Looking for Meatbuns

Detecting the telltale tingle of danger at his back, Ragna spun hard whilst drawing the Bloodscythe in a reverse grip. However, the blades hurled at his were swiftly intercepted by Noel's gunfire as she sailed gracefully overhead. Not allowing himself a moment to be inpressed by his companion's acrobatics, Ragna searched the crowd for a sign of his attacker. Catching a quick glimpse of Terumi darting off into the crowd, Ragna sprinted off on his coattails. Looking over his shoulder, he shouted to Hakumen briefly, "If Noel get's hurt your ass is grass Masked Bitch!" Not waiting for a retort, the Grim Reaper shoved pedestrians aside in his persuit of the mad knife wielder. Bolting towards the intersection Terumi had encountered, he skidded to a halt upon noticing the knives leading down the straight path. Growling a curse, he tore down the straight street at full speed. "Get the hell back here Terumi!!!"

Still sliding quickly on ice bridges from roof to roof in order to find Hazama, Shinju saw Ragna dash away from the others. This is too perfect... She addressed her soldiers immediately:

"To all groups, block Hakumen and the girl now." Her orders given, she jumped out the roofs and summoned icicle spears with her Grimoire, firing them in front of Ragna to block his progression, landing just behind him with a downward slash, even if she knew well that she wasn't going to kill him, injuring him would be welcome for her mission.

Makoto blinked a bit, still checking the cat beastkin out. Cat beastkins were found unususally often, especially in Kagutsuchi.
It seemed as if the Nekomimi-craze had yet to die down after its start in the early 21st century.
She brought up a smile and winked at him.
"Ì`m Makoto." She simply said. Who knew if he was with the NOL, saying her last name would probably lead to a fight... and that she liked to avoid, especially with Noel being so near. She cocked her head to the side, with her eyes still focused at his. "What are you doing out here?"

"Pleased to meet you Makoto." showing that with a light nod while he held composure over his excitement, not wishing to appear like a complete fool. Being able to reign himself in, he logically just decided to go with the truth. After all there was no point to hiding anything right? Even as a total stranger, he felt that he could trust his fellow beastkin and she seemed pleasant enough. "I was trying to track down my new friend of sorts, Ragna. I know he's around here, but in truth I know he isn't one to need my help; he just dashed ahead and I caught up." he left it at a minimum, all the truth and of course if she'd heard or knew of Ragna the Bloodedge he felt that might reveal more about the situation. It seemed to be calm enough, though he was excited still, seeing another Beastkin and talking to her at that. He hoped to learn more this way, certain that she'd reveal something about herself and of course whether or not she knew Ragna as well.

As the Silver Knight expected his prey had come to perish sooner than later, the details given by whatever commander that had been there was not his concern. While not caring of Ragna's order directly, protecting Noel Vermillion was something of his own choice. The Susano'o Unit acted without mercy to those NOL soldiers that dared to show their faces, Ookami fell with a cold vengeance as the Nox Nyctores swept through the first man, nearly splitting the peon in two as the skilled hands of the Leader of the Six Heroes showed his designation and namesake. Sweeping the man-sized nodachi around with ease, he began to clear the street of the men who stood against peace and a change that was coming with the Silver Knight choosing to herald it in.

"You who oppose peace will be met with a violent end, I am the Cold Steel, I will cleanse this world of evil with the flames of justice, I am Hakumen! Come!" while the words were hardly necessary, the intimidation of his cold voice and his reputation alone would drive the men into fear; it made slaying those before him easier. They would all perish as soon would Yuuki Terumi once his blade found its mark.

(Due to Terumi being inactive, I declare his turn skipped until he gets here again or someone makes a replacement for him. For now, assume he's just hiding somewhere nearby, but still nowhere he could be found.)
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The little blonde saw the soldiers moving, even though she had nothing to do just now: few soldiers were attacking and the ones who did got decimated by Hakumen's attacks. Something is clearly going wrong...

Seeing a female soldier fall from the roofs in a way that clearly suggested she would attack, Noel yelled: "Ragna, no!!!" She couldn't help it. The icicles had fallen, and the NOL soldiers blocked her eyes. Blinded by her fear, she wouldn't listen to her sensors that detected Ragna was okay, instead just standing there, waiting for whatever event that might happen around her.

Still running at full speed, Ragna came to a sliding halt as spear of ice impaled themselves into the ground blocking his path. A familiar female voice called out his name with fear and panic. Turning about, his eyes full of anger, Ragna fully expected to see his younger brother bearing down on him once again under the influence of his damned sword. Instead he saw a woman, still bearing a great likeness to his brother, diving through the air with sword drawn. "What the!?" he asked silently trying to make sense of the bizarre image. However, that moment of hesitation was all it took for the woman's strike to land. A shallow gash was ripped through his left shoulder as the girl passed by with a flourish. He grabbed the wound and winced in pain while applying pressure to lessen any bleeding. His dhamphir biology would be able to stop the bleeding and heal a minor wound like this soon enough but he couldn't afford any more dumb mistakes and more importantly he had to get rid of this chick before Terumi got away. Snarling, he drew the Blood-Scythe and swung it in a powerful upward arc. Along it's path black flames of seithr flared and condensed into a great fanged mouth which lurched upward to try and swallow the blond woman whole. "I don't have time to play with you! DEATH SPIKE!"

Shinju had landed her surprise attack flawlessly, but something was wrong: her sword had been too small to cut off his whole arm. It's not that much a problem...
However, jumping from such heights wasn't exactly safe and her muscles were under the stress of the landing when Ragna's Dead Spike erupted out of the ground. Opening her Grimore which started to glow blue, Shinju made an ice shield appear under her, but the attack was not one to be stopped just by that. Shinju got propelled away, and had to use her Grimoire again to make an ice plate long enough to get her sat on it, but she still hit hard with the wall she made behind so that she wouldn't fall off, letting a painful sound out of her mouth. At least I won't have to get in melee with him. Alone I wouldn't stand a chance. But what is Hazama doing..?

Giving her current enemy a determined look, Shinju stood up on the ice floor and clearly adressed Ragna: "Ragna the Bloodedge, you're under arrest. I'll not be losing to an agent of chaos!" Then she launched three ice spears at him, covering her running just behind those, and thrusting her sword at him after having lengthened it with ice that would chill him in the process to make him take more damage on her attacks. That attack choice was ideal for her, she was out of his range at the moment, and she could swing her sword in a vertical arc should he jump, or a horizontal one should he sidestep.

"Yuutou*. I wonder what you are doing there! The deal was, that I was going to cover the streets in his blood!"
There he was. The snake with the green hair, straight standing in Shinju's attacking direction. He somehow managed to land just between the ice spears and her prepared blade. Hazama hold his hat so it wouldn't fly off from any swift movements, blocking any slashs with one of his knives in the other hand if there happened to fly some.
"I may remind you, that I wanted him alive. Total orders. Also from above. If I may analyze your attack pattern it really looked like you wanted to slice him in half, captain!"
What was that guy doing blocking of his own comerade instead of ensuring a certain hit against the Grim Reaper? Also wasn't it quite disadvantageous to face Ragna with his back?


____________________________________________

*Sound that japanese usually make when they do hard work or something

Hakumen's senses honed in on Terumi, but like a true knight he stood his ground against the soldiers; slicing them with ease, slaying the many without showing any signs of wear. This was the leader of the Six Heroes in action, his power had grown given the downtime in between; he was realizing it the more time he had exercised his force. The soldiers had numbers, but this would matter little as he had shown all would fall before Ookami.

"What fools of you dare stand against me, come to meet your end before Hakumen!" another yell as he sliced down the five nearby soldiers, turning to the rest of them he began walking in their general direction; with what reason did he have to back down? There was none, the silver knight would claim all victims who stood against the peace that he sought. Terumi would be next, once he fulfilled his desire to protect Noel. 'You will not escape this time, Terumi.' the thought remained his chief reason for finishing the soldiers off here, then next that fiend would fall and quiver before Ookami in fear.

(From 'Orient Town's Outerlimits')~~~~~~~~~~~~>

The Sector 7 modified kaka had come in from above, leaping from building to building and tracking down Noel's unique scent, as he was prepared for combat and his blood was pumping; the feline's impulses had naturally had him activate the Artifice Core System. Without a moment to wait as he leapt from the nearby rooftop, taking a quieter approach to his mad dash all the way from Sector 7; with his Yari Great-spear in hand now he spoke the words of its activation.

"Artifice Core System, Activated, Nihongo awakening...Sealed Weapon Kagennotsuki, the Waning Moon shines!" he made his way in and twisted the weapon around into a reverse grip and as he gained air by leaping up and holding the spear as it gained a light.

"Kageo will not fail, not this time..." he'd slated this as he fell down from the air, the aura had landed around him and violently exploded upon his landing, he had cut down three NOL soldiers before they could react and darted into the open; as nothing but a blur of speed. Stopping once he was before Noel, she might recognize the Kaka's hood and the spear in front of him defensively.

"Kageo-kaka, here to support Noel!" he hoped this would let her know that he was here to help.

----------------------------------------(From Orient Town's outerlimits)-------------------------------------->
Having followed Kageo all the way was a good idea: a bit behind him, Majamu chose the ground route to find Noel right on time. As she caught glance of Kageo diving from the building, she noticed NOL soldiers barring the way to Kageo and Noel.
"Outta my way!" she shouted as she started advancing to the brigade of puny privates. "Heat Burn, Sekiren!", she unleashed her Drive and charged sword first into the fray, getting the soldiers to step off the way to Kageo and Noel.
When she arrived, she instantly flipped back to facing the soldiers, ending in a sort of crouched guard at Kageo's side. "Perfect job, Kageo. Now to get those damned stalkers off of Noel...", Majamu had a slight grin on her face. Slashing those NOL guys should make for a fine test of her skills, and quench her thirst of NOL kills.

Noel was observing Hakumen putting the NOL soldiers out of shape. Of course she noticed Kageo and Majamu making their way through the crowd despite the soldiers claiming the quarters were closed, but even then, not only did they come from a direction that was not Ragna's, but they were fairly unipressive compared to Hakumen's massive power, so her eyes didn't meet the two Sector Seven members, as she slowly walked behind Hakumen, backing him up in hope of making her way to Ragna and his one to Hazama.

The ice spears came bearing down at Ragna bringing back even more memories of his delusional brother. He knew that Jin had many fans in the NOL and beyond but this was ridiculous. Swinging the flat of his blade up in front of him as a makeshift shield, the spears shattered against the reinforced metal and pushed the Bloodedge back a bit from the impact. However, a flash of black and green blocked the follow up thrust and seperated him from Shinju. Terumi stood there arrogant as always while rage filled Ragna once more. In the back of his mind he could hear a voice ringing, it was the Sector 7 leader Kokonoe calling for a response through the idea engine. "Get outta my head damnit! I'm taking this sadistic piece of shit down!" Clenching his right hand into a fist, the Grim Reaper bolted forward in a dashing punch as the black flames of the Beast surrounded his arm. A powerful punch aimed at Terumi's lower back to cripple the spectre would be followed up with a mighty return stroke from the Blood-Scythe also augmented by the power of darkness. "HELL'S FANG!"

Shinju witnessed her strategy get foiled again and frowned her eyebrows. "Listen Terumi. You're under MY orders for this mission. But do as you please now." She returned to the ice floor she made earlier and looked at the surroundings. This is useless... They're getting decimated.
She shouted at Terumi: "We're retreating. Things are too agitated. Hold your own against him." Then she took her talkie and addressed her soldiers: "This fight is a lost cause. Disband and retreat." She stayed standing on the ice floor thinking: Why does Hazama want him alive? Clover wanted him dead. At least I'll get away with this. Seeing the whole of her soldiers had retreated, she left by a little road nearby, out of the sight of whoever was around...

--------------(Exit to the NOL Headquarters)------------>

Trusting her intuition was always Caelica´s answer when it came to getting lost. After haveing lost sight of Eta and Tron when she followed them in Ronin Gai, she had been running around town for quite some time... haveing no clue where she was, which direction she should head, what to look for. Until.... her Azure stirred a bit. Dark energy was summoned somewhere, and not just from one source. Two sources at the same time...And since there were only two Azures aside from her own, her heart stopped for a moment. Ragna and Terumi... presumeably battleing one another. Without giving it another thought, she raced towards that place, as quickly as her legs could take her, even if it was only to patch Ragna up again if Terumi had beaten him into the ground.
Hold on, Ragna... i`m comeing..!

"Hey captain! Why are you running away so suddenly?"
Hazama seemed a bit frightened as his only assistance just turned her tail. Yet, the green haired villian smiled with yellowish glittering snake-eyes.
//Good, run like the bitch you are! You would only get in my way!//
The head of the Intelligence Department did have little time to enjoy the moment as his rival already tried to smash him with a destructive attack. The keen demon avoided the incoming wave of darkness... with a summersault! For the blink of a moment his eyes met those of Ragna, reversed as he was upside-down in midair. The green hair was waving, one hand kept the hat where it was. Hazama gave the half-vampire a joyful smirk.
"C'mon! What happened to the heartful greeting we give each other everytime we meet? Like you screaming something like: "Asshole, I'm gonna rip you to shreds sonofa-!" And, like, I always insult you back to enrage you even more enjoying it to it's fullest?"
"Ah, but you are right, we don't have the time for that now."
When Hazama landed, he stood back to back with Ragna the Bloodedge. He didn't even wait with his counterattack until he finished his speech nor let Ragna the time to reply to him. A swiftly prepared knife came thrusting at the white-haired's back as the green serpent spinned around to land his blow.
"We have very little time... that's why I have you for lunch whole!"
One of the Ouroboros chain's were wrapped around Hazama's arm directed to the tip of his butterfly. When the knife hit, so would the snake head, anchoring itself into Ragna's shoulder!

With nothing barring his path the silver knight brought himself upon a sight he had long since desired to find, there was the fiendish serpent alone and with no one to help him now; Hakumen would find his target true. Keeping in mind that the Bloodedge had already engaged him, the leader of the six heroes decided simply to give the snake understand one undeniable truth if he had his way.

"This time Terumi, you will not escape! I will have your head, finally your evil will be ended!" As he planted both feet in the ground and raised Ookami before him the power from him could be felt by anyone in close proximity; as the susano'o unit fed him the power to move onward, he engaged his distortion drive- Kokujin Ogi: Mugen, preparing Ookami for its raised strike, he spoke the words of the distortion drive upon the air; something that Terumi would understand meant he wasn't escaping; if the Silver Knight had anything to say about it. "Retribution: Infinity, Empty Sky True Form: Light of Judgment!" While he'd not stricken yet, the Silver Knight was actively doing something that times before would never have seen...he was giving Ragna ample time to make a move to avoid the impending strike, with a single thought in mind he had taken this troublesome path 'The enemy of my enemy is my ally'; he cared not for the Black Beast's survival but in some minor respect he'd give him a chance to remove himself from what was to come.

With the retreat of the soldiers suddenly, the modified kaka found himself without a target to strike, instead of chasing the men down; he immediately proceeded to follow after Noel, having sworn to himself that he'd never fail another of his comrades again. While his body's every sense danced at the powerful emissions of power coming from the area nearest Noel he had felt it necessary to maintain the Artifice Core System's combat levels. Though he was certain he would not be needed, he tried his best to keep calm and not overly excited by the sheer energy that made his animal senses dance. Even Kagennotsuki had relayed the message in a soft mechanical voice to him. 'Potential threats ahead: numbering 3, Targets' power ratings: SS, S+, and SS. Tactical Suggestion: Retreating from battlezone or maintain high alert with preparations to retreat already made.' Kageo knew that this meant his body was ready to kick into high gear and draw back.

He would not actively leave the area without Noel being safe, even if it meant disobeying what his body and senses told him to do. He had something that he hoped would allow him to in earnest, not perish before the greater forces ahead. He made very little nose upon approaching Noel's side, when nearby her he only lightly tugged on her sleeve and looked at her with minor worry upon his features. "Noel is...okay?" sure enough he'd only been on a few missions, yet after his first tragic loss of a comrade; he was anything but wishing to chance her being even slightly harmed.

Seeing the soldiers retreat so quickly was a bit of a relief for Majamu. Sure, it was still an occasion to get her nerves out of something that just slipped her grasp once again. Relief and frustration were balancing each other out, making the female warrior's mood a bit more balanced, though slightly unfocused. The sheer power of three causality weapons and an Azure Grimoire was of course signaled to her by Rengoku. Dammit, and now I can't do anything with it once again... Why is all the important stuff close to those damn weapons? Her bloodthirst was qualmed by the sheer panic of the idea of those powers nearby, but now there was the problem of actually managing to perform her mission: bringing not only Noel and Makoto (who for some reason wasn't here), but Hakumen as well!

Rushing as fast as she could to the battle zone to get the job done, she stepped in with Kageo. "Noel Vermillion, you must return to the HQ right now. It is an order from Professor Kokonoe; you understand?", she adressed Noel with a slightly cold voice before turning her head down to Kageo. "Look, we have shit to do; like, take care of the big white guy there." Facing the leader of the Six Heroes would be exploring her heart emptied of all kinds of forms, an occasion to see if she had changed that much... Strangely she was looking forward to it as much as she just wanted to run away with Noel to the lab.

With the NOL's retreat, Noel could run as she could, staying at some distance from Hazama. She took notice of Kageo and Majamu's presence just now. "Huh? I'm okay, but... for now I can't return to the HQ... not without Makoto... She's around talking with another beastkin." She didn't see them, but her sensors had quickly located her best friend and whoever was around her... Noel herself just didn't notice. She looked around. "...but where?"

A moment of silence from her followed, letting her hear Hakumen unleashing his power, instantly turning her head away from the Sector Seven agents, just for a while before adressing them: "I want to be there to help them in case they need. Please find Makoto..."

Ragna's eyes were twitching with rage as the green haired psychopath utilized his impressive acrobatics to evade the Hell's Fang. His attack having missed by a wide margin, he whirled about on the ball of his foot to face his enemy once again only to find a knife thrust rushing towards him. Not having time to dodge it completely, Ragna grunted in pain as the small blade pierced into his left shoulder only to be followed a moment later by the painful sensation of Hazama's serpent chain digging into his flesh as well. Thankfully it hadn't pierced his heart but that area of his body was already sore from the ice girl's earlier attack so the pain was only magnified. He could already tell he had lost some mobility in his left arm but Ragna wasn't about to give in just yet. His partial dodge may not have been enough to escape Terumi's thrust but it had been enough of a rotation around the specter to put the Bloodedge clear of Hakumen's assault. Looking to maintain the offensive, his left hand flew upward to grasp Terumi's thin forearm with a vice-like grip. With a firm hold on the slender NOL Captain, the Grim Reaper could ensure there would be no more fancy gymnastics for the next assault. Drawing the Blood-Scythe with his right hand in a traditional grip, he glared daggers at Hazama. "This is gonna hurt you sadistic bitch!" he growled as he thrust his massive sword at the base of Hazama's neck. A clean blow could impale the fiend or even decapitate him depending on where it struck but a glancing blow could be just as fatal if Ragna could manage to cut a major blood vessel in Terumi's neck. Then again, the ghost was a crafty bastard.

"Ah, I am soooo sorry for that stinging pain of slowly spreading deadliness! I see, just like the old Rags I used to know! Never give up! Heheeeeehehe!""
Hakumen's blade was swung from afar, Ragna successfully grabbed Terumi's arm. The odds were against the green haired villian. But as always he still laughed it off like it was nothing! The reason for that was always mysterious and considering his tricky and somewhat random behaviors, it could've a dangerous source alltogether. In this case it was exactly that wicked mysteriousness that was about to strike... the pain in Ragna's shoulder started to spread suddenly... it was a ripping pull, almost as if something was hooked inside his flesh. ..... the Ouroboros that came with the knife! Even if Hazama was hold into spot and unable to move like he wanted to, his Nox Nyctores did the rest. Using Ragnas back as an anchor point of his snake chains, Hazama pulled himself towards it. He actually was pretty close to Ragna already, but that sudden movement was mostly throwing the Grim Reaper out of balance as it helped Terumi to get out of the attacks just in time. The pain increased.
"You are mine, Rags~ ♥"
With a provoking seducing voice he aspirated the words into Ragna's ear as his free arm - which pulled the chain - suddenly swinged around to try getting the chain around the Bloodedge's neck....

Hakumen watched the madness ensuing, using this mode of power, he moved in quickly on the psychotic Terumi and swept the blade in a method that would ensure prime control; he could have simply cut through the beast and ended it. But with things as they were, the Silver knight was considering that fact that they shared this goal. Destroying him here would not serve his purpose: one thing at a time was how he planned for this to work. "Prepare yourself Terumi!" the attack came in a swift overhead slash, Ookami was something that would allow him to complete his mission; the weapon that could stop even Terumi's ability to regenerate, this would be the undoing of the evil that creature left. He aimed true to slice Terumi's head clear in two with this attack; though had enough control that he could stop it...if need be. The preservation of his unwanted ally was something he kept in mind.

The kaka's body was jerking alive as he clutched his spear, he had been ordered to capture Hakumen, though he knew well the odds of that going. Was he going to face down the Silver Knight? Even with Majamu present right now, they'd be sliced to bits...plus this NOL Captain was here, Hazama...but strangely enough, the legendary hero called him 'Terumi'. This was not on Kageo's knowledge prior to this situation, so he made a quick notice of it mentally while still holding Kagennotsuki. "Danger Parameters critical, preparations for seithr resonance battle shift preparations complete, Idea Engine standing by.' The mechanical voice sounded off one staple fact: Kageo's body moved into the equivalent of his major battle modes. He held the spear and had already begun calculating the best plans of attack should they suddenly become targets...defending Noel would be prime as his objective. It was his choice to consider that option, Majamu was a close second in his mindset.

At such power levels he could temporarily meet the present battle powers...only at peak power and not for very long as a period of time. He estimated a maximum limit of perhaps three minutes before his body reached critical...no probably 2 minutes. Normally Seithr resonance (as the more powerful between it and Artifice resonance) was far less stable, but the area seemed to be full of it, the immediate zone could very well toxify his systems from being opened up in that mode. It hardly mattered at the moment to the kaka, once he engaged both...the action would be made to count should it come to it. For now he made no real active moves, he had simply been in a defensive posture.