damned_institute | Nightshift 38: Recreational Field

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Nightshift 38: Recreational Field

[from here]

She almost wished that she hadn't went last night. Because standing in this field again, in the same place she had been when she felt Hitsugaya die, was surreal. There was no one out here this time--no people, no kids, no mourning Shinigami, no virgin-eating birds. Just the chilly wind. She wrapped her arms around herself, shifting her flashlight and spear.

Senna moved close next to the buliding, hiding in the shadows and peering upwards. No birds so far. Maybe they'd be lucky. That guy better not show her up. Though she had to admit, wearing her Shinigami uniform was a lot warmer than the stupid outfit they gave everybody. And at least there was no more damn smiley face staring at her.

[Waiting for Reid down here.]

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Mercury could vaguely hear the tapping on the ice, but she didn't think they'd be able to get through it straight away.

Hopefully that would give her some time to recover. She was still breathing heavily, the exhersion of throwing so many attacks causing beads of sweat to form across her forehead. Her upper right arm throbbed from when she was hit before, and she massaged it gently. Her visor readings showed that another person had entered the field, but, for the moment, Mercury couldn't do anything except watch and hope that they would retreat back inside.

The man's non-answer was answer enough for Falis, which made her a bit concerned, if only because this man was a friend of Ami's. She didn't let any of that concern show, though.

"I don't doubt it," she replied, tapping again. "Sounds about a foot thick, give an inch or two." She narrowed her eyes at the ice. "I can probably break through it, but I'll tear my shoulder doing so thanks to the fucking ice. It might cause some... not good consequences." She was well aware of how much pain that would cause and how quickly her other side would start to pressure her into letting it loose. She would not let it loose. She might not care about accidentally killing the old man, but she'd be fucking pissed if she killed Ami because she lost control.

"You got any punch left in you?" Falis stopped at a point she thought was weaker than the rest.

With what seemed to him a near-herculean effort, the mutant struggled to his feet once more. The pain in his leg was lessening, and with focus, he was actually even able to move his right arm a little. Not enough to be of any significant use just yet, but it was reassuring to know that the damage wasn't as bad as he'd initially thought. His chest however...there was no pain yet, but breathing was becoming difficult. He'd lived through worse. He had to keep reminding himself of that. This was peanuts compared to some of the things he'd endured over his long life. Nothing. Now if only his body could be as convinced as his mind that this was the case...

Instead of worrying about how much he was probably going to hurt tomorrow, Logan turned his attention fully to Falis. At least now she was being less hostile, although he had to admit that he'd been pretty riled up, too. But whatever. They could tear chunks off each other all day tomorrow if necessary, or have it out at night to determine who was Ami's 'best buddy', but right now, she was still out there, and still a threat.

The mutant sensed something then, not something that might be noticed by an ordinary human, but it was there nonetheless. It wasn't a smell, or even a significant change in Falis' voice. It was something...less tangible than that. But there was something there, under Falis' skin, that reminded him of himself. An internal war...or something far sinister. But again, this was not the time for such thoughts. Instead, he let them slip from his mind even as he moved over to where she stood. "Yer sword ain' gonna do much goo', an' there def'nitely ain' no poin' in bustin' yerself up unless ya go' no other choice. I go' a bi' o' figh' lef' in me...an' we sure as hell ain' gonna le' our frien' keep runnin; aroun' pullin' tricks like this anymore, are we?" He attempted a half-arsed smile which spread across his face as more of a pained grimace, so he quickly let it drop. The Canadian took two steps back, braced himself as best he could on his weaker left leg, and kicked with all of his remaining strength at the spot in front of his new companion. Then he kicked again. And again, teeth gritted and bared, a low growl of frustration just beginning to rumble to the surface.

Mercury heard the vibrating thumps of someone hitting the icy barrier. Focusing her visor,the readings showed that it was Logan. She frowned. This isn't good. My barrier won't stand up to his metal skeleton for long. She forced herself to stand, mentally preparing herself and gathering the remainder of her energy. She waited with baited breath.

Falis nodded, a bit of a smirk touching her lips briefly, before moving out of the man's way. She reversed her sword so the blade ran up the length of her arm, while she tested the strength in her injured leg. Good enough.

"As soon as there's enough room, I'm through the hole," she said, her voice low so it wouldn't carry outside the ice. As the ice started to crack, Falis brought up her mental map of the field and remembered where Ami had been when she created the dome. That was roughly seven meters from where they were currently positioned. Assuming the ice witch hadn't moved too far.

She made a mental note about how effective the man's kicks were against the ice, much more like what she'd expect out of Pete and not just some guy she met on the road, but tucked it away to think about later. As soon as a chunk of the ice broke away and a second one followed, the hunter sprang through the hole and landed in a three-point stance. Pain shot up through her shoulder, but she pushed it away.

Crouching low to the ground in that stance a second, sword back behind her some, the hunter searched for her prey. There. Falis darted to the left to flank Ami and get out of the old man's way. Dropping back into the three-point stance, Falis fixed her eyes on Ami.

"I warn you now, Ami, and only now. Stand down," she said in a low voice.

For the moment, Logan's mind was gone. It was almost a meditative state rather than a feral one however, one channelled through years of training. His movements were methodical, his body focusing on the singular task of breaking through the ice. The low growl remained, but it, too, served to focus him rather than give rise to his rage. He listened to Falis, but her voice came through as if in a dream, distant, near-whispering, as if it was almost just a voice in his head.

Suddenly, he was through. Not fully having comprehended Falis' intentions through her words, he was startled back into reality as she dived through the gap he'd created before he'd even realised it was there. She was crazy, he was sre of it. Crazy, but determined. That sounded familiar. A cynical smile crept unbidden and unconsciously across the mutant's lips, before he remembered what they had to do. Another three swift, solid kicks, and the hole was wide enough for his stocky frame...just. Squeezing through, he instantly caught sight of swift movement through the mist. Not enough to pinpoint her but...as soon as Falis opened her mouth, he knew both where she was and what she was doing. That sword...he hoped she knew how to use it properly. One mistake...if Ami went down...he doubted he'd have any control over his actions from that point on.

Now he really hoped Falis knew what she was doing.

Despite Falis' warning Mercury knew she could never back down. The other senshi were counting on her. ﾞI am the Sailor Soldier of Wisdom and Justice, Sailor Mercury! I protect the innocent and fight evil, and that means you!" She took a defensive stance.

Sailor Mercury? Soldier of Wisdom and Justice? In that skirt? That was fucking hilarious. Falis couldn't help herself; she laughed - deep and hearty.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! That's the funniest fucking thing I've heard since I've been here, Ami. Most witches I know don't try to make their targets laugh themselves to death; they try to go with the fucking intimidating shit," she replied with a smirk. "And they don't go showing off their legs like that. Tell me, sweetheart, ain't you a bit a cold flashing your panties and all like you did when you jumped out of that ring? Not that I minded..."

That last bit was said hoping it'd fluster Ami a little considering how red she'd turned when the bow had been torn off and earlier when Falis had kissed her on the cheek. Before the words were fully off of Falis' lips, she was on the move. She may not have her unmatched speed here, but she was still pretty fucking fast.

The hunter's form exploded forward, but went past Ami on the girl's right, her sword in it's reversed fashion coming up as if it was going to cut along Ami's shoulder as the blonde shot past her. The blade did not connect, though, merely close enough to shear a piece of that floofy sleeve off if Ami didn't move fast enough.

The hunter's mark was tired, Falis could sense this. Labored breathing, though she was doing a decent job covering it up, there was a good chance the ice witch was out of magic for the moment. Falis wasn't entirely sure, but she was going to take the chance that Ami was tapped out. Immediately once the tip of the sword passed Ami's shoulder, Falis pivoted and put all her considerable strength into her strike as she tried to drive the butt of her sword straight into Ami's gut, the blade still running down the back of her arm where it wouldn't cut the supposed Sailor Soldier.

"I warned you," she said to Ami in a low voice. "But I've been called worse."

As soon as he was also through the hole, Logan was already running. He closed this distance in less than a second, but before he could either attack or defend either of them, Falis had started laughing. It stopped him short, even as her words caught up to his ears. Glancing over at their now mutual antagonist, the Canadian had to concede that Ami's skirt was probably a little too short for someone of her age.

Falis' words didn't go unnoticed by the mutant, but after all he'd seen and done, he could have been much more surprised than he was. The animal within reared its head briefly, almost as if in unconscious response to Falis' 'not minding' Ami's far-too-provocative outfit, but he quickly kept himself in check. Logan's mind returned to pure instinct as Falis struck. He knew well enough that she hadn't used the blade, but with that amount of force...he would have preferred to just subdue her, restrain her in some way. The animal within snarled again as he realised just how many times he'd done the same...or worse.

Mercury didn't have time for embarrassment as Falis launched herself forward. Her visor readings were too slow for Falis' attack, and she felt the coolness of the blade as it sliced off part of her sleeve.

Too late Mercury dived to try to avoid the next attack, and instead of the sword hilt connecting with her stomach, there was a sickening crunch as it smashed the bottom of her ribs. Mercury cried out in pain as she slammed into the icy ground, rolling for a couple of metres.

Gasping in pain, she struggled to stand back up, pain flaring sharply through her torso. With shaky legs, she managed to pull herself up again, one arm wrapped protectively around her broken ribs, the other ready to cast what was possibly her final attack.

"SHINE...AQUA...ILLUSION!" She threw the attack at Falis, using up what was left of her strength.

Before she could see if the attack connected, a roaring sound filled Mercury's ears, and stars danced in front on her eyes.

"Usagi..." she whispered to the darkness as her body crumpled to the ground.

A white light surrounded her unconscious form, slowing dimming to reveal a battered and bruised Ami, dressed in Landel's attire.

A small stick with a blue glass ball with the symbol of Mercury inside rolled loosly away from her fingertips.

[Please to be giving it back to her in the morning whoever picks it up? -batts eyes-. Permission from mods to turn back into sexy miniskirt Mercury at night :D]

Shit.

She felt the blow hit ribs instead of lower, stopping her follow through.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

The ice attack was thrown haphazardly at the hunter, a desperation move, and Falis dropped to the ground, sliding along it to let the icy waves pass over her. She wasn't perfect, though, and the ice wave caught her already iced shoulder again and barely touched her left cheek. Pain flared before it quickly dropped into an icy numbness. Falis didn't care, though, she was more worried about Ami than herself.

"Fuck," she ground out, wincing as her cheek protested her speaking. Driving her sword into the ground to stop her momentum, Falis was up on her feet. She was immediately at Ami's side, sword put into the sash at her waist, and she knelt down to examine her friend.

"Ami," she called to the girl, not that she was expecting her to respond. The girl was out and Falis felt like shit for what she'd done. It had to be done, her experience showing her that anything short of knocking out a controlled patient was useless, but that didn't make her feel any better. Her hand moved across Ami's abdomen, searching for the damage, finding the broken ribs.

"Fuck," she growled out, her eyes closing briefly as she tried to calm herself down. It wasn't life threatening by any means, but still... she hadn't tried to hurt Ami like this. She'd just been trying to knock her out without hitting her in the head. Damn ice fucking up her shoulder, making her have to strike with one hand instead of two, reducing her control of her blade in half. She fucking hated magic.

"She'll be in pain tomorrow, but she'll be okay," Falis stated, her voice quiet as she put a hand to Ami's cheek. "I hope she forgives me."

"As long as she's ok." He growled, giving Ami the once-over. She did look pretty good in that outfit, the animal noticed. He shook his head quickly. She was just a kid; such thoughts were highly inappropriate.

The pen may have gone unnoticed by Falis, but his senses didn't miss a trick. Moving swiftly, without ceremony, he swept it up into his right hand. "This looks important." He began. "Remin' me ta ask her abou' it tomorra. Fer now, le's jus' ge' her somewhere safe."

Falis glanced over at the man as he picked up something that looked like it might have been Ami's power item. That wasn't helping the whole witch thing, since they usually had shit like that.

"Yeah," Falis said, scooping Ami up into her arms with a groan of pain. Damn shoulder and damn leg and damn... magic. "I'll get her back to the women's block." She started toward the building with a pronounced limp as the ice around them started to thaw. "Catch you around, old man."

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Nightshift 38: Recreational Field

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