Ragna's Location

Squatting in an unused house was not something Ragna was prone to do. But, with the increase in the Library's presence in the city, even he could figure out that it was best for someone as wanted as himself to stay out of sight. "Such a huge pain in the ass," he sighed as he took a glance out of the second floor window.

Shaking his head lightly, he let the curtain fall back onto place as he turned and grabbed his weapon from where it was propped against a small writing desk. As luck would have it, Ragna had picked a house that had not had living people in it for sometime. This meant that there was no surplus food he could steal. This meant that he had to go locate some within Orient Town. Without any money. And with Library agents on the prowl.

"Really huge pain in the ass."

Bang marched down the street of the market merrily with his two cohorts in tow. The grin he wore was so large it forced him to close his eyes. His chest was puffed out so far it made him look like a balloon. Bang paused every few steps to admire some new product or food the vendors were selling only to continue walking.

"Today's the day you two! Today I do swear I shall win the heart of Ms. Litchi! Let any who disagree speak now!" without warning, Bang leapt forward and pointed his index finger at a passing pedestrian. "WELL!!!?" the confused man averted his eyes and shuffled along at a quicker pace. In the background, the red and blue ninja facepalmed at their boss' antics. Bang rested his hands upon his hips before hurling a small black object at his feet. "Come one and all witness the power of an Ikaruga ninja as I disappear in a cloud of smoke!"

"Um..Boss...that's not a smoke bomb. It's just a bomb." the red ninja said, more than a bit worried. No sooner had Bang looked down did the bomb explode, sending him rocketing in a comedic manner to a less crowded section of the market district. He slammed into the roof of an old house before breaking through and falling to the dusty floor below. There he remained for several moments until his senses returned and he realized he was not alone.

Ranga jumped backwards from the source of the crash. He held his sword behind him, ready to strike if the other intruder proved to be hostile. He narrowed his eyes against the dust that was kicked up from the unknown crashing through the table onto the floor. He kept a firm grip on his blade and crouched into a ready stance. He hoped he wouldn't have to fight anyone as he was not at all in the mood for it.

With a small grunt, Bang leapt to his feet, his boot spread in a wide stance. With his fists braced firmly on his hips, he laughed out loud. "HaHa! Winds of justice have blown strong and true to deliver me to my foe! I know you, Ragna the Bloodedge...I am none other than the man destined to defeat you in pitched combat!" Without warning, Bang balanced on one leg and held his arms out wide. "I am...BANG SHISHIGAMI! Hero of love and justice for all! Including but not limited to cute little kittens!"

His every muscle tensed and quivered in excitement for the coming battle. Bang's thoughts were light and filled with the sensation of victory. Nothing could stop him now that victory was so close at hand. All he needed to do now was actually win the fight....for once.

"Oh...it's you. That ninja vigilante."

Ragna spoke with immediate disinterest at the prospect of fighting the obviously excited man before him. They had faced off a few times before and Ragna very well remembered beating the crap out of the ninja each time. "Oh, goddammit. Look, I am not in the mood to deal with you right now. So how about you just run along and save yourself and embarrassment of trying to fight me again."

Bang scoffed at the dhamphir's proposal somewhat insulted. "If you blade is half as quick as your tongue then you might have a chance against me. Ha! Who am I kidding? With justice on my side I cannot lose!" Bang, incredibly, was done talking for now. The time had come to put this criminal in his place. Gritting his teeth, Bang leapt forward in a flying sidekick aimed for Ragna's center of mass with an accompanying cry of "Hyacha!". In the event that Ragna managed to evade the kick, Bang would use the wall behind the Bloodedge to stop his momentum and land in a crouch before hurling a handful of nail shuriken at his crimson-clad oppenent.

Ragna did indeed evade the flying kick. He did so by side-stepping out of the way and bringing the razor edge of his blade up, aiming to strike the ninja in the head as he flew by. In the event that the attempted surprise failed, Ragna would then spin on the spot with an angry shout and aim his Hell's Fang at Bang's upper body.

Bang's opening kick proven ineffective as he sailed into the wall, nearly losing his head to Ragna's blade. However his luck held out and only the tip of his ponytail was severed causing Bang to go slightly wide-eyed. Landing gracefully, the Ikaruga ninja barely had time to bring his forearms up in front of his chest to guard against the Bloodedge's follow up attack. Bang's steel gauntlets held fast and parried the blow but the force was enough to throw Bang back a few feet, his back hitting the wall. Undaunted, the hero of love and justice punged forward, his upper body almost parellel to the ground in a full tilt, attempting to sweep underneath Ragna's guard. Once within striking range, Bang lashed out with his armored right fist, aiming for Ragna's solar plexus.

"FALCON PUNCH!!!!"

Ragna's vision went a little haywire as his head smacked against the wall. "Falcon what..?" he muttered as he heard the ninja shout. All the breath exited violently from his body as Bang's fist connected. Ragna went to one knee, coughing and holding his torso where Bang hit him. "All right, you son of a bitch," Ragna growled, "I am so done screwing around."

He quickly rose, bringing his blade up along with him as energy cracked across the weapon. As the weapon scraped across the floor and came up, a shape that appeared to be a black and red snout began to form. The head of some monstrous beast formed as the blade came up fully, not only cutting deeply into the ninja if he did not evade it but also leaving the man open to the impact of the head coming from the floor.

"DEAD SPIKE!!!"

Bang grinned with satisfaction as his fist connected, a small sparkle appearing on his teeth. Chuckling a little at Ragna boast, Bang answered back with one of his own. "Talk is cheap Bloodedge! Come and face the full power of IkaruGACK!!!" Bang was interrupted by Ragna's fierce attack, barely turning his body out of the way of that massive sword. However, in his desperation to evade the blade he had ignored the dark creation rising up from below and the Beast's snout caught Bang dead on. The power was so great that Shishigami was hurled upwards, crashing through the roof and thereby creating a hole similar to the one he made when he arrived.

At the apex of his flight, Bang's eyes flipped open and he returned to his senses. Using his powerful abdominal muscles, bang turned himself so he was upside down and vaulted off of what seemed like thin air. Using the secret chakra jumping technique of the Ikaruga ninja, Shishigami divebombed Ragna, intent on smashing through the roof with enough force to creat a small crater upon reaching the ground.

As the ninja rocketed through the roof, Ragna took fully regained his composure and pushed away from the wall. Looking briefly through the hole, he happened to notice that the ninja appeared to be returning downward a faster speed than when he flew up. A much faster speed. Ragna let out a frustrated sigh and moved to a far side of the room. He knew even if he made a break for it, the damn ninja would just follow him. It was better he put the troublesome ass out of commission right here.

"BIIIIG BAAAANG FINISH!!!!!!" Bang cried and he broke through the roof, creating a second identical hole next to his original one, and continued onwards to the foundation of the building. However, due to the high speed and rotation of his body, Bang was unable to see where he was going and smacked headlong into the earth, burying his head in the dirt. The ninja's legs shook back and forth a bit before finally finding the ground and pushing off, freeing Shishigami's head and giving him a much needed breath of fresh air. Bang seemed just a bit unsteady at this point, leaning back and forth uncontrolably.

"And now...for my next attack..." he said, a bit of a lisp creeping into his voice, before suddenly falling backwards into unconsciousness. Within seconds a loud snore echoed through the room and a small bubble of mucus appeared in Bang's nostril.

"The hell...?"

Ragna sighed and shook his head when he saw what had become of the ninja after he had crashed back through the roof. Finally done with the strange and annoying man, Ragna headed out of the damaged house into Orient Town. 'I'm gonna have to find a new place to hide out,' he thought as he lost himself quickly in the crowds. 'This is really starting to get on my nerves.'

The petite vampire found a large piece of debris, and sat primly upon it, awaiting the ninja's arrival into consciousness. From the looks of things, the Bloodedge had taken Shishigami for a ride. Crossing her legs and twirling Nago-brella, Rachel sighs softly to herself. "Oh, what a bother." Leaning down to hover over the ninja's face, the blonde vampress frowned.

"Wake up, Bang. I don't have time for you to be dawdling about like this."

Arakune followed Rachel into the area, instantly smelling the traces of the Azure Grimoire and forcing himself to hold back a shudder. The urge to pursue the scent was nearly unbearable, but Arakune had more important things to do.
The Azure comes later... he thought, hovering uncertainly to the left of the vampiress.
I b l eve I ha a bett r way. he muttered as the dark shroud that was his flesh bubbled and extended at the base, dispersing a rather large jellyfish-like insect which floated around for a second, before coming to rest of Bang's chest.
The creature settled there for a second before crawling over to Bang's left ear, via tendrils located below it, and creating a sharp whistling noise.
If Arakune's theory was correct, it should not only wake him, but give the ninja a rather bad headache too.

"YEAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGG!!!!!!!!" Bang shouted as he flew to his feet, senses blinded in his hlf asleep state. Utterly disoriented, he flailed wildly, crushing the noisy insect with a swift slap before performing a perfect double backflip to gain distance from the confusion. "Your tricks won't work on the likes of me Ragna the Blood--" Bang blinked as he realized the terrorist was nowhere to be seen and his only company was a small girl and the blob creature Arakune. True to his exuberant personality, Shishigami immediately misunderstood the situation and flew off the handle.

"Look out little Suzy!!! A vile beast approaches!!!!" he said picking up an old ruined sofa overhead. His muscles quivered slightly as he hurled the piece of furniture at Arakune, mistakenly believing he was attacking the child. "Where ever there is a child in tears and a villain with fears I SHALL BE THERE!!! For I am...BANG SHISHIGAMI!!!!!"

Rachel closed her eyes and made a slow count to five, sighing slightly in irritation. As the battered couch was sent tumbling towards her newest companion, the little vampire's eyebrow twitched. The whole of the room suddenly felt oppressive, as a silent, swift wash of heavy pressure descended on the threesome, the air charging with promised violence. With a thunderous crack, the poor sofa was zapped into nothingness, the white-hot flash of light giving away a single bolt of lightning as it struck the offending piece of living room furniture.

Lazily opening her crimson eyes, the tiny girl stared down the boisterous ninja with a less-than-pleased expression painted on her porcelain face; she was giving a go at patience for the time being, an attempt that was going to fast fail should the ninja continue his obnoxious behavior - and in all possibility, he would.

"Thank you for your concern, Shishigami, but my offensive acquaintance is really quite harmless." Twirling Nago-brella between her fingers, Rachel cocks her head to study Bang. "I see that you have been engaging the Bloodedge, with little result." She frowns thoughtfully. "Were you not to become stronger to as to have Litchi Faye-Ling's hand in marriage?"

Arakune decided that it would be appropriate to put on his best 'happy' personality, and raised a tendril to block the couch before a lightning bolt struck it in two.
Y s. Per ect y harml s ...Ex ept wh I'm eadly. he said, hoping that Bang wouldn't catch on to his little joke (Arakune is not a humourous person.)

Despite his lack of memory concerning his past life, what could have been Arakune's heartstrings were tugged on slightly by Rachel's last statement.
Is this what this is about? Are we trying to find Litchi's location? he wondered to himself, allowing his body to drift up next to Rachel's.

Bang moved to respond but at the mention of Ms. Litchi his firey heart melted into a haze of almost adolescent love. However, upon further examination of the girl's comment, bang's eyes watered and his spirit grew heavy. "I...I have failed Ms. Litchi? NO! Never!!! An Ikaruga Ninja knows not the meaning of the word failure! Nor does he know the meaning of antonym but that's besides the point! What business do you have here little Suzy? Can you not see my quarry has fled like a frightened child? I must give chase immediately!!!" Bang's hands were clinched into fists momentarily before relaxing and crossing across his chest. He would give this child her say before departing, it was only good manners afterall.

It was becoming ever increasingly difficult to remain patient with this man. Exhaling to keep calm, Rachel awaits a break in the ninja's rambling rant to jump in. When it finally seemed he was going to take a breath, the little vampress dove straight to the heart of the matter. "I have it on good authority that your 'beloved' is dealing with a very grave threat. A very grave one, indeed. At this exact moment, if I am not mistaken - and I never am." Nago-brella whirls around for a second of two as Rachel ponders her next move.

"She is holed up in her clinic; trapped, you might say. If you so wish to prove this love of yours, Shishigami, I suppose you could use this opportunity to step in and thwart her enemies..."

She bares a half smile. "You are quite good at making a mess of other's plans, you know."

Terumi. was Arakune's immediate thought when Rachel had finished her warning, his form becoming blurry for a moment before refocusing. An expression of worry?
Moving slightly closer to Rachel, Arakune leans in and spoke quickly and quietly.
Shishigami and I could easily cause Terumi to shuffle out of his mortal coil; but what of his cyborg? he asked her, seeing flaws in Rachel's plans - not even he could take on a Murakumo unit that easily.