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Post by lala on Jan 4, 2010 15:51:45 GMT -5
{Okay guys, I'm gonna be really corny with this, but it has to be said! So in two days, this thread turns one year old! And I can't tell you how excited that makes me! And I'd like to thank you all for joining, and keeping this going. This was my first thread with Tifa on this site. And while I had Rinoa before, this thread really broke me in and made me feel comfortable. So I'd like to thank you all for participating in this.}
Tifa kept on running. She was determined now, probably more then she had been before. For some reason, she just felt like she had more of a reason to fight. She wasnted this to end. Kadaj...he needed to be stopped. As soon as possible. Tifa wantd to bring this to an end. In any sort of way. She wondered about the men that she was fighting alongside. She knew Rufus was probably the one who wanted this to end the most. After all, Kadaj was after him. Tseng was fighting due to his loyalty to Rufus as a Turk. At least that is what Tifa had assumed. And she figured that her and Vincent were along the same lines for fighting. Vincent had that newfound alliance with Rufus. And now Tifa was in on it. But with someone like Kadaj, it was also some more personal ties. All of them knew Kadaj and he was an enemy to all of them. An enemy that had to be destroyed.
Tifa took a moment to think out her kick and where it would land. She wanted to aim this just right. She not only had to hit her target, but she had to dodge all of the bullets that were being aimed at Kadaj. She didn't want to get in the way of them anymore. They deserved a fight too. Which is why that she took a different direction, when it came to catching Kadaj in the first place. Tifa aimed her kick and watched as Kadaj aimed an attack at her knee. Tifa reacted quickly, and she sprung her leg up higher so that it would miss her knee. Unfortunately though, since she changed the aim of her kick, she missed her target. But she had been able to save herself from any further injury. Since Kadaj had taken the cure materia away, Tifa was still weakened from before. But despite that, she was still going to give it her all and keep on fighting.
Tifa flipped backwards, landing in her crouched position. She slid backward a bit, causing some of the dust from the sand to get in her way. This blocked her vision. Tifa was falling behind from the action. She had to catch up. Something could happen within a minute. And she wanted to do her part. Tifa started to run again, trying to catch up with the group. Tifa wondered how Vincent was doing. She hoped thast he was still somewhat at peace. Tifa knew what Vincent was capable of, and what he could transform into. He certainly wasn't someone that you wanted to get mad. Tifa wondered though, if he was perhaps devising some sort of plan. Vincent had always been a good strategy thinker, having some sort of plan that was ready to be put into action.
Tifa watched as Vincent aimed his gun...at a most shoking target. Rufus? What...what was going on? Tifa watched Vincent take his gun and shoot it at Rufus's leg. She was so surprised by this, and actually stopped running for a mid-moment. She wasn't angry though. She was more or less...confused. What had just happened? Not long ago, Vincent had been telling her that Rufus and Shinra were going to be allies of AVALANCHE. They were going to work together to defeat Kadaj. And now, it felt like all of those years ago, when the war had been against Shinra. All of this just from one shot. Tifa stared at Vincent for a moment, her facial expression showing her confusion. She wanted answers from him. She wanted to know why he had done that.
If Tifa was this surprised, she could only imagine how Tseng was feeling. Tseng was a turk, and he was here to defend Rufus. And to have Rufus get shot like this would probably cause some...anger. Tifa wasn't angry though. She didn't have the same strong connection to Rufus. After all, she still had a pretty fair amount of her hate harnested inside of her. She was stubborn often, and didn't gt over things too easily. She had put her hate aside for now though. But Vincent...had he kept his hate around?
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Tseng
Neutral
Leader of the Turks[M:0]
"We're paid much better then you are."
Posts: 131
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Post by Tseng on Jan 4, 2010 19:22:58 GMT -5
[Oh, really? I think that's a big deal. Congrats you guys. Feel free to be as emotional as you'd like, Tifa.] ----- Everything seemed to slow down. Kadaj had managed to maneuver past Vincent. How was that even possible. He'd heard so much about how strong Vincent was. Was it possible that Kadaj possed the ability to get past him so easily? It was so hard to do anything. Tseng had never felt so helpless and out of control as he did now. It made him sick. Kadaj was so close to Rufus, it was unacceptable. Tseng pointed his gun straight up to try and reposition himself to be able to get a shot on Kadaj before he grabbed Rufus. That would be extremely bad if Kadaj got to Rufus. It could mean the President's death. However, Tifa was too close to the group to make any good shots. The Turk cursed lightly under her breath. That's when he noted the situation. It has been a while since they were taught to injure the target to save them in the end. It was removed when one of the hostages had been killed by a mis-fire and ruptured the femeral artery, causing them to bleed to death. So, it was only a last case senario after trying to talk the attacker down. But, that would be near impossible. This was Kadaj. So, when Rufus was shot in the leg, Tseng didn't bat an eye, he continued to advance. But, he noticed Tifa's surprise. He guessed only Rufus, Vincent, and himself would understand that the attack was to save Rufus, not to harm him. But, it was still horrible. Everything was so slow, even then Tseng couldnt help. This pained Tseng more then anything. But, he kept a blank face, making it past Tifa and pointing the gun at the hostage situation. If Kadaj got Rufus, it was over. What were they supposed to do...
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Rufus ShinRa
Neutral
[AWD:03]Turk[M:100]
"Heh, that's all for today."
Posts: 320
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Post by Rufus ShinRa on Jan 7, 2010 15:41:14 GMT -5
(YAY! THAT'S SO COOL! You know, sobby story continued, I was going to drop the site a while back, but my will to continue was because I needed to finish this thread. ^.^' I couldn't just poof from a semi-almost-active thread. It'd of been mean and it happens to me a lot. So I thought, I'll poof after the thread is over. So, obviously that isn't happening now. But it was. Lol. *huggles Tifa* Totally Awesome!)
Something had happened. Kadaj's expression had changed and something was going to happen. For that moment, Rufus felt a strange emotion. It was like he couldn't do anything to stop Kadaj. The two bullets he had fired were blocked at the last moment by Kadaj's weapon and Kadaj was still headed straight for Vincent and himself. Yet, it was reassuring to hear Vincent's weapon make contact with Kadaj's head. That should have stunned him for a moment. Rufus took a step or to back to give Vincent more room if he needed it.
That's when Rufus noticed the battle wasn't over. Kadaj had managed to slide underneath Vincent and get back up after Tseng shot him. The blood was obvious to see on his forehead. But still, Kadaj was headed at him. Rufus had only managed to lift his gun up all of the way, hadm anaged to fire a shot, which Kadaj had blocked again, and back up a step and a half when Kadaj managed to grab his shirt. Not his jacket, his shirt! It's not like Rufus had a sword were he'd of been able to cut the shirt to get free, no. He had a gun which was useless in short range. This was it. He couldn't do much to get free at this point in time.
Within mere moments, Kadaj had Rufus hostage with a weapon at his throat. This was a stunning feat, but a horrible revilation to Rufus. How did he manage to do that? Rufus admitted he had been taken hostage before. But nothing as personal as this. Maybe Rufus did deserve it for what he did in the past. But, he'd probably do it all again since it all seemed to work out in the end, no matter the cost.
Vincent instantly took control of the situation now. Being an Ex-Turk, he wasn't sure what to expect at this moment as there was a few techniques in a hostage situation. Some more painful and long as the others. That's when he heard the gunshot. Did Vincent manage to get a clear shot so quickly?
That's when Rufus felt the searing pain in his upper leg as it actually gave out beneath him. Well, it made sense. Too bad he hadn't been re-trained with a better outcome. Now he wasn't going to be able to walk for a month. Damn, he hadn't felt this bad since he managed to get clipped in the arm during a training exercize. But that had never been a danger to his life. Well, now he had been seen to bleed, all he had left was to never be seen crying. God. Why did he have a white outfit? Blood showed a bit too nicely on white.
Rufus's mind was now off Kadaj and the fact he was formulating a plan on shooting Kadaj with his shotgun, which was still in Rufus's hands. Too bad he was in some serious pain to even think straight. However, when his leg gave out. This would force Kadaj to catch his dead weight with a wounded leg. Would Kadaj be able to catch him and escape? Or would Kadaj be forced to leave Rufus behind? Maybe Vincent should have thought better. If Kadaj could open portals, what would stop him from opening a portal beneath them to drop through. Rufus didn't even glance at Tseng, but he was sure Tifa was either shocked at this, or glad Vincent shot him. Rufus couldn't be sure. This was not a good ending.
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Kadaj
Villain
[M:125]
You won't like me when I'm angry!!
Posts: 577
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Post by Kadaj on Jan 9, 2010 0:18:03 GMT -5
((OOC: Wooo!! Happy One-year-long-active-thread people! =D)) ((OOC2: Vincent, many apologizes for not responding to your first OOC a few posts back, but for all it's worth now, I did confirm with Larxene/Tseng that I was allowed to successful steal the Cure Materia off him when I attempted. I just completely forget to register it here on the thread for your information. Sorry ^^; ) Having only suffered a blow to the head and two bullets in his leg, Kadaj was actually starting to think himself lucky. Too add to that surprise as well, he had actually managed to get past Vincent, avoid any further attacks from Tifa, Rufus and Tseng and ultimately ended up behind the ex-President, using him as a meat-shield against the other three heroes of the Light. Now the only way for him to take any damage would be from an accurate shot from either Vincent or Tseng's guns, aiming at what little body parts the silver-haired Remnant was revealing whilst standing behind his captive. Quickly holding his Souba up to Rufus' throat, blades upwards obviously, Kadaj's eyes were locked onto Vincent's own. He was the only one now that might have any chance of being able to save the ex-President. Yet for the moment, Kadaj was able to take this chance to rest and recover from the brutal head blow he took from Vincent's weapon.
The line of blood trickling down his forehead eventually reached his brow before dripping down over his eye and landing on his cheek. Kadaj didn't flinch, nor did he even blink. His eyes were solely staring at Vincent, knowing that he wasn't going to stand around and allow the Remnant to escape.. or do anything at that. The silver-haired man's options were limited now. Escape with Rufus as his hostage? Pull back on his Souba and remove Rufus' head from his shoulders? Kick the white-suited man back at Vincent to cause a distraction and then attack in the chaos? There wasn't any time to think things through as usual. The Remnant knew he was an enemy to all the people fighting against him now so they weren't just going to sit idly by and wait for him to make a decision. He had to act and fast!
~I came here to settle things with Rufus and him alone... the best option will be to flee with him as a hostage. That way, the Turks won't do anything rash but those annoying AVALANCHE flies might... then again, weren't they once enemies against the Shin-Ra Company?~ Time had ran out, as a gunshot rang out from ahead of him. Kadaj's natural instinct was to raise his Souba and attempt to block or deflect whatever bullet was heading his way, but knowing that he'd slice Rufus' head off if he tried that forced him not too. Thankfully, the bullet was aimed for the President himself which found it's way harshly into the white-suited man's leg with a rather satisfying 'thunk' sound. Kadaj was smart and knowing that Tseng and Tifa would both be momentarily distracted by the sudden and odd behavior of the crimson-cloaked man, he knew that this would be a good a chance as any to launch a counter-attack. Kadaj's free hand started to glow a bright white colour. His leather bound glove clenched tightly around the small, brightly glowing sphere that belonged to the Turk, Tseng. It was the Cure Materia he had stolen when the navy-suited man foolish went to hand it to Tifa instead of casting the spell himself.
Pulling his Souba away from Rufus as he felt the dead weight fall upon his arm, Kadaj smirked as he merely allowed the President to fall down to the ground. The only way he was going to leave this place now, was with the help of Tseng. Vincent and Tifa were bound to continue fighting, yet after glancing quickly in Tifa's direction, it seemed that only Vincent was left willing to fight for now. That decided it then! A warm, soft glow suddenly surrounded the Remnant as the Cure spell was cast. The wound on his forehead vanished slightly and the blood stopped flowing. The bullet holes in his trouser leg vanished as well, plus the few scraps and cuts he had gotten from some of Tifa's well placed kicks. But that wasn't even the beginning of Kadaj's assault. As Rufus fell down to the sand below, Kadaj's leg instantly shot out before him, throwing a kick at the President's shotgun. One; to try and disarm the President and stop him from attacking, and two; to attempt and launch the shotgun at Vincent himself as a distraction.
Though Kadaj didn't wait around to see what happened, as the instant the warm, glowing aura of the Cure had vanished, his Souba instead now started to glow instead. Wanting to try and keep the element of surprise, and not wanting to be shot again, Kadaj suddenly and very erratically, dove over to his right hand side, skidding across the sand before flailing his Souba very wildly and uncontrollably before himself. Quickly be dove back over to his left, moving forwards slightly as he did so as not to land on Rufus. Again, he wildly swung his Souba around as if fighting the air surrounding him, before suddenly darting straight at Vincent himself, pointing his palm at the crimson-cloaked male's face to "catch" any bullets sent his way. The Souba was glowing a dull white colour, which meant that an Octaslash was heading Vincent's way.
Having recovered a portion of his health and fatigue from the Cure spell, Kadaj was ready to use everything he had gained against Vincent. He was the biggest threat here and needed to be dealt with. So, using as much speed as he could muster from the initial launch at the crimson-cloaked man, Kadaj unleashed his Octaslash. A single sword strike was made at Vincent as quickly as you could blink, aiming for the center of his chest, but eight other strikes were made at the exactly, instantaneous moment. The attack was over quicker then one might think and as the Remnant skidded across the sand a fair distance BEHIND Vincent now, the silver-haired man kept up the offensive by spinning around to face the four heroes. Quickly slamming the Souba into the sand at his feet, Kadaj raised both arms up and with an enraged yell, fired off two seperate Thundaga spells from either hand. One heading for Tifa and the other towards Tseng.
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Post by Vincent Valentine on Jan 16, 2010 10:20:22 GMT -5
(OOC: Congrats guys, I'm very happy for you Tifa that this thread has become such a great sucess. I was surprised to see this thread was a year old, I could have sworn I replied to this thread a bit later last year, heh. Oh and Kadaj, don't worry about it. If Larx is okay with it, then I am too, just wanted to make sure all's fair in blood and war. xD Sorry about the delay in reply, applications and other admin tasks have been holding me back.)
So it had come to this - an impasse, a deadlock.
His tri-bullets had clipped Rufus's leg and had hit it's mark, making Rufus collapse back onto Kadaj, and Vincent watched as everyone took in what he had just done. He only heard movement, unable to see behind him for the moment to register the look on Tifa's and Tseng's faces, but there was no attack indicating they were either shocked or re-assessing the situation. Either way, Vincent's eyes were only on Kadaj as he felt the sinister man's turquoise eyes pierce into his, calculating his next move. Sure, he could have simply cast a dark portal around himself and Rufus, as he had seen Organization XIII members do and teleport them elsewhere, but Vincent had considered that. At the very least in that event, Rufus would be dead weight for Kadaj, giving the three of them time to track them down than if they were both on foot.
Because within a few moments, Vincent had called Kadaj's bluff... he had the opportunity there and then to execute Rufus before them, but he had not.
He had also anticipated something as well, because he wasn't ignorant or stupid, as he knew Kadaj had the Cure materia to heal Rufus or himself. But right then when Kadaj began to use the Cure materia, Vincent had planned to twist Kadaj's strength into his weakness, as he would have to twist his own arm in order to activate the Cure materia in order to use it. Giving Vincent an ample opportunity to get in a critical shot, damaging a newly re-healed Kadaj, and forcing him to drop the Cure Materia at the same time. As Kadaj dropped Rufus to the ground, thereby dropping his bluff to Vincent, the caped man aimed Cerberus and fired at Kadaj's arm. The bullets missed as Kadaj kicked out Rufus's shotgun towards him, forcing Vincent to change the trajectory at the last minute to reach out with his left golden-clawed hand and grabbed Rufus's shotgun as it flew towards him in midair.
Never, never give an ex-Turk trained in firearms a additional weapon, if he is your opponent.
The tactic had worked to defend himself, but now Kadaj had given him two firearms. Immediately as Kadaj shot away from where he had dodged Rufus, Vincent opened fire rapidly, sending a storm of bullets the Remnant's way. Even if he had been flailing about wildly to deflect them, a thin sheet of metal could only protect himself from so much that at least one or a few bullets had to hit him, and as long as he had the Cure materia he could heal himself of them anyway. Damaging Kadaj had not been his primary objective anyway, and regardless of whether he had gotten a shot in or not, the silver-haired villain showed no signs of slowing down as he dodged around before coming for him. His Souba began to glow a familiar white, and having seen Sephiroth use this attack in his battle against him before, he knew the technique that was coming for him.
At last - it was about time.
But instead of trying to dodge the eight speedy slashes that were to follow, Vincent simply smirked and stood his ground, simply raising his golden claw before him as a means to attempt to reduce the damage that came for him so it would not become a killing blow. This way and by the way he placed his feet apart, it would indicate he was genuinely trying to defend himself, but otherwise he waited until the hot white metal slashed painfully into him and threw the shotgun back towards Rufus. As soon as Kadaj had passed through him as he made his attack, he felt the energy that had been gathering from the damage break his limit, and immediately a neon-yellow aura crackled around him instantly engulfing his form. Within the energy cocoon, Vincent's mass suddenly increased as the man disappeared, muscle bulking outwards and hardening into silvery-platinum metal. A bellowing roar resounded after a violent growl and the sharp snap of metal, the energy dispersing as from out behind it came the transformation as the monster known as Death Gigas.
The pain, how he had welcomed it, as suddenly it dissipated as quickly as it came.
As Kadaj conjured his Thundaga materia shot towards Tifa, who was closer to the group and would be hit first, it had become immediately blocked by a huge hulking metal presence that had intentionally stepped in the path to keep the martial artist out of harm's way. He would have leapt to block it for Tseng, if he had been closer, but if the Turk was further away then he'd have more of a chance to leap out of the way than Tifa would have. Not only did the Thundaga become dispelled by the iron giant, but it had been directly absorbed as well, healing Vincent if his transformation had not already done the job. With a sharp and violent crackle that would rival Ixion, the electricity was sucked into the crimson draped behemoth's chest, and electric red eyes snapped back up at Kadaj. The clinking of chain metal resounded in the short silence, followed by a unimpressed growl, characteristic the man known as Vincent Valentine himself was still in control underneath the abomination of bulky sheet metal.
And then came the sudden counterattack in the form of Vincent beating his metal fist into his chest where the Thundaga had been assimilated into, followed by a white flash, and then the thunderous boom of explosive discharge of Livewire headed Kadaj's way.
Streams of white and azure blue-colored lighting twisted and fanned out towards Kadaj instead of a direct stream, an attack meant to hit several enemies aimed at one individual, an attack that could even hit Tifa and Tseng if they were not careful. Whether the attack hit Kadaj or not with it's raw power was no concern of the monstrous steel abomination. Instead, it used the opportunity to thunder across the distance between himself and his assailant, scooping up the injured Rufus in it's right hand in the process. His tight grip on the man would prevent Kadaj from taking him hostage again, and his alloy body would offer as a shield should it come to it, but Vincent knew if Kadaj wanted to kill the ex-President he could have if he had the chance. With a few strides of it's tremor-making tree-trunk legs kicking up clouds of sand on the beach it had closed the gap towards the Souba wielder, leaping into the air and to come down upon him, his gargantuan left hand aimed to grasp hold of the arm Kadaj was holding the glowing Cure materia.
It was time for this to be over.
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Post by lala on Jan 17, 2010 19:33:16 GMT -5
Tifa just stood for a moment, the wwarm breeze running through her. It danced through her long black hair, and the long tail of her skirt blew as well. She was just still so taken back by what had just happened. Had Vincent betrayed the alliance that had happened? Had he just gotten so caught up in the moment that he wanted to shoot the President in the leg? Or maybe his aim had been off. Maybe that shot had been intended for the leg of the Remnant. No...Tifa knew that Vincent was very talented with his gun. His aim was naturally good. Tifa had watched Vincent fight for years, and he almost always managed to hit his target. But Tifa was still trying to piece this all together. What had compelled Vincent to do something like that? Vincent didn't seem bitter at the whole alliance situation at all. Tifa on the other hand, was quite bitter and insecure about the whole things. But Vincent was always so calm on the outside. Tifa was never quite sure what thoughts were running through his head. He was quite mysterious like that.
Tifa looked over to Tseng, one of the Turks. He didn't even seem to think twice about the whole situation. Tifa wondered what was up with this. Wouldn't the Turk be a bit shocked by this? He seemed so calm. As if the whole thing was just nothing. Tifa wondered. Was she missing a piece to this puzzle? Was there something that she wasn't seeing here? But then another thought came to her mind. Strategy. Kadaj had been holding Rufus hostage a moment ago. With his sword to the neck of the president. And when Vincent shot him in the leg. That had been a strategy to release Rufus from the Kadaj's grip. That was just...pure genius. Tifa looked to Vincent for a moment, having a strong amount of admiration for his intelligence in the battle field. Tifa was a bit upset with herself. Why had she not been able to see the strategy initially? It had taken her back so much. She was quite upset with herself for this. But she also knew herself too well. Her emotions always seemed to serve as some sort of distraction. She let them get in the way too much. Now that she had figured out the truth, she was ready to get back into things.
Tifa resumed her running, to find her place back in the group. Her eyes were locked on the enemy, Kadaj. Kadaj just always seemed to have something up hisd sleeve, shocking everyone with these unwanted surprises. Tifa was getting very sick of him. She just wanted to take him down and end this battle. It had been going on for much too long, and was very well overdue for the end. Tifa watched as Kadaj raised the Cure Materia out. The materia that Tseng had intended to give to her. She looked a bit angry as she watched that, and it made her remind of the wounds that were covering her body. She had almost forgotten about the pain that she was in. But it all seemed to come back, when her eyes locked on that cure materia. It almost felt like he was mocking her by using it. Mocking Tseng as well. She knew that his aim was namely to heal himself though. But either way, she could feel her anger just rising from this simple sight. She accelerated her speed, to try and meet the group quicker.
Tifa watched as Kadaj kicked the gun from Rufus's hand and aimed it as Vincent. She was hoping that he would catch it, as this would give her friend a huge advantage in this battle. Having two firearms could work very well for him. She watched Vincent catch it and she looked relieved. She watched the bullets fire rapidly toward Kadaj, and he was coming down with Souba, attacking Vincent in very swift attacks. Tifa watched Vincent. It seemed like he was...taking the hits from Kadaj. And putting in minimal effort to defend himself. She was a bit confused and then she caught Vincent's idea. She smiled lightly, knowing very well what was coming Vincent never failed to amaze her.
Tifa's prediction had been correct. She watched as Vincent entered one of his many monsterous forms. Tifa had seen several of these forms of Vincent. And she knew how strong each of them was. Vincent was like a totally different fighter when he was in one of these forms. She had high hopes for Vincent now. Him being like this would really make a difference for the outcome of the battle. But she had gotten so distracted by watching the transformation, she wasn't even aware that an attack was coming toward her. She gasped when she saw the Thundaga spell coming her way. She wouldn't have the time to run at this rate. She was going to get hit by it, and quick. She really should start paying closer attention to things. But then something blocked this attack. She watched as a large barrier came up, separating her from the initial attack. Vincent had protected her from this attack. Tifa owed him her thanks once again.
While Vincent was keeping Kadaj busy, she thought of Rufus. Looking over to him, she knew he was still wounded from the gunshot. While Vincent aimed his attack at Kadaj, Tifa could try and get the President out of harm's way. She knew this would probably be Tseng's job, but for some reason she felt like she should lend a helping hand. Ironically, she would be helping a man that was her enemy. Or at least had been her enemy. It was very confusing. Tifa made her way over to Rufus, being careful when it came to dodging the attacks from Vincent. Even if they weren't intended for her. She made her way to him, and extened her gloved hand to him. Her glove was now stained with some blood from the battle. Finding the words to even say this was going to be quite the challenge for her.
"Come on. We can get you out of here before things get worse." She said. Her tone was mainly neutral. But a very small tint of care could be detected in it. It could just be Tifa's personality shining through. She was naturally a caring person. Or maybe she really was moving on from the past, and all of her feelings from the past. Maybe she could start anew, and accept him as an ally.
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Tseng
Neutral
Leader of the Turks[M:0]
"We're paid much better then you are."
Posts: 131
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Post by Tseng on Jan 19, 2010 14:03:39 GMT -5
(I found it strange that Vincent picked Rufus up, and Tifa also popped over. So I left Vincent's post alone and pretended I didn't notice the action. I think this way Vincent can focus more on getting Tseng's cure materia back to him.) ----- No matter who looked at him, Tseng looked completely calm and collected with the whole situation. But internally he was panicing about his actions. How could he managed a rescue when he and Elena couldn't escape from Kadaj themselves. This was all a horrible dream. But, Vincent had taken a good action that caused Kadaj to drop Rufus. All they needed to do was get Rufus away, injured or not. Vincent also was not the only person to notice that Kadaj had hesitated to kill the President. If he simply wanted Rufus dead, Rufus would have been dead. There was a reason Kadaj wanted Rufus captured, but no one seemed to know why. Though, Kadaj didn't waste anytime. The moment Rufus hit the sand, Kadaj had kicked his foot and knocked something at Vincent. It took some time to realize Rufus was now defenseless and Vincent was using the shotgun. Tseng supposed Vincent had to of caught it. That was slightly impressive in itself. But the kick was obviously a distraction. That's when Tseng noticed the green aura and knew exactly what Kadaj had done and Tseng was the cause. He had handed Kadaj a way to heal himself of any wounds. The irritation on Tseng shone through a bit. But it was cut short, again, by a bolt of lightning headed at him. Great. He was going to attempt to pull Tifa out of the way. But Vincent had handled that. Now all Tseng needed to do was dodge. After diving to the side, he got to his feet to notice Tifa advancing and offering Rufus a hand. Well, that was a strange scene. However, his worry was on Kadaj. He took the chance as well to make it over and stand between Tifa/ Rufus and Kadaj. His gun aimed at Kadaj but not fired. If he fired, he might hit Vincent. That wouldn't be a smart move. Now to wait for Rufus to take the help and for the three to retreat back a bit. Please let Rufus take the help. Tseng would have to thank Tifa after this.
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Rufus ShinRa
Neutral
[AWD:03]Turk[M:100]
"Heh, that's all for today."
Posts: 320
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Post by Rufus ShinRa on Feb 7, 2010 0:42:43 GMT -5
(OOC- Ok, erm. I am gonna have trouble posting here. Lol.) Rufus hit the sand with a wince. The pain was horrible. Gun in one hand and his other holding compression to his wounded leg. However, his only line of defense was instantly kicked away from him by Kadaj. Rufus had never felt so defenseless in his life. But, thankfully, Vincent had managed to catch it and use the attack against him. Though, a green glow shimmered over Kadaj. This wasn't good news. Tseng was probably going to be so angry he practically healed Kadaj himself. Rufus couldn't keep up with the events that were happening. But, his shotgun had been returned and Rufus was grateful he had the weapon back. 'Come on. We can get you out of here before things get worse.' A hand had been extended in his direction. Rufus looked up to see Tifa offering a hand. His brows furrowed in a confusion for a moment. He noticed that Tseng had also shifted his position to defend him and Tifa. With a slight hesitation, he took Tifa's arm, bloody or not, allowing her to assist their retreat. Once they were a bit away, he nodded his head lightly. "....Thank you."
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Kadaj
Villain
[M:125]
You won't like me when I'm angry!!
Posts: 577
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Post by Kadaj on Feb 8, 2010 17:13:36 GMT -5
Both the Thundaga attacks missed their targets... well, with the exception that the one aimed at Tifa had hit Vincent instead, but something strange had happened to the crimson-cloaked man. he had changed... transformed if you will. Into what though was another matter. The silver-haired Remnant knew that Vincent had the ability to transform into Chaos, but was that what this was? Had Vincent finally revealed the form of the monster that could take the Remnant out? Something was telling Kadaj that it wasn't, that Vincent had more tricks up his sleeve than first thought. So what was this and more importantly, HOW did he managed to transform like this? It wasn't merely some spell like Fira or Thundaga... it had changed the form and size of the ex-Turk completely. Also judging by how the Thundaga spell caused little to no damage as well, informed the Remnant that Vincent's... or whoever this was, had much greater resilience now.
With narrowed eyes and his mind quickly working out plans, counters and other plots, Kadaj grabbed the handle of his Souba and took a large jump backwards, catching sight that both Tseng AND Tifa were rushing over to Rufus' aid. Well, this was good and bad at the same time. Good because Kadaj only had Vincent to deal with now, and bad because there was a chance the AVALANCHE and Turk could retreat with the President. Yet as far as Kadaj knew, not Rufus, Tifa nor Tseng had the knowledge or ability to summon a Dark Portal, also there didn't seem to be any Gummi Ships near by, so the odds of them actually escaping the world seemed slim. Still, Kadaj couldn't take that risk. He needed to be the one to escape with Rufus if his plans were to succeed, and that meant having to deal with Vincent first. Being now what seemed to be a simple one on one duel, things felt like they would turn back in the Remnant's advantage. How? Well Tifa, Rufus and Tseng were currently out of action and Vincent's gun had vanished when he transformed, which meant no stray fists, kicks or bullets were going to head his way. Vincent also looked much... slowly, in his new state due to the mass of muscle and size he had gained. Though Lexaeus was a massive guy and he could move with impressive speed. It would be unwise to underestimate Vincent now of all times.
However Kadaj was still trying to assess the situation from his retreated position. ~This is no spell i've ever seen... and I only thought he could transform into Chaos.. so what is this?~ The Remnant thought to himself for a second, before his eyes snapped open as he recalled spotting the neon-yellow aura that had covered the ex-Turk shortly before taking the Thundaga hit for Tifa. Could it be? The way he stood still and put up his guard to take on the full force of Octaslash, yet without falling unconscious due to it... taking damage to raise his... "Limit Break?!!" Kadaj said out loud this time sounding rather shocked and slightly disturbed by this as his eyes narrowed dangerously as he watched the Death Gigas unleash it's Livewire limit. Streaks of white and azure-blue electricity shot out in every direction before the monstrous form, which looked like it was designed to attack a large group of enemies and not just a single one. That was good, since then not all of these bolts of lightning would be aimed solely for the Remnant, yet enough already where.
Kadaj hissed as he instantly returned the Souba to it's sheath before raising up both arms before him, pointing either hand in Death Gigas' direction. As the Livewire drew near, the silver-haired Remnant let out a yell as he unleashed a Thundaga spell from either hand, the green materia embedded within his arm glowing brightly, doing his best to try and counter or at least nullify the attack. Yet it was a Limit, and all the Remnant's attack did was get absorbed by the Livewire before the stream of electricity hit him directly. The Remnant's eyes widened an instant before the attack struck him.
Everything went black for a moment as the painful yell that escaped the Remnant's lips, only barely described just how unbelievably painful it was. He felt his muscles tense up tightly as his form became rigid, being shocked from every angle. It only lasted a moment though before he felt the wind blowing through his hair as he sailed backwards from the attack, landing heavily upon his back before eventually skidding to a halt, a fair distance away from the four enemies. The Remnant's body sizzled from the hot, painful shock as his leather clothing was shredded and tattered in several places. He twitched a couple of times, probably due to there still being some of the current running through his body, but as if possessed by the Devil himself, Kadaj's body sat up. His eyes were shot though, as they were of the purest white. It took a moment, but the leather clothing covering his form, slowly liquefied and healed itself, return to it's former state before the painful Limit attack.
As the dust from Kadaj's heavy landing had settled, his eyes finally returned to their glowing, turquoise state as he slowly and painful forced himself back up to his feet. A smug looking grin spread across his lips as he held a hand to his ribs, eying the transformed state of Vincent with respect, who was now charging towards him noisily, kicking up clouds of sand behind him thanks to his new added weight. "N-not bad... pity you... held back." He said with a chuckle, still holding his smug grin before patting at his shoulders to make the steam go away. Kadaj clearly looked hurt and the Cure materia with his hand was no where to be seen, probably flung off into the distance when he received the Livewire attack. As Vincent approached to attack once more, leaping up to come down upon the Remnant, Kadaj grinned as he suddenly darted forwards, zipping underneath the monster to avoid whatever plans were calculating within Vincent's mind. With any luck that the silver-haired man's theory about Vincent loosing speed due to his new form was true, then Kadaj would have a few extra seconds to play with before having to react to Death Gigas once more. Kadaj wasn't waiting around though as he was already dashing as quickly as his injured state could carry him, back across the beach towards Rufus, Tseng and Tifa. With the biggest thread behind him for now, Kadaj drew his Souba once more to prepare himself for any bullets that came his way from Tseng or Rufus.
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Post by Vincent Valentine on Feb 9, 2010 7:18:46 GMT -5
(OOC: Okay, sounds good, Vincent never picked up Rufus then.)
Indeed, it seemed the special attack had made it's intended effect to surprise - for the moment.
The monstrosity once known as Vincent watched and breathed back in as his Livewire spewed lightning bolts across the beach, waiting for Kadaj to evade or block it in some cunning way so that by the time he had pinned him down with his massive weight, he would be locked under a tight metal grip and this annoying battle would be over once and for all. And yet, the opposite happened as the Remnant realized the method of attack before it was too late - the distraction actually turned into a hit, and observed with widening inhuman eyes as the electric attack hit Kadaj like he was a lightning rod. In his Death Gigas he was already running as he recalculated his plan, having missed protectively scooping up the president with him to keep him in another tight metal grip so he could keep him at arm's length away from the trapped Kadaj when he was done, and would have to settle with keeping Kadaj as prisoner. Surely with Kadaj down and him moving across the beach, swinging his arms to increase his heavy momentum at the speed of a slow moving car but with the force behind it of a freight train, he would be able to lock him down and knock him unconscious to end this charade with one precise blow to the head or lungs. He was already in the air in his attempt, becoming slightly more used to the increased gravity his new metallic for gave him, but by the time he was at the top of his arc he had realized what had happened the moment he heard Kadaj's taunt.
Yet he could not reply. Monsters don't speak, and even then Vincent wouldn't dignify his words with an answer, or express his discontent.
He saw the Remnant disappear underneath him, landing on nothing but sand, which again was kicked up into the air from the heavy weight being suddenly deposited on it and formed a large dust cloud around him. The Remnant had already figured out the obvious, that to trade off for a massive form with massive muscle mass, some speed had to be sacrificed until he could build up the momentum for it. His body was encased in metal after all, so it changed how gravity effected him slightly, making his limbs and body more difficult to maneuver. The element of surprise had already gone, and he had managed to land Livewire because of that unintentionally, but the youth had recovered quickly enough to take advantage of his lessened attack speed. This form had been a good idea to protect Tifa, and try to restrain the villain from the president with an iron grip, but any attempt he would make on Kadaj now he would predict and simply dodge.
The situation had evolved, and no longer called for a living, absorbing shield.
All sorts of thoughts were running through his mind, predicting actions taken and countermeasures to execute, but he saw no other option. He had used up most of his limit to transform into this beast, and he would not be able to change back for a while after it. And if he continued to sap at that inner strength by staying in this form, the next time he would take even longer for when it could have been another life or death situation. His eyes looked up to turn around in this moment as he followed the direction Kadaj was running, and spotted the nearby soft green glow of the Cure Materia that had been flung away, which Kadaj must have let his grip go from being his by his attack. At least something good had come out of his assault, but how to proceed now? The Cure Materia too far away to pick up in the spur of the moment as Kadaj raced towards the President with his back facing him, Vincent's body shifted to turn around immediately, the dust cloud still falling around him making the image of the Remnant hazy...
Wait... that was it, the most viable solution, and he only had a small window to execute it.
He dropped the hold he had over his form from the utilization of the Protomateria in his chest, and suddenly the spherical yellowish aura engulfed him again, also hazy for anyone else who might have happened to look in his direction to vaguely see the light of the human-encompassing orb amongst the blaze of sand floating up and around him. The metal skin contracted and softened, becoming human Vincent once more, worn out slightly from his Novocain-like feeling form-change but still in this battle. His Cererbus that had once been part of his metal skin formed in his hand once more in a flash of light, and Vincent aimed the tri-barrel towards the back of Kadaj's black legs, and pulled the trigger twice to aim at both appendages as the bullets roared out in a blaze of gunfire. The sandstorm he was currenly in would mask his actions from the silver-haired man before it dissipated, even if he turned around, and even then if he did to block them he still had to deal with Rufus, Tseng and Tifa at his back. The distance he was from Sephiroth's avatar and the way he had angled his gun downwards slightly as he made the shots, even if Kadaj dodged them to allow them to hit Rufus, Tifa or Tseng, they would be buried in the sand long before they reached them. The 'pincer' movement had been executed beautifully, even if the bullets only proved to be nothing more than a mere distraction that bought his side precious seconds, and Vincent could not help but make a faint smirk at the corner of one lip at the pure brilliance at the effectiveness of the plan.
You really shouldn't have turned your back on me... I thought you were smarter than that.
The ex-Turk shifted into a run, anticipating if by some miracle Kadaj heard the bullets coming and spun around to deflect them, or counter it in some other ingenious way of his. He strafed over to the Cure materia and picked it up, placing it in the relief in Cerebus where materia could usually fit, so the spell magic would apply to the weapon. The Cure Materia wouldn't allow him to shoot healing bullets, that would have been impossible - and deadly in this fight if he tried to heal a target and Kadaj threw himself in the way instead. No, instead it was within Cerebus as an extension of him, so he could cure his allies should he not be in combat at any given time. The idea had occurred to him that he should heal Rufus to make up for shooting him, but he was currently out of range, and he was more useless to Kadaj now crippled than he was walking. He would make it up to the ex-President and Tseng by saving Shinra's life, and then healing him afterwards, and his mind quickly shifted to wandering why Kadaj taken the oppourtunity to kill Rufus when he had the chance.
Continuing to strafe, he decided to bide his time and move in on Kadaj from a different angle to remain cautious of what he was doing, Cerebus pointed and at the ready to see if his previous two bullet rounds had found their target.
Why make him suffer when he could kill? Torture had to be the answer, so Kadaj could get information out of him, to what ends? More Jenova cells like Jenova's 'head', or the location of the secret Deepground facility, even Shinra's own resources? Whatever it was it was bad enough for Kadaj to lie and try to move in on Rufus now while he had the chance, so it must have been something to benefit the Remnant, something smarter than simply watching him in torment. Maybe to find out what his end game was, it would have been better to let Kadaj have his way and tail him as he kidnapped Rufus, but Vincent wasn't sure if Kadaj would let him take that risk if he followed him. He was confident that his allies would do anything they could to stop Kadaj from getting to Rufus though, including if he tried to evade around them again, watching him for the slightest movement for what he was about to do next.
He would not get answers while trying to beat them out of the Remnant, and perhaps he was too smart to monologue them in his pride, so instead the gunman tightened his grip around the trigger and handle of his weapon, as he closed the distance between himself and the group while remaining opposing them with Kadaj stuck in the center of it all.
Vincent hoped the active Turk's training had given him a plan to hold off Kadaj from getting to Shinra, at least until he and Tifa could get make a move, for it was Tseng's turn to play bodyguard now.
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Post by lala on Feb 10, 2010 15:42:06 GMT -5
{Major apologies for how much I fail at reading guys, xD. I thought Rufus was just laying there...my bad. But since we went with my fail at reading, its all good now ^^}
Tifa glanced behind her stopping in her running for a moment to see Tseng had dodged the attack successfully. She nodded her head lightly, before turning back to reach Rufus. She wasn't sure what exactly was getting into her. It was weird. She had just made sure that one of the Turks was alright before continuing in the battle, and now she was going to do what was probably least expected from her character. Help someone that she had sworn her enemy. Not long ago, on this exact island, she had been ready to kill Rufus practically. Back when it had just been the two of them talking. It was amazing how so much could change so quickly. The simple words of Vincent and him telling her of some sort of agreement between the Turks and AVALANCHE. And now she had no choice but to honor that agreement. And help get Rufus out of danger...she still couldn't believe it herself. Her heart was acting more then her mind at the moment.
As she ran toward the president, she recalled a memory in her head. A memory herself and the words that she had said on that one faithful day. The day that Sephiroth came and destroyed her home, and killed her father. She thought of what she said just after she found the dead body of her father. ""Sephiroth.. SOLDIER.. Mako reactors.. Shinra.. EVERYTHING.. I HATE THEM ALL!" The memory ran through her mind like it was just yesterday. That was the day her hatred toward all of that was born. What inspired her to join AVALANCHE. What inspired her to resist and fight. But now, thqt young girl felt so distant from her. Despite the fact that it was herself. Was she betraying her own words by helping Rufus? Or was she just maturing a bit more? Tifa wasn't a child anymore, she was a young woman. She thought that she had matured from childhood a long time ago. It seemed like she still had part of a child in her. And maybe by joining forces with a former enemy, she was maturing in some strange way.
Tifa noticed that Rufus seemed to be confused when she offered her assistance. She didn't blaem him. If she had been the one bleeding on the floor, and Rufus had been coming to help her flee, she'd probably react the same way. She wouldn't be surprised if he resisted her help. Maybe he would choose to wait for Tseng to come to his aid. Tifa wasn't too sure if she would accept help from him, should the roles be reversed. That also might have been due to the fact that she was horribly stubborn. Tifa noticed Tseng stepping in front of them to defend. This would probably help them escape a bit better. She waited for him to take her hand and when he did, she looked down at their hands for a moment, in a slight bit of disbelief. She would have never imagined that this day would come.
Tifa helped him up and she put his arm carefully around her shoulders, so she could help him walk. If he could walk, that is. He had been shot in the leg after all. But by doing this, she would be doing most, if not all of the walking. When she started to walk, she tried to keep her speed quick. The extra weight didn't feel like much at all for the strong monk. She wanted to get away quickly before Kadaj noticed this. Tifa didn't say a word while doing this but she heard something come out of Rufus. Words that she would never expect him to say to her. Thank you. She looked to him for a moment, a bit taken back by this. But then, she smiled, this time a bit bigger then her first one. But it was still small. "...Don't mention it." She said in a quiet tone of voice, but loud enough so he could hear her over all the fighting.
Tifa wasn't sure what was going on behind her, having her back to the action between Vincent and Kadaj. She had faith in Vincent. She knew that he was strong and with luck, he could keep Kadaj busy until she got Rufus to somewhere safe. She wasn't sure where exactly was safe though, due to this being her first time in this paticular world. But anywhere but here would probably be safer for Rufus. But she heard something from behind her. Turning her head she saw Kadaj running up to them. She gasped a bit, unsure of what to do. Should she settle Rufus down and fight him, or keep running to make it to somewhere safe. Tifa saw Vincent coming after Kadaj as well. She'd have to count on Vincent and Tseng for now. Just until she could find a place to settle Rufus. She was praying that at least one of the bullets would hit Kadaj, just to slow him down. Tifa increased her speed, tightening her grip on Rufus. She didn't want to drop him while transitioning into a running motion like this. And she'd have to be the one to be doing the running, naturally. She had no destination in mind, for where to put him. The only place she could think of going was away. Far away from the battleground.
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Tseng
Neutral
Leader of the Turks[M:0]
"We're paid much better then you are."
Posts: 131
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Post by Tseng on Feb 10, 2010 18:28:12 GMT -5
Excellent. Vincent's limit break had made some serious contact with Kadaj. The Remnant looked rather dazed at the moment. It was also great that Kadaj had lost his hold on the cure materia. But, this loss was minimal. All it was, was a crystallized piece of mako. There were lives at stake and they were a lot more important.
That's when he noticed that Tifa had managed to help Rufus to his feet. Grand, this was a good start. Thank gaia Rufus hadn't decided to be stubborn. That could have been deadly to the whole group because of the situation they were in. So, as Tifa and Rufus retreated, Tseng backed up, gun aimed at Kadaj. He was going to defend the two. Vincent, however, would need to take care of himself.
That's when he noticed Kadaj headed straight at him. The remnant was rather injured. Good, it made it easier for the Turk to hit him. This was pay back for the torture he put Elena and himself through. Karma was a bitch and he was going to show Kadaj how angry fate could be. After Vincent shot at Kadaj, Tseng began to cast the only other materia he had on his person when he left Edge. Tseng cast Vincent a warning glance, hoping the ex-turk would get the idea to keep off the ground.
Quake 3. It was a nasty materia that would hopefully trip Kadaj up, maybe even injure him further. The blast was cast and the earth responded immediately. It circled in Kadaj and Vincent's area and quickly blasted out from underneath the two. However, since it was a beach, this kicked up a lot of sand even though the earth underneath was what caused the main attack.
Right after the attack, the earth corrected itself, but the sand stayed afloat. Maybe casting that materia was a bad idea. But, it would cause a distraction and hopefully give Tifa and Rufus a bit longer to escape. That was Vincent and Tseng's priority.
But, this also gave Tseng a disadvantage since he couldn't see Kadaj. For all the turk knew, Kadaj was still coming at him with all he had. But Tseng followed threw with his materia cast. He calmly lifted his gun and continued to fire his gun in the direction of Kadaj after a slight delay.
"Please let them get away safely..." Tseng thought silently.
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Rufus ShinRa
Neutral
[AWD:03]Turk[M:100]
"Heh, that's all for today."
Posts: 320
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Post by Rufus ShinRa on Feb 10, 2010 19:40:23 GMT -5
(OOc - *sad face* You all have awesome long and cool posts. Mine are sooo wimpy. *pokes it* Hope it's ok. But I figured I should post something now so I don't hold up the thread again.)
Tifa quickly helped him up to his feet. Rufus tried his best to hold his own weight, not wanting to seem like he can't help in the slightest. Rufus, thankfully, still had his shotgun in his free left hand. But, it seemed that Tseng had things under control with Vincent's help. That was great since Rufus was still trying to walk off with Tifa. Though, he still was confused as to why Tifa would go out of her way like she did to pull him out of the danger zone. He'd need to ask her later. Right now was not the time.
A few moments before, she had physically harmed him. Now, she was attempting to save his life? But, he wasn't going to point this out. Avalanche had never been wrong with their views before. They were just trying to shut ShinRa down. Though, some of their means were very reckless and dangerous. Blowing up mako reactors?
ShinRa had rebounded after that though by collapsing Sector 7 and reporting that Avalanche had done it. Rufus, thankfully, had realized that they were wrong and had physically harmed the planet. This revelation had come a little late, but it was better then never. Rufus kept pace with Tifa's walking. Though, there was a light gimp in his step. Each step shot a pain up his leg, pain showing on his face. He hated showing weakness. But it did hurt.
After Rufus had thanked her, he noticed a smile appear on Tifa's face. She stated not to mention it and quickly tightened her grip on his arm before speeding up. He'd actually never seen her smile and it was strange. He WAS the one that put her in the gas chamber after meteor appeared. Personally, he picked her to go first and was broadcasting it to the world. If Weapon hadn't attacked the Junon base, Tifa would have been dead. Yet, she was helping him.
The sudden speed hurt his leg a bit more, but he bit his tongue and tried to keep up. The pace was killing him, but he'd hopefully live through it. That's when he heard a loud rumble behind them. Yet, when he looked back there was a huge cloud of sand. Something had happened. But he hoped that Tseng and Vincent were not the targets.
He pulled his blue eyes away from that to look where they were going. It seemed Tifa wasn't just pulling him off out of range, she was taking him off the battlefield completely. Surprising.
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Kadaj
Villain
[M:125]
You won't like me when I'm angry!!
Posts: 577
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Post by Kadaj on Feb 12, 2010 10:33:07 GMT -5
Although the silver-haired Remnant had taken the brunt of Vincent's Livewire Limit attack, the main parts of his body that seemed to be suffering the most were mainly his arms and chest. His legs however seemed capable enough for as when he heard the mighty crash of Death Gigas smashing into the ground behind him, Kadaj's speed almost doubled as he darted quicker across the sand dunes towards Tseng. Was the Turk really going to try and stand up against the Remnant one on one? Had he forgotten what happened to himself and Elena when last they met in the Northern Crater, back on Gaia? Perhaps he needed reminding. Kadaj just smirked as he sensed something behind him and quickly draw up a plan within his mind ready to carry out.
Rufus ShinRa, wasn't going to be leaving this battle just yet.
The Remnant instantly hit the breaks and dug his heels into the sand to quickly slow down to a full stop. Here he span around in two full circles before raising up his Souba and slashing it violently out before him as he span around to face Vincent, who had now returned back to his normal state, probably to increase his speed once more. As the slash was made, two loud 'Pings' escaped from the Remnant's position, followed up by two small clusters of sparks. You guessed it. The two bullets send from Vincent's weapon were returned directly towards him, one aiming for his weapon once more and the second heading straight for Vincent's chest. Time was of the essence here and as the Remnant completed his rotation when blocking the bullets, ending up facing Tseng once more, the twin blades of the Souba were alright shining a bright blue colour. Kadaj waited just a second more, a smirk darker then any other he'd previously shown was scribbled all over his face.
Side-stepping slightly to make sure Tseng was standing directly between himself, Rufus and Tifa, the Remnant suddenly unleashed another Draw Slash directly towards Tseng. Against a normal human, this would slice them clean in two if hit directly, yet a chuckle left the Remnant's lips as he watched the Draw Slash rocket towards the Turk. Would the Turk know that if he ducked, the attack would continue onwards and probably end up hitting Tifa and Rufus? Only time would tell, but most of Kadaj's plans usually worked out. He wasn't the Remnant Leader for no reason. The Remnant's vision of the blade of energy vanished from sight in an instant when a huge cloud of dust and sand erupted out from the ground before him. ~What's this?!~ The silver-haired villain quickly thought to himself as he suddenly felt the ground beneath his feet give away. The Remnant bent his knees to steady himself but was unprepared for what followed next. The ground erupted out from beneath him like an earthquake was focused directly beneath his feet. When the earth erupted out violently from beneath him, the Remnant let out a sharp wince between his teeth. The impact felt like it had crushed both his knees, but it only took half a second for him to realize that his legs were still intact, as was made clear when the silver-haired Remnant used the piece of earth upon which shot out upwards beneath him, as a make-shift springboard. Kadaj jumped off the large shard of earth as best he could, propelling himself up and out of the sandstorm-like cloud like a rocket, arcing through the air over Tseng and heading down towards Tifa and Rufus.
If the Remnant's plan had succeed to the fullest, then Vincent would be wounded from his own bullet, Tseng would be dead of fatally wounded from the Draw Slash, which left only Tifa to deal with. Kadaj's energy was running dangerously low but the twin blades of his Souba started to glow in colour once more. White this time. As the gap between himself and the female Monk grew increasingly smaller, Kadaj let rip another Octaslash aimed for the square of Tifa's back hoping to either shatter her spine or give her a fatal wound to stop her from attacking and helping Rufus to escape. The initial strike of Octaslash was aiming for Tifa's back but the Remnant instantly appeared before the President and the Monk, moments before the 8 instantaneous follow-up sword strikes were made against Tifa. Kadaj didn't bother stopping to look at the monk, as when Octaslash had been completed, he finished up his assault by trying to slam the pommel of his Souba directly into Rufus' face, aiming for his nose in an attempt to knock him out cold and make dragging him off through a Dark Portal easier. Low and behold, the said Dark Portal quickly opened by a short distance behind the Remnant as his gloved hand shot out towards Rufus in an attempt to grab him by his shirt once more.
The plan had to have worked. All three Heroes needed to have been wounded or distracted enough to allow the pommel strike to land and give Kadaj enough time to escape with Rufus. This was it. This would end the fight.
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Post by Vincent Valentine on Feb 15, 2010 8:12:29 GMT -5
Before Vincent could see how Tseng could stand on his own as a Turk, Vincent first watched carefully for his gunshots to hit their mark, for surely the Remnant with his back to him wouldn't see the bullets coming in the angle they had until the last minute. Yet he must have heard the roar of Cerberus's gunfire, for the silver-headed sword wielder suddenly dug his heels in the sand and spun around to reflect them. Well then, perhaps I underestimated you, Vincent considered for a short moment as he ran.... but because of this, Kadaj had failed to recognize two things while he had been deflecting the bullets. One, that Vincent had shot the tri-bullets from the dust cloud he had created when he landed as Death Gigas, confusing which position he was in for a slight few seconds. And two, that since then he had started strafing around Kadaj even if he reflected into the dust cloud, now he had stopped in his tracks Vincent had completely caught up parallel to his position while he deflected the bullets to his original position.
Looks like I thought that last comment too soon...
His heart racing as he kept moving as fast as rapid pulse and his breathing in and out just as quickly, the breath was held as he watched Kadaj stop to face Tseng, it was now the Turk's moment to show what he was made of. Vincent was slightly concerned, though, as Tseng would not be so resistant against Kadaj's attacks as his near-invincible body was, or able to quickly counter physically like Tifa could. But he knew that Tseng had been in the Turks a long time, and he wouldn't have survived this long if he didn't know his way around a vicious brawl. He knew Kadaj would have something nasty up his sleeve for him though, something to remind him just how pathetically human he was, and he was correct. In what was only seconds later, Kadaj had unleashed Draw Slash, which would cut Tseng in half and kill him if it hit him directly.
The moment Vincent had seen the flash of light, he had changed direction to run towards him. Poor Tseng, he had chosen to protect Rufus and Tifa over him during most of the fight, not only because he was obviously bias with working and trusting Tifa, but because of his efficiency he didn't want to hurt the poor Turk's pride too much. He was, after all, only human and it would look bad to Rufus if his leading Turk looked insignificant against a ex-Turk that was somehow monstrously... yet imperviously... superior. This time he was intending to save his life though, maybe he could get himself in between the blade of energy, and absorb the blow or push him out of harm's way. But in that split second he turned his body to sprint his way, he saw the look Tseng had in his eye which told him he was about to do something and to get out of the way, and the flash of materia as he used it.
Tseng looked like he had control of the situation, after all.
He wasn't sure if it was because he had been a Turk, or that he had been familiar with Tseng's gestures for so long, but he knew there was going to be something about to go down whenever the Turk gave him that glance. It was almost like the visual trust and connection that he recognised with Tifa, except more on a professional level than one of complete trust and friendship. He curtly nodded back so fast that if you blinked you would miss it, and he changed direction to the one he was previously running towards Tifa and Rufus, wondering what kind of Materia Tseng was about to use. He didn't have to wait long, as sand was sent up before Vincent recognised the shockwave in the earth that was a Quake spell. Vincent leaped, landed on the ground, and used the recoil to jump as high in the air as he could to time himself just as the fissure broke through the earth. He watched as Kadaj was hit by the Quake, before he used the earth magic's momentum to his advantage and jumped from a low rock spire into the air behind him.
Vincent had tried to help, but having to back off, Tseng was on his own now.
Sailing through the air, he watched as Kadaj pulled off another attack, this time in the form of Octoslash as he recognized the glow of his Souba while he slashed towards her through the air. Vincent had jumped before the Souba wielder ahead of him towards Tifa and Tseng, so there was a good chance this time he would be more successful in using himself as a human meat shield, but because Kadaj had aimed himself towards her it had changed his direction of attack slightly that he was likely able to get in half of the blows before Vincent could get between them in time. The crimson-cloaked man wouldn't always be able to save Tifa all the time from Kadaj's sneak attacks, but Tifa was a strong fighter who could dodge Kadaj's sword strikes and get a lightning-fast punch or kick in strong enough to dislocate or even break the villain's sword arm, so whether the first four strikes hit her to help build up her Limit Breaks were up to her. He still didn't want her to come to harm, as he had promised Cloud he would, so he managed to block one strike with his gauntlet arm and once strike with Cerberus before the increasing speed of the other two hits he misjudged and slashed him across the chest and arms. The last hit struck him backwards and he flipped, landing next to Tifa and Rufus.
And still Kadaj was not finished, but neither was he.
For Kadaj had to be running low on energy by now, for they had been fighting the same length of time he had observed the Remnant had fought Cloud at the Shinra building from Cid's Shera, and from all the energy attacks he had also exerted. Grunting as he landed neatly on his two feet, he watched with crimson eyes as he witnessed Kadaj attempting one last blow in Rufus's face to render him unconscious, a Dark Portal being opened behind the darkness user to cowardly drag Shinra away without having to deal with them. Having been on evasion and defense this entire time, Vincent took a risk and used Cure, healing Rufus to prevent him from going KO'ed with the trade-off of healing his shot leg at the same time, as well as casting it the same time Kadaj made a offensive blow towards the ex-president. More than just his way of 'apologizing' to the president earlier for having shot him and buying them more time, undoing his work of un-hanicapping Rufus may have been seen by all as a foolish move, but not when Vincent considered not only would Rufus have a better chance of evading the strike if he had both legs to move him hastier, but also in the event Kadaj did win and push the President through the Corridor to Darkness that the President would have a better chance of escaping his capture if he was at full health. The last thing he did after immediately casting the restorative spell which hopefully distracted Kadaj, was get between him and the portal while kicking up a load of sand into his face, doing a ground combo of a series of hits to follow up with his claw swiping once horizontally and then vertically at his chest in payback from the Octoslash, before the last hit with bludgeoning his thick tri-gun Cerberus at his head at he did once before ended with point-blank range gunshot to aim for his weapon in return.
With his legs standing close together and eliminating the black leather-clad man's chance of doing another 'baseball slide' underneath his legs, becoming a solid obstacle in his path of escape, Vincent might have been preventing the inevitable.
But he wasn't going to let the terrorist and his target escape that easily, while he still had a fighting chance.
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