BUSHIN :: Main Page (Accepting & Open)

Jin noticed the soldiers coming and his voice was firm, saying, "Miss Isabelle, we have to go now!" He dashed to one side of the hallway, his spear a whirlwind of steel and wood, slicing through many of the soldiers with ease. He concentrated his entire mind on the enemies in front of him, trusting his back to Isabelle.

---

"Of course, I've been ready since he broke out of jail," Kurt replied, exited at the prospect of fighting Jin. Kurt took off, a wide grin on his face. "C'mon Blake! We've got a prisoner to capture, right?"

With his back against the wall, Lass quickly checked his laptop on the hacking progress. "Keep an eye out Alexius. I'll be occupied for a few moments..." To Lass' fortune, Kurt was no longer at his control panel so Lass was able to quickly take temporary access to their systems. His eyes were flying from one direction to another as he scanned through the security cameras. "Looks like they're near the infirmary... but there's a lot of soldiers. What should we do?"

Taking his cue, Isabelle sprayed at the soldiers behind him with everything she had left in her machine pistols. She reloaded like clockwork and mercilessly annihilated the soldiers with her short teleportations. Suddenly, there was a loud BOOM that caused the building to shake violently and soldiers to topple on top of each other. Sirens blared loudly to alert the incoming offensive attack. "About damn time they came," Isabelle muttered, scooping up some stray ammo and a handgun from a fallen military personal.

---

At the ground level, the entrance had been bombard by a few rounds of RPGs. "Enemies at 11 o'clock near the fountains." Rachel's passive voice spoke through the earpieces. Another rocket grenade was shot and blew up the next wave of enemies. In a lone motorboat near S.A.F.E.U. beach's shores was Felix calmly reloading his SMAW. "Clear, Ray. Point B has been secured, moving to Point C. Over," He reported, before motioning Caleb to drive the motorboat around the island. By now, the lobby of the S.A.F.E.U. headquarters were sprouting up in flames with corpses lining the front lawn.

---

Alexius was about to speak, when the explosion happened and provided him a chance to fire back at the falling soldiers. "Reinforcements are here, so it should be a good distraction. Since Isabelle is with Jin, she knows what to do next. For now, we need to get the hell out of here. Any plans?" He was scratched up and wounded, but made attempts to row down the next wave with his SMG.  

---

"Did you feel that? It felt like one of those earthquake simulators!" Blake cried, bounding past his comrade. He shoved soldiers aside and began taking the lead, feeling his bloodlust return again. "Outta the way, folks!" It didn't take long for them to reach the area where they heard the sound of Isabelle's gunshots.

Amy and the medics stumbled, some fell to the ground. Amy collapsed "Shoot" she said under her breath, her knees hurt , her right arm is practically useless at the moment. he left hand, dropped her crossbow, she tried to get to it, but slipped away to quickly. she took out her last knife and, made a large cut at the side of her arm. The blood poured out as it began to move, and twist around, a grim expression was on her face.

Kurt ran towards the sound of the gunshots and turned the corner, seeing Jin and Isabelle over injured and dead S.A.F.E.U. soldiers. Kurt unsheathed his sword quickly and slashed at Jin, his blade colliding against the other warrior's spear. Simultaneously, Kurt yelled, "Blake, I've got this! You go after the girl!"

Amy looked around, with the shaking it was making her motion sick, then her ancestors memories came back to her. She felt sick as she could feel her broken right leg twist as the ground shook her causing her to bump into a shelf with jars filled with who knows what. They shattered into beautiful fragments that shown in the light despite the shaking red world around her.

A military officer sprawled on the ground swore under his breath when the next shockwave of RPGs bombarded the building. He managed to take cover underneath a toppled diner cart, and avoided most of the ceiling and ground damage. He spotted the wounded Amy grimacing in pain beside the broken cabinet. He recognized her as an Arcane. "Medic unit, we have an Arcane down! I repeat, we have an Arcane down!" He shouted into his earpiece before upturning the diner cart and hoisting Amy's limp body on the top. He began pushing the make-shift stretcher down the hall.

---

Out of the corner of her eye, Isabelle spotted Kurt sprinting down the hallway. "Watch out Jin!" She cried, trying to get a good aim at Kurt from behind Jin. "He's no amateur-!" But before she could fire, a lanky figure suddenly leaped towards and slashed downwards. She blocked the attack with the barrel of her machine pistol with a grunt before kicking her assailant off her. Her kick had missed, but it managed to make her opponent reel back and create some distance.

Black grinned widely at the African American when he say his evidently fatigued and wounded she was. But despite that, Isabelle swapped one of her machine pistols with her tactical knife. "En garde!" He shouted gleefully before swooping in for an exchange of blows.

Blades clashed as the two master warriors engaged in battle, their weapons a blur and their movements crisp and clean, not leaving a possibility for error. Jin feinted a thrust and changed it mid-swing into a horizontal slash, but Kurt had reacted to it, blocking it and countering with his own moves.

"You've got some skill, Jin!" Kurt said excitedly as he swung downwards at Jin, slicing his chest, albeit lightly.

"I admire the compliment Master Kurt, but you shouldn't be so lax!" Jin yelled back as he returned the favor by stabbing Kurt in the leg.

The two fighters had blocked out any stimuli from the surrounding battles and were both enthralled by having someone that rivals them in skill to fight. Grinning from ear to ear, they clashed again, and continued to dance their deadly dance.

Contemplating on Alexius' suggestion, Lass began thinking of the scenarios. Looking at his laptop screen, he could still see the action unfolding throughout the floors but at the same time, he could see Alexius was pretty beaten up. Since he realized staying holed up in the building would be dangerous, he agreed to get the heck out of there. While nodding, "Let's go back to roof. We'll be safer up there."

While they were making their way up the roof, he was amazed how he was rather unscathed throughout the operation. He only had a few bruises but was overall in fair condition. However, Alexius' injury reduced their overall firepower and Lass had to snipe more often to pick up the slack. This was exhausting the both of them tremendously.

As much as Isabelle wanted to pause and witness the spectacle between the two melee fighters, she was too focused on trying to nail the damn bastard. Blake was far faster than her and more lithe than her Ancestor could ever be. His slashes becoming wilder and more unpredictable, and her parries were weakening. From the corner of her eye, Isabelle blocked the incoming slash with her knife, however, she blocked too late and Blake's knife ripped through her makeshift bandage. "I got you now!" He sang before punching her in the gut with his free hand.

Isabelle gasped in pain before she went sprawling onto the floor from the impact. Her knife had skidded out from her grip towards Blake. He picked it up with a relished grin, and stabbed the anti-Arcane knife into her exposed arm. She screamed in pain at the blade pinning her onto the floor. "That's it... Scream some more!" He cackled from above her. But before he could make another stab, Isabelle whirled around and delivered a round-house kick to his side.

Blake stumbled from the impact, allowing Isabelle enough time to yank the blade out of her arm. But before she got up, she saw her vision get hazy, and almost collided into the wall. "Cheap-ass weapon," she muttered hotly. Both of them knew that she was powerless with her injuries, lack of ammo, and inability to now teleport with the remnants of the anti-Arcane material in her bloodstream.

---

Alexius knew that going back to the top would be easier. He followed close behind Lass and made sure to check the hallways as they went up. Suddenly, their earpiece crackled to life with Rachel's voice. "Report Alexius, over."

"We've lost contact with Isabelle, but it looks like she'll be regrouping with us later with Jin. Currently heading up to the top with the newbie, over." He reported, mowing down a few more MPs with his SMG. He then strode over to their bodies to pick up their last remaining ammo. A sigh of relief from Rachel was heard on the earpiece before she responded. "A helicopter courtesy of P.A.N.D.O.R.A. will be picking you up on the helipad. Reinforcements will be covering the top and aiding you in your escape. Over and out," Then, the earpiece went dead.

Jin had heard Isabelle scream in pain, but his gaze remained fixed on Kurt's blade, its edge sweeping back and forth across the corridor. He saw his an opening in Kurt's defense and thrusted his spear into Kurt's lower abdomen. "That's one point for me, Master Kurt." Jin said as he felt pride for landing such a large attack on a high-level opponent.

Upon trying to pull his spear out, Jin noticed that it wouldn't budge. Tracing his eyes along the shaft, he saw Kurt's hand near the base of the blade, grasping it tightly. He smirked as he slashed the immobilized spearman,  laughing, "Good hit, but you're too naive kid!" After another slash on Jin's leg, Jin finally managed to wrench his spear free of Kurt's body.

Falling back a little, the two felt the building shift again, this time, some small chunks of drywall falling from the ceiling. Turning towards Isabelle, he quickly told her, "Go!" before following closely after.

Clutching his stomach, Kurt decided that he was in no condition for chase and, addressing Blake, he groaned, "Let's get out of here. This building isn't going to hold for much longer."

Blake sighed in dejection at the grim prospects of his enemy fleeing, but Joan's instincts urged him not to pursue them. Large chunks of concrete and ceiling obstructed the hallway and fires sparked to life by damaged electrical wires. Pressing a hand to Kurt's stomach and hoisting him over his shoulder, Blake simultaneously started healing him while turning corners to find an exit. "D-Do you know where the nearest exit is?" He asked, not catching his stutter when crimson flames flickered into view. Silence was met with his question. "Right, it's that way." He muttered to himself before following the melting signs of "exit".

---

With an iron-grip on his sleeve, Isabelle tore down the hallway with him in tow. Debris collapsed around them, nearly crushing the duo against concrete. Ahead of them, was a broken window from the impact of the RPGs. "Get ready, Jin!" She hollered over the chaos before leaping out the window with him. They began their dizzying descent, but Isabelle screwed her eyes together and began to concentrate on her remaining Arcane powers.

Suddenly, their bodies were jerked in mid-air with Isabelle's attempts to teleport, but it failed and their descent continued. "C'mon Izzy... JUST A BIT MORE! Random spurts of her Arcane power exploded from her, and a series of short teleportations began. The method gradually slowed down their descent, but it wasn't enough to save them. Without warning, the two suddenly teleported and slammed down against something hard and metallic.

Isabelle groaned in exhaustion and excruciating pain, but managed to glance up to see a familiar face swim into view. "Welcome back from hell you two." Felix greeted them monotonously, an RPG slung over his shoulder. They had somehow survived by plummeting onto the hood of Caleb's armored car.

---

"Right, P.A.N.D.O.R.A. my ass..." Alexius replied grimly before rowing down some more MPs and motioned Lass to follow close behind him. They managed to clear the floor within a few minutes and gradually progressed upwards. Upon reaching the rooftop, a noisy news helicopter awaited them with its blades rotating and hovering slightly off the helipad. Strangely, it seemed like there wasn't a pilot sitting inside. Boarding into the helicopter, Alexius rapped his fingers against the helicopter's telecom system. "Alexius reporting in. Zero causalities on my side, and I've got the "whiz kid" with me. Take us away, Orion. Over and out," He spoke through the microphone before collapsing into the co-pilot's seat.

Without him touching the controls, the helicopter elevated itself, hovered a bit longer, and took off from the helipad. No one occupied the pilot seat, however, the cyclic control continued to move on its own and one could see the switches being flipped on as if a ghost was manning the aircraft.

---

Below all the chaos, the MP managed to weave around the dead bodies and debris with the injured Amy limp on the dining cart. He barreled his way through the secretary offices and through the back door, only to find an ambulance about to take off. His sudden appearance alerted the medics. "Wait! Wait! I have an Arcane! Heavily wounded!" This suddenly sent the medics into a frenzy: they swarmed about the MP for questioning and loaded up Amy's body onto a fresh stretcher. Within a few minutes of interrogation and quick inspection, she was whisked away to one of S.A.F.E.U.'s safehouses.

(Noobles' post since he can't post at the moment).

Upon exiting the small conference room, Lass was very annoyed at P.A.N.D.O.R.A's interests and expectations. He never liked either organizations background and agenda since he's hacked into both groups' database. With a sigh, he continued walking down the hallway with his heads behind his back and elbows sticking out. He began to contemplate his own interests and purpose.

Confined to a bed by his injuries, Jin stared at the ceiling and thought to himself, "Hmm.... Master Kurt was a formidable opponent." Irked by the tie between him and Kurt, Jin forcibly got up from the bed, grabbed his spear, and headed outside to practice. Restricted by his bandages, Jin only practiced the basic Wushu forms, but soon, his wounds reopened and started to bleed again.

Smoking a cigarette through the window, the punky looking Caleb noticed Lass enter the hallway. "Well, well. Looks like the old geezers are finally done," he proclaimed, grinding out his cigarette's embers against the ground with his heel. "Where didja get placed on? Bane's team?"

---

Jin's next swipe in this practice form was suddenly stopped by a strong arm grasping the spear's polearm. "What are you doing out here?" Felix questioned calmly, his sister in the wheelchair sat not too far from them. They were on their daily walk through the base and passed by while he was practicing by chance. "I thought the nurses's didn't release you yet... You shouldn't be getting too anxious, Jin."

With much annoyance, Lass waved his other hand at Caleb. "I don't have much interest with P.A.N.D.O.R.A. It was only a temporary job. Your old geezers are always demanding."

Caleb shrugged, his piercings jingling with his actions. "Not really that surprising though. What do you expect from a bunch of hardcore potheads? They just like attracting attention after all."

FEnris walked through the halls of P.A.N.D.O.R.A, not as himself, but as another. Varien was the persons name when he first met the man he is now imitating. Simply wanted to get some weapons from him. He had a small smile on his face lost in his thoughts as he began to wander.

"Rest up, Isabelle. You are in no state of getting up now." Alexius scolded the African American before exiting the infirmary. His eyes caught the approaching figure of Varien smiling to himself. "Varien! Just the man I was looking for!" He called out amicably. "Where are you headed off to? The armory I assume?"

He pulled his spear from Felix's grasp, careful not to aggravate his wounds any further. Looking away, his sorrowful face seemed to indicate a deep introspection as to what he did wrong in the fight. "You wouldn't quite understand, Mr. Felix..." He quietly mused, deep in thought. "His offense was sharp, leaving no gaps for a counterattack, yet his defense seemed to lead directly into his own attacks and counters." He winced in pain as he remembered the somewhat blood soaked bandages. Looking sheepishly at Felix, he asked, "I don't mean to impose, but would you be willing to walk me back to the infirmary?"

Lass rolls his eyes as Caleb babbles about the elders. As Lass progressed down the hallway, he continued to think about P.A.N.D.O.R.A's request. In his eyes, he feels like a hamster being deprived of his skills by the organization. Lass has always resisted orders against his will ever since his youth. Though the incident with Isabelle was unique. The cards were in his favor when his life was in jeopardy.

Glancing back at Caleb, Lass broke his silence. "What made you join P.A.N.D.O.R.A?"

"Of course." He simply replied, hooking an arm underneath Jin and hoisting him up. "...Although I do not possess an Arcane like my sister, I do understand you a bit." Felix proclaimed ambiguously before hobbling across the room towards the hallway. His eyes met Rachel's, and a quick nod was recieved by her. Her fingers danced on the touchpad attached the to wheelchair, and within seconds, the wheelchair automatically began to move on its own.

---

Caleb narrowed his eyes at Lass's question. "A few reasons, but nothing that important or useful for your PC, I'm sure." He replied flippantly. "Besides, you're avoiding the question. What team did you get placed on?"

"Yes, I am. I wanted to see if we could find more ways to upgrade are equipment." he said smoothly. Fenris' word slipped out of his mouth like it was an instinct a voice that was not his, and the appearance that wasn't his.