Jigan and Elsie clashed. Lightning and golden ether exploded within the city and the two bounced back. Jigan was grinning, finally having the chance to put down Elsie. Between this and potentially grabbing the Black Moon shard before her and the other parties, things were looking good! There was a large chance he came out of this as a winner and perhaps with the biggest name the cosmos has ever known. "You're as strong as they say..." Jigan said, panting softly. He knew that Elsie wasn't going to be an easy opponent. but like with Shiki, he wasn't going to allow that to stop him.
"I know." Elsie was confident in her strength. If nothing else, Jigan was a fairly competent fighter, but Elsie also did not have the time to play around with her food for very long. Blue Garden was a battleground with a time limit. The first person to grab the Black Moon Shard would leave the planet, that much was clear. "You aren't that bad either, but you don't have a chance of beating me if you already lost to Shiki. He's almost as strong as I am these days."
"What...!?" Jigan's eyes went wide. With the power of the Black Moon, he dominated Shiki in their fight until Shiki activated his Overdrive. Jigan got a true taste of what a Galactica could do, and Elsie was known as one for a while. The perfect target for Jigan to take down. "Well, I'll have you know, I've gotten stronger since I fought with Shiki. I didn't sit on my ass this whole time!"
"I've heard that line before." Elsie replied while rolling her eye. Jigan wasn't anything special outside of the fact he fought Shiki for the Black Moon.
"But have you seen anything like this!?" Jigan held his hand out, a hammer of lightning appearing within his grip. The lightning was still black and the power of it was clearly augmented. "You think I'm some run of the mill pirate, don't you!? But can someone do something like THIS! MJOLNIR'S STRIKE!" Jigan swung hsi hammer forward, sending a torrent of lightning towards Elsie.
"...!" Okay, Elsie realized this attack in particular wasn't something to take lightly. Despite his age, Jigan clearly had some tricks up his sleeve; it must have come with the experience. Regardless, she recognized this attack for the threat that it was, and a golden light erupted around her body. She flew into the air with the aid of Meteor, completely avoiding the attack that decimated the entire block. Not only that, but any building caught within the attack completely had its power shut down from the high voltage. The entire city block's power was shut off.
"Damn, she dodged that so fast..." Jigan mumbled. Even Shiki wasn't able to dodge that; he just tanked the attack. Elsie cleanly avoided it, but there was a sense of pride in the fact he made Elsie Crimson feel the need to be mindful of his power. That gave him a confidence boost. "What's the matter, scared?" Jigan was going to press this as hard as he could, lightning exploded from his body and he flew towards Elsie with his hammer.
"Far from it." Elsie said while forming a sword of ether within her hand. She flew towards Jigan and swung her weapon at the man. Their weapons clashed and a large shockwave boomed out from the collision. The two were in a fierce stalemate, but it ended with Elsie asserted her dominance by forcing Jigan to recoil backwards.
"Gah-!?" Jigan gasped. He tried to recover, but Elsie wasn't giving him the chance. She took advantage of this opening, speeding around Jigan while assaulting him from various angles with kicks. The final kick was a spinning roundhouse right into the man's chest. It caused him to cry out while crashing straight into a building, buried under some rubble. "Ugh..."
Elsie landed on the ground, arms crossed while looking over to Jigan. "For your best interest, you should stay down. I don't have much time to waste." After she said this, she went back to her pursuit of searching for the real signal of the Black Moon Star shard.
"Ngh..." Jigan was pretty badly hurt just from Elsie knocking him down like that. She truly was strong. Again, he had a taste of what some of the strongest in the cosmos had to offer, and he was flat on his back because of it. "How is she so strong...? I can't be this weak...i didn't spend my whole life working this hard just to get outdone by these damned kids...!" Frustration took hold of him and he let out yell.
"The power in the Blue Garden has suffered a sudden shutdown. Please remain where you are." An automated warning called out to the people. The people who were caught in the middle of this sudden free for all for reasons they would never know.
"Power..." Jigan mumbled those words, slowly picking himself up. Power. He needed more power. "...Wait...I got it! I know how exactly what I have to do for more power!"
.
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"This almost felt too easy..." Nina said while looking at the weakened Feather and her men. With the power of gravity gifted to her by her Random Chance. Gravity kept Feather pinned down and she wasn't able to move, but it disappointed Nina. She wanted more of a fight...
"...Too easy...?" Feather was taking offense to this, but then she realized something. She could squeeze a win out of this situation despite how dire it appeared. "You're right. Doesn't that upset you? Fighting a winning battle where your chance of victory is suddenly 100%? I thought you enjoyed taking risks..."
Nina quirked a brow. "...I know this is a bad idea, but I'm listening..."
Feather internally grinned. Nina was very easy to bait. The gambler's spirit of the woman was extremely simple to appeal to. "...Let us have a hand to hand fight. No ether gear. What do you say?"
"..." Nina sucked her teeth. She knew she had a clean victory if she kept up what she was doing. But... a fight like that? She lived for the brawl! "i know this is a terrible idea, but..." She released the gravity which allowed Feather to stand up. "I have to!"
Feather smirked when she was able to stand up. It may have been a slightly underhanded trick from a member of the government, but Nina and her crew were dangerous. "You're right." Feather's Ether Gear didn't deactivate despite Nina's doing so. Because in the next instant, Feather's leg collided against Nina's temple, knocking the woman unconscious before she had a chance to react. "That was a bad idea."
Nina collapsed to the ground, unconscious from the impact. Feather's men started to stand up and looked to Feather in awe. "Lady Feather...!"
"I can't say I enjoyed doing that, but it was necessary." Feather said while taking a breath. "In terms of a fight, her gravity would have crushed myself and all of you. Luckily her gambler's spirit is easy to manipulate. Now, hurry and cuff her before she regains consciousness."
"Yes ma'am!" One of Feather's men saluted and cuffed the unconscious Nina, hoisting her over his shoulder. "Suspect secure!"
"This is Feather." Feather spoke into the shared communication line between herself, Justice, Amira, and the rest of the members of the GIU within Blue Garden. "I have just apprehended one of the Galactic Fleet's members: Nina Roulette. I will be taking her into custody." She didn't need a response, she just needed everyone to be aware of that the situation was.
As Feather said this, however, Julia Roulette was lurking on one of the buildings nearby. She knew her sister might end up in a situation like this because of their shared gambler's spirit. "Not on my watch..."
.
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Hyoga and Gowen were facing off against Hubert and Marshall. Hyoga threw his arm forward, sending multiple spears of ice in Hubert's direction. Hubert pulled out a double sided blade, using that to slice through the incoming spears of ice that threatened to stab him. "Hyoga and Gowen of Elsie Crimson's crew. Whatever brings you to Blue Garden during this time of conflict?"
"Something tells me that's a rhetorical question." Hyoga said with a scoff. Hubert's tone of voice tipped him off that he knew exactly what they were doing here. "The same reason everyone else is."
"I see." So you also seek the Black Moon Shard. I wonder, however, where you heard of this?" Hubert's Commander ether gear activated and he gestured to a few pieces of debris scattered about around Hyoga. This was Hyoga's first time encountering Hubert, so he didn't know what the member of the Galactic Fleet had in store. "This is an order. Attack?"
"What?" Hyoga wasn't sure what to expect at first. But then he noticed that the debris surrounding him started to come to life, taking the form of soldiers that all pointed guns at him. "The debris!?" With widened eyes, Hyoga quickly summoned a glacier around his body to protect himself from the onslaught of bullets. "What kind of Ether Gear?" Hyoga realized that even though he was defending himself, the bullets weren't stopping their assault. So he had to act fast and placed his hands on the ground, freezing over the debris to halt the firing process.
By the time Hyoga did this, Hubert was already on top of him with his dual bladed weapon reared back. "Take this!" Hubert swung down at Hyoga, but the ice user was able to dodge to the side as the blade hit the ground. He wasn't safe, though. Hubert pulled the dual blade apart, using this new secondary blade to slice across Hyoga's shoulder. "And where do you think you're going?"
"Gh...!" Hyoga grunted as he slid back, feeling the deep cut on his shoulder. He could still use his arm, but he knew an injury like this would have to be treated as soon as possible. "You're fast..."
"You're predictable." Hubert simply responded. "I've seen my fair share of battles to understand how people tend to move. You are no different than anyone else. Being apart of Elsie's crew may have warped your perception of yourself."
"You're also cocky as hell." Hyoga spat.
As for Marshall and Gowen, they were locked into fierce close combat. Marshall's default sin was Pride, so it was an even fight. Gowen's fiery fist slammed into Marshall's chest, causing the man to cough, but he immediately fired back with a strong punch to Gowen's gut. The two of them were forced back from each other, grinning at how hard they hit. "This guy hits hard..." Gowen said with a heavy breath, but the challenge was invigorating.
"Finally, someone with a bit of bite to them." Marshall laughed. "Something I can warm up on."
"We cannot afford to waste too much time with them." Hubert stated. "The government is here as well. If we aren't fast enough, we could very well be caught before we have the chance to escape with the Shard. This is nothing more than a menial distraction."
"A distraction?" Hyoga took offense to that. He reared his arm back as flames surrounded it. "We're your main threat!" He punched the air in front of him, sending a spiraling blast of flame towards the two Galactic Fleet commanders. Marshall was the one who stepped forward, using his blade to clash with the attack, before managing to deflect it to the side at a nearby building, which exploded from the result. Marshall whistled. "That's some serious firepower...but it doesn't beat ours."
"It appears these two are tougher than we thought." Gowen admitted. But he wasn't going to let that intimidate him. They were members of Elsie Crimson's crew! "We have to make quick work of them."
"I got it!" Hyoga said while punching the air in front of him a few more times, sending more and more blasts of fire at the two. Hubert and Marshall elected to dodge these by leaping in separate directions. So, Gowen decided to turn his attention to the four eyed man, Hubert. "Let's see how good you are in a fight!" He lunged at Hubert, but he was stopped by a piece of debris. This debris was a solider with a large broadsword, which it swung at Gowen. He managed to catch this blade in his hands, but barely. The strength surprised him. "What the...!?"
"I do not have to do a single thing but issue commands." Hubert said while adjusting his glasses. "If you cannot get past the soldiers I can create, you have no business attempting to aim for me. You will be dealt with just as the Midi Orbital Gate."
"...So that was you?" Gowen turned to Hubert. A costly mistake as Marshall used that moment of distraction to slash at him, but Gowen was able to avoid it at the last second. "Ngh...!" That was close. He could feel Marshall aiming for his head. He needed to be more careful.
"That's right." Marshall said proudly. "We destroyed Midi's defense system just go get our hands on that first shard. And we ain't leaving Blue Garden until we get this second shard either, got it?"
Gowen felt rage boiling up inside of him. "You...destroyed them?"
"Nothing stands in the way of Danchou's ambition." Marshall scoffed. "So that's why anything that gets in his way has to-!" Before he could finish, he felt ice pierce his chest. "...!?" His eyes widened and he fell to the ground, face first while coughing up blood. "Hrk..."
"Marshall...!" Hubert grit his teeth. He didn't think Gowen's ice powers were that potent, and Marshall suffered serious wounds because of it.
"...He won't be recovering from that." Gowen said while glaring at Hubert. "I'm a doctor. He may have shifted his body a bit, but those wounds are going to carry and lead to his death. You're going to be next."
"This battle is over already." Hyoga said with a glare. They would never forgive the Galactic Fleet for all the loss of life near Midi.
"...Is it?" Hubert adjusted his glasses. It wasn't very long before they could hear some munching and crunching sounds. Someone was...eating!?
"What?" Gowen looked to the source of the sound, Marshall. He was laying in a pool of his own blood from the mortal injury he received, but he was still moving? Marshall soon sat up, quite literally eating dirt and concrete with ease, without a care in the world. But the most frightening part of it all...was how his severe injuries started to heal from it. Gowen and Hyoga looked on in horrific shock as Marshall soon easily recovered from a fatal injury in mere seconds.
"How is that possible!?" Hyoga gasped.
Marshall was too busy eating, so he wasn't responding. But that's what Hubert was there for. "This man is the Walking Sin. Marshall Izumi. Right now, he's feeling very hungry...but when you do this..." Hubert smacked Marshall on the back of the head, his eyes flashing from green to red. "...You remind him how very angry he is."
Rage took over. Marshall stood up, glaring at Hyoga and Gowen. A powerful red aura expanded from Marshall and the area began to shake violently in response to this. "...I'm gonna kill you."
.
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X stared at Victory in shock for his sudden arrival. The titan of a man nearly crushed her. "What the hell!?"
"I see you made it in time." Noah said with a nod.
"Just leave her to me." Victory said while swinging his gigantic arm at X to knock her back. X was fast and able to dodge this by leaping to the side, but Victory's speed was still too much for a man that was this big. "...So she's evasive."
"And you're huge as hell. I hate you giant types." X spat. She didn't have time to deal with the Government! This was too much work. She'd just attack Noah and get out of here. Their goal was the Shard, nothing else. So she darted towards Noah, using her speed to slip under Victory easily. That time was used to approach Noah who was bracing for an impact. X reached out for the Black Moon Star Shard in his hands, but wouldn't get it. Because a stalagmite rose up from the ground and struck Noah's hand, causing to fly from his hand before X could reach it. "Huh!?"
'What...?" Even Noah was shocked.
The Black Moon Star Shard flew into the and landed within Tobias' hand. "Sorry, but this is mine now."
"You!?" X's eyes widened. How did he get here so fast!? She thought her little skeleton army would be enough to keep him at bay, but that wasn't the case.
"Another one of Jigan's men..." Noah let out a sigh. With the chaos happening on Blue Garden, it was difficult to keep track of so many people all at once, especially with Vanessa Viscard being active and his power was needed to track her.
"More of them?" Victory could tell that X and Tobias were not on the same side. So he knew what to do.
"Whoops!" Tobias stomped on the ground, creating a gigantic slab of earth to serve as a wall between him and the others. With this brief distraction, he turned to run off. But two things happened he didn't expect; X slashed through the wall with ease, cutting it down before Tobias even had a chance to get far, while Victory simply leapt over it. X was behind Tobias, while Victory was in front of him. "...Shit."
"Hand it over." X and Victory said at the same time.
"Tobias!"
"Huh?" Tobias looked into the air at the familiar voice. At the top of the ruined building was a familiar face: Weavel! Tobias wasn't going to ask questions, he was just happy to see a crewmate and he knew what to do! So he hurled the Black Moon Shard at Weavel, who caught it in the air. "All yours now! Get that to the captain! And watch out for Hanabi!" He warned.
"Understood." Weavel didn't entirely understand the situation with Hanabi, but he nodded and quickly vanished off into the city. The Black Moon Star was now in the posession of the Fiertia crew!
"Crap!" X grunted. "You piece of shit...! You made my job that much harder!" She yelled at Tobias. She had to give chance to Weavel, but Victory moved to stand in front of the both of them. "Damn it!"
"Heh..." Tobias let out a faint chuckle. At least he made sure his crew had possession of the shard, but now he had to fight his way out of this very steep uphill battle. "That was the easy part...now for the hard part."
Victory stared down at both X and Tobias. It was clear nobody was leaving this spot until the other two were dealt with, so he had to detain them as quickly as possible before giving chase to Weavel. "You two aren't going anywhere."
