Thursday, September 26, 2003

9pm Central

 

Central Park (Far Northern End)

Lots of rugged rocks. Uneven terrain. Mostly deserted because of the thicker wooded area.

Mitama is here.

Obvious exits:

Central Park (SO)

 

Granted, it isn't exactly the quietest area of the park, but at least it is something, some sort of nature in this city of iron. That and there isn't any people around to bug him. *twang* .... *thunk* Sure, he could do this sort of thing of any of a number of archery fields. Heck, he could go to the top of his building and set up something too... but there is something to say for being in a more unrestrained environment, even if it is shooting defenseless, unmoving trees with arrows. "Boring..." he mutters, plucking another arrow from the earth before him, tapping it against his thigh to rid it of any accumulated dirt about the head before bringing it to his bow.

 

Sadly, by coincidence or just perverse twist of fate, Malachai had much the same idea as Chase today, trying to find some bit of outside to go practice a little weaponry. Sure he could have hit a dojo, or gone to use one of his studio rooms, but there's just something about going into open air to cut loose. More or less. The oni carries his blade under a long but lightweight coat, not too odd as the morning did start off fairly cooly for a September day. The sounds coming off the clearing catches his attention though, bringing him to a wary halt behind a tree. It's not the sort of thing one hears in NYC very often, but harkens to days long ago. *That's a bow* he thinks to himself, becoming more curious. Cautious, cautious though, he takes a look for it's origin. /Him/. That guy. Tomi-chan.  (Okay, so he doesn't know the full name.)

 

Fe-fi-fo-fum. I smell the blood of an.... onisenshi? Okay, so maybe it isn't blood (nor does it rhyme), but close enough. Ick-reflex. A smirk drifts over his lips as he nocks the arrow, setting it to that old fashioned bow, made of wood and without a single addition of technology other than the little bit of ribbon tied to the top to keep track of the wind. He draws back, ready to impale a birch tree, because the thing must have wronged him somehow, or not... Well, only to shift his aim and instead release the arrow towards where his 'spider sense' picks out that oni. *smirk*

 

Malachai isn't stupid. Just because he'd gotten a little lax for a while doesn't mean he hasn't been mulling over his laid back responses. He's just finally had enough. Ducking quickly back behind the safety of the tree the moment he saw the bow being drawn back again, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out several ofuda. Time to show his mettle again. At his command, the spirit papers rise out of his hand and shoot into the air, circling past him and towards Tomite. One dives to the ground and transforms the area with illusion, looking like nothing more than a dense grove of trees to those on the outside, but within it's circle the grove has taken on a more sinister appearance, a forest of nightmares. The other two papers errupt in explosions of black roiling ink to form into monsters that only a twisted mind can produce. "I have had enough of you." the sorcerer growls.

 

Sheesh, have a little target practice with some trees and look what happens. "You can't spit in this city without hitting one of you," Chase mutters, only to wrinkle his nose as the arrow hits the tree instead of the oni. D'oh. Well, at least Mina isn't here to chide him about missing and comparing him to Legolas. He winces and shivers as his senses go wild at the change, reaching a hand around to rub at the back of his check. "Ooooooh. You sound pissed," he taunts, squinting as everything around him changes. Monsters are blinked at, and then responded to with an almost gleeful grin. "Nice." A step backwards just as he takes another arrow, aiming and firing at one of the monsters.

 

Made of ink and shadow, the creatures dissipate slightly as the arrow approaches, but they solidify again once the weapon passes to hit the trees behind them. They stalk towards Tomite, growling menacingly while Malachai keeps himself safe behind the illusion of shadowy trees. Is it cowardly or just practical? He'd like to think the latter, particularly as he's gotten chastised by too many other oni about reckless arrogance as it is. "Well, you can't seem to walk through this city without stepping in shit, so I think it's only fair."

 

D'oh again. Chase mutters under his breath, "I'm gonna find me someone to get me some nifty /enhanced/ arrows one of these days." He ducks his head, moving to drape his strung bow over his head and shoulder to keep it out of his way, but still handy should the need arise. Ink freezes, right? Hopefully. The temperature in the area noticeably cools, and by quite a bit, and moment later he is trying to do just that, freeze those inky monsters in place.

 

The creatures do slow down a bit, for they are influenced by the form they take after summoning. It does not however, stop them completely, just buys a few more seconds before they leap right at Tomite. Malachai frowns at the sudden cold, wishing briefly for Kieran's warm presence, but shoves the thought away for more useful thoughts, like taking out yet another ofuda, this one painted elaborately rather than merely inked. Tossing it in the seishi's direction, the creature that emerges this time is a shimmering firebird. Note, not a phoenix. :P Never that.

 

Chase smirks once more, frowning as the monsters don't slow down as much as he would like. As they leap at him, the boy is immediately crouching and leaping to the side, but doesn't quite make it clear. A blow to his shoulder has him tumbling away, rolling over his side and then climbing to his feet once more. Ow. His eyes alight upon the firebird, and the smirk deepens. Figures. Coming up on one knee, the teen ignores the bird and the monsters for the time being, and instead concentrates upon the sorcerer. It is getting awfully crowded around here. Hand extends in the man's direction. Sure, he might not have some nifty ice snakes, but ice arrows are just as effective, and are shot towards Malachai.

 

The only reason why the creatures return attack is rather rudimentary after knocking into Tomite would have to be the distracted concentration of Malachai dodging those arrows. Sure, he could have tried for the really cool effect of whipping off his coat and using that to catch the arrows in mid air and sweep them aside, but... he wasn't sure if he was /that/ good. So not being an idiot, he dives out of the way, coming out of hiding, but ducking into the next copse of trees the moment he rolls back to his feet. There is a raucous cry as the firebird dives though, the heat of it's arrival raising the temperature several degrees as it's flaming tail whips towards the archer.

 

Illusion or not, Chase concentrates a moment, forcing a thin sheen of ice over the entirety of the ground. Slippery is very very good -or bad, depending on how used to the conditions one is. The flash of incoming chi attached to the bird tweaks the teen's senses once more, causing him to wince and duck just as the heat of the creature washes over him. Ow... again, as he is lashed over his back. The sting causes the boy to hiss through his teeth, and a hapazzard volley of ice arrows are sent at the bird, whether they melt or not.

 

Malachai makes a grab for a tree as his footing becomes a little less certain, keeping a hand on it afterwards to make sure he stays upright. Falling now would not be a good idea. The shadow creatures have not been forgotten by the sorcerer and they are the next to keep Tomite occupied with snarls and the flash of sharp teeth as they leep at the boy. The firebird dives out of the way, it's heat melting the edges off the ice arrows, though one does bounce off the creature with a steaming sizzle as it shrieks angrily. It pays attention to Mal's commands though, flying low to heat up the iced over ground.

 

"So, how's that shoulder of yours, oni? That'd be a crying shame if it started aching in the cold. My only regret is that I didn't hit you in the head." Never mind he was flopping over in unconsciousness at the moment. Aim is bound to be shoddy then. Chase scrambles forward, climbing more fully to his feet to gain a footing on the ice. He turns to watch after the firebird, and it is when he is about to take aim at it again that the teen is blindsided by the ink monsters, crashing back to the ground with a grunt.

 

"Shoulder's just dandy, you jerk." Malachai replies in a mild tone, keeping calm this time as he considers his options. "I think you're a flaming lunkhead, so let's make it real, hmm?" While Tomite's pinned down by the ink monsters, the firebird rises up and DIVES suicidally at the seishi, promising a great explosive fireball upon striking, whether or not it hits it's intended target.

 

Chase is being called a jerk. "Oh, come on. You can do better than that, /oni/." Oooooh, the way Chase says that almost makes it sound like a bad word. Probably because to him it does. He'd prolly be howling with laughter at the 'lunkhead' part, only he is rather preoccupied at the moment. "Aww, hell," he mutters, wincing at the bright sight of the bird coming in on him. He struggles against the ink monsters, trying to twist away and to the side to escape from their grip. He'd really rather not be a toasted to a crisp seishi right now.

 

"How about, sanctimonious twit? Baby? Child? Stupid boy?" The monsters snap their teeth, trying to sink them into flesh to rend or snap. But Malachai's grin widens the most when the firebird does explode, frying the ground all around. Even should Tomite managed to get out of the center of the explosion, the flash of heat is probably enough to give a Chernobyl-like instant suntan.

 

Ugh. Being called a kid again. Never fails. Be it Genbu or oni. One arm manages to free from the grip of one of the monsters so that he is at least able to roll somewhat onto his side, only to gasp as the heat washes over him, burning over skin and clothes alike. That arm that was brought up to cover his face makes an easy target for the ink monsters to chomp upon, and the teen cries out in pain. Being able to call the cold and ice as easily as he can cools his skin somewhat, but the majority of his concentration is focused upon the sorcerer. Ice, dammit.

 

Malachai doesn't want to know how he's going to explain to the others back in the penthouse how he nearly gets frostbite in September as the sudden chill surrounds him. Unlike the unfortunate Suzaku no miko though, Mitama knows a little more about channeling chi energies as the symbol at this neck flares brightly in red and black. Mitama is the oni of spirit..and sun. Those wards he drew onto his own body flare too, providing him with a momentary surge of heat and gives him the chance to escape being turned into a Popsicle. "Now we're not going to have that now are we?" the sorcerer growls between chattering teeth. "You called that a fight little boy? Seems to me that you're not as effective this time without a woman goading you on. And you know, maybe you should have a taste of what it feels like to have an aching shoulder in the cold." Okay, so he lied about it bothering him. Just a little. Drawing his sword out from under his coat, he strides towards the crispy seishi. Let's make this a shish-kabob.

 

No, definitely not Suzaku no miko. First off, Malachai lacks the chest that she has, along with all of the rest of the plumbing. Well, it was rather wishful thinking that Malachai would get frozen. "Fuck you," Chase growls, rolling over onto his back once more, his left arm useless. At the sight of the sword, his eyes narrow, looking at the length of steel with a contemptuous smirk. As the oni walks towards him, he coats the ground once more with ice, anything to make the guy slip and hopefully not impale him right through the heart 'cause... damn, that'd really suck.

 

"No thanks, I can get that at home." Mitama replies to the insult with a rather cheerful grin that is rather disturbing considering the circumstance. The slippery ice does make walking towards the downed seishi more difficult, but since Chase is on the ground and Malachai's still upright, it doesn't take long for the sorcerer to reach him. Standing over the boy, he holds up the sword with a steady practiced hand. "I'll have to thank you for the amusement you provided tonight, but I think I'll give you a little parting gift before I go too. Just a little reminder for shooting me. I'll let you live though, for your girlfriend's sake. Only because she was a good kisser though."

 

Chase would be launching himself at the oni right now if he could only get up. Having one arm pinned and the other useless pretty much well makes that sort of thing impossible. His already glacial eyes flash though at the man's words, trying to yank once more to free his arm, and failing miserably. He mutters something not all that flattering about the oni under his breath, and probably best left uncensored.

 

Call it good (or bad) timing. Call it brotherly connection. Call it a trick of fate. Whatever it is, there's someone tall and silver-haired approaching through the trees. Strange noises, always gotta investigate. Brice moves through the trees, looking for whatever it is... then lets out quite an impressive streak of curses in his head. Damn damn damn damn /damn/... And of course, as much as he wants to pound Chase sometimes, he can't just sit by. Dodging a couple of the freaky trees, he gets one hand under his light jacket and draws his gun, pointing it at Mal. The other hand is also held up in a sort of "stop" gesture. "Hold it right there." No Tomite shish kebab, thank you. And yes, that upraised hand is starting to spout some icy-looking snakes...

 

Malachai should have paid more attention to keeping the warding up, but having to break out of surrounding ice had a way of breaking his concentration. It was a flimsy sort of thing anyway, outside where there's just a little too much open space to affect. Thus Brice's arrival surprises the sorcerer a little, even as his blade just halts at the side of Tomite's neck, just above the shoulder. The gun is glared at and the ink monster that didn't have it's mouth clamped on the boy's arm now rounds on Hikitsu instead, snarling and coiled to spring. "Hmm, more interference. And where were the likes of you when this little snot was going around shooting people?"

 

It's the cops! Or actually Brice. Chase really cannot remember the last time he was quite so thankful to see Hikitsu. Sure, the time when he was hanging out the window was pretty good, but this is way better. Oh fun, now he is being called a snot. He'd stick his tongue out at the oni if he wasn't too afraid it'd get cut off. "Shoot him!" Chase yells, trying to struggle up once more, only to have his chewed-upon arm give away underneath him once again. That could really get annoying.

 

Okay, thinking fast is a good thing. But first there's something that he's gotta process. "You were going around /shooting/ people Chase? God, I'm gonna shoot /you/!" Mal should be pleased to hear that. But anyway, back to the action. Brice doesn't waste time - immediately the snakes are flying for the ink monster, wanting to latch in and pump their freezing venom into ink-filled veins or whatever the thing's got, and the trigger on the gun is being pulled - with the barrel aimed straight at Mal.

 

Well the creature of ink and shadow does slow down into a halt, as it was proven that ice did affect it nominally. The sorcerer frowns though, the tip of his blade shifting minutely to the boy's throat. "Let's not be hasty here." he says blandly. "You might shoot me, but I'll make sure to /take him with me/ if you do." He doesn't bother to veil the threat there at all. "The fool here decided to spark this little fiasco, I am merely teaching him an object lesson. The choice is yours." Mitama gives Hikitsu the choice. "You can lower that gun and take this little brat home, or we can end it all right here. The other guy, what was his name... oh yes, Darren. He saw the merit in option A last time."

 

"Shoot him!" Chase insists yet again, sword nicking at his throat or not. For a long time there, Rathan was the highest on his list of 'Onis that need to die', but now Malachai is beginning to threaten that top slot. His chin lifts and turns to the side though as the sword shifts towards him, throat throbbing with a swallow though that is unmistakable.

 

Brice keeps the snakes embedded in the ink-demon and the gun trained on Mal, but doesn't actually shoot yet - although there's just a hair left before that bullet goes ripping out of the barrel. "Let him go and I'll put the gun away. And call off that other one as well." He makes a small head nod that indicates the ink-demon currently maiming the otouto. There's another idea, but he wonders if he has the time to do it... And if he can do it without attracting attention before he wants it. He tries it: a layer of ice starts creeping up the sides of Chase's neck, intending to go around his throat in a sort of chilly shield - hopefully this won't last long enough for him to get frostbite. A nice side effect would be if the sword gets caught out of mobility, but Brice isn't counting on that, and instead keeps concentrating on putting a barrier between Chase's skin and the blade. "I swear to Genbu that if you step back three paces and lower the sword, I'll put away the gun and we'll all go home. Otherwise... it looks like we'll have problems."

 

Malachai wonders if he takes his time, Chase'll end up with a case of freeze brain? That /can't/ be comfortable. The sorcerer's eyes narrow slightly at the surge in chi and the symbol at his own neck flares again in his own ire. "Why should I believe you when you are already trying something?" he says calmly enough though, the blade dipping slightly along the edge of where the ice is forming. "The oaths of the yang gods are hardly worthwhile to me. You can do better than that. Like I said before, the little snot was only going to get an object lesson. He might benefit from it yet, though given his girlfriend's temper, she might finish him off for me. She was a tasty little thing though, jealous little boy shot me last time, I'm only returning the favor." And then some. "Seems to me though, this is an impasse. Frankly I don't care to dilly-dally, so I shall just be off, hmm?" The ward that was used to alter the scenery shrinks back under Malachai's feet, then shimmers into a portal as the sorcerer falls through it. In the seconds it takes for him to go all the way down though, he can't help the urge to stab Chase in the shoulder before vanishing entirely, it also leaves a momentary opening should Brice try for it. The ink monsters are still there though. Bwuahahaha!

 

Well, with that burn all over Chase's body, that cold ice will feel rather wonderful around his neck. Actually a rather pleasant cooling, all things considered. And contrary to popular opinion, the boy does have a brain, frozen or not. He is growling once more though at Malachai's words, fit to try to launch himself at the guy. Well, again, if he could actually get up. He beings to cry out in dismay as the sorcerer slips into a portal, only to have that cry turn into a something more of pain at being stabbed through the shoulder. Ouch. Owwie. Ouch.

 

*BANG* goes the gun as Mal goes down into the portal. Hey, Brice said he'd put it away IF Mal... okay, technicalities, technicalities, but the "no harm Chase' Clause was definitely built in. So now have both the brothers shot Mal? Brice doesn't know as the sorcerer's gone too fast for him to see if the bullet hit or not. Immediately holstering the gun he uses the now-free second hand to shoot more snakes at the beasty still on Chase - gotta get that thing off before the otouto can go anywhere. "Chase! I'm gonna get you out of there!" Growth on that ice-shield has stopped, but not shattered, in case the beasty decided to pick up where its master left off.

 

Malachai is gone in any case, whether he'd been hit or not, the seishi won't know. It'll just be Ichijin who gets to have a snarky fit probably. As for the creatures of ink and shadow, the one already filled with ice venom finally topples over and shatters, dissipating immediately. The second one clamped on Chase's injured arm snarls but doesn't let go, giving violent headthrashes while it still can. Yes that's going to bloody well hurt! But soon enough it too collapses and vanishes, leaving only the seishi lying in a burnt crater.

 

Chase's pain threshold is quickly nearing its limit, the hazed of blessed unconsciousness flirting about the edges. But he isn't going to give in to that just yet. Every time that happens, he misses something. Annoying, that. The teen cries out though as his other arm is torn on even more, blood seeping through the cloth of his shirt. As both of the ink creatures vanish, he moans, still fighting valiantly against passing out. "Dammit. Did you hit him?" Sure, he doesn't sound all that bright and shiny at the moment, but despite everything, that is a question that demands to be asked -well, at least by him.

 

"I have no fucking idea you fucking moron!" Honestly, even though Mal ws the bad guy in that fight, he's got no reason to disbelieve any of his statements. Especially as they're so characteristic of the Chase he knows. But still, Brice is the aniki... He'll curse Chase out to the seven hells and back, but he'll be trying to take care of him at the same time. He literally sprints across the open area and does a baseball-type slide into the dirt next to him, more out of need for speed than anything, and immediately begins tearing the torn parts of Chase's shirt literally off his body to make temporary bandages. "You damn fucking moron, what POSSESSED you to pick a fight with him?!" Pissed? Oh yeah. Mal shoulda stuck around, just to see this.

 

Chase is getting yelled at. Figures. Here he lies, half dead on the ground, not exactly a shiny moment, and he is being scolded. The boy grunts as his shirt is being pulled on, eyes rolling back into his head as unconsciousness threatens once more. "He hurt Mina and kissed Sayuri," he breathes, sucking in air through his teeth. That should be reason enough, besides Malachai being an oni.

 

"I don't care if he dropped Yankee Stadium on Kennedy airport, you WAIT FOR SOMEONE before you do something like that!" Yep, scolded and seen to at the same time. Riiiiiiiiiip. Say bye-bye to more shirt... "Damn, I don't know if I'm gonna have enough to make a good tourniquet... Where's Lee when you need him." The other cop could just whisk them away somewhere - like a hospital. "This is gonna hurt, Chase." A little forewarning is good, because now Brice is pulling up the otouto in order to rip more of the shirt off, and starts bandaging the sword-wound. The burns can wait a little - and packing them with ice is easy to accomplish. And now he's being set down again, hopefully not more detrimentally than before. "We need to get you to the hospital, now."

 

Chase frowns, some fight still left in him, "And what was I supposed to do... ring you up on the cell phone. 'Hey Brice, wanna come down to the park. I've got an oni sneaking peaks at me from behind some trees.' Like hell. I woulda had him." Uh-huh. He opens his mouth to protest about a few more things, but as soon as he is lifted, a whole new shock of pain lashes through his body. Teeth clench, but it is another lost battle, and the teen passes out.