Who the hell came up with moving cacti? Worst idea EVER. [Open]

[buriedmemory]

Characters: Isako and whoever wants to log some good ol' cacti killin'
Content: Cactuar are attacking the ships!
Setting: 4423 and Winding Way. (They're in the same area since they were both doing repairs)
Time: Daytime. Sometime.
Warnings: Isako's got a gun. I'd be careful.

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[seventh_hero]

His body little more than a blur, Cloud's strong legs carried him across the battlefield, just ahead of Jean and her ranged attacks, through quick and furious lunges; with his titan sword clutched tightly in his hands, he exploded from one spot, mowing down a line of unwitting enemies in less than a second, only to stop, turn, and shoot off in a different direction with the same deadly result.

Eyeing the new arrival, Cloud paused only long enough to nod appreciatively at him. The more bodies they had to stand in the way of the advancing spikey menace, the better.

From off to the side, Jean's 'watch out!' caught his ear. The warning came just in time to aid him, and hopefully, his comrades in this battle. With a sharp, focused grunt, his sapphire eyes passionately aglow, Cloud raised his blade high over his head, then brought it screaming down from above and smashed it into the earth and rock surrounding the docks. With its size and his own brute strength, the blade became embedded nearly to the hilt, surrounding by a small cloud of dust and debris from the impact. From there, it was a simple matter of tightening his grip, gritting his teeth, and pulling it free with a deep and bellowing roar. Ripping it from the ground, Cloud flung massive portions of stone towards the incoming hail of needles, effectively blocking a large part of the attack; clinking and clattering, the small projectiles hit the rocks, some becoming stuck, some harmlessly bouncing away.

There was no time to rest, though, and no need for it either; Cloud, shaking the soil from his sword, instantly resumed his defensive assault by hacking another of the cactuar in half.

[d_luffymonkey]

"Right!" The danger wasn't too close to the ship now, and he could always quickly stretch back if the situation called for it after all. That thought in mind, the powder monkey quickly got into action and leaped out from his spot, jumping high into the air and staying up long enough for the needle shower to end before falling down, bringing his arms behind him as he did so while going closer and closer to the horde of cactuars...

Now!

"Gomu Gomu no Rifle!" the powder monkey shouted before snapping both his arms forward and delivered a two-fisted punch right onto the nearest cactii's face with enough force to make it fly back with a couple of its friends. Luffy didn't stop there however, crouching down once he landed and stretching his leg to deal a sweeping kick to them. "Gomu Gomu no Muchi!"

[gypsymothdance]

This was Jean's first time seeing that "rubber body" of Luffy's that Zeetha had mentioned, and she was sufficiently impressed. Not only were the attacks long and powerful, it took a lot of guts for someone to punch a cactus, which was why her own punching gauntlet was still laying on the ground, only to be picked up in case of an emergency. And then, if she hadn't been sufficiently awed by Luffy, there was the fighter from the 4423 with the biggest sword she had ever seen, who was literally tearing up the battlefield...

Between the two of these fighters, she couldn't help but feel a little upstaged. The quick throws of her fans were helping keep them back, but unlike the huge sword and kicks, she could only hit one point at a time. Some kind of bomb would work better against this swarm of cacti, getting several at once.

The other option was to switch her plan of attack a second time. Her eyes strayed unconsciously towards the ground. She'd be throwing herself straight into the needles, but, worse come to worst, she could visit the infirmary after.

She dropped her fans and dropped to her knees, picking up the Hell Spike and quickly slipping it on her right hand. It was a frightening looking weapon, one that seemed almost out of place on the hand of a beautiful dancer, but Jean felt it fit her like a love, both figuratively and literally. The metal backing looked like a skull, the sharp "teeth" of which were still biting onto one of Jean's metal bracers, which she took a split second to close around her forearm. Beneath the metal backing, she could feel tiny weights shifting about freely, moving with her hand like a heavy, fluid metal. Above her fingers, three sharp blades converged towards one deadly point.

With the Hell Spike equipped, she charged forward, screaming "HAAAAAAAAAAA--!" Her change turned into a leap past both Cloud and Luffy, and straight towards a cactuar. She finished a scream with a "YAA!" as she punched the cactus. The weights in the gauntlet hit the back of the blades, and the metal bracer hit the back of the gauntlet, creating one powerful impact of muscle and metal that drove the blades deep into the succulent flesh. She jerked her fist sideways, tearing the Hell Spike through more of the cactuar as she removed it.

Yes, she was sad to see the monster collapse before her, but better it than her friends.

[seventh_hero]

As more of the cactii creatures approached, gradually surrounding the enclosed area, Cloud suddenly found it prudent to switch between strategies; moving as quickly as he could, through quick, hard leaps, he continued to move like a cutting arrow, and as soon as he successfully mowed down a few of the enemy, he would kneel down carefully, thrust his sword down in front of him, and safely shield himself behind its flat, solid body for a moment.

Cloud narrowed his eyes, cringing a little as a shower of needles jabbed against his sword and makeshift shield. Once the lethal rain ceased, he jumped up quickly, taking his sword with him, and resumed his attack.

"Are you both alright?" he shouted to the others during one of his defensive positions.

[d_luffymonkey]

In the heat of the battle, there was no time to react, no time to think at all other than his next immediate course of action to take - Luffy gritted his teeth as he continued to take down each cactuar one by one, wincing as he felt the needles jabbing into his skin. Though he was made of rubber, sharp objects like needles and other stuff was still able to cut into him; it was the blunt objects like bullets and cannonballs that'd bounce off him.

"Gomu Gomu no Gatling Gun!" shouted the powder monkey as he brought his fists forward in a barrage of continuous never-ending punches, still bringing down the living cacti despite his somewhat bloodied knuckles by now - worse came to worse, all he'd need was a good trip to the infirmary and a couple of days' rest.

Just as he snapped back his arms though, another shower of needles was flying towards him, and the shounen hero was almost sure he was going to be a living pincushion when Cloud appeared from the side to save the day. He grinned as the blonde asked the question, shouting out a 'I'm fine!' in return before he leaped into the air and prepared his next attack, stretching one leg high into the air before bringing down with a massive crash. "Gomu Gomu no Ono!"

[gypsymothdance]

"Yeah, I'm fine!" Jean shouted back to Cloud. Only a few needles were even scratching her so far. The gauntlet was not only a good weapon, but with the metal bracer attached, it was also good protection for her arm. Unfortunately, that also meant she had to keep her left arm back to keep it safe, meaning she was fighting one-handed instead of her normal two-handed barrage.

But she noticed a good line of them in the ground, and couldn't pass up the opportunity. "Blue Dragon..." She took a step back, then charged forward a few steps before leaping forward, leg extended in front of her. "KICK!" The flying kick plowed straight through the cactuars, knocking them over into each other like dominoes.

She landed in the middle of the cactuar crowd, and several of them tilted their heads at her to fire their needles. But as soon as she landed, she was gone. One backflip, landing with her high heels on one of the cactuars she had knocked down. A second backflip, on sold ground, a third, and she was back where she started. A little scratched up now, but it had been worth the effort.

Or so she hoped, because they still had a lot of cactii advancing towards them. "How many of these things are there?!"