Starring:
Date: August 12, 2014
Summary:
Hiken and Aimi of Hakumei must fight a deadly assassin
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Fortune and Infamy - Dangerous Tag Team"
Fuuma Alley
Business is underway in Fuuma Alley, as power has been successfully transferred to Hakumei's doppleganger, Daichi. It's caused most assassins hired by the rival brother and also his business partner to withdraw. Mercenaries don't want to work for the losing side, especially when the winning side can easily move against them now. But there's been one assassin who didn't withdraw her contract, and all members of Hakumei (or active allies) have been warned to not only be on high alert for this final threat. If Shizuka or another assassin is spotted, they're to contact Reina immediately. Or act according to the situation.
Reina had given out the names of Hakumei members (or at least some of them) to Hiken, Aimi, Daichi/Nanashi, Bea, their physical description, and a possible meeting place in the food district. People are thin in the area, giving the remaining people short lines for the food vendors and restaurants.
"Oh My!" Hiken states as he holds up the small potted plant and peers at it, "How much for this one?" He asks of the man running the stall that he is standing before. The man tells him the price and Hiken offers him the money quickly, "Quite the steal for an herb essential in making poultices." He nods his head, "As a note, these plants can be used to create poultices that can increase healing…they aren't just for show." He nods before shrugging and walking off, perhaps the man will increase the price, perhaps not. He already had what he needed and made it harder for random idiots to buy them up, hopefully. Even as he walks along with his new prize, Hiken hmms and looks around, idly tapping his chin, "Now…I was supposed to be on the look out for something…I'm sure of it."
And then one of the new members of the group walks up behind him. "Our targets, lest you forget.", Aimi says, keeping her tonfas on her, but sheathed. She just walks right past him. "Focus on the job now, and don't screw it up.", she tells. The woman keeps walking at an increased pace. "I'm missing a date tonight cause of this, thus making me crabby.", she tells. The woman takes a couple of deep breathes, looking around…
Aimi and Hiken would be able to look around for a good measure of time. And there's much to see. It's almost as if they're being given time to relax and wind down. Maybe the two could start up a good conversation. But something strange is happening. A few people are turning in early, and vacating the area. Not enough to arouse suspicion except in the very observant.
And Aimi and Hiken would be as such. An ominous presence is looming, ready to go. They'd get only a few moments notice but it'd be enough time to prepare. It'd be hard to pinpoint though, and doesn't come from above or some unexpected corner. A clothes vendor is reaching into a pile of clothes. Suddenly, she draws a fistful of senbon from it to throw at the two. She either doesn't need chakra, or concentrated it long in advance for the fight.
Looking at Aimi, Hiken grins and then states, "Oh, my. You don't need another man in your life! You have me!" Hiken states and then gives off sparkly eyes as he looks at her, "Look, I even brought you a…" And then he blinks as he notices the incoming attacks from the clothing sales person and he makes a few quick gestures and kicks one foot out to send up a barrier before himself before turning and pushing his other foot into the ground to slam up another barrier before Aimi. As he kicks, he sends his kicking leg to the ground, kneeling before Aimi and offering up the plant, "Do not worry. I am here to protect you." He gives his best ring eating grin and tries his best not to snicker even before saying, "Or would you prefer me bring you that woman's head?" He grins wider and then blinks, "OH! I could plant this plant in her head and what a gift that'd be…"
Aimi's hands go straight to her tonfas. Just as she starts to draw them, Hiken blocks the attacks, and keeps prattling. The woman just looks at him. "Look. I hate men. I'm into women.", she tells. "Yes, you heard right. I sleep with women. Not men.", she emphasizes. The woman turns around, and looks at the person who attacked them. "Now, lets just kill her, and get this over with.", Aimi tells as she rushes forward. She drops the tonfas back into their sheathes as she flips over the table. The woman attempts to give two strong kicks to the vendor's chest, before spinning around, and attempts to crush that bounce with a flat palm to the center of the chest. Aimi doesn't play…
It's an all out battle at once. And the steady trickle of people leaving is now the very speedy rush. The area is soon vacated. Shizu did a good job of hiding her weaponry, because when Aimi attacks, she's blocking it with a big slab of steel that could hardly be called a sword. She dodges the last one. Despite the massiveness of the blade, Shizu moves as lightly as if it were a rapier. She dodges the last blow, and comes down whirling, aiming to cleave both Hiken and Aimi in half, from waist high. She's like a top spinning, handling her blade with familiar skill. She says, "Or I take out the weaker of you two, and settle with the other." She chuckles.
"I can work with that!" Hiken calls out and then nods his head as he stands up, "Don't worry! We'll work through this small problem!" He chuckles even as he then blinks as he watches the incoming attack and drops low with a fist to the ground that sends a dome of Earth up over his form, the blade smashing into the dome of Rock before he comes flipping out and holds in his hand an orb and he tosses it to Shizu, "Here, this is you for you!" And it explodes with a gas that both has a stunning and poisonous effect. He chuckles even as he lifts a foot and stomps it down which will cause a rocky column to shoot up at Shizu, "Die quickly, can't you see I was trying to bond with a friend?!"
Aimi grins as she draws her tonfas. She blocks the strike while lashing out with her other tonfa. The woman smiles a bit as she looks at Shizu. Hiken's attics are hard to deal with, but Aimi's…is just flat out in Shizu's face. The woman smiles a bit, as she starts going crazy with the slashing. Who said to stop slashing? Not Aimi! She's just going nuts…But then again, she's a soldier mercenary, not a shinobi mercenary…
Under the combined assault of the two shinobi, Shizu is badly hit. No amount of a blade block is able to withstand the assault. Shizu falls back, but lands on her feet. She doesn't look as if she's about to retreat. It's becoming apparent why shse was the sole assassin who took the contract, but didn't flee. She hefts her blade. And then in an instant she moves so fast it's hard to follow with a normal eye, whirling to slash both of Aimi and Hiken down in one lethal blow.
Once more, Hiken attempts to block this attack with a dome of Earth but is no where near fast enough and is cut badly causing him to grab at his wounded gut and staggering back, "Ow…" Just like that, the not exactly tough Shinobi staggers back a few steps and hmms, "Well…" He then coughs a little before flicking a simple tiny orb right at Shizu and then stating, "Seems this needs to end more quickly." And the little orb will unleash not a single bit of poison like the other but it will stun if not avoided properly. He then flicks up a bit of water from a nearby puddle with a few gestures and a blast of needles is sent toward Shizu followed by another one of those stone columns, "Can't keep taking hits like that."
Shizu is knocked back by many of the attacks. But at the last second, a cloaked person is jumping down to take some of the attacks. They connect, but then the lightning clone bursts apart. And there's a new challenger, glancing at Shizu. "Already down," she murmurs, assessing her partner's state, who is now kneeling, nearly unconscious.
The newcomer turns to Aimi and speaks quickly, but calmly. "Allow me to take my partner, and we'll withdraw our contract from your client. We will not seek to continue it, either against you or him. Otherwise, prepare yourselves."
But Shizu snarls, "Kill them Zuka. We can't give up our contract."
"The contract never specified we have to act against them," Zuka says. Then, she'd hit Shizu across the neck, knocking Shizu out. A moment later, Zuka is lifting her partner up over her shoulder like a sack of grain. But she'd still face Hiken and Aimi, waiting.
A hmm and Hiken watches how this all turns out and then taps his chin, "Interesting." He states and taps his chin through his mask as he walks forward and then looks at Aimi before looking at the pair and then idly ponders, "Well, one half, we could kill you and that'd be just grand. I mean, then we'd know you were dead and not have to worry." He nods his head before pondering, "Well, here's my proposition. I don't control her." He points at Aimi, "She might just kill you but as I see it. You can go…but…and this is a big butt." He leans back, idly trying to check out Aimi's, "A but unlike that tight butt…" he then looks back to Zuka, "If you try to kill us again…I won't kill you. I'll keep you alive for as long as I can…or until I'm bored."
Aimi just looks at the pair. "Personally, I'm just a mercenary on a contract. My contract doesn't really say kill, so as a curtsy, yeah, Go.", she says. The woman turns towards Hiken. "You…", she says. "On the other hand, have been staring at my nelson this whole time, so…", she says. The woman throws the vicious stiff arm of doom at Hiken. More or less a friendly way of saying stop staring at my nelson before I killz you. She turns around to walk away…"Perv."
Zuka holds her partner in one hand. Zuka has her hand fixed in what Hiken and Aimi might recognize as hand seals using a single hand. One thing is obvious. Zuka is prepared to fight for Shizu. She never had to reveal herself in the first place, and could have safely left. When both Aimi and Hiken agree to allow them to leave, Zuka doesn't thank them or even reply to Hiken's cruel threat. A few bounding leaps puts her atop the roof of the nearest building.
Then she looks down at them both. "Hakumei, yes?" She glances over at Aimi. "I know you're on a contract, Aimi. And I would suggest you leave. Hakumei overreaches itself. The leader is a fool who will drag you down to destruction." Before they can retaliate against her words, there's a flash of bright light, and the two are gone."
A look at Zuka and a nod is given before HIken blinks over at Aimi and raises up both hands, "Hey, it was all in good-ACK!" And he is hit hard and is knocked back on his backside with a groan and then pushes back his hood and groans a little more, "Ow…" He then shakes his head and then looks down, "Ow…again." And then he slowly pushes himself back up to his feet and shakes his head, "No respect…"
