maskormenacelogs | I can move mountains, I can work a miracle [OPEN]

[It was undoubtedly a long walk, after a long day and frankly an insanely long week for Kaneda. The chance passing by a group of three teenagers probably wasn't anything to even consider in that absorbed daze... Either way, it was blocks behind him and it wasn't until he'd well since passed that they LOOKED at each other... realizing WHY it was just so hard to notice the guy this punk had in his arms.

It's as Kaneda turns into that dark patch left by the broken lamppost that an ominous KKSSSTTT sound can be heard from above, tearing over one of the nearby roofs, and a heavy rush of wind blows down the street.]

[A second KKKSSTT follows after the first, this one a little rougher. It starts and stops, moving between rooftops along the other side of the street. If he looks very closely he might spot a darker figure darting from shadow to shadow above him.]

[ And in the stillness that follows, careful footsteps echo softly in the street behind him, mingling with the soft shhk of metal brushing metal. ]

[The moment he steps into that dark patch, the moment he hears the "KKSSSTTT" sound through the air, the shadows leaping in the corners of his eyes.

No.

This is not going to stop him from getting home.

Sorry Kazu, you're going to be treated slightly like a rag doll right now, hoisted up and over one of Kaneda's shoulders as he stops, using the other lampposts as his lights while he draws his knife from Sabriel out with the now-free hand.

Go on, move again. He dares you.]

[And that seems to confirm it. Between the fresh wear on Kazu's wheels, the faint singing of Kaneda's clothes (among ALL OF THE OTHER INJURIES) and the way he's handling his hostage.

This is clearly that Pan dickwad and that's HIS side character.

The wind becomes a roar overhead, electrical and phone wires begin to vibrate and scream in the gale. A black shape passes over the moon a moment before something slams into the ground just in front of Kaneda, cracking the pavement around him.

Ikki straightens, chin lifted and staring at Kaneda with shadowy features and bare aggression.]

That's my minion you've got there, buddy.

[Across the street, the second figure moves to the edge of the roof to watch, remaining silent through Ikki's confrontation. Closer to the light of the street lamps it's easier to see that it's a girl staring down at the pair of them.

The roaring wind whips up her hair, flaring the pigtails out behind her—almost like a pair of dark wings spread in the dim light.]

[ The lagging footsteps are drowned out in the storm of Ikki's descent, blending into the wind as if they belong there.

The third figure stops at the edge of the pools of light, the shadow of her backlit silhouette and the massive metal cross in front of her stretching out to where Kazu hangs off Kaneda's shoulder. Like the other girl, she watches, eyes flicking over Kazu and Kaneda both. ]

[Kaneda had been in neighborhoods like this back home. If you wandered off the designated safe paths even slightly, you were enemy territory, and whatever happened to you...no one would find you ever again. He'd become a master of traveling them, and even more so, getting himself out of situations like this.

His stance isn't shaken by the silouettes, shoulders squared and grip on Kazu's back all the more secure as he readjusts him, letting the knife roll across his fingers.]

Your minion?

[Yes, because if Pan's got -friends-, he can only imagine what -minions- are like. He didn't know this person--their voice wasn't familiar, and Kazu had never mentioned them in all the time that they met. For all he knew, this was just one of Pan's other suckers, trying to get back anything that might be important to Tetsuo.

Fuck. That.]

Oiiiiiiii you don't know when to give up, huh? Go run back to twinkletoes already. Kazu's mine, and I'm taking him back.

You heard me. My minion.

[He had no clue who 'twinkletoes' was, but Ikki didn't spend both of their lives ~~brainwashi-~~ ~~conditioni-~~ being friends with this weak-shadowed beanpole to let some magical floating tart claim him now.]

You're not taking him anywhere, ass berry. I'll put it on the line.

[It's a gesture, that in this world, is insignificant. A glint of metal, held up from where he pulled it from just inside of his collar. Betting his honor, his team on it. The fine line of just jumping this bastard like a punk and doing it by the rules. Whether this magical maniac got it or not didn't make a damn bit of difference to Ikki.

Besides, after having taken on who knows how many superheroes, this asshole was probably tired. Sloppy. MP bar drained.]

Lets settle this properly.

[He cracks his neck with a careless gesture, and skates forward... wearing something remarkably like Kazu's. He pushes up his sleeves, obviously intending a fight, knife or no knife.]

[Yayoi lets out an exasperated little huff of air. Was he really going to waste time on a challenge like this against some knife wielding abductor? She narrows her eyes and scowls down at him from the shadows—just take him and be done with it already.]

[ Kururu just shrugs at her, a little helplessly, and maybe a little proud. Ikki-kun is a Storm Rider. Settling it like this . . . it's the best way.

It was a little unorthodox, but this person had fought Kazu. And Kazu had been serious, serious enough that she could hear the still-cooling hiss of his regalia from here.

She holsters the cross back onto her back, and nods. ]

Battle type is one-on-one. 'Cube'.

[Confusion washes over Kaneda's face at the emblem being tossed out. Gears spin in his head, trying to work out just what he means by 'settle this properly'. It's a lot harder than you think, when you've just gotten back from fighting with Peter Pan himself, lugging home a friend who you had to literally beat some sense into.
And now Pan was coming to take whatever scraps of Tetsuo's life he could. ]

Fuck. That.

[It's cursed in venomous Japanese, turning Kazu's body away from Ikki protectively. Call it instinct from shielding Tetsuo all those years in Neo Tokyo.]

You can tell Pan to take it and SHOVE IT. Because he is NOT getting my FRIEND!

[He's not giving Kazu up. Not if Kaneda had a say in it. And he always would as long as he could draw breath.

"Battle type is one-on-one. 'Cube' "

The voice came from the third figure, watching with the second from a distance. Was this a duel now? What did 'Cube' mean? Information is swimming in his head, and he's got to think fast.

His eyes flick to that emblem, and then to Ikki, eyes focused on him completely as he skates forward, knife now clenched tightly in his fingers. There's something familiar about the way Ikki's moving. Like he's seen it before...it wasn't just roller blading, there was someting to it. A technique. Kinda like--]

[Shit.]

[There was a pause... less Ikki stopping as he slowed down a bit, confused by the vehemence, more then the language or the words.

He doesn't so much as look up at the two girls, but scrapes under his chin with the pad of his thumb.

Ikki gives Kaneda a wide, terrible grin.]

Mind games. Heh heh HEH. Little did you know, I anticipated this already...

I ALREADY LOST MINE, FOOL!

[Ikki's hands twist, compressing the air around him, and shoves a heavy blast at the pavement at Kaneda's feet. The enormous updraft of wind is aimed to tear Kazu out of Kaneda's hands and upwards to one of the waiting girls.]

[Yayoi moves before Ikki even begins to twist his hands. First toward the far end of the roof she's on, shifting one way and then the other while she watches him and listens to the roar of the wind, adjusting for things like angle and how strong the wind itself sounds. Rough, but the best she can do while she waits to see if it actually knocks Kazu free.]

[ Below, Kururu nods at Ikki's gesture, and dashes the few steps that separate her from the base of the roof Yayoi's perched on.

The timing's going to be tricky, but if the angle is right . . . then here! ]

[Ikki's words strike into him like knives, although they're nothing to what Kaneda's giving back. If a fight was the only way to protect Kazu, then that's what he'd do. His weight shifts again, ready to take whatever blow Ikki was going to pummel him with...knife at the ready...

But the gust of wind that happens is not what Kaneda expected at all. His grip on Kazu wasn't the greatest--he'd only just finished dealing with Pan after all, so it's almost pathetic how easily he loses his grip on the kid. Eyes shoot wide with horror as he watches Kazu's broken body fly over to the other two, neatly caught like a prize from a crane game.

Okay. One-on-one it is.

Twirling the knife, it's deposited back into its holder as his hands immediately reach up to just under his armpits, swiping out blade for bullets and firing at Ikki. His legs aren't going to hold up for long, he's sure of it--but if this is how he has to get Kazu back, then he'll do it until his bones are ground into powder.]

YEAH? I COULDN'T TELL!!

[Ikki's expression changes when the guns come out. There's a little shock and a little electric surge of panic before it is drown under anger. He was sure THESE weren't the rubber bullets from back home...

He twists in midair, both making himself a smaller target. His kicks slam enormous gales against the sides of the nearby buildings, causing the streetlamps to sway and shudder... and the heavy crosswinds throwing the bullets off course. Only one grazes him.

He circles, away from the girls and Kazu, looking for an opening to dart in and end this.]

The hell is some Peter Pan shit using guns?!

[One more quick adjustment to get into position—and the wind goes right out of her when she catches Kazu. She instinctively wraps her arms tightly round him and tucks him in close even while she stumbles to keep her balance under the added weight.

Unfortunately, even though she manages to keep herself upright, she can't quite manage to stop the slide towards the edge of the roof.]

[ And it's not like it would be a long drop, but with Kazu in that kind of state . . .

She can't calculate paths and angles like Ikki can, and she's never envied that ability more than now. But she knows A-T, and bodies, and—

The sound of the gunshots causes her whole body to wince, it's the first time she's heard that noise in six months and it's too soon. Ikki-kun is fine. Concentrate on this! ]

Yayoi-san, it's okay! Just keep your wheels below—trust me!

[Sorry, did those gunshots UPSET you, Ikki? Because he's out of fucks to give. Kazu's in their possession, and Ikki said he'd lay it all down on the line. He'd BETTER be prepared to own up to that.

Because this is for his group too. Tetsuo was one of the Capsules, he always had been. And protecting Kazu was a branch off of that.

That's what happens when you take someone under your wing.

The guns, one blue and one green, are fired alternatively to get Ikki back, get some distance between the two as his legs are pushed into action. They were tired, and practically screaming for Kaneda to let them rest. But like hell he was going to walk back to Tetsuo with empty arms, a bunch of broken promises. He'd failed to protect him, failed to kill Pan...

He wouldn't fail in bringing Kazu home.]

MY NAME IS KANEDA.

Compare me again to that sack of SHIT and I'll fire right at your damn head!

Bullshit!

[It's in Japanese, bellowed over the growing howl of the winds. Ikki isn't forced back, but he IS slowed down. With a blast of air from his hands, heavy, almost an opaque wall of wind is thrown between them. The air resistance isn't enough to stop the bullets, but when they slam into Ikki, they're only going fast enough to bruise, not tear through him.]

And what is KANEDA TO KAZU?

TAKE ANOTHER STEP TOWARDS THEM AND I'LL RIP YOU APART, SHITBRAIN!

[Yayoi gives up trying to stay on the roof, letting herself slide off and down to where Kururu's waiting. She keeps her A-T down as instructed, only shifting to shield Kazu from the shock as much as she can.

Under her breath, she's counting off the number of shots being fired. How many bullets do the guns hold? What kind were they even? Why doesn't she know more about them? They ran into guns often enough!]

[ Amid the hurricane and the reverberating gunshots, Kururu . . . actually relaxes a bit, focusing entirely on Yayoi's descent.

It's not a soft one; the air cushions take most of the shock, but balancing a limp body would challenge even an experienced rider (let alone one on their first flight). But that's why she's there, hugging them both and falling back as she lands, the three of them going down in a tangle of limbs.

Here's where time slows.

One arm to wrap around Kazu's head, cushioning him as they go down. Concussion. That's why he's out. Her other hand to Kazu's A-T, coaxing the wheels open, wincing as the hot metal scorches her fingers but this is important, the internals need to cool—

—and they hit the ground. ]

temee...!!

[Gears turn in his brain as the air gusts up, creating a makeshift forcefield for those bullets. It doesn't stop them, but the trajectory and power that was behind the bullets was altered, now only hitting Ikki enough to bruise, if they hit at all.

He takes this moment to favour the blue gun over the green. It was more powerful--less accurate--but certainly more powerful, much like the person it was designed after. Right now he needed something to hit through that wall of wind.]

NONE OF YOUR -DAMN- BUSINESS!!!

EXCEPT THE ONE THING THAT SAVED HIM FROM PAN'S STUPID-ASS CURSE.

[And almost defiantly Kaneda takes that step, no hesitation. His dark eyes completely fixated on the boy behind that wall, practically asking him to move forward.

Make a move, Sky King. HE SURE DID.]

Edited 2016-01-11 07:22 (UTC)

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Jan 8th

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