Night 47: Courtyard
[from here]With a little push from her hands on the top of the wall, Teresa gained enough momentum in her vault from the greenhouse yard to be a good couple feet away from the wall. Landing in a three-point stance, the large metal weapon barely clearing the ground, Teresa too a quick look around. She didn't see anything, didn't sense anything,
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Mello heard the thump of something, or someone, landing on the ground--it was getting way too fucking crowded out here for his taste--but kept his attention on the "pirate" and his weapon, not doubting for a second his intent to shoot. So much for diplomacy, and Usopp had the advantage at this distance, and clearly meant to use it while he could.
No time to worry about how the hell he got those projectiles to behave that way. Mello left Niikura to his own devices and flung himself to the side at Usopp's helpful warning cry, out of the path of the incoming bombs. He wasn't quick enough to dodge the blasts entirely, and landed hard on his right shoulder, getting showered with dirt from the nearest one. He muttered a stream of curses under his breath as he got to his feet, reasserting his grip on the pipe. Then he bolted for the shed, ignoring the pain, as he was so accustomed to doing. The small building was just a vague shape thanks to his impaired sight and the jangling that landing had given his head, but it was identifiable. Mello was perfectly ready, even eager, now, to bust some pirate skull along the way.
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Usopp was still able to fire even while distracted, though, and Niikura ended up having to cut his charge short and throw himself out of the way as whatever ammo their opponent had used hurtled by. He shielded his face with a hand as one landed close by and exploded, nearly bowling him over with the force and leaving his hearing fuzzy and muted as he dizzily got to his feet. Looked like this guy wasn't your ordinary pirate if he was packing more than musket balls.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see what looked like Morgan sprint for the shed. So much for a team effort, but Niikura couldn't blame him. It was just plain good thinking: use a diversion to get the goods while no one else was in the hunt. And Niikura, he could definitely cause a diversion.
He couldn't see what Usopp was doing now in the dark, but he got the feeling that the man wasn't about to let them get away with just one volley. He'd have to move fast. Lunging forward, he flipped the flashlight back around before bringing it up and turning it on, shining the light directly at what was hopefully Usopp's eye level. He'd blind the man and then move in for a quick strike.
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Something about this felt bad. They were coming at him with weapons. There were three of him, and one might be coming after him from behind. Definitely the time for heavier measures. But it wasn't their fault, was it? They were all just really sick, and had to...
One of them was trying to blind him with the light, but he squinted and focused on how how far away they might be, especially judging from the height of that light, proof at least one was on his feet again. Knocking the sun filters down on his goggles would only make it harder to see in the dark, and besides, their eyes would all have to adjust soon enough, so he closed them momentarily. "Hi no tori-boshi!"
This explosive was designed for detonation almost within Usopp's hands, a combination of fiery chemicals and gunpowder that burst briefly around Usopp in a circle, singing the nearby hut and trees before burning out. The real attack, a red and orange bird of flame that grew as it advanced, the flame effect trailing after the figure like a real bird's tail, soon spread out to a wingspan over ten feet wide. The rush of oxygen from the abrupt flare even gave it a noise almost like a bird's cry. It had been the first attack he'd designed especially for Kabuto's abilities, and this time Usopp paused, watching it spread and advance. He had aimed it straight-on instead of above, so although it left the third person in question, he hoped the two who'd been in front of him would be caught at least by the trailing edge of the flames even if they'd managed to move away from the spot where he'd aimed the heart of the attack during the lights and confusion.
Abruptly aware again that he might have just set two men on fire who were technically more sick than bad, he called over, "Stop, drop and roll! Then run back into the hospital already if you can!" Usopp hadn't prepared any other attacks yet, sure they'd give up.
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When he heard the alleged pirate shout out something else he couldn't catch well enough to translate, Mello scrapped the idea, half-formed anyway, of trying to remind him that the prisoners were all on the same side. He was pelting towards Usopp, ready to swing the pipe, and he hastily detoured in hopes of avoiding the fire blooming around the younger man. The edge of the outspreading flames caught him anyway as he hit the ground again, mostly on purpose this time, rolling and cursing out loud, pipe cradled against his chest so he wouldn't lose it.
"Fuck, fuck, vosu, cepec, kreten--" It felt like his legs had gotten singed, and probably his coat too, but he wasn't actually on fire, so he didn't take time to investigate more closely; he sensed more than saw someone else coming up, making for the shed. Mello scrambled to his feet, fought back a wince, and was off and running again. This time, he'd hit first and ask questions later. If he asked them at all.
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Unfortunately, he was too close to Usopp to truly avoid the massive flames the "pirate" had just produced, and Niikura held his breath as he dodged the main body of the bird and dropped to the ground, feeling the fringe of flames from the bird's wings lick the back of his shirt. Gonna get a nice tan from this, aren't I? He gritted his teeth and rolled over in the grass, smothering the flames.
Only one thing was on his mind, though: Usopp hadn't followed up on his attack, probably thinking that he and Morgan would take him at his word and limp off. Big mistake: even if Usopp had a phoenix at his disposal, Niikura wasn't some ordinary person who'd run off just after seeing a nice pyro display. No, he was going to keep on coming until he couldn't. As he ground to his feet, he knew that he would be paying hell five times over in the morning, but right now he was feeling no pain, just adrenalin. He swayed briefly but then righted himself and flipped the flashlight over in his hand again.
"Aye, I'd run too, if I were you," Niikura snarled as he sought to close the gap between him and Usopp. When he was close enough, he swung the flashlight horizontally, aiming for Usopp's left temple with the end of the light.
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Usopp collapsed to the ground, dropping Kabuto and pulling his hands up protectively now, trying to shield his face, bleeding a little already from the hit the flashlight had made. "Stop it! Okay! Enough!"
Blowing up their surroundings, even setting them on fire hadn't worked. How desperate were they to get past? It couldn't matter to him, his only job was to get them to stop. And if Usopp wanted to do that, he couldn't hold back on really aiming attacks now, even if he'd been completely off avoiding them. Turning around one of the curled hands and averting his eyes, he triggered the small seashell in his hand, letting out an intense burst of blinding light, at least having the sense to only yell after he'd pressed the button.
"Flash Dial!" Usopp braced himself to start scurrying away at the first sign of them backing from the painfully intense light. The light would only last a few seconds, but if nothing else, the guy with the other light would know how to really take out snipers.
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That look toward the 'pirate' was a mistake. Mello threw his arm up to shield his eyes from the light stabbing at them, a fraction of a second late, and staggered to a stop, blinded. God damn it, whatever was in that shed had better be worth it, because this was turning into way more fucking trouble than it had any right to. He squeezed his eyes shut until the afterimage and spots dancing on the inside of his eyelids had faded.
When he looked again, he saw that more people had joined the crowd, and that the bastard who'd snuck in while Mello and Niikura were preoccupied had made it to the shed. Oh no you don't, he thought, and sprinted for it, giving Usopp a wide berth in case he had something else up his sleeve. He'd gotten here first, and did that fucker at the shed have a chainsaw? None of this was fair.
[to here]
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But it looked like once again Usopp wasn't going to pounce on him like Niikura had done only moments earlier. He honestly considered trying another assault, but realized that at some point, enough was enough. And right now his eyes were telling him that he had hit that "enough" point; it was time to make a run for it.
Niikura slammed almost drunkenly into the side of the shed--he'd certainly gone far from Usopp--and slumped against it as he tried to clear his vision. Once the spots had cleared away somewhat, he reached out with a hand, inched along the wall, and stumbled into the shed. He'd seen Mello run in here after some other guy whom he hadn't gotten a clean look at. In any case, he got the feeling his partner for the night needed a little backup--or maybe he could just snag the goods for him.
[to here]
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Shaking his head to try to clear it of a lingering buzz from the solid hit, Usopp got back up to his feet.
[to here]
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