[Temenos is a little different from the other two heads-- eyes closed, drooping lifelessly, looking much more dead. Gone, not even enough of him to whisper an accusation, or to call out to her. Blood drips slowly down the stem.
Anji still smiles down at Baiken, though, same as ever.
she can't take her eyes off of temenos - she's trying to make her brain work, but ichiban's words fall on deaf ears. it's not real, it's not, temenos even said, when he came back from his, that it wasn't real, but this is her nightmare, this is what she promised.
she darts forward. she can't just - leave him here, she has to - he's dead, so she'll cut his body out of the thing, she'll stop it from happening, if she can get him out she can heal him.]
[ it was only the last time she saw him that he had said those very words to her. and she said the same to him then.
ichiban's convincing - thin and pleading though it may be - helps reaffirm her own internal monolog. this isn't real. that isn't anji, or temenos, or tomi. this is a monster, and she's fought plenty of those before.
except there isn't even a chance to reorient before throné is charging ahead ]
Wait— !
[ shit. she dashes forward, sword a little more steady in her grip. ]
[ the words of the monster wearing tomizawa's face hit ichiban hard, enough to throw him off balance for a bit. he did say that, didn't he... tomizawa, chitose, the legendary kazuma kiryu himself—he promised all of them he'd help them, didn't he?
. . .
yeah. yeah, he did. and he intends to keep his word, because ichiban kasuga is a hero—he's the hero of yokohama, and a hero never lets their party down.
so even as throné darts forward and baiken tries to dissuade her, ichiban remains calm. he adjusts his grip on the katana, rolls his shoulders as he steps forward with a cocky grin. where the aberration had tried to frazzle him, to taunt him into believing he can't do a damn thing... it actually ended up reminding him what's really important, what matters the most to him—
the friends he made along the way. ]
Hey, apple jackass! [ hehe. ] When life gives you apples... make APPLESAUCE!
[ bringing his free hand to his heart, he taps into his e.g.o. and charges. ]
[Throné charges forward, and while Baiken follows-
Ichiban taps into his E.G.O. The warmth of it fills him, the strength of that flame-- so long as anything, anything is alight, then it's fine, isn't it? Even if it's only the flame of a match. That much can burn more than you would think.
"I burn only what I wish to burn."
Flame erupts around him, infusing him and his weapon both, and while the other attacks will still be effective against those heads... cutting one of them down prompts a mass to burst from the apple, rot and decay and tiny worms forming a larger shape that looks like a haunting face, two other shapes that seem to be arms.
It's this mass that Ichiban meets with his flames, the fire setting it alight easily as the False Apple lets loose an ungodly scream. As he charges in, he'll be able to smash it up much more effectively, the material of the apple growing softer and more rotten.]
she doesn't stop trying to get up close. if she can just - get there, if she can get into the apple, she can find temenos, she can pull him out of it, she can heal him. he can't be dead all the way. she won't allow it. does she find anything? can she try to slice the stalk with temenos's face off and down to the ground?
she does not, for a second, care about the fire. if it hits her in her attempt, she ignores it.]
[ death may be cheap in this world, but that doesn't mean baiken has to deal with it if she doesn't have to. with ichiban's assault she hops away (although she's already covered in applesauce so what's more), but, she still has a low tolerance for stupidity and scruffs throné to yank her away. don't make her parry throw you because she absolutely will. ]
the flames only burn what ichiban wants them to burn—throné and baiken are safe, no matter how brilliantly the fire rages on, no matter how much they care or do not care about their own lives at the moment. to the two of them, the only thing they'll feel is a comfortable warmth as ichiban blazes through the grotesque apple viscera in his pursuit of its heart.
with his katana ablaze, he slices, he dices, he makes the world's most disgusting apple pie out of this stupid piece of fruit. ]
[He slices! He dices! He juliennes! It's the Ichiban Apple Slicer, yours now for the low cost of $39.99. Act now and we'll throw in the Throné Paring Knife and Baiken Meat Carver ABSOLUTELY FREE.
By which I mean yeah, he destroys this asshole apple, throwing bits of rotten fruit and pulp everywhere as he seeks the apple's heart. A golden glow begins to emanate from its hollow, disgusting corpse.
(A corpse in which Throné will find no sign of Temenos whatsoever. Nothing but his head.)
As that glow brightens, they can just barely see a gold branch-
Before it flashes, disorienting them, and the next time they open their eyes is somewhere else entirely.]
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Anji still smiles down at Baiken, though, same as ever.
I'm not ready for you to cut me down.
Eric's eyes remain focused on Ichiban, meanwhile.
Thought you said... you'd help me.]
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she can't take her eyes off of temenos - she's trying to make her brain work, but ichiban's words fall on deaf ears. it's not real, it's not, temenos even said, when he came back from his, that it wasn't real, but this is her nightmare, this is what she promised.
she darts forward. she can't just - leave him here, she has to - he's dead, so she'll cut his body out of the thing, she'll stop it from happening, if she can get him out she can heal him.]
no subject
[ it was only the last time she saw him that he had said those very words to her. and she said the same to him then.
ichiban's convincing - thin and pleading though it may be - helps reaffirm her own internal monolog. this isn't real. that isn't anji, or temenos, or tomi. this is a monster, and she's fought plenty of those before.
except there isn't even a chance to reorient before throné is charging ahead ]
Wait— !
[ shit. she dashes forward, sword a little more steady in her grip. ]
no subject
. . .
yeah. yeah, he did. and he intends to keep his word, because ichiban kasuga is a hero—he's the hero of yokohama, and a hero never lets their party down.
so even as throné darts forward and baiken tries to dissuade her, ichiban remains calm. he adjusts his grip on the katana, rolls his shoulders as he steps forward with a cocky grin. where the aberration had tried to frazzle him, to taunt him into believing he can't do a damn thing... it actually ended up reminding him what's really important, what matters the most to him—
the friends he made along the way. ]
Hey, apple jackass! [ hehe. ] When life gives you apples... make APPLESAUCE!
[ bringing his free hand to his heart, he taps into his e.g.o. and charges. ]
no subject
Ichiban taps into his E.G.O. The warmth of it fills him, the strength of that flame-- so long as anything, anything is alight, then it's fine, isn't it? Even if it's only the flame of a match. That much can burn more than you would think.
"I burn only what I wish to burn."
Flame erupts around him, infusing him and his weapon both, and while the other attacks will still be effective against those heads... cutting one of them down prompts a mass to burst from the apple, rot and decay and tiny worms forming a larger shape that looks like a haunting face, two other shapes that seem to be arms.
It's this mass that Ichiban meets with his flames, the fire setting it alight easily as the False Apple lets loose an ungodly scream. As he charges in, he'll be able to smash it up much more effectively, the material of the apple growing softer and more rotten.]
no subject
she doesn't stop trying to get up close. if she can just - get there, if she can get into the apple, she can find temenos, she can pull him out of it, she can heal him. he can't be dead all the way. she won't allow it. does she find anything? can she try to slice the stalk with temenos's face off and down to the ground?
she does not, for a second, care about the fire. if it hits her in her attempt, she ignores it.]
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[ we know, ichiban.
the flames only burn what ichiban wants them to burn—throné and baiken are safe, no matter how brilliantly the fire rages on, no matter how much they care or do not care about their own lives at the moment. to the two of them, the only thing they'll feel is a comfortable warmth as ichiban blazes through the grotesque apple viscera in his pursuit of its heart.
with his katana ablaze, he slices, he dices, he makes the world's most disgusting apple pie out of this stupid piece of fruit. ]
no subject
By which I mean yeah, he destroys this asshole apple, throwing bits of rotten fruit and pulp everywhere as he seeks the apple's heart. A golden glow begins to emanate from its hollow, disgusting corpse.
(A corpse in which Throné will find no sign of Temenos whatsoever. Nothing but his head.)
As that glow brightens, they can just barely see a gold branch-
Before it flashes, disorienting them, and the next time they open their eyes is somewhere else entirely.]