242/Grief Seed Duel

Grief Seed Duel
Date of Scene:	03 August 2015
Location:	Mitakihara - Downtown
Synopsis:	Riventon and Akashimaru duel over possession of a Grief Seed.
Cast of Characters:	Takashi Agera, Seishi Tamashige

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Takashi Agera has posed:
It's a really harsh, metallic-sounding grindy noise as the fan gets tangled up in the dark wires and makes Riventon drop the grief seed as the wires fade off into the air, dissolving into constituent dark energy. It prevents them from lashing out at Homura - who luckily for Riventon, isn't going for the seed. The battlefield actually empties reasonably quickly, leaving only the two non-Puella to stand on opposite ends of the seed, sitting point-down in the ground.

"Well, the good news is you don't have to 'let' me do anything - I'm perfectly capable of crushing you and doing whatever I want anyways. It's one of the benefits of having power. I highly doubt you have more than me, but if you'd like to participate in that experiment, I'm very willing to." he says, calmly. "But I'd like to point out that nobody else but you stayed to fight - so you must, by logic, be missing something that they're aware of." he adds, grinning wickedly.

"And I'm going to be very polite and give you one chance to run away before I start breaking important things." Within both hands he starts to channel orbs of negative energy.

Seishi Tamashige has posed:
The fan begins to drop when the wires disappear, but before it can hit the ground, Akashimaru reaches to close her hand on thin air and yanks on the red cord that suddenly unfurls into being, pulling the tessen back to her hand.

"The others have their own concerns," she states, clear and determined, as she takes up a combat stance with the fan held out and open at her side. "What they choose to do and what I choose to do are two different things. And I choose to stand against anyone who'll stand by and let people die and then claim power gives him the right to take what he wants."

She doesn't move as the energy gathers in his hands; she watches, poised and ready, eyes narrowing behind the mask. "This Akashimaru will have you work for what you want."

Takashi Agera has posed:
"Well, it was getting boring just standing there anyways." Riventon says. He shrugs his shoulders - and then <<SCHATTENSCHLAG>> the shrug follows through with a massive blast of dark energy, a huge wave that has enough force to push Riventon himself back through the raw energy.

"If those people didn't want to die, maybe they should've had the strength to resist! None of us decided to just lazily float in the water until a shark ate us! They were weak!" he shouts as the blast tears through the air in front of him.

He's not going for the Grief Seed right now, unless Akashimaru tries to take it. He's completly focused on fighting her, and on winning this battle of not just power, but of his own pride - after all, how DARE she make an attempt to stop him from taking something he wanted, no matter what her reasoning?

Seishi Tamashige has posed:
"Hansha-SEN!" The Shinken flashes brightly as Akashimaru whirls it in front of herself, holding it forth as a shield to meet that overpowering blast of negative energy. It hits like a truck, far too massive for the Fan of Reflection to turn back on its source - but the dark energy does shunt off to either side where it runs up against the Shinken, splitting it just in front of Akashimaru and creating a wedge of space in the midst of the torrent in which she stands untouched.

The Shinken draws its power from her will, O-Yasu told her... and it is holding.

"Those people struggled for their lives, even if they didn't have the power that we have!" The pressure against her shield is incredible; Akashimaru's arms tremble with the effort of holding it steady. The soles of her sandals scrape against the pavement as it pushes her gradually backwards, one inch, another. But even so, she still has it in her to shout back at him, voice rising rough-edged over the rush of dark power around her. "Someone who lazily waited for everyone else to do the fighting so that he could step in and take what he wants when the danger is over has no right to say anything about them!"

Takashi Agera has posed:
"It wasn't lazy, it was intelligent." he says, indignantly as the energy blast ends, wisps of black energy radiating out of the area. "If I was alone, I'd have handled it myself. Instead, I knew somebody like you - to their extreme foolish detrement - would attempt to fight me after." he adds. "And it's not like you could've missed them all fighting amongst each other. They knew what was coming too." he says, with a smile.

"Whatever brush you want to paint me with, you can't act like the rest of them aren't as guilty. And now here you are, with your misguided sense of justice, fighting as well."

"So what's your stake in all this. I think you're different than they are." he adds, not believing Akashimaru is literally just upset at him for being a jerk. "What's your motive to take this thing."

Seishi Tamashige has posed:
"I already told you." With the pressure off, Akashimaru sweeps the fan before her in a quick, sharp motion that clears the clinging wisps of darkness from around her. "This is this and that is that. Whatever other people choose to do is no excuse."

The fan snaps closed, points outward toward the grief seed. "That thing is dangerous," she states flatly. "It needs to be disposed of. It definitely doesn't belong in the hands of somebody who has the power to save people and won't even lift a finger to use it for anyone but himself."

Takashi Agera has posed:
Riventon starts... laughing. It's a hearty, almost childlike laugh, and it's a little out of the norm for someone throwing dark energy around and wearing dark blue robes. Teenager. Definantly a teenager's laugh.

"You really buy into all of that don't you? I mean, a lot of other folks claim to but then I see them tearing each other apart like those girls." he begins. "Look, power only has one purpose. It's to defeat others. You can couch it in other terms, like 'I want to save those people' sure, but you're just hiding that. That big witch - the monster from before - it took power to defeat her. Without power, all of your good intentions wouldn't mean a thing." he adds. "I'm just shortening the process. The more power I have, the more I can do. Using it for other people reduces the power I have. It's all very simple equations."

He gestures at the Grief Seed, still standing in the ground. "The sole purpose of this thing is power. It's only dangerous in the hands of people like you, who'd try to do foolish things for it in the name of some sort of goal. It's the least dangerous in my hands."

There's a pause. "But I am substantially more dangerous than you can possibly imagine." A moment of silence is broken again by his device. <<ERDBEBEN PLATZEN!>> it announces, and a massive wave of dark energy rapidly collects under neath Akashimaru's feet and attempts to burst forward in a massive column of destruction, tearing up the land below as it does so!

Seishi Tamashige has posed:
"Is that supposed to convince me?" the samurai girl shoots back. Behind her mask, her expression can't be seen, but her whole bearing speaks of one deeply unimpressed. "What a limited power you have, if defeating others is all that it's good for--"

She has about half a second of forewarning to stop running her mouth before the very street underneath her erupts in dark power. Immediately Akashimaru leaps, flinging herself just clear enough to keep from being engulfed in the dead center of the blast; as it is, she's caught by the edge of the column of energy and goes tumbling through the air in a hail of shattered asphalt. She hits the pavement in a bruising roll, and comes up in a crouch, still gripping the tessen. "Power is for achieving one's goals!" she declares through gritted teeth. "If yours is only for yourself, I have no reason to let you take more. That thing needs to be destroyed!"

Takashi Agera has posed:
"Is that what you think? Every time you use power, every bit of strength you expend on others, makes you weaker yourself." He grins a bit. "But if you want to stop me, because you think I'm worng - why destroy the item - I'll find more if you break this one." he adds. Then, he leans over a bit. "Why not just take the shortcut and defeat me? If you think so strongly about my purposes."

There's a spin, and Riventon sends another spread of those darkness threads slicing through the air, headed for Akashimaru. "Or you can retreat, which is the smarter option in your case. But it's time to put up or shut up!" he says, threading the slicing lines through the air, each one made up of dense negative energy - touching them is like touching a live wire for the darkness flowing from within him.

"But right now you haven't shown me any strength that makes me think your power has a hope of standing against mine!" He's actually trying to goad her into action - there's no data to be gleaned from her talk, after all.

Seishi Tamashige has posed:
With a heave of effort, Akashimaru shoves herself up off of the pavement and back onto her feet. "Stop talking like you speak for anyone except yourself!" Her voice sounds different - still recognizably the same girl, but lower, rougher. "I am not like you. You don't know a single thing about me or my power--"

The fan whirls out, trailing arcs of red light as it slices through those dark threads as though razor-sharp. Wherever they make contact the negative energy sears through her, only somewhat diminished by the Shinken's power. Several threads graze close enough to slice rents in the fluttering, paint-splattered sleeves of her kimono. Her breath hisses through her teeth as she bites back a cry of pain, but her blood's up and she refuses to falter. "--so stop running your mouth!"

The faint red glow that's limned the tessen is growing, spreading up her arm and along her body until she's lit as though by the ember glow of a fierce sunrise. The moment she get a clear space to breathe, she snaps the fan closed with a crisp sound of metal on metal - and charges.

Takashi Agera has posed:
Riventon guides the strands of darkness as best he can, but he's apparently done it, she's mad. The issue? He saw her using a bow before, and he's very confident at range. But now, with the fan - she's closing into melee.

Why does he always get stuck with the melees?

This is not his strong suit. Her charge comes in, and as she moves forward, those threads vanish - to conserve power for the large shield he puts up, a swirling circle of runed magic power. On the bright side, at least he got her to show that strength.

And yet through it all, he can't keep down his pride or attitude. "Now it's like you have something to fight for, at least!" he says, preparing for her assualt behind the massive circular energy wall. "Lets see if you have the strength to match your convictions!"

Seishi Tamashige has posed:
There's no answer to Riventon's taunting this time - not in words, anyway. She crosses the space between them in a headlong rush, kimono sleeves flying like banners. The wall of energy that comes up between them doesn't give her an instant of pause.

"Come, fan that shatters iron!" At her words, the tessen in her hand flares with bright red light, and as she reaches the shield she drives the blunt instrument that is the closed fan into it will full force, with a shout like a martial artist's kiai: "Sankonsen!"

Takashi Agera has posed:
Riventon's shield isn't iron - in fact, it's a lot stronger than iron - but unluckily for him, the Shinken doesn't operate off that. And the power of the fan begins to collide with the energy of his shield, sparks of both of their respective energy scatter as Akashimaru pits her power against his, the ground shaking.

But Akashimaru's strength proves higher than Riventon's defense; there's a crack in the runic shield - then another, then the fan drives through, impacting Riventon HARD. He's also a lot lighter than he looks, and this means that in just a moment, he'll be slammed back hard, rolling across the concrete.

But before the fan impacts, he makes one more attack, thinking fast, he reaches out his gauntleted hand and tries to grasp Akashimaru's arm. <<VERZWEIFLUNG BERUHREN>> the device announces as Riventon's hand bursts with dark power, anbd if he makes contact it'll flood through her before trying to escape- obviously bad for any normal human.

Seishi Tamashige has posed:
The shield cracks and gives way, and Akashimaru presses her advantage, closing the last distance to bring the tessen down onto Riventon with all her strength.

As she does, he grabs for her arm.

His hand doesn't find skin; there are bracers under those billowing red sleeves, an archer's gauntlet on the hand that draws back the bow. Maybe that protects her a little, or maybe it doesn't matter. Either way the contact is more than enough to send the dark energy coursing through her.

Her momentum dies as her whole body seizes and shudders. A scream of pain rips itself out of her throat.

Takashi Agera has posed:
Akashimaru's momentum may have died after the contact, but there was still a lot of momentum impacting Riventon before that, and the contact is broken from the swing of her fan, and the impact of her tessen.

The reduction in momentum means he's only slammed brutally, enough to break the impact - his barrier jacket takes a lot of the damage, but this requires a bigger expenditure of magic power than he looks. Riventon staggers back as waves of black smoke - escaping dark energy - radiate from his opponent.

Before he talks he steadies himself, he blocks out the pain. That way it can seem like he still has the advantage, like he's still capable of going on the offensive. After all... bluffing was also a part of war, and duels. "That was a good hit. Do you have more in you, or was that all? Can I take the damned thing and leave now, or are you going to exhaust yourself trying to win?"

Seishi Tamashige has posed:
In the wake of that flood of dark power, Akashimaru's legs can't hold her. She, too, staggers, and goes down on one knee, the Shinken clashing harshly against the pavement under her hand as she only just manages to catch herself. Her breath comes in harsh, panting gasps; the mask is stifling. Reaching up with her free hand, she rips it away from her face and lets it clatter to the street.

She looks up at Riventon as he speaks. Black smoke is still curling up around her from the blast just now, and there's no earthly way to shrug off how much that hurt - but even now, her dark eyes are fierce with determination.

Curling her fingers around her tessen again, she forces herself back onto her feet, wavering for a moment before she deliberately braces her stance and raises her weapon again. Her voice comes out low and rough and flat.

"I'm not finished."

Takashi Agera has posed:
"Hmph." is all Riventon says. But he knows better. He's been in these kinds of situations before, and he's fought through. The last time he did, he needed to get a rescue from his own Familiar. The thought burns in his mind.

But so does the time invested, the energy invested, in getting this Jewel Seed. The fact that he doesn't want to go home empty-handed burns at him. Her defiance burns at him, too. And that's why he enacts one last plan.

He draws his hand back, and energy collects in it again. Rather than thrust it at her, though, he squeezes it in his hand, and it runs down like a liquid, dripping onto the street below. As the drops collect into each other, they form into shadowy humanoids, each with glowing red eyes and a red mouth.

They won't last long at all, but there are half a dozen of them, and their shadowy forms, thick with negative energy, hands ending in clawed fingers, charge angrily at Akashimaru, in front of him.

As they charge, Riventon takes flight, soaring over her, using his energy tendrils to make a grab for the Grief Seed as he does! Wether he gets it or not though, he spent a lot of his remaining energy on those spawn - if they distract her and he gets the grief seed, he'll leave with it - if not, he'll just vanish anyways, and leave it to her. There will be other seeds, even if he'd like to have this one.

Seishi Tamashige has posed:
It doesn't take long at all to realize what he's doing, and Akashimaru's breath hisses out of her in a frustrated "tch!" as the shadowy figures rise up between herself and Riventon and the seed. She snaps the tessen open with a flick of her wrist, preparing to fight, but it burns in her like swallowed embers: after all that, to just watch him get away with what he wants while she's bogged down like this--!

In a snap decision, she draws back her arm and flings the Shinken at one of the dark constructs, aiming low. The spinning edge of the fan carves straight through it and continues on a low-arcing path that skims just over the surface of the street, until clips the grief seed and sends it skittering across the pavement bare moments before Riventon's threads of energy can snare it.

Of course, now she has no weapon... There's no time to think over the recklessness of her actions; instead she drops her shoulder and throws herself full-force into the creatures, aiming for the gap she's just created and simply bulling her way through. The clawed hands tear at her, but if she can just get to the Shinken--

Takashi Agera has posed:
Those tendrils reach out and grasp... nothing. He grunts low, but there's no denying it - those shadows represent the nearly last vestiges of his energy and power. If he tries to fight her now, he might be without the ability to get away - which means if things go south he's without an option. He makes an internal vow to get stronger for next time.

There's no words of hate or attitude towards her as he pulls in his tendrils, returning to his gauntlet, and takes what looks like a big step - and it is, because rather than walking down the street, he's stepping between dimensions, taking a well worn shortcut through space, through the Dusk Zone, and away from the battlefield, back home.

With Riventon gone, the shadows actually begin to fade away immediately - without him here to draw power from the quickly-created minions simply fade off into wisps of smoke.

Seishi Tamashige has posed:
Which means that, by the time her hand closes on the Shinken again, Akashimaru finds herself alone in the nighttime street, save for the grief seed and the bodies of the Witch's victims.

The whole thing didn't even really take all that much time.

With her opponent gone, the sheer stubborn determination that Akashimaru was running on abruptly begins to flag. It's with a great effort that she takes the few steps necessary to bend and retrieve the grief seed, which she contemplates only a moment before tucking it into the depths of her tattered, paint-stained sleeve. Closing her tessen, she tucks that away as well, and lets out a long, shaky breath.

All things considered, it doesn't feel like much of a victory.

She needs to get home.