Red Sparks and Wild Terror! A Shock on Silvers Island

[Flame]

Kano Post #16

His meteor breaker broke straight through the center of the strange being of blood that Kano now stared into. It stopped, then exploded from within the beast. Shockwave and explosions wracked from the inside out exploding the creature raining fire and blood across the nearby pair. Neither Kano nor the Rear Admiral were moved by their sudden spraying. "I'd say thanks, but it was mostly my work anyways." The marine said as he released Kano's returned arm from the grip of his sai. The fool was slow to respond, the touch of the sai had weakened him once more giving him a nauseous feeling.

"Now die!" The man's arm swung back. "Fist of the Hypaspists" A haki-covered fist slammed into Kano's chin sending the fool flying backwards. Kano's head rang, his stomach churned as he flew through the air before tumbling skidding onto then against the ground as he managed to hold his feet beneath him. He panted as he finally came to a stop pressing a hand against the ground to balance himself alongside his two feet.

Hard breaths spilled out of Kano's mouth as he upchucked a bit of bloody substance onto the ground. Kano blinked looking down at it, was that his? His eyes looked forward again to the two fighting not too far away from him. "Back into the fray?" He asked himself, silent for barely a moment before he began to nod to himself already beginning to run.

His feet hit the ground in full sprint as ahead of him he saw the maiden launched into the air by the marine. So what was his plan? The explosives didn't seem to be doing the trick. Not really ... in that case. "Back so soon?" The marine's voice rang out as he whirled to meet Kano. The youth ran low to the ground, "Burst!" Explosions from Kano's feet accelerated him forward. The sai shot forward to meet Kano.

Red eyes stared forward as the sai shot towards him. Beneath him Kano's feet twisted their footing. His body twisted about as he continued to run forward doing a barrel roll. Kano grinned as the sai speared itself into the open air that he had held a moment ago. Avoiding that sai was tantamount Kano was certain of that. "STELLAR SMASH" Not one but both of his fists he turned bright hot with heat. Before flinging the first forward.

The marine's body shifted to the left as Kano's first fist missed. "STARBURST SMASH" Explosions rang from the elbow of his second arm. His second arm shot forward and the Rear Admiral's eyes widened for a moment. The marine started a backstep as Kano's arm shot in, his hand hit in feeling steel on the other side. The Rear Admiral grimaced slightly feeling the sting of it as the youth's extreme heat gave his chest a small scorching. Xanders arm shot forward in response slamming into the youth's chest with a heavy thud had Kano's eyes bulging.

But he didn't stop there, with Kano momentarily on the back foot the Rear Admiral seeing his Admiralship in his grasps stepped up. In a moment the fury of his assault upon Kano skyrocketed. Fancy feet and explosions fought back as Kano threw back as much as he could give at the Rear Admiral's assault. Using whatever means necessary to dodge about that weird sai. Blows passed between the two, misses mostly, with a hit or two scored.

And then it changed Kano's fist slammed into the marine's wrist knocking the sai out of the marine's grasp for a moment. His opportunity! "Starburst SMASH!" Heat exploded from Kano's fist and explosions from his elbow as he threw in a blow at a perceived opening. "The both of you, are annoying pieces of nothing." The Rear Admiral stated as his trap was sprung. The sai fell back down catching Kano's extending arm in its prong. The heat dissipated from Kano's hand in a moment and weakness fell about him and the marine's hand shot forward grasping Kano by the neck.

"Say hello for me. PELTASTS VOLLEY!" Kano's neck was pulled on his body lifted into the air, he feeling nauseous from the contact with the sai once more. And with the flick of his arm Xanders hurled Kano straight at the maiden.

---

SPOILER: Click to show

{Techs Used Here}

Stellar Smash
Rank 2 Technique
Aspect - Internalized Explosions
Variation - Meteor Crash
A firework explodes within Kano's arm turning it from forearm up to fingers bright white with heat. The proceeds to punch his oponent with the arm aiming for the gut. Upon contact he twists his fist, wrist, and whole arm to create a nauseating feeling for his enemy.

Starburst Smash
Rank 3 Variation
Aspect - Internalized Explosions, Explosive Empowerment
Variation - Stellar Smash
A variation of Stellar Smash where after empowering his fist he uses explosive empowerment to launch his fist into his opponent. Causing his punch to accelerate forward at excessive speed.

[Vio]

^{Well, that was different… Scarlette smiled:
I guess he has some more tricks up his sleeve!}

Thunk! Her body hit the floor supine, and bounced a little as she did so. Without much hesitation, eager to experience more of what her current opponent had to offer, she lifted her legs into the air so that her weight was on her upper back. And then, with a push, she sprang forward and onto her feet. Her body bristled with anticipation… and something else which she had at first failed to realise.

“Big Sis,” Lecter called from across the way, prompting her to briefly divert her gaze. Close, but not so close as to be in the firing line, her entourage were hard at work doing as she had asked of them. By now, the girl with long hair and the beefy, baby-faced behemoth had completely escaped their confines and seemed to be talking to Sweeney — perhaps more talked at given the hairdresser’s apparent fascination with those lengthy locks. Regardless, another two had been freed. A man with wavy brown hair stood beside Lecter, embodying a similar sense of pride to the eccentric, while a scrawnier but tall fellow with a receding hairline stood with Krueger and Myers, arms folded and head down. Mister Hannibal shouted: “You’re on fire — actually burning!”

“Huh…? Oh… Oh! Crap, I am!” Looking down at herself and realising not only the severity of the wound, but also the fact that fabric and flesh was being scorched by tongues of amber. With limited haste, she tried to douse the flames with hand pats of all things, eyes now completely off the fight ensuing between the aptly nicknamed Captain Sparkles and the Rear Admiral. She looked up just in time to see something golden flying at her. “He can throw fireballs?!”

Thwack! Something hard and definitely not fiery collided directly with her face, lifting Miss Grimm-Rosa off her feet again and carrying her some many yards further. Hitting the cobbles again, she found herself tumbling head over heels until she slammed into a wall, halted momentum echoing through her body. Well, at least the fire had been extinguished; the wound in her side — though partially cauterised — still bled.

“Hey,” she spoke, assuming the fireball errant to be beside her in a similarly awkward position. “I kinda want to fight this guy on my own, but you keep getting in the way. So, how’s about this.” Twisting so that her feet touched actual floor and not a slightly cracked brick wall masquerading as horizontality, Scarlette huffed out a compromise. A little diplomacy didn’t hurt every now and then. “You and me? We team up,” she said as she stood, the weakness of Kairōseki’s cold touch having fully receded like the tides its presence emulated. Redness washed over her shoulders, slithering like misty droplets down her arms and into the gooey gloves, forcing fists to clench. “We team up and we kick this guy’s ass!”

---

Grimm-Rosa Scarlette
Hannibal Lecter
Todd Sweeney
Michael Myers
Jason Voorhees
Billy Loomis
Freddy Krueger
Charles Ray
Rear Admiral Xanders
Lieutenant Eli
Kano Toro

[Flame]

Kano Post #17

The force of air pushing back at Kano as he was flung forward forced his hair down. It tried its best to bend Kano's neck down as he tried to recover his own strength. Once again the sai had given him that nauseous feeling. It had made it hard, very hard for him to feel his fruit abilities. It felt terrible, awful to be this, hmm? Where was he going in the first place. Kano tilted his head up his hair matting down in front of his face all the same.

Mm? Something fleshy appeared before his eyes as he turned his face upwards.

-THUNK-

Face upon face collided in that moment. Cheek hit cheek, eyes maybe met for a moment. Kano thought they did though he was slightly distracted by the pain immediately beginning to radiate out of his everything on his head. And perhaps most annoyingly teeth clacked against each other and Kano's nose made a strange sound. But either way the fool yowled his way away as he ricocheted off the face of the dark maiden he'd collided with. Twisting and tumbling through the air before landing in the extremely strange and unfortunate position of having his head pressed against the ground and his body crash into the wall above him.

He could feel what seemed like scrapes across most of his legs, and what was probably body parts bending in ways they were really protesting about. Most annoying was his nose which seemed to bubbling up some sort of thick liquid every time he exhaled. Mmm, he needed to stop that it was quite annoying. "Right ... hands." The first hand pressed around until it felt like what seemed to be the ground. The other began to feel about before it touched something soft, felt like cotton or something. Stranger yet, he tried to turn his head, but his body was cooperating at the moment. So his fingers pressed down on it, beneath the cotton was something soft, it definitely wasn't rock, or air, it felt fleshy ...

Kano's thoughts paused as he began to regain feeling in more of his body and with some push fomr his legs fell backwards onto the ground. He laid himself out on his back. And then a voice spoke, Kano turned his head finally properly to see that his hand was gripping what seemed to be the dark maiden's lovehandle on one side. The fool paused for a moment before letting go. "Hi." He said as he pulled his knees in and then used a little momentum to bring himself into a sitting position. The one next to her continued to talk, she had a proposition.

As she talked Kano brought a finger up to his nose, pausing for a moment there was a soft boom and his whole hand began to glow with heat. He could feel the blood running down his nose, also that of it which was pooling up in his mouth. Most of his body hurt, in one way or another. But this problem he could solve. He stuck one finger up his nose cauterizing the nosebleed in a moment. Then finally he turned his attention back to the young woman who was talking. "Team up? Sounds like fun!" He said with an easy smile as he pushed up onto his feat.

Turning about he stuck out his still glowing hand towards her. "It's a deal! We beat him up! We beat him down! We beat him to the stars!!!" Kano said peppily, "Shake on it?" he asked momentarily forgetting his hand was also burning hot and a finger of it had just recently been in his bleeding nose.

[Vio]

“Sure!” Not paying much mind to where his digits had just been, Scarlette grabbed the young man’s hand. It was warm. If her nerves could tell her as much, perhaps a little too warm, but the glimmer of her crimson eyes focused on the Rear Admiral. A pair of reckless, grinning maniacs working together. What could possibly go wrong?

“If you think that a handshake is going to help you, you’re sorely mistaken,” Xanders growled, form billowing as he rushed forth with sai gleaming. “In fact, it only gives me more incentive to eradicate the two of you here and now! I’ll do what those fools on Eldoran were too scared to do, Red Terror. And take the Wild Spark down with y—? What are you doing…?” His eyes watched as Scarlette raised her arm, teeth biting down upon the flesh of her bicep until blood was drawn. Her mouth retracted, opening wide as she took a deep breath.

^{“Renaissance: Huit! Souffler!”
Blubble! Blubble!}

“That damned Devil Fruit!” Xanders made to accelerate into blinding speeds, but not before glancing back to the darkened line that Miss Grimm-Rosa had previously torn in the street. Ruddy masses emerged with reaching hands like imps drawn from the pits of hell itself, but further to their summoning was a peculiar transmutation of humanoid forms into something bulbous and swollen. Engorged pockets of air flooded fluid forms, swelling limbs and body alike to the point where diminutive demons stood a good four and a half feet tall, heads stretched and compressed onto their torsos like a troupe of hunchbacked bodybuilders.

^{“Soru… Granicus Slice!”}

^{“Hihihi~!” Scarlette giggled:
“Carmin Fusil!”}

Eyes closing, she shifted her entire weight to her right. Xanders’ attack missed narrowly, cleaving clean through the wall against which she and her sparkling ally had been standing just moments prior, but his leaning form left him open. Pulsating energies shot down her leg, carmine coalescing at her toes as she swung upwards, slamming into his heart. Something was quick to give, but it wasn’t the Rear Admiral. Rather, he felt a hand stick to his shoulder as he made for a sideways swipe at her, but the squelching sound of Hypertension’s detonation send her spinning about his body until she planted both heels upon his back. He braced, almost forced to his knees through lack of balance, eyes widening as he realised the position he was in. Sai in his left, his right was vulnerable.

^{“You need to stop talking sh!t,” she whispered:
“And fight us fair and square! Catch!”}

Knees bent and then unfolded as she used the CO’s entire body as a springboard, leaping backwards with the help of his own resistance against her weight and spreading her arms wide. Their order received, her freshest spawn were already bouncing their way across the cobbles with curious bounds, forming a makeshift trampoline onto which she could fall freely.

---

SPOILER: Click to show

{Souffler}_{— Rank 2
— Tane Tane no Mi (FiSt)
— Cultiver (Aspect)
— Renaissance (Variant)
By blowing air into an open wound during the process of creating a Homunculus, Scarlette can cause the entity to inflate like a balloon. Air bubbles create pressurised ‘muscles’ within the body of the Homunculus, as well as increasing its size and reach by about fifty percent, thus making it far more powerful and capable of floating in the air for short periods of time. Homunculi affected by this technique become more resistant to blunt force trauma, but piercing attacks are more effective against their bubbly body. All ‘Red’ Homunculi can be affected by Souffler.}

SPOILER: Click to show

{Carmin Fusil}_{— Rank 2
— Main-à-Main (FiSt)
— Hypertension (Aspect)
— Pistolet Écarlate (Variant)
Scarlette sheathes her foot and leg in the essence of the Tane Tane no Mi, compressing the energy before delivering a powerful kick. Upon contact, she discharges the energy — a surge of crimson radiance that repels the opponent’s body.}

---

Grimm-Rosa Scarlette
Hannibal Lecter
Todd Sweeney
Michael Myers
Jason Voorhees
Billy Loomis
Freddy Krueger
Charles Ray
Rear Admiral Xanders
Lieutenant Eli
Kano Toro

[Flame]

Kano Post #18

Hand gripped hand with mutual force. Kano gave his usual wide idiotic grin at this simple act of unity. Completely unaware as per usual that his hand may have been burning the hand that it grasped as it dispensed the last of the heat in it from the last internal explosion finally faded. As their shake began the momentarily forgotten enemy, the Rear Admiral brusquely interrupted them. Pompous words, fighting words, spewed from his mouth as Kano at least completed the handshake and let go of his new ally's hand.

Glancing down happily at his own hand he noticed that his hand was still glowing slightly. He blinked looking at it for a moment. Wait a minute ... His eyes narrowed upon his still mildly glowing hand, before widening and nearly bursting out of their sockets as they flung over towards his dark maiden. She'd not reacted at all to gripping that? It was not as hot as it would normally get but still.

His eyes went toward her hand sliding over the image of her biting into her bic- WAIT WHAT!??! Slipping past what looked to be reddish and a bit toasty of a hand his eyes snapped back to watch as she stretched her mouth over her bicep. As her head pulled back Kano's (mildly more) dumbstruck (than usual) face watched as strange swollen creatures began to emerge. They plumped up and grew much to Kano's surprise.

A devil fruit? ... A devil fruit! He connected the strange ability to a similar cause as his own wondering for a moment if he was capable of something like that. The fool glanced down at his dirty arm for a second considering biting into it. But what would he do after, he blinked incapable of wrapping his head around what he might do in the moment. He'd have to ask later.

His head turned forward to the fight at hand. His new partner-in-fight was already engaging the Rear Admiral. Which meant, it was time for him to join in. Kano tilted his head left and right waiting to feel that nice telltale crack. Bending his knees he took a breath waiting to see his moment. It came faster than he expected as the maiden twisted about the marine it looked like kicking him in the back as he seemed to stagger forward. "Right then, my turn." Kano said with a grin. "Blast!" Explosions roared from Kano's feet as he accelerated towards the marine who'd been staggered forwards toward him.

His feet touched the ground, the stone beneath his feet barely touched as he flew forward closing the distance in an instant. The marine saw him all the same, even as he was still regaining his balance. "Phalanx-gan!" Xanders managed to manipulate his weapon into a place as he thrusted his sai tip first towards the incoming fool. But he was slow, just a bit, the lack of balance required him a moment of correction. That moment Kano took advantage of, two more explosions roared as Kano's feet faced the ground time lifting his feet into the air.

Momentum pulled him forward as his body twisted through the air, heels literally arcing over his head as the sai speared into the open air where Kano could have been standing if not for the explosion rapidly changing his movement. In what was an explosion-powered front flip rotating about his head, one of Kano's feet turned into a metal shell covered in haki. "THUNDEROUS OVERCHARGE IMPACT!" Explosions roared from the back of his leg as it shot down slamming into the quickly crossed arms of the Rear Admiral.

"Like hell, will you two win this!!!!" The marine roared as Kano's leg crashed into the haki-covered arms. The weight of the kick pressed down pushing back the arms as Kano's leg tried to force them apart. His eyes watched as the shell pressed down until it was nearly touching the marine's shoulder.

"Bye Bye!"

Kano said with a grin as the explosion roared out heat, fire, and shock roared from right beside the marine's head sending Kano tumbling away as the Rear Admiral was consumed by a cloud of fire and smoke. Bouncing off the ground Kano rolled back onto his feet with a smile as he balanced on two feet and a hand looking up to see the product of his work.

---

SPOILER: Click to show

{Techs Used}

Thunderous Overcharge Impact
Rank 3 Technique
Aspect - Fireworks Factory, Explosive Empowerment
Kano goes into the kick motion, miniature fireworks appearing at the back of his leg launching the kick forward with an extreme burst of speed. The shell crashes into his opponent with its empowered blow housing an excessive amount of explosive material creating a much larger explosion.

[Vio]

Bloody balloons squeaked oddly as their mother’s body bounced off of them, just in time for her to watch her new partner in crime’s explosive kick collide with the Rear Admiral’s body. His Devil Fruit’s destructive capabilities were something else to behold — a human fireworks factory. Such was the variance of the Paramecia. Landing on solid cobbles torn asunder by their previous exchange of cutting attacks, Scarlette again turned to check up on her comrades. All of them were free now, joined by what appeared to be a ragged man with a serious spread of stubble across his face, and…

Is that a dog? Eh. I’ll look later. Right now, I need you! Eyes shifted to the blackened steel of a vicious weapon. Even standing just a few feet away from it, she could hear the subtle hiss of the blade’s ravenous appetite as it dug deeper and deeper into the cobbles. Red turned a fibrous glove to sparkling silver as she clenched her fingers about the razor-like snaith, black adding to the mix to further protect against the dreaded tool’s fangs. Both hands worked to prise it from the stone. Rebelliously, it screeched as its sharpened head emerged.

You need to shut up! I wish I could just choke you—? Wait, that’s it! Explosive sparks glinted in the inky darkness and in her chocolate eyes as a solution dawned upon her. Kano came rolling, sliding to a halt just as Miss Grimm-Rosa twisted the strange halberd’s weight in her grasp, briefly loosening her grasp until the point of its crescent faced the ground again. A palm braced against the flat of the serpentine steel, just inches shy of the weapon’s head, leaving the sharpened shaft pointing upwards and outwards. With how she held it now, fingers grasping what would have been the ring and tang of any normal farming tool, it felt like an entirely different beast.

^{“Hihihi~!” she giggled, giddy with discovery:
“How do you stop a snake biting you…”}

Whoosh! From smoke and cinder came a blade of shimmering air surging towards the dynamic duo. Proof of Xanders’ ability to shrug off the explosive blows that the human firecracker was able to dish out, and of his ability to deliver some serious blows of his own. Even as it hurtled towards them, she simply waved the blade back and forth, up and down. Tamed, L’Hydre Vorace now only hissed at her command.

^{“Ride of the Hetairoi!”}

^{“You hold it by the neck,” she muttered:
“Étrangler! … Asphyxie Fantôme!”}

Shish…! A lightning fast vertical slash of the scythe turned sabre seemed to do nothing at first. In that moment, it was naught but a hopeless and horribly mistimed attempt at blocking the incoming attack with a meagre swing of a blade, but as Xanders’ eyes peering through the clearing cloud, meeting her own gaze for just a second, the smile upon her scarred and porcelain face spoke volumes. His projected slice slammed into something invisible, almost frozen in place just inches short of where Scarlette stood, and soon thereafter dissipated like a fine mist.

^{“Wh— What was…?”}

---

SPOILER: Click to show

{Étrangler}_{— Rank 0
— Danse Avec Mort (FiSt)
— L’Hydre Vorace (Weapon)
While not really a technique per se, it is still a named manoeuvre, used as preparation for further techniques. Rather than holding L’Hydre Vorace normally, Scarlette instead takes it by the section of snaith nearest to the head – essentially what would be the throat of the namesake serpent – and holds it in such a way that the rest of the snaith serves like a sword’s blade. The toe points forward. In this position, the weapon’s strange weight distribution is much easier to manage, but generating the immense momentum of the traditional style is nigh impossible.}

SPOILER: Click to show

{Asphyxie Fantôme}_{— Rank 2
— Danse Avec Mort (FiSt)
— L’Hydre Vorace (Weapon)
— Mener et Suivre (Aspect)
This technique requires Scarlette to be holding L’Hydre Vorace in the Étrangler position. Similar to Bord Fantôme, Scarlette makes a single slash, this time with more speed behind it. The result creates a momentary vacuum in the blade’s wake, lasting maybe a second or two at most, but its existence serves as a barrier against incoming ‘Flying Slash’ attacks. The vacuum created essentially eats the incoming attack, stopping it in its tracks before dispersing it as little more than a strong wind and vapour.}

---

Grimm-Rosa Scarlette
Hannibal Lecter
Todd Sweeney
Michael Myers
Jason Voorhees
Billy Loomis
Freddy Krueger
Charles Ray
Rear Admiral Xanders
Lieutenant Eli
Kano Toro

[Flame]

Kano Post #19 / Merle Post #13

Kano looked across as the debris and detritus fell to see that the marine was back to facing off against his partner now. She wielded a, was that a scythe? The farming implement? He looked on rather confused as the Rear Admiral swung his blade forward throwing a flying slash at the dark maiden, the same one he'd thrown a few times now. The fool's eyes watched it fly forward for a moment before Kano's feet started moving beneath him once again.

His eyes watched as the blade of air dissipated before his very eyes before a slash of the scythe that his partner had done. Interesting, he wondered, Could I do that ... Why wonder though? Kano's mouth opened wide as he ran forth, his arm reached in. Sparkler ... Scythe?

At an angle his elbow pulled and a shaft of dark wood came out of his mouth, it was about a meter long. At first he was stretching his arm up but then away, the edge of the shaft pressing against his lip. His fingers ran up the wooden snath of it before they finally stopped. Then his wrist tilted and the blade pulled out of his mouth, it had the same dull metal coloration as the spear and sword he'd made earlier. It had that usual curve that a scythe had, with a blade similar in size to the one in his partner's at least so far as Kano could tell. And of course it bristled with sparks flying about it from the sparklers lining it. The fool whistled, alerting the Rear Admiral to his coming presence.

Xander's turned around his eyes widening for a moment at the sight of the fool running towards him dragging the scythe across the ground. "What the ..."

Honestly Kano wasn't sure what to do with this, he'd not really seen much use of a scythe apart from farming. And that wasn't something he'd ever paid much attention to. So then, he figured might as well go with something that felt right. Explosions roared from Kano's feet as he launched himself into the air pulling the scythe along with him. His arms whirled upwards grasping the scythe now above his head as he gripped it with both hands.

"Haah!" He yelled doing what amounted to no more than a downward swing as he fell down towards the Rear Admiral. Who was undoubtedly prepared for this stupidity coming out of the fool. His sai flicked up catching the blade of the scythe and grasping it in between two prongs locking it in place. "What do you take me for??" With a movement of his arm he pulled Kano's makeshift scythe away throwing Kano sideways away from him.

The fool let go aiming his arm towards the marine. A fireworks shell appeared on the end of it bulged up and then fired off a grin slyly moving across Kano's face. "Nebula Shell!" Xanders reacted quickly, releasing the twist of his sai that held the scythe in place his movement tossed the scythe flying in a random direction. And then he flicked his blade back in place. "GRANICUS SLICE!" In a swift movement the sai passed through the shell Kano had thrown at him slicing it in two as it had the previous. The fuse went out.

Kano's grin widened. Half a dozen explosions roared out as the mini fireworks within the shell went off in a large number of small explosions. Followed by the real thing, Xanders was taken off guard as the small explosions set off the otherwise inert material of the main firework. The fool grinned and laughed.

---

Explosions after explosion finally rang across the area where the fishwoman had been laid out. Her eyes flickered slightly, motion beneath the lid reacting to the sounds that'd become a little too familiar to that one. Quietly as her consciousness began to come back everything else came with it. The pain, it ran across her body, through her everything invading every facet of her mind. Particularly her sides and back though were unnaturally bad. Well that and the migraine ...

"ughhhhhh" the fishwoman made an audible groan as her eyes flickered open for a moment. Thoughts slowly spilled into her head though she was barely able to make sense of them. Pain, explosions, explosions? Sky? She blinked looking up at the blue sky speckled with clouds and a few poofs of black smoke rising into the air.

"Wha's happen" Two words forced their way from her mouth for whomever was near her to hear.

---

SPOILER: Click to show

{Techs Used Here}

Nebula Shell
Rank 3 Technique - 100 XPz
Aspect - Fireworks Factory
Variation - Overcharge Shell
Kano's 2-stage firework shell. It is actually a double layered shell. Within the firework are smaler ones sitting in an inbetween layer to the main firework which provides the propulsion and initial explosion. After that one goes off it shoots off the smaller ones in many directions. They then explode causing a massive aoe of explosions.

[Vio]

^{“Follow,” she uttered:
“Étape Rapide…!”}

A blur of black and white rushed forwards, followed at a more normal and bouncy pace by the engorged octuplets she had spawned. The sound of a dozen fireworks bursting and igniting the air with their sparkling smoke preceded her as Grimm-Rosa Scarlette closed the gap between herself and Xanders, blade at the ready, she sliced up and across. Steel met steel with a jarring squeal. Through clearing dust, the form of the Rear Admiral looked far more worse for wear than he had done prior. Attire scorched, hair singed, flesh grazed, it seemed the duo’s attacks were becoming increasingly more effective, but now he had the long snaith of the serpentine scythe trapped between the prongs of his own blade.

Shriii…! Xanders grimaced as weapons sparked.

^{“Didn’t you already see, you runt?” he growled:
“Your weapons aren’t going to help! Turn of—?”}

^SHRAAACK!

“Gyaaah!” In the blink of an eye, the CO shot skywards, propelling himself up and out of harm’s immediate way with solid steps upon the air. Crimson arced briefly from his arm into which the blackened blade had bitten, but worse still was the glimmer of steel that his eyes caught hitting the ground a few yards away from the site of the clash. With surprise wild in his eyes, he looked to his forked sword, now missing one of its side prongs. A clean slice through the steel left but a pointless nub in its place.

^{“That blade… It can’t cut Kairōseki, but,” he hesitated:
“It sliced through the steel of my sai so readily?!”}

^“Punch!”

“Wh—?” Thwap! Caught unawares, he barely had time to look back down before a red, swollen fist collided with his face. A lesser impact for sure compared to what he’d taken thus far, but his vision was soon clouded by a half-dozen or more swollen forms which floated in the air like balloons, drifting at him and firing off their own strikes as they passed him by. He dodged a couple easily, too slow for his reactions now resumed. Another he swatted out of the air with a blackened hand, sending it zooming down to earth where it bounced harmlessly off the cobbles.

“Damned things… Kamisori!” With lightning speed he kicked off the air to evade number six as it reached for him with inflated form, appearing instead behind the seventh and thrusting his sword into its back. Almost instantly, the Homunculus exploded in a spattering of red, like an overfilled balloon brushed by a knife. Claret got in his eyes, forcing them shut as the squealing, dying breath of the being painted him. Number eight crashed into his gut with a pressurised punch, briefly knocking the wind out of his lungs.

“Hm? You made this?” Scarlette said, grasping the wooden shaft and giving the weapon a few quick rotations in her free hand. A grin spread across her face. “Catch…!” A sparkling crescent flew towards the lowest of the swollen Homunculi, which reached out and took a hold of the snaith as instructed. Picturing the scene in her mind’s eye, Scarlette yelled “Slice!” and watched as the bouncing bubble launched itself into the air towards Xanders, brandishing the Wild Spark’s own foolhardy attempt at a sickle.

^{—————}

^{“Ah, don’t worry, madam,” Hannibal Lecter said:
“You’re in good hands now!”}

^“Ruhum.”

“That was quite a fall you had,” Lecter continued, squatting down beside the Gyojin girl as she stirred. “Unfortunately, I’m not a doctor, so I’m hardly qualified to diagnose and treat any injuries you might have sustained as a result. Hopefully, the worst is just a few bruised bones — maybe a fractured rib or two?”

^{“You aren’t helping,” another piped up:
“You might as well be finishing the job—”}

^{“Excuse me? Who exactly are you?”}

“I might ask the same question,” the gentleman with brown waves of hair retorted, “given your poor taste in attire. A white suit? What kind of man wears a white suit? You’ll show up all the dirt!” Lecter stood up, meeting the man’s eye proper and glaring daggers in his direction — and daggers were glared back. Death stares lingered for a moment, but soon the second sir broke into a smile and held out a hand. “Bateman.”

^{“Lecter.”}

^{“Thank goodness,” Loomis gasped from behind the cages:
“I honestly thought you two were about to start fighting.”}

“I. Am. Was. Doctor,” announced the dog, much to the surprise of nearly everyone present, save the two lunatics and their explosive conflict going on in the background. Said canine appeared to be a large alpine mastiff, who plodded over on all fours. For some reason, he wore a baggy shirt and trousers, much like the others that had been pulled from their cages. “Can. Help. Hurt. Where?”

---

SPOILER: Click to show

{Étape Rapide}_{— Rank 2
— Main-à-Main (FiSt)
By moving her legs at high speed, mirroring the steps of a swift dance, Scarlette can achieve bursts of speed far faster than her swiftest sprint. For those who are quick enough to track her movements, she becomes little more than a blur as she covers dozens of yards’ distance in fractions of a second.}

---

Grimm-Rosa Scarlette
Hannibal Lecter
Todd Sweeney
Michael Myers
Jason Voorhees
Billy Loomis
Freddy Krueger
Charles Ray
Rear Admiral Xanders
Lieutenant Eli
Kano Toro
Patrick Bateman
The Dog?

[Flame]

Kano Post #20 / Merle Post #14

The battle continued without him for those moments as in his absence his partner rejoined the fight instead. A dance of blades which resulted in the de-pronging of one of the sai's smaller arms. A point that distracted him enough, set him off enough that the more attacks continued to land.

Kano watched in amused puzzlement as the small red human-like blobs that'd poured from his partner earlier took their turns trying their luck with the Rear Admiral as they floated by him. If they were getting in, then he figured he should be as well. The fool advanced post-haste charging across the road with an unusual grin on his face. This was such an interesting fight, so much to see. He might've been okay watching it, but then being a part of it, that was definitely better. "Blast!" Explosions at his feet shot Kano forward towards the Rear Admiral.

A black-coated drill formed in place of Kano's hand, the usual shell, but taller, more pointed, and with threads twisted about its outer edge. And of course spinning due to the mini fireworks on the end causing it to rotate out of control. The fool thrust it forward as explosions fired from the elbow. "THUNDEROUS METEOR BREAKER"

To his own misfortune the timing of attacks coming in gave Xanders little ability to react as he was blinded and then had a fist slam into his gut. But still he turned to face the intent charging in from behind him leaving another the chance. "Like hell! Turn-" The marine's sai swung about. But in his haste he'd forgotten the damage just done to it. The sai's steel and stone clashed in a haki on haki crash, but without the prong capturing the tip, it couldn't hold itself to the spinning drill finding itself knocked away by the rotational force.

Kano's drill lunged forward its aim put only slightly off by the sai's attempt to parry. Striking home it met a haki-covered abdomen and drove in. Sticking itself into the marine as he yowled in pain as it stuck itself solidly into the abdomen. The marine's face grimaced and hardened as he willed himself past the growing pain. "Urrrrrgggg- PHALANX-GA-" His sai pulled back for a moment before shooting forwards towards Kano who was still pushing his drill against the haki-coated abdomen.

But the marine's focus broke as a new factor came in, the sai's tip speared the air beside Kano's head as a scythe blade slashed down upon his shoulder. A familiar one, the sparkler scythe Kano had made wielded by one of the little blood beings bit into the marine.

The sai flashing before his eyes Kano's attention turned back to see what had happened. He grinned, "Good job! Time to ... Boom!" His arm detached from the spinning drill and his fingers snapped for effect. The drill blew itself apart the metal shell pushed forward biting deeper before breaking apart. The explosive material beneath it roared out in a consuming ball of flames which set off the sparkler scythe as well. Engulfing the Rear Admiral in a second inferno.

Kano leaped backwards out of it watching with his devilish grin at the destructiveness of his toys.

---

Numerous voices responded to her question. She recognized absolutely none of them, her eyeslids flashed up and down multiple times as she tried to make sense of the words. But they soon seemed to no longer be about her. Not that they really helped her migraine, though she suspected not much would when the hurt, the pain was basically coming from everywhere. But slowly her consciousness gathered itself and began to more cleanly put words and thoughts together as at the very least the drowsiness had disappeared

Slowly she tilted her head to one side to eye the bunch of men who were standing near her. "Wh...a...t" She slowly enunciated each syllable as she sort of needed them to restart what they were saying, her head was still a mess at the moment. She, another voice came up, she had enough of herself now to hear the claim of being a doctor. Personally Merle would've preferred her own care, but she wasn't really fit to give it at the moment. "Hel-p .. P-lea-se" She got the words out slowly as her eyes finally laid themselves upon the owner of the voice.

A large ... dog. It ambled up to her its large paws treading across the ground. Merle blinked trying to hold back her need to laugh as she noticed the dog was wearing shirt and pants. As it asked where she hurt, a new thought came into her head which broke her control. Painful laughter sprung for her mouth as she tried to speak.

"Hurt-haha-s in my heehee- ever-hee-where."

---

SPOILER: Click to show

{Techs Used Here}

Thunderous Meteor Breaker
Rank 3 Tech - 100 XPz
Aspect - Fireworks Factory, Explosive Empowerment
Variation - Meteor Breaker
Kano's full forearm disappears from the elbow forward. From it comes forth a long fireworks shell already a bit longer than that which it replaced. The fireworks shell formed is a drill, pointed and threaded it uses two small rockets to spin it at a furious rate. It is of course loaded to the brink with explosives, though Kano rarely fires the drill off. When Kano attacks with this he gains a piercing element far superior to anything else he brings.

Similar to Meteor Breaker, but now Kano's attack gains increased ferocity as explosion from behind his elbow propel his arm forward with devastating power.

[Vio]

^{“Nice!” Scarlette chirped:
“Now, let’s see if I can…”}

Eyes closing for a moment, Miss Grimm-Rosa raised the strange scythe and bent her elbow, legs spread to balance herself and bear the weight of the once unwieldy halberd. The butt of the blade — sharp as a katana’s tip — pointed towards the battle ensuing overhead. Senses reached out as she called upon her Kenbunshoku Haki, like extending invisible tendrils to feel out the world above — invisible tendrils that locked onto the now more familiar auras of the Wild Spark and the Rear Admiral. Where normal eyes could not see through the sparks and smoke, the mind’s eye could, painting an image of the two men as they fell away from one another.

I should really find a way to get airborne without bouncing off my own Homunculi, the Offspring Woman noted, briefly reminiscing on her past encounter with a vampire; but she quickly cleared her hazy mind and focused once more. Xanders was tumbling, but not uncontrollably, that much she could just about perceive as his presence swirled. Her hand clenched more tightly about the neck of L’Hydre Vorace, not realising that its insatiable edge had long since chewed through a thin fibrin coating and started to draw blood. If I move fast enough… If you’re sharp enough… Then I should be able to! Eyes opened, a hawkish glimmer reflecting the silhouette of a scorched and bloodied goliath.

^{“Vipère Fantôme!”
Hesh!}

Arm unfurling, the Voracious Hydra’s tip jetted forth with controlled swiftness, stopping suddenly as its wielder’s arm met maximum reach. And from the blade’s tip— No! Coursing down the entire snaith and then uncoiling — came a rippling spear of air cleaved in twain. Like a serpent lashing out, the javelin of pressure shot skywards, leaving a shimmering wake as it raced towards the Rear Admiral’s body, his heart.

“Hm?! Kamisori!” Xanders reacted swiftly, narrowly vanishing in a haze as the beam shot through the space he had occupied just a half-second before. Air shimmered in an arc. In an instant, the man was before her yet again, broken sai brandished and glimmering. Odd steel turned black with Armament’s infusion, then ignited: “Siege of Halicarnassus!”

SKREEE—! Sparks flew as Xanders’ blade clashed again with the darkened steel of Scarlette’s own, the latter able to react in a brief moment of clarity and understanding. But her opponent’s strength outweighed hers quite heavily. Gritting her teeth in a determined smile, eyes illuminated as she stared gleefully into her foe’s own, she grasped the scythe with both hands. Blood laced the edges of the head and neck as her clutches buckled against the infernal impact of a man hellbent on her eradication. Flames swept outwards, fury ignited. Nevermind inch by inch; his assault had her sliding back several feet, blades yelling in contest.

^{“Are you sure you wanna do that?”}

^{“I won’t make the same mistake,” Xanders hissed:
“My Haki is superior to yours in every way!”}

^{“Huh…? I’m not using Haki.”}

^{“Wh— That means,” his eyes narrowed:
“That blade… It’s a Kokutō?!”}

“I don’t know what that means, but,” Miss Grimm-Rosa grinned, “thanks for reminding me! Durcir!” Leaning forwards, she focused all of her efforts on winning this contest, and willpower made manifest added itself to the shrieking mix even as the tip of the CO’s blade pushed closer towards her neck. The ecstasy of the fight was revitalising; vitality hardened the steel further until it adopted carmine iridescence. Sparks grew more fierce, the weapons no longer screaming, but singing a vicious song.

With a glint in his eye, the man vanished instantaneously…

---

SPOILER: Click to show

{Vipère Fantôme}_{— Rank 2
— Danse Avec Mort (FiSt)
— L’Hydre Vorace (Equipment)
— Tornade (Aspect)
Scarlette holds L’Hydre Vorace in the Étrangler position, pointing the butt towards her enemy before making a swift thrust. This attack sends a shorter ranged ‘Flying Slash’ that seems to slither slightly through the air, designed to pierce an opponent’s body. The natural curvature of the weapon is what causes the projectile to curve slightly back and forth, like a slithering snake.}

SPOILER: Click to show

{Durcir}_{This is just Scarlette’s term for hardening her Busōshoku Haki, and is literally just French for “Harden”.}

---

Grimm-Rosa Scarlette
Hannibal Lecter
Todd Sweeney
Michael Myers
Jason Voorhees
Billy Loomis
Freddy Krueger
Charles Ray
Rear Admiral Xanders
Lieutenant Eli
Kano Toro
Patrick Bateman
The Dog?

[Flame]

Kano Post #21

The flames of his attacks burnt away, the smoke slid down bringing Xanders into view. Blood slid in thin lines from Rear Admiral's shoulder and belly. Burns and cinders patched across his clothing, and his jacket, the white coat of justice was blackened. Which was hilariously amusing for Kano as he watched the Rear Admiral clash into the dark maiden he now called his partner.

The fool simply watched for a moment, smiling and even giving a clap or two as the combat became more and more entangled in movements. He grinned for a moment before feeling as if he was missing out once again. "Let's go." He said to himself as his own form of encouragement. Not that he needed it, but all the same. He charged in as sai and scythe slammed together for another round of fighting each other with power. This time Kano started slow, he started at a slow run, speeding up with every step.

They were still talking as Kano approached his eyes went from the pair to solely the opponent. The Rear Admiral seemed momentarily overpowered, they were gaining on him. Then he was going to ... Kano's eyes flickered about. Where would he go, where would he. Time to guess. "Blast!" Explosions shot from Kano's feet shooting him to the left as the marine disappeared. "STELLAR SMASH" Kano's blinding fist punched the air as the marine appeared in the air above him his foot kicking off the air as he looked down.

"Huh?" His eyes aired Kano who was standing in punching position his hand radiating in the air. "TRYING TO RUN!?" Kano yelled as he tossed aside the shreds of embarrassment. Explosions roared at the fool's feet as he shot into the air in chase of the Rear Admiral. The Wild Spark's lower body turning into a fireworks accelerating him upwards to ward the marine.

Xanders stopped in the air, twisting about his foot cutting a line across the sky sending a blade of air towards Kano. "Rankyaku!" The fool twisted using his arms and torso as guides he whirled about the slash letting it fly past him as he closed the distance. He drove in right up close, "PHALANX-GAN" The sai twisted in the marine's hand as he thrust the tip of the hilt towards Kano at speed.

"Blast Chest!" Four miniature explosions roared from Kano's chest forcing the youth up quickly as the sai speared the air where he'd just been. And the battle begun, Kano throwing up haki on parts of his body traded aerial blows with the Rear Admiral. In the skies above, the aerial infghting began between the two. In mere seconds numerous blows were traded back and forth, a cacophony of miniature explosions. Kano using his power to randomly change direction midfight and the more controlled Geppou and practice keeping the pair battling it out in the air. The main issue, was the sai, it was the trump card in the fight as Kano had little but to dodge it. Blocks he'd learned the hard way he couldn't make against the infernal weapon.

Red eyes flashed as Kano disengaged for a moment shooting himself backwards away from the marine. Bloody holes made clear who'd come out the victor, three or four shigan points, the use of his opponent's second arm littered Kano's chest. What he needed was an answer to the sai, his eye glittered as it barely took him a moment of actual thinking. His hand disappeared, replace by a simple fireworks shell coated in haki. "Haha! SHELL!!" The fool shot up before coming down towards the Rear Admiral, his haki-coated shell now the supposed answer to all his problems.

"You're a fool if you think that'll save you!" The marine kicked off the air rising to meet him. "GRANICUS SLICE!" Sai and shell met at the meeting of the fools fall and the marine's rise. Strength met strength, steel met steel, and haki met haki. And Kano's held miraculously.

"Hmph, if you think that is enough." The marine growled as his sai slowly began to cut into the center of Kano's shell. It dug deeper into the shell with every moment. From Kano's arm the shell grew and grew as the sai began to slice through the fireworks shell.

"Neither your haki, nor your shell will stand between me and victory." The shell detached from Kano's hand. The Wild Spark pulled his arm away for a moment laughing as he noted the sai seemed to still be stuck driven into the shell. He reached forward his fingers grasping the shell, it was inert, a dud. Kano grinned as his hand held the shell's metal body safely untouched by the kairouseki within. It kept the sai away from him. Perfect. "Now you can't cut this!" The fool said stupidly as he rotated the shell so it pressed against the sai's blade. With that grip he pulled on it tugging his own body forward. Kano thrust his legs out in a kick aimed at the Rear Admiral.

"STELLAR DROP!"

There wasn't enough motion to get it properly done, but Kano's foot began to glow as he swung his leg forward aiming the burning kick into the marine's shoulder letting go of the sai as he did. For a moment Kano thought he saw black haki form on the marine's shoulder as Kano's own haki covered foot slammed into it sending the marine plummeting downwards.

---

SPOILER: Click to show

{Stellar Smash}
Rank 2 Technique
Aspect - Internalized Explosions
A firework explodes within Kano's arm turning it from forearm up to fingers bright white with heat. The proceeds to punch his oponent with the arm aiming for the gut. Upon contact he twists his fist, wrist, and whole arm to create a nauseating feeling for his enemy.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Shell Punch}
Rank 1 Technique - 50 X-Poinz
Creating a fireworks shell in replace of his fist Kano punches his opponent, with the shell exploding on contact.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Stellar Drop}
Rank 2 Technique
Aspect - Internalized Explosions
Jumping into the air, Kano leans forward spinning in front flips. He aims down to deliver a heavy kick onto the shoulder or head of his opponent. While falling he explodes a firework in his leg superheating it causing it to radiate with heat.

[Vio]

Did he just miss…? Witnessing a moment of failure on her partner’s part, Grimm-Rosa Scarlette took a second to recover from her clash with the Rear Admiral’s blade. She dared to hazard a guess that his sudden disappearance had been due to realisation — realisation that a Haki imbued L’Hydre Vorace could perhaps have broken the sai’s remaining prong? Strong as her will was, she doubted it could have managed such a feat, but now she stood watching as the human firecracker engaged in his own little skirmish.

This guy’s smarter than he looks, she assessed from her current position, circling slowly around the edge of the fight. She had watched tentatively as a cap had become skewered by the sai, rendering a sea-stone core almost completely null against the two espers. Little by little, they were whittling down the man’s advantages over them, but he wasn’t completely crippled as yet. He still had some kick in him, and that kick came out again as he briefly focused his will into a concentrated coating. Protection against the searing strike, but it was not enough to prevent him from being launched back down.

“Cool off for a bit,” she uttered, planting the black blade’s head into the cobbles. Now, chocolate hues picked up on the lacerations across fingers and palms — traces of the weapon’s rebellious bite against all that tried to contain and control it. Hands, arm and torso streaked with red, she was starting to feel some of her vigour abandoning her, but not enough to make any massive difference yet. Even if she wasn’t getting in on the fight on her own, this was far too much fun!

Steps quickened. Red flickered.

^{Now I can… Sticky fibrin hardened:
Huh…? Oh, I haven’t named this yet…}

^{“You’re such a pain in the a—!”}

CRASH! Scarlette’s fist smacked cleanly into Xanders’ jaw as she shifted from blinding speed into a left uppercut. With no time to react properly, the Rear Admiral found himself stumbling backwards as what was essentially a silver bullet struck true, sheer force empowered by ambition even going so far as to cause the glistering gage to shatter, much to the wielder’s own surprise. Had the serpentine scythe done that much damage to the weave? The answer? Probably a resounding yes.

Xanders tumbled, securing his footing, but his weapon clattered across the cobblestones and out of his immediate reach. Eyes jumped to it, then to the Wild Spark, and then back to the woman in bandage and black. A straight right flew, silvery coating blackened by Haki. Fist met fist as the Marine retaliated with a punch of his own, but his faltering balance left him vulnerable to being pushed back as shredded fibrin shattered on impact, leaving Scarlette’s bare fist lined with red fighting his own.

^{“Hypertension,” she uttered, red condensing:
“Pistolet Écarlate!”}

Plewp! Ruddy radiance spattered outwards, sending both sides flying — Xanders across the street into a wall and Scarlette hurtling past her partner. Fortunately, a quick order resulted in her form being caught by one of the surviving Homunculi, its inflated body acting almost like a giant cushion as she slammed into it. Stone cracked at the Rear Admiral’s back, leaving his slouched and winded.

---

SPOILER: Click to show

{Pistolet Écarlate:—}_{Scarlette coats her fist using her Devil Fruit’s essence and then throws a punch against a target’s body. After connecting, she releases her hold over the essence, generating a forceful eruption of red energy that repels the opponent’s body.}

---

Grimm-Rosa Scarlette
Hannibal Lecter
Todd Sweeney
Michael Myers
Jason Voorhees
Billy Loomis
Freddy Krueger
Charles Ray
Rear Admiral Xanders
Lieutenant Eli
Kano Toro
Patrick Bateman
The Dog?

[Flame]

Kano Post #22

His kick sent the marine dropping down. And directly into his partner's grasp as she flickered forward to meet the Rear Admiral. A red-colored fist slammed into the marine's jaw sending him staggering backwards and tumbling across his feet. Kano watched with the glee as the combo from his hit continued. The fool dropped to the ground awaiting his time to return to the fight.

Brilliance, the weapon was knocked out of the man's hand as he stumbled even further backwards. Another collision of fists went on as Kano charged forward. Explosions bristled at his feet as he flew forward at speed. Ahead of him a burst of red lead to a strange sound followed by the dark maiden flying backwards past him. "Tag, I'm in." He said grinning as he charged in chasing after the Rear Admiral who had the gall to try and get away from him by trying to crash himself through a wall.

Not that Kano was about to let him. The youth launched himself into the air, a large shell growing out of his pulled back hand. Haki flowed over the metal layer that surrounded it. As the Wild Spark descended upon the slouched and winded marine.

"THUNDEROUS OVERCHARGE SHELL!!"

An explosion roared from Kano's elbow thrusting him downwards even faster. Below him the marine's head turned up. "TEKKAI" Black Haki covered the marine's chest as he reacted just in time to the falling fool. Haki coated metal contacted haki coated muscle. An explosion roared from the impact point, smoke, debris, dust, and flame engulfed the pair of fools as a shockwave echoed out around them causing the structure behind them to shake and tilt in response.

But neither came out. "DON'T YOU DARE ..." A voice dripping with exhaustion and pain roared out of the smoke. "STELLAR SMASH!!!" A panicked voice yelled out.

"UNDERESTIMATE"

"THE F***ING MARINES"

A gust of wind coming up from the sea expedited the removal of the smoke revealing a blackened marine standing there one burly hand firmly grasping the arm Kano had originally attacked with. The fool's other fist was pressed into the marine's chest. But he was standing up nonetheless, the Rear Admiral gritted his teeth down pulling the Wild Spark towards him. A haki covered fist swung forth catching Kano in the side cheek knocking him backwards but he was still held by the other arm.

Kano's head spun, his mind rolled with the hit as well as the sudden stoppage from a pull on his arm. First he needed to, an explosion roared from the held arm as it turned into a fireworks shell and immediately exploded the shockwave from within the marine's hand broke his grip for just long enough that the fool drew his arm back. The Rear Admiral turned on him showing his own weakness as he took a very uneven step toward the fool. At the same time Kano's head righted itself from all the birdies spinning above it. He glanced up noticed the incoming marine.

"STARBURST SMASH" Kano's fist glowed white again coating itself with Haki as it swung in empowered by an explosion and met the marine's incoming haymaker. Black on black both punches crashed into each other, gritted teeth and expressions met amounting to nothing as neither fighter budged an inch. The fool grinned stupidly as he looked up towards the marine. He was laughing undeniably.

"Evenly matched huh ..."

"As if."

The marine's other hand shot forward grasping Kano's still burning wrist much to his surprise. The marine pulled, tugged, and then tossed Kano away in a swing of his arm sending the fool flying through the air. The marine's leg swung up after that.

"Rankyaku!"

---

SPOILER: Click to show

{Thunderous Overcharge Shell}
Rank 3 Technique
Aspect - Fireworks Factory, Explosive Empowerment
Upgrade - Overcharge Shell
This time as Kano goes into the punch motion, miniature fireworks appear from the pores of his elbow launching the punch forward in an extreme burst of power. The shell now crashes into his opponent in an empowered blow before blasting everything to smithereens. This technique is called Thunderous, because the sound of fireworks going off at his elbow preempts the hit by mere moments.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Stellar Smash}
A firework explodes within Kano's arm turning it from forearm up to fingers bright white with heat. The proceeds to punch his oponent with the arm aiming for the gut. Upon contact he twists his fist, wrist, and whole arm to create a nauseating feeling for his enemy.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Starburst Smash}
A variation of Stellar Smash where after empowering his fist he uses explosive empowerment to launch his fist into his opponent. Causing his punch to accelerate forward at excessive speed.

[Vio]

Downside of being airborne when I use Hypertension is it can push me back, too, Grimm-Rosa Scarlette remembered as she steadied herself. Now it was his turn again to fight, and he was doing so gleefully, neither giving the Rear Admiral more than a couple of seconds’ reprieve from their onslaught of blood, fireworks, and determination. But for everything they tried, he seemed to always have an answer, forcing them to improvise. Not that it wasn’t a good fight, but it lacked that special something to tip her over the edge.

Chaos ensuing soon created a plume of smoke that masked the two men, and when it cleared it was the taller of the two who seemed to have the upper hand. Xanders was beginning to lay into the aptly named Wild Spark when a preemptive detonation broke his grip, transforming the situation entirely — a situation which culminated in the latter being tossed into the sky and targeted by a blade of air. Now was her chance.

“Block. Push,” she called. Her call heeded, red figures propelled themselves into position as quickly as their bouncy, buoyant bodies would allow — a small gang of swollen spawn that unthinkingly martyred themselves upon a shock wave of slicing air. Not that their bodies would do much to slow the blade’s advance, but it was one last one which did the most necessary deed. Attempting to intercept the fool’s flight path, a Homunculus pulled back its bulbous arm as it prepared to give the young man a boost out of harm’s way. Whether or not he’d accept the offer was unknown, but now the air between Rear Admiral and intended target was clouded with splatters of red mist as maroon minions martyred themselves.

^{“Étape Rapide!” Scarlette blurred:
“À Bout Portant!”}

Veiled by a curtain of crimson, the Red Terror stayed herself on the now vulnerable flank of the CO — vulnerable was an overstatement. Fingers struck hardened muscles and even the enhancements of Busōshoku failed to let her penetrate flesh, but that did nothing to dissuade her assault as Xanders pivoted into an axe kick angled for her neck. Narrowly, she ducked and sidestepped the blow, reattempting her previous strike now against his abdomen, to much the same effect. Now his whole arm came down upon her, reaching for her throat… and finding purchase as he raised her into the air and launched himself skywards with a single bound.

“I don’t fully understand your power,” Xanders rasped as he bounced off the dried out air, “but I’m sure if you try that repelling trick like this you’ll break your own neck!” His grasp tightened about her windpipe, promoting discomfort as her body was denied precious air. Breathlessly, she choked out a few meaningless words, fingers — even if a couple of them were slightly bent — clutching the man’s forearm. Each step took them several feet higher. Higher and higher until they were about level with some of the highest rooftops, and then some. Ruddy conjurations below that hadn’t already been lost soon found themselves dissolving into lifeless stains upon the floor, and even the floating Tisserands succumbed to a similar fate.

Splick! Fingers found their mark, breaking flesh near the elbow. The CO yelped, momentarily ceasing his defiant ascent — an abrupt interruption to what would likely have been a messy finisher. With his other hand, he reached to try and grasp her own — to pull her fingers free — but it was far too late for that. Carmine coruscation raced down the woman’s arm, following veins into her fingers and disappearing into the wound into which her digits still dug.

^{“You…? Shigan as well?!”}

^{Say goodbye to that elbow, Scarlette grinned:
Rose… Ensanglantée!}

^{—————}

^{“Wow, a dog who’s also a doctor?”}

^{“Bandages. Good,” the large St. Bernard said:
“Recommend. Movement. Not. Best. Could.”}

“I will be entirely honest, that is impressive — I would never have considered the idea,” Lecter commented, observing the canine’s handiwork. The Fishwoman’s body was now wrapped in various places by lengthy strips of fabric, with important skeletal framework kept in position by the presence of rather clunky but suitable wooden splints. All of the pieces had come from the very vehicle that had once housed the canine caretaker, with the wagon’s canvas cover serving as the bandages and broken off pieces of wood serving as the support. It was less than ideal, but it was about the limit of what they had access to.

Sweeney was cutting out pieces of the canvas sheet while the man with receding hair they had freed was preoccupied with making a frame, working together to create a simple stretcher. Whether or not they would need it to carry the Gyojin was yet to be seen — she might have been a tougher cookie than her sleek frame let on. Still, the mysterious doctor had identified some crucial fixes rather quickly, and that had earned at the very least the respect of Voorhees.

^{“So, what’re your names,” Krueger asked:
“Assuming I’ve not already met you in a dream.”}

^{“I suppose I can do the honours of introducing—”}

“Kramer,” said the balding fellow as he finished tying two of the stretcher’s beams together. His immediate answer seemed to shatter the illusory hope of Bateman, whose face turned very blank and expressionless for a moment. Without a word, Lecter patted him on the shoulder. Next, a voice came from behind — the small figure of a girl with long, dark hair had decided to squeeze herself between a couple of the unloaded bits of cargo.

^{“I’m Sadako.”}

^{“Name,” the dog barked:
“Cujo. Never. Mutt.”}

“Um—um—um— Sawyer,” squeaked the behemoth with a babyface, who stood there and kept a wary eye on his surroundings.

“And… And my name is Torrance,” added the raggedy man, whose eyes were mostly on the flowering surge of blood that erupted in the air high above them all. He turned around and stared at them all. “Right, I would like to ask an important question. Why are we all standing here working while those three are getting playtime…?” Many eyes looked up to see what was unfurling and, in almost perfect unison, most of the original seven uttered the same title.

^{“Big Sis…”}

---

SPOILER: Click to show

{À Bout Portant:—}_{Using a finger or two, Scarlette swiftly stabs an opponent’s body to pierce them and deal damage.}

SPOILER: Click to show

{Rose Ensanglantée:—}_{Scarlette pierces an opponent with her fingertips, applying the condensed essence of the Tane Tane no Mi to them afterwards. The resistance of the opponent’s body quickly generates sufficient pressure to overload the energy, creating an internal wave of repelling force that inflicts critical internal injury to the unlucky victim. The technique draws its name from the subsequent blast, which resembles the petals of a blooming rose.}

---

Grimm-Rosa Scarlette
Hannibal Lecter
Todd Sweeney
Michael Myers
Jason Voorhees
Billy Loomis
Freddy Krueger
Charles Ray
Rear Admiral Xanders
Lieutenant Eli
Kano Toro
Patrick Bateman
Cujo
John Kramer
Yamamura Sadako
Bubba Sawyer
Jack Torrance

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Kano Post #23 / Merle Post #15

The fool flew through the air propelled by the power of the throw chased by the flying slash that raced after him. Not that he was aware, he could barely think of more than the feeling of the air as it pressed don't against his cheeks feeling as if it were pulling his skin backwards against his face harder and harder. A weird vibrating sound rolled out of his mouth as he forward through the bumpy ride of it all.

Behind him the blade of flying air split cleanly through the first of the red homunculi sent to slow its advance of the fool Then the second, still it advanced splitting the parts in two with relative ease. It was bound still to catch him, or at least was until another force, somewhat cushion-like slammed into Kano throwing him off-course and spinning in a singular direction. His final impact was into a stone building. He crashed into the stonework his body pressed into the wall.

The fool's head spun from the force of the impact. And everything went black for a moment before coming back to him little more than a moment later. "Uuugghh" Kano groaned having momentarily forgot about the fight going on below. But soon enough he regained himself once more. Trying to move his arms he found them feeling quite stuck and his whole body feeling sore. Not that that had a chance to stop him, four explosions burst from each of his limbs in an breaking on stone about them as they opened enough space for him to pull himself out of the fool-shaped hole he found himself stuck in.

Standing on the edge of the hole he'd created by crashing into it Kano spied across the ground carefully. Not there. His eyes went up until he found the pair of them moving upwards now even above where he was. The fool leaned forward, "Rocketman!" His whole lower body was replaced by a large bottle rocket accelerating him forward towards his opponent. His hands came down to guide his motion, "Blast!" Kano's explosions at his hands sent him upwards quickly as he continued to push forward towards them.

His head turned up as he eyes the two, the maiden and the marine. They fell apart from each other as a bloody burst splattered about from somewhere between the two. The fool accelerated towards the marine who was falling backwards temporarily roaring in shock from what had just happened to him. Diving low beneath the marine Kano then shot himself upwards towards the marine's back. "Did ya miss me?" He asked with an amused voice as he cut his engine reaching his hands out as he rose up to meet the marine using mostly his momentum.

If Xanders noticed, he noticed too late as Kano's hands reached forward grabbing the marine by his collar and where the cloak met his belt. The fool's momentum caused the marine to rotate so he was now facing downwards rather than upwards. "Stellar Drop!" It wasn't the full technique, but two explosions roared within of Kano's feet as he kicked them down upon the marine's exposed back. His hands let go as he slammed the marine towards the ground. His now free arm rose, the fool grinned happily feeling the currents of victory "OVERCHARGE SHELL!!!" He fired down a haki-coated bulging fireworks shell to chase the marine to the ground.

---

In the end she got treated to some extent, bandages wrapped the major wounds as she felt them. Splints were placed about her body in places as good if not better than she would've chosen herself. Merle was, not laughing so much as before though a small giggle still rolled across her lips from time to time. It couldn't be helped, watching the folk about her simply watch as a dog applied all the job.

Perhaps if she were a doctor it would have brought her to shame. But though she was good for some field medicine, she identified as a chef not a doctor. So her good name was not in any particular danger. As people made their introductions she even managed to get her own in at the end. "Merle ..." She said weakly, "I can guess who Big Sis ... is but I don't know her personally ... I'm with the explosive fool also fighting the marine." She said in strands pausing at moments to catch her breath and let the pain in her chest die down a little.

Her head turned to the dog "Thanks for the treatment ... Cujo ..." She paused before breaking out into a soft pained laughter. She was still not quite over the concept of a dog doctor.