Alternate path [COMBAT, PRIVATE Lexia, Arik, Yuuki]

First topic message reminder :

He turned and twisted the small hourglass around. Surely it was just an empty piece of junk sitting inside a worn out brass ring. It did not create a good first impression, but this was what Master Horus led him to. And it was what Oak Hollow wanted as well. He was back within the safety of Xastristan, a world of endless roads and towering skyscrapers among even the middle class who could afford apartments in this district. Giant holographic billboards would advertise trending products or just showcase eye-candy for the perverted. It was all he could see from the window of this decent hotel. They had enough money to stay for a week at most. By now, he had planned to take upon the arts of witch hunting once more, or at least find a local pub to bartend. But with the current injuries he had, it would make such a task almost impossible. Still, the place was rather decent. But nothing outstanding. A small lounge with basic furniture and appliances, a kitchen attached and two bedrooms, though they would share one bathroom.

Sly ducked any questions the receptionist threw at them regarding their injuries, but all he requested was a first aid kit. But the man decided to call an ambulance as well, at least to get the two checked up. Sly was given a pair of crutches and Lexia, during her unconsciousness, was given proper treatment for all of her injuries. He told them they were in a tussle against some petty thugs. It was not entirely untrue. That was a few hours ago, and finally they could enjoy the rest of their stay in peace. It was a sunny day, the sun piercing through the windows and casting their light upon the carpet floor in front of the television. Sly had flicked it open to a news channel, starring a woman who had too many layers of make up over her face - and perhaps plastic surgery. As he listened to her drilling through redundant information, Sly pulled a glass from the kitchen and poured cold water from the tap. When he got back to the couch, the hourglass sitting on the coffee table before him, the scene in the corner of the television depicted that of Temporal ruins.

"In other news, eyewitnesses have reported seeing a series of explosions coming from the direction of the rural attraction site, Temporal Ruins. They claimed to have witness Oak Hollow forces opening fire on the sacred and preserved landmark of our world, destroying countless of infrastructure built by ancient civilisation. A week ago, the organisation had filed to perform an excavation on the rest of the ruins and have closed the attraction from any tourists until it is complete. The leader of the organisation cannot be reached for further comments, but they released a statement through a proxy email, stating that the destruction of the ruins is well within the bounds of their contract, and that it is necessary to reach further into the site. However, before they could set foot in this new and confirmed hidden portion of the ruins, their attack has flooded that entire portion of the ruins, rendering it inaccessible to us humans. The Government will not tolerate such actions against a renown site as Temporal Ruins that existed long before humans have arrived, and they will hold a conference to decide what actions to take against Oak Hollow.

"Furthermore, eyewitnesses also have claimed they saw a huge dragon-like silhouette escaping the ruins after Oak Hollow bombed the attraction to the ground. It was last seen heading towards Xastristan, but our borders reported no such siting until now. No comment was given from Oak Hollow. The species of such beast is not known, but to ensure the safety of our citizens, anyone who has seen any large beasts around Xastristan are advised to report this to local authorities immediately.

"This is just in, Oak Hollow has released another statement, claiming that a dangerous high-profile target was sited within the ruins, along with a female accomplice. They insisted these two are the reason why they levelled the fabled Temporal Ruins as they have stolen important and potentially dangerous artefacts from the ruins. They refuse to describe what these items are, but they have promised a large reward if the culprits are caught."

The whole screen then flashed an old photograph of Sly, heavily pixelated. Sly recognised it to be the family photo of Master Horus' house, and it was no surprise to him that Oak Hollow knew of his doings. The news would continue to state that Oak hollow was looking for this man. At least they did not know his name, and Sly pretty much had a blank record when the earliest memories he could recall was being taken in as a butler to Horus. Next to his picture was purely a black silhouette. All they knew of her was that she is a female.

Sly did not listen to the rest of it before turning it off with a remote. What could he do next was but a mystery. He doubted anyone within the hotel would recognise him. The photo was ten years ago, and his face had lengthened by then. But still, there would be people coming after them. Oak Hollow was well acquainted with the Government. He doubted anything the Government said in the news were true. More like they were holding a conference to determine where to look for the artefacts. Sly huffed a sigh, downing the glass. Before he set out with Lexia, he was casted from Horus' mansion. He did not have anywhere to go, and never really thought about it until now. Perhaps he could find some easy targets in the Board of Bounties.

Lexia watched as the blue pieces spilled forth from the timepiece, the familiar form of the sword reappaearing at Slys side. It's form was something that Lexia never thought that she would see again so soon, so soon after those ruins...

She quickly would shake her head, her fingers clicking in a rather peculiar order. Instantly, Nithya would almost nod to Lexia, before wandering off to the side. Non aggressively, he would approach the strange other man, the hood pulled over his head. His head was curiously tilted to the side and, as non aggressively as he could, Nithya nudge Arik with his feathery head. Hopefully Arik would recognise that Nithya wasn't to attack, but merely wanted to steal as many pats as he possibly could steal from the funny smelling human.

Lexia, seeing that Nithya has left the two of them, gave Sly a rather nervous grin. Sure, her back flared at almost any signs of movement, but Lexia would push that to the side. The ruins were a giant test, one in which she really shouldn't have survived. The fragments of the bullet had mangled her back, the surgeons doing the best which they could to patch the skin together. They had successfully achieved that but time was the main thing which would restrain the injury from being healed completely. The medications she took would ensure that there would be minimal to no scarring but she hated that it took so long merely to patch the injury.

A gentle sheet of rain came down, Lexia almost flinching as it struck her bare skin for a few moments before a familiar blue shield was raised around them. She looked across to Sly, who seemed incredibly calm about this. Even if he was injured, almost to the point of being a cripple, Lex understood that he was still incredibly dangerous. The ruins proved that when he was stuck on his abdomen and back, his legs being crushed. To save her sorry hide.

At his request, Lexia would nod, a hand simply lowering from her hip and held towards him. The opposing hand help the five blood stones, which were brimming with the desire to be used. Lexia shoved the feeling into a box. "I'll need you to give me some, if that's how you wish to create your pieces." Lexia said with an equally quiet voice, her eyes locking with Yuuki and Arik, watching their every movements which they made. She wouldn't be able to attack until Sly had given her the items which she needed. That being said, Lexia still had access to her own daggers which she could use to return to the offensive against them. A quick glance at Sly would give her another suggestion.

Defend.

Lexia's eyes settled on their opponent again and she just hoped that her pet would be able to sit the fight out this once...

And... of course, this rain was not getting any better. Yuuki knew she had already thought about this before, but why did they pick the rooftops? This would not serve this fight in any way, not unless they had some special rain power that they hadn't revealed, but that was possible. Yuuki didn't know their abilities, but they didn't know hers. She guessed it was on equal grounds. At least veil prison wasn't off limits, thank god for that too. That was one of her few defense moves she had available.

Close quarters on the wet ground would be troublesome however. There was high chance of her slipping and falling, but if she could get in close then maybe she could seize the advantage. After all, from what she had noticed so far, the other two combatants were so injured that they were barely able to move without causing themselves intolerable pain.

"One on two, two on two, it matters not. Us two are going to team against you."

Hmm. Then Arik could provide assistance. But she didn't know what kind of assistance, since Arik still seemed to be too much of a coward to really display any of his noteworthy abilities. Maybe he could just provide helpful support from the sidelines, like a personal cheerleader. Wait, no. That image was just a bit too disturbing. Aiko would be a much better fit. The happy-go-lucky girl was full of energy, after all. Yet her mentor and her had seemingly completely opposite personalities... it was a shock that they actually got along. Then again, the saying had something to do with "opposites attracting", right?

Yuuki pushed that thought away for now. She had to focus on the impending fight. She could feel her body tensing up, feet flexing onto the balls of her foot to step lighter. Her body slightly shifted into a familiar fighting stance, hands slowly creeping towards her hidden weapons. She had two sais stored on the back of her waist, and magazine clips clipped to the sides of her belt. Two pistols were hidden inside her long coat in shoulder holsters, just waiting to be pulled out and fired. Other gadgets were resting in other hidden places on her body.

The young woman carefully watched as the blonde man manifested a sword in his hand in a circle of blue and white light. A few more pieces were constructed, coming to rest behind the man, as a semi-transparent blue dome seemed to hover around both of her opponents. A shield from the looks of it, considering that the rain wasn't able to penetrate through. The pieces however... Yuuki was thoroughly confused. What was their purpose? Was it a trap? She had only heard about the pocket watch, and nothing of its rumored abilities. She would have to keep on guard like always. She resisted a sigh. This was why she didn't like confronting people in fights. She was an assassin; a physical fight was the last thing she wanted.

Yuuki tensed as the blue wolf-like creature padded up to Arik and butted its head against the raven-haired young man, seeming like it wanted to get pet. Well, if Arik could pre-occupy the creature, then that left only 2 injured ones for Yuuki to combat. Maybe it'd allow her some more breathing room. She could slightly notice their mouths moving as they whispered to each other, but the wind and rain obscured her vision from reading their lips.

She just hoped that Arik had enough sense to help establish some sort of playing field that could let Yuuki have the slight upper hand. Her ear communicator would be too dangerous to use, seeing it would be possible to read her lips, so she wasn't going to take that chance.


---
Materials:

Two pistols (24 bullets remaining)
Two sais
8 smoke pellets
6 tranquilizer darts, 1 tranquilizer gun
6 magazines (12 bullets each)

So it was two against three. In reality, it was more like one against two and a half, as he was almost useless in this situation and the other two didn't seem in the greatest of shape. They must think that they're fantastic fighters in any situation to want to go against two healthy people. The only one that didn't look injured was the animal, and it looked like it would give them the most fight. If it was fighting. He noticed the creature was approaching him and tensed- the creature wasn't being threatening, instead it looked rather curious. But he couldn't help but wonder if it had other plans on it's mind, or if it saw something else in him. Arik stilled as the creature came closer, trying to show that he wasn't a threat either. The dark creature nuzzled his hand, and Arik tried not to let a smile show on his face. Animals had always fancied him.

The man wouldn't be able to hold back for long and began to scratch the pooch starting with the simple top of the head. He'd keep going until he found the sweet spot, getting down on a knee to be more level with the creature. Maybe he'd just be able to help in this way, he was sure Yuuki could handle the two.

As he set up his initial structures, the two DS members remained at their spot, as if expecting Sly or Lexia to make their first move. That, or they were both analysing their movements. Not that Sly could ever move forward anyways with his legs still healing. Both his structures finished their build, the Amplifier and the Sentry. While the amplifier looked nothing more than a pawn, the Sentry appeared as a large white mechanical mantis with an elongated head. Locking on its targets, it moved its arms to the head, 'connecting' with it before launching 6 marbles towards them, 3 each. The marbles would quickly open into hiltless blades and spin, attempting to slice at anything in their paths. If they land, the wounds would not be as severe, burying up to the muscles, but it would be painful and crippling to their movements.

As the Sentry fired, Sly slashed Mirage across the ground in front of him, causing the blade to glow and absorb the sudden momentum, before a blue javelin would appear in front of Lexia, floating before her. I cannot move from my spot, Sly said quietly, hoping the rain would drown out his voice. Of course, it would be ineffective if either of them had sensitive hearing. You will have to be our blade if I am the shield.

Sly continued to scrape the ground with Mirage, if the two were not going to attack them by now. nd he transferred the pieces into making the lances, until he had made five and deemed it enough for her. While the Amplifier would not seem to do anything, the sentry next to it would have to reload after firing the initial six marbles. By which, Sly would have been open to attack.

--

Health: 80%
Pieces: 0%

Structures:

Mirage blade
Mirage amplifier
Pulse Sentry (0/6 ammo)
5x Mirage lances

Even though his suggestions were so easy, Lexias hand ached a little from slamming it into the mirror. She shivered a little, Why are so tense~ You know that you're able to rip everyone here to pieces!! damn that voice! It laughed gleefully, an excited cackle coming from it and echoing in her mind. Yuuki's arms moved, Lexia's careful watching picking that up. They slide down, but reaching for something, what, Lexia would never be able to figure out. But the two refused to move for the time being. She pulled a slight face, not wanting to have to make the first move.

Lexia didn't even flinch when the sentry fired its weapon. Wait. NITHYA! Lexia's face was instantly torn about to cry out and warn Nithya, but it seemed that he already knew. The little foenix, even though he was loving the scratches from Arik, was watching the fight. As the sentry turned and even looked like it was going to fire, Nithya jumped forward and lowered his head. His shoulder would try and hit Arik in the chest, before the two would, hopefully, collapse and fall underneath the three blades. If it were successful, neither would be hurt. If it wasn't, Nithya would take all three blades and collapse on Arik's lap, trying not to whimper in his lap.

With a rather peeved expression on her face, she snatched the lance from air in front of her. "Please. Don't. Fire at my pet again." Lexia said rather firmly, exhaling slowly to calm the rush of adrenaline that, for a split second, wanted her to attack her own team mate. "If you want me to be an aggressor... Just remember to protect yourself. Make sure that you keep your own defences up and leave the pieces to me." Lexia whispered in return, her head slightly turned to further skew what she was saying, the rain's sound and water along with the blue glow from the shield would obscure what she said.

Hes got my back... Now just don't fail. Lexia thought and almost prayed to herself, flicking the lance to point the long end down onto the ground. She grunted quietly, the movement agitating her back, a fresh flow of blood welling in the scab. Don't suppose you could hold back the pain again? She asked herself internally, but the voice responsible for it cackled a little. It was clear that all it wanted was bloodshed. Hers or otherwise satisfied it.

The lance was just over her body height, a sharp, pointy tip on both ends. The end against the ground was the primary end, but both were deadly. She held it easily, not planning to use it straight away, the secondary tip's length resting across her back and the end spearing into the air harmlessly behind her. Just like her own lance. She felt the primary tip of the lance scrape across the ground as she exhaled, walking forward slowly. Lexia left the protection of the shield, but she knew the timepiece well enough how to generate the pieces for Sly.

Lexia smiled, the rain covering her in a few moments. The ground was slippery, but nothing compared to what she had been through in the past. With a firmer upwards pull, Lexia knew she didn't have the momentum behind her to complete the movement easily. She would turn on the spot in an anti-clockwise fashion to build up her own speed again. Lexia would then locate Yuuki and throw the lance forward with surprising speed and force, aiming for Yuuki's chest. Due to the small area, Yuuki wouldn't have much time to react.

Lex would appear unarmed, her hand ready to hit into her side to break the stones at a moments notice  so she would have something to act with. Lex wouldn't let Yuuki rest though, breaking into a surprisingly fast sprint. If the lance hit or not, Lex would try and snatch the lance back into her grasp at the hilt, then move to do something similar to a sideways swipe across Yuuki's legs if she were within 6 feet of Lexia.

A grin tugged at the corners of her mouth.

---

Well. I suppose I need stats. . .

Stones: All of them still.
Health: 90%

Yuuki crossed her arms, tapping her fingers impatiently against her biceps. It looked like neither wanted to make the first move then? The blonde-haired man who had created the dome seemed like he wouldn't be moving anytime soon, with his crutches and all. But that definitely did not mean he wasn't going to help his companion. Did that mean he was going to provide support? He had crafted those strange objects after all.... Yuuki was even more convinced that those were some types of traps, not that she could be sure. She frowned at Arik when the blue wolf creature padded up to him, where Arik would pet him rather hesitantly. Was the wolf a distraction? Nonetheless, Arik still proved to be useless in this fight. Shaking her head, she turned back towards the two, when she was suddenly greeted with the appearance of blades speeding right past her.

Yuuki blinked slightly, but almost jumped out of her spot when she saw where those blades were headed. Yuuki had half in mind to bolt towards Arik, but it seemed like the wolf had already gotten there first. But there were more important things at hand, not that Arik wasn't important or anything. She eyed the sentry cautiously. So she was right. Sly would be supporting Lexia then. Supplying weapons as well, by the looks of the lances he had just created.

She uncrossed her arms when Lexia wandered closer, as she spun in a counter-clockwise fashion before she threw the javelin with surprising force straight at Yuuki's chest. If it hadn't been for Yuuki's excellent observation skills, she would not have seen Lexia subtlely move her arms to aim.

Reacting quickly, Yuuki sidestepped to the left, her hand reaching for her sai just in time for Lexia to rush up and grab the lance again, attempting to swipe at Yuuki's legs. Yuuki held up her sai just at the right angle for the lance to slam in between one of the prongs. Yuuki quickly twisted her grip, locking the sai in place in an attempt to prevent further movement of the lance. With her free hand, Yuuki whipped out her second sai. With a smooth flick of her wrist, she flipped the weapon around so the blunt yet hard handle was facing outwards. With her other sai still locking the lance in place, Yuuki slid forward to punch the handle at Lexia's stomach.


(good... good enough. o3o)


____________________

Materials:

Two pistols (24 bullets remaining)
Two sai
8 smoke pellets
6 magazines (12 bullets each)


Using:

Two sai

Arik was half-mindedly trying to keep track of the fight going on, but the creature held most of his attention. He wasn't expecting to be pushed down by the beast, but it caught him off guard and if he didn't notice the knives, the were would have thought that the canine-like animal was trying to attack him, or keep him immobilized. But he was divided- was it a distraction so that he wouldn't notice something coming at him, or did the creature actually want to protect him? Depending on how the foenix acted after this, he would either lightly pet it while watching the fight more closely, or tune out again like he did earlier.