Victoria II & 4423 Boarding actions! {OPEN]

[tidesnpc]

Characters: Anyone and Everyone on the Victoria II and the 4423
Content: Sword Battaru and boarding actions
Setting: The skies near Erealia
Time: After all of the ships have managed to work themselves into a tizzy.
Warnings: von Karma-Isako grudgematch

Comments

I guess I'll kick off the Kensei/Soubi/Edgeworth/Katsu thing then?

[imadoushin]

Katsushiro scrambled across the planks between the ships, trying not to think about just how high up the ramshackle arrangement was. Fortunately, he was across and jumping down onto the deck of the Victoria II before exactly how bad an idea running around on a few hastily thrown-together planks this high up in the air could be.

Naturally, the deck of the enemy ship wasn't the safest place to be, either, but danger of being stabbed was at least the sort of danger he'd trained to deal with. His sword was already drawn by the time his feet hit the deck, and as he traded blows with the first few enemy crewmembers to come at him, he spared as much attention as he could to glance around, trying, through the chaos on deck, to get some idea of the ship's layout

[imadoushin]

Edgeworth's moment of panic would, in normal circumstances, have been Katsushiro's chance to seize an advantage. The lightning strike, though, had thrown him thoroughly off-balance - both literally, his awkward attempt at dodging (mostly, though not entirely, successful, as a singed and smoking jacket sleeve would attest) leaving him stumbling as he attempted to regain his balance; and figuratively, as he no longer had any idea what sort of powers to expect from these foes. It took him long enough to recover that he lost the chance to attack first, though not long enough that he wasn't ready for Edgeworth's charge.

Waiting until Edgeworth had committed himself to his attack, he sidestepped out of the path of the other man's blade, bringing his own around to meet it.

[kirekaze]

So, this was how it was going to go down then. Kensei for one was quietly thankful that Edgeworth had some common sense and didn't choose to go against him - anyone knew that most humans were no match at all for people with magical abilities. Sure, he could have held back, but with that look on the other's face he had seen earlier...

The Vaizard snapped out of his thoughts at that when he felt Soubi chanting out his spell, gritting his teeth and whipping up his zanpaktou to send out a new gust of wind with equal force as the mage's own. The two cutting winds burst against each other mid-way when they met, the impact causing a huge gust of wind to blow down the corridor. While the rest were (hopefully) distracted, Kensei used this chance to send out two of his hadoukens down towards the blonde, hoping that one of them would at least hit him.

[edge_of_honor]

Gusts of magic grazed Edgeworth, but he remained undeterred; for now, his focus remained on the boy in front of him. Their swords clashed for the briefest of moments, that clatter drowned out by the howling winds that were just footsteps away, before Edgeworth twisted his blade around and away from Katsushiro's.

Even Edgeworth had to admit that his opponent was skilled for a little whelp. However, Katsushiro still wasn't good enough; as soon as Edgeworth's sword was free he lunged forward, point aimed towards his opponent's gut. If the brat had expected more openings or, lord forbid, mercy, he was sorely mistaken.

[butterflychains]

Soubi's attention was focused almost completely on Kensei, only vaguely noticing the sword fight that was happening nearby. He had to acknowledge the pirate was a fast thinker and probably required more creative means to be dealt with. But first, those blasts that were coming towards him.

Soubi had no intention to dodge them.

"Defense," he said. "You cannot touch me."

True to his words, the pair of hadouken blasts were stopped a few feet away from Soubi, colliding with an invisible shield just strong enough to block their force. Almost immediately after, Soubi continued. Speed was of the essence.

"Restrain and bind. May these heavy links confine you."

With this spell, metal chains emerged from the floor of the hallway, on either side of Kensei, each of them aiming to grab hold of his arms.

[imadoushin]

Of course Katsushiro wasn't expecting mercy. Nor was he expecting openings, though he had, naturally, hoped. Expecting one's opponent to be unskilled tended to prove a sure-fire route to humiliation.
Anticipating that Edgeworth would turn the situation to his advantage didn't automatically mean he was in a position to counter it, though.

Edgeworth struck too quickly for Katsushiro to manage an effective parry, but he twisted enough to the side that rather than disembowelling him, the blade only grazed his side.
His own sword might have come up too slowly to block Edgeworth's, but that didn't need to stop Katsushiro attacking himself, slashing at his opponent's extended sword-arm.

[kirekaze]

He barely heard what Soubi was speaking over his winds and the sound of the swordfight between Katsushiro and Edgeworth, but he could immediately discern what was going to happen when he heard the clang of metallic chains. They shot out from the floor at a speed impossible to dodge, intending to chain him down. Had he been a normal human, Kensei wouldn't have been able to dodge them; but he wasn't a normal human already - he was a Vaizard.

Brown eyes momentarily flashed blue with the power of his reitasu as Kensei activated his shunpo, and in the blink of an eye the man flashed away from the chains and behind them. Before his opponent had a chance to respond, the man swung his zanpaktou horizontally across his chest and sent out a sharp blade of wind towards his foe. The wind was so sharp that it cut through the chains themselves and nicked the sides of metal corridor as it went down towards Soubi.

[edge_of_honor]

Years of experience had honed Edgeworth's reflexes to a level Katsuhiro had yet to reach; von Karma had put a sword in his hand at the earliest possibility, so he had better know how to use it. As soon as the boy brought his own blade down, Edgeworth skillfully twisted his arm out of the way, with barely any effort.

While the brunt of the attack had been avoided, Katsushiro still managed to get a scratch in. Edgeworth barely noticed, though; the adrenaline in his veins and the cold fury that pounded through his body blinded him to such minuscule matters. Undeterred, Edgeworth feinted towards the last spot he tried to hit, only to aim higher and further from where he predicted the brat would block.

[butterflychains]

The wind was fast and Soubi was forced to dodge. However, he wasn't quick enough and the blade grazed his shoulder, sending a sharp pain throughout his body. He grabbed the injury out of instinct, and found that it was bleeding as well.

Kensei had drawn first blood. However, that wasn't going to faze Soubi.

"I tire of this," he said, reaching up to remove his glasses from his face and placing them in his pocket. "Crystals of ice, cover his form. Pirate, you will accept their cold embrace."

The air around Kensei began to grow cold, and ice started to form around the man's foot.

[imadoushin]

Half-expecting a feint - Edgeworth's skill level was clearly too high for it to be safe to take anything he did at face value - Katsushiro jumped back as he raised his sword to parry, enough of a defence that although he failed to completely block Edgeworth's attack, it did nothing more than tear his jacket.

Lunging forward again, he stabbed at Edgeworth's torso, trying to at least get the older man on the defensive.

[kirekaze]

First blood.

He could immediately sense the thing within him stirring the moment his sharpened senses sensed the blood that flowed out of the other. He instantly turned his attention to that at once, suppressing the beast within him before it could break out from the mental cage it was held in. He managed to with a grit of his teeth and a biting of his bottom lip hard enough that he drew blood as well - it was enough to force it back down, but because of that he had been distracted.

Distracted enough to not notice the ice creeping up on him until it was too late; by the time he noticed, the ice was already crawling up his thigh and unceasing it entirely in unforgiving frozen water. Kensei's eyes widened as he tried to jerk his leg out, but to no avail - and the ice only continued to form around his leg.

Shitshitshitshitshit-- the Vaizard swore to himself, panic swelling up within him. Fear was starting to take over, and his heart sped up as the implications of what was going to happen was washing over him. Fuck, this wasn't

[edge_of_honor]

Edgeworth was barely aware of Kensei's struggle; his attention was focused completely on Katsushiro. If that traitor was any trouble, he trusted Agatsuma to handle him - for now, his only concern was his own battle.

Steel rang as he swung to block the youth's blade. Sweat ran down his brow and energy pumped through his veins while he continued to parry, all the while looking for an opening in Katsushiro's defenses.

[butterflychains]

Ah, finally. Soubi now had his enemy trapped right where he wanted him. The ice would only continue to spread until Kensei was encased completely in it, an icy tomb where he would either be helpless against whatever Soubi decided to do to him next, or perhaps freezing to death. Soubi stopped to watch the ice slowly make its way up Kensei's leg. In a way, what he was doing was cruel.

But cruel or not, it was getting the job done. Soubi was commanded to defend the lower decks against the invaders, and if he had to do something like this in order to do so, then so be it.

"I can see the fear in your eyes," he said to his opponent. "And it's quite justified. You can't escape. The ice will consume you, freeze you solid." He paused and watched as the ice began to speed up before adding, "Try to strike an interesting pose."

[imadoushin]

Katsushiro kept up the attack - even if his blows didn't get through, all the time Edgeworth was parrying them, he wasn't attacking himself.

With Kensei and Soubi fighting in the background - though he had no attention to spare to see what progress they were making - this wasn't a fight that he could win by trying to wear his opponent out slowly. If Soubi beat Kensei while Katsushiro was still fighting Edgeworth, he'd have no chance whatsoever. Going all-out now was his only chance of swinging this his way in time for it to matter.

His attention focussed entirely on his opponent and his breath coming now in quick pants as he fought, he slashed and stabbed at Edgeworth with all the strength and skill he could muster.

Is it sad I wrote this tag already beforehand.

[kirekaze]

Kensei could feel the numbness of sub-zero degree crawling up his leg, the feeling slowly moving faster and faster as the ice sped up as per Soubi's command. The Vaizard could do nothing else but struggle to no avail - he could break the ice with Tachikaze, but that would do nothing else but slice his own leg off and possibly getting frostbite in the process, and that wasn't going to help one bit in this situation.

He was still struggling with his leg (the ice was reaching his thigh by now) when the spellcaster spoke, and the man raised his head up to send a glare at his opponent despite the circumstances - even if he had to fall, there was no way he was going to do that with fear. He had done that once already, and because of that he had paid one of the greatest prices for it. He only snarled and continued to try and budge his leg, the fear within him getting bigger and bigger despite his attempts to calm himself down. I can get out of this. I can get out of this. I can--Then the ice bit into one of his nerves and it took all of

[edge_of_honor]

Katsushiro was desperate. Edgeworth could see it in his wild blows, could hear it in his labored breaths, and could feel it in the way his hilt tingled in his hand when metal clashed against metal. He parried each blow with ease, his movements precise and controlled, and his confidence continued to rise. Soon, he saw the opening he sought, and readied another jab-

Only to cry out in shock, blinded by pain from a force he could not see. Katsushiro was forgotten as he stumbled back, his mind now distracted by the burning throb that lingered and ached and spread through his entire side. He barely managed to tighten his grip on the hilt, and while his vision began to return, his focus had not. Dazed, he looked around blearily, wondering where the hell that came from.

He froze immediately when he saw Kensei ...or rather, when he saw where Kensei last stood. His former friend was gone, now replaced by some ungodly beast. This wasn't possible, it-it couldn't be. Edgeworth's heart tightened in fear, and his gaze remained fixed on