you can to contain her, if she remembers to suppress her aura, I won't find her and we can't use light." There was a hard edge in her voice, but she'd already spoken with Nagato at length prior to this. Nagato could trust how far she was going to go... but there were legitimate political reasons only a Chancer could lay a finger on the spy.

    Still, even the cold edge of her voice would probably put Yuna on edge. Momoyo wasn't in the habit of treating people who messed with her friends kindly, at all.

    "Alright, here I go." shr crouches down in the grasses once the perimeter was established and...

    Uses Super Acceleration to assault the shinobi ruthlessly and efficiently. There's not much more than the rustle of blades of grass as she covers several yards in an instant... but only a vicious and basic straight punch in a straight direction. Incredibly difficult to dodge, but more than possible for a shinobi's reflexes. For someone who was boisterous, loud and energetic, Momoyo's murder-filled aura envelops her target like the lightest of feathers a tenth of a second before she reaches her target.
Yuna Kagurazaka When Nagato asked Yuna for her help with something, the idol singer (and sometimes warrior) agreed to assist - before she knew just what Nagato was planning.

Then she found out the details.

It's just as well, really, that Nagato explicitly said the plan is not to kill Yari Takane; despite everything Yuna has to pay the Confederate ninja back for, she still doesn't want Yari dead. If any of the Hikari kanmusu had died at Yari's hands, that might tilt the equation the other way - but so far as Yuna knows, while Yari has *TRIED* to kill members of the Hikari fleet, she hasn't succeeded at doing so. But as for crippling her ...

"She hasn't done any harm that can't be fixed by healing or repairs, right?" Yuna inquires softly. That's all she's going to ask - and honestly, she has her private doubts that the three of them could do worse to Yari than add some scars to whatever collection the ninja already has. But even scars can be a reminder ... and so can memories.

Yuna closes her eyes briefly, letting out a slow, quiet breath, then nods to Nagato and Momoyo. "Understood, and I'm as ready as I can be." She opens her eyes again, glancing around the area to figure out the best routes to approach for that pincer. She's also remembering her run-ins with Yari - when the reptilian ninja tried to assassinate Nagato, when Yari ambushed Yuna in the middle of Operation Rei-Go and stole her equipment ... she DOES have reasons to help take Yari down a few pegs - reasons to WANT to help, at that.

As soon as Nagato needs her to move, Yuna's ready; she's already in her Light Suit, although even Elner isn't accompanying her this time out.
Yari Takane The ninja clearly isn't expecting an ambush, by how she doesn't bother hiding her magic. She's met a few contacts here, and so isn't expecting much in the way of danger outside of your typical bandit or rival ninja.

It's a testament to Yari's training that she doesn't have her jaw instantly broken when Momoyo crosses that distance, murderous aura sending shivers down her scales and her hairs on end.

On the one hand, at least she knows exactly who it is. On the other, there's still that Hard Momoyo Fist (tm) coming her way. The ninja twists to the side, taking the hard blow to her shoulder instead of right in the face. There's a cracking sound as her bad shoulder has a lovely broken bone, and she's sent flying past the trees she was working on.

Yari grits her teeth, lands, and spits out a huck of blood.

"You...have a really awful way of saying hello to people, Momoyo Kawakami." Comes Yari, voice mixed with her usual strange admiration-slash-annoyance-slash-fear. Nor does she just let her get away with it. Her hand flicks out mid-flight, small, sharp needles aimed to try to catch Momoyo in the knees and arms. Poisoned, of course.

"Why are you here?" She demands.
Nagato     "She's done enough harm that I want to end the attempts." Nagato mutters to Yuna and as Momoyo heads out... quicker than expected, she gives a brief nod to Yuna. "Alright, head around to the left, I'll take the right. I don't have to worry about you not killing her. It's Momoyo that I have to worry about." she finishes mentioning to Yuna as she starts to head off herself.

    Pulling up a black blanket, the battleship woman starts running across the plains, keeping to what shadows she can. She doesn't have her rigging with her either to make sure she is as 'stealthy' as possible. Which might not happen, depending on how distracting Momoyo can be. "Nagato, you've been pracitcing this. Can you do it...?" she questions herself. Nagato knew what she had to do... she didn't like the thought but it was there and it needed to be quelled.

    "No arms... means no more maiming..."
Momoyo Kawakami      "Kawakami Style: Forehead Flick!!

    Her fingers move in a blur, deflecting the needles. But true to what Nagato was worried about, the problem continued to be whether Momoyo would keep her promise and control of herself after her long vacation in the mountains. "Why am I here? Let's start with removing control of your limbs...Permanently." Her aura was worse than usual... that much was obvious because it was an inky dark crimson aura, visible around her body thinly like flames licking the air. It seems she had to psych herself up badly to want to do what Nagato asked.

    "KAWAKAMI-HAAA!!"

    Her fists move quickly and send the ball of yellow light at a blazing speed toward Yari, intended to force her to dodge in the direction Nagato wanted. At the very least, that was the smallest sign she didn't just attempt to up and break the lizard girl over her knee directly. Her red eyes glared at Yari, like a sabre-toothed tiger hunting it's prey in the dark. Even her aura sensing ached, for if Yari gained enough composure to suppress it, she would slip away for sure.
Yuna Kagurazaka The fact that Momoyo's aura is visible like that is one of two bad signs to make Yuna start worrying; the color of it is the second, and much larger.

Yuna has to fight the urge to materialize the Matrix Divider; it's not time to reveal her presence yet. Still, if it weren't for the 'mission' at hand, Yuna might well be wondering if she has to subdue Momoyo instead of helping take down Yari. For now, though, she's focused on closing the pincer with Nagato, and being ready to intercept if Yari shows signs of escaping.
Yari Takane "Here to hurt me, then? That's just like you. For all your strength, you're just a thug without any sense of purpose, Kawakami. At least your sister has a goal." She taunts.

Still, now that the ninja knows an attack's coming, it's a lot easier to dodge. Unfortunately, Momoyo's predicted nicely: Yari sets her geta's heel in, digs, and then neatly dodges to the left in a flash. She backs, backs, and backs away towards the shadows, mustering her composure. That blood-thirsty aura is a problem, though. Momoyo sounds serious.

Yari pauses, waiting for the hunting Momoyo to come after her, already making handseals. A massive fireball erupts from the darkness!

"Katon: Grand Fireball Technique!"

For a second, the ninja's position is lit up: easily visible to Yuna and Nagato. She's already looking to slip away into the shadows by now!
Nagato     There's that fireball, the area's lit up and Nagato takes off like ... well a battleship. Slow but large and heavy steps as she pulls out her great axe, the same one she used to train with Yuna. She's got to cut off the escape. Over a small, local radio, "Yuna, she's escaping. I'll push her to you." she knows what Momoyo will do, continue to chase.

    Pulling the axe into a wide arc, Nagato leaps into the air once she's of appropriate distance, "VIOLENT SPIKE!" she shouts, revealing her position, but with the battleship in mid air, bringing an axe as big as her down. It's a cleaving strike, if it hits or not is the other question...
Sanary Rondel It doesn't take very long for the cavalry to arrive for the Confederate ninja, a large pair of large shields approaching the ambush point. As it draws closer, however, it becomes more apparent that it's not a pair of shields approaching, but a person carrying those shields! A white-haired girl with an eyepatch, even, that's giggling madly like she's won a great prize recently.

     "Theeeere you are!" Sanary's voice rings out as she descends, a swarm of gray discs of varying sizes trailing behind her. As she spots Yari, Momoyo, and a third figure approaching Yari, several of the sharpened discs start shooting out towards Momoyo seemingly with minds of their own! There's five in that first volley, and they're moving in a fairly straightforward fan pattern to try and force some more distance.

     "A triple date? With /my/ Yari? You could have just asked if you wanted me to share!"Landing next to said ninja, the mildly crazed-looking healer brings up both of her shields to meet Nagato's axe head on. a broad grin on her face despite the pain shooting through her arms from the sheer power of the impact of metal on metal.

     "But what is today's story, hmm~?"
Momoyo Kawakami      "Nnngh!!" she grunts, having to bring her bare arms up to block the fireball, powerful enough to slide her heels back in the grass and dig furrows for a couple feet. The discs, likewise, are too large to reflect with her fingertips, attacking through the smoke. She avoids any vitals being hit, taking a few deep cuts as unarmored as she was. "Restoration..."

    "Damn. Who knows who else will show up if we take any longer." she mutters under her breath, heard over the short-range radio to the other two. She was going to back off from attacking Yari now that Nagato wanted to move in... but Sanary's aura was unpredictable and she was more focused. Yari's wounds wouldn't matter if she let the shield girl cast. "Admiral... what's plan B if anyone important shows up and turns this into a real factional skirmish...?"

    Crossing her arms, she stands up straight again. While she was obviously waiting for something, it wasn't immediately clear why Momoyo stopped in her tracks... she looked just as unhinged as Sanary if a fair bit less emotional on her sleeves. She tosses her hair lightly, using her sensing to reach out and see if anyone else was coming soon within the mile or two radius she could sense.
Yuna Kagurazaka And this is the point where Yuna starts wishing she DID have the Matrix of Light with her; Flight Form's pulse-blasters would be really handy for narrowing down Yari's escape routes. And then Sanary shows up, which makes her wish - alternatively - for Powered Form's heavy armor.

Well, she has Shugoseiheki if she needs her shield - but with Sanary jumping both Momoyo and Nagato, cutting off the ninja's escape route just turned into Yuna's job. And if the ninja wants to take advantage of shadows ... ?

A crackling bolt of concussive light races towards Yari, shedding enough ambient radiance to dispel the closest shadows and soften those a little further away. "I'm sorry about this, Yari," Yuna calls out as she breaks from concealment, Matrix Divider held ready as she approaches, "but you've hurt too many people for me to let you just walk away. So ... you're not walking, or running, or jumping, out of this. Not under your own power."

The Matrix Divider is leveled at Yari, the barrel/blade assembly starting to glow brightly as Yuna focuses power into her weapon - and another bolt is unleashed, not aimed to cut Yari off from her planned escape route, but just to slam into her chest. Yuna's still focused enough to stay careful, restraining the force of her blasts - she's holding back just below the point that might crack ribs.
Yari Takane Nagato's push, even as Sanary rushes in and blocks it, has the ninja jumping away rather swiftly! She actually stumbles a bit, and something round rolls under Sanary and over to Nagato's feet.

A Mark III Ceruleum Grenade.

"Sanary! Good timing!" Wince. /Wince/.

"If this is a date, then I mourn for their love lives!" She fires off to Sanary, happy to let Sanary keep the admiral at bay.

"I didn't think the Admiral herself would show up, though. Let me guess. This is for your comrades in the Fleet?" For some reason, knowing the Admiral's here to hurt her too has her smiling.

Then, she shrugs. Momoyo backs off. "They're here for revenge it seems." She answers Sanary.

Luckily for Momoyo and company, there's no sense of anyone else coming. For now, it's just the trio, Yari, and Sanary! Yari's quick to toss some shuriken at Momoyo, soon laced with fire thanks to a few handseals.

But there's another threat to deal with! Yuna blasts from the shadows, Yari putting up her hand to stop so much light from blinding her! The first blast takes her in the chest, causing her to stumble back, and then try to roll to the side. Unfortunately? The duck-roll puts her low to the ground.

ZZZOOOMF! That hard-light magic blast slams into her left eye, and there's a horrible squashing sound. It might not be able to break ribs, but the ninja screams as she tumbles to the ground.

"Nnnngh! You...!"

The ninja sucks in a breath, half-blinded physically and mentally. Her tail flicks out a massive shuriken, unfolding and spinning before she lets it fly towards Yuna's voice!

Pain and delirium is starting to catch up with her. Yari's already panting in exhaustion.

"Hah...So you really did think about what I told you? Good. If you really want to change things? Kill me, Yuna Kagurazaka. But this is a good first step. You're growing very well." Her smile, by now, is ever so slightly unhinged from the stress of battle and her injuries.
Nagato     Over the shortband radio, "There is no plan B." she replies as she winces from the impact of axe on shield. How anyone could withstand it is beyond her. She shakes her head and backs off a bit, "Ah, you. You've been at those as well." she growls at the shield wielder. "Why... why are you here too?!" she frowns at this development before dropping down to get that grenade... "What's this?" She stuffs the grenade down her 'shirt'... she'll have to use this later... for now.

    She charges Sanary once more, "Get out of the way, I'll deal with you later, shield maiden. You're blocking my true target!" and with that yell, she starts running again towards Yari, focused on trying to bring her down, though if Sanary keeps in the way, she'll swing that axe right at her with near murderous intent!
Momoyo Kawakami      Continuing to finger-snap the shuriken aside, Momoyo grins ruefully. "No Plan B, huh... alright. That's fine." she replies on the radio, shaking her fingers.

    Observing Nagato go in for the attack... that wouldn't be enough by itself. Unless...

    Closing the distance to Sanary's /other/ shield, it took the maiden one arm to block her and stopping her attacks. If she has to take two attacks at the same time...

    Timing her attack with Nagato's charge, she unleashes an attack meant to pierce armor rather than simply hammer on the greatshield. "Kawakami Style: Ruby Overdrive!!"

    Poking with her fingers on both hands dozens of times in an instant, she searches for weakpoints in the shield and Sanary's armor rather than slinging her hammering blows. With two different types of attacks, she might be able to get an opening to simply wrestle her arms down. All it would take is one instance for either of them to break off from combat to take down the wounded opponent while she was being hounded by the would-be valkyrie.

    "No, Yari. We're not here for revenge, and we're not here to kill you... we're just here to make sure you both can never hurt anyone ever again..."
Sanary Rondel "They're really fired up today, huh? It's almost like they've got something to prove!" Grinning widely as she strains under the weight of Nagato's axe, Sanary focuses her energy through her arms to keep them strengthened and in a more preferrable not-broken state, then behind herself in a cloud of green light. A moment later, it shoots right out of her into Yari as a bright green beam. She's linked herself to the ninja with this beam, providing with not only a massive boost to her natural health regeneration, but direct access to the healer's energy reserves!

     "Admiral? Ah, so you're the cute one from the talks! And how are you doing tonight? I heard from a little lizardbird that /someone/ was here to fight her today." The healer grins again as she braces those shields in front of her, apparently intent to keep the Battleship from getting too close to the ninja. "Although... I didn't think you and Yuna would be here, too. It's like a cross-faction murder concert~! But you know..."

     Of course she's going to keep trying to get in Nagato's way. "... You haven't asked to share /my/ Yari yet." She still sounds so weirdly cheerful about all of this. As Nagato adjusts her movements to start towards Yari again, Sanary too jukes sideways to act as a wall of steel and steel-like discs in her way. That next blow from the axe sends her flying back several feet before she skids to a stop, and her hold on the riot shield seems to slacken as her arms strain to continue not being broken even with her healing magic coursing through them. Thankfully, she doesn't need those arms to send some of those discs flying towards Nagato in return!

     "But really what's the occasion?" Those discs are there to not only act as weapons, but as defenses, too! As Momoyo comes in with that barrage of freakishly powerful pokes, she piles on several of the discs onto the front of the shield to reinforce her defenses while also adding some inconvenient sharp edges to the front of the whole thing. The force from the high schooler's barrage, combined with the earlier attack from Nagato, is enough to force out a pained scream from the healer as her arms just give out with the loud crack of bones, leaving her discs to pick up the slack in keeping her defenses up. "Ggh... Oh, Momoyo. You should really wait your turn. The Admiral might get jealous if you interrupt us~!"

     She still sounds too happy about all this.
Yuna Kagurazaka Yuna winces as she hears the 'squish' and Yari's scream, seeing where that second blast struck. It won't kill her, but how much that must have hurt - Yuna cringes just to think about it.

But she's not so distracted by sympathy for Yari that she doesn't notice the giant shuriken spinning towards her. The Matrix Divider flares once more, crackling as Yuna focuses more energy - but not to attack this time, or at least, not to attack *Yari*. Instead, the Divider swings upwards and outwards, a snapping flash like a lightning bolt splitting the darkness -

Just as the Fuma Shuriken itself is cleft into pieces, the now-detached blades scattering around Yuna. And in that same moment, as if she cut her own inner darkness down with the same strike, Yuna grasps the calmness and clarity that she needs to cling to, in order not to lose herself.

"I pray for a heart which shines as bright as the sun.
"I pray for a heart as clear as a white jewel.
"I pray for a heart inclined to justice.
"I pray for a heart which is lovely, without misleading inclinations."

Seemingly serene, Yuna smiles wistfully at Yari, levelling the Matrix Divider at her once again as another blast slowly starts building up, the blade/barrel gradually brightening. "You told me that I would have to slay my own heart to survive in war ... but even if that's true for you, it's far, far removed from my truth. I know this for certain, because there was a time when I thought that *was* the path I needed to take. But ... I can't immerse myself in hatred and violence. I fight because I was chosen to protect others; I don't like anyone else to be in pain."

If Yari tries to make another break for it, Yuna pulls the trigger and sends another bolt of crackling, concussive light at the ninja before she can get away - Yuna's goal here is to keep Yari pinned down, to *NOT* let her get away. But it's clear on her face, no matter how serene Yuna's voice may be, that she hates to see *Yari* suffering just as much as if any of Yuna's friends in the Union were the one in such torment ...

She actually feels sorry for the Confederate ninja, enemy or not. And she's not even trying to hide it.
Yari Takane Yari listens to the fighting pair of Sanary, Momoyo, and the Admiral, even as she deals with Yuna! The admiral keeps gaining on her, but she trusts Sanary to hang in there! Particularly after that magic that infuses her!

"I have too much scum to get rid of, and too many lands to show the discipline of my country! That won't be happening!" She shouts back at Momoyo. Yet, one might notice her rubbing her arm stump.

"Be careful, Sanary! It seems they're after you too!" Sanary's behaviour is /not/ helping her confidence here!

Yari falls to a knee as the shuriken is cut away, and Yuna offers that serene, wistful smile. The pure empathy, almost love she has even for an enemy has the ninja pausing. Her teeth grit, and she laughs bitterly.

"You're an idealist fool. The only thing that's going to happen is that you'll die in suffering. It's one thing to seek justice and protect those you care for. But when you open yourself to even your enemies? Then every time you fight, you're only wounding yourself. You're a liability when you do that. Do you really think you're helping the people you care for that way?" Comes the ninja, Yuna striking a chord, angering the pained, exhausted woman.

Yari starts to move, but that blast forces her to leap back, and confront Yuna directly! Keeping low, she dodges the majority of them, her kimono now smoking from so much light sent her way.

Several handseals, and right beneath Yuna, the air seems to suddenly drop in temperature before a large spike of magical ice starts to form around her!

"Hyoton! Rending Ice Technique!"

Still, this is all leaving Yari very restricted in movement, and even as she pumps as much magic as she can into her techniques, the physical toll is obvious. She simply doesn't have the stamina for a protracted battle against these three!
Nagato     Sanary is still blocking her path and she's doing her best to try to get through.. and with Momoyo's help, this shield maiden seems to be holding her off quite well. "Grrr, I'm not here for a date, you creten." with this, she slams her ENTIRE BODY into the Shield Maiden, even if she's getting cut and wounded by those damn disks. Though, being this close lets the battleship have an easier time to do something... very... dangerous.

    Digging into her 'shirt', she pulls out that grenade, fiddles with it a bit... if there's a pin, she pulls it, if it's a button, she'll press it. Either way, she lets that wonderful little explosive loose, up over Sanary's head and... it's here she uses Sanary as her shield, holding onto her tightly. "I'm not here to kill you..." then again, there's a grenade right there....
Momoyo Kawakami      "Kawakami Style: Diversion!!"

    Momoyo looks like she's going to perform another large attack to break Sanary's guard, but instead it's a large flash of light energy, to force her to cover her eyes. Abruptly, she leaps back and to the side, getting into the air to get a better eye on the battlefield and away from the explosion. Her black hair swings behind her in the night sky while that inky crimson aura stays flared around her, showing her emotional state as she looks toward Yuna and Yari, her senses straining for any new coming opponents. This can't possibly be all there is... even with the current interruptions things are going too well.
Sanary Rondel That magic link with Yari is just about the only way for Sanary to do her job as a combat medic, especially with two people trying to have her killed or maimed or what-have-you. Granted, it does probably make her a big glowing target what with the whole glowing green light beam, but...

     Well, that's what she has those (now floating) shields for. Her arms continue to let out light cracking noises as the healing magic mends her arms... Just in time for Nagato to ram right into her, riot shield pinned between them and all! Sanary's strong, but trying to hold back a Battleship with sheer physical force like this isn't going to go too well for her if she doesn't try anything riskier.

     "Are you sure? Because with how close this is, little Momo or Yari might get jea-lous~" Instead of trying to push Nagato away, however, she instead brings her arms around Nagato just as Momoyo's shouted diversion gets her to look straight at Momoyo. Why did she even fall for that?!

     It's probably karma for trying it on other people so many times. A shrill screech leaves the healer as she tries to get a good hold on Nagato in return, trying to use her own amplified strength to keep the Admiral in place as all of the discs she's thrown out swarm back in on her position from all directions. Some of them might even be coming at Momoyo if she happens to be in the way!

     Will they cut through the healer on the way to Nagato? Probably. She's banking on her own healing to pick up the slack, however, especialyl since she doesn't even notice that explosive at all! At least not until it explodes.

     Then she's noticing it very, VERY much. That creepy giggly facade finally breaks for once as she howls out in pain, the shrapnel and magic burning off flesh and the back of her coat rapidly. For better or for worse, however, her grip actually seems to tighten in response to that, and the discs are still coming!
Yuna Kagurazaka As if THAT hasn't happened to her before - but Yuna senses the temperature drop, and leaps away. This time, she also doesn't have a rain of swords descending on her from overhead, which helps a lot ... *AND* she's wearing her full Light Suit, which means that even if the ice-spire erupted right underneath her, she wouldn't have to worry about getting impaled again.

Frozen solid and thrown around, yes, but not impaled.

As it is, though, Yuna manages to leap clear before the ice spire erupts, saving herself from either impalement or encasement by the ice. There's still a distinctly wistful, even sorrowful undertone to her smile as she does a forward somersault and lands, Matrix Divider still at the ready, charged up for her next attack - but she's not going to slash this time. Just enough of a feint to try and get Yari to flinch backwards - and likely into the edge of the grenade's blast.

"Yes, I'm an idealist - and you're not the first person to call me a fool," Yuna admits, wryly but good-naturedly. "But think about it ... for all that I *could* kill you? For all that I have almost every reason to want you dead? You don't deserve to die. If I killed you, it might save us some trouble in the future ... but more likely?"

Now her gaze shifts to Sanary. "More likely, we'd set off the same cycle of revenge that I've almost been swept up in. Because you have friends, loved ones of your own, and if we killed you, they'd be saddened and enraged and full of vengeful thoughts."

Yuna's gaze shifts back and forth briefly between Yari and Sanary, as if she's trying to determine whether she needs to shoot at either of them. "You thought you knew what I should be like, Yari ... but I'm nothing like you, nothing like what you *think* I should be as a 'proper warrior'. If the Queen of Light needed a champion who could kill without difficulty, she wouldn't have sent Elner to find *me*."
Yari Takane Yari gives a frustrated hiss as Yuna manages to avoid the worst of her attack. There's a quick thrown knife at the woman!

A step back from Yuna's feint! If anything, her words are having far more of an effect as she glares at the pop idol.

"'Stop the cycle of hatred', huh? You're right. We're definitely different people. I don't see how you keep your sanity. I feel sorry for you. There's such a thing as caring too much." She growls out.

Yuna is reminding her far too much of her young daughter's growing idealism right now.

Thankfully the grenade is dead-easy to operate: move a bit of casing, hit a button, and throw at your desired murder-victim.

Which, as Nagato and Momoyo struggle with Sanary, proves a perfect distraction. There's something small and round tossed Momoyo's way! It's a big, honking smoke bomb, meant to smoke her out and generally obscure her senses!

Which means, of course, that Yari doesn't see that grenade until suddenly the liquid inside ignites, and sends a massive explosion and shrapnel straight into her chest and legs.

The ninja somehow remains on her feet after the blast, stumbling backward away from Yuna, and towards Sanary and Nagato. Her arm is raised up defensively, already bleeding horribly, and much of the skin blackened. Her head is ringing from the blast, and she's a sitting duck should Nagato bring that axe to bear, or Momoyo try to get in an attack on the ninja!
Nagato     "The only one getting jealous... will be the rest of my fleet when they didn't get to do this first!" with that ram getting her uncomfortably close to this shield maiden, she lets out a surprised gasp as she gets wrapped around and held! "Nngh! LET GO!" as she tries to give in a few headbutts to Sanary, trying to disorient her. But at least...

    Oh wait, those discs...

    They cut right through Sanary and end up cutting right into the Admiral's side, blood.. or this black oil like substance that counts for blood.. spurts out from the wounds those discs create, many digging right into the Admiral's side, some even staying right there, embedded in her. Oh this will be painful. So very painful as Nagato lets out a shrill scream of pain!

    She struggles, wincing some as those embedded discs cause more damage inside, but the black oil blood works as a lubricant to get her free of the crazy lady's grasp... and right into Yari's path. A furious face, even if it's filled with pain, confronts the lizard woman... "You tried and failed to assassinate me... you've brought pain and suffering to my fleet..." she stomps closer, lifting that axe up, "You've assisted in sinking two of my girls! I will not forgive you!"

    With one quick word... she lets the axe fall... on Yari's shoulder, and possibly even cleaving into her leg... "SINK!"
Sanary Rondel Still burning (literally) with rage, Sanary pumps energy throughout her body as she lurches back towards where Yari is, relying on that magic link between them to guide her. The good thing about being a healer? Being able to use that magic to keep kicking and screaming even when she should have passed out or died already. Already, huge gashes from her own discs and the charred flesh from the grenade are starting to close up, keeping her from succumbing to blood loss alone. The oily blood substance certainly doesn't help with keeping her hold on the Battleship, however, and she's probably even inadvertently healed some of it into her own bloodstream at this point!

     Still, that scream from Nagato has the crazed healer starting to crack a smile again even as she's reeling back from the headbutts to the face. "Guh? Di... Didn't like that one, huh? Guess I'll just have to..." She pauses. What /would/ be a good follow up to that? She's drawing a blank, and her head is killing her. Probably for the best, since Nagato appears to be talking to herself. It takes a moment to get that haze out of her vision, but when she does? It's just in time to see the Admiral bringing an axe down at Yari.

     So much for keeping that smile going. It's time for more... Silence? Silence. Her eye widens, and a veritable wall of individual spikes forms in front of her. They start flying everywhich way from where Sanary's walking over to Yari, the brunt of them aimed at Nagato to try and force her back, to impale her. The healer's not too concerned with that. Her main focus now? Clearing a path to the ninja so she can try to get them both out of there on a bed of discs.

     Versatile little things.
Yuna Kagurazaka The spikes that Sanary sends flying every which way are pretty much Yuna's cue to relocate - and to swap equipment.

"Shugoseiheki!!" Yuna's voice rings out as the Matrix Divider disappears, and her kite shield materializes, strapped to her left arm. The weight makes Yuna's maneuver harder, but she's trying to interpose herself - and more importantly, her shield - between Sanary's spike-barrage and Yuna's allies.

Nagato is right there within melee striking range of Yari, so there isn't a whole lot Yuna can do to protect the Admiral of Hikari. Momoyo may be able to take the spikes more readily right now than Nagato can, but if Yuna can't shield Nagato, she's trying to at least give Momoyo some cover instead. And if she can't get to either of her allies in time, well, Yuna's still protecting *herself* with her shield.

She'll be happier about it if she can save her allies from some unnecessary injuries, though.
Yari Takane Yari turns, and the world seems to slow down as that axe falls. Old memories flash through her mind as that axe bites deep, and a sharp scream cuts through the air. It's only as she sees her one remaining arm fall to the ground in front of her that Yari finally realizes what's happened. She stumbles back, that blade slicing through her calve.

The au ra is a sobbing, screaming, bleeding wreck on the ground. She mumbles incoherently, spitting and glaring hatefully at Yuna, Momoyo, and especially Nagato. She's nothing if not persistant: One final, poisoned needle is spat out from her mouth towards Nagato's neck, just before shock begins to set in. Her bronzed skin is already growing more pale in the face, shivering.

"L...Lute...S...Sanary...L...Linh...I...I love you...love you all...s...so much. I'm so...sorry!" Mutters the ninja, before her eyes slowly drift closed.

She'll be dead weight in Sanary's arms when she gets to her, but for now, her heart's still beating.
Nagato     The deed is done and Nagato's standing there, bleeding over the black and red stained grass. She's heaving, breathing heavily, clutching her sides tightly to try and get rid of the pain... oh she's going to have to cut her vacation short. OH well, revenge was done... and she's ended... or at least she hopes she ended the Lizard's reign of terror. "YOu will have to live with what you've done..." she scoffs, "There will be no more love for you."

    What she didn't expect is that two pronged attack... that poisoned needle slipping into her neck.. and those spikes. "I'm of the big... seven." she coughs out, yanking that needle out of her neck, pure willpower keeping her up right now. then those spikes embed themselves into Nagato, hitting her here and there, making her stumble back. This might be karmic retribution for what she did, however, this was for her Fleet... for those Yari's terrorized.

    She turns to Sanary... "I'll take..." her voice goes slower... "You..." a thunk to the ground, kneeling... "Out ... next..." her eyes close and she's out like a light.