View source for 2464/Fighting on Borrowed Time

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2017/02/12
|Location=Plot Room #1
|Synopsis=Alexis versus Hannah. No part of this is going to go well.
|Cast of Characters=182,27
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:182|Alexis Raskoph| (182)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Alex has been looking for Hannah.<br /><br />That's the short version of the long story.<br /><br />Truthfully, Alex doesn't know Hannah as well as he knows many other people in the city-- but he does know who she dates. And he is surprisingly observant, all things considered, and able to draw puzzle pieces together well for that matter. And where that isn't enough? He's stubborn. Incredibly so. Even when he is stewing with as much unreasonable, darkness-enhanced anger now as he is.<br /><br />So he lingers along routes to haunts he has considered reasonable for her to go to-- and knowing that she is trying to get Linker Cores - not that he really knows what those are - even having assessed locations where he'd expect a battleground or ambush to be sprung for that endeavour, and made an effort of keepign an eye on them.<br /><br />It's trial and error, more than anything, even now when he is lingering, himself, hidden with his hoodie in the shadows of a rooftop at the nighttime scenery of Tokyo, armed with small pair of binoculars stolen from a department store.<br /><br />Grinding his teeth. Watching. Searching. Waiting. Part of him knows that this effort could very well be futile-- that none of it will bear fruit anywhere.<br /><br />But, fate has a funny way of working out. Especially when the occurences of it inevitable lead to things going even further wrong.<br /><br />For it's by sheer coincidence alone, that he suddenly spots his mark.<br /><br />The reaction to it is instantenous, with his current mostly-instinct-driven mindset. The binoculars are tossed aside, and the boy leaps from the rooftop, sailing down several stories through the air before kicking himself into further motion by the wall of the building he'd just been perched on, down onto the roof of a smaller building. Bouncing, leaping rapidly, until he finds himself along a street that is, by all standards, much quieter and emptier than most of nighttime Tokyo.<br /><br />Finally, he stops, when he leaps off a building, and guides himself to landing upon a street lamp-- and coming to stand upon it much more casually than one would expect the pracrious balance to allow, even sticking his hands into his pockets.<br /><br />And two growled words break the ambiance of the nighttime side street:<br /><br />"Hannah Sharpe."

:'''{{#var:27|Hannah Sharpe| (27)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span> Has Miss White noticed Alex's stalking? Hard to say. She's never been a subtle person at all. In front of the young woman, hand in one pocket and leaning on her cane in her henshin, are a pair of monsters. One's very clearly a normal youma, already fading away. The other? A rat. And a gigantic one at that. A tiny gem is in her hand. With a scowl, she crushes the thing and tosses it aside. The large mutated thing soon fades as well. "Worthless." <br /><br /> It's then that she turns around and offers a grin. Her face is gaunt, eyes tired, but she still manages to hold that confidence in them. Spinning her cane, she offers out a hand. <br /><br /> "Well well well, if it isn't Alex-kun! Been a while. How've you been, huh?" Her warm voice is betrayed by a brief hacking cough.

:'''{{#var:182|Alexis Raskoph| (182)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"..."<br /><br />Alex stares down at her from his perch upon that lamppost, in complete silence for a good five seconds, after she's greeted him. His expression is... hardly friendly. His dark brows are scrunched together, and lips twisted to curve downwards in a scowl, jaw shifting in small, subtle motion with the grind of teeth behind a closed mouth.<br /><br />After those five seconds, he jumps off from the post-- casually flying through the air and landing down onto the street six or so meters from Hannah, give or take. His head now lowered downwards, bringign gravity to draw the hood further over his head and shading out his features.<br /><br />"Funny," he mutters, then, though the movement of his lips isn't truly visible, now. "I remember. Before I got like this. I wanted to be able to talk with you like that, too. Thought we could. Get along."<br /><br />His head lifts up then, just enough that one bright green eye is shown peering from the shade of the hood at her, glinting underneath the burrowed brow twisted by growing anger.<br /><br />"You *know* why that's not the case now, don't you."

:'''{{#var:27|Hannah Sharpe| (27)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span> Tch. Hannah gives a shrug, and her knuckles crack. She can sense that anger, and she doesn't even need her Device to do it. There's a shake of her head. <br /><br /> "Oh. I get it. You must've heard. Let me be blunt here, Alex. I'm well aware what I'm doing is a real jerk move. And I regret a lot of the accidents that happened. But I've already got people like you coming after me. So then...what'll it be? Do you want to get this over with so I can get back to trying not to die? Or are you going to get out of my way? Believe it or not, as much as I want to, can't afford to waste too much time here." The air grows wild around her, thicker, and just a tinge of horrid Witch corruption filters into that magic, blackening it just a touch. <br /><br /> One finger beckons him.

:'''{{#var:182|Alexis Raskoph| (182)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>The boy watches her draw out that power-- but he doesn't seem to waver, no. He watches that and listens to the words quietly, so much so that it might even seem he's reconsidering.<br /><br />But...<br /><br />"Not quite like me," he growls, head shaking underneath the hood. "People around here. The are... incredibly righteous. Admirably so. They always... try to understand. Because people have reasons. You do too, I'm sure. And they listen. They try to... redeem. Find alternatives. Help."<br /><br />"But me, I'm not so forgiving right now. Not with how I am now. And not after Sakura."<br /><br />His head lifts up and his feet shift underneath him to turn his stance to something slightly lower-- and all the while, the grind of teeth is almost audible enough for Hannah to hear it. And Alex's hand reaches up to draw back the hood, then, to let his face out from the shade.<br /><br />"... I am just ''too pissed off right now''." His arms spread downwards and cross with each other at hte wrists, briefly, and in that same instant, *something* happens-- dark energy gets channeled, projected out of his body, funneling around his arms and legs, though it only becomes noticable when it spreads from underneath his sleeves to coat his bare hands in black.<br /><br />"--SO I'M JUST GOING TO BEAT YOU UP!!!"<br /><br />His foot kicks the pavement to send him pouncing forward, with enough force that the bricks of the sidewalk crack underneath, and the motion of Alex himself a blur that closes the distance in what amounts to a blink of the eye.<br /><br />And so, with hands tightly clenched into fists, darkness moves to clash with darkness.

:'''{{#var:27|Hannah Sharpe| (27)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span> Slowly, slowly, Hannah smiles. This one seems oddly relieved as the man launches himself for her. Dark energy fuels his body, and she can't help but whistle in appreciation. Forward her goes, and only instinct saves her from a fist to the face! WHAM! <br /><br /> She's sent flying into a wall, shattering brick and mortar. There's a moment of silence. And a laugh. Battered, bruised, Hannah walks out and dusts off her now very rumpled suit. <br /><br /> "Now THAT is what I've been waiting to hear! No self-congratulatory 'justice' speeches, no moralizing, no arguing! You're angry, and it's for a friend! ALRIGHT! /Now/ I'm interested, Alexis! For a reason like that, I'll risk everything. Right here. Urrraaaaah!" <br /><br /> With a bloodthirsty howl, she lets the Witch win for just a solid moment. She leaps forward in turn, a vicious round-kick aimed for the young man's shoulder. And then up comes her fist, a ball of dark-tinged emerald green, blasting that burst of gale-force wind right towards the darkness surrounding Alexis! <br /><br /> "Show me everything you've got!" She offers, through teeth flecked with blood. And not from Alexis' attack.

:'''{{#var:182|Alexis Raskoph| (182)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>After Hannah's sent flying, Alex is left staring after the hole created into the wall. It's not so much that he thinks that was enough-- it's that he's *waiting* for her to come back out, and when she does, the dark energy is even more apparent than before. It doesn't show up just in his hands alone anymore, but it outright *leaks* around him, like an aura of purple-black.<br /><br />And then she's leaping for him, and in turn he's ducking down just below the spinning leg. Alex is used to fighting, even before he was supercharged by dark energy, so it comes easily enough for him, and he's already turning himself in preparation to counter-attack.<br /><br />But that's not what he should be worrying about. It's the supernatural aspects that he isn't used to, afterall-- and the energy of wind magic forming that he didn't see coming. The german's eyes widen at the evidence of it, and instead of spinning his body to deliver an uppercut, he does the only thing he can think of, failing any actual knowledge of how the magic works; he kicks the ground again to send him backwards, but by that time the full force of the gale is already coming for him. He's not going to get out of that without getting hit.<br /><br />But that's not the only thing he's done.<br /><br />A dark tendril with a purplish tint suddenly coils around Hannah's ankle and yanks with the force of a speeding truck. In the very next instant, she'll likely have figured out that it's connecting to Alex somewhere underneath his hoodie, and it's rapidly retracting towards him, even as the combined force of his leap and the wind magic send him off flying towards a roadside construction site left abandoned for the night.

:'''{{#var:27|Hannah Sharpe| (27)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span> Dark Evil Tendril plus wind-based CEO means a /lot/ of airtime for the duo! Hannah of course rides the great leap they're both inadvertantly involved in pretty well, enough so that as she's drawn forward, she winds up for a massive haymaker towards Alexis' midsection! A single, powerful blow meant less to actually hurt the young man, and more send him thundering towards the ground. <br /><br /> Hannah Sharpe then puts both of her feet down to try to ride Alexis to a stop, or otherwise just stomp him into the ground. <br /><br /> This, of course, leaves her ankle quite vulnerable, as she hasn't quite gotten herself free. Combined with all of that leaking dark energy soaking into her witch-corrupted linker core, her own face is flaring with rage that even an easily upset woman like her wouldn't normally be caught with. Stomps comes furiously, as she all but hisses like a snake! <br /><br /> "That's right! Let's just let out all of our anger and rage! This entire world is rotten, pushing good people to ends that are disgusting! I hate it! Every bit of this world!"

:'''{{#var:182|Alexis Raskoph| (182)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Did he not think that through at all? Purposefully dragging his opponent towards himself at rapid speed? Really, Alex?<br /><br />Well, that's how it goes down either way. At least he has the sense to bring his forearms crossing together before his midsection, intending to shield his body to at least some extent with the Dark Energy-coated limbs when her fist comes pummeling into him. It doesn't dampen the force all that much, though-- especially so with his mid-air positioning.<br /><br />It's all on account of that that he's sent plummeting down to the street again with a mighty impact that cracks the pavement, sends a piece of asphalt flying away, and him sliding across the street on his back with dust clouding behind as a trail-- and a Hannah on top.<br /><br />And then his ribs get jostled underneath her foot. Hard enough that even with the infused dark energy, he still feels it enough to grunt out, "HNRH!" in pain before his arms rapidly shift to try to shield himself further-- but there's only so much that he can do, really.<br /><br />Well. Like that, anyway.<br /><br />The length of a tendril along Hannah's leg suddenly tightens up around her ankle further, to the point of digging into flesh, and *pulls* again. But not towards him. Upwards. *When* did the tentacle get looped over the lighpost above them? Was that sheer luck, or did Alex plan to get them in that position in the first place? Who knows. Whichever the case is, the pull of the tendril is intended to not only draw her up off of him, but flip her around to hanging upside-down-- and in the same instant, his left hand reaches up after her, guiding half a dozen new tendrils extending from the darkness covering the hand to reach for her neck, to yank, tighten, and pull *himself* back up from the ground.

:'''{{#var:27|Hannah Sharpe| (27)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span> Atop Alexis, Hannah lets out a big, smug grin. "I appreciate you challenging me, Alexis-kun, but you're not yet ready to fight me even as I am no..." <br /><br /> Her taunt is cut off though, as she's suddenly dragged into the air, and held upside down! There's this moment of her eyes being wide, and then she's dangling. Even she feels the weird sensation of being upside down! Ignoring the way that the blood rushes to her head, she senses how those tendrils lash out at her! Rather than try to free herself, both hands work to instead lash out! Alexis will be able to get to his feet. <br /><br /> "Not bad!" She offers with a grin, wind-drowned hands punching in a blurr of fists, jabs, uppercuts, and smashing elbows even towards the hail of tendrils! A standoff between the pair of fist-fighters!

:'''{{#var:182|Alexis Raskoph| (182)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Normally, Alex might smile over getting to turn the tables on someone in the middle of their own taunt. But not now. Even if his current state of vampirism didn't outright stop him from being *able* to smile, there's very little but sheer anger within him, now.<br /><br />"You should know better," he does manage to growl after the cut-off taunt, however, as he's brought up to his feet by the series of tendrils both trying to pull at Hannah and pushing at the ground underneath his upper back.<br /><br />The tentacles moving for her, though? They are warded off easily. Smacked aside and dissipating one after the other. They don't move with enough purpose and force to be used for direct attacks. But what they do manage? Is to provide the time for Alex to get up to his feet and in arm's reach of Hannah herself.<br /><br />In the middle of the hail of tendrils, she finds Alex's fist suddenly thrusting through and towards her. In the middle of her own barrage, it most likely gets lost in it all-- bouncing off the side of one limb and passing just besides her head. But then it's followed by another. And another. And yet another still. Punches sent by the german with increasing frequency and force to both intercept her own from reaching *him* by way of fists slamming into fists and arms knocking into each other, and to try to reach *her* too. It's a strange positioning, with her hanging upside down in the air, but that doesn't seem to stop the glorious exchange of blows that they match each other in well.<br /><br />"We're both on borrowed time--" Alex growls in the middle of it all-- perhaps referencing the brief moment in which he saw blood from within her mouth at the very beginning of the bout that he's not entirely sure was a result of anything he did at all. As for him? There's the question of energy levels, and for all he knows, the very state of his own body when it reacts to the use of it. "--So how long will you hold out, Hannah!?!"<br /><br />The very instant he screams out her name, the tendril tied to her ankle suddenly snaps. And there's nothing holding her to hang there anymore. Suddenly, the effect of gravity becomes very real again, and Alex's leg is launching up to meet her. Apparently Alex decided not to wait and see which one overcomes the standoff of fists.

:'''{{#var:27|Hannah Sharpe| (27)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span> Fists come faster and faster as she dangles, green Shields smashing even as fists clash! It's a lightshow of muscle, magic, and black and green lightshow that shows for miles as oblivious as those civilians are. Eventually, however, it all comes to a head as that tendril slips loose, and her ruined-sleeved suited body drops towards the ground. Her arms come up at the last moment, catching that leg even as her bones threaten to give under that dark magical force! Ignoring the horrific bruises forming, a burst of wind rips from her knee! <br /><br /> And then, WHAM! A single burst of tornado-powerful wind has her screaming, as the overuse of magic causes her to cough up blood. Then, gravity takes hold, and she's sent flying into a crane within the construction site they've found themselves in. She lays still, for just a moment.

:'''{{#var:182|Alexis Raskoph| (182)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>The sheer commotion and the lightshow doesn't go completely unnoticed, even amongst the minds of the expressly non-magical lot. The collective rumble of several engines rumbles a distance away, though the two could be forgiven for not noticing, given the situation.<br /><br />"I GOT YOU!!" Alex growls out when his leg comes into contact with Hannah-- feeling the painful pressure of bone against bone. He almost enjoys it, even, disturbingly enough. Even more so when he sees bloo-- Wait a minute.<br /><br />The german's eyes visibly widen upon the realization of the incoming wind magic from a place he did not seem to expect. His leg's still striking into Hannah, too, so-- he can't dodge. There's just no way. In an instant, a dozen dark tendrils burst from underneath his torn hoodie, tangling up between himself and the incoming wind.<br /><br />In the end, she's not the only one sent flying. To the opposite direction, carried by the tornado-like force with a trail of further-shredded pieces of the hoodie, Alex arcs through the air in a rapid spin, all while the tendrils spin and turn more deliberately to try to steady him-- and dampen the inevitably contact with ground.<br /><br />When his body does hit the street, it is with a spiderwebbing of cracks forming into asphalt, bouncing off it and again two times over before he manages to turn himself around and skidding in a crouch across the ground-- the skin left bared over his arms and face with the shredding of the hoodie reddened from nearly getting scraped off.<br /><br />He wobbles in place, briefly, with a sharp grunt. The bruises can be negligible. The damaged skin can be healed. But he's used a lot of energy. It's not that he's in danger of running out, but even using just a certain amount drives his mind more towards the beastial, and he knows as much. This is getting dangerous.<br /><br />''I'll just have to finish this quick'' he decides, within his mind, as he tears the remnants of the ruined hoodie away from his body, leaving him wearing just the black tank top over his torso that was underneath. ''I'll drain from *her* if need be''.<br /><br />But just when he's intending ot pounce off and go after where Hannah flew off-- there's that sound. He catches on to it now, by virtue of it getting so close now, behind him. Motorcycles. It's unfortunate, but the two of them never were the only ones prowling the nighttime Tokyo. Not even just the supernatural lot. Bike gangs are certainly not an uncommon sight within nighttime Tokyo streets. And a grouping of them have decided to take a look at what on earth is going on at the construction site.<br /><br />Alex pauses in place, thus. And slowly turns his head to look back over his shoulder, with his eyes widened out. And in that exact moment, just one thought runs through his head.<br /><br />H U N G R Y

:'''{{#var:27|Hannah Sharpe| (27)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span> Hannah is out like a light, or at least heavily punch-drunk. She's wobbling to her feet in the hole of metal she's made where once there was a crane. Nnnnngh. As her ears ring, she can barely hear Raging Tempest in her mind. <br /><br /> "Haaaah...should've just...blocked. Is this what spinning's like?" <br /><br /> ~Near Alex~ And indeed, the group of five japanes punk bikers rolls in on their designer bikes, jackets, and helmets. They hop off, laughing as a group. <br /><br /> "OIIII! Who's out there? You spoilin' for a fight! Cuz the Eight Street Ryders are gonna beat you to a pulp!" They're in their early twenties, punks for life, and most of them either have pipes, chains, or the odd boken or two. They've yet to notice Alex. No, they're too busy staring at the ruined crane on the other end of the construction site. <br /><br /> "...Huh!? Did a bomb go off?" Gawks the leader of the gang.

:'''{{#var:182|Alexis Raskoph| (182)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>It's not that Alex has forgotten about Hannah. But he's just *hungry*.<br /><br />So just like that, the instant they have dismounted their bikes, the european boy sweeps out from the shadows. It's nearly instantenous, the speed at which he moves through the group, grabs onto the heads of two of the punks and simply keeps going forward, slamming both down into the street and skidding a few meters further before coming to a stop. And a single word echoes out--<br /><br />"''Leeren!''"<br /><br />And even louder, likely, is the following screams of pain. Alex's method of draining was never refined-- for someone non-magical, it is an experience of great pain, even when he tries to hold back and drains for just *one second* to avoid draining too much. But not now. He keeps going and going and going, even while the punks writhe and struggle underneath his hands, and eventually go limp on the path to an all-but-guaranteed coma.<br /><br />But that's not enough. Tendrils burst out from within him again-- and reach for the other three, now.<br /><br />The sight Hannah is going to be greeted with is probably not one she expected when it came to Alex.

:'''{{#var:27|Hannah Sharpe| (27)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span> Screams echo, and that's what wakes up Hannah. She stumbles, just in time to watch Alexis grab those poor punks, draining them roughly and horrifically. Her mouth falls open, dumbfounded. And then, the rage sets in. <br /><br /> Teeth grind, her sightless eyes widen, and her /friend/ is draining people. This young man that infuriates her, that she respects enough to fight despite his current 'infection', is draining people without any regard or restraint. <br /><br /> "WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU IDIOT!?! WAKE UP!" <br /><br /> Inside of her soul, that barrier keeping the Witch in cracks just a little more. Her linker core too breaks just a bit, and more of that seething hatred spills out. Her eyes grow darker, blacker, for just a moment as the eating corruption sets in harder. <br /><br /> Her body shudders in agony, and yet, she's leaping for him. Her strike is simple, brutal, and to the point. A single right-haymaker aimed for the jaw. Shields spring up on the approach. She wants to smash into Alex...and get him away from those young men before they can't recover! <br /><br /> The little voice screaming in the back of her head to hurt, to pound, to devour every bit of power around her isn't helping.

:'''{{#var:182|Alexis Raskoph| (182)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>The yell goes unheard. But the fist doesn't. Just before it hits home, his head snaps over to stare right at the girl.<br /><br />There's a sudden, brief flash of dark-purple, and the faintest vision of flashing tendrils again before he is sent flying off across the street and into a wall. Brick and mortarwork breaks and flies through the air in the wake of it, and a mass of dust clouds the air there.<br /><br />And after just a few seconds, Alex emerges from within the dustcloud with slow steps that are surprisingly calm and deliberate considering everything.<br /><br />Immediately Hannah can tell that something has changed-- not just because of the fact that his previously-brown hair is now a dark purple, and so are his eyes when they open to reveal his irises, all glowing. The darkness that surrounded him is now-- to put it simply, *more*. Thicker, more vibrant, an aura of flowing dark-purple energy like a twisted flame set around him.<br /><br />And the way his eyes stare at her. There's no thought there to be found. All widened out and dilated-- there's no thought to be found there. Just pure instinct. Growing, beastial rage.<br /><br />And then he's suddenly moving again-- a quick pounce forward. Even faster than before, speeding across the street in a blur for Hannah, even while several tendrils burst from within the darkness surrounding him-- and even those move faster than before, more purposefully, lashing out like spears.<br /><br />"--WRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!"

:'''{{#var:27|Hannah Sharpe| (27)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span> Hannah gaps, eyes glaring emptily as the young man emerges. Feral. Strong. Wonderful, and yet repulsive. It's everything that the young woman loves and hates all at once. If anything, that dark aura calls to the corruption seeking to eat into her, and then... <br /><br /> NOthing. There's just anger. Just hate. Nothing in Alexis' eyes. Raging Tempest blares warning bells in her head, and finally, that's enough to break her spell. Teeth chomp down on her own wrist. And the pain wakes her up. <br /><br /> "...R.T. All power to speed." <br /><br /> Her suit jacket pops in a gust of wind, and she's essentially left naked before the darkness infecting Alexis. He pounces, fast, so fast, as do those horrific appendages just waiting to devour her! <br /><br /> Gasping, sputtering, desperate, she grins. "Alex-kun. Is this strength? Power that you can't even control? I know what that's like. Even now, eating me...that thing that's giving you power right now? Well. It'll eat you alive from the inside out. So WAKE UP!" One more scream, and then, she meets him in a blurr. Spearing tendrils hit green air, dissipating it, but before long...arms, legs, shoulders, cheeks...it's a mess, as she barely manages to dodge his spearing power from that darkness consuming him! And then, pausing, she leaps UP! Gasping, barely with any magic left, she puts everything into her hands. <br /><br /> "BUT! I won't let you burn out just let. Not before me. LET ME SHOW YOU MY RESOLVE FOR THE PEOPLE OF THIS WORLD!" <br /><br /> And then, putting all of her magic into those fists, it's a flurry of blows that may as well be thousands rather than mere two! Each wind-fist blurrs into the other, as she lets out one final howl! <br /><br /> "ORRRRAAAAAAAAAAA ORA ORA ORA ORAAAA!"

:'''{{#var:182|Alexis Raskoph| (182)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Unrelenting assault. That, in effect, is the most accurate description for Alex's proceeding from there.<br /><br />Without so much as a pause, he leaps up from the middle of his own barrage of spear-like Dark Energy Tendrils after Hannah-- and the two meet by way of fists.<br /><br />"WWRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!"<br /><br />Most of the energy used into the tendrils returns to his arms, and each punch sent down towards him is met by one of his own, again and again, crashing and knocking fists into fists as each fighter tries to reach the other.<br /><br />They come harder and faster from him than before-- enough so that each feels like a rapid-fire barrage from a cannon, and sends out shockwaves around their mid-air collisions each time they come into contact. It's not just that Alex has more energy to spend now-- he has long since stopped considering the *consequences* of him burning through as much as he is. And it showed already, in the sheer change of mindset, and now his fighting style-- there's no longer rapid tactical appraisal and strategizing, just pure, overwhelming brute force and the blind desire to pummel down what's in front of him.<br /><br />Between the shockwaves, flashes of energy from both of them, and the energy-appendages flailing about? More people are probably bound to notice, magical or not.<br /><br />Especially so when one of the dark tendrils previously having flown past Hannah strikes into the already-mangled support sof the crane, and with a mighty complaing of *CRRREEEAAAAKK* from the abused metal, beams snap, and the whole giant structure begins to topple over--<br /><br />Into the direction of the two fighters.<br /><br />Now, Alex? Alex is too blinded by the animal-like fury and his sole focus on Hannah to really even realize that particular impending hazard, but the warning sound may still reach Hannah's ears.

:'''{{#var:27|Hannah Sharpe| (27)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span> Really, Hannah finds herself grinning as much as she's angry.The pair clash, fists meeting fists, and finally the howling competition of rage and skill ends with Alexis' dark power winning out! Down that giant tower of metal goes! <br /><br /> Her legendary hearing comes into play, and that's when Hannah mostly stops resisting. Flurries of fists smash through Shield spells as Raging Tempest is set to full defensive. Her sleeves are ruined, she's battered by Alexis' pummeling, but still she leaps upward! His strikes only send her faster towards that falling crane! <br /><br /> And then, that shield dissolves, only for her blows to be aimed at the crane, and not Alexis! <br /><br /> "You idiot! YOu'll get crushed if we stay here! Run!" She calls to the young man, as she starts to smash into the falling metal! Floating mid air, green fists smashing into steel, can she win out as it slowly approaches her, with Alexis behind her!?

:'''{{#var:182|Alexis Raskoph| (182)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>GEtting the hell out of dodge would be the most reasonable thing to do.<br /><br />But Alex doesn't seem to care.<br /><br />Dark-purple tendrils coil around the metal beams making up the crane, and pull him up towards it-- and after Hannah, with another wild, beastial howl rumbling up from somewhere within the depths of the vocal chords that he perhaps didn't even know he could use.<br /><br />It might be in that moment that Hannah might realize-- there's not much of the 'person' that is 'Alex' currently present to be in control. There's just some dark beast left, an accumulation of all the dark desires and emotions driven on further by the Dark Energy imbued into him. And it comes crashing towards her from below-- and aiming another strike to her side, in one mighty punch.<br /><br />He's not in a place of mind where he cares much that she is effectively the only thing preventing the crane from crashing atop him-- or to even consider that if that punch does blow her away to the side, it's going to come down *fast* on *him alone*.

:'''{{#var:27|Hannah Sharpe| (27)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span> That bestial howl, that horrible attack that comes for her in that crashing, reckless punch! Hannah doesn't need a Device to make the calculations on what would happen if she just dodged. No, she can't let Alexis get hurt that way. She'd never forgive herself. With her magic flagging, she can only do one thing. <br /><br /> Put it all into one final punch! "Consider your anger known, Alexis Raskoph! But if you do something reckless like this and get yourself killed, I swear I'll use your ghost as my own personal butler!" She howls. <br /><br /> And then, she glows. The air around her fist draws in, magic flares, and then there's a massive tornado in her fist! One leg lashes behind her to meet the falling crane, while the other aims for Alexis' fist! <br /><br /> But just before they impact, there's a massive explosion of wind magic, as the sudden wild tornado tries to blow them both apart to the ground /away/ from the crane! Hannah is a rag doll in the air, both from Alexis' punch and her own attack, sending her crash into the ground, motionless and steaming!

:'''{{#var:182|Alexis Raskoph| (182)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>To the opposite direction, the young german man goes flying in rapid spins with a sharp, mindless howls echoing through the air-- up until he comes crashing into the ground with severla pieces of asphalt sent flying up from the resulting cracks before he bounces in a rolling bundle of limbs even further down the street.<br /><br />And in that exact moment, the tower of metal hits the ground between the two of them.<br /><br />For an instant, all sound disappears, just before dust billows out everywhere across the immediate area as support beams snap and scatter, and the crane's head crushes halfway into an emptied-out building and craters the ground below, filling the whole streetside with a cloud of dust, spreading rubble and a cacophony of sheer destruction echoing out to be heard across several city districts.<br /><br />&lt;|TO BE CONTINUED
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