[center][h3]Power Stone Games: Extra Stage II[/h3]
[i]Friday Morning[/i]
Location: Esaka's Mid-Tier, Forbidden Kingdom 
Word Count: 1864 (+3 exp)

[color=BC8DBF]Therion[/color], [color=aqua]Rika[/color], & [color=ec008c]Juri[/color]
[sup][@Yankee][@DracoLunaris][@Zoey Boey][/sup][/center]

The participants (and their hidden fifth) were not technically locked into the extra stage, but the two men positioned at the only exit made it difficult to leave - especially when Dragunov slammed the shop’s door handle with the butt of the handgun, breaking it off. There wasn’t much choice in whether Rika and Therion were going to ‘play’ in this round or not. Fury, the man with the minigun, took a single step forward, hoisted the weapon up so its barrel was just above waist level, and grinned widely as he spoke the first word that either G-Corp contractor had said since entering the games grounds:

“DIE!!”

It took all of the nuance out of him and his partner’s business here, not that the lethal weaponry hadn’t done that already. Fury held the trigger down, spraying bullets at the Seekers he could see as the feeder rapidly ate up the long ammo belt. 

Even as he moved to pull the trigger, Rika was already moving, used her maneuvering thrusters to boost forwards and put herself between Therion and Fury as best she could. Bullets slowed around her as they flew, a few bounced off of her energy shielding, but it was clear that wasn’t going to be enough.

Then she brought up her purchased panzer lance and started, of all things, parrying the bullets, deflecting the rapid fire shots to the side with her melee weapon even as it was dented and battered by the blows. 

Despite the absurdity of this, Dragunov took it in stride as he strode forwards, looking to get an angle on the girl to shoot her in the side, which her cat-eared partner was not going to let happen.

Therion had backed off when the gunfire started, his full retreat halted only by realizing Rika had a plan when she stepped in front of him, half-baked through it was. So though technically held down with the ship girl for now, he was in a good spot to see Dragunov reposition - and to chuck a fireball his way. 

Therion's wildfire spell blazed bright, consuming the mute's field of vision as it hurtled towards him. He was unconcerned by this, as seasoned fighters in Esaka were all well used to dealing with fireballs. He simply raised one arm to swiftly stop the flames, then moved to flick them away into nothingness when he felt something much harder and sharper than magic sink into him. Throwing knives, thrown after the spell and concealed by its path were embedded in Dragunov, two in his right forearm and one in his bicep. Therion had bet on the man dodging the fireball rather than blocking it, and if he had the knives would have been centered around the vital spots in his chest. Dragunov raised a brow. "..." 

Fury's manic grin hadn't faded as he gradually shifted from covering the area to focusing his fire only on Rika, his eyes wide and eager to break a hole in her defense and turn the girl into mulch. The reach of the minigun was still wide but the hail of bullets got more intense now that the target was narrowed down, really putting Rika's ability to the test. It also gave Therion just enough of an opening to exploit. 

The thief dove out from behind Rika's protection, and in the split second after Fury spotted him but before he could turn the gun on him, Therion pitched the pitfall seed. Its light weight combined with Therion's expert arm meant it connected immediately, poofing out of existence when it touched Fury's chest but also inexplicably sending him to the ground. No, [i]into[/i] the ground. He sank up to his belly button so fast that the barrel of the minigun flew up, chewing into the shop's brick wall behind the Seekers and destroying the camera mounted on it. Fury made a noise of outrage as he struggled to escape.

Though if the Seekers wanted to take advantage of the man's downed state, they would have to contend with his partner while doing it. Given weapons to work with, Dragunov pulled the throwing knives out of his arm and threw them right back, two for Therion and one for Rika, though soon after he raised the pistol at the latter to try to finish taking that earlier shot.

Rika used her featherfall rune to leap into the air to avoid the knife, before aim-gliding up there, slowing her fall as she brought her batter lance to bare. She pointed it towards the ground-stuck Fury, and then crushed a trigger on its handle beneath a finger of her gauntlet.

From the tip of the lance, an anti-tank missile went flying towards the trapped would-be assassin, while the shipgirl herself was sent flying backwards from the recoil, turning what had been an easy target into a much trickier one. A round flew past where she was, and then one aimed at where she would be was slowed too much by her dated sunglasses granter aura to hit her.

Then she smacked into the back wall, dropping the now scrap metal lance which clattered to the floor as she grabbed the wall, clinging to it for a moment.

Below her, the battle did not slow down. Her missile struck Fury just as he'd dropped the minigun in order to use both arms to force himself out of the hole, the man himself looking up at the noise with an expression of surprise that quickly morphed into something more like excitement. His manic grin could be glimpsed for a moment before the explosion swallowed it up. 

Immediately beforehand, Therion had dodged the first knife and caught the other by the handle. He spun it into a reverse grip and darted for Dragunov. The G-corp affiliate let him approach while he shot at (and missed) Rika, after which he stowed the pistol and met Therion's imminent assault with his fists. Therion slashed at the man with swift movements, though Dragunov proved to be an agile evader. The thief seemed to be getting nowhere until the Russian threw one fist forward that brushed aside Therion's knife-wielding arm, and in the next moment a point-blank Fugetsu formed from Therion's free hand and burst between the two of them. Intending to start a round of debuffing, Therion struck first with Abate.

Even slowed, Dragunov was no slouch. He didn't allow another one of Therion's weakening skills to touch him as he twisted out of the way of the next, flowing from that motion into a powerful left hook. The punch caught Therion by surprise, staggered long enough that Dragunov's follow up of a knee strike with his right leg easily connected and sent Therion stumbling back. 

And at that point the dust and debris from the exploding missile began to fade, and in center stood a muscular silhouette. Fury -injured, alive, and inexplicably in one piece- swiped at the lingering dust cloud to dramatically clear the air, belting out a laughter-like roar. "Raaaaaaaahahaha!"

He picked up one of the wooden crates around the arena and chucked it at the shipgirl like she was a fly on the wall he wanted to squish, forcing the girl to leap to the side evasively as it smashed against the wall and a random item fell out.

The brute bent to pick up the minigun and use the last of its ammo up when something stirred in the corner of his vision. A spider descending from the ceiling, looking to punish him. Falling like an anvil, Juri picked her moment and drove her foot into the back of Bryan’s neck to crush him into the floor. Pinning him, she twisted her foot to crack his neck, and then flipped off him to kick him in the skull and knock him away. 

That oughta make him sore. [b][color=ec008c]”Didja like that? There’s plenty more where that came from. Why don’tcha play with me, instead?”[/color][/b] Juri asked, beckoning him back towards her with her finger. 

He wobbled to his feet after the surprise assault, flexing his neck the opposite way to release a satisfying [i]pop[/i] before rubbing at it with one hand. Fury turned to look at the newcomer, eyes flicking up and down her body with a smile. Perhaps he sensed something in common between them. "Han, right?" He cracked his knuckles, happily disregarding the ship girl to take on a more interesting opponent. "Hahahaha, come on then!"

He wasn't the only one surprised by Juri's sudden entrance. [color=BC8DBF]"Juri?!"[/color]

[b][color=ec008c]”I’m popular with all the boys today!”[/color][/b] Juri crowed. Juri rushed forward and began engaging with Bryan. 

In the middle of contending with Dragunov (which mostly meant doing his best to keep away from the man while looking for an opening to strike back), Therion glanced her way for just a moment. Where the hell had she even come from? The thief supposed he was glad to see her either way if it meant that he and Rika had backup. 

Dragunov moved to rush Therion down, but in an effort to catch the Russian off guard Therion drove toward him in kind. His body glowed with his Battle Boost, amping his strength and reducing damage against him just before trading blows. They were both glancing, Dragunov's fist grazing the thief's face and Therion's dagger -replacing the smaller throwing knife- scratching Dragunov's side. But while Dragunov whirled around to continue fighting, Therion disengaged again. He kept moving forward, vaulting over Bryan while the man was focused on Juri and tapping his palm on the man's bare skin to set his Armor Corrosive. If Juri was looking to make this guy hurt, then she'd be even more successful at it with Fury's defense lowered. 

When he landed he found that Dragunov had caught back up with him thanks to a peculiar low roundhouse, the fighter's leg raised as he spun and then slamming down like a scorpion's tail that struck Therion's kneecap, crippling the limb. Therion let out a pained hiss as he went down, and not a moment later Dragunov flung him away with a straight kick to his chest. 

Dragunov looked over his shoulder at Juri. He was still slowed, so rather than take her on in melee at the same time as Fury he reached behind him to grab the pistol tucked into his waist band. At least that's what he intended to do, but his fingers touched only air. He blinked when he realized the weapon was missing. "..."

[b][color=ec008c]”As if!”[/color][/b] Juri had already reacted, even if the threat was null. She managed a kick on Fury’s face and spun, the resulting whirlwind sucking both of him and Dragunov towards her, before she slammed both of them away. Juri, because she had waited, of course, was fresh. At that point she realized that someone, probably Therion, had disarmed Dragunov without his notice.

Juri scoffed. [b][color=ec008c]”Not that I’m scared of whatever peashooter you had, anyway. You ugly mute freak. C’mon, I’ll take you both on.”[/color][/b] The arrogant Spider smirked, her stance low as she got ready to go on the attack once more. In Juri’s mind, things were about to get serious.