Crescent Draw II: Imperial Inversion

[Tokoz]

 There was a faint creak as the trapdoor opened. With a slight rustle, Lassa let the line of cloth in his hand lower him to the floor, then looked up as he waited for his partner to join him. 

The music hall that hid whatever the Jade Mandate was trying to conceal was about 30 minutes away from the warehouse at a brisk walk, or about 10 minutes for a Cipher Pol agent moving along the rooftops. Moonlight shone in from the front windows, muddled by the dust and boards, and the wind caused a faint melody in the failing roof beams. 

Rubbing his hands together, he considered the tunnel ahead. It was rough, clearly having been dug out and not finished, but ahead of it was the flicker of torchlight and the finished floors of a proper room. It looked to be marble tile, actually. Surprisingly fancy, given the fact it was buried under a music hall. 

"I wonder..." Lassa hummed to himself for a moment. "It looks like they might have added a new entrance to an existing building, something sealed off. Perhaps this is an old hideaway from the Jade Empire, repurposed to keep out of sight of the new government." 

If so, it'd explain the resources and unification of the Mandate's forces. Having a centralized infrastructure to fall back on in some manner would do wonders for their success. 

When Lukas joined him, Lassa crept forwards to the edge of the light and peered out into the room. It appeared to be a foyer of sorts, with flowing water coming from holes in the ceiling and filling long pools. There were small bridges over the water features, leading to either side and hallways which branched off, and a central hallway which continued further in. 

As expected of a group named after a semiprecious stone, Jade featured heavily in the decorations. Green and white, with numerous moons in crescent shape. There was faint noise of activity further down, but not much. Tapping his foot for a moment, he looked back at Lukas.

"I don't see a lot of indication of movement or people here. It seems like there's minimal guard at the moment. We know where the heavy hitters are, so hopefully that's just a mistake on their part. We can try and split up, or we can move together and potentially risk more discovery and questions. Thoughts?"

[Bobbie]

Lukas knelt by the trapdoor as it was pulled open, his focus on their mission, though he had to admit that he was a little bit distracted by two things, mainly. Firstly, his newfound skills that he had the chance to practise on his way over to this very spot, thanks to Lassa’s kind mentoring, and secondly, the fluidity of his partner’s gender. It wasn’t something that bothered him, but it certainly was something entirely new to him.

Once Lassa’s feet were safely on the ground, Lukas followed him down to the floor beside him. He offered a gentle nod to Lassa, before redirecting his attention down the tunnel to see the flickering torchlight ahead of them and the clear distinction between the two sections of the tunnel.

Hearing his partner voice his thoughts before the pair crept forward, he began to wonder the same thing but didn’t say much in response as he waited to find out with their own eyes first before speculating.

“One heck of a hideaway…” he muttered as he followed Lassa’s lead and also peered out into the room to see how magnificently done up it was. The tiles which were previously so appealing were probably now the least attractive thing in the entire room as the water structure was the first eye-catching feature that caught his eye, ironically before all the decorations so lavishly splayed with green and white.

Turning back to Lassa once he was addressed, he thought about it for a moment. “I’m wondering if we could get a closer look at whatever activity is going on further down and find a way to blend in. There seems to be a lot of hallways, and neither of us know our way around down here - I’m not so sure splitting up would be a good idea, but maybe we can find ourselves a guide.” A subtle smile appeared on his face, the shadows cast by the torchlight accentuating its haggard appearance, as he pulled out a single card and held it between his index and middle finger.

“We just need to identify the right person and hope they lead us to something of interest.”

---

Lukas: #838383

[Tokoz]

 Grinning, Lassa rubbed his chin. "Heh. You managed to copy one of my techniques without even knowing it existed. Took me ages to figure that one out, if you're referencing what I think you are. Lemme guess, you can keep track of those cards at a distance?"

He wasn't stroking Lukas's ego. He really had taken a while to figure that technique out, with his own cloth production. Meanwhile, it seemed Lukas had managed to put that particular trick together in a much shorter span of time. 

Producing a slight piece of cloth, Lassa glanced over. "If we see more than one person, you get anyone heading left, I'll get anyone heading right?" Moving forwards, he pressed up into the shadow of a pillar and glanced down the hallway. 

In the brazier-lit confines of the hall, a few figures moved. Dressed in simple green tunics, they were moving crates of weapons and plates of food. It seemed like there was a skeleton crew here, but they were not paying a great deal of attention. They almost looked more like servants than anything else. 

Pressing into a doorway, Lassa moved forward with slow steps, putting up a screen of cloth that matched the wall well enough to shield them from a side glance. Moving down until they got to an empty room, Lassa moved over to a table covered in a thick cloth and looked around. There were a few other tables in here, and it looked like a lounge of some sort. 

"Right... I'm going to hide under a table, then use cloth to knock over a vase or something when a door closes. When someone comes in to look at it, tag them. We can do that maybe twice before people get suspicious, but it should give us a sense of the number of people here and a better look at what they're wearing. Maybe I can make a disguise."

It looked like they were wearing fairly simple robes, but there might be more than that, and wearing the wrong thing could get them both done in quickly. 

[Bobbie]

Staring at Agent Cointoss, Lukas smiled and nodded. “Yes…” he uttered, taking Lassa's surprise at the matter and his comment as a compliment. He, however, was not one to gloat, so he simply let it hang in the air and keep his own pride in check. Quick learner... he considered saying out loud, but that was not entirely true, as it only seemed to be the case in certain areas and less so in others. In any case, he had nobody but Lassa to thank for the opportunity to learn from a mentor and if that didn't earn the respect of humble silence in the place where one might usually go off on a bragging speech, then he didn't know what did. Had he the opportunity, he'd have asked to see more of what Lassa could do...

Alas, there was no time to sit around and exchange accounts of how they learnt their unique skills, as Lassa was already moving ahead of him and Lukas was quick to follow, putting the loose card away. His tall frame made it a bit awkward for him to do any crouched form of sneaking, but could easily stand straight and hide his thin figure behind pillars and slip into little narrow gaps as long as they were high enough for his height. Once the screen of cloth was put up, Lukas welcomed it gratefully and silently whispered ‘genius’ to himself, making a mental note of it.

As Lassa moved, Lukas was careful of two things. First, that his shoes didn’t make a sound on the floor tiles, his attire being of the rather fancier kind and so his shoes matched in such a way that each step would usually make a pleasant click-clacking sound. It was uncomfortable, but he had to walk on his toes. The second was that he kept up with Lassa to remain behind the cloth screen without accidentally causing any ripples in the fabric that would reveal the nature of their masterful sneaking method.

Once they were in the lounge area, Lukas kept himself hidden behind a pillar, rather than crouching behind a table, as it was a lot more comfortable. The biggest problem was that it was bound to be temporary, as there was a table behind him - currently empty - and tables ahead of him as well.

Cautious of his surroundings, the rookie agent’s attention was divided between what his partner was saying and on how well-concealed he was. Once Lassa explained the plan, Lukas finally turned to look at him and silently nodded, before carefully peering out from his hiding spot toward the other side of the room. If he could use Soru successfully, he could get across to a different pillar and move around without compromising his position… that did depend on a technique that he wasn’t extremely confident in, however.

Yet, it seemed like his best move.

“Okay,” he whispered to Lassa and got his card ready.

---

Lukas: #838383

[Tokoz]

 Nodding as Lukas signaled his readiness, Lassa looked around. A vase full of flowers by the door. Perfect. Lifting it, he quickly replaced the tablecloth with one of his own make, then moved under one of the tables. Peering out from beneath, he waited in silence. It took a few minutes, but finally there was the sound of a door swinging shut from the next room over. With a quick jerk, the tablecloth shifted just enough to drop the vase off the table, leaving it to shatter on the ground. 

There was a moment of silence, then a muffled curse before the door opened to reveal one of the people in green tunics. Looking down at the broken vase, they grit their teeth for a moment. After a brief look around at the seemingly empty room, they quickly knelt down and began to pick up the pieces of the vase, muttering in frustration to themselves. 

As Lassa watched them, he took careful measurement of their clothing and accessories. It was fairly simple and robust, with a simple white moon on the back beneath an icon of a crown. The imperialist iconography was fairly plain. He began to memorize the details as he watched the cleaning, and waited for the cleaner to finish. Once Lukas had the card in place, it would be simple enough to sneak back out. 

Then, the door swung open again. The servant glanced over, and immediately dropped to a low bow, his head touching the floor. 

The man who had entered was not tall, or mighty, or even particularly dangerous looking. His face seemed jovial, at first. It was the emptiness in his eyes, the vacant smile of someone who was wearing a mask rather than an actual expression. 

"What was the noise?"

 

"My Emperor! It seems some fool left a vase balanced by the door, and I heard it fall over. I w-" 

"Silence." 

The speech cut off almost immediately. Still smiling, the former Emperor Selethen nodded once. "Too long. Three Fingers." 

"Th-thank you, my emperor." The man's voice was trembling with fear, but his mouth split into a wobbly smile. 

Raising his hand, Selethen placed his first three fingers together. Rods of carved jade extended from them, and he swung down on the man's shin. There was a crack, and the servant grit out a wordless scream of pain. Turning, Selethen left the room without even looking back. 

Panting, the servant held the face till he left, then reached into the leg of his pants. Removing a shattered piece of armor made of slats of overlapping bamboo, all broken, he rubbed his leg for a moment then carefully went back to work, hiding the bamboo in the refuse sack beneath the broken pieces of vase.

Once he too had left the room, Lassa gave it a long moment before looking over at Lukas. "Well. I suppose we've figured out why this was so palatial. It seems we have the former Emperor in residence here...."

Emperor Selethen: #4ec056

[Bobbie]

Lukas made sure to keep himself hidden until he heard the vase crash to the ground and then the door whoosh open as somebody came to clean it. It wasn’t until he could hear the glass being picked up that he peered out to see his target.

Steadying himself, he took a deep breath, silently urging himself not to mess this up, and moments later, he was off. In a very quick motion, Lukas sped across the room, going unnoticed other than a little breeze brushing through the cleaner’s hair. Hooking his arm onto the pillar he reached, the newbie to Rokushiki swung himself round it as he came to a halt and hid behind it, the card no longer in his hand as it had been placed on the green tunic-wearing servant’s person.

Peering out once more, Lukas was about to dart back, but quickly withdrew into his hiding spot as the door opened again, turning along the pillar to make sure he would be concealed from both the servant and the new person to enter the room.

Emperor? He thought to himself, a frown appearing on his face as he heard the interaction but didn’t dare peek out yet. So he’s actually stowed away here… if he’s the one investigating a foreign noise, then he’s not a guest in this place.

When he felt brave enough, he gingerly poked his head out to get a look at him, though he instantly wished he hadn’t. The man had a very unnerving look on his face, the eyes void of any real emotion even as he struck his servant so cruelly. Lukas cringed as the three rods came down on the poor man’s shin. It was risky, but Emperor Selethen seemed like somebody they might want to keep track of while they were here, so he took out a second card and got ready. He kicked the floor several times in quick succession before dashing across the room again, just as he had done earlier.

The card had been slipped onto the Emperor’s person successfully, but as he zipped across the room, he accidentally struck a decorative ornament on another table very close to his target pillar, causing it to spin on its axis in a beautiful pirouette that inched closer and closer to the edge of the table.

Thankfully, Lukas was able to stop fast enough to catch it, but that did not leave him with enough time to get across to the pillar, and so he had to drop to the ground, shiny ornament in hand and hugged to his chest as he rolled under the table, holding his breath. It was a tight fit and very uncomfortable, but after coming so close to botching their entire mission, he didn’t dare move a muscle and waited until Lassa spoke, thus ensuring it was clear.

With a sigh of relief, he raised the table cloth to look at Lassa, the deathly pallor on his face enough to confirm that he was very well aware of his mistake and how close it was. Nodding, he carefully crawled out to replace the undamaged ornament back onto the table where it was and swiftly crept behind another table, and then to the safety provided by the nearest pillar.

Being more careful this time, he moved from one hidden location to another until he got close enough to Lassa's table to whisper to him. "I've tagged both of them."

---

Lukas: #838383

[Tokoz]

 Looking up at Lukas as he carefully returned the ornament, Lassa gave a thumbs up. "Nice catch." Peering at the doorway, he frowned. 

"From what I know, Emperor Selethen was overthrown by the Golden Dream Pirates. The Captain, Haseo 'Black Knight' Suzuki was only worth about 30 Million, so not a heavy hitter by any stretch. They had help from the locals, but he supposedly dueled Selethen himself. The former emperor might have gotten stronger, but the fact that he hasn't challenged either of the powerhouses of the island directly means he probably hasn't reached an insurmountable level."

To be honest, he was trying to reassure himself a bit as well. That was a rapid and smooth production of very detailed material, implying that Selethen had at least some control over his devil fruit. If the man wasn't a complete moron, he would have been practicing. 

Production vs Production... not a fun fight. Still, from the looks of things, Selethen was not in the same shape that Lassa was. If it came down to a fight, he liked his odds.

"Selethen is the figurehead of the Jade Mandate movement. It might be worth trying to take him out, if I'm honest. Without the former emperor, the Mandate is left with Zenith and his minions. There's no way people are going to rally behind that so called 'Exorcist', so it would take away a major part of their propaganda."

It was a bit cold, discussing a possible assassination so frankly, but that too was a test of sorts. Lukas would need to kill, sooner or later. If he couldn't bring himself to do so with such an objectionable, cold bastard as Selethen, he probably wouldn't be able to do so with anyone. For the moment though, there was a bigger question. 

"Where did Selethen go? Can we try and follow him, or is he far enough away we might get caught? We do have these disguises, but we don't want to give him cause to pay attention to us if we screw something up." So saying, Lassa's clothing warped and shifted into a copy of the servant's tunic. Reaching out, he produced one for Lukas as well.

 

[Bobbie]

The thumb’s up from his superior was more motivating than he thought it would be, such a simple gesture, yet coming from Lassa it meant so much. As he stood close to Lassa, he listened to every word he said, also scanning his partner’s features to gauge how much of that was guaranteed and how much was still a point of concern.

At Lassa’s suggestion of getting rid of the former emperor was put forward, the white-suited man nodded, considering that as a possibility, though whether he was ready for it or not, he wasn’t about to argue with no actual alternative solution in mind. A frown formed on his face, however, as something Lassa said did strike him, but he would wait until Lassa was finished before voicing his thought on the matter.

His outfit quickly concealed beneath a hideous green tunic, Lukas looked down at his new attire, tucking in and smoothing down any items of clothing beneath it that might have given him too much bulk and compromised his disguise. 

“Selethen isn’t very far away. He took a right turn down the hallway from where he came, then a left at some point, and is currently not moving. The servant took an immediate left turn and stopped there,” he explained, arranging his new clothes to seem as natural as possible. “Are you sure the people here are all loyal enough to Selethen? You saw the armour the servant wore underneath his trousers, didn’t you? I doubt the former emperor would be happy to hear about his punishments being disregarded in that way, and I also doubt that servant would be the only one wearing said armour underneath their uniforms. Unless we happened to stumble on a lone inside man whose service to Selethen is all a front.” Pausing, he looked toward the closed door, estimating the distance between him and the card he had placed on the servant - still in the same room though at a different corner. “It’s not much to go on, but might be worth keeping in mind. Every revolt starts from somewhere…”

If that were actually the case, however, then their one-night operation was a lot more eventful than what some agents got to experience throughout years of service...

---

Lukas: #838383

[Tokoz]

 Listening to Lukas's point, Lassa pondered it for a moment. "It could be that these people serve him out of fear, or that the armor is meant to prevent too much damage that might leave them unable to work. If the punishment for so minor a mistake is so intense, then perhaps they fear the punishment if they are unable to do their jobs."

Shrugging slightly, he looked at the doorway and then shook his head. "As it is, I doubt we're going to manage to foment a revolt in a single evening, especially with something so big on the horizon." The servant in question could be an ally, but if he was really loyal and simply not willing to risk his life, or more afraid of the emperor than the two infiltrators, then it could potentially blow the entire mission. 

Tapping his chin for a moment, he frowned as he considered their current situation. They didn't know how much time they had before the other Jade Mandate soldiers returned, and if Selethen got wind of their presence, then any advantage of surprise attacks was lost. Cipher Pol agents won via stealth, surprise, and tactical advantage.

"Alright. I'm going to go try and take down Selethen. If I'm lucky, it'll be quiet. If not, it'll be loud and you'll have a distraction to start searching for information, things to sabotage, and so on. Worst comes to worst, run for it and I'll meet up with you in the hotel room when I can. If the hotel room is compromised, just get off the island and head back to base." 

Slinking out of the room, Lassa followed the directions Lukas had given. Down the hall to the right, then left... walking slowly and listening, it only took a minute or two to locate the room, mostly by virtue of the door being closed. After a second or two of thought, he opened it silently and stepped in.

"My Emperor, a message has been delivered from the meeting..."

"Yes? What is it?" 

In a blur of motion, Lassa shot forwards and slammed his leg into the man's head. There was a long moment as the two stared at each other. Lassa, a single bead of sweat running down his head, and the Jade Emperor, the side of his face a dull emerald hue. 

Apparently, there had been some... errors in the intelligence regarding Selethen's fruit and it's capabilities. The man's face slowly split into a cold smile, as Lassa leapt backwards, throwing a guard up.

"Oh, an assassination attempt. It's been a while. You don't look much like that pirate...." Jade armor poured over his form, and the room began to rumble as the decorations turned sharp and bladed.

"But I can picture his face on your bleeding corpse regardless." 

Eyes narrowing, Lassa flexed his hands for a moment, then in a blur, wrapped himself in an armored suit of cloth. A second later, he was blurring out of the way of a storm of jade spikes, as the laughing emperor unleashed his power. 

[Bobbie]

Lukas nodded to Lassa’s rationalisation of the servant’s behaviour and the armour hidden beneath his trouser leg. He was right, doing anything with this piece of information right now would be too risky.

As he listened to Lassa’s plan, he felt a slight knot in his stomach. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust in Lassa’s capabilities, but it sounded like one heck of an obstacle that he would need to overcome, and doing so alone would only make it more difficult. “Are you sure-” he started to ask if he wanted any form of back up, but Lassa had already slipped out of the room. Time was of the essence and Lukas knew that, so he didn’t press on, but planned to remain close by, just in case he was needed and without getting in the way.

He lingered for a moment to make sure Lassa was in fact moving in the right direction, then he turned to start snooping about in another direction. His first target was the room where the servant had gone, which he presumed would be some sort of lounge area for the workers, judging by how promptly the previous cleaner entered that room after cleaning up the broken vase, taking the rubbish with him.

As Lukas opened the door, he tried to act as natural as he could while he walked in with a subtle sweeping glance of the room. Had he been an actual worker here, he should know the insides and outs, so he tried to act like he knew where everything was and where he needed to be.

Casually walking across the lounge to a counter, Lukas snatched a piece of paper that seemed to be the roster for the evening, left on the counter by the sink. After stuffing that in his tunic, he washed his hands, as if having just finished some cleaning job, and carefully glanced around to do a head count - there were six currently in this break room, seven as another one just entered. Drying his hands, he left the room, making a show of being pressed for time, a busy worker in fear of not being quick enough to please their employer.

Once he was outside, he took out the paper and quickly went through it to get an idea of how many workers were present on the premises and where they should be. One task that caught his eye was manning a coal heating system to keep the guests warm and comfortable… that sounded perfectly suitable for a sabotage. The only question now was where to find it.

Gingerly making his way through the corridor, he paused when he heard a rumbling sound coming from the direction Lassa had gone.

Torn between wanting to help Lassa and follow his orders, Lukas stood there, conflicted, for a few seconds to listen for any other signs of trouble - but if he could hear it, then there was a chance that others could too. His eyes returning to the roster, he scanned the list of tasks once more to find out if any others would be heading this way, but it was impossible without knowing where things were located in this underground maze. As another servant approached, Lukas promptly turned to him, hiding the paper once more. “Who’s supposed to be manning the heating system?” He asked in a frustrated tone, but continued before the poor worker could answer, “Whoever it is has somehow managed to get it wrong, there are complaints about the temperature being too hot or too cold. We’re going there right now and you’re going to fix his mess before we all get lashed for this!”

Luckily, the servant that Lukas happened to stumble upon was a rather timid one who didn’t question whatever authority this fellow servant seemed to think they had. With a nod, they began to lead Lukas to the boiler room.

Glancing over his shoulder as he walked with his companion, Lukas silently sighed to himself.

That’s one out of the way… I hope this buys Lassa enough time to do whatever he needs to do.

---

Lukas: #838383

[Tokoz]

 As Lukas and the servant headed towards the boiler room, another servant sprinted past. "Someone is fighting the emperor! We need to secure the armory and file room! Make sure the furnace in the boiler room is running so we can burn things if we have to." 

He sprinted off, leaving the two to decide where to go next. The timid servant looked at Lukas for instruction, as another crash echoed through the hallways. Down the hall, a jade spike smashed through a wall, a faint point of red at the end.

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

Lassa threw himself to one side, gritting his teeth as the jade spike clipped his shoulder, scoring a slight line across his limb. Selethen was sending wave after wave of spikes at him, and every attempt at a Shigan had been stymied by the rapid onset of stone covering the man. Whether he was actively transforming into stone or simply coating himself was unclear, but it was doing wonders for blocking Lassa's attacks. 

Gritting his teeth, he Kamisori'd up and over another wave, bringing around a sharp kick. "CRESCENT MOON GUILLOTINE!" The arc of cutting air slammed into Selethen, and the man raised his brow as the stone cracked. 

"It seems you are more capable than I thought. Very well. JADE MAIL!" The Jade surrounding him grew thicker, but Lassa still managed to view the slight spray of blood droplets his Rankyaku had left in it's wake. 

He wasn't a Logia, at least. He could be wounded by conventional attacks, or else Lassa would have turned around and run right there. Still, it was clear that the former Emperor had actually put some time and practice in after his humiliating defeat. 

 No time to hold back, then. "FULL MOON DANCERS!" 

 Black cloth spiraled out around his limbs, consuming the green robe. As he rolled across the floor, he left orbs of cloth in his wake, which sprouted upwards like a dark flower. Coiling into limbs, a demonic face, and long waving manes of hair, the costumes stood up and bared their felt fangs at the emperor. 

As one, the newly risen dancers charged forwards, including the one now hiding Lassa's body. 

Snorting, the Emperor raised a hand. "Jade Imperial Lions!"

 From his body, the face of a liondog formed from jade emerged, leaping forwards to bite at the foremost cloth warrior. More began to form, and in a moment, the room was full of two dueling types of creation. 

The clublike limbs of the Jade Lions slammed into the Dancers, who wove and slipped out of the way, but the cutting claws of the cloth constructs did little to the heavy stone of the Lions. A stalemate, neither able to fully put down the other. It did make the battlefield more chaotic, however, and that was something Lassa fully intended to capitalize on.

If Selethen wasn't a Logia, then he could only coat himself in stone. That meant he still needed to breath. As one of the Dancers swung around from a Lion's blow, Lassa's arms shot outwards and wrapped a large scarf around the man's throat and face, pulling taught and cutting off airflow! 

[Bobbie]

As another servant sprinted past Lukas as his new companion, he cursed beneath his breath - he was so close to getting all attention away from Lassa’s fight with the emperor. As he did pass, however, Lukas swiftly slipped a card onto his person in hopes of being led to the armoury or the file room once he was done with sabotaging the furnace in the boiler room to make it useless..

“You get the armoury secured then prepare the files in case they need to be burnt, we’re heading to the boiler room right now!” Lukas replied in an urgent tone, then turned to the timid servant, trying to disguise the panic of having no idea where the boiler room was as the panic of their emperor being attacked. “What are you just standing there for? To the boiler room, let’s move!” he urged him to lead the way.

As he walked with him to the boiler room, Lukas made mental note of every turn in case he needed to come here again without a guide - he also needed to find his way back, which he planned to do alone.

Once they were just outside the boiler room, Lukas stepped behind the servant and wrapped his arm around their neck, pulling hard enough for them to be unable to breathe and render them unconscious without making a sound before entering the room. Lukas assumed there was at least one other person inside who was actually doing their job of manning the machines. Once he pulled the servant away from the door, he put him down on the floor, checking that he was unconscious and not dead - he had no real reason to kill an innocent servant... following what he witnessed earlier on, there was no telling how many of these people were victims themselves.

Opening the door to enter the boiler room, he was met with two other workers, but they weren't wearing green tunics like he was, theirs was teal in colour, creating a clear distinction in ranks or roles. Whether teal was above green or not, however, was impossible to tell. It now made sense why the servant he came here with was so hesitant. Were the green tunic wearers not allowed to be down here?

He didn't seem to have many options here - letting these two leave meant they would instantly be met with the unconscious body of their comrade just outside, but allowing them to stay would undoubtedly cause some conflict the moment he started to undo all their hard work of keeping the machine functioning smoothly.

Closing the door behind him, he took out a pack of playing cards from his sleeve and gave them a shuffle.

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

Lassa’s attack came as a shock to Selethen, having to divide his attention between his own creations and their targets, and ultimately Lassa as well.

However, as uncomfortable as it was, a scarf wrapped around his neck and face was not enough to stop the former emperor for very long. After a moment’s struggle, the stone that had previously formed over his body as defensive armour now spread up his chest to form a sharp-edged collar and cut through the fabric that was wrapped around his throat.

In a fit of rage, Selethen raised a large hand to grab the material that concealed his face and tore it off, oxygen filling his lungs once more. After his slight disorientation settled, he fixed his gaze on his opponent whom he quickly learnt should not be underestimated.

His rage quickly subsided, and with the same unemotional smile, he raised one hand between them, four fingers pressed together as together they formed a long green blade out of Jade that extended to be the length of a standard machete. At his side, the same sharp-edged weapon grew from his other hand.

“Twin Jade Blades… Go ahead and try that again.”

---

Lukas: #838383
Emperor Selethen: #4ec056

[Tokoz]

 As Lassa leapt backwards, mildly annoyed at the failure of the strangulation, he reassessed the situation. Selethen was proving fairly resistant to attacks, but the fact he could strangle him at all meant that he was indeed vulnerable to some degree. 

He wasn't entirely stone, and he could only layer so much jade over himself before the material made it difficult to move. Breaking through that much was going to be tricky, but there was gaps in the armor. Even with his ability to control it, covering every square inch meant that he would be slowed down considerably by the weight and the readjustment of the jade. 

Not to mention, in terms of outright speed and capability, Lassa was better at dodging and repositioning. Still, Selethen's creations were more immediately deadly than Lassa's, and the two were balancing each other out. For example, he had just raised a field of jade spikes on the floor, making Lassa's footwork significantly more difficult. 

Perhaps....

"Over here, you ########## ######## ######### ##### ######## #######"

What he could see of the emperor's face went purple with rage, and a massive club of jade shot forwards like a cannonball, slamming into the Dancer that the voice had come from. Or seemed to, anyway. Soru and some duplicates made such a choice a shell game, and the attack slammed into the dancer and shattered the wall of the room, breaking it open and continuing into the next room as well, then the main hall. 

With much more room to maneuver, the fight spilled out into the wreckage. Dancers clawed and groped at Selethen, the spears of jade doing little to disrupt their functioning unless they were wholly torn apart. Meanwhile, the Jade Lions pounced and tore, trying to find the constantly moving Lassa. 

It was a bit of a stalemate, and attacking and failing could tip the scales in favor of the former Emperor. If he didn't attack though, this was going to go very poorly indeed. Taking a deep breath, Lassa narrowed his eyes and sent three Dancers rocketing forwards, all grabbing at the emperor's face. When he brought his arms up to bat them away with his blades, a fourth 'Dancer' appeared behind him and kicked upwards, slamming a Rankyaku enhanced kick directly into his armpit. 

With a howl of rage, Selethen batted the figure away, and Lassa spat up a few drops of blood as he felt something crack. That was probably a fracture on his rib. Bandages wrapping around his torso to keep things in place, he skidded to a stop, disguise partially shredded but re-applying as he stared down Selethen. Blood was leaking down the side of his armor, and the eyes visible through the eye slits in the armor were icy and furious.

 "You dare. You dare try to spill my blood? I will leave your body mangled in a block of Jade, so all will remember your folly for a thousand thousand years." 

"Well... when I win, Emperor? Nobody will remember you at all." 

With a roar, Selethen sent a wave of roiling jade serpents flying towards Lassa, who blurred out of the way again, and the dance resumed. 

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

The two teal-robed servants turned, and glanced at Lukas. "What is wrong? We heard the fight outside, and wished to ensure the boiler was not damaged." said one. The other held up a hand. 

"A moment. What is a green-robed one such as yourself doing here?" he said, narrowing his eyes slightly. Whether it was suspicion or confusion was hard to say. 

[Bobbie]

Lukas himself was not quite sure what to do in this predicament. “The roster can’t be found in the worker lobby area so I was sent down here to check who’s managing the boiler.” He explained, knowing that was true for a fact - he was the one who took the roster, it currently being on his person.

The one from the pair who narrowed his eyes at Lukas made him uneasy as there was no way of telling whether he was suspicious of him or not. Either way, he needed both of them out of the way.

“Let me see.” Approaching the two men, he gestured toward the machine and wasted no time, grabbing both of them from the backs of their heads and aggressively pushing them forward into a steel pipe to knock them unconscious. While it worked wonders for the less cautious one, who seemed to be too bored of his work to be alert enough to offer any real resistance, the second of the pair was quick to push back. Turning to face Lukas and rise to his feet, the teal-robed worker stood and abandoned his unconscious partner, wildly swinging punches  at the intruder.

The first attack was easy for Lukas to dodge, even in all the uncomfortable layers he was wearing, but two more swipes came at him with fists that were clad in shiny green knuckle guards, dangerously sharpened.

With his back almost to the wall, Lukas threw his own arm across the space between them, leaving a ribbon of tightly overlapping cards that poured out of his sleeve suspended in the air to absorb the next blow to come from his opponent. Sure enough, the man’s fist hit the band of cards, failing to get through his defence and pausing in a moment of confusion. It was all the opening that Lukas needed as he swept his arm across in the opposite direction to cause all the cards to turn in domino effect with a whoosh of air and a slicing effect from each edge of his cards, forcing the worker to stagger backward, cradling his hand.

What started off as a bit of groaning, however, soon escalated to loud, frantic screaming as the worker fell backwards into the open furnace that he and his partner had just been keeping well-fuelled.

Eyes wide, Lukas let the cards drop to the floor as he reached out to try and catch the man’s arm and pull him out, but couldn’t get a firm grip on him with all the flailing that was being done - he couldn’t tell if the man was simply panicking or still trying to attack him.

“Stop! Let me help you!” the newbie agent desperately tried to calm what he saw as an innocent victim, “You’re going to die for a man who doesn’t even know you exist!”

“Long live Lord Selethen!” the man’s words were screamed out at the top of his lungs, just as Lukas stupidly reached into the fire to pull him out, but it seemed he was too late as even after putting out the fire, the man was not responsive. Patting his burnt arm, Lukas was in too much shock to feel the effects of it, staring at what was nothing more than a pointless end to a misguided life. His time spent mourning this tragedy was short-lived, however, as the man's screaming had alerted a number of other workers nearby.

Making no effort to be silent this time, Lukas cursed out loud, but had to act quickly. He put his hands together, his arms stretched out, as cards started flowing out of his sleeve to form a disc between his palms twice or three times. Once it was sturdy enough, it began to spin very much like a buzz saw, which he then used to slash at the pipes that were used to transfer heat across the entire underground complex, as well as keep the fire fed with fuel. Next, he slashed through a second pipe that transported water, opening up a shower overhead that soaked through the machine, putting any fire out and rendering it useless.

“Soru…” he muttered quietly as the door was opened by the reinforcements that just arrived, and dashed out of the room. Unable to turn in the middle of the technique, his palms hit the wall across from the room before he kicked the ground again to dart away down the hallway at a 90 degree angle.

Once he put enough distance between him and his attackers, he slowed down, glancing back toward the boiler room. Shaking his head to discard the horrible memory of what just happened, he went on, tracking the card he had placed on that other servant - to the armoury or the filing room.

This route took him right to the mess created by Lassa and Selethen himself - one wall had been broken through by a massive Jade club and several other servants that had been running about were present. Being the only one who was soaked, he thought it would be best to remain hidden, but with all the chaos at the scene, blending in was just as easy. His target was not among these people, however, so he decided to make use of this distraction just as Lassa had instructed him to and went on his way.

Servants were hustling and bustling about, some to cheer their emperor on, others simply in panic and seeming to have no idea what they should be doing at a time like this. The entire spectacle became something of an arena where spectators gathered to watch the onslaught, though some of them only got caught in crossfire and fell victim to the fury of Selethen’s jade lions. Perhaps in desperate attempt to please their ruler, the most zealous of his followers ran at Lassa with fallen stones from the destroyed wall in their hands, aiming to assist in the battle.

---

Lukas: #838383

[Tokoz]

 Flipping to one side, Lassa slammed a Shigan into the sides of the two servants attempting to brain him with a rock. Lunatics. He was attempting to avoid unneccessary bloodshed, but these zealots weren't making it easy. Shoving off the ground, he kept an eye on Selethen as the man kept up his attacks. 

The constructs would not be easy to deal with, and trying to bind them didn't do much but force Selethen to make new ones. In a battle of stamina, he didn't want to bet on being able to outlast the man. Not to mention, he still hadn't seriously injured him.

That kick had cut something that was causing him to bleed, but not enough to disable him. Maybe if he kept up the dodging for another 20 minutes, but that likely wouldn't work. In the background, he could see Lukas running past, heading somewhere. 

Good. This wasn't a fight on the level he could safely get involved in yet. A serious attack from Selethen would probably put him down. 

Leaping upwards, Lassa shot downwards again after kicking off the wall and threw a kick at the side of Selethen's neck. When it landed, slamming against the Jade, a loop of cloth spun around his neck. Bending in a sudden twist, a Dancer slammed into the man's feet and took him off balance. Kicking off the air again, Lassa dove forwards. Garroting the emperor with a length of cloth, he slammed a knee into the man's back. Grunting with pain, it was still enough to temporarily take the jade-user's breath away. 


"When we use Iron Body, it tenses all the muscles in our body!" Lassa grit out. "With you... you've just given me an Iron Maiden of Jade to crush you to death in!" With a roar, he slammed Selethen fully down to the ground, and then flipped again. One foot hooked a jade spike, tossing it upwards, and the other slammed it down like a nail, driving it into a crack in the armor. 

Leaping back, he examined the fallen form for a second. That should have taken out a major organ, at the very least. Enough to slow him down and force him on defen-

The blow took him off his feet. A whole section of the wall folded inwards like a mousetrap, crushing a half-dozen servants and sending Lassa slamming into the other wall, hanging in the shattered stonework for a moment then falling. Jade. The bastard had lined the walls of the hallway with his own Jade....

Coughing, Lassa stared up at Selethen, body aching and not moving as he wanted. Fuck. That had hurt, bad, and he hadn't had enough time to put up his Tekkai. Raising a hand, Selethen smiled softly. 

"I will put you in a place of honor, assassin. You have truly tested my mettle this day." As Jade began to dance up Lassa's legs, sealing them in place, he turned to look at the figure of Lukas, just enough to meet his eyes through blurry vision. The agent mouthed two words. 

'don't stop.' 

And then his face was covered by the glass-like jade crystal.