destinystrings | Conquestum Paradisi

He'll take that as a sign you're alright, reporter guy. He doesn't have any healing powers on him, but he looks over at Rune's persona for a moment before moving to lead Tomokazu towards the exit.

He completely brushes past what the other's saying - "Can you walk?"

If he can't, that makes Ferrus's life a bit harder. But whatever.

He gives Rune a quiet nod, too - thankful for her putting out the flames, but not wanting to confuse the reporter any.

Edited 2013-01-25 04:23 (UTC)

The reporter nods automatically to this response before he suddenly pulls away from Ferrus and stumbles back. The man shakes his head.

"...You're not natives."

How he can tell apart from the Hinoto-Ri Daily News keeping a count on every new arrival to the city for maximum stalking purposes is a mystery.

"What are you wasting time on me for?! Go show them they're wrong! Give 'em hell! We don't need a group of assholes around to 'save' us!"

"We're helping the people get out before we take the fight to them," Rune replied. "Instead of babbling like that, you should be helping."

She called Undine back over, using a much needed Dia spell on the reporter.

"We'll take the fight to them after we're sure innocents won't be killed." Even if you're a sleazy reporter, you're innocent. He looks over at Rune, appreciative for the Dia on this guy.

"Others are already attacking." What the hell are a thin, lanky guy and a little girl going to do? Jeez, dude.

Tomokazu looks dissatisfied with this answer, though he stands up a little straighter after being healed. He wipes the blood off of his forehead slowly and shakes it off on the ground.

"...Tch. They've already been killed. Who would have thought, in the Grand Prix..."

He grits his teeth again as he shakes his head, conflicting emotions running across his features.

"There's... only one way I can help. You... There are too many here who need your help. Go to them! The people of the city have to see this, and it's my job to show it to them! After this, you'd have to be out of your mind to side with those assholes! I... I have to show the truth...!"

He sounds scared out of his mind, but his words carry a certain resolve.

"I'm not afraid of these cowards!"

((An attacker may be leaping in soon!))

"...you could try to not sound so scared..." Rune muttered under her breath, absently cocking her gun over her shoulder and blasting an Anoli that thought they could get lucky with a shot of wind.

He seems to understand the other's resolve, but he's not about to just let the other go - especially if he's dedicated to staying.

However, the statement about not being afraid trips a warning bell in Ferrus's mind - "We'll help you." He sounded final - despite his body type, he was being definitive. There were other people who could be helped, but Ferrus wasn't backing off now.

"You show the truth, we keep people from stopping you." It sounded reasonable, even if the other didn't seem to think so. They could drag him along while they helped more people, if it came to that; the chaos was rampant. It wouldn't be hard to help people get out.

"Ha."

A masked woman appeared, letting out a single, forced laugh. It's hard to tell from the mask but the figure does not appear to even acknowledge Rune or Ferrus.

"You're still alive? Color me surprised."

"What; don't be stupid! This... This is the natural timbre of my voice!"

Pre-puberty, maybe. Tomozaku is about to respond to Ferrus's words when he is interrupted by a harsh laugh. The man whirls around towards the speaker, his eyes growing wide at the sight of the mask.

But he knows the sound of that voice...

"........Mo -- Mochizuki...?"

He lets loose the name in a gasp of breath.

Oh christ.

He'll move between Mochizuki and Tomozaku, drawing his gun and being prepared to defend the other if it's necessary.

Fuckin' Anoli, man.

The figure doesn't even appear to flinch when the man in the gasmask pulls a gun out on her. She does not even reach for the sword at her side.

She only gives Ferris the slightest tilt of the head before addressing the reporter again.

"Tomokazu-san. You disappoint me. You're supposed to be the voice of Hinoto-Ri, no? And yet you chose to associate with vermin."

"Vermin?!"

The man's expression gives way to a blank surprise

"What, the Visitors? The Visitors are people, Mochizuki! Waking up here nine years ago as opposed to, to... I don't know, yesterday doesn't make any difference! I don't care if they leave or stay; who the hell cares about all that?!"

"You want to talk about vermin...?!"

Behind him, the camera had surreptitiously turned on of its own accord.

"Then explain your friends! You call yourselves saviors after murder?! When have the Anoli ever done anything for us? Mochizuki... How could you...?!"

Still prepared to fight back, he doesn't visually respond to the other calling him vermin - if anything, he expected it.

Still aiming a gun, though. He'll sit back until the other attacks.

Rune didn't know what the heck was going on, just that this person was obviously one of those Anoli, and they weren't on good terms with obnoxious reporter guy. She stood up as well, both her guns trained on the person, just waiting for an excuse to fire.

The only thing Tomokazu's words manage to stir in Mochizuki is a painful headache. Her hand touches against her temple. She does not turn to look at the girl.

"I don't have to explain myself to you. Even if I tried, nothing I say is going to change your mind. You are nothing more than a Government Pet, the same as the rest of 'them'. The fact that you do not see these freeloaders for who they truly are is proof of this!"

She's about to say something else, but she cuts herself off. She shakes her head.

"Why am I even wasting my breath?"

She throws her arm out, accompanied with a bright flash of light.

"Azrael!"

Awww no. Ferrus doesn't bother making any fanfare in summoning his own persona - instead, a gun seems to form above his body, taking aim at Mochizuki. Aw yeah, mutation skills.

Then it's time to just start firing his pistol at Mochizuki; it's not his bolter, at the moment, but a revolver. She'd summoned her persona - and he wasn't waiting to get hit with a spell before he attacked.

Ferrus is smart to shoot first and ask questions later. As a resuly, Mochizuki doesn't get a chance to cast magic. That should buy the others time to act.

She is far too busy blocking the bullets Ferrus is sending her way with lightning-fast slashes of her katana - wait wait? She didn't have that pulled that out before!

"Hmph. Annoying."

"Who are you calling a freeloader?!"

Rune begins firing as well, just a tick out of sync with Ferrus, with Undine hovering back, ready to be called upon if healing was needed. She isn't using any of her elemental settings -- not yet, anyway -- sticking to normal rounds.

"We agreed to come here because we wanted to help a world that was dying!" she continued. "Your government deciding to help us was just a nice gesture, nothing more!"

Damn right he's shooting first. Last time he didn't, the dude he was against blew himself up.

Since then, he's made a habit of shooting first.

The katana response only earns her an annoyed sound as he moves to firing the revolver with one hand, thankful for his glove keeping his wrist from snapping as he draws the other revolver, speedily alternating shots between them. By the time he's run out of bullets, he's off to automatics - and he's timing it with Rune's shots to try and keep her from doing anything but blocking shots.

Worst case scenario, he can start hucking lightning balls at her.

So remember when they had started delegating jobs and whatnot?

Tomokazu decides that his, at the moment, is to not get killed. As the shooting begins, he has the sense to hurl himself to the ground and take cover behind a set of bleachers. Behind him, the automated camera swoops in overhead to get a better view of the fight.

"Rather be a pet than a fucking murdering bitch."

He wasn't Anoli, but that didn't mean he had to be nice. The reporter turns on his microphone and begins to speak quickly and clearly.

"Terror continues to mount in the Attack at the Grand Prix as many in the crowd reveal themselves to be affiliated with those arbiters of chaos, the Anoli. Continuous on-the-scene footage will be provided; folks, this reporter isn't going anywhere even if he wanted to! We open now to a live broadcast of a heated battle in the works; journalist Kiyoko Mochizuki, minor celebrity of some little renown with the Hinoto-Ri Local News, appears to have donned a mask to engage our Visitors in battle. Nothing is confirmed at this time, but it does appear as if she has chosen to side with the enemy. Two unidentified Visitors are currently engaged, one of them a young girl. Folks, the Anoli could be anywhere tonight, anyone and anywhere; at the risk of causing undue concern, we must once again urge you to stay in your homes."

He continues on in this vein for some time, though the others are probably too busy fighting to catch it.

((Feel free to skip me now in favor of the fighting! I'll respond if anything is directed his way.))

It takes Mochizuki until both Rune and Ferris are in sync with their attacks for her to realize the reporter had left the scene. And, unfortunately, she's much too busy dealing with the vermin to figure out where he had crawled to.

"Damn it!"

The Anoli had made a grave mistake. Tomokazu may have been a fool but he was a fool who knew who she was. She should have concealed herself and kept her cover... no, her decision to attack Tomokazu was not the problem. She should have finished him off. Made sure he was truly dead before moving on. But now she has to deal with these pathetic distractions, and as much as her, they are proving to be more of a challenge than she had anticipated.

The katana can only block so much and it was becoming a nuisance. The Anoli jumps back. She throws her arm out when a bullet hits her in the side. The hit knocks the breath out of her, and she lets out a pained gasp but...

Strangely, getting shot doesn't phase her. Mochizuki turns her masked face in Rune's direction.

"... You truly do not understand, do you?"

There is actual pity in her voice. Whether it's genuine or patronizing, Mochizuki gives no clear indication. Instead she throws her wrist out and, with a loud yell -

"Then allow me to enlighten you! Azrael!"

The Anouli casts a hideous bout of Foul Breath on Rune. Mochizuki jumps again after, trying to put distance between her and her enemies.

Rune had to stop her barrage at that, putting a hand over her mouth as she coughed harshly. Stupid status ailment boosters; some of the beasts in the frontier had them too, and they were annoying.

She raised a hand, motioning to Undine. The Persona cast Aques, though not directly at Mochizuki or her Persona; it was aimed at the ground, hoping to trip her up with all her jumping around.

Status ailments? What were status ailments? Ferrus didn't get one of the boosters, and what with his mask's filter it was debatable how well they would have worked. His Persona levelled itself at the Anoli, again, as well - no room to miss. Ferrus could hear where the announcer was (hearing implants rock) and he was satisfied with attempting to drive her away from that general area.

So yeah, hey, Mochizuki. Enjoy a barrage of bullets! He'll be moving forward to try and push you back, as well.

((ooc: Do you mind if I use any of Ferrus's powers? He might be able to unleash what amounts to a taser on her or basically magnetic-pull at her katana. ))

It's becoming very apparent to Mochizuki that things were going downhill very quickly. Even her quickly thought-up plans are going awry. The thought that she might actually have to use stronger magic, on the Visitors no less, makes her blood boil. Tomokazu had been her only target! How did things come to this?

She lets out a loud snort. The barrage of bullets hit their mark, but they don't do much damage to her. But what Ferrus's attack does manage to do is get her on the move. The Anoli did not pay much mind to Rune, and despite Mochizuki's speed the pooling of water catches her off-guard. She slips, losing her footing and falling.

"I'm done playing games!"

Azrael hovers nearby, ready for her next order. The Anoli throws her hand out again, and the Persona casts Guillotine. Dark energy flows from it's scepter and launches at Ferrus. It's meant more to get back onto her feet, and she does so covertly while Azrael attacks.

[ ooc: sure, feel free! Mochizuki still has a few tricks herself, so I hope that's fine!

Also, I thought I had shown you a reference to her persona so I figured I'd do that now! Sorry about that! ]

[ ooc: Definitely! Not sure how hard Guillotine hurts beyond being LARGE DAMAGE x2, but he's just gonna brave through it here and you can define how hard it hurts if you feel it'll hurt more or less. :D Otherwise he's just gonna be like OW when this is over. ALSO he is unsilenced, ran an RNG and it declared 39/100 for the attack. :)

Also, just skipping Rune - whomever wants to tag, feel free to tag next. ]

Ferrus hadn't been playing games in the first place: Mochizuki could suck it, for all he cared. The slip was a prompt for Ferrus to actually jolt forward, sprinting in spite of her calling down Azrael on him.

He took the Guillotine head on. It hurt like a motherfucker, but Ferrus was not giving into the pain - he was hurt, yes, but he wasn't going to fall just from a single spell.

(Even if it did obscene phys damage.)

He'd take advantage of her having fallen, of course - his left hand would reach out to initiate a strong magnetic pull on really anything on her. The focus was, reasonably, her katana. Hope you were prepared for that, Mochizuki! It's relatively easy to pull away from, but he's hoping to waste your time you could spend escaping.

(If he had his chance, he was planning to literally tackle you, so...)

Edited 2013-01-26 21:53 (UTC)

Conquestum Paradisi

THERE, ORDER FROM HERE ON IS FERRUS -> TOMO -> RUNE

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