Neither of the Commanders let out a verbal reply to Mitsuki's goading. However, the rifleman Hibiki immediately began dashing to the side. He moved away from Captain Baku and Ryu, heading toward the roof of the shop that now had a hole in its wall. If he wasn't stopped, he would make quick leaps, stepping onto a nearby railing and lunging toward the roof, quickly attempting to climb on top to get himself a much better vantage point...and one that was farther away from the action.

Noticing his fellow Commander's movements, Will made the first offensive move. Whether it was to cover for his partner's attempts to climb a nearby building or simply the fact that he wanted to take his opponent down first was difficult to tell. All Mitsuki would be able to see was the flash of the blade being brought over his head and slashed downward. It was a simple downward slash...and he didn't expect it to go through. Rather, he wanted to keep his eye on Mitsuki's reactions and be prepared to block him should he make any attempt to move past him.

[hr]

Ryu watched as the large Captain approached him. He braced himself, beads of nervous sweat starting to form on his skin. He had to admit...his nerves were getting to him. This was going to be his first real battle. He had never really fought seriously before. Especially not in the short amount of time he's had to practice his Zoan-type transformation abilities. Heck, he still couldn't transform more than one part of his body into his dragon form at a time. As such, if he was going to try to block whatever attack came his way, he could only use a single part of his body...which also meant blocking using a single arm. And given the strength this Captain must have in order to wield that cannon, he could reasonably assume that he was not going to block the attack with a single limb. He was going to need something more potent.

"Yeah...you're right, I did. But I'm sorry...I can't afford to allow you to take me in," Ryu replied.

Finally, the Captain moved, lunging toward him and lifting his massive cannon...and then it came crashing down on top of him. There was a loud crash, and the stone beneath him cracked while dust and dirt flew into the air, momentarily obscuring vision on Ryu himself. However, as the dust began to clear, a figure could be seen, kneeling on the ground, arms raised above his head, cannon resting heavily atop crossed arms.

But there was a key difference this time. This time, Ryu's body was coated in bright, red scales around his head, back, legs and arms. However, he was still very clearly in his human form, with his hands and his feet still looking the same, as well as the obvious lack of a tail. This was clearly no hybrid form.

"...Phew. I was worried that wouldn't work..." Ryu murmured. "But I guess my Red Dragon Armor is sturdy enough when I brace myself against the ground. I wondered if I could manage to transform just the Dermis and Epidermis of my body instead of my whole body and widen its reach...or if it would even hold, despite the extra support I could manage with it...." 

[i]'Still, I lack the control I want. It was all or nothing.'[/i] Ryu thought to himself. [i]'I could only do it by transforming my skin layer into dragon scale, and my human anatomy won't allow me to make drastic movements like this and I don't have the strength to move the cannon myself. Until he moves his cannon, I'm stuck....'[/i]