[@Dark Cloud] 

[center][h2][color=DECF4C]Partitio Yellowil[/color] & [color=BFBFBF]Zenkichi Hasegawa[/color][/h2]
Word Count: 1,635 Words (+3 XP)[/center]

"[color=DECF4C]Can-do![/color]" ears ringing from Zenkichi's firearms blasting any unlucky machines who dared near them, he thrust the lodged spear forward just as a ball of crackling energy got within distance to make the hair on his arms stand on end. The quadruped jerkily moved forward before gaining its legs and galloping in a line lurching as it turned with the spear steering it "[color=DECF4C]Woah there.[/color]" he called pulling their steed to a halt, he looked back at the giant ape of a machine then to his partner "[color=DECF4C]Got something fancy up them nice sleeves of yours friend?[/color]" he asked, leading the quadruped between its cohorts and even trampling over a few.

Wolf shook his head, swapping his greatsword for one of the grenades he’d picked up and tossing it at the Goliath and the smaller machines that were near it, frowning when it failed to destroy the larger machine. [color=BFBFBF]”Not much, unfortunately. Though I figure I can take it down mano e mano if you want to pick me up again in a minute.”[/color] Buffing himself with Tarukaja would likely be more than enough to take the Goliath down, frankly.

Their steeds joints groaned as it turned, still some fight left in it but not enough to clear them right off "[color=DECF4C]Well sometimes-Hngh[/color]" he ducked as a volley of bullets whizzed by "[color=DECF4C]Sometimes a simple plan is good as any.[/color]" not like he could do much, without needing one hand on the spear and another to hold on for dear life.

Nodding, Wolf kicked off the quadruped and drew his sword, calling out to the Goliath, [color=BFBFBF]”Right here!”[/color] Giving himself a buff with Tarukaja, he charged, sword lashing out at its leg as the Goliath charged up a whirlwind uppercut, but the Phantom Striker was out of the way far too quickly for the slow, telegraphed attack to even have a chance at landing, along with its follow-up hammer smash. Wolf took the opportunity while it was distracted and recovering to get off a short series of slashes, the backswing taking down a biped that risked getting close. When the Goliath raised up again, Wolf backstepped, watching its movements carefully for a tell. 

Another smaller biped windmilled its arms, charging him, and was batted aside by the Phantom Thief’s greatsword, only for the Goliath to do the same. He couldn’t block or counter that, and he knew it, so Wolf backpedaled some more, grunting as he lashed out at the Machines trying to block his path. So they did have some coordination. Well, lesson learned. Probably the hard way, as the Goliath approached. [color=BFBFBF]”Valjean, Triple Down!”[/color] He called, the Persona appearing to lash out at the large singular enemy with its chains, the Gun damage being somewhat reduced by its armor, but still enough to put a dent in the Machine.

Meanwhile the merchant had been bearing down on the bucking quadraped, losing some control on it as it trampled through the battlefield, Partitio noticed the spear was getting jostled out of the thing’s back and the loose wires were sparking. Now he wasn't all that well versed with machinery so he couldn't have anticipated his next gambit to be a [i]shocker[/i], taking the wires and pulling on them was a bit more painful than expected as the merchant was shocked by a jolt of electricity.

Yet Partitio endured, using his tenacity and endurance to bring the Onailgun at his side to his hands and get to work on this bucking bronco of a machine. He got the feeling that their steed wouldn't last if he didn't have an easier way of controlling it so he ripped out a decent length of wiring nearly shocking himself to death had he not used Rest. By this point the two had been galloping willy-nilly taking out smaller bipeds that got in the way.

A handful of weird looking string to the merchant was more than enough for what he was thinking. Dislodged spear in hand he decided to take the dangerous but much more efficient option of taking the damn bull or rather machine by the horns or rather wires. He grabbed onto the wiring once more and tugged grunting painfully as he gained some control over the quadruped again, it'd have to do for now.

He took the assault rifle off his shoulders by the strap and with one hand on the wires and the other gripping the handle of the gun he cried both in triumph and a tiny bit of pain as he turned his steed and galloped back across the vale. He pulled the trigger of the rifle letting loose a volley of bullets going every direction as he went missing more machines than it hit, but taking out quite a few unfortunate fliers that had decided to tail the merchant as well as several more bipeds that were either trampled or shot.

As Partitio and his mount rampaged through the machines, Wolf carved through the smaller bipeds blocking his path, as the Goliath finally finished its tantrum. Snarling, he turned around, stabbing his greatsword into its arm and following up with a heavy, over-the-head circular slash which carved through the thin beam-like structures supporting one of its arms. The machine stumbled, lopsided, and a final slash put an end to its existence. Breathing heavily, Wolf turned to a group of bipeds with a multilegs that were approaching and called for his Persona once more. [color=BFBFBF]”Megido!”[/color] The Almighty spell managed to destroy a couple of bipeds and deal a pretty serious amount of damage to the Multilegs while he reloaded his revolvers, taking advantage of a momentary lapse in the attacks against him.

With a shrill whistle the merchant came from behind in the breadth of a moment looking a bit worse for wear but he persevered, thanks to his indomitable vigor and knack to shrugging damage off. Possibly the other man's fancy ability also saved him from getting downed by a stray bullet. Anyhow, he rejoined his ally just as his steed finally buckled and collapsed.

As gracefully as he could Partitio leapt from the quadruped as it collapsed landing by Zenkichi with a grunt, firing a slightly more accurate spray of ammunition at the few other bipeds that were standing around them as he got to his feet "[color=DECF4C]Dunno bout you friend but I'm all outta tricks, looks like we're settlin' this the old fashioned way.[/color]" his arm as sore from the guns recoil, nerves shot from the electric shock but most of all he sounded disappointed that the metal bucket kicked the bucket, but now wasn't no time to complain.

[color=BFBFBF]”Fine by me,”[/color] Wolf replied, drawing his revolvers and firing at the approaching bipeds and the multilegs which survived his Megido, then turning his aim skywards and knocking a medium flier out of the sky. [color=BFBFBF]”Don’t forget the ones above us,”[/color] he warned Partitio, reloading his last rounds and drawing his greatsword to fight, a few more multilegs, these ones with blades instead of cannons, approaching. He stepped forward to meet them, sword stabbing out to attack the main body of the closest one. It scored a retaliatory hit, but Wolf stepped in rather than back away, and brought his sword around and down while the Machine was preparing a follow-up, carving one of its legs off and throwing the thing off-balance. He took the opportunity and with a hefty overhead swing, bisected the creature’s head and torso. 

As it crumbled to pieces, the next multilegs attacked, scoring a couple of hits in quick succession, but Wolf turned with a back-handed slash, knocking the blades aside, staggering the multilegs, and following up with a pair of lighter slashes before stepping back and calling for Valjean, [color=BFBFBF]”Triple Down!”[/color] The Persona appeared, raising its chains to lash out, and struck true, damaging both multilegs pretty badly. The one that Wolf had hit before was on its last legs, both literally and figuratively, and the Phantom Striker rushed forward, bringing his sword down and dissolving it into ash. The other Machine cried out and charged, but Wolf was ready, stepping forward with a warding slash to meet it, and following up with a pair of crossed slashes to destroy the thing. As the rest of the machines continued approaching, he moved back to help cover Partitio.

Partitio hadn't the luxury of a big fancy world companion to fight by his side just his gumption and a big ass gun, which after running out of ammunition the merchant switched up his tactics and started fighting tooth and nail, taking on several medium bipeds with his spear and nailgun before the former Turk rejoined him to fight as a combined force.

The pair managed to make quick work of the medium bipeds, moving on to hardier targets with renewed confidence and vigor. Even large bipeds found themselves quickly taken down, though Goliaths proved a bit tougher of a target. Wolf kept Partitio covered with Rakukaja as best he could, fighting more aggressively when the merchant wasn’t protected, both to regain his own lost vitality and to keep him from being harmed when his defense wasn’t boosted. Between spear, greatsword, nailgun and revolvers, after abandoning the destroyed quadruped, the pair found that more mobility meant quicker results, not having to fight their mount to get where they wanted to go. 

Even after Wolf’s guns clicked dry and the pair were battered and bruised, they still fought, the Phantom Striker focusing harder and harder on offense to regain his lost vitality, tossing out Megidos and Triple Downs like they were going out of style. Each AoE attack cleared a few of the smaller enemies, and with hard, heavy breaths, Wolf planted his greatsword in the ground, the carnage around the two a sure sign of their efforts. 

[center][b][i]Tally (Zenkichi & Partitio):[/i][/b] 
[i]Medium Biped x71, Large Biped x24, Goliath x6, Legpower x2, Multi-leg x18, Reverse-Joint x6, Quadruped x9, Small Flier x46, Medium Flier x25
Total (Zenkichi & Partitio): 207/200 machines defeated.[/i][/center]