Starring:
Maikeru, Mune, Jon, Shinji, Amuro, Raili, Rin
Date: August 16, 2011
Summary:
Maikeru vs. Mune gets heated in a variety of ways during the Bloody Mist Cup tournament.
WARNING: Contains foul language.
"Bloody Mist Cup - Giving Up The Ghost: Maikeru vs. Mune"
Dammed Arena Floor - Kirigakure
In the center of the arena ring, a Kirigaure Chuunin Proctor stands waiting for the crowd to quieten down their murmuring. Normally, Maikeru has been here to announce some of the high profile matches, even his own, but not this one. When the crowd finally quietens, the Proctor calls out, "Our next match is Kishi Mune vs. Onryou Maikeru!" As one might expect, the crowd goes into a roar of expectance.
A blood-curdling shriek rings out from the locker area, bringing the crowd to silence. Soon after, a black wraith-like creature steps out the door, its entire form glowing with blood red chakra. As it comes closer and closer to the referee, however, the black robes seem to fade away, revealing the Onryou leader himself, adorned in his usual white trenchcoat and black sleeveless shirt and pants. Despite the returned cheer of the crowd, no expression shows on his face as he stops about five feet from the referee, removing his coat and tossing it to a person on the side who carries it into the locker area for him. The usual playing to the crowd he has done for the tournament is replaced with a simple raising of the possessed fist.
A dark look shows in the eyes of the Jounin as he looks around at the cheering crowd, waiting for blood, and then back to the Proctor. Returning his focus ahead, he awaits his opponent.
Kishi Mune is not necessarily one to play to the crowd under any circumstances. The most she is willing to do is make attempts to garner attention from the male portions of a given audience if it is important for her to seem appealing for some reason. She would just as soon ignore them all if it is up to her. However, her arrival to THIS match may be far more dramatic than her usual style. Not quite the theatrics of a certain actress, but dramatic regardless.
When the call for Onryou Maikeru and Kishi Mune goes out, Maikeru arrives first. He is left to wait for at least a few minutes for his opponent. It is long enough that impatience or confusion may start to pass through the crowd. The proctor, likewise, may feel that the other competitor is not going to show up. The sky has been more or less free of clouds throughout much of the day (a rarity in this country, at times). 15 minutes prior to the match's scheduled starting time, the darkening evening sky grows dimmer still as clouds gather and move inwards at speeds that are not at all natural. The clouds themselves grow darker as they gather, seeming to amass great amounts of moisture beyond what they had when they first started moving inwards. Further, even more disturbing, the clouds are approaching from ALL directions of the compass, in complete defiance of where the wind may be blowing or any other factor.
By the time that Maikeru has been waiting 3.5 minutes, barometers all over the country have dropped to their lowest levels. Fog has rolled in and swept over the Land of Water, emersing it in a dense blanket of wisping vapors. Winds pick up in other areas, blasting buildings, those outdoors, trees, wagons, the cliffs by the ocean, boats, weather balloons, and everything else. Thunder rumbles its threat in the skies above as the clouds all converge directly over the Dammed Arena in a mass. Lightning flashes in the distance… Sometimes repeatedly in brief spans of time.
Someone enters the arena then. Walking at an unhurried but 'normal' pace, a figure in a red coat with a hood pulled up over his or her head approaches the center of the arena floor. A messenger, come to deliver a notice of delay regarding the match perhaps? Upon the red hood of the red longcoat, in golden thread, the crest of the Yotsuki Clan might be glimpsed if one looks carefully in the darkened, misty stadium. On the back of the coat itself, not visible to Maikeru or the proctor due to this stranger facing those two as he or she advances, is the kanji for 'Defiance' in black.
When the person gets close enough, it becomes obvious this is a woman. Though her dress shirt does a good job of concealing it from a distance, she is proportioned as an adult woman would be. A few strands of blonde hair hang down from underneath the hood and into her dark-skinned face. Her mouth is a neutral line, and her eyes are not visible from how her head is downturned.
"Kishi Mune isn't coming," the woman says out loud. If she can be heard over the thunder that sounds just then, at least.
A few seconds later, the woman raises her head enough that she can look at Onryou Maikeru. Her eyes are the same vivid, light-blue as always as they take in her opponent. Then she says further, "Yotsuki Mune is here to accept your challenge." Just then, the heavens open up as though split with the blade of a god, and a heavy downpour of rain begins.
Jon's run in the tournament is over, and so is Amaya's. They could head home now if they wanted to. If it were only a matter of seeing the rest of the tournament or not, Jon would be tempted to do so. He doesn't enjoy spectator combat enough to make it worth staying away from his job longer, especially since spars are a common enough sight where he comes from. But, he came here to decrease chances of future hostility with Kirigakure, and leaving before the tournament ends could be taken as rude. And if there are clashes with Kiri coming, it wouldn't hurt to have an idea what some of their fighters are capable of. The real clincher, though, is this Kishi Mune. Jon's not one to hold a grudge, but suspicion? He'll nurture that on an IV drip of patience and keen observation. So he's here now to observe, and see what other unpleasant surprises this no-ties mednin has in store. e.e
And, when said med-nin finally arrives…she does bring quite a surprise. Yotsuki Mune? So now she's going out of her way to associate herself with Kumogakure in the public eye? Or is there some further twist she plans to throw in? That symbol on her back doesn't speak of unity, at any rate. Jon balls one hand into a fist and squeezes it with the other. The worst sort of caper is the kind where you can't figure out what the opposition is after. :/
Having gotten caught up with a few other matters he wasn't able to make his meeting with his ally before her match, the dark skinned man makes his way into arena. Following teh others up the stands, Shinji makes his way to seat near the top and off away from the others. Shinji notices that the stands are pretty full but still able to find a seat and have a clear view of the action that will be taking place down below the man sits down. Taking a deep breath, and letting a slight wince escape him, the man waits for the match to begin.
On one of the highest perches the Dammed Arena has to offer, a precarious and difficult-to-reach position that is little more than a stone ledge that overlooks the stadium, there is no one at all. This is probably for the best, as with the rain that is drenching everything not covered by something else, that so-high and so-unprotected spot would be quite dangerous to remain on. The powerful winds, the slippery footing… Really very hazardous.
People who look upon that place see nothing and no one unusual… It is just not worth their concern, and even if they >did< have a reason to look there, they would likely decide rather quickly to look elsewhere. There is just nothing to see there.
Nothing but a very tall man wearing a black mask on his face with a red question mark painted on its surface. He is wearing a black bodysuit, stitched together in places, zipped together in others, and missing in a few other areas. The places it is missing, old and grey flesh is exposed. The white of ancient scars almost conceals that skin, however, as do the various stitches, metal bolts, and wires, and other mechanical protrusions that appear to be woven into this man's body.
Like some sort of monster put together by a mad doctor, this towering, elderly, >wounded<, and yet still powerful figure stays crouched, with one long leg hanging over the ledge. His spiky brown-grey hair is already becoming matted by the rain. He sits there in plain sight for anyone who looks.
But no one sees him. The moment anyone >does< lay eyes upon him…
…They forget that they did so.
Amuro watches the arena floor from above, even though there are no eyeholes in his mask to watch through. The storm matters not to him, despite its looming threat and the immense power of nature itself. He was asked to observe due to something 'interesting' that a certain woman had observed.
That woman is down there now.
'Show me what is so interesting, Mune,' the man who is over a century and a third old thinks.
After waiting a few minutes for his opponent to arrive, Maikeru starts to get a slightly annoyed look on his face. The darkness and mist do not seem to bother him in the least. His last opponent actually made it rain during their match… His dark blue eyes simply glance around at those gathered as he waits.
When the red-cloaked figure finally appears, he emits a low sigh. "… Women," he says with a shake of his head. As she approaches and makes her first statement, he quirks an eyebrow, the look of annoyance growing a bit more. However, when the name change is stated, and the rain begins to pour down on the arena, the look changes into a dark smirk. His silver hair becomes a bit more weighted as it becomes drenched, as do his clothes, but that does not appear to be a factor of his focus right now.
"Very well, Yotsuki Mune," his dark yet smooth voice rings out as he speaks. "It looks like I've been paired with yet another opponent who enjoys tampering with the weather. Let us see if you are able to fare any better than the Kyoumen before you." He takes a few steps back, moving a few strands of wet silver hair away from his face. The blood red glow of his possessed arm intensifies, and his body takes on a blood red aura as power seems to swell out from around him, the ground almost seeming to shake. His voice now doubled by a much deeper, darker voice, that of Jigoku, he says, "I hope you do. I'd hate to maim such a lovely young lady as I did Satsukiyami."
As Maikeru begins to prepare for the fight, the Proctor gives a nod to both and then calls out, "BEGIN!" With that, he leaps back to get out of the way of the fight.
Mune's blonde eyebrows come down a bit as Maikeru prepares for battle. His words may or may not be the cause. Perhaps she is cool and uncaring or something. If she is, she is not reacting like it. She at least shows interest in Maikeru's increase in energy levels. Concerned? Scared? Worried? None of that is in evidence right now. Instead, she is just looking upon her opponent with a furrowed brow, as though measuring something about him that is not apparent to normal people.
When the call to begin is given, the half-Yotsuki woman slips a vial from within her coat into her hand. There is little time to see what it contains before she pops the cap and drinks it. If anyone DID see its contents, it was essentially some black liquid with a single white blob inside of it.
After swallowing the elixir, Mune discards the vial. Her dark-toned skin begins to pale gradually, becoming a lighter hue — more 'tan' than 'dark'. Flickers of black energy occasional emit from her, but it is by no means an 'aura' or a continuous field of anything in particular. It is not Chakra. It may FEEL similar to those with that capability, but it should be distinctly different. This is Negative Chi.
With one swift movement, Mune tosses a glass vial she got from somewhere at her opponent. Whatever it shatters upon will be doused in a corrosive substance that will burn for a bit. As soon as the vial begins its arc towards Maikeru, she is on the move, running to her left and across the terrain that is rapidly becoming a mud pit.
Watching the woman's change in appearance, Maikeru smirks slightly. His dark eyes focus on his opponent, ever-confident. When the vial is tossed his way, a simple clone appears in the way. The clone is doused in whatever corrosive substance was in that vial and disappears just as quickly as it came. He glances down to the substance that is now on the ground curiously before looking back up to her with a chuckle. "… Not bad."
He reaches into a pocket on his shirt, withdrawing a tag. "I believe it is my turn," he says before tossing the tag in the woman's direction. If it hits, upon impact, it will drain her chakra, as well as her physical energy before igniting into flames, though the flame isn't really enough to cause any physical harm. His dark blue eyes watch for her reaction as the tag flies, waiting for the next attack with a certain anticipation. Perhaps he's having a bit of fun.
The red glow from the Jounin's arm is growing stronger, turning into a full-body aura that sends out mild vibrations into the air and ground… Amuro hmmms to himself in a baritone so deep that it is almost inhuman. It fits him, somehow. He is eight feel tall, and he has a voice like a boulder rolling down a mountain side. That sort of deep, grinding, jarring >impact< comes from within him somewhere. But with no one nearby to hear him, there is little reason to speak, right?
A red-haired woman strides forward from behind the masked man, and then stands next to him in the small space left to her on the ledge. Amuro takes up a lot of room. She is far smaller than him, however, and so she manages. The fact that she just came out of nowhere and has a faint 'glow' to her may have something to do with it. The woman, dressed in the manner of a kunoichi of Uzushiogakure, and further of the Uzumaki Clan specifically, says, "He is using a Fuuinjutsu… Or one was used on him and he is just controlling its effects."
Amuro offers a noise of acknowledgement and says, "My sources indicate he is from the Land of Demons. I do not recognize that specific seal. It may have come about after my last trip there… Or simply been hidden away somewhere before then." The woman does not remark on that specifically, but she >does< point out something else. "There's more than one spirit in that body, isn't there?"
Amuro is silent as the fighting begins. It may be tests right now, but Mune likely wants to draw this fight out and get her opponent to demonstrate his abilities further. He sees a possible reason that Mune wanted him to witness this fight. If he is correct, then she knows far more about him and the ghost standing next to him than he had suspected.
Mune does not move fast enough. She throws down a vial of something and it erupts into a cascade of flaming sparks not unlike a firecracker of some kind, upon shattering. The sparks fail to distract sufficiently, however, and the ninja tag lands upon her. She feels energy forcibly taken from her as soon as it hits. She tears it free as quickly as she can as she remains half-crouched from the brief bout of artificially-induced fatigue, and decides that total energy conservation is simply not viable for this fight.
She will have to spend a bit to gain what she wants. She holds her hands out to her sides suddenly, remaining low to the moist earth and rapidly deepening puddles, and begins to draw in the Negative Chi she has been attempting to encourage in the environment with her introduction of atmosphere-altering chemical rockets. Night time, during a fierce storm, cloaked in fog, and with certain OTHER factors already put into play… Yes, that should work just fine. Pulling in Chi from her environment, Mune begins to emit more of those flickering black energy streams, her over-all level of resources within her body increasing greatly… Especially compared to where she is at after being hit with that sealing tag.
'I hope you appreciate this, Amuro-sama.'
Shinji leans back as he watches the match, his hazel eyes catching the movements as best they can from both fighters, though he watches Mune more closely. To see her hit only causes him to wince just the slightest bit but still her opponent is pretty good. A smirk slowly creeps up on his fight figuring he could probably take the guy, but then again in his condition maybe not. A slight tremor of pain begins racing through his body, closing his eyes and allowing himself a few moments to steady his breathing and focus his attention off the pain gives Shinji little peace, but still the pain is there none the less. He didn't know if he would be able to stay for the rest of the match or would he have to leave, for now he would wait and see how things progressed.
As the woman's appearance continues to change, Maikeru watches closely. This is a rather interesting display. Quite accustomed to darkness and eerie things himself, he seems to be rather unphased by all this. He ponders a few moments, figuring it better not to get into some sort of waiting game. That usually leads nowhere. He thrusts his possessed hand forward, sending a gigantic form of it at the woman, intending to literally punch her entire body at the same time from a nice distance away. As that one flies, the other, coated in the blood red aura, thrusts forward, sending it in a hook for a giant combination punch.
Miss Kushrenada manages to make it to the stadium once again, minus the over excessive amount of underaged drinking. She appeared to be much more refined, dressed in a simple yet stylish light blue blouse and black slacks. Of course the whole set is thrown off by the large EGT Boots that she refused to take off and that her hair that was currently down, still managed to be a bit frazzled… All in all, much of an improvement from Drunk-Raili. "Ugh…" The first words that come out of her mouth as she hears the the sounds of combat, "Late again, it's almost as if my subconscious doesn't want me to see any of Maikeru's matches." It was too hard to simply think, the hangover she had made it feel as though it was easier to say her thoughts despite… having to think them first.
She'd give the seats a lazy scan, 'Which seat can I take…' All the open seats appeared open for a reason, none of the people next to those seats appeared to be a pleasant person to sit next to. In the end, the best choice appeared to be leaning up against the bones along the lower side of the stands, finding a nice groove inside what appeared to be a rib bone to lean in.
Mune draws out a scroll with a Kekkaijutsu (Barrier Technique) formula inscribed on it. This same type of scroll stood up to the attacks of Saito Jon easily. The barrier simply DENIES what strikes it, repelling its force — whether that be kinetic or radiant energy. However, her attempts to block these fists of Chakra from Maikeru fail completely.
The blows do not rupture the barrier, but the raw IMPACT of the attacks hurls her backwards through the air. She fumbles to bring the scroll to bear again, but she is hit by the second fist in mid-air before she can even activate it again. When she hits the ground finally, it is on her back, but she somehow manages to spring up into a backwards somersault by pushing off the mud and grass with nothing more than her shoulders. Or maybe it was momentum. Either way, it looks kind of cool.
Sadly, looking cool is not going to help in this fight. "Tch," she lets out as she decides enough is enough. She has given Amuro plenty of time to gather data. If he feels otherwise, he'll let her know VERY promptly. Flushing the Yin Blood from her body, her pallor returns to its original dark coloration. Mune rises into a standing position and discards the used scroll.
Then she focuses her Chakra fully into her body. She hadn't expected her opponent to go all-out so quickly. Maybe he doesn't think he is, but he is functioning at a FAR higher level of ability than she had been. There's no choice. The jarring impacts of those Chakra fists hurt a lot, even with Negative Chi increasing her durability somewhat. Something has to be done or the next attack might be three times more painful. It is not as though this guy is showing any restraint.
So she focuses her energy, much more easily identified and 'normal' Chakra, and prepares her body to super-charge itself and to increase its healing capabilities a hundred times over. "I guess you didn't want this fight to go on for very long to fight at full-strength so quickly," she calls out to Maikeru from the distance. Her red coat is dirtied with the wet soil and grass stains, but that is hardly the focus of her concerns. Instead, she slams both palms onto the ground at her feet, and a crackling blue-white electrical energy seems to blaze up around her! The ground begins to heave and tremble, and an enormous fist of stone rises from the arena floor on the other side of the combat zone. It tears itself up out of the earth, towering over both Mune and Maikeru alike, and almost being high enough that Amuro could reach out and touch it if he wished to.
Then the giant hand surges down at the Kirigakure Jounin, apparently intending to smash into him devastatingly! Regardless of the results, it cracks and crumbles in places, and forms a brand new stone platform right there in the arena. And if Maikeru is underneath it, he may well be buried under a hundred tons of rock and dirt.
As the woman focuses more power into herself, Maikeru simply watches, calm as ever, as if nothing phases him at all. "No sense going through a warm-up when you get down to business," he says with a chuckle as he awaits her next move. When the giant hand comes up from the earth, he literally just stands and watches it rise up into the sky, dark smirk remaining on his face.
When the hand comes down toward him, he moves his hands into a seal, standing still. Just as it is about to slam down on him, it is held back from him by a large orb of blood red chakra surrounding the Jounin. However, the giant hand does manage to push his orb down a bit into the ground as it crumbles around him to form a new platform. Once the stones have all fallen, the orb fades, and he looks back to her, same smirk still in place. He seems nothing more than amused.
"Impressive," Maikeru says as he stretches the hand forward once more. "Shall we dance into the darknness of Hell together?" A blood-curdling shriek much like the one that rang out before the fight echoes through the area as three wraiths appear surrounding Mune. Once formed, they lunge at her, one trying to take her down at her legs as the other two attack on either side of her torso, attempting to swarm her and beat her down.
It seems that she has truly encountered a monster of a combatant this time. Mune is getting frustrated at both her inability to harm her opponent and her inability to defend herself. She moves with amazing, acrobatic maneuvers in mid-air in an attempt to evade these clones that appear around her. She escapes them for about twenty seconds before their speed, numbers, and whatver other special properties they possess enable them to overwhelm her. Their initial combine assault failed, but she still takes some severe hits from their phantasmal fists striking her all over.
This is not a pleasant experience.
However, as the clones try to force her down into the mud, to force her onto her KNEES, and make her BOW to this… This… MAN…! She is overcome by fury. Even as she struggles against her attackers, gradually managing to work her way onto both feet and stay there, her head rises and she glares daggers at Maikeru. She remembers what SHE has been through. She remembers HER lifestory and all the suffering therein. She has seen horrors beyond mortal comprehension and barely escaped with her sanity and LIFE intact. But she DID survive them.
She has been to the fifth sub-floor of a certain place… A place that she can honestly say can not possibly be anything less than equal to 'Hell'… If such a place exists.
"Hell? You think you can talk about Hell so casually?" Mune asks as she smiles — or maybe she is just baring her teeth. She laughs humorlessly. Then all that rock and dirt that had previously fallen down upon Maikeru, most of it blasted and scattered by his own barrier defense, erupts with dozens of people in full ninja gear, armed with a variety of weapons, armor, and they do not look to be especially friendly. Based on how they move, their speed, the Chakra practically beaming out of their eyes, and so forth, each one is at least a high-Chuunin level, if not Jounin.
Tauntingly, Mune calls out to Maikeru as the ninja surge towards him both on the ground and through the air, "Hell? Been there. Done that. Tell me more about it when you get back!" Then the dozen ninja descend and stab, and strike, and hurl poison smoke bombs, and try to cleave the Kirigakure Jounin apart!
"Yes, I can," Maikeru says with a smirk as he keeps his eyes locked on Mune. As new shinobi enter the battle from under the ground, more wraiths appear to match them, barring their path to the Jounin and attacking them in return. "You're not the only one. It's a place I have frequented," the doubled voice of the demonic Jounin calls out with a chuckle.
"Now, my dear," he says as he brings his hands into a seal again. "It's time to descend." Suddenly, the ground underneath her feet glows red, chakra building up and trying to restrain her feet as large sheets of blood red chakra come from all around her, intending to latch onto her and freeze her in place. If they hit her, this web will squeeze and strangle her as it drains chakra from her to weaken her, as well as keeping her thoroughly locked in place and unable to attack.
All of the reanimated ninja, augmented with pre-mortem chemical therapy and post-mortem surgical 'alterations', are engaged in battle with the swarms of clones that appear. However, clones are not quite a match for dead Super Jounin (or whatever). They do not tire, they do not feel pain, and unlike the Jigoku Clones, they do not just go away when struck. This means that as Maikeru unleashes his powerful binding technique — his voice echoing with a presence OTHER than his own — these dead men and women are available to break away after dispatching at LEAST a few of the clones, and leap one after another into the air, forming a living—okay, a DEAD chain of ninja who act as a sort of ladder or rescue rope or something. Mune leaps straight up when the web appears beneath her, reaches her hands out to the extended hands of the Elite ninja on the end of the chain, and is grabbed just in time to be swung around and away from.
That technique did not look like it would have allowed her to win. Infact, it looked like she would have gotten held in place and probably beaten until she could no longer fight or gave up. Instead, she comes swinging around through the mechanically and chemically-augmented muscles of the dead Jounin at the base of the 'dead chain'. When the chain completes its arc, Mune is hurled at high speed directly at Maikeru. One hand is held in a 'chopping' sort of position — fingers extended, palm flat, and a likely-not-visible except perhaps to Amuro blade of Chakra around that hand.
"You can just give up…" The dark-skinned woman closes in on her opponent, rain splattering all over her, the hood of her red coat falling back as the wind catches it, her blonde hair nearly streaking out behind her in a wild 'blaze'… "…On me giving up!"
Then she is there. The half-Yotsuki woman is there, in front of Maikeru. She cries out, "CHAKURA NO KAIBOUTOU! <CHAKRA DISSECTION BLADE!>" and attempts to plant the lethal modification to the Chakra Scalpel right in the Jounin's belly. Suck on THAT.
Someone in the crowd, who was until now fairly silent and was either asleep or maybe dead, probably the first, finally shakes his head— his first visible reaction. To those he introduced himself to, he was known as Onryou Rin; And though the mask had concealed all his features— they were for the record, contorted in anger. Something about this match angered Rin to no end. But outwardly, he was as cool as ice torn from the iceberg the ice giants would call a heart. Metaphorically speaking.
"Pointless games." He whispered, much to the surprise of nearby bystanders who were present enough to register his words, despite the awesome match going on down below. "When will you decide to reave the soul of the one we came for?" It looked as if he talked to no one in particular. And it was unclear who he was looking at due to the mask.
Watching the corpses suddenly become a chain, Maikeru quirks an eyebrow as he examines the woman swinging on a giant chain of bodies in some kind of Tarzan-ish motion. His eyes remain firmly locked on her. As Mune strikes, she is met with a clone that fades away. Behind the woman, Maikeru stands with a faint smirk on his face. "I like that," he says as he steps into stance. "Giving up easily is not a good quality." He vanishes into thin air, reappearing in front of the woman, attempting to drive his knee into her gut. Flickering again, he drives the elbow of his possessed hand at her back, intending to send her stumbling forward.
After Mune lands, she waits. She has received a mental message from Amuro via the Open Mind Communication Seal that she bears. It is time, he says. 'Hmph. FINALLY.' She stands in place and allows the knee to smash into her belly. The pain is piercing as it feels as though her innards have just been shoved behind her spine. The elbow slamming into her back is no less unpleasant.
Being sent onto her front in the mud and water, Mune slowly works her way back onto her feet. It hurts to bend or move or even straighten her back. But as the seconds tic by, and she eventually turns around to face the opponent who either caught her completely off guard or was ALLOWED to hit her…
Mune seems to be moving less and less like a wounded individual and more and more like the pain is fading and she is feeling ready to keep on fighting. "You're looking a bit tired there. Are you sure you don't want to give up now?" she asks mock-concernedly. It's no illusion. Bruises on the few bits of exposed skin visible hav already faded or vanished. She's… Healing!
…Well, Medic-Nin. Duh.
As the woman actually heals all her wounds, Maikeru quirks an eyebrow. "Well, and I thought some of the Kaguya's regeneration abilities were impressive," he says with a chuckle. "This… makes things a bit interesting." He glances around the battle field, plotting in his mind. When his eyes return to her, he emits a rather dark laugh. Apparently, he has decided to test this out in spite of his fatigue. The possessed hand glows more intensely, drawing more power from his reserves as he prepares to fight further against this woman who apparently can make herself somewhat indestructible.
Raili has been more or less forgotten, even in her own mind. Mostly because, no one else cared she was there in the first place, standing all off to the side, she's really the only one who could've forgotten herself. Instead she was entirely wrapped up on the two in battle, she was taking notes, what other reason to be here if she wasn't taking part of the competition. "…and here I was thinking fighting was boring. This is so flashy and… oh, well look at that." The hangover proving too harsh to let her give a more excited response by the majority of the damage simply being erased. Flipping back and forth between her book, between Maikeru's old page that had been started over a month ago and, Mune's fresh one.
Mune is not exactly at the peak of resources herself. Certainly, right NOW she feels almost as fresh as when she started this match, but if she does not finish this before her Chakra runs out, the technique will cancel itself automatically. And then she will be a nice and immobile target.
If she strikes Maikeru now with the right technique, he will be the one who is an immobile target. But she might run out of energy in the process… And THEN where would she be if she does not actually strike him? He is preparing something big alright, that much is clear, but what Maikeru's attack will DO is not known to Yotsuki Mune. Maybe Amuro knows something of Onryou Maikeru's origins, but Mune just knows he's pissing her off.
Sighing, and resigning herself to the possibility of getting hurt badly yet AGAIN before this finally ends for good… Mune causes her body's cells to crank up their Chakra output even further. She was already feeling hot from the battle. The rain stopped a couple minutes ago, and the wind is dying down, but sweat is upon her brow as much as there is rain. Splitting the nucleii of her own cells for 'emergency resources' is not a good idea, in general. But to complete this job, she needs to take some risks.
"Whenever you're ready, princess." Mune offers sarcastically, hoping that perhaps he will lose his focus or something. She doesn't know or care. She just wants him to fall down already!
As Mune begins to prep for more battle, Maikeru smirks. Her comment bring a light chuckle. "Right," he says as he begins walking toward Mune. He reaches into a pocket and withdraws a fairly large stack of tags. "This is much more interesting than the fight with Satsukiyami." He begins taking tags and tossing them at her as he runs toward her and begins moving rather acrobatically around her to try to just about cover her in tags. If successful, the tags will drain her of some of her chakra and physical strength before exploding all together, this time creating a rather dangerous explosion.
Mune manages to leap and dodge and weave amongst the many tags, but there are SO many, and she is tired enough from forcibly increasing her Chakra supply as she did, that after the numerous explosions are finishes, the energy-drains completed, and so on, the Medic-Nin's clothing is rather tattered, there are smudges all over her newly-revealed skin, there is mud scattered across her from the wet terrain being blasted around, and… And… She is healing again. Bam. Just like that. Maybe she's dirty and tired and perhaps a bit sore still, but at least she's not bleeding anymore. Infact, the burns have already nearly vanished!
Top-heavy woman in shredded clothing and covered in mud? If this were a different situation, there would probably be a lot of people willing to pay to see something like that. Instead, Maikeru gets to watch as Mune stands there and seemingly intends to outlast him! She is breathing hard, but she doesn't seem to be half as tired as her opponent likely is. Or so she is guessing.
"After I win this match, I expect you to replace my clothes. That was a BRAND NEW OUTFIT. It was EXPENSIVE," she hisses out. Then she crosses her arms under her chest and waits for the last of the repairs to finish.
As the woman begins to regenerate again, her clothes now rather tattered, Maikeru chuckles a bit. This is rather fun, though he's going to have to win a way other than simply wounding her body. "Tell you what, we'll go shopping soon for one as you awake up in the Medical Center," he retorts as he walks toward her. Stretching his possessed hand forward, the Demonic Jounin gives a menacing wink. Rather than an extension of the hand this time, a spiraling gate similar to that seen in Chakra Suction Tag, except much larger, opens up, attempting to drain a good bit of chakra from Mune and allow him to absorb it into himself.
Mune seems as though once more she is simply going to stand there and take the hit or try to evade and fail, only to get back up and heal. What a fool! Maikeru's last attack can drain away all her strength, cripple her sufficiently that there is no way she can defend herself, and simply be defeated utterly.
Except that she doesn't stand in the way of the attack this time. She offers without any hint of mocking, taunting, or emotion, other than a cold, calculating, lethality to her voice, "Oh, I am definitely going to need to spend some time in the hospital after this. I've used up a lot of my body's physical resources. If I don't shut this technique off soon, I'm going to start having to use the fat in my chest as fuel to stay CONSCIOUS. However, you will be heading there much sooner than I will. You are in NO condition to keep fighting. Your persistence is not determination, just stubborness and egotism. Remember what I just said when you wake up yourself."
As soon as the arm is directed at her, the dark-skinned kunoichi is leaping through the air, spinning so that she is facing back the way she came, and attempts to land behind Maikeru. Moving forward, Mune tries to press her scandalously ill-covered front against the Jounin's back, leans her head in close, and whispers breathily into the man's ear, "Let's try this again."
Her hand, shrouded in the unseen but nonetheless lethal Chakra Dissection Blade once more, drives forward regardless, attempting to impale Onryou Maikeru through the back. Hopefully she knows what she's doing. 'No killing each other' is a rule. 'No damaging your opponent's spine such that he is paralyzed for life' is not. If she strikes too far to the left…
Chuckling a bit at the woman's words, Maikeru says, "You'll find I don't back down either, my dear. The only way I will fall is when I haven't got the strength to go on." Watching her acrobatic moves through the air, the Jounin stands still. As her chest comes against his back, he leans into her whisper. However, he glances over his shoulder and spots the hand moving toward his back. Unsure what she is trying to do to his spine, but quite sure its intent is to cripple him, he says, "Hell no." He flickers as quickly as humanly possible, reappearing just a few feet away from her hardly even a blink later. Turning to face her, emits a low sigh, catching his breath from the exhaustion technique he just used as he waits for her next move. "You're cute, but not giving up use of my legs cute," he says as the dark smirk returns to his face.
Mune is beyond simply aggravated now. This fight was supposed to have been OVER already. She knows what she entered this tournament for. She knows what the 'master plan' is — unless Amuro has been lying to her all this time. She can't really be sure he hasn't been. That's the problem with working for someone who can control your memories. How much of what you remember actually happened? How much has happened that you DON'T REMEMBER? Still, these are not thoughts that are on her mind right now.
The Medic-Nin is pissed off because though she keeps healing, she also keeps getting hurt again. Further, she is very, very tired. Just as Maikeru is tired, so is she. She keeps telling herself she has been through worse, but to be honest her entire body is trembling as muscles ache and scream in protest at being used still. Those same muscles have their needs tended to swiftly by Mune's technique, but that in turn just draws away more of her energy and makes the situation WORSE. Her eyes are either squinted in rage or half-open due to tiredness. Regardless, however, she knows that her next move will decide things. She doesn't have the Chakra or the physical stamina remaining to prolong this match further. She doesn't even know WHY she's still fighting. Winning is hardly the objective here.
"Maybe," she mutters quietly to herself, as she faces her opponent at his position a few feet away. "I just want a rematch against her…" She doesn't intend the words to be heard or understood by anyone else. The volume barely more than a breath, and less than a whisper. Perhaps in her tired state she doesn't even realize she's moving her lips. But then words appear in her head again.
Mune's head snaps up from where it had been drooping gradually, as the voice of the masked man who watches from above resonates within her thoughts. She curses quietly and reaches a hand to touch the snaking tattoo-like lines on her left cheek. Then she remembers she can not afford to use Chakra to send him a message back!
No arguing with him. She can't try to debate with Amuro about this. He knows she can't, probably. There's no way he can't see how exhausted both of these fighters are. In the end, however, she chooses NOT to give in and obey. Maybe she's the one being stubborn now. No. She DEFINITELY is being stubborn. But she is also demonstrating the very quality that is described by the kanji on the back of her damaged, muddy, and once brand-new red longcoat. It is the quality that Amuro identified in her and used as a basis for assigning her that same kanji as a sort of 'personal symbol' within the Tao Shih.
'Defiance.'
The word and the quality and the very concept of it are what Mune embodies as she surges towards Maikeru, well, aware that she is pushing her beyond beyond her tolerances and that after this attack, she is unlikely to have enough Chakra to defend herself if it comes down to that. She has to end this now.
The dark-skinned woman surges across the nearly non-existent space between herself and the semi-possessed Jounin. Perhaps it is three whole feet to normal people, for ninja, let alone a ninja super-charged such that she is moving even faster than her already great 'basic' speed, three feet might as well be three inches.
One hand swings around in what looks like a clumsy hammer-punch from the side. It is not the same position as she has been using for her Chakra Scalpel attacks. Instead, gripped in her hand… Is a syringe. She attempts to stab it into the side of Maikeru's neck and inject the contents. If she succeeds, he will shortly be rethinking his ideas about having been to Hell before. If she fails, she is wide open and very, very tired.
Watching as the woman seems to struggle against her own body, Maikeru keeps his eyes locked on her. Despite not being injured, his body has been quite thoroughly worked out in this match. His dark blue eyes focus on her as he comes his way. He moves to dodge the fist and then the other hand that moves unexpectedly, not able to muster up another flicker so soon after using that high level of it… Sink.
As the syringe sinks into his trapezius muscle, he winces, eyes growing wide for a moment. "… That… wasn't… a… good," he mutters out as he falls to his knees and then down on his back, the medicine beginning to take effect. "No," he barely whispers, eyes closed as visions of blood and war begin to dance through his mind… Of crawling through the desert barely alive, of Aika's body lying on the ground in a bloody heap at the hands of a power-hungry shinobi. "NO!" he growls out before blood red aura begins to shift around his body, Maikeru no longer in control. The demonic Jounin's skin begins to grow darker, and his hair turns pure white, his face taking on a slightly more rugged, older look. His clothes even change, a black trench coat with a white tail appearing, as well as white gloves. As the change continues, his growls of restraint begin to be separated by dark laughter.
Mune sees with satisfaction that the syringe sinks into its target and injects the unhealthy mix of chemicals and drugs. The toxic reaction starts almost immediately, but she backs up regardless. Well, more like stumbles backwards. The stamina she has right now is not even her own. She is running off of the ILLUSION of energy granted by the super-charging of her body's cells to begin the cell replication process before she even takes a hit.
It's a very useful ability. Right now, however, it is rendering her less and less capable of surviving. Maikeru falls to his knees and seems to be suffering from hallucinations. The other nasty side-effects may come a moment later, with the vomitting, blindness, diarrhea, constipation, etc. That will give Mune plenty of time to finish this. A normal person would be incapacitated for a LONG time, but a ninja of the Jounin's level will probably be at LEAST able to fight in SOME capacity — even if that winds up being poorly — simply because he can push himself to stay awake long enough to flail wildly.
Not especially impressive? But a normal person would have been unconscious a long time ago, and with Mune and Maikeru BOTH in this condition, neither one can exactly claim to be capable of amazing feats. Mune prepares to deactivate her cell-replication ability, thinking perhaps she can finish this without more Ninjutsu or Chakra use, simply by punching this guy repeatedly. Then the aura about him changes. It seems to be physically altering his body into someone else's!
…So she was RIGHT about that Seal after all. She hadn't been sure, as that is not a focus of hers. It was wise to call Amuro here, then. He can probably tell her what exactly she's dealing with. She waits. She waits. She waits.
Maikeru is going crazy and becoming someone else, and she receives no secret message or valuable tips on how to regain control of this situation. That energy looks like it's either going to kill Maikeru, kill Mune, or kill them both. Maybe it will just transform the Jounin into someone else, but that someone else is not a friendly person, from her understanding. So what should she do? Amuro is silent in her head. He isn't telling her anything! That…!
Then she remembers that he had ordered her to give up and she had ignored him and gone ahead and attacked. She is in this situation due to her own decisions. Emotions and logic — the two great enemies of Mune's life. She is a volatile woman, but at the same time she tries to approach things rationally and scientifically. Balancing the two has been a struggle. She allowed the balance to change, and now here she is.
"Fuck," she mutters angrily. She can't afford to gather more Chakra. It would just mean she'd be that much closer to death when she turns this ability off. There's nothing for it. She'll have to attack even if it will exhaust her further. No one is down here to help her. It's up to the half-Yotsuki woman. One attack while charged up, and the rest will be done without the benefit of any boosts. She walks forward as steadily as she can, to the thrashing, screaming, mutating man she has spent what feels like an entire week fighting, and places a hand on the ninja's left shoulder.
It's hard to stay on her feet, let alone maintain a grip, but she does her damndest. Then, Yotsuki Mune says what she hopes will not be heard or recalled by Maikeru later on. "You're the only man I've ever fought who has gotten even remotely close to defeating me like this. If you hadn't gotten me so pissed off at you, I'd almost think about rewarding you for that." Then, leaning forward as she tries to support herself on Maikeru, damaged clothing doing little to 'hold her in' as she sways unsteadily, Mune raises her left hand, with a second syringe in her grasp, very similar to the first. Then she injects it directly into Maikeru's right arm, doubling the dosage.
"…But you're not smart enough to get THAT kind of treatment. Sorry, your I.Q. must be at least high enough to put BACK UP SEALS on something dangerous if you want to get on this ride." Then she waits, too tired to actually back away this time. Maybe if the entire body shuts down in its entirety there will be no way for that arm to take over? She doesn't know. But she can at least try to manually contain it with the 'host' unconscious. If he's awake, then she's dead meat.
Rin stares at the fight and the subsequent transformation of Maikeru. It was a mystery whether or not Rin had seen Maikeru like that. He didn't seem surprised at all. When the people near him went 'Ooooohh' he was silent as always. Except, now he was visibly struggling with himself. Teeth grinding together, and the words 'Be silent' muttered under his breath repeadetly. To someone it may seem as if he's trying to give advice to Mune, which made no sense. Or perhaps he was refering to the people next to him. Either way, by this point, he was watching like a hawk.
The dark laughter calms and disappears as Mune supports herself on the transforming Maikeru. He seems completely still for a few moments as the transformation continues, Jigoku fully revealed. A very muffled, "… Mune… Run," is emitted from his lips to her, Maikeru's only words of advice to her As she brings the syringe down, suddenly there's an exact copy of the transformed man in the way, giving him a moment to roll out of the way.
As the clone fades away, Jigoku stands to his feet, dark laughter emanating once again. "I'm quite sorry, young lady, but Maikeru is not the one you are dealing with anymore," he says, Maikeru's voice completely absent now, where it was once doubled. "I am Jigoku, he who brought Hell upon the Land of Demons. Your arrogance will be your end." His entire body glows with blood red chakra, his presence much darker than that of the man before, power surging through him. By the look in his eyes, he doesn't intend on allowing Mune to leave this arena alive.
Meanwhile, watching from above still, Amuro does nothing to aid Mune. He instructed her to give up. She refused. She is suffering the consequences of her actions. It is all just as she figured out on her own. But more importantly, studying this Onryou Maikeru during a prolonged meeting is of >far< lesser interest and priority to the masked man than Mune seems to think.
Is the seal interesting? Absolutely. That is why Amuro has been studying it the entire fight. There is not much more for him to learn from this man from the Land of Demons in regard to study alone. Both direct and more esoteric senses have been put into analyzing Maikeru. What is important right >now< is to allow Maikeru to use up as much of his Chakra as possible so that this 'demon' will emerge… Then it can be dealt with in a lasting manner. After all, Amuro knows better than anyone how dangerous it is to rely on a weapon that can not only be used against you but can consciously choose to betray you if one's control lapses for even a second.
The Beast of Blood is evidence enough of that. It would be better to provide Maikeru with a more stable source of power… And perhaps earn his loyalty in the process.
Then it happens. Jigoku has taken over. It is time. Amuro rises to a standing position. The rain has stopped, and the grey clouds are ceasing their spiral swirling overhead, gradually slowing and spreading. The symbolical significance of this act being performed beneath a 'whirlpool' in the sky is not lost upon the man. The Uzumaki woman — the ghost that stood beside Amuro throughout most of the match — has gone without a trace of ever being there. The man in the patchwork body suit gathers a small amount of Chakra, almost-insignificant fraction of his over-all capacity. It is readily available to him even while at rest. Yet it is so much less what he had even two years ago. The black mask with the red question mark upon its surface betrays nothing. As the possessor arises, the physical body he has usurped only moments away from dying as 'Maikeru' — both literally and figuratively — and being reborn at full power as 'Jigoku', the body-snatching creature is likely to suddenly feel something wrapping around 'his' arms. They are Maikeru's arms, however, and these burdens entangle the limbs and impact the Chakra Network of Maikeru, rather than Jigoku's own. The Jounin is not yet dead. The body remains Maikeru's own.
The chains that entangle those arms are invisible to normal eyes, for they are made of pure Chakra… And they bind and cut off the flow of Chakra through Maikeru's body, reducing him to no available energy at all, beyond his vastly depleted physical stamina. A spiralling black vortex comes into being behind Jigoku before the transformation can reverse fully.
It is not quite a vortex coming into being, actually… More like… A hole in the universe has just opened up. A pinpoint of a void that leads into nothing, because it is >is< nothing. Nothingness, emptiness, non-existence… The light, the air, the warmth, and >possibly< the spiritual essence of Jigoku himself are drawn towards that area of utter blackness. A blackness beyond black itself produces the shrieking of a hungry maw as the wind roars past, everything nearby being sucked within. The Void calls for Jigoku.
If the man who considers himself a 'demon' does not manage to escape somehow, or to be suppressed by Maikeru himself, then the Jounin will be left without a second presence in his body. We'll just have to wait and see.
"…Wait to see how strong you >really< are, Onryou Maikeru," the tall man says aloud to himself as he remains above and does nothing further.
Mune is out of it. No more fighting. No more last-ditch efforts. When Maikeru rolls away, Mune falls flat on the ground. The mud splashes further upon her, coating her in a new layer of dirt. Ugh. If she survives this, she is going to demand that she be allowed to sleep and bathe at the same time. Maybe have someone take care of the bathing part for her. She is so tired…
'Jigoku' is in control now, whatever that means. She is probably in danger. But it's so much easier to just LIE here. So hard to keep her head off the ground. She can't see anything, and it takes torturous seconds to realize this is because her eyes are closed. Thought slows and lapses. She doesn't notice the sealing technique cast towards Jigoku.
But she notices the Void. The cold so terrible that it should be impossible for it to exist anywhere other than the deepest, darkest regions of empty space… The hurricane-force winds that are not 'blowing' but actually 'sucking'… The ground, the water, the LIGHT ITSELF all going somewhere that is NOWHERE.
That Void is made by only one thing.
'Munashiigan!' Mune thinks desperately, raising her head to stare blearily at the phenomenon. She feels herself being dragged across the ground by the suction even though she is further away from the anomaly than Maikeru by a significant amount. Is this the end then? The death she has dreaded for so long? The termination of her quest to obtain immortality? 'If only I had completed the elixir in time…' she thinks hopelessly. As she begins to pass out fully, she wonders if it is a curse or a blessing that she will not be conscious to find out what it feels like to be torn apart on the sub-atomic level and made to stop existing.
Feeling something taking his physical arms, Jigoku blinks and looks down, seeing nothing. "What the Hell," his dark voice says as he looks around for the source of the chains. He growls as he tries to struggle and breaks himself free of the invisible chains. Feeling his chakra draining away completely, he growls. "Who is doing this?"
When the void opens beyond him, the demonic man looks to it, his eerie yellow eyes growing quite large as the shrieking void tries to suck him in, feeling it jerking at his very soul. "No!" he roars out as he jerks and pulls at the invisible chains, trying to tear himself away from this banishment into nothingness. "After all this, I can't be gone! I won't!" However, despite all his efforts, Jigoku is unable to budge one inch away, instead being drawn closer and closer.
The doubled voice of Maikeru comes again as he says, "You're finally getting what you deserve, old bastard." With every ounce of strength left in him, the Jounin struggles against the pull of the Void, allowing Jigoku to be ripped away from him. The body of Jigoku can literally be seen peeling away from Maikeru like a snake shedding its skin, oozing away as the Void draws him in. A blood-curdling shriek much like that of the wraiths from earlier draws Jigoku into the Void. Dropping to his knee, Maikeru looks to Mune, who seems to have given up when the Void opened and was dragging her, saying one last thing, "Don't… start… giving up… now."
With that, he falls down on his face, completely drained of his physical energy and unconscious.
