Fisks and Kicts in Amestris! (pt.1)
WHO: Mai Tokiha (emitting Opposition), Kazuma Torisuma, Natsuki Kuga, Edward Elric, Alphonse Elric, Mustadio Bunanza
WHEN: June 20th
WHERE: Amestris
WHAT: Natsuki's been targeted. Fortunately there are people in the right place at the right time to thwart them. It doesn't end well.
WATCH FOR: Kazuma's Epic RAGE, Mustadio aggroing Ed briefly, Al coining the title of the log, Ed's colorful inquiry, Also DEATH. Not that guy, the other kind.
Three thirty in the afternoon. Four hours previous, the Citizen's Band crackled to life with the emotionless, quiet voice of a girl. When she spoke it was only to request the attention and presence of 'Lady Natsuki'. The reason given, was a chilling, 'It's time to come home. Master is displeased.'
For those in-the-know, there's only one person that that could have been. Of course, the girl gave her location as being in Amestris. She also implied that if Natsuki wouldn't come along peacefully, they would be forced to subdue her and take her against her will.
Two hours ago, an old friend, Kyra, contacted Kazuma and Natsuki both, informing them of the presence of two minor players in the Prince's grand schemes. Rather, two players, and a small group of soldiers. Apparently the Prince was irritated and thought to send enough to subdue one 'mere' girl with powers. The illusionist/substitue art teacher is parked not far from the gate, sitting on her motorbike with a set of binoculars in her hand.
The odd communication on the Citizen's Band was noted idly by a few ears, but what brings Mustadio to Amestris is actually something totally unrelated: one of his fellow Mithril members, actually, had made a request a couple days ago, and thus he's gone to the Elrics' homeland to do a bit of poking around. A crafter of flesh? How odd. And then the Philosopher's Stone, of course....
Fortunately for him, he fits in here relatively decently, even in his usual Ivalician outfit. The cloak thrown over it all helps too, naturally. The goggles...well, he's got them plastered to his forehead rather than over his eyes. No need for them right now. Probably. The Mithril comm staff notified him of the communcation over the radio bands when it
coincidentally named the same world that he's in right now, so he is aware of something else going on....
It's almost time to head back to base. The engineer, having collected a sample of reports and scan data, quietly ambles back toward the Gate, keeping an eye out now for Natsuki, just in case he does happen to run across the Fuuka student and friend of Mai's. Because, well, you never know....
Really, you just never know around here.
The reaction of a certain blue-haired HiME upon hearing her name on the radio is something best left unseen. It's just probably a good thing nobody was around at the time to witness the fit Natsuki threw. Then again, when she learned that a majority of the IPA forces were unavailable to help due to this whole Jenova thing.
After spending a surprisingly short amount of time changing into her biker suit, Natsuki grabbed her own motorcycle and headed to Amestris by way of the Hub. Once she pushes her bike through the Gate, Natsuki easily spots the teacher nearby. "Hi, Kyra." The girl pulls her helmet off and lifts a hand to neatly flick her hair back behind her to alleviate any tangles that occurred in the helmet.
It had been strange to hear this sort of direct contact, but truth be told, Kazuma had been expecting to hear something like this ever since he had traveled with a pair of companions to Fukai in order to gather information. Everything had slowly begun to snowball weeks before, and they were approaching the point where the only way this was going to be resolved one way or another was with direct confrontation.
He had also sincerely hoped that the destruction of the collars that this 'Prince' had used on his future 'Queens' knocked the bastard head over heels across the room. But that meant that he was probably riled up enough that he would do something rash at this point - like try and nab the girls physically.
And thus he had also been given a heads up by Kyra as well - which was for the best, because the normally reclusive Natsuki would probably have gone charging off all by herself otherwise. When Kazuma arrives striding through the Gate, he looks around for a moment, before looking at Natsuki and smiling. "...looked like a nice day for a stroll," he says idly. "What brings you out this far?"
And why isn't a certain red haired HiME here? Surely if she'd heard the call over the radio frequency, she'd have gone dashing to help Natsuki. But she, Takumi and Akira had left the apartment early in the morning, and no one's been able to get in touch with any of them since then.
Mustadio will easily spot Natsuki and Kazu(y)ma near the gate, along with a third girl - incidentally redheaded, but not the Mai redhead. As for Kyra, she studies something through her binoculars, unable to look Natsuki directly- she still feels guilty for some things, after all. "I'm not so sure this is a good idea, Natsuki," the illusionist remarks, "There's
about -" She breaks off abruptly, "Who's that then?" No, not Kazuma, who she nods to in acknowledgement. But she does lower the binoculars for one of them to look and points in a direction - Mustadio's direction in fact.
"There're two Captains; a girl, a guy, and a group of about ten soldiers." Kyra adds, straightening from where she's sitting.
Aha, and there is the lady in question. Mustadio squints slightly at the two women, recognizing one, but not the other. Kyra? Nope, haven't met her yet...right? He murmurs quietly into his radio briefly, and then ambles over toward a nearby tree, leaning on it as if he were out on an evening constitutional and decided to take a brief respite to enjoy the air and scenery.
And then Kazu...ya, because Mustadio still thinks of the fellow as Kazuya to this day, strolls through as well. He straightens up slightly, his gaze going a bit harder. If he's here too, then...probably this is a bit more serious than he'd suspected. Hmmm. He frowns momentarily, trying to decide on his course of action.
Well. If something's going to happen, might as well make himself known to his kinda-sorta-maybe ally. Allies. He pushes off the tree gently and continues ambling over. Only to stop, blink, and then point at himself questioningly as the unfamiliar redhead appears to indicate his direction. Then glance over his shoulder. "Huh?"
Upon hearing Kazuma's voice, the HiME rolls her eyes. "Not particularly in the mood for banter at the moment." She hooks her helmet over one of the handlebars and approaches the redhead. Despite past events, Natsuki actually doesn't hold any hard feelings. She did wind up just fine, after all, and poor Kyra was injured.
"What isn't a good idea? Going to meet them?" She casually takes the offered binoculars and looks through them. "Fumon is our problem. It's not fair for us to inflict our problems on other worlds. Only reason I don't chase Kazuya off now is that he's already involved." She pauses and glances back at him with a smirk before returning to look through the binoculars.
Squinting slightly, she adjusts the lenses. "I see them. It's..." A soft puff of breath escapes her lips. "Takeda. Or whatever his name is. He was one of Fumon's guards. And..." Pause. Squint. And... Natsuki lowers the binoculars. "Can't tell the other one. She's turned away." She glances in the other direction Kyra indicates, lifting the binoculars back up. "Is that Mustadio?"
"Hmph. You never did have a sense of humor," Kazuma says with a smile, working his neck for a moment, and then popping the knuckles in his right hand, flexing it to warm up the muscles a bit. "And good idea or not, we're not going to get anywhere if we don't hit them head on. The boss isn't going to come out until we've thinned out the small fry. And Natsuki..." Kazuma says, glancing over at her. "...don't try that 'inflicting our problems on other people' line. I've heard it two many times already - and people are going to help if you like it or not. ...or you'd think they would," he says, looking around for a moment. "I'd have expected you to have some backup."
Reaching into his jacket, Kazuma pulls out a small electronic magnifier - such nice toys you got when you lead the largest section of an interdimensional crime ring for a few years - and looks out through it. "Two of them? "Just for Natsuki? I'm almost insulted." Kazuma grins, looking over at Kyra for a moment. "I'd have expected that they'd need the entire army if they were going to do anything with her, and come out of it unhurt." And even then, he wasn't expecting there to be anyone who was really unhurt.
Natsuki was just that mean, when push came to shove. Or maybe mean wasn't the right word. Perhaps *vindictive* would be better. Lord knows, Kazuma's probably heard that her collection has disappeared thanks to this Prince.
And that means he's probably doomed. He doesn't really comment on Mustadio - the guy has an odd habit of turning up at times. "Well, they're probably just going to wander around until we go have a word with them..."
Yes YOU. You have been spotted, even if you hadn't been intending to approach. the group. Your stealth FAILS, especially when all of the people in the group were very perceptive. And one of them had binoculars. "Twelve all told." Kyra remarks, smirking slightly, "I think they're underestimating you guys," she glances at Kazuma and Natsuki, "Or there's good reason that they only sent a handful of grunts and two Captains."
Kazuma's then suggesting that they confront the group, and Kyra shifts her weight, "I don't think you're going to have to. They're heading this way." She nods her head in the direction of the people incoming, then raises her hands and tips her shades over her eyes. The grunts are spread out slightly, perhaps planning to circle the party and sandwich them in. Takeda - rather, Junpei is in front with a sword belted at his side, and a pike slung over his back. At his side...
It's a girl about the same age, with short brown hair and eyes - Rika, who Natsuki would recognize as Akane.. though she'd never seen her in the other world. She doesn't appear to be armed - but Natsuki would know better.
Yep, it is indeed Mustadio! And very much like a bad penny, eh? The cloak is concealing, but the face is unmistakable. He shakes his head quickly, and starts trotting forward to the others; it seems like his arms are moving about beneath the waterproofed leather. He continues to wear a slightly dark look on his face, though not so much DOOM AND LOOM as 'dammit, where is that grenade, I hope I didn't just pull the pin there'.
He's not that far away from them, fortunately, and soon is finishing his quick trot. "Uh, hey there," he says, quietly, looking a tad bit sheepish. "Yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking, but I've been here since this morning on totally separate business." That last bit is delivered in a sort of grudging mutter.
He then turns to see the people behind him now forming up. Oh, oh, oh. Small group tactics, huh? He's familiar with this, it's...wait.... He falters a moment, moving out of his slightly crouch. "Hey...I've...I've seen these people," he says, looking between them. "That dream...."
"My sense of humor is just fine, thank you." She just doesn't think Kazuma is funny, that's all! "I'm not using it on you. Look around." Natsuki gestures vaguely at the surroundings. "Is this Fuuka? Didn't think so. I'm not going to stand back and let them do what they want here. Not if I have the power to stop them." She crosses her arms, letting out an annoyed sound. "Yeah, well. Didn't happen. Most of the ones I can trust to have my back are tied up in an operation right now." Yes, she's being vague. Nobody needs to know about IPA matters!
"Let them underestimate me. I don't mind." But really. Only two commanders and a handful of troops? Either Fumon doesn't know the extent of her powers (possible), he's stupid (unlikely), or those few he did send are formidable fighters (more possible than the first at least). "Just be careful. There's a good chance they're tough." Even if she's pretty confident she would be able to take this on herself. Still, it is nice having some backup. You know, someone to put in harm's way. Kazuya is good for that!
Natsuki gives Mustadio a long, dubious look. "Separate business, huh." He'd better not be lying and secretly stalking her! Natsuki blinks in surprise when he recognizes them though. "You were there too?" Frowning slightly, she lifts the binoculars again... and they suddenly fall from her hands. Better catch them, Kyra! "A... Akane?"
"Hmph," Kazuma says again, smiling. "Well, there's at last one person here you can trust to back you up here." He turns, and looks over at the approaching Mustadio. "...two," he admits after a moment. "Hey there, grease monkey," he greets the mechanic with a laugh. "Sorry that I don't have time to talk - but I think we're going to be busy here soon." He looks down at the approaching crowd for a moment, and then something occurs to him.
"Natsuki, one thing you should be aware of," Kazuma says, holding his right arm out in front of him. There's a ripple of energy, and all of the hair on his head stands up, giving him a sort of spiky haired appearance rather than his usual bowl cut style. "The Prince is supposed to have the power to control you girls once he gets his hands on you enough times. I found a way to destroy the collars he put on Mai and the first Queen - and I'm hoping that you don't have anything like that - but be careful. The might not have sent a lot of people because they've got some way of leaning on you and making you do what they want. Lemme know if you start seeing or hearing anything strange."
That way he can hit you, knock you out, and carry you off to safety. Not that Kazuma is going to say *that* to her.
There's a ripple, and huge chunks of sand suddenly vanish from all around Kazuma, being pulled inwards to wrap around his arm, the golden armor of his Alter appearing around it, and the three distinctive blades appearing on his back. Right then - bring it on!
So what have we here? Sure have been a lot of people coming and going through here lately. Something rotten in the land of alchemists? Edward's pretty sure his hands are clean this time... well, save for that whole fiasco with the Horsemen. He and Alphonse had decided to chance another visit to their homeworld if just to make sure they hadn't missed out on any rumors regarding the Philosopher's Stone. They also wanted to check on the Rockbells to make sure everything was fine, and save for another narrow wrench to the head, everything had been rather quiet.
That had been well over an hour ago, and it takes them a fair length of time to get back to the gate on foot. "...hey... what's that up ahead...?" Edward mumbles as he sees quite a few people out. He stops and glances at his little brother.
The younger Elric doesn't respond right away, trailing a little behind the Fullmetal Alchemist. The Mithril transmission was brief, but Alphonse catches Red Wire's message, the radio given a good stare before glancing upward. Sure, things were all good and dandy, but whenever the Philosopher's Stone came back into the scene, everything just falls apart.
The teen looks in the same direction, eyes narrowing. "...I have no idea..." But they're going to find out, aren't they? That's what Elrics do best.
Rika! Not Akane! Not that anyone would know that. "Hold, Junpei," The girl holds a hand out, starting forward as the others begin arming themselves for battle. "Lady Natsuki." She pitches her voice loudly enough that the girl - and her friends - can hear clearly. "You have been lax in your duties. My Lord has been lenient with you and permitted your bouts of rebellion to a point, but now he grows impatient. It is time to stop playing. It is time to return home."
She glances at Kazuma for a long moment, eyes narrowing. "Junpei." She turns her head, "That person is the one that Isamu informed us about, is it not?" ... "Junpei?" Rika eyes her fellow Captain, who stands /resolute/. Resolute and red faced at the sight of Natsuki. Why did he have to be assigned to her? Why not Shizuru or Mai? "Junpei." Rika comments sharply.
"Yes, Rika." Junpei tears his gaze away from Natsuki, "That's the one who Isamu suspected was having relations with the second Queen."
Rika nods slowly. ".. kill him." Her gaze slides towards Mustadio, "And any witnesses." That will mean Edward and Alphonse too! When they're spotted.
"Lady Natsuki, we don't wish to harm you. Return with us peacefully. Or we will drag you back by force." Rika announces, narrowing her eyes.
"Yeah, this is the homeland of...one of my associates," Mustadio answers Natsuki, in a rather distracted manner. "Funny how it works out like this, though, eh, Natsuki...." If he's lying, then he's doing a pretty good job of it. His focus is more on the people assembled before them. "I had this...really, really weird dream a while ago, but something told me it wasn't just a dream. And I think that's just been confirmed, 'cos that guy--" he indicates Junpei with a nod of the head-- "was in it."
His ruminations are interrupted, and he give Kazuya a brief dirty look at the 'grease monkey' comment--but his heart isn't really in it. Something's weird going on right here. "Yeah, if there's trouble here, I'm with you guys." It's not like he owes them anything, but...hey. Prince? Hmmmm. He remembers something in the dream about royalty...and then there's that rumor about Mai which apparently is true--
He snaps a quick look over at Kazuya again. "This related to that guy that Mai's engaged to?" he now asks in a low voice. Collars? Control? Man, what has Mai gotten herself into now?! Oh, and Natsuki, for that matter.... And then, of course, he has to stare for a moment at Kazuya's arm changing like that. Huh...wait a minute....
Hamsters are frantically running in their wheels now. He just might finally get it before the end of the night!
But for now, the primal cry of self-preservation drowns out their excited squeakings; he pulls a gun from his belt, beneath the cloak, and turns to face the approaching soldiers fully. The Elrics are ignored, having done nothing to draw his attention--though once they come near, he'll be certain to notice them. At least, he should be easily recognizable to them.
He smirks at 'Akane's words. "Weak," he says. "'Kill the witnesses. Kill them all.' Yeah, I've heard that one before. And I'm still here." The barrel of the Blast Gun emerges from the folds of the cloak, lazily trained on the soldiers approaching. "They even succeeded...temporarily...but nope, still here!" And the finger on the trigger tenses slightly--but he does not fire. Not yet.
The HiME turns to give Kazuma a look and lifts her arm. "I guess that explains what happened to the bracelet." She makes an expression of distaste before lowering her hand again. "I'm sure I'll be fine." Even if that thing was still on her, she'd be sure that it would be fine. It is nice to have it off though.
"Your associates?" Mustardio is given -another- long look, but Natsuki eventually shrugs. "Good, then you can tell me which way the nearest city or whatever is. We'll take the fight -away- from that direction."
Natsuki's eyebrow twitches slightly in annoyance as 'Akane' calls out to her. "I have no duties! You can tell your little prince that he's -never- going to get his hands on me. Got it?" And then the threats come, and Natsuki slowly opens her hands flat. "Don't worry. You won't do any harm to me. You won't be dragging me back, either." Then, without warning, she snaps one arm up, a pistol forming in her hand, and fires a single shot. Even from this distance, she's aiming for someplace painful but non-lethal. The leg of one of those random soldiers.
Kazuma... gives a mock sniffle. Like he were just WEEPING WITH JOY or something. "Finally, some recognition!" he says, after having made a big show of wiping his eyes for a moment, using his untransformed hand. "I block your boss for months on end, upset one plan after another, and I don't hear anything! And finally, finally, someone recognizes that I'm going to be a problem!" Oh happy, happy day!
OK, not really.
He does give Mustadio a dirty look of his own. "Mai's not engaged to anyone," he shoots back, clenching his right hand. "It's just some weak bastard with delusions of godhood who thinks that he's going to try and use some of the girls from Fuuka to make his own little love nest."
Turning, Kazuma points his transformed right hand at the approaching guards. "Alright then, you want me? Here I am - try your luck, and we'll see if you can kill me!" With that, he turns and slams one hand into the ground, launching himself up into the air. And aims to come down right in the middle of the formation of soldiers with a tremendous explosion of sand. And just try and scatter them every which way - with them all concerned about him being up close, that should let Natsuki and Mustadio pick them off at their leisure. He hopes.
Edward tries, unsuccessfully, to hold back a sigh. He should have known better than to expect a nice, quiet day out here. Motioning to Alphonse, the elder Elric moves closer, trying to keep from being noticed. The sudden, yet by now familiar sound of all hell breaking loose has him stop in his tracks. "Can't people pick other places to go crazy in?
There's plenty of gates- why's it always this one...?" he grumbles, then blinks as he now gets a better glimpse of the involved parties. "...what the... him again? And isn't that Mu-" Edward eyes Alphonse as he can practically hear his brother's radio from where he stands. There's a reason he keeps his off...
"...come on, Al!" He gives his brother a light tug on the sleeve before dashing towards the crazies. Forget stealth. Let's go with 'Hit 'em while they're distracted!' *CLAP*
"I...guess not. Maybe there's just something about Amestris," Alphonse replies, a little less than helpful. He shrugs, the radio transmitting all of the insanity. And now, they're going to join it. "Right," he murmurs, following after Edward like a second shadow. Seeing how the elder Elric brings up a quick transmutation, Alphonse sighs, rolling his eyes. Well, it can't be helped. "Here goes!" He claps as well, aiming at...nobody in particular. Just shaking things up is a nice way of distracting people.
Rika sighs as if disappointed in Natsuki's response. And she is. "...such a pity." She doesn't flinch when Natsuki brutally /kneecaps/ one of the soldiers.
"BUGGER!"
Down he goes. He's not out yet though, he still has another leg! And in fact, one of the soldiers that was armed with a bow and arrow passes him his weapon, so as not to make him totally useless in the fight. This leaves 9 grunts - who see Kazuma coming in and /scatter/, with just a few that are unlucky enough to get knocked to the ground.
Junpei luckily managed to avoid the incoming Altar user's initial strike - so let's see if Kazuma is equally lucky and manages to avoid /Junpei's/ strike, as he thrusts the pike in his hands directly towards the man's back. Stabbity!
Two archers catch sight of Ed and Al as they start rushing in, and prepare themselves - one of which was kneecapped, I'll have you know.
The shaking - well a number of them manage to keep their balance fairly well, with only a little jostling and stumbling - save for the poor kneecapped soldier who flails about and gets a freaking _ROCK_ finblade thing slamming striaght into him for his effort. @.@ The archers, on seeing their companion knocked the heck out, both draw their arrows and
take aim at Ed and Al, quickly firing a series of arrows - most probalby fly wild in their haste, but what can you do!
Another soldier, armed with naught more than a staff, and not even a pointy one, rushes forward to occupy Mustadio's attention and keep him from shooting things. Whereas for Natsuki...
Rika murmurs something softly. It sounds like a name. Like. "Harry." And beside her a flash of wind and light as the girl summons her Child; orange and gold, leonine in shape. "Retrieve the Princess." Rika commands, as the creature bolts forward across the ground. CHAAAAARGE!
"Mmm, right, as you say," Mustadio says idly to Kazuya. He's doing that on purpose, isn't he? Mmmmmmaybe. "They're coming from the city center. We'll want to fall back to keep bystanders out of this." He does look at Natsuki curiously as she seems to produce a gun out of nowhere. "Hey, neat! Those are pretty interesting guns! Kinda small, though--"
He clamps his mouth shut as Natsuki opens fire. Okay, looks like the games have begun! He backpedals, obligingly following Natsuki's wishes to bring the battle away. He turns to look behind, in order to ensure that he
doesn't trip over anything while he sweeps in that direction-- "Oh, hey, Tinman, Shortmetal, you're here! --nice one!" Just in time to watch them unleash their attacks.
And then--whoa, that was close! The staff wielder rushes at him, swipes--and misses. Too bad for him! The Blast Gun tilts up, roars with lightning, as the engineer tries to take this fellow out of the fight by a electrified round to the torso. That should stop him pretty well, hmm?
Eh, they're magic ice bullets. He'll be fine. Just in a lot of pain for a few days. It's not like she shot him somewhere sensitive! Like, um... the EAR. Yes. She could totally pierce an ear from this distance if she wanted!
Suddenly, ARROWS! Everywhere! A second gun materializes in Natsuki's other hand and she quickly aims upward, trying to intercept at least a few of them with her shots. Trying to hit a pointy stick flying through the air is a lot harder than shooting someone in the knee!
Of course, after she squeezes off a few shots, she sees that light.. and -feels- what's about to come. "Akane..." Setting her jaw tightly, the HiME begins to twirl in place, a circle of blue light appearing on the sand around her feet. "Duran!" Her movements are rather graceful, especially considering she's standing on uneven ground.
Suddenly, without warning, shards of ice erupt all around her, enclosing her completely. You're not the only ones that can make weird things pop up from the ground, crazy alchemist bean and brother!
As suddenly as they appeared, the ice spears shatter into powder, small crystals that melt as soon as they touch the ground. Natsuki is still there, unharmed, and a very large robotic wolf is standing next to her, with cannons mounted on its shoulders. The Child lets out a piercing, echoing howl and leaps forward, colliding midair with Harry before he can reach Natsuki. At this range, the guns are difficult to use, but Duran still has teeth and claws and his strength.
Guns still in hand, Natsuki stares -hard- over toward not-Akane. "So you have a Child. You're willing to risk the consequences that come with it?" Carefully, she lifts one arm and takes aim... but is distracted as she notices -civilians- here. Or at least, people she didn't know were going to be getting involved! "...Oi! You two kids, be careful!" Even if they seem to have these weird... powers, Natsuki still doesn't want to involve anyone who just wandered by, especially if they're children!
"Figures that I'd be stuck with you - must be my punishment for living with Tate for so long!" Kazuma says as 'Junpei' - he knows who you truly are, obsessive Natsuki stalker! He's seen that you are truly Takeda! And he knows your weakness! ...the question is if he's going to be cruel enough to actually use that weakness against you! But as the speak is thrust out at him, Kazuma's grin gets even wider - and the bottom of the three blades on his back shatters into pieces, sending a stream of energy out behind him. He uses the boost to spin around rapidly, even as the polearm lashes out at him. "Shocking First..."
And his fist comes around, slamming headlong into the oncoming spear! "BULLET!" The blow deflects the spearhead aside, but at the same time, it might deflect Kazuma's fist enough that it doesn't slam into Junpei's gut and send him flying! In that case, Kazuma will just go flying past him.
He turns, and catches a glance of Ed and Al, and he raises one hand above his head. "Glad you two could join in the fun!" he calls out. "Feel free to jump in - this looks like it's going to be a great fight!"
Blame the radio. It's all the radio's fault for distracting him! Edward pulls away from Alphonse (since it was his radio that Ed was making use of), giving his brother an abrupt shove as he belatedly notices the arrows flying in their direction. Spitting out a curse as arrows graze his left shoulder, he twists and then drops into a roll to avoid being turned into a reversed porcupine. Vaulting with his hand to his feet, the boy makes an impressive attempt at dodging the rest. And... it seems he has his direction of intent quite set. He makes a leap at his fellow Mithril-member, swinging out his right foot (thankfully?). Helloo Mustadio!<3
"HEY! Who're you calling kids?!" Edward shouts in Natsuki's direction, brow twitching at the reprimand. Whether he hit Mustadio or not, he lands ready to follow up on his attacks on... whoever the other guys are. Hit first, ask questions later! He can only smirk at Kazuma's invitation. "Don't have to tell me twice! I'm gettin' sick of having surprise visitors around here!" Once again his hands collide in front of him, and he shoves them towards the earth to send another crackling light show that heralds large blocks of rock that come protruding out of the ground beneath the pesky archers and what have you.
Darn those archers! They hit hard with the mass of arrows and everything! As much as he'd like to try and PARRY IT ALL, it's impossible. Alphonse yelps, sharp points cutting past him, leaving thin red marks under his layers of now-tearing clothing. Of course, with Ed's shoving, it sort of helps him not get sliced up too badly.
"I'm older than that," he says aloud at the mention of Kuga's 'kids' remark, brow knitting. Al's pouting, but it doesn't stop him from doing more damage. Kazuma is giving them an invitation! He knows that dude! And hay - Mustadio, hit by Ed. Oh boy. There's going to be a lot of talk later. For now, whoever's on the ground is gonng get whipped. Running onward, Al takes care of some of the other troops his way.
Stupid misses. Who knew those guys would move so quickly? More importantly I CAN SEE THROUGH TIME OHGOD. The staff-user's body seizes up by the incoming electrcity/lightning - which is pretty damn unpleasant, I grant you that. Still twitching and convulsing, the soldier hits the ground at Mustadio's feet - which is about when a second man, seeing his friend in trouble, launches off the ground at the man with a dagger. Screaming a mighty battle cry! Hear it RING out to the heavens! "Abd WAUGH!~~!"
Okay he's still working on it, to tell the truth, but the important thing is he's /trying/. Junpei's not having much luck with Kazuma, when he misses the backstabbed attempt and, for his effort, Kazuma's punch actually splinters the spear right down the middle, leaving Junpei with naught more than a handful of shavings. "..." That was his favorite spear! Still he has one more weapon at his disposal, naming a sword. "I should consider myself lucky," he reasons, "When I kill you, I'll get quite the promotion," He isn't as proficient with his sword as his spear, but what more is there than point and stab? But he's a aiming to swipe for Kazuma's arm with the blade, "Of course I wouldn't dream of making it easy for you. For the suffering you have caused my lord and the /indignities/. A peasant like you, thinking to rise yourself above the status of our lord and make away with the Queens. Criminal." THUG.
The troops that had been sent along are quickly thinning out, it seems - next time, the Prince will surely send more, because ten? So doesn't cut it. Alphonse's utterly adorable fisks and kicts of wage are doing a good job cutting them down, though of the troopers manages to parry - le gasp! And attempts to grab Alphonse's arm and fling him to the ground and make him eat dirt. And call him names!
Edward is proving to be equally annoying with those hands of his! WHich isprobably why the archers, just about the only ones from the grunts remaining standing by virtue of getting away from Alphonse's wage filled fisks and kicts (i love that phrase), start firing more arrows (from an extremely limited quivver) at the Elric. It worked once, maybe it'll work again, right?
And last but not least, Natsuki! Harry collides with Duran in a spectacular smashing sound, though unlike two cards careening into each other headfirst, they don't dent and shatter - rather, the lion and wolf go tumbling - and Harry's intentions are clearly to bite onto one of Duran's legs, down /hard/. No protecting your HiME!
"There are no risks," Rika remarks flatly, "All there is is Lord Fumon. You would have a life of complacency, with none to bother you, and all you would give up is this mundane life," Mundane she calls it? "You do not realize just how much Fumon loves you, and desires you. So please, stop resisting-!" And now Rika moves, dashing forward with tonfa summoned into her hands, to close the distance with the other HiME.
They're not civilians! They're Mithril. Just like Mustadio. He flashes the Elrics a grin as they draw closer. "All right, lads, let's show 'em!" He turns back, lets out a low whistle of admiration as Kazuya does his work...and then boggles for a moment at Harry and Duran appearing. "Heyyy, those look kinda mechanical," he says, a familiar note creeping into his voice. Haw haw.
Of course, that leaves him entirely open to Ed smacking him hard with a (somewhat deserved) cheap shot. "Ow! Hey, man, what's that for?" he yells at his compatriot. "Get them! Them!" He waves his gun at the attacking soldiers, stumbling back. What the heck, man!
And now the staff-user's buddy lunges at him! With a yelp, Mustadio just...kinda falls right on his rear, going slightly asprawl. That, at least, means the knife whirs through the air right above him harmlessly. Whew! Once more, the Blast Gun swings up, and now he tries to pop this fellow in the shoulder. Try swinging that thing with a numb arm!
"Someone who fights at the whim of another!" Kazuma shouts at Junpei, and proceeds to sword fight him! Except instead of a sword, Kazuma is using his arm. Fist and blade clash against each other for a moment as the two trade blows, sparks flying across the desert sands. Kazuma isn't doing too badly here - the worst damage that Junpei is managing to do is cause nicks and scratches against his Alter. "And who thinks he can lecture me on 'getting above myself!" He parries another blow, twisting his hand around - before bringing it around in a sucker punch right for Junpei's stomach! "ISN'T EVER GOING TO BE ABLE TO DEFEAT ME!"
And then he tries to kick the guy! And punch him again! "Because all this damn 'Prince' of yours..." Knee!
"...is doing..." Elbow to the face!
"...is showing how damn weak he is! Make a new world!?!" Kazuma clasps both hands together, and tries to smash Junpei across the face with them. "Ridiculous!" Knee right up to the groin!
"You don't get to remake the world!" Straight punch! "IF HE WANTs TO CHANGE IT!!!" Right cross! "THEN!" Haymaker! "HE'LL!" Left Cross! "LOSE!"
Yeah, Kazuma's just a little upset. After he hammers on Junpei for a moment, he turns and shouts to Natsuki. "Natsi! She's enthralled to the Prince! Try to avoid killing her or her Child if you can!" He didn't even know if this Akane's MIP was even around still, but... "We don't want to make anyone disappear just because they were trapped by that cowardly bastard!"
Well, Ed and Al -are- both younger than Natsuki. So she's allowed to call them that! Yes. Especially that angry one. He seems to be the younger one. Al says he's older anyway! "Tch. Fine, just be careful. I don't want to see you hurt over this mess." They -seem- to be doing okay, though. What with the weird ground stuff and the fisks and kicts and all!
Duran lets out a yelp as Harry bites down on his leg. Oh YEAH? Well have at thee! The Child rolls back hard, trying to fling the yellow beast off so he can turn and pounce on it. RAR!
"Do you really mean that? Would you really throw away everything for someone who doesn't even care about you?" As Rika starts to charge in, Natsuki shifts her posture, bringing one arm down. The other fires several shots, aimed more at trying to slow her down than actually hitting her. "He doesn't -love- me! He just wants to use me for his sick power games."
When Rika finally strikes, Natsuki... takes the hit, though she shifts slightly, dropping her guns and grabbing for her opponent's arms to flip her flat onto the ground. If it works, Natsuki goes to pin her... and either way, one gun forms again as she points it at Rika's head. "I don't want to hurt you but I will if you make me."
Pause. Blink. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING NATSI?!"
A rocky wall rises to take most of the arrows before they can get to him. Edward leaps atop of it wearing a terribly smug grin that cannot possibly bode well for the ones he looks upon. He ignores Mustadio- although the kick sure made him feel a lot better. The blonde-haired alchemist jerks his head to look Alphonse's way just as he sees his
brother being less successful at dodging. "Oh no ya don't...!" These archers have got to go!
In his by now familiar manuever, the Fullmetal Alchemist taps his palms together and then once again sets to transmute the already torn up landscape to his whim. He'd be more creative, but this method's been working wonderfully so far, and plus he's not the only one fighting so he has to be careful. This time multiple fists of earth come punching out of the ground beneath the archers to try and keep them from further retaliation. Maybe then it'll be easier to focus on the real threats.
No Ed, get the other guy! The one that keeps calling you little! The dagger-wielder gets /popped/ in the shoulder, causing him to stumble backwards, a jolt of numbing pain running down his arm. With a snarl, inarticulate though it is, he swingbattaswings the other dagger with his /non/ numbed arm. Clearly going for a gut shot here, even though the troops ability in battle leaves /much/ to be desired. (will continue for individuals, just speeding things up a bit)
And just when he gets started, he gets knocked down. Or grappled, in this case. Dust comes up in an instant after the rough landing, pain shooting through his gigai form. OW. The fisks and kicts only lasted so long!
The name calling? Going too far right there.
Alphonse doesn't get mad too easily, being the more level-headed of the Elrics, but annoyance is pretty dominant right now. And he's not trying to be cute about it either! It's natural! "Agh! That hurt!" he yells at the one guy who threw him to the ground, coughing from dust inhalation. Time to make good use of his martial art skills again or his teacher will have his hide. He tries to back-kick at the soldier/dude (or whoever else comes into proximity) in order to flip over the right way. And to see where his brother and Mustadio went. And Natsuki. And Kazuma. And...well. Well, hearing all of that punching with FISKS is reassuring! "ED!!!"
"WHaaat!" Edward sputters over at his brother. He's doing his job, right?!
WHEN: June 20th
WHERE: Amestris
WHAT: Natsuki's been targeted. Fortunately there are people in the right place at the right time to thwart them. It doesn't end well.
WATCH FOR: Kazuma's Epic RAGE, Mustadio aggroing Ed briefly, Al coining the title of the log, Ed's colorful inquiry, Also DEATH. Not that guy, the other kind.
Three thirty in the afternoon. Four hours previous, the Citizen's Band crackled to life with the emotionless, quiet voice of a girl. When she spoke it was only to request the attention and presence of 'Lady Natsuki'. The reason given, was a chilling, 'It's time to come home. Master is displeased.'
For those in-the-know, there's only one person that that could have been. Of course, the girl gave her location as being in Amestris. She also implied that if Natsuki wouldn't come along peacefully, they would be forced to subdue her and take her against her will.
Two hours ago, an old friend, Kyra, contacted Kazuma and Natsuki both, informing them of the presence of two minor players in the Prince's grand schemes. Rather, two players, and a small group of soldiers. Apparently the Prince was irritated and thought to send enough to subdue one 'mere' girl with powers. The illusionist/substitue art teacher is parked not far from the gate, sitting on her motorbike with a set of binoculars in her hand.
The odd communication on the Citizen's Band was noted idly by a few ears, but what brings Mustadio to Amestris is actually something totally unrelated: one of his fellow Mithril members, actually, had made a request a couple days ago, and thus he's gone to the Elrics' homeland to do a bit of poking around. A crafter of flesh? How odd. And then the Philosopher's Stone, of course....
Fortunately for him, he fits in here relatively decently, even in his usual Ivalician outfit. The cloak thrown over it all helps too, naturally. The goggles...well, he's got them plastered to his forehead rather than over his eyes. No need for them right now. Probably. The Mithril comm staff notified him of the communcation over the radio bands when it
coincidentally named the same world that he's in right now, so he is aware of something else going on....
It's almost time to head back to base. The engineer, having collected a sample of reports and scan data, quietly ambles back toward the Gate, keeping an eye out now for Natsuki, just in case he does happen to run across the Fuuka student and friend of Mai's. Because, well, you never know....
Really, you just never know around here.
The reaction of a certain blue-haired HiME upon hearing her name on the radio is something best left unseen. It's just probably a good thing nobody was around at the time to witness the fit Natsuki threw. Then again, when she learned that a majority of the IPA forces were unavailable to help due to this whole Jenova thing.
After spending a surprisingly short amount of time changing into her biker suit, Natsuki grabbed her own motorcycle and headed to Amestris by way of the Hub. Once she pushes her bike through the Gate, Natsuki easily spots the teacher nearby. "Hi, Kyra." The girl pulls her helmet off and lifts a hand to neatly flick her hair back behind her to alleviate any tangles that occurred in the helmet.
It had been strange to hear this sort of direct contact, but truth be told, Kazuma had been expecting to hear something like this ever since he had traveled with a pair of companions to Fukai in order to gather information. Everything had slowly begun to snowball weeks before, and they were approaching the point where the only way this was going to be resolved one way or another was with direct confrontation.
He had also sincerely hoped that the destruction of the collars that this 'Prince' had used on his future 'Queens' knocked the bastard head over heels across the room. But that meant that he was probably riled up enough that he would do something rash at this point - like try and nab the girls physically.
And thus he had also been given a heads up by Kyra as well - which was for the best, because the normally reclusive Natsuki would probably have gone charging off all by herself otherwise. When Kazuma arrives striding through the Gate, he looks around for a moment, before looking at Natsuki and smiling. "...looked like a nice day for a stroll," he says idly. "What brings you out this far?"
And why isn't a certain red haired HiME here? Surely if she'd heard the call over the radio frequency, she'd have gone dashing to help Natsuki. But she, Takumi and Akira had left the apartment early in the morning, and no one's been able to get in touch with any of them since then.
Mustadio will easily spot Natsuki and Kazu(y)ma near the gate, along with a third girl - incidentally redheaded, but not the Mai redhead. As for Kyra, she studies something through her binoculars, unable to look Natsuki directly- she still feels guilty for some things, after all. "I'm not so sure this is a good idea, Natsuki," the illusionist remarks, "There's
about -" She breaks off abruptly, "Who's that then?" No, not Kazuma, who she nods to in acknowledgement. But she does lower the binoculars for one of them to look and points in a direction - Mustadio's direction in fact.
"There're two Captains; a girl, a guy, and a group of about ten soldiers." Kyra adds, straightening from where she's sitting.
Aha, and there is the lady in question. Mustadio squints slightly at the two women, recognizing one, but not the other. Kyra? Nope, haven't met her yet...right? He murmurs quietly into his radio briefly, and then ambles over toward a nearby tree, leaning on it as if he were out on an evening constitutional and decided to take a brief respite to enjoy the air and scenery.
And then Kazu...ya, because Mustadio still thinks of the fellow as Kazuya to this day, strolls through as well. He straightens up slightly, his gaze going a bit harder. If he's here too, then...probably this is a bit more serious than he'd suspected. Hmmm. He frowns momentarily, trying to decide on his course of action.
Well. If something's going to happen, might as well make himself known to his kinda-sorta-maybe ally. Allies. He pushes off the tree gently and continues ambling over. Only to stop, blink, and then point at himself questioningly as the unfamiliar redhead appears to indicate his direction. Then glance over his shoulder. "Huh?"
Upon hearing Kazuma's voice, the HiME rolls her eyes. "Not particularly in the mood for banter at the moment." She hooks her helmet over one of the handlebars and approaches the redhead. Despite past events, Natsuki actually doesn't hold any hard feelings. She did wind up just fine, after all, and poor Kyra was injured.
"What isn't a good idea? Going to meet them?" She casually takes the offered binoculars and looks through them. "Fumon is our problem. It's not fair for us to inflict our problems on other worlds. Only reason I don't chase Kazuya off now is that he's already involved." She pauses and glances back at him with a smirk before returning to look through the binoculars.
Squinting slightly, she adjusts the lenses. "I see them. It's..." A soft puff of breath escapes her lips. "Takeda. Or whatever his name is. He was one of Fumon's guards. And..." Pause. Squint. And... Natsuki lowers the binoculars. "Can't tell the other one. She's turned away." She glances in the other direction Kyra indicates, lifting the binoculars back up. "Is that Mustadio?"
"Hmph. You never did have a sense of humor," Kazuma says with a smile, working his neck for a moment, and then popping the knuckles in his right hand, flexing it to warm up the muscles a bit. "And good idea or not, we're not going to get anywhere if we don't hit them head on. The boss isn't going to come out until we've thinned out the small fry. And Natsuki..." Kazuma says, glancing over at her. "...don't try that 'inflicting our problems on other people' line. I've heard it two many times already - and people are going to help if you like it or not. ...or you'd think they would," he says, looking around for a moment. "I'd have expected you to have some backup."
Reaching into his jacket, Kazuma pulls out a small electronic magnifier - such nice toys you got when you lead the largest section of an interdimensional crime ring for a few years - and looks out through it. "Two of them? "Just for Natsuki? I'm almost insulted." Kazuma grins, looking over at Kyra for a moment. "I'd have expected that they'd need the entire army if they were going to do anything with her, and come out of it unhurt." And even then, he wasn't expecting there to be anyone who was really unhurt.
Natsuki was just that mean, when push came to shove. Or maybe mean wasn't the right word. Perhaps *vindictive* would be better. Lord knows, Kazuma's probably heard that her collection has disappeared thanks to this Prince.
And that means he's probably doomed. He doesn't really comment on Mustadio - the guy has an odd habit of turning up at times. "Well, they're probably just going to wander around until we go have a word with them..."
Yes YOU. You have been spotted, even if you hadn't been intending to approach. the group. Your stealth FAILS, especially when all of the people in the group were very perceptive. And one of them had binoculars. "Twelve all told." Kyra remarks, smirking slightly, "I think they're underestimating you guys," she glances at Kazuma and Natsuki, "Or there's good reason that they only sent a handful of grunts and two Captains."
Kazuma's then suggesting that they confront the group, and Kyra shifts her weight, "I don't think you're going to have to. They're heading this way." She nods her head in the direction of the people incoming, then raises her hands and tips her shades over her eyes. The grunts are spread out slightly, perhaps planning to circle the party and sandwich them in. Takeda - rather, Junpei is in front with a sword belted at his side, and a pike slung over his back. At his side...
It's a girl about the same age, with short brown hair and eyes - Rika, who Natsuki would recognize as Akane.. though she'd never seen her in the other world. She doesn't appear to be armed - but Natsuki would know better.
Yep, it is indeed Mustadio! And very much like a bad penny, eh? The cloak is concealing, but the face is unmistakable. He shakes his head quickly, and starts trotting forward to the others; it seems like his arms are moving about beneath the waterproofed leather. He continues to wear a slightly dark look on his face, though not so much DOOM AND LOOM as 'dammit, where is that grenade, I hope I didn't just pull the pin there'.
He's not that far away from them, fortunately, and soon is finishing his quick trot. "Uh, hey there," he says, quietly, looking a tad bit sheepish. "Yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking, but I've been here since this morning on totally separate business." That last bit is delivered in a sort of grudging mutter.
He then turns to see the people behind him now forming up. Oh, oh, oh. Small group tactics, huh? He's familiar with this, it's...wait.... He falters a moment, moving out of his slightly crouch. "Hey...I've...I've seen these people," he says, looking between them. "That dream...."
"My sense of humor is just fine, thank you." She just doesn't think Kazuma is funny, that's all! "I'm not using it on you. Look around." Natsuki gestures vaguely at the surroundings. "Is this Fuuka? Didn't think so. I'm not going to stand back and let them do what they want here. Not if I have the power to stop them." She crosses her arms, letting out an annoyed sound. "Yeah, well. Didn't happen. Most of the ones I can trust to have my back are tied up in an operation right now." Yes, she's being vague. Nobody needs to know about IPA matters!
"Let them underestimate me. I don't mind." But really. Only two commanders and a handful of troops? Either Fumon doesn't know the extent of her powers (possible), he's stupid (unlikely), or those few he did send are formidable fighters (more possible than the first at least). "Just be careful. There's a good chance they're tough." Even if she's pretty confident she would be able to take this on herself. Still, it is nice having some backup. You know, someone to put in harm's way. Kazuya is good for that!
Natsuki gives Mustadio a long, dubious look. "Separate business, huh." He'd better not be lying and secretly stalking her! Natsuki blinks in surprise when he recognizes them though. "You were there too?" Frowning slightly, she lifts the binoculars again... and they suddenly fall from her hands. Better catch them, Kyra! "A... Akane?"
"Hmph," Kazuma says again, smiling. "Well, there's at last one person here you can trust to back you up here." He turns, and looks over at the approaching Mustadio. "...two," he admits after a moment. "Hey there, grease monkey," he greets the mechanic with a laugh. "Sorry that I don't have time to talk - but I think we're going to be busy here soon." He looks down at the approaching crowd for a moment, and then something occurs to him.
"Natsuki, one thing you should be aware of," Kazuma says, holding his right arm out in front of him. There's a ripple of energy, and all of the hair on his head stands up, giving him a sort of spiky haired appearance rather than his usual bowl cut style. "The Prince is supposed to have the power to control you girls once he gets his hands on you enough times. I found a way to destroy the collars he put on Mai and the first Queen - and I'm hoping that you don't have anything like that - but be careful. The might not have sent a lot of people because they've got some way of leaning on you and making you do what they want. Lemme know if you start seeing or hearing anything strange."
That way he can hit you, knock you out, and carry you off to safety. Not that Kazuma is going to say *that* to her.
There's a ripple, and huge chunks of sand suddenly vanish from all around Kazuma, being pulled inwards to wrap around his arm, the golden armor of his Alter appearing around it, and the three distinctive blades appearing on his back. Right then - bring it on!
So what have we here? Sure have been a lot of people coming and going through here lately. Something rotten in the land of alchemists? Edward's pretty sure his hands are clean this time... well, save for that whole fiasco with the Horsemen. He and Alphonse had decided to chance another visit to their homeworld if just to make sure they hadn't missed out on any rumors regarding the Philosopher's Stone. They also wanted to check on the Rockbells to make sure everything was fine, and save for another narrow wrench to the head, everything had been rather quiet.
That had been well over an hour ago, and it takes them a fair length of time to get back to the gate on foot. "...hey... what's that up ahead...?" Edward mumbles as he sees quite a few people out. He stops and glances at his little brother.
The younger Elric doesn't respond right away, trailing a little behind the Fullmetal Alchemist. The Mithril transmission was brief, but Alphonse catches Red Wire's message, the radio given a good stare before glancing upward. Sure, things were all good and dandy, but whenever the Philosopher's Stone came back into the scene, everything just falls apart.
The teen looks in the same direction, eyes narrowing. "...I have no idea..." But they're going to find out, aren't they? That's what Elrics do best.
Rika! Not Akane! Not that anyone would know that. "Hold, Junpei," The girl holds a hand out, starting forward as the others begin arming themselves for battle. "Lady Natsuki." She pitches her voice loudly enough that the girl - and her friends - can hear clearly. "You have been lax in your duties. My Lord has been lenient with you and permitted your bouts of rebellion to a point, but now he grows impatient. It is time to stop playing. It is time to return home."
She glances at Kazuma for a long moment, eyes narrowing. "Junpei." She turns her head, "That person is the one that Isamu informed us about, is it not?" ... "Junpei?" Rika eyes her fellow Captain, who stands /resolute/. Resolute and red faced at the sight of Natsuki. Why did he have to be assigned to her? Why not Shizuru or Mai? "Junpei." Rika comments sharply.
"Yes, Rika." Junpei tears his gaze away from Natsuki, "That's the one who Isamu suspected was having relations with the second Queen."
Rika nods slowly. ".. kill him." Her gaze slides towards Mustadio, "And any witnesses." That will mean Edward and Alphonse too! When they're spotted.
"Lady Natsuki, we don't wish to harm you. Return with us peacefully. Or we will drag you back by force." Rika announces, narrowing her eyes.
"Yeah, this is the homeland of...one of my associates," Mustadio answers Natsuki, in a rather distracted manner. "Funny how it works out like this, though, eh, Natsuki...." If he's lying, then he's doing a pretty good job of it. His focus is more on the people assembled before them. "I had this...really, really weird dream a while ago, but something told me it wasn't just a dream. And I think that's just been confirmed, 'cos that guy--" he indicates Junpei with a nod of the head-- "was in it."
His ruminations are interrupted, and he give Kazuya a brief dirty look at the 'grease monkey' comment--but his heart isn't really in it. Something's weird going on right here. "Yeah, if there's trouble here, I'm with you guys." It's not like he owes them anything, but...hey. Prince? Hmmmm. He remembers something in the dream about royalty...and then there's that rumor about Mai which apparently is true--
He snaps a quick look over at Kazuya again. "This related to that guy that Mai's engaged to?" he now asks in a low voice. Collars? Control? Man, what has Mai gotten herself into now?! Oh, and Natsuki, for that matter.... And then, of course, he has to stare for a moment at Kazuya's arm changing like that. Huh...wait a minute....
Hamsters are frantically running in their wheels now. He just might finally get it before the end of the night!
But for now, the primal cry of self-preservation drowns out their excited squeakings; he pulls a gun from his belt, beneath the cloak, and turns to face the approaching soldiers fully. The Elrics are ignored, having done nothing to draw his attention--though once they come near, he'll be certain to notice them. At least, he should be easily recognizable to them.
He smirks at 'Akane's words. "Weak," he says. "'Kill the witnesses. Kill them all.' Yeah, I've heard that one before. And I'm still here." The barrel of the Blast Gun emerges from the folds of the cloak, lazily trained on the soldiers approaching. "They even succeeded...temporarily...but nope, still here!" And the finger on the trigger tenses slightly--but he does not fire. Not yet.
The HiME turns to give Kazuma a look and lifts her arm. "I guess that explains what happened to the bracelet." She makes an expression of distaste before lowering her hand again. "I'm sure I'll be fine." Even if that thing was still on her, she'd be sure that it would be fine. It is nice to have it off though.
"Your associates?" Mustardio is given -another- long look, but Natsuki eventually shrugs. "Good, then you can tell me which way the nearest city or whatever is. We'll take the fight -away- from that direction."
Natsuki's eyebrow twitches slightly in annoyance as 'Akane' calls out to her. "I have no duties! You can tell your little prince that he's -never- going to get his hands on me. Got it?" And then the threats come, and Natsuki slowly opens her hands flat. "Don't worry. You won't do any harm to me. You won't be dragging me back, either." Then, without warning, she snaps one arm up, a pistol forming in her hand, and fires a single shot. Even from this distance, she's aiming for someplace painful but non-lethal. The leg of one of those random soldiers.
Kazuma... gives a mock sniffle. Like he were just WEEPING WITH JOY or something. "Finally, some recognition!" he says, after having made a big show of wiping his eyes for a moment, using his untransformed hand. "I block your boss for months on end, upset one plan after another, and I don't hear anything! And finally, finally, someone recognizes that I'm going to be a problem!" Oh happy, happy day!
OK, not really.
He does give Mustadio a dirty look of his own. "Mai's not engaged to anyone," he shoots back, clenching his right hand. "It's just some weak bastard with delusions of godhood who thinks that he's going to try and use some of the girls from Fuuka to make his own little love nest."
Turning, Kazuma points his transformed right hand at the approaching guards. "Alright then, you want me? Here I am - try your luck, and we'll see if you can kill me!" With that, he turns and slams one hand into the ground, launching himself up into the air. And aims to come down right in the middle of the formation of soldiers with a tremendous explosion of sand. And just try and scatter them every which way - with them all concerned about him being up close, that should let Natsuki and Mustadio pick them off at their leisure. He hopes.
Edward tries, unsuccessfully, to hold back a sigh. He should have known better than to expect a nice, quiet day out here. Motioning to Alphonse, the elder Elric moves closer, trying to keep from being noticed. The sudden, yet by now familiar sound of all hell breaking loose has him stop in his tracks. "Can't people pick other places to go crazy in?
There's plenty of gates- why's it always this one...?" he grumbles, then blinks as he now gets a better glimpse of the involved parties. "...what the... him again? And isn't that Mu-" Edward eyes Alphonse as he can practically hear his brother's radio from where he stands. There's a reason he keeps his off...
"...come on, Al!" He gives his brother a light tug on the sleeve before dashing towards the crazies. Forget stealth. Let's go with 'Hit 'em while they're distracted!' *CLAP*
"I...guess not. Maybe there's just something about Amestris," Alphonse replies, a little less than helpful. He shrugs, the radio transmitting all of the insanity. And now, they're going to join it. "Right," he murmurs, following after Edward like a second shadow. Seeing how the elder Elric brings up a quick transmutation, Alphonse sighs, rolling his eyes. Well, it can't be helped. "Here goes!" He claps as well, aiming at...nobody in particular. Just shaking things up is a nice way of distracting people.
Rika sighs as if disappointed in Natsuki's response. And she is. "...such a pity." She doesn't flinch when Natsuki brutally /kneecaps/ one of the soldiers.
"BUGGER!"
Down he goes. He's not out yet though, he still has another leg! And in fact, one of the soldiers that was armed with a bow and arrow passes him his weapon, so as not to make him totally useless in the fight. This leaves 9 grunts - who see Kazuma coming in and /scatter/, with just a few that are unlucky enough to get knocked to the ground.
Junpei luckily managed to avoid the incoming Altar user's initial strike - so let's see if Kazuma is equally lucky and manages to avoid /Junpei's/ strike, as he thrusts the pike in his hands directly towards the man's back. Stabbity!
Two archers catch sight of Ed and Al as they start rushing in, and prepare themselves - one of which was kneecapped, I'll have you know.
The shaking - well a number of them manage to keep their balance fairly well, with only a little jostling and stumbling - save for the poor kneecapped soldier who flails about and gets a freaking _ROCK_ finblade thing slamming striaght into him for his effort. @.@ The archers, on seeing their companion knocked the heck out, both draw their arrows and
take aim at Ed and Al, quickly firing a series of arrows - most probalby fly wild in their haste, but what can you do!
Another soldier, armed with naught more than a staff, and not even a pointy one, rushes forward to occupy Mustadio's attention and keep him from shooting things. Whereas for Natsuki...
Rika murmurs something softly. It sounds like a name. Like. "Harry." And beside her a flash of wind and light as the girl summons her Child; orange and gold, leonine in shape. "Retrieve the Princess." Rika commands, as the creature bolts forward across the ground. CHAAAAARGE!
"Mmm, right, as you say," Mustadio says idly to Kazuya. He's doing that on purpose, isn't he? Mmmmmmaybe. "They're coming from the city center. We'll want to fall back to keep bystanders out of this." He does look at Natsuki curiously as she seems to produce a gun out of nowhere. "Hey, neat! Those are pretty interesting guns! Kinda small, though--"
He clamps his mouth shut as Natsuki opens fire. Okay, looks like the games have begun! He backpedals, obligingly following Natsuki's wishes to bring the battle away. He turns to look behind, in order to ensure that he
doesn't trip over anything while he sweeps in that direction-- "Oh, hey, Tinman, Shortmetal, you're here! --nice one!" Just in time to watch them unleash their attacks.
And then--whoa, that was close! The staff wielder rushes at him, swipes--and misses. Too bad for him! The Blast Gun tilts up, roars with lightning, as the engineer tries to take this fellow out of the fight by a electrified round to the torso. That should stop him pretty well, hmm?
Eh, they're magic ice bullets. He'll be fine. Just in a lot of pain for a few days. It's not like she shot him somewhere sensitive! Like, um... the EAR. Yes. She could totally pierce an ear from this distance if she wanted!
Suddenly, ARROWS! Everywhere! A second gun materializes in Natsuki's other hand and she quickly aims upward, trying to intercept at least a few of them with her shots. Trying to hit a pointy stick flying through the air is a lot harder than shooting someone in the knee!
Of course, after she squeezes off a few shots, she sees that light.. and -feels- what's about to come. "Akane..." Setting her jaw tightly, the HiME begins to twirl in place, a circle of blue light appearing on the sand around her feet. "Duran!" Her movements are rather graceful, especially considering she's standing on uneven ground.
Suddenly, without warning, shards of ice erupt all around her, enclosing her completely. You're not the only ones that can make weird things pop up from the ground, crazy alchemist bean and brother!
As suddenly as they appeared, the ice spears shatter into powder, small crystals that melt as soon as they touch the ground. Natsuki is still there, unharmed, and a very large robotic wolf is standing next to her, with cannons mounted on its shoulders. The Child lets out a piercing, echoing howl and leaps forward, colliding midair with Harry before he can reach Natsuki. At this range, the guns are difficult to use, but Duran still has teeth and claws and his strength.
Guns still in hand, Natsuki stares -hard- over toward not-Akane. "So you have a Child. You're willing to risk the consequences that come with it?" Carefully, she lifts one arm and takes aim... but is distracted as she notices -civilians- here. Or at least, people she didn't know were going to be getting involved! "...Oi! You two kids, be careful!" Even if they seem to have these weird... powers, Natsuki still doesn't want to involve anyone who just wandered by, especially if they're children!
"Figures that I'd be stuck with you - must be my punishment for living with Tate for so long!" Kazuma says as 'Junpei' - he knows who you truly are, obsessive Natsuki stalker! He's seen that you are truly Takeda! And he knows your weakness! ...the question is if he's going to be cruel enough to actually use that weakness against you! But as the speak is thrust out at him, Kazuma's grin gets even wider - and the bottom of the three blades on his back shatters into pieces, sending a stream of energy out behind him. He uses the boost to spin around rapidly, even as the polearm lashes out at him. "Shocking First..."
And his fist comes around, slamming headlong into the oncoming spear! "BULLET!" The blow deflects the spearhead aside, but at the same time, it might deflect Kazuma's fist enough that it doesn't slam into Junpei's gut and send him flying! In that case, Kazuma will just go flying past him.
He turns, and catches a glance of Ed and Al, and he raises one hand above his head. "Glad you two could join in the fun!" he calls out. "Feel free to jump in - this looks like it's going to be a great fight!"
Blame the radio. It's all the radio's fault for distracting him! Edward pulls away from Alphonse (since it was his radio that Ed was making use of), giving his brother an abrupt shove as he belatedly notices the arrows flying in their direction. Spitting out a curse as arrows graze his left shoulder, he twists and then drops into a roll to avoid being turned into a reversed porcupine. Vaulting with his hand to his feet, the boy makes an impressive attempt at dodging the rest. And... it seems he has his direction of intent quite set. He makes a leap at his fellow Mithril-member, swinging out his right foot (thankfully?). Helloo Mustadio!<3
"HEY! Who're you calling kids?!" Edward shouts in Natsuki's direction, brow twitching at the reprimand. Whether he hit Mustadio or not, he lands ready to follow up on his attacks on... whoever the other guys are. Hit first, ask questions later! He can only smirk at Kazuma's invitation. "Don't have to tell me twice! I'm gettin' sick of having surprise visitors around here!" Once again his hands collide in front of him, and he shoves them towards the earth to send another crackling light show that heralds large blocks of rock that come protruding out of the ground beneath the pesky archers and what have you.
Darn those archers! They hit hard with the mass of arrows and everything! As much as he'd like to try and PARRY IT ALL, it's impossible. Alphonse yelps, sharp points cutting past him, leaving thin red marks under his layers of now-tearing clothing. Of course, with Ed's shoving, it sort of helps him not get sliced up too badly.
"I'm older than that," he says aloud at the mention of Kuga's 'kids' remark, brow knitting. Al's pouting, but it doesn't stop him from doing more damage. Kazuma is giving them an invitation! He knows that dude! And hay - Mustadio, hit by Ed. Oh boy. There's going to be a lot of talk later. For now, whoever's on the ground is gonng get whipped. Running onward, Al takes care of some of the other troops his way.
Stupid misses. Who knew those guys would move so quickly? More importantly I CAN SEE THROUGH TIME OHGOD. The staff-user's body seizes up by the incoming electrcity/lightning - which is pretty damn unpleasant, I grant you that. Still twitching and convulsing, the soldier hits the ground at Mustadio's feet - which is about when a second man, seeing his friend in trouble, launches off the ground at the man with a dagger. Screaming a mighty battle cry! Hear it RING out to the heavens! "Abd WAUGH!~~!"
Okay he's still working on it, to tell the truth, but the important thing is he's /trying/. Junpei's not having much luck with Kazuma, when he misses the backstabbed attempt and, for his effort, Kazuma's punch actually splinters the spear right down the middle, leaving Junpei with naught more than a handful of shavings. "..." That was his favorite spear! Still he has one more weapon at his disposal, naming a sword. "I should consider myself lucky," he reasons, "When I kill you, I'll get quite the promotion," He isn't as proficient with his sword as his spear, but what more is there than point and stab? But he's a aiming to swipe for Kazuma's arm with the blade, "Of course I wouldn't dream of making it easy for you. For the suffering you have caused my lord and the /indignities/. A peasant like you, thinking to rise yourself above the status of our lord and make away with the Queens. Criminal." THUG.
The troops that had been sent along are quickly thinning out, it seems - next time, the Prince will surely send more, because ten? So doesn't cut it. Alphonse's utterly adorable fisks and kicts of wage are doing a good job cutting them down, though of the troopers manages to parry - le gasp! And attempts to grab Alphonse's arm and fling him to the ground and make him eat dirt. And call him names!
Edward is proving to be equally annoying with those hands of his! WHich isprobably why the archers, just about the only ones from the grunts remaining standing by virtue of getting away from Alphonse's wage filled fisks and kicts (i love that phrase), start firing more arrows (from an extremely limited quivver) at the Elric. It worked once, maybe it'll work again, right?
And last but not least, Natsuki! Harry collides with Duran in a spectacular smashing sound, though unlike two cards careening into each other headfirst, they don't dent and shatter - rather, the lion and wolf go tumbling - and Harry's intentions are clearly to bite onto one of Duran's legs, down /hard/. No protecting your HiME!
"There are no risks," Rika remarks flatly, "All there is is Lord Fumon. You would have a life of complacency, with none to bother you, and all you would give up is this mundane life," Mundane she calls it? "You do not realize just how much Fumon loves you, and desires you. So please, stop resisting-!" And now Rika moves, dashing forward with tonfa summoned into her hands, to close the distance with the other HiME.
They're not civilians! They're Mithril. Just like Mustadio. He flashes the Elrics a grin as they draw closer. "All right, lads, let's show 'em!" He turns back, lets out a low whistle of admiration as Kazuya does his work...and then boggles for a moment at Harry and Duran appearing. "Heyyy, those look kinda mechanical," he says, a familiar note creeping into his voice. Haw haw.
Of course, that leaves him entirely open to Ed smacking him hard with a (somewhat deserved) cheap shot. "Ow! Hey, man, what's that for?" he yells at his compatriot. "Get them! Them!" He waves his gun at the attacking soldiers, stumbling back. What the heck, man!
And now the staff-user's buddy lunges at him! With a yelp, Mustadio just...kinda falls right on his rear, going slightly asprawl. That, at least, means the knife whirs through the air right above him harmlessly. Whew! Once more, the Blast Gun swings up, and now he tries to pop this fellow in the shoulder. Try swinging that thing with a numb arm!
"Someone who fights at the whim of another!" Kazuma shouts at Junpei, and proceeds to sword fight him! Except instead of a sword, Kazuma is using his arm. Fist and blade clash against each other for a moment as the two trade blows, sparks flying across the desert sands. Kazuma isn't doing too badly here - the worst damage that Junpei is managing to do is cause nicks and scratches against his Alter. "And who thinks he can lecture me on 'getting above myself!" He parries another blow, twisting his hand around - before bringing it around in a sucker punch right for Junpei's stomach! "ISN'T EVER GOING TO BE ABLE TO DEFEAT ME!"
And then he tries to kick the guy! And punch him again! "Because all this damn 'Prince' of yours..." Knee!
"...is doing..." Elbow to the face!
"...is showing how damn weak he is! Make a new world!?!" Kazuma clasps both hands together, and tries to smash Junpei across the face with them. "Ridiculous!" Knee right up to the groin!
"You don't get to remake the world!" Straight punch! "IF HE WANTs TO CHANGE IT!!!" Right cross! "THEN!" Haymaker! "HE'LL!" Left Cross! "LOSE!"
Yeah, Kazuma's just a little upset. After he hammers on Junpei for a moment, he turns and shouts to Natsuki. "Natsi! She's enthralled to the Prince! Try to avoid killing her or her Child if you can!" He didn't even know if this Akane's MIP was even around still, but... "We don't want to make anyone disappear just because they were trapped by that cowardly bastard!"
Well, Ed and Al -are- both younger than Natsuki. So she's allowed to call them that! Yes. Especially that angry one. He seems to be the younger one. Al says he's older anyway! "Tch. Fine, just be careful. I don't want to see you hurt over this mess." They -seem- to be doing okay, though. What with the weird ground stuff and the fisks and kicts and all!
Duran lets out a yelp as Harry bites down on his leg. Oh YEAH? Well have at thee! The Child rolls back hard, trying to fling the yellow beast off so he can turn and pounce on it. RAR!
"Do you really mean that? Would you really throw away everything for someone who doesn't even care about you?" As Rika starts to charge in, Natsuki shifts her posture, bringing one arm down. The other fires several shots, aimed more at trying to slow her down than actually hitting her. "He doesn't -love- me! He just wants to use me for his sick power games."
When Rika finally strikes, Natsuki... takes the hit, though she shifts slightly, dropping her guns and grabbing for her opponent's arms to flip her flat onto the ground. If it works, Natsuki goes to pin her... and either way, one gun forms again as she points it at Rika's head. "I don't want to hurt you but I will if you make me."
Pause. Blink. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING NATSI?!"
A rocky wall rises to take most of the arrows before they can get to him. Edward leaps atop of it wearing a terribly smug grin that cannot possibly bode well for the ones he looks upon. He ignores Mustadio- although the kick sure made him feel a lot better. The blonde-haired alchemist jerks his head to look Alphonse's way just as he sees his
brother being less successful at dodging. "Oh no ya don't...!" These archers have got to go!
In his by now familiar manuever, the Fullmetal Alchemist taps his palms together and then once again sets to transmute the already torn up landscape to his whim. He'd be more creative, but this method's been working wonderfully so far, and plus he's not the only one fighting so he has to be careful. This time multiple fists of earth come punching out of the ground beneath the archers to try and keep them from further retaliation. Maybe then it'll be easier to focus on the real threats.
No Ed, get the other guy! The one that keeps calling you little! The dagger-wielder gets /popped/ in the shoulder, causing him to stumble backwards, a jolt of numbing pain running down his arm. With a snarl, inarticulate though it is, he swingbattaswings the other dagger with his /non/ numbed arm. Clearly going for a gut shot here, even though the troops ability in battle leaves /much/ to be desired. (will continue for individuals, just speeding things up a bit)
And just when he gets started, he gets knocked down. Or grappled, in this case. Dust comes up in an instant after the rough landing, pain shooting through his gigai form. OW. The fisks and kicts only lasted so long!
The name calling? Going too far right there.
Alphonse doesn't get mad too easily, being the more level-headed of the Elrics, but annoyance is pretty dominant right now. And he's not trying to be cute about it either! It's natural! "Agh! That hurt!" he yells at the one guy who threw him to the ground, coughing from dust inhalation. Time to make good use of his martial art skills again or his teacher will have his hide. He tries to back-kick at the soldier/dude (or whoever else comes into proximity) in order to flip over the right way. And to see where his brother and Mustadio went. And Natsuki. And Kazuma. And...well. Well, hearing all of that punching with FISKS is reassuring! "ED!!!"
"WHaaat!" Edward sputters over at his brother. He's doing his job, right?!