A Cross Marks The Spot [Completed]

[Undying]

"So~, Rave-channnnn..."

Rave rolled his eyes, annoyed.

"So Rave-chwaaaan!"

Rave remained unresponsive. He suspected what this was about and decided not to say a word until Komui explained himself. Besides, Lenalee was just around the corner.

"Ok, Rave-chwa~n, if yo~u wa~nt to~ gi~ve me~ the co~ld sho~ulder, I'll just ignore you~!"

He returned to his coffee, but a moment later raised his eyes again. His expression looked more like a cat's, with a 3 like mouth and shiny eyes.

Rave sighed.

"Can't you be serious even for five minutes, Komui?"

"Aww~n, but Raveeee~, I know you like me goofy..."

Rave's brow furrowed.

"DIE."

Suddenly Komui's changed into a very serious image. Characteristically he couldn't even stick to one mood at a time.

"Rave, from your explanation it seems that General Exorcist Cross Marian is currently in Western Europe, possibly moving East, correct?"

Rave nodded.

"You will track him down. You may take any number of Exorcists with you - though I doubt you'd need more than two - and look for him near the border of Germany. We have some supporters there, and you will need to learn what they know."

A heavily breathing Finder entered the room, panting.

"Komui-san, there have been three separate reports of General Cross Marian! One in Greece, and another in Russian!"

Komui shrugged. "Well Rave, you're going to Greece, it seems."

----

Rules:

- This is a filler arc (lesser EXP gains)
- We will not locate Cross.
- Also, Linalee Li (canon DGM character) will join the crew in this mission. Her character may be RPed by anyone, but GMs have the deciding factor in her actions. You may not rely on her in your fights :).
Enjoy.

Players:
Undying
Stony Reloaded
momo-taicho
Askand
Shirou-chan

One Noah (whoever chooses to enter)
Any number of Akuma/additional Noah

[Undying]

((And so it begins. Stony, momo and Askand are playing here.))

"All right, let's see... to go to Greece, it..." Angie gave Rave her usual "hug-of-the-hour", and he was getting annoyed. Linalee, in the meantime, was enjoying sight of Rave being repeatedly hugged.

"Rave, I think it's this train here," she finally said, pointing to the train heading east. Rave gave her a thankful look.

((Begin playing now, in two-three posts we'll be in Greece.))

[Ryuzaki]

A sinister smile looks above Greece with dark intent, it's dark wings soar in the sky looking at the innocent people to pray on. With the look to kill, it waits for the arrival of more Exorcists to devour.

"I must... I must... grow... I must grow stronger!" The gruesome gleaming smile waited in the sky, waited for the right moment to kill it's prey...

[Alerane]

Gazing up at the sky and seeing a comrade flying above Sean shook his head. Lighting up a cigarette, Sean turned his attention back to the street he was walking along.

"Too damn eager to fight, that one," muttered Sean as he walked.

He stopped at an old boarded up store and leaned up against it. Putting the cigarette to his lips he sucked i n the smoke and blew out a large puff. He could wait patiently when he had to.

[~*StÓÑy RèL0ÂÐeD™]

((yay go go go!! :D @undy: shirou's joining us btw, guess he loves me too much :D:D:D))

Holding onto Anna's hand throughout the whole trip, not unlike the same situation when Angie is hugging Rave the whole time, Kaze and the wierd group stepped into the train.

"The usual First class," Kaze added to the train inspector. Surprised to see so many exorcist appear suddently, the inspector could only nod his head stupidly and beckoned them to follow.

"I hope you don't mind getting the First class," Kaze said to Rave apologetically. "But I always prefer to enjoy luxury whenever I can."

[Undying]

Rave managed to (finally) untangle himself from Angie's hugs, and headed to the back of the car, where Linalee found herself a seat. He was surprised that she didn't sit in the center of attention, talking with everyone or listening to stories.

Just as he intended to walk to the Linalee, Kaze piped in, something about luxury. Rave waved him away. "Do whatever you want, Kaze. Not like I care."

He felt slightly awkward (why? He wondered. They were friends, after all. Nothing more), but approached her nonetheless.

"What's wrong, Linalee?" She gave him a faint smile, then shook her head lightly.

"I don't know... I'm worried about Allen-kun, Kanda-san... and you." That made Rave stop. She never openly expressed any worry about him (except when Komui unleashed Komurin I, II, and III on him after his threats to personally see that Linalee is dating someone by the end of the month, but then again, that was when she wacked both him and Komui over the heads with her Innocence).

"Me? Come on, Linalee. You don't have to worry about me, and you know it." Tears welled in her eyes. Rave realized his callous attitude hurt her somehow. But why? He always reacted in the same way to everyone. "After all, Linalee, I have the highest survival ratio in missions..." his effort to rectify his mistake was met with a pair of tearing (but very angry) green eyes. His hand subconsciously moved to his Innocence, so intimidating were those tiger-like emerald eyes.

"That's not it!" She spat, and (very much woman-like, to Rave's estimation) left it at that. He sat down and pondered what on earth was going over Linalee. The obvious explanation (that time of the month?) was immediately discarded. There was something deep in this, and Rave tried to figure out what it was.

((We should arrive in our destination within the next couple of posts, so everyone get ready))

[Ejarel]

(Sorry, mind if I join in?)

Leraje (Akuma)

Exorcists!

Leraje could barely hide his glee. High above in the sky, Leraje, still in his Akuma form, watched as the train wound its way through the scenic countryside, carrying the oh-so-precious-Exorcists in its belly. Even with his Akuma-enhanced eyesight he could barely make out the old locomotive, but then again, it always paid to be safe. One of the Exorcists might possess the ability to see far distances, or worse, sense Akumas like Allen Walker. After all, Leraje and his group had been decimated by a single Exorcist less than a week ago.

Not that the Exorcist lived to tell the tale. How pitiful.

But this time, Leraje did not intend to take any action against them yet. Technically he was dead, and until he reported to the Noah family or the Earl he had all the time to play around. Yippie! And so he watched from his cloud cover, safe, and content in the knowledge that should the situation turn against the Exorcists along the way, Leraje would lend them a helping hand.

All the way to heaven. Heehee.

[Ryuzaki]

((Ofcourse, any Akuma/Noah can join the fray =P))

As the dark figure hovered over Greece, it started to finally move. "I smell... I smell.. EXORCIST BLOOD..." A dark arua began to engulf the being, "They're.... this way...." pointing it's head south towards the train station, it slowly startd to head over there.

((Suspense... lol))

[Midare]

((Ok... I'm supposed to be around here so here I go))

Leiko sitting at the coast of Patras, looking at the Ionian Sea, watching the sunset.

She sighed.

"Aah.... If the Old-man was planning to punish me for my failure with this mission, he really thought of it well... this is going to be boring." She sighed again.

"And the worst part of it, he had to send too that psycho Akuma and that kid Leraje. The why am I here??"

While the sun was setting, leaving place for the darkness of the night, she stood up.

"Well, I guess 'll go watch over the kids, just to make sure they don't mess this time"

After saying this, with this she started to head to the south, eventually disappearing into the darkness.

((XD))

[Ryuzaki]

"Well, well..... I see that a Noah has also come to Greece. The Earl must be serious about Cross being here or not...." Lurking above the sky, the shadowy figure hovered above the Noah to see just where she was heading too.

"Akuma-san, you may go ahead of me for now, I'll catch up to you soon..." Leiko's thoughts telepathically reached the Akuma.

"As you wish...."

[~*StÓÑy RèL0ÂÐeD™]

((LOLOL, so many akuma... and a Noah =/

lol @ 'The obvious explanation (that time of the month?) was immediately discarded.'))

Walking away from Rave (anyone with half a brain also knows Rave wanted Kaze away), Kaze headed back to the car when he heard Linalee's outburst.

He was itching to stop to listening into the conversation, but thought better of it. He shrugged and continued his way.

Entering their car again, Kaze looked around and asked. "Anyone seen Hiro? He was supposed to be following us."

[Undying]

((There will be more Stony, there will be more.))

Rave pinched the bridge of his nose for a few seconds, then turned to the angry Linalee. He had no idea what brought up this reaction, but he had every intention of rectifying his mistake. Linalee was never like this, not since the time that he was introduced to the Order.

She was his first real friend in years - someone who could listen and understand, after all, she suffered greatly at the hands of the Order, "for the greater good". She understood pain better than he ever could, and even though he did harbor some small thoughts of something more than friendship, he long since gave up on that particular thought.

"Linalee," he began, trying (and failing) to sound warm and indecisive. Linalee snickered through her tears.

"Don't try to pretend, Rave. You're an awful liar." He shrugged and gave it up.

"Listen to me, Linalee. I don't know what on earth is going on with you, but whatever it is you can tell me. Aren't we friends?" Linalee's shoulders shook with a sudden sob and she turned on him, anger flaring in her eyes again.

"That's just it! I don't know you anymore, Rave. You used to be such a shy guy," (I, shy? Yeah right, he thought, by wisely kept his expression and thoughts hidden) "But now... you're showing this roughened up attitude to the world, and it's not you. I know that you care about your friends... right?"

Do I? he surprised himself. Did he really care for his friends anymore? And who were his friends, anyway? No one in the Order liked him...

"Yes, they do!" He was shocked that he muttered the last part out loud, such a loss of self-control was inexcusable.

He raised his hands to forestall any further explosions. "Ok, assume that they do. Do you really expect me to remain the nice guy like I - supposedly - was? The reaction to Exorcists is never a liked one - not on the outlying villages, anyway. You know it, and I know it. So how could I survive without keeping myself cold and emotionless?" And my Innocence demands it anyway, he added silently, but didn't say it. Linalee was touchy about Innocence-related issues. Rave managed to just barely keep his voice calm and controlled through his speech, since he was as near to boiling point as he could get. But he could never lash out at Linalee.

He owed her too much.

---------------------

((This is my first Akuma character, Jarlaxles (hint hint Stony ;)). He will play a part in the next trouble))

Jarlaxle, more commonly known as Brian of the Wolves' Brigade, watched the rumbling train. The Exorcists were on it, he knew. And they searched for Cross, the one man in all the world who could free him from the Earl.

"Uh, Brian?" His second in command, Tred (no one knew his real name, that was his nickname for unknown reasons) approached him from the direction of the camp.

"Yes, what is it, my friend?" Jarlaxle always kept his voice friendly with this man. He needed him to keep the group controlled.

"The guys are restless," Tred replied, scratching his bearded chin. He was build much like Brian, only far shorter and looked more like a flat barrel, with bulges in the chest area. "They don't like the idea of blowing a train, it's bad for business."

Jarlaxle started to shake his head in frustration and stopped himself. "Look, Tred. I know the guys are restless, but when have I led you astray?" Oh, how he wished to rip him up, rip them all up, tear out heir guts and feed on them until his hunger was sated. But thought overpowered instinct, and he patted Tred on the shoulder. "Trust me. Those Exorcists will help us, if we help them. And blowing the train is just to attract attention." He paused, and then as if in an afterthought, "Has there been any word from Dinnin?"

Dinnin. His Akuma ally. The two couldn't be more different, Dinnin with his unsatisfiable hunger (particularly women blood, for some unknown reason) and lack of brains (more precisely, he simply didn't want to use his brains. He preferred using his powerful and insane Akuma form to eat as much as possible), and Jarlaxle with his calculating personality and cunning. Still, the two shared the same sentiment about the Earl and wanted nothing more than to be freed.

"Dinnin? Nope, no word. He said something about going to visit the nearby village, but that's all."

Jarlaxle caught himself in the last moment again before shaking his head. No more village, then.

He nodded and smiled to Tred. "Proceed to phase two."

The man nodded and ran back to the group.

Moments later, the train tracks a short distance ahead exploded, leaving the Exorcists stuck a short distance from the harbor, from where they were to take a boat directly to Greece.

--------------------------------------

((and back to Rave))

Linalee was this close to slapping him when suddenly the train rattled and crashed, sending both her and Rave tumbling on the floor with a sudden, violent shake. Linalee found herself straight on top of Rave, who subconsciously moved his arm around her waist.

She blushed, but Rave managed to gently push her from him without causing any unnecessary racket. He felt embarrassed too, but figured this had to do more with Linalee's embarrassment (she was only a 16-year-old virgin, he reminded himself) than any feelings he had.

"What... was that?" he asked the obvious question.

((And the trouble start here.))

[~*StÓÑy RèL0ÂÐeD™]

((Hahaa, now i see why you say there will be more :D And Akumas that wants to be free from the Earl? Thats creative! ;) good job, and nice post too))

Standing at the door to their car, Kaze closed his eyes and listened to Rave's and Linalee's arugment. He did not want to intrude, but he couldn't resist (I see you try not to listen in when two friends of yours is in a huge arguement).

Realising that everyone in the car could also hear the shouting, he quickly thought of something to distract them, also partly he did not want to ruin the atmosphere or to demoralise the rest of the group. Taking out a deck of cards and shuffling them, he stepped into the limelight.

"Pity Allen isn't with us, i heard he was good," Kaze said loudly, drawing the attention of the rest of the group. "Anyway, who wants to play poker?"

Just then, a huge explosion echoed in the distance, and the train rattled and shook. Immediately the entire car fell into chaos, with luggages falling everywhere, the other exorcists staggering and Kaze's deck of cards soaring through the air.

A moment later, everything fell silent, save for Kaze's cursing.

"What... was that?" he heard Rave asked the obvious question.

"An explosion?" Kaze answered. "Whatever it is, I bet its the Akuma at work again."

[Ejarel]

Wow! Did you see that? Did you see that?

The iron tracks near the harbour exploded, drawing an interesting reaction from the train's crew and passengers. There was the usual screaming and shouting of panicking people as their stuck their heads out of the window, trying to see the source of the commotion.

Silly. Didn't your mommies teach you not to do that?

For now, it was still not quite possible to see if the train was decelerating, but if not the train was bound for a ride all the way to heaven. The crew was in an uproar, though. They shouted and screamed at each other, sometimes using sign languages when they apparently couldn't be heard. Too bad. Humans deserve to die anyway. To Leraje it was a pre-requisite.

One thing was certain. This was certainly the work of Akumas. An intelligent one, or many less intelligent ones, or many intelligent ones. Now this is getting confusing. Leraje never had a knack for tactics anyway. He prefered to throw himself into the fray and bash with the best. But as much as Leraje loathed waiting above like a restless vulture, he did not want to dive down and be spotted by another Akuma. That would signal the end of his self-declared break.

Choices, choices.

[Undying]

((Note, I will be RPing Askand's character on the fly since she is apparently unable to join us at this time))

Rave steadied Linalee (why was she blushing so much? He only held her hand and helped her stand, he must've done it a thousand times already), and then heard Kaze. He shook his head.

"That didn't sound like Akuma blasters to me. Besides, Akuma would've attacked us, not the railway tracks. This requires not just planning ahead, but also several special explosives. I doubt the people around here wouldn't notice an Akuma floating around."

And I've never heard of a smart Akuma, damn it! He kept the last thought to himself.

The train wasn't stopping, though, so Rave, thinking quickly, figured it would be smartest to leave the train before it crashed.

Why isn't the damned thing stopping?

Linalee's Innocence would probably have allowed her to skit away easily enough, but for Kaze, Anna, Angie, and regrettably himself... things would be difficult.

Linalee was treating him with expressed coldness after her short blushing moment when he held her hand in the car, and turned her face pointedly away from him. He simply shrugged, even though it hurt (why?) him.

"We need a way off. Linalee is probably safest because she can probably leave this place easily thanks to her Innocence. I'm certain that I can't, but you..."

"I can," intervened Angie, unnaturally (for Rave, anyway) serious. "My Innocence will allow me to morph into a cat, like you saw. I could jump off the train, and I think I could take two with me."

Rave wondered what to do. Naturally, he wanted to get off this suicide train, but... could he really ask Kaze of Anna for this kind of sacrifice?

Oh, forget the sacrifice, it's just that I don't want to jump off a speeding train!

He was too proud to admit he was scared, but he was also smart enough to know he is unlikely to survive. But there was another way... he couldn't control his Innocence properly yet, but maybe, just maybe, if he could use it's maximum power to severe the car off the train...

"Angie, take Kaze and Anna and get off the train. Linalee, you go with them."

They stared at him shocked.

"Well? Can't you morons hear me? I said move!"

"But..." someone started. It didn't matter who.

"Just... get... off! I can manage, damn it. I always do, I don't need you to save me. Now GO!"

He manged to look scary enough to send Angie, Kaze and Anna skittering to the side of the car. The two kids used their sword-Innocence to slash a square opening on the car's side (and the wind nearly knocked them all head over heels, again), and Angie transformed into her cat form, a powerful feline-warrior with enough leg strength to send them off the train.

((Note: you guys RP how you land :))).

Linalee started at Rave.

"You're scared," she said calmly. Too calmly.

"Maybe. What are you still doing on the train? I told you to get off." There was another reason why he wanted her off: he didn't know if he could control his Innocence well enough to avoid hurting or even killing himself, let alone another person. Linalee, however, seemed to have other plans.

She activated her Innocence, and stood right by the opening, looking at him.

Good, now I can... he turned to her, intending to head to where the wagons were connected, but to his shock, Linalee made two quick steps from behind him, grabbed him tightly from behind, and launched herself (and him) off the train and maximum speed, like a bullet.

Rave nearly fainted, but managed to keep himself standing.

"You... are... in..sane." He uttered weakly. Insane indeed! Linalee just shook her head. "I don't know what's going on through your head, Rave, but I'm not leaving a friend behind on a near-certain death train!"

Rave couldn't answer (not emotions, he feared he would vomit if he opened his mouth), so he glared at her.

And remembered how warm she felt, pressed against his back in the howling wind. Her slim but strong arms, her gentle curves, her...

He stopped himself before he went too far. She was a friend. A good friend for the last three years. And nothing more.

Nothing more.

((You guys use Angie's tracking capabilities (as a werepanther she should have heightened senses and be able to track Rave and Linalee down easily enough). Assuming you're still conscious, that is))
---------------------------------------------

((This is my Akuma character Jarlaxle))

He looked at the train carefully, as it skidded to a stop right before hitting the station. The railway was completely ruined, and it would take at least a few weeks to properly fix them. Jerlaxle was satisfied. He turned, his messy blond hair waving, and went back to camp.

Now, it was time to see what those Exorcists knew.

--------------------------------

((Back to Rave for a short moment))

Rave and Linalee looked around, wondering where were Kaze and his friends. The force of the train could have catapulted the others quite a distance. Well, no point worrying. If they went straight by the tracks, they are bound to run into them. Eventually.

Linalee was again treating him like he grew horns, but he needed some time to sort through his thoughts (and calm his stomach) so it didn't bother him.

They were surprised when a cloaked figure approached them.

"Excuse me, good sir Exorcist," he (and Rave only realized it was a he from the deep voice, so cloaked and covered was that person). "May I ask what are you doing outside near this... disaster?"

Rave didn't want to talk (and his stomach rebelled again) so Linalee took the lead, and said the one thing Rave would never have said to a stranger he just met near a wreck of a train that nearly killed them.

"We're looking for a man called Cross."

He mentally screamed at her, but his stomach still moved around, so he remained silent.

"Cross, you say? Indeed an interesting coincidence, for I have heard that a man named Cross Marianne crossed," he smiled slightly at the pun, as they were speaking English, "this town not two days ago, headed back the way you came from."

Rave managed to quell his rebellious stomach and took control of the situation before the naive (or was she just stupid?) Linalee said anything.

"Thank you, good sir, and we'll go there... after we've met our friends."

The man nodded, and Linalee, angry that Rave pushed her aside like that, tugged at his uniform to get his attention. He momentarily turned to her - he didn't trust this newcomer enough to take his eyes off him - and when he looked again, the stranger was gone. He shook his head.

"It's a trap, Linalee. They want to follow us to Cross, and they intended to know if we know anything."

Linalee looked at him, surprised that he could be so mistrusting.

-------------------------------

((And now to introduce Dinnin))

The final man fell before his mighty blade. He was a madmen, a hungry predator unleashed on a herd of young, edible, animals.

And the finest prey was yet his to claim.

He looked to the shadows of the house and realized she wasn't there. Shaking his head - his short blue hair matted with ash from the house he burned - by their own fire, oh the irony! - he moved to the alley way.

And there she was. Lying on the dirt, her legs wounded from his blade. She was going to die, and she knew it.

But before that...

There were more ways to kill, and far more enjoyable than just ripping apart bodies.

He grinned devilishly and bent down, one mighty hand grabbing her hair. Her nearly lifeless body moved feebly, trying to resist. He smiled.

This was going to be fun.

[~*StÓÑy RèL0ÂÐeD™]

((@undy: Jalaxle and Dinnin? you dark elves freak :D *is a RA Salvatore fan too*))

"whoa," was all Kaze could manage, somewhat lamely, as the 3 of them soared through the air out of the speeding train. He was impressed with Angie's Innocence, but he remembered, cats, or werepanthers for that matter, cant fly, which means they're bound to land soon.

"I'll take over now!" Kaze yelled nervously (anyone flying through the air at that speed from a speeding train would be nervous). "However, ive never tried this before, soooo..."

Working his back and his shoulders free, he yelled. "Innocence activate!" At once, his skin rippled and stretched, with black bat-like wings bursting from his skin like a volcano eruption. At first, nothing happened, and they were still haurling towards the ground. Fortunately, the giant wings caught a updraft of air at the last moment, and they slowed down just enough not to break any bones. Still, they crashed to the ground, tumbling and rolling until the momentum played out.

"I've never tried supporting 3 people at once," Kaze called wiryly as he spat dirt. "But that, was something i'll consider doing again."

[Ejarel]

(haha thank god I'm on the same saide as you, Undying :pblow: )

Not fair not fair not fair not fair!

Aren't the heroes supposed to save the day? The Exorcists are supposed to save the train! Not jump from it!

Not fair not fair not fair!

In a wave of emotions dominated by irritation, Leraje dived down towards the ground. Most exhilarating. To feel the wind rushing in your face.

Like sitting in the toy wagon and pushing yourself down the hill -

Leraje shook his head. Somehow memories of his past had taken a liking to resurface in the most untimely fashions since he bacame a Level 2. It made him weak. If being a Level 2 meant having your head messed about, Leraje would rather stay a Level 1.

300 feet.


200 feet.


100 feet. Now!

At the last possible moment Leraje willed himself into human form, and he plunged head-first into a bush. Ouch ouch ouch.

At least it didn't hurt as much as when he fell from his first tree at 6 -

Stop it, stupid memories! Go away!

Stumbling out of the bushes, he realised he had no idea where he was.

Oh dear.

[Midare]

"hmm... so the Exorcist ended up jumping off the train instead of saving the people there?..." Leiko grinned "...interesting"

As usual, Leiko was watching everything from the sky, she thought that she didn't need to intervene just yet.

"Now, I knew that that crazy Akuma and the level 2 kid were around here...but to think that Jarlaxle would be here as well and do such a thing..." she sighed "... what is he thinking to do right now?... Maybe I should go and check on him to see what is he planning and..."

Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted when she saw that Leraje kid falling from the sky. "What the...??" she said.

Leiko saw how the kid landed into a bush head first. "Ahou ka" sometimes some lines in her natural lenguage would spill in her mind.

With a fast movement, Leiko was in the ground standing right behind the boy as he was stumbling out of the bushes expressing his pain.

"Would you mind explaining to me what are you doing?" She said with a severe tone in her voice making the young akuma to jump because of the shock.

"Leiko-sama!?" he said, turning around and looking at her.

There were some seconds of silence, and Leiko started to get angry about it since she's not exactly patient.

"SO??" She said. "I-I've been watching the exorcists as I was ordered to and waiting for the right moment to attack" was his reply to her bossy question.

"I see..." she said, crossing her arms and looking away from the kid.

"Yes, but then there was that explotion and I..."

"For the time being - she interrupted Leraje, not really caring about what he was saying - I've seen that those exorcist have split in two groups, so you'll be following the second group, those who jumped out off the train on that big cat, while I'll check the other group..."

"But, Leiko-sama, I..."

"Are you going to talk back to me??" she said in her severe tone again.

Leraje bowed his head. "No, Leiko-sama"

"... so, if I made myself clear, then do as I said".

With this, Leiko turned around, giving her back to Leraje and with a fast movement, she was back on the sky, going in the first group of exorcist's direction.

((Sorry Ejarel, but Leiko is bossy :p... now you can follow her orders... or not XD))

[Undying]

((BTW, just FYI, if the Dark Dealings arc is not over by the time we finish here (i.e., have one big fight and realize Cross is about as close to here and the north pole), we're moving there. And Stony, I needed bad guys. Really bad guys. And who's worse than Dark Elves? :D))

((This is Rave))

"So. We've been walking for... what, fifteen minutes? Why can't we even see them?" Though Rave said it as a complaint, Linalee recognized that he was just worried.

Catapulting from speeding trains didn't have a reputation of high survival rates.

---------------------

((And on to Jarlaxle))

"They didn't take the bait." Tred, his second in command, looked at the pair. They were still moving towards the same direction, but both Tred and Jarlaxle knew that at least one of the Exorcists didn't believe them.

That man is dangerous. Jarlaxle didn't like people who were so much like him. This clear mistrust, the calculating look, and that annoying arrogant air! They were too much alike, which meant that if the Exorcist had enough brains, he would be able to predict Jarlaxle's moves.

Predictability led to inevitable openings, and those led to inevitable defeat. But then again, if that Exorcist made a mistake... Jarlaxle couldn't wait to evolve to level three. His powers would grow exponentially, allowing him to perhaps search for Cross more effectively.

That fat fool thought Jarlaxle would hand Cross to him when he found him. HA! Jarlaxle would make Cross release him, and then kill him. And release Dinnin, he supposed, but then again maybe not. That mad killer was too unpredictable.

And where was he, anyway?

((BTW, we should be reunited within the next two posts at most, so hurry it up, mons))

[Ejarel]

I ha~te Lei~ko-sam~a! I hat~e Le~iko-sam~a!

Kicking loose pebbles along the way didn't help. Imagining the ground as Leiko-sama and stamping on it didn't either.

Why must I be spotted by a Noah?! Now I can't sit around and have fun all day! Being an Akuma is hard work!

Leraje silently swore to evolve himself into a Level 3 as fast as possible. With his new powers perhaps even a Noah would not be able to find him. He had heard of the many fasinating abilities Level 3s could do.

Perhaps I could vanish into thin air. Poof! And I'm gone. Heehee.

But before that, there was work to do. Find the Exorcists and follow them. No fighting. But that's okay. Leraje depended mainly on his clawed fists when it boiled down to battles, and fighting single-handedly against what, three Exorcists?

Not a pleasant idea. At least, until his battle-rage takes over, but that's another issue altogether.

Focus: Find the Exorists. Find the Exorists.

Noises ahead. Could he have found them? Hm ...

[~*StÓÑy RèL0ÂÐeD™]

((lol, i like the direction things are going :D @Undy: By the way, with Askand no able to RP her character and momo not moving her character, i'll move their characters too. Hope its ok.))

Kaze stood up and brushed the dust off himself, and cast a look around. All trees and dirt. He looked back to see how the others were faring. Angie seemed fine, considering how she's standing, and Anna was aready surveying the area, like him.

"Lucky we jump off the train when we're reaching the harbor soon," Kaze mused aloud. "And since Rave and Linalee jumped later, they should be ahead, provided they did escape the train."

He fell silent for a few moments, considering their situation. Odds of survival seems okay, seeing that there's 3 exorcists together (Kaze was still positive about akuma being nearby). And Rave would most likely kill the 3 of them if he found them just standing around waiting for Rave him to 'fetch' them.

"Come on," he called. "We won't do anything by just standing her-"

A noise by the trees caught his attention. A slight crunch of gravel, and the sound of shifting pebbles. Definitely someone, or something.

Kaze at once spread his wings and flew a few inches into the air, with both swords in front of him on the defensive. Angie, still in that panther form, dropped to all fours and growled. She had figured out what that was with her sense of smell, but Kaze didnt understand panther talk (all he knew that it was growling). Anna had skitted to the left, and dropped into a fighting crouch.

Feeling little apprehensive (and confident, seeing all of them well prepared), Kaze spun one sword through the air, and shouted, "Whoever you are, declare yourself!"

[Ejarel]

"Whoever you are, declare yourself!"

Emerging out of the cover of trees, Leraje found himself staring at 3 Exorcists. Or rather, a were-panther and 2 very battle-trained Exorcists.

Uh oh.

Leraje's original idea was to feign ignorance and pretended that he was lost on his way to the harbour. This way, he figured, not only could he accompany the Exorcists to the harbour and acomplish what Leiko-sama instructed, he could also save himself a nasty fight. Now though, he wasn't quite so sure this would work. For one, the were-panther, with its heightened sense of smell, would certainly have figured out his true form by now, which was probably why the panther's companions were looking so tense.

So why were they not attacking?

Most Akumas, even the smarter Level 2s, reveal their Akuma forms readily at the slightest chance of a fight. To Leraje he thought it foolish.

One against three. Even Tommy-kun wouldn't have chosen such a disadvantageous fight -

Leraje shook his head violently. Go away stupid memories!

So instead of throwing insults and morphing into his hideous form like his breathren, Leraje decided another approach.

"There's a terrible ball monster behind me shooting horrible purple things! Save me!"

On his way here Leraje had spied a Level 1 Akuma. Now he ordered it to attack the Exorcists. With luck he just might smoke his way through.

[~*StÓÑy RèL0ÂÐeD™]

Kaze raised his eyebrows in surprise. He was expecting a fight... but well, guess it doesnt matter. He relaxed a little, but still on guard.

"A level 1 akuma nearby?" he muttered. "Might be a trap. On the other hand we're looking for Cross, there's bound to be loads of akuma around..."

Looking back at the boy, Kaze continued. "Alright, stay here. Angie, if you dont mind, could you go and find that level 1 akuma? It might be a trap to lure us over, but with your sense of smell you'll locate them before they could even move in to trap you. Anna and I will stay guard here over this boy here."

Kaze was still suspicious, although honestly speaking he did not detect any fighting intent from that boy, but that boy's red eyes proved he isnt human at all.

Turning back to the boy, he asked. "So what's your name anyway?"

[Ejarel]

(seems we're the only ones around for now, stony, lol. btw, if you wanna fight you can just initiate. =D)

"So what's your name anyway?"

Leraje flashed the raven-haired Exorcist his winning smile.

"Leraje. And your name?"

There was an awkward silence as the Exorcist studied him. Too late Leraje realised he had forgotten to hide his crimson eyes, but then there was nothing he could do about it. At least he managed to distract the panther away for now.

One against two. Let's hope it doesn't boil down to that. Then again, I guess it couldn't be helped.

[~*StÓÑy RèL0ÂÐeD™]

((lol opps, you're offline, my bad :p lol, fight? mmm... might be interesting. Well actually i prefer not too, im waiting for the Noah to be honest :D i need all my health *ish hinting at the Noah*))

Kaze studied Leraje carefully. Finally to everyone's surprise, he gave a silent laugher, and grinned back.

"Nice to meet you, little akuma. Im Kaze, and this is Anna. The one who just left is Angie."

Still smilling, he raised a hand to stop Leraje's obvious question.

"How do I know? Well... Simple. If you're not human, u have to be either akuma or Noah. And if you're a Noah, you wont be pretending to run from an akuma. Thus, you're an akuma." (Actually kaze's relying a lot on luck :D)

Kaze continued quickly, in case Leraje decides to attack. After all, they still doesnt know the full scope of that akuma's power, plus kaze still have to protect Anna if the akuma attacked.

"Still, ive seem my share of modified akumas. So i guess i'll trust you, until you prove otherwise. You wont do anything funny will you?" he gave him a funny look. "Not when there's 3 exorcists around you."

Before Leraje could reply, Angie returned, pouncing back into the clearing.

"Nothing at all," she said as a matter-of-factly.

"Wow, she's really serious without Rave around," Anna whispered to Kaze.

[Ejarel]

Kaze, Anna, Angie. Right.

Normally Leraje would have shook hands and exchange nice words, but this time was different. This time they knew he was an Akuma. A danger. A threat. Underneath the innocent facade was a killing machine, and the Exorcists had no intention to take him down.

Interesting. No one would have believed this.

But unknown to the Exorcists, what troubled Leraje was not the fact that he was surrounded by his arch enemies, but that the Level 1 Akuma had not responded to his call. It couldn't be. Being able to command Level 1s was the main perk of being a Level 2. If not, where's the fun? He turned towards the one called Angie. Could it be that she was lying? But then, the way Leraje saw it, she didn't really have a reason to lie. Oh well.

Dropping down into the grass Leraje looked up at Kaze. "Well then, where are we going to play?"

[~*StÓÑy RèL0ÂÐeD™]

Laughing, Kaze said, "Sadly, we cant play. We're supposed to look for the rest of our team. You may follow if you want, although i wont know what will our leader do with you. (is referring to Rave)"

"Still, it would be nice to have more company," he continued, in case Leraje got offended. "Come on."

With that, everyone left the clearing and continued on their way, before Rave gets pissed waiting for them. :D

[Undying]

((@Stony: sure, move their characters freely, though I'd be happier if you could contact at least one of them and have them RP... this is kind of annoying when you have to think for too many characters))

Rave scratched the back his head and sighed. Empathic as usual, he was growing bored with this and wanted something to happen. Linalee wasn't much of help, walking beside him deep in thought (and throwing him killer glares from time to time), so Rave just placed his Katana on his shoulders and continued walking.

A very short distance ahead, an outgrowth of bushes and trees obscured vision, so when Linalee and Rave passed it, they were completely surprised to see Kaze, Anna, Angie, and... another someone.

Some regular kid, apparently, except his red eyes. But Rave had other things on his mind than to wonder about Kaze's weird associates.

"All right. We're about a day's walk from the harbor and the ship we intend to board will be leaving this evening, so we're going to need some horses and fast. We have to get to the harbor by this evening, no matter what."

((You'll need to RP how you get the horses and get to the harbor etc.))

----------------
((Onwards to Jarlaxle))

"Everything is going as planned," Jarlaxle commented when the group of Exorcists headed to the harbor. He intended to follow them until they found Cross... and maybe to have some fun on the way.

Tred looked at him quizzically, and Jarlaxle waved his hand. "Get the rest moving," he ordered, and headed to the harbor.

They'd need to secure a boat.

------------------------

((Dinnin, my other Akuma))

Miles shortened before his great speed, and he continued his swift journey towards the coastline. With any luck, he will get there ahead of time and will be able to sit in wait for the Exorcists.

Maybe he'll keep one or two alive as a snack until they found Cross for him.

[~*StÓÑy RèL0ÂÐeD™]

((mmm.. this RP's getting quiet =O))

Kaze ruffled his own hair. "Get horses.... get to harbour. Right." He walked off, muttering something about 'slaves'.

An hour later, he returned, with 7 horses in tow. "I got them from a farmer. He was being attacked by the akuma and i saved him, plus in addition to him seeing the sign- kaze pointed to the cross sewn onto his jacket-, i managed to get these horses and half price."

Looking back at the horses, Kaze was about to mount one when he heard Angie. "There's 6 of us, why 7 horses?"

After Kaze hopped on, he turned around and said, "Well, the last one was loney so i bought him too. and we have a wider choice in choosing which horses we want now. Plus the bills go to Komui, so no complaining."

[Undying]

((Holidays, and we're planning stuff for you all :D. We're trying to give you an interesting story, after all :p. Also note that we are now in Greece and the story is 100% on the move, I'm speeding this arc up for our final confrontations, so get your asses in gear, or else))

When they disembarked, the first thing Rave did was find a restroom and take a good look at his lunch. He simply hated travel of any sort.

The Greek coastline was dotted with hundreds of different ships, and that intrigued Rave. Why would there be so many different vessels anchored at the coast?

Upon inquiring for the reason at a local inn, he got a belly laugh in response, which made him queasy again. "Well, well," said the (fat and obnoxious) inn owner, "don't you know? There's a treasure hunt! A man came here a while ago and said he will give a mountain of gold to anyone who could find him a rare seas stone!"

"A man?" Linalee, seeing that Rave was experiencing a tender stomach again (actually he was trying to get some sympathy from here, but she remained cold and uncaring again, which annoyed him to no end, for some reason), intervened. "What kind of man? Did he have long red hair?"

"Why, yes, yes of course," replied the innkeeper. Something about his reply caught Rave's (the ever mistrusting one, he mused silently) attention. Something about the way he agreed to the details...

He's lying, I bet. He kept silent and let Linalee and the fat innkeeper discuss Cross' (ah, now he knows the name?) whereabouts. After a few minutes of animated conversation Linalee approached Rave (and Kaze and Angie and Anna, but Rave really didn't care at the moment. He didn't need to worry about them for now), with a very self-pleased grin dancing on her lips.

"So Rave," she began haughtily (unnatural for docile Linalee, Rave immediately noted), "I have some-"

Rave interrupted her. "You know where Cross is, and probably can map his travels within meters of his actual location at the time, yes?"

She gaped at him, stunned.

"He's lying. I can tell."

Linalee stepped back, shocked. "How can you say-" Again Rave interrupted.

"I can tell. I know it, because that is exactly what I would have done, if I were an Akuma." Everyone openly stared at him, obviously surprised. "Think of it. The train tracks, the convenient meeting with that mysterious person who seemingly knew where Cross was, and then surprisingly here, we learn that Cross went all about the place and still may be somewhere around. This inconsistency and convenient coincidences show a pattern. Someone is trying to either mislead us or-" a sudden explosion rattled the ground, "- or lead us into a trap," Rave finished, obviously self satisfied.

((Fight commences, pick your opponents (Ejarel's Akuma, or either one of my two Akuma, I will be fighting Ryuzaki's character, who is a 3rd level Akuma, and we will gang on any Noah around. I will RP Dinnin/Jarlaxle when the time comes to reveal their schemes. You may control either one, but you cannot defeat them completely until I say so :p))

[Ejarel]

There was a tremendous explosion. This was it. The signal to attack.

Leraje sighed inwardly. He hated to fight the Exorcists, especially the one called Kaze. After all, he was starting to interest Leraje. Despite having fought the Black Order for years, Leraje had never understood his arch enemies well. How they fought. If they hated Akumas. If they had other adult-things to do besides fighting Akumas.

Leraje had a sinking feeling he would never get to fight out.

Leraje leapt onto a mount, which struggled furiously in protest. Unlike humans, animals had higher senses of self-preservation, and the horse knew he was not human. Clever. Leraje kicked the horse, but gently. He loved horses.

"Stop it! Go! Go! Go! Run like the wind!"

The horse complied. Behind him he could hear the Exorcists shouting, but the exact words were lost to the wind. He did not have to ride far before he reached the harbour. Mentally he commanded his horde of Level 1s to his will.

Hear me, my breathen!

Despite himself, Leraje remained in his human form. He looked around for signs of the Black Order, but in the chaos of the explosion the townsfolk were everywhere, screaming and running all over the place.

Fools. The only safe haven is out of this harbour.

(If anyone wishes to fight moi you gotta RP your reason for attacking a kid, heehee.)

[~*StÓÑy RèL0ÂÐeD™]

(( LOL a hard choice. Jalaxle Baenre or Dinnin Do'Urden? Damnit undy :D btw, wad about momo and askand?))

Kaze saw Leraje took off the moment the explosion occurred and he cursed. Beside him, Anna and Angie scattered to lessen the chances of being hit.

"Innocence level 2 activate!" he muttered, and jumped into the air, with his wings erupting out on both sides. Flying onto a rooftop, Kaze was surveying the explosions when he saw a dagger soaring towards him. He leaped back and just barely managed to swipe the dagger away with his left arm/sword.

For the second time, kaze cursed and turned to face a handsome man, with long blonde hair fanning out behind.

"A level 2," Kaze smirked. "Before we dance, may i know your name?"

That brought a grin from the tall man. "It is customory for the one who ask for a name to give his own first." His white teeth gleamed in the sunlight.

"Right you are," Kaze agreed, while shifting position. "Im Kaze."

"Jalaxle."

"Thanks. Not good to meet you though."

With that, kaze lurged forward and flew towards Jalaxle, his twin swords leading. Almost onto contact, Jalaxle whipped out a strange double-bladed wheel and battered against Kaze's both swords.

Kaze, using his left sword as leverage and to hold the bladed wheel in place, ducked with his free right sword/arm and crossed just in time to force the other's man's hand up and out, scoring a hit on the ribs.

Kaze paid for his offensive charge, when Jalaxle directed the free hand towards Kaze and flicked two daggers at him, the second one flying through the air even before the first hit its target.

Kaze rapidly retreated, even twisting his body almost horizontally (he will not fall due to his wings supporting him in mid-air) to avoid the twin silver flashes. Unfortunately, even that was not enough. One of the daggers scored a hit on his shoulder, drawing a trickle of blood. Thank god, a flesh wound.

A wound for a wound. Jalaxle also had a gash on his ribcage, but instead of a look of pain he looked impressed. "Fighting with two swords of equal length? Not bad coming from a human. By the way..."

Kaze couldnt hear the next words, as his wounded shoulder gave a huge jerk of pain. Gasping in shock as waves of boiling pain flared from his shoulder, kaze turned to see stars appearing on his shoulder.

"Damn, I should have expected that." he muttered. Far away, he heard Jalaxle said smoothly. "Well that was what i was about to say."

Despite the pain, Kaze's pride kept him on his feet. "Good," he grimaced. At once, he brought his sword to his shoulder and deftly seared off the infected flesh, leaving the collarbone exposed. The lump of flesh dropped onto the ground with a wet splat.

"There, that fixed the problem didnt it?" Kaze grinned, although somewhat unimpressive when blood was dribbling out of his mouth.

Jalaxle gave a helpless laugh. "Interesting young boy. I'll remember your name, Kaze."

"Release your form and fight me." With that, Kaze charged forward again.

------------------------
Damage given- 5 (for deep gash along the ribs, Kaze's attack power 13)
Damage taken- 6 (for injured shoulder)

Jalaxle- 34
Kaze- 29

((@undy: never thought one day i'll have to face against a dark elf lol.

@ryuzaki: there, your first time seeing my RP skills. Hope its impressive =) ))

[Ejarel]

Leiko-sama, where are you?

From Leraje's point of view, the whole plan was in a mess. So far he had only received vague instructions from Leiko-sama, and vague they had been.

Follow the Exorcists. Follow Dinnin and Jalaxle.

Right.

Well Jalaxle seemed to be having fun with Kaze, the two of them battling it out in the skies above. Leraje's ten plus Level 1 Akumas were in full control of the harbour, cutting down any form of resistance the townsfolk were attempting to put up. Not that the citizens had any significant firepower to muster up anyway.

Too bad. Now, time to contribute a little something to the battle. Leraje took a good look around for a potential enemy.

[~*StÓÑy RèL0ÂÐeD™]

((I'll speed up the fight))

Along the rooftops, the dance between Kaze and Jalaxle continued. Whenever one goes for the attack, it would be twarted, and vice versa. The clanging of sword on sword was so frequent that it sounded like one long screeching sound.

Swords were working in a blur, so fast that all seemed like flashes of silver leaping up between and around the two of them.

Suddently Jalaxle leaped backwards, giving Kaze the chance to hamstring one of his arm. "Yes!" Kaze thought happily, then realised his mistake the bnext second when Jalaxle was out of his reach. Worse still, he was throwing daggers. Ranged attacks.

At once, Kaze took off into the sky, trailing closely behind him was several daggers and throwing stars. Kicking one aside, and knocking 2 more out of the way, Kaze come to a halt in mid-air and flipped himself upside down, with his legs pointing towards the sky, and his head and both arms at Jalaxle. He winced as he felt the daggers slash his arms, but he just took the hits. At once, he felt his skin around his arms tighten and turning solid, sort of like cement.

3....2....1!

At once, Kaze focused his innocence all to his swords, and at the same time, discarded his wings. As his wings fell away, Kaze, now resembling a upside down statue with his swords glowing with Innocence and pointing straight downwards at Jalaxle, stayed in mid-air for a spilt second, then fell like a rock.

He saw Jalaxle lift his double-bladed wheel as a feeble attempt to halt Kaze's fall onto him, and before Kaze could utter a reply, the tips of his swords, coated with Innocence, slammed into Jalaxle. He felt resistance, and suddently he was falling again, with Jalaxle still pinned under him.

"ohh, the roof collasped."
--------------------------------

((that was really fast. Hope you dont mind i make Jalaxle seem a little weak Undy, i wanted to quickly finish the fight. Now your turn to RP Jalaxle))

taking into account that Kaze's attack power is 13...

Jalaxle-
damage taken- 3 (for the initial fighting on the roof in the 1st papragraph) + 6 (when hamstrung) + 10 (for Innocence coated steel blade slamming into him) + 5 (falling through the roof) = 24

HP- 34 - 24 = 10
-----------------------------------------------

Kaze-
Damage taken- 3 (for the initial fighting on the roof in the 1st papragraph) + 5 (pelted by daggers) + 7 ( daggers was coated with akuma blood)+ 5 (falling through the roof) = 20

HP- 29 - 20 = 9

[Undying]

((Momo and Askand will have to play short... Ejarel, you may attack either one of them and RP it as you wish, as they are not here))

((This is Jarlaxle))

He gave a cough and straightened from the rubble, looking at the Exorcist. The boy's hands were fast decaying thanks to Jarlaxle's ability. But he didn't want to kill the boy. He still needed to make sure he will locate Cross for him.

"Cease ability." The Akuma blood stopped spreading and receded. Jarlaxle grinned. He loved his control over his Akuma blood. He then took his weapon out and pinned the boy's arms under it, while drawing a small cross-shaped metal piece from the folds of his shirt. He embedded the object into Kaze's shoulder.

"This little gift will allow you to live past this little ordeal - I can't stop all the blood - and you'll be able to attack more if you want. But don't overuse it, kid. Or it will kill you."

And it will allow me to track you down, wherever you are.

He left the building quietly and quickly.

((Ryuzaki, get a move on and rp your Akuma, I wanna fight.))

[~*StÓÑy RèL0ÂÐeD™]

"Yay," Kaze muttered as he slumped down on the side of the wall, exhausted. "Well, looks like i've impressed him. That's good enough for me."

He rested for a while longer, and after a wave of dizzyness left him, he finally stood up. He didnt know if a minute passed, or an hour, or a year. Whatever. The fight's still on, and now Kaze has the strength to fight, he's back in battle.

"Oh well, time to be a hero," he said to himself as he stepped out of the building and faced the ten plus of level 1 akuma.

At once, he flew up, and landing in the middle of their midst, started hacking and slashing. A akuma appeared on his right, and kaze reversed his arm, feinting, before lopping off the arm of the akuma and finally switching his hands, pierced his sword into the akuma. All the while his other hand was defending against the other akumas, even going for the kill when the opportunity presented itself.
--------------------------------------------------------

HP regained- 4. Current HP -> 9 +4= 13

Damage dealt: KO mass lv 1 akumas

[Ejarel]

(Sorry Momo, I'll make this a fair fight between our characters)

"Kaze!"

Leraje whirled around just in time to see the Exorcist named Anna urging her mount towards Kaze and his Akuma adversary. Grabbing the necklace in her hand, she leapt off her horse in a single fliud movement. Her eyes lit up in what Leraje saw as intense concerntration.

Uh oh.

"Release Ruby!"

No sooner had the words left her mouth a sword materialise from seemingly thin air. An aura of blue light bathed the blade from hilt to tip, and instantly Leraje could detect the raw power in the Exorcist's Innocence. He smiled wickedly.

"Oh no you don't, Exorcist!"

The sword came down hard and fast in an attempt to intercept Kaze and Jalaxle, but Leraje would have none of that. Sprinting towards her a ghastly transformation began to take place. Flesh melted from Leraje's small frame to splatter onto the ground, his muscles and bones contorting painfully as Leraje revealed his true form. The process hurt like hell, but he revelled in it. Four more pair of eyes opened as their respective mouths snarled in antipation of the imminent battle. A chorus of voices, some feminine, some ancient, spoke together as one. To a mortal human, Leraje truly sounded like the Fallen Angel he had named himself after.

"Halt!"

An average Exorcist would certainly hesitate at the sound of Leraje's voice, but Anna was made of sterner stuff than he thought. As Leraje moved in to prevent her from aiding Kaze, she simply reversed the blade's killing edge and lashed out at Leraje. At point-blank she could not miss.

Leraje hissed furiously. Ignoring the raven-black blood dripping from his chest, he doggedly rushed his opponent with a relentless barrage of savage swipes and blows. Once again Leraje cursed at his lack of any ranged attacks as Anna deflected and parried his attacks with experienced ease. Leaping back to avoid a overhead swing from Leraje, Anna briefly squinted in concerntration.

"Fire Blade!"

All at once there was a roar of raging flames as Leraje found himself surrounded in flames. The surface of his skin begain to smoke. Roaring in frustration and pain Leraje launched himself away from the Exorcist and her deadly inferno.

"A worthy opponent you are, Anna." Leraje commented reluntantly.

His opponent shrugged. "A pity I cannot say the same."

"Perhaps."

Leraje moved. With a powerful flap of his bat-like wings Leraje covered the diatance between Anna and himself in a single stride. Anna barely had time to react as Leraje threw a feint, then lashed out with a right fist. It connected soundly against her shoulder, the impact pushing her a good ten feet away onto the ground.

"Yield!" Leraje screamed. With another wingbeat he threw himself at Anna, relying on his reckless speed to gain an upper hand, but this time Anna was ready. As Leraje approaced she leveled her sword edge at Leraje. Given Leraje's momentum he could not stop himself from being impaled upon the azure blade.

"Such wisdom in one so young," Leraje coughed black blood from his mouth.

"I'm sixteen, Akuma, " Anna replied coldly.

"I died when I was a kid, lass. Not many Akumas survived for more than a decade like me. How many Exorcists could say the same?"

Anna pushed her blade hilt-deep into Leraje. "Well then, goodbye."

Such a blow would have fatally wounded many Akumas, but Leraje had been fused from five different Akumas. And unless all of them were destroyed Leraje remained immortal. With an unhuman shriek Leraje gripped her neck with a single hand, throwing her unceremoniously away from him. Leraje silently admired her tenacity as she remained her grip on the sword.

Drats. This fight took more out of me than I thought. I hope the other Akumas have a decent plan coming up soon. If more Exorcists start appearing I can't hold them all back.

Damage:
Leraje: 35 - 3 (from chest wound) - 6 (from Fire Blade) - 5 (from the last stab) = 21
Anna: 36 - 6 (from shoulder punch) - 4 (from the throw) = 26

[Ejarel]

(Sorry for RPing your character in this post too, Askand. I'm probably out of action after this to conserve HP lol))

Leraje felt, rather than saw the incoming attack.

Instinctively he turned around just in time to defend himself as a black panther leapt towards him. Putting his hands up in reflex Leraje found himself on the ground a heartbeat later, the panther's snapping jaws dangerously close to his exposed neck. Mentally Leraje berated himself for forgeting the last Exorcist in Kaze's group.

Angie ... that's right. That's her name.

Leraje roared and pushed the panther away. Tried to, anyway. But for all his inhuman strength he had found an equally-matched opponent. Angie growled and attempted to rip his throat apart.

Drats! And I'm not exactly in the best of forms ...

In desperation, Leraje willed himself into his human form. The Exorcist took the opportunity to take swipe at his smaller, frailer frame, raking claws drawing crimson lines down his back, but Leraje managed to squirm free. Transforming back into Akuma mode, he hit back at his feral adversary, but not before the latter scored another wound with its barbed tail. By now blood trailed down from a dozen wounds all over his body, and even Leraje was starting to feel the strain of the extended fight.

A rush of flames to his left told Leraje that Anna had ot forgotten about him. As one, the two Exorcists attacked, cleverly alternating their moves to compensate for the other's weakness. Leraje lashed out at Angie a second time, but the effort was half-hearted as he attempted to avoid Anna's sword at the same time. The blade cut through his unprotected chest again, and Leraje screamed. Blinded by pain and frustration, Leraje slammed the panther against a convenient wall, but the latter maintained her grip on his right leg, refusing to let go. Again the sword flashed in the sunlight, a dance of death, but with Angie hindering his movements, Leraje could not see how he could avoid it.

"Curse you Exorcists!"

As the blade slashed down Leraje intercepted it with both hands, using his palms to press against the blade's flat edge. Blood flowed freely from Leraje's hands, and Anna exerted more strength, but while she was restricted by mortal limitations, Leraje was not. Surely but steadily Leraje forced the sword back, inches by inches, towards Anna's neck. He smiled.

"Not so strong now, are you?"

In a roar of triumph he shoved the sword back at her, but the panther was quicker. Releasing her grip on Leraje she pushed Anna away from her near death, and he stumbled unsteadily forward to fall clumsily onto the ground. The fall was not fatal, or particularly painful, but it took the fight out of him. For the first time in his decade as an Akuma Leraje comtemplated defeat. Flapping battered wings he managed to pick himself up, but even then it was an effort. A greater effort than he wanted the Exorcists to know.

Leraje bared his teeth in a feral smile. Already he could feel his body regenarating, as all Akumas do, but even then he knew it may be too late.

Damage:
Leraje: 21 - 2 (knocked to the ground) - 4 (took a swipe from Angie) - 3 (barbed tail) - 5 (Anna's first slash) - 3 (blocked Anna's sword with hands) = 4
Anna: 26
Angie: 43 - 3 (Leraje's first attack) - 5 (slammed against wall) = 35

[Ryuzaki]

Watching the battle from a distance, and evil being beyond the normal Akuma hovers above, waiting for it's next prey to kill.

"My, my my..... there are so many Exorcists here, I don't know which one to kill first...." Moving eastward until it had searched almost the entire coast of this city, it saw a young man who was dressed in his Exorcist uniform all alone, looking to be off guard.

"You, Exorcist....you shall be one of my many victims...." it landed down near the man he, who was heading towards his fellow Exorcists. "Aheheeeehee....."

"Whose there? Show yourself Akuma.." the young man said to the direction of the Akuma.

"Good job, you caught me sneaking around Exorcists... I'm impressed that you even sensed my presence here in the first place..."

"Who wouldn't notice you here with that stench of blood on you?"

"Ahahehee.....that's very true.... what is your name my good Exorcist? My nick name is Menace... I thought you'd like to know the name of the Level 3 Akuma whose going to kill you..."

"You talk pretty big....the name is Rave... nice to meet you...."

((This is just some random Level 3 Akuma btw...))

[Undying]

Rave looked at the Akuma with open disdain. A level 3 was a powerful adversary to be sure, but Rave was more than prepared. He wanted to test his new power anyway.

It was Linalee, surprisingly, who distracted him. "Rave, wait, it's a level 3, shouldn't we-" but Rave had had enough of her annoying behavior.

Very unlike himself, he did the one thing he knew would doom him (Komui and many other members of the Order would try to assassinate him, he was sure), and kissed her on the mouth quickly, shutting her up.

"You stand aside and watch. I've had it with you saving me!" He said, slightly out of breath. He turned to the Akuma with a somewhat vicious stare. "And you, oversized pineapple head, you're in for a lesson about humility."

He placed his sword in front of him and muttered "First Requiem, Goodbye". The blade disintegrated into a thousand tiny, invisible petals. They almost immediately reformed into a sword above the Akuma's left shoulder and plunged down into it, aiming for the lungs.

Linalee, in the meantime, was completely shocked. She was never kissed before, and it sent shivers up her spine. She was frightened, but at the same time she felt very strangely about what just happened. She didn't quite register what happened yet, but she was still staring, dumbstruck.

[Damage given - 4]

((Don't hesitate to try and attack Linalee :p))

[Ryuzaki]

((Don't worry, this Akuma doesn't want to mess with Lenalee xDD))

Hmhm ahaha...AhaAHA! This is great Exorcist! I haven't fought someone who had so much promise in quite a while! I will enjoy taking your life with my own hands very much!!" The Akuma screamed at Rave from the joy and thrill of the fight.

"Now that I know your ability, let me demonstrate mine.....aheehahaa!" turning his whole body into tiny particles, he vanished into thin air.

"What-" the Akuma suddenly grabbed Rave's neck from behind, and threw him from his side to the near fruit stands.

"You can't win this battle... Exorcist..." he looked over to Lenalee, who wasn't moving an inch from her spot, "Why aren't you scarred little girl? You'll be next after I slaughter him.." Lenalee shook her head him a quick signal to look behind him. Standing on the smashed fruits, Rave, covered in mess, stood up and prepared for the next strike.

"You have an interesting ability, Akuma... what exactly did you just do?"

"I'll tell you when you're in your grave..."

[Damage Given: 4]

((You'll know his ability soon enough :p))

[Undying]

Rave HP 40 - 4 = 36

Damn, he is either an illusionist or a teleporter. Either way, it's not going to be easy...

Rave growled, looking at Linalee. Why was he so worried about her right? Since when did he care? If she couldn't take care of herself... then I will take care of her.

He was almost too shocked by that last bit to move. What... what am I thinking? And the answer came to him as clear as day. He was too proud to let her be harmed. But why her? That question would have to be answered later.

"I see, Akuma. Then I shall have to beat your ability out of you." His tone remained cold as ice. He had to keep control. He always had to keep control.

The sword reshaped itself, turning into petals again, and surrounded the Akuma, attacking him from multiple directions.

[Damage dealt - 3]

Linalee looked at Rave, covered in fruit, talking like he was the king of the hill. His ability was powerful, she knew, but was he powerful enough to take down a Level 3? Their fearsome reputation reached everywhere.

She hoped he would not lose. For some reason, that was very, very important to her.

[Ryuzaki]

((This Akuma has no Stats btw. The battle will end when you think you've defeated him.))

"Pretty skilled technique boy... BUT... you will never come close to beating me with this level, NEVER!" The Akuma jolted at Rave, who was a little off balanced from his last attack. "Your...mine.." vanishing into thin air again, Rave rave looked around to see where he would come from next.

"Where is he!? To the left? Right? Behind?" he then looked up to the sky to see if the Akuma was above, "No, not above me either... damn it.. what kind of ability is this..." he was still on guard, ready to defend himself against the next assault. "Lenalee! Get back, he may be near you!" Lenalee started to find a safer distance from the battle when she suddenly noticed.

"RAVE! Beneath you!!" A pair of hands came up from the ground, grabbing both of Rave's ankles. Forming out of the ground with Rave hanging upside down, the Akuma tightened his grip on his ankle and started swinging him around.

"You didn't expect this right Exorcist!" letting go of Rave, he flew towards a nearby house, crashing through the cement wall and out the other side of house. Dust blew in all directions from the impact, you couldn't tell where Rave was at all.

"Raavee!" Lenalee screamed from the top of her lungs, in fear of Rave's life.

"I told him too.... he will never stand a chance against me at this level...ahehahaa."

[Damage Given: 4]

((C'mon Rave, I know you can do better than this. :p))

[Undying]

[Rave HP 36 - 4 = 32]

Rave extracted himself from the dirt and stood up, leaning on his reformed sword.

"Damn... I'm getting beat again..." he knew that, logically, he should use every bit of his power to defeat this Akuma, but having Linalle so openly worry about him was... exhilarating.

But he was going to have to defeat this Akuma, or else he was putting Lenalee in open danger, and that his pride would not allow. He stood up, and spoke to Lenalee, openly ignoring (and angering) the Akuma.

"Why are you so worried about me, Lenalee? Beside the obvious friendship restrictions, you really needn't concern yourself about me.

"I don't even know, you crazy baka! I'm just worried!" Lenalee had tears in her eyes. He made her cry. Again.

Rave closed his eyes and turned back to the Akuma.

"Very well. I shall bring the curtain on this fight down... with my sword." He lifted his sword before his face, point down. "You shall walk in the Emperor's Garden, Akuma."

He let go of his blade and it fell into the ground, sinking in as though it was a pond of water rather than dirt. Immediately, a thousand swords rose from the ground, surrounding them in a metallic image of a garden, for the swords rose in a rough circle around and about, like gigantic, metallic trees.

"Come, Akuma. Walk the Emperor's Garden."

((I'm not attacking yet, but once you attack Rave will use his Innocence to defend himself, and unless you can go through a meat-grinder, you don't want to get personal and close-up with him :p))

[Midare]

((If that's the case Undying, I'll attack Linalee then, even if that wasn't my orignal idea :p))

"Tch! this is a mess" Leiko said frowning, watching at the battle hovering in the sky. The Akuma level 3 has just taken part of the fight, facing as opponent a tall male exorcist, while leaving aside a female exorcist.

"I don't like sharing my prey, and less with an akuma... but I feel like playing a little" she smiled.

After this, she disappeared from the sky, appering now right behind the female exorcist and Leiko whispered "Hello there, exorcist"

The long haired exorcist was caught with her guard down, being startled by Leiko's deep voice and she turned back quickly, stepping back a little to see who was speaking to her.

"Y-you.... it can't be... a Noah" The female exorcist said, shocked.

"Yes, and even if I don't like to introduce myself, I'll give you my name this time... Leiko...." she said smiling ".... but I don't care about yours"

The exorcist looked at the female Noah who cross her arms on her chest, opening her hands. Seeing this as a threat the exorcist said with a serious expression on her face: "Innocence, activate. Dark boots"

"Hoo... reacting that fast already? you should be scared then" Leiko's smile grew a little wider "Nessus". After that word, two pieces of black steel materialized in each one of her hands and opened then, revealing them as two big war-fans and then moving her arm to her sides.

"So, exorcist? We're both ready... come on and attack me". Without further words, the female exorcist jumped at a high speed and in direction of the Noah, landing a kick on her head. In fact she tried to kicked her, since Leiko fended herself with a quick move of her left war-fan, stopping the attack right at the spot and with a almost slow movement of her right arm, the Noah tried to cut the exorcist with the edge of the other fan, but she retreated just before the cut was done.

"hmm... I can see you're fast but..." Suddenly Leiko disappeared from the exorcist sight and she re-appeared behind her. The two of them were back-to-back "... that speed is not enough" Leiko finished her sentence and with a fast turn, she hit her in her ribs, sending her some feet away, blowing the exorcist into a wall.

Leiko stood up from the stance of her last attack a looked at the exorcist, who was trying to stood holding her left side where the blow had hit her. "Tch! this is easier than I thought..." Leiko said while walking heading to the exorcist "... but even when I wasn't ordered to kill you, I don't think the old-man would mind if I do".

((I think I'm not inspired enough to fight -_-'))

((Edit: wow 3 posts?... I've really took my time to do this))

[Ryuzaki]

"Nice Exorcist, this is the type of power and skill that I've been waiting for. I presume that these millions of petals are suppose to overwhelm me by surrounding all of these shards around your opponents. Not bad.. not bad at all." Rave looked at the Akuma suspiciously. He may have something up his sleeves, Rave thought to himself.

"But, how will you fair against an opponent who can avoid these shards of petals with ease?"

"What are you saying Akuma!?" Thinking that this was all a bluff, Rave surrounded the Akuma with the pink petals, ready to annihilate him.

"If you think I'm lying, then try me...." Rave put out his hand and the millions of deadly shards flew to the Akuma with great speed.

"Fool...." This time, the Akuma's body turned into thousands of tiny cube shapes, and disappeared into the crack like space in the air. The petals collapsed in the middle where the Akuma was and retreated back to Rave, just incase he had to defend himself with the blades. Not a trace of the Akuma was left after the fierce attack from Rave.

"Could he be dead...?" He pondered to himself a bit, to what just happened.

"No, not even close Exorcist." Cubes of his body started to form back near the fruit stands away from Rave and the attack.

"How could you have dodged that!? Even if you were in particles, my blades still should have killed you in that form!"

"Me? Into particles? Don't stoop my ability so low Mr. Exorcist. It's not as simple as that..." Rave looked stunned at the Akuma's words, carefully listening to what he had to say next.

"My ability not a being able to turn my body into particle dust... I have the ability to send any of my body parts through a different dimension, and it can be anywhere I want.... distance is not a matter to me." Rave, who seemed speechless at the moment, continued to be silent. "I can form my right arm alone into another dimension and strangle you if I want, I can even head butt you with my own head right now if I wanted...but that's not all, I can extend and part of my body as far as I want, sort of like rubber, but not really, it's more like this!" catching Rave off guard he extended his right arm, spiraling in the air towards Rave.

"No time to react!" Rave yelled at himself. The Akuma's fist stopped in front of Rave, not hitting him at all. "Scarred you didn't I?" His fist then materialized into tiny cubes again and disappeared into another dimension. "Look behind you Exorcist..." Rave turned around to find his right fist that just disappeared behind him, ready to strangle him at anytime.

"I can't.. believe.. I didn't see this.." Rave looked in fear a bit.

"Don't worry Exorcist, I've learned now that this battle is fruitless." returning his fist from the dimension, and his arm back to normal, he continued, "I'm sure you still have plenty of moves left, but I'm sure we would just be dodging each others attacks all day if this continued. I'm sure you won't be caught off guard next time like this, but the way you are now, you won't even be able to touch me either... Too bad for you, you came across one of the most powerful Akuma in the world, and one of the most humane ones too."

“Bastard… so you came all this way just to show of your powers to me huh?”

“No, no, no… I just wanted you to realize how inferior your Innocence is compared to me… and to give you a little message from the Earl, ahahaa.”

“A message!? What kind of message Akuma?”
“Don’t call me Akuma boy, I have a name! Menace, Phantom Menace if you want my full name. I forgot what my real name was, so I was given this name due to how powerful I just am. Don’t you be forgetting my name… Rave….”

“Phantom huh… it suites you I guess. You do look like a death god anyways…”

“Hmph, why thank you…. But I didn’t come here just for idol talk, I came here as a messenger, for a first… Cross, the one you seek, is not here. The Noah has already killed the Finders and clues that were here, so don’t bother looking around anymore. But that’s not all, here’s a personal message from the Earl himself…” Opening up a small box, a small light shot up into the air creating a hologram message of the Earl himself.

"My Exorcist, the time has come for the final act of the play to begin. The age of humanity and Exorcists will come to an end soon. But do not worry, I and my lovely Noah and Akuma will take care of this world after you are all disposed of. The Innocence Heart is almost in our grasps thouh, so prepare for the worst. Good bye and farewell Exorcists..aheeheee." The hologram of the Earl disappeared after the message was complete.

"Heh, since Leiko is here now, there is no need for me to be here. I hope you survive this battle Rave so that we can meet again. You won't get off so easily next time... I promise you that."

[~*StÓÑy RèL0ÂÐeD™]

((@mid: you forgot to say the amount of damage delt. Btw, nice RP there Ejarel :D and Undying's RP skill is just as good as ever.

I'll wrap up the loose ends of the arc now, collecting all the other exorcists, saving the humans etc. Undying just concentrate on your battle and RP linalee :D))

Finally Kaze closed his wings (yep, all he had to do was to grow a new one), and landed on the roof. He was covered in cuts and blood, while some was his, others were his enermies.

"Done!" Kaze grinned to himself. "Cleared all the level 1 akumas in the area. This should be enough to let all the survivors escape now."

He sat down on the roof and let his Innocence speed up his regeneration process for a while. He heard sounds of battle everywhere, which probably meant he was the only exorcist slacking off.

Suddently he heard- nothing. One direction of the fighting had stopped. Curious to see which side won, and also worried for Anna (if he's the only exorcist resting means Anna was fighting after all), Kaze spread open his wings again and flew off in that direction.

Suddently, he stopped as a figure hurtled past him, just passing him. He blinked, and called out.

"Hey Leraje!"

He heard Leraje curse aloud ("Darn, another exorcist!"), and he turned to face him. Kaze saw that Leraje had been hurt pretty badly, and that means Anna and Angie had won. He relaxed, just a little. Not that he would be really relax in front of an akuma who had just ran off and turned against them at the start of the battle.

"Relax, i can tell you just got hurt," Kaze said smoothly. "I'm cut up pretty badly too, and i have no intention to fight you. I just want to know... You're on our enermy side, but you behave differently from other akumas. Why did you want to follow us for so long, only to turn against us suddently?"

To emphatise his point of not fighting Leraje, he wraped his blades back into normal hands attached to his arms, exactly like a normal human.
-------------------------
HP: 13 - 5 (from all the wounds he sustained when fighting 10++ of the level 1 akumas) + 4 (resting on roof) = 12

[Undying]

So, he was a teleporter... but he made the mistake of explaining this ability to me. He will not be able to hit me a second time.

At that precise moment Rave noticed Leiko and Linalee. Without hesitation and completely disregarding his safety, Rave launched all of his petals around Linalee, and sent a gigantic stream at Leiko. She dodged the obvious attack, but now she was away from Linalee and focused on Rave, and that's what mattered.

"You are a Noah?" Rave stated more than asked. Not waiting for an answer, he surrounded himself with few millions of petals, pressing them against his skin, and used the rest to surround Leiko with several deadly streams of silvery petals. "Noah. You have dared point your blade towards my pride, and for that, I will kill you."

The petals rubbed against his skin, scrapping it slightly, but that didn't damage him at all. He had a plan for this teleporter Akuma, and he intended to negate that ability. But the Noah was the greater menace. The streams suddenly froze, and in an instant blasted towards Leiko, forming a perfect ball. Inside, the petals formed into a multitude of blades, and began grinding around.

Rave barely paused to think of the strangeness of the situation; somehow, his Innocence yielded to him perfectly, as opposed to the time where he achieved that during training.

Nothing mattered right now.

He will protect Linalee.

As for Linalee, she rubbed her head, trying to clear it from the blow, and trying to take it all in. Rave's new ability shocked her almost as much as the kiss (and she blushed just thinking about it), and now she decided to lie low and not move.

It was simply to dangerous. With this level of attack and amount of weapons, moving could be deadly.

[Damage dealt to Leiko - 13, continues (unless you can break out of that ball), will damage again per post.]

[Ejarel]

(Yay I love this thread! Everyone is involved in some fight or another; makes this look like a huge plan of the Earl's. Btw I like the fight between Kaze and Jalaxle, Stony :D and Rave's new Innocence is damn cool )

For the first time in his life, Leraje was running away from a fight. Belatedly his sub-concious registered another Exorcist in his immediate vinicity.

Damn, another Exorcist!

"Hey Leraje!"

"Relax, i can tell you just got hurt," Kaze said smoothly. "I'm cut up pretty badly too, and i have no intention to fight you. I just want to know... You're on our enermy side, but you behave differently from other akumas. Why did you want to follow us for so long, only to turn against us suddently?"

Leraje halted in mid-flight, gritting his teeth in pain at his sudden movement. Folding his wings he collasped onto the ground in a half-crounch, and regarding the Exorcist with a curious expression. Interestingly, Kaze showed no indication to fight him.

"You have your orders, just as Leiko-sama commands my will," Leraje coughed out more blood. "But fighting isn't fun anymore, not if you fought for ten years." His features softened, and when he spoke again, he sounded like the kid he once was. "Anyway, don't you wanna defeat me properly? Do you level up when you kill a lot of Akumas? Adults used to tell me that it is an honour to die in battle. I dunno. Is honour fun?"

[~*StÓÑy RèL0ÂÐeD™]

((LOL, thanks eja :D Well i did put more effort in it, since its my 1st fight in this RP. Glad someone like it ^^))

"You have your orders, just as Leiko-sama commands my will," Leraje coughed out more blood. "But fighting isn't fun anymore, not if you fought for ten years." His features softened, and when he spoke again, he sounded like the kid he once was. "Anyway, don't you wanna defeat me properly? Do you level up when you kill a lot of Akumas? Adults used to tell me that it is an honour to die in battle. I dunno. Is honour fun?"

"Honor isnt fun. Its not a thing you can do, anyway. I dont know much about it, but in my opinion it is a waste to die in battle. Its better to die happy," Kaze mused aloud, while also sitting on the roof. "Anyway, you say 'don't you wanna defeat me properly? Do you level up when you kill a lot of Akumas?'?"

He paused for a moment and grinned. "Good idea." Laughing at Leraje's shocked responce, he added. "Kidding. However, you said you were just following orders. Untrue, orders can be listened, but its also possible to be ignored. You do not seem really happy to get involved in this anyway, so why do something you dislike?"

He paused for a while again to let Leraje absorb what he had just said. "It seems to me you just wanted to have fun, or at the very least in your interest to find Cross. We can always work together instead."

Kaze knew this is a chance to get Leraje over to their side. After all, he could defeat him, but it would be useless to have pointless fighting. Better to have another friend fighting by your side. After all, Leraje would be... ah, gratified that Kaze spared him too. Great way to make friends.

Pulling himself out of his train of thought, he added. "Whadda think? Join us? We can protect you from the akuma after all."

((Lol, i feel like Allen trying to get Crowley (Ejarel) to join us))
---------------------

Healing-> 12 + 4 (resting with Innocence increasing speed of recovery) = 16

[Midare]

((@Stony: Yeah I know that I didn't said anything about the damage dealt to Lenalee but since she's not and actual player of the rp.... and that I'm a noob, I didn't know if add that info or not.
@Ryu: Thanks for leaving me alone >.>.... :lol))

"Kuso.... this exorcist has some interesting abilities" Leiko said while surrounded by these petals-like blades. "But too bad for you exorcist... my Nessus is stronger than it seems".

After these words, the exorcist, who was about to check on his companion, the female exorcist, looked at how the surface of the ball formed with the blades of his sword started to move, disrupting slightly the perfect shape.

"What's going on?" The exorcist asked to himself.

The movements were increasing with each second, and the ball started to look less as a ball and more like something amorphous. The exorcist tried to keep the shape of the ball surrounding the Noah, but he was unable to do so.

"What the...??" he said and in that instant, he saw how Leiko was spinning on the spot at a high speed while moving her bigs war-fans all around her, repelling the blades, which stayed frozen all around her.

"Not good enough..." Leiko whispered, and glared at the exorcist, who was looking at her, trying not to show in his face his shock at seeing her repelling his attack.

Leiko started to charge towards the exorcist, gaining more speed with each step. The exorcist kept sending streams of blades at her, but the Noah kept repelling them with her fans. Sometimes, the stream of deadly petal would attack her from behind, but then Leiko stopped for a seconds to fend the blades off and then keep charging at the exorcist. "Not good enough exorcist!!"

Once that Leiko was close enough to the exorcist she moved her arms quickly, aiming to cut him with the edge of her war-fans, making him retreat to try to avoid the attack but, after this he saw in his chest two not so deep cuts forming an "X".
With this, Leiko jumped back getting away from the exorcist.

"As I said before, I wasn't ordered to kill you... but right now I'm really tempted of doing it"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Leiko: HP: 50 -13= 37. -5= 32 (I think that she got some more damage while trying to break out of the ball)

Rave: Damage dealt -5

((You can't say that I've dodged your attack Undying... I've just repelled it :p))

[Ryuzaki]

((Fine, I'll come to your rescue. Sort of. xD))

Hmmm, Leiko isn't as strong as I anticipated... maybe she does need my help for defeating these Exorcists. I'll need to have her permission though, since this is her fight. Hovering down closer to the ground, Menace looked closely at the Noah to see if she really did need his aid in this battle.

"Looks as if plans have changed after all... I won't be going off to my next mission now." Dodging a few of the attacks, Leiko sent many small and large spiders at the Exorcists, trying to poison them atleast to get the upper hand.

"Shall I help you Leiko-sama... or do you want me to simply be a spectator?"

[Undying]

((I'll have to block this, Midare :p))

Rave narrowed his eyes. Noah were powerful indeed. But he wasn't worried, for his other defense was still in place. Nevertheless, not wanting to reveal his secret, he chose to accept some of the damage, and jumped back just as the attack came on, bringing up to bear a small stream of petals which absorbed some of the shock.

[Rave health - 32 - 5 - 1 (self damage from special ability :p) = 26]

He grunted and shook his head slightly. The Akuma was offering to come to this Noah's aid, and he doubt he could defeat them if they used teleportation along with her formidable ability. So he decided to do something else.

((Note that Rave will be using his full 9 speed points to dodge and move around, so you're going to have to compensate for that))

He burst in a short dash to the other side of the street, away from Linalee and his enemies. The silvery streams of petals surrounded the street, ending just short of the food stall and forming a large dome over the three of them. It was so dense it blotted out most of the sunlight, encasing them in a shroud of darkness.

Rave's expression turned very calm and cold. He felt the power and knew he needn't worry.

"The two of you have incurred my wrath. You will not leave here alive." The Innocence reformed into a thousand standard-sized swords and rained down on the Akuma and Leiko.

Rave, learning from his mistakes, left a shroud of petals floating around him, virtually invisibly. And his other little surprise was still in place. That Akuma was good.

Just not good enough.

[Damage dealt - 8 to all, note that you are under a rain of swords, so it's not as easy to deflect as before, and you'll have to leave the area of effect in order to escape all damage]

[~*StÓÑy RèL0ÂÐeD™]

((@mid: lol, true enough. You noob? Nahh... what about me then? O__O))

While kaze and Leraje is in the midst of the chat, Anna and Angie had finally managed to scale onto the rooftop. And their surpirse was err, unsurprising (excuse the pun) to Kaze.

"Hey wha-" Anna began the obvous question, but Kaze waved it away.

"I'm making friends with this guy, he may join our side... or not."

Not wanting to pressure Leraje with his answer, espically with 3 exorcists, Kaze stood up and faced the girls.

"Looks like Rave and Linalee is in the middle of the battle, or to be more exact, Rave is. Lets go over and watch the fight, who knows, we maybe needed."

Angie giggled and said, "Rave will strangle you for getting into his fight."

Kaze smiled. "I know, he's full of pride. Still, we can find ways to help him, without actually getting into the fight. And dont you want to see how your Rave is doing?"

That, cut off any forthcoming arugement.

Turning back to Leraje, kaze added. "If you wish to join us, just join us when we're leaving the place. Or else, you can go back to your Earl. Farewell."

With that, the 3 exorcists hurried off to find Rave.

-----------------------------------------------

((Arriving at the battle between Noah and Rave))

"There he is," Angie pointed below.

They were still on the rooftops, surveying the battle below. Debris littered the street, and deep cut marks ran along the entire stetch of road ("That's Rave's doing," Angie explained).

Suddently, kaze jumped off the roof, right into the battle below.

"Kaze!" Anna shouted.

Landing beside a still-lying-on-the-floor Linalee, Kaze grinned. "Taking a nap in the middle of a battle?"

Cheeks burning, Linalee got up, and answered somewhat sourly. "Of course not. Do you think it's safe when Rave's blades are flying around? Idiot."

Shrugging, Kaze grabbed her arm and added. "True enough." And at once took off back into the air, and back onto the rooftop.

"There you go," he smiled as he watched the girls hugged each other happily. "Now we got everyone except Rave. And now without having to worry about Linalee he can fight his battle, Rave will win."
--------------------------------------------

Healing- 16 + 4 (while chatting and getting over to the battle scene) + 1 (with all the talk) = 21

[Ejarel]

(heehee yup I remember that particular episode. Crowley was incredibly tough then)

"If you wish to join us, just join us when we're leaving the place. Or else, you can go back to your Earl. Farewell."

Choices, choices.

The blood flow had ceased by now. Unlike humans, Akumas do not suffer from backaches and sore arms, and Leraje was only too happy to be able to run and fly around. He was still thinking about Kaze's words, but now he could sense his dreaded Leiko-sama.

Better go see if she's okay too.

With a sweep of his wings Leraje soared into the air, following the source of Leiko-sama's power till he overlooked the battle between the Noah and an Exorcist he didn't recognise. Incredibly, the human was holding up pretty well, which spoke a great deal by itself. Airily he wondered if he should come to Leiko-sama's aid if the need arose. But Kaze's idea was tempting.

Choices, choices.

HP: 4 + 4 = 8

[Ryuzaki]

"Not bad Rave, not Bad. But my armor that I wear is too strong for even this level. You see, I'm a close combat type so it's going to take everything you've got in order to hurt me."

"There's different types of Level 3 Akuma!?" Rave said out loud.

"Haha, you have much to learn boy, now prepare yourself." the petals around the Akuma collapsed towards him from all directions, it would be impossible for anyone to escape, but not this Akuma....

Traveling through another dimension again, the Akuma came out of a worm hole again in tiny cubes. "Eh, see Rave, you can't touch me.." a swarm of pink petals flew towards the Akuma once again, this time in a straight line in order to try to pierce the armor, "Fool.." Opening a huge worm hole in front of him, all the petals went into the void and disappeared without a trace.

"What!?! Impossible!"

"Look behind Exorcist..." the worm hole re-opened behind Rave and the thousands of petals flew out of the void heading towards Rave.

"Damn, I can't dodge it in time!" Rave quickly moved most of his remaining petals behind him, blocking the attack completely. "That was a little too close if you ask me... And what did you just do, Menace!?"

"You still don't get it? I can open another dimension anywhere I want, not just for me but for everything I chose. That is my ultimate defense and offense at the same time, your petals can't touch me.."

[Undying]

((By the way, Rave isn't going to attack Menace with his petals anymore :p. And he refuses to call him by name, it's a pride issue. And for the sake of fairness I won't touch Leiko right now))

"You think you are powerful enough to call yourself equal to me, Akuma?" Rave's voice was very condescending. He was tired of this game of hide and seek so instead went for a more direct route of action. "Your ability is interesting, I'll give you that, but you can never defeat me. Could never, in fact, even if you bet your life on it."

The swords that fell to the ground dissolved into petals and surrounded Rave, hiding him from sight. He knew Linalee was safe with Kaze so he could utilize the full offensive power of his Innocence.

The misty cloud surrounding Rave began to dissolve, as though it was growing thinner and thinner. In fact, Rave simply spread the blades further and further away from himself. Even what he placed on his own body now slowly dissolved covering a full square 100-meters with a sea of deadly petals. The Akuma was scrapped by some of them, causing him minor injuries, but Rave could tell it did not fully comprehend the mud it has fallen into.

The petals scrapping it didn't cause any substantial damage as of yet, but Rave seemed very calm about it.

"What's that, Rave? Giving up?" The Akuma taunted, oblivious to the fact that Rave simply chose a less direct method of attack.

"You have no earned the right to call me by name, Akuma." Rave's voice was once again condescending.

"What?" Menace was evidently irritated by this statement. "You think you're so high and mighty, Rave? You-" But Rave had enough. He knew it was time to spring his trap.

"You are dead, Akuma." The petals from across the street reformed into a long stream and fired at Menace, who seemed amused.

"You are a slow learner, aren't you, Rave?" a portal opened and Menace slipped through it, opening a new one right behind Rave and letting the attack flow at Rave.

A slight smile curved Rave's lips and was immediately suppressed. Both his suspicions were confirmed. His earlier test proved accurate as well. The silvery stream dissolved as it reached Rave, to Menace's great surprise. Rave, completely relaxed, pointed straight at the surprised Akuma.

"You failed to note that this time, the attack had much less power behind it and not nearly as much speed. As usual for beings with your level of mental de-evolution, you managed to beat yourself. I commend you, Akuma, for your persistence."

Menace laughed. "Complimenting you enemy? How very humble."

Rave raised an eyebrow coolly. "Compliments? When a pebble tells an ant it is persistent, that is a compliment. But when the mountain tells the worm it is persistent, it is not compliment. It is mockery."

Menace growled. "Oh yeah Rave? Well take that!" He used a portal to bring a hand to Rave's throat and grab it, intending to suffocate the Exorcist.

That proved a mistake.

Just as the hand neared Rave's throat, the fingers fell away.

They fell to the ground slowly, as if trying to hold on to their position.

Rave looked at the Akuma disdainfully.

[Damage give - 1 (to Akuma, Leiko is spared because Midare isn't here]

((Just in case you're wondering how the heck it happened, I'll explain off-screen (Rave will never disclose such a secret to an enemy :)). When I pressed the petals to Rave, he tested if they can connect a body without the host noticing, which proved true. When you used your portal to send the Innocence through, he realized that anything could pass through. And when you showed how you could "break your body into pieces", Rave realized that although they are split in this dimension, they are connected through the other subdimension.

So what he did was spread his Innocence as thinly as possible and slowly and gently land it on Menace. When there were enough petals buried inside Menace's skin (that's the "scraping" I referred to earlier), he simply cut you from the inside. You can't dodge it because it's inside you :)))

[Ryuzaki]

(( I hate your little petals now ;_; ))

"Wha-what is this!?!" looking at his arms, legs and chest, he could see the faint pink petals imbedded in his rough skin. "Damn, damn DAMN!" Rubbing frantically trying to get the fine petals out of his skin, to no avail he couldn't get them out of his body. "You damn Exorcist, your smarter than what I thought." Blood started to gush out of rough skin from the cuts inside him.

"It's over... Akuma, farewell."

"No... NO it's not over Exorcist!" forming into small cubes and going through the dimension again he formed back to normal in front of Rave. Petals continued to pierce his skin even more now that he was in the middle of all the petals. "You're wrong Exorcist!" grabbing hold of Raves body they both went through the worm hole together and reappearing away from his Innocence. "You can't survive the virus in my blood Exorcist!" Biting Rave on the shoulder, Menace pierced through his skin, blood gushing out of Rave.

[Damage Given: 5 - Due to the bite]
((You could decide whether you get the Akuma virus or not, or you can somehow get rid of it.... but it's up to you Undy. =P))

[Undying]

Rave didn't even bother responding when the Akuma bit him, embedding the virus into his blood system. Immediately the skin around the wound began to decay, the virus spreading.

But the Akuma made a grave error in judgment. Just as teeth began to sink in, Rave used the full power of the petals embedded inside Menace. Two swords formed inside the Akuma, one removing his left leg and dissolving into petals, the other forming inside Menace's chest and bursting forward, slashing through the polluted skin and stopping most of the bite before it could cause any substantial damaged.

The rest of the Innocence, still floating about the area where Leiko and the others were, quickly followed Rave, forming as a wall behind him. He thrust out his right hand, and a sword zipped into it from the wall behind him. With a single swipe, he took the Akuma's remaining leg off while pushing the sword embedded within Menace's chest and jaw out, causing a massive amount of Akuma oil-blood to gush out.

Rave, however, jumped backwards as soon as he slashed, and so was a fair distance away from his foe when the blood gushed out, so as not to pollute his open stab-wound. He wanted to kill this Akuma, but there were more pressing matters at hand. He couldn't waste any time on killing Menace when Kaze, Angie, Anna, and especially Linalee were so near to a Noah. So he ripped out the remaining petals from the Akuma's body with a flick of his hand, reducing his remaining hand into a shapeless object spewing Akuma blood.

Menace's condition was indeed pitiful, lacking both legs and one arm, and his jaw split in two, he just lay there, bleeding. Rave didn't give him another thought when he walked brusquely to the Noah. The silvery cloud followed him like deadly mist, and he held a single sword, formed out of the petals.

"Now, Noah, it's just you... and me."

[Rave HP: 26 - (1 (Bite was stopped) + 2 (self inflicted wound to purify the virus before it damaged him)) = 23]

((Midare, you may escape or fight as you please.))

[Midare]

((I have to say it Undying.... you have a good sense of chivalry while playing ^_^))

Leiko was with her full attention on this exorcist called Rave, watching without intervene every movement, every action, while he was fighting this level 3 akuma who called himself Menace and cutting away his legs and one arm.

"This exorcist abilities are interesting indeed... but is not good enough yet"

The exorcist turned to face her and said "Now, Noah, it's just you... and me."

"You and me, exorcist? Don't make me laugh... " Leiko grinned "...look at you and then look at me. There's no way you can defeat me in that condition."

"The let's fight so we find out if that's true or not" was his reply.

"I've only used 1/3 of my strengh, and with you like this... -she sighed-... I'm not interested in a meaningless fight, exorcist." Leiko moved her arms and the two war-fans vanished in the air.

"The name's Rave, Noah... and that mean you're running away?" He said smiling.

"You think whatever you want to think exorcist, and I don't care about your name... but you better remember my name, becaue we'll meet again for sure... Leiko"

With these words she turned around and give her back to the exorcist when she spotted that akuma kid Leraje. "You over there, you can do whatever you want kid... I don't care" She said telepathically to the akuma and she disapeared in an instant into the darkness

"I'll keep watching you exorcist, so be careful" Leiko's words echoed around the place

[Undying]

((Hehe, well what can I say, fairness wins :p. Besides, I could never beat the both of you combined >.>'))

Rave sheathed his sword and let the rest of the cloud dissolve. He still had no idea how the heck he was able to control his Innocence to this extent, but he didn't care at all as long as it worked.

But all the same, Rave knew he had to further master his Innocence. He knew he stood no chance against a Noah, and even this Akuma was beyond his abilities just yet.

Lucky victories were no victories at all to Rave.

So he forced himself to walk proudly to the others, not forgetting to thump Kaze on the head for interfering (and never mind that he saved Linalee, Rave wasn't about to show he cared, not in public just yet, anyway).

Just as they descended on a roof, a Finder named Gen approached them. Massively build, easily topping 6 feet and dark skinned, he was a veteran Finder who had seen a lot, so his expression and voice were calm when he explained that they have received a call from Komui and are requested to call back at once.

Not wanting to miss on anything, all 5 Exorcists were there, when Komui explained - between one singing bout to a fit of rage that his cute Linalee was hurt - that the London group had run into serious problems, and they needed assistance.

Naturally, Rave chose to go - anything to hone his technique - but the rest...

"I suggest you be careful in your decision," he warned, "what lies ahead will test every fiber of our being. You may wish to recuperate first."

---------------------------------

ARC OVER

______________________

EXP gains:

Good guys
Rave - 5
Kaze - 5
Angelique - 3
Anna - 3


Baddies
Leiko - 4
Ejarel - 5
Jarlaxle - 4
_______________________

You may go straight to London (one post in "Dark Dealings" thread to reach your destination), but your HP will remain the same as it was here, or you may choose to first go to the HQ and recover (one post in the infirmary thread and then one post in the Dark Dealings arc).

You may also refrain from participation in the arc if you so desire.