mnt_raph | (no subject)

*As far as Raph is concerned, there is nothing else in the world but Melaka Fray. No door. No lake. No cold biting his flesh. Nothing but her.

He hates her.
And tonight, he will end her if he can.

Raphael flies through the air, still at the mercy of momentum. Training has taught him what he needs to do. Reflex allows him to do it. He turns in such a way as to land in a crouch, already poised to spring into action. Light flashes as he retrieves his sai from his utility belt.

He growls.*

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

slayer_fray

Again, it knocks her head forward sharply, and again she grunts and snaps back, face hard and determined even if her eyes don't seem to be focusing properly.

(I'm slick with power)

She spins and jumps at it, launching her entire diminutive weight forward behind her blade.

From:

mnt_raph

*It's wrong. This is going all wrong. He lands hard on the wrong leg. Wrong. There's no time to roll before she's on him. So she has to roll, it's the only solution. Raph drops a sai and grabs the bisento...wrong not bisento...scythe...just in time to keep it from halving him again, but not before it slices the very tip of his nose.

In one solid movement he throws her off and sends her sprawling.*

From:

slayer_fray

(I feel the fight as it changes)

She lands on her face as it throws her into the - cold wet dark red dirt and tastes blood on the edges of her senses. But she's not paying attention.

(As it flows)

She flips over onto her back, and grabs her scythe from where it lies above her head, just before she goes to flip onto her feet...

From:

mnt_raph

*Raph kicks up to his feet, but he doesn't stick the landing. Through gritted teeth he manages to growl...*

stay....down

*Before hefting his remaining hand held sai at her uninjured foot. The sheer force alone allows it to pierce the heavy leather of her boots.*

From:

slayer_fray

(Everything into...

"AAAAARGH!"

Mel screams as the claw pierces the boot, through into her foot. It's only the thick sole that prevents it from pinning her to the ground, and she kicks up violently to dislodge the rutter, or at least send it off balance.

From:

mnt_raph

no.

*Raph growls as she gets to her feet. He retrieves his fallen sai, holding it by the far end of the center prong.*

no. you didn't beat me.
you're a liar.
YOU CHEATED!

*He grabs the front of her shirt, lifting her off the ground, all the while holding the sai. His whole body vibrating with anger and pain...and maybe the slightest glimmer of memory...

Raphael doesn't move.
Like last time, there's no hand there to stop him...but this time he doesn't move.*

From:

slayer_fray

She doesn't care whether it's moving or not -

- part of her is trying to get her attention about the sounds it's making -

- she just cares about getting out of its grasp. She grabs it by the forearm to steady herself and kicks up and towards it, with first one foot and then the other.

From:

mnt_raph

*Words fail him. Thoughts fail him. His training fails him. Everything, that isn't a dry raspy groan, fails him.

The sai drops from his hand as he releases her shirt and he buckles.
From the pain. From the memories. From the guilt.
He just falls to the ground before her.*

From:

slayer_fray

She lands on her injured foot, and cries out again in pain, staggering back, and closes her tears filled eyes briefly

No time to feel sorry for herself, she's had worse, and she has a fight to finish.

...place)

Shifting onto her twisted ankle, she throws herself up at it to knock it to the ground, staff again held horizontally to help the effort, and lands on its torso.

(Perfect)

She sweeps the scythe back and up, ready to deliver the final slice.

(I finally do what I was born to do)

From:

mnt_raph

*Raph is thrown onto his back.
Bruised. Bloodied. Beaten.
Coughing wracks his body, which only serves to cause more pain.

He could grab for a weapon, as he's hardly unarmed.
But he doesn't.
The pain isn't so severe that he couldn't stand.
But he doesn't do that either.

No, instead he tilts his head to one side, giving her a better view of his neck. Between coughs, and with a broken voices he manages to whisper.*

do it.
make it quick.
please.

From:

slayer_fray

(I sl...)

This isn't right. Demons shouldn't just take it. They shouldn't be so easy. They shouldn't do down with so little damage.

And they shouldn't talk. Ok, some of them do, but they shouldn't be asking for death and they shouldn't be doing it in that voice.

The blow, when it comes, is nothing more than the flat corner of the blade glancing off the edge of his neck as she drops the scythe.

Mel's back at Milliways.

From:

mnt_raph

*Raph never thought he would, but he holds his breath.
In the few seconds he knows he has left, he is amused at how fitting this is. Being done in by someone who actually loves his family, and won't hurt it like he does.

He waits for the blade to drop, but then it clatters, and he knows there's something wrong. He's knows it's not over yet, and that She's not coming. Not now....maybenotever

So he does the only thing he can, he cries.*

From:

slayer_fray

She just stares at him, in complete and utter shock.

She was..

She thought she..

She nearly...

She pushes back, tries to get off him, but the sai in her foot catches against the frozen ground and she cries out in pain. A much softer cry than before.

Choking for breath, she pulls it out and tries to remember what it looked like as a claw.

And she dissolves. Collapses partly on the frosty ground, partly still on top of Raph. Mikey brother. The amn she almost killed.

What's wrong with me?

From:

mnt_raph

*He winces, because it's beyond his control not to.

Ribs...he's got some broken ribs. If he could concentrate he would be able to count just how many, but the pain is too much.

His jaw is swollen, with maybe a crack or two for good measure. His lip cracked and bleeding, not to mention his nose which has quite a nice slice on it.

Not to mention...well...he wouldn't, so we won't.*

please be okay.

From:

slayer_fray

He's talking to her. So she should talk back, she supposes. Struggling to sit, now fully on the ground except for one leg still across him, she pushes hair away from her face with a scythe dripping in her own blood.

Her head and her kidneys ache dully. Her rigt ankle is twisted. Her left foot is gushing blood. Shouldn't have pulled it out, really.

"What the rut did I do"

From:

mnt_raph

*His breathing is shallow, and so his voice is soft.*

what you needed to...

*Then he's besieged by another round of coughs.*

how...how's the foot....

From:

slayer_fray

"S'bleedin'," she says, blinks down at it and up at him.

"How're... What did I...

"You?"

From:

mnt_raph

*He waves away her question with a bloodied hand, before trying to sit up.

It doesn't work. Never one to stay down himself, Raph rolls to one side and slowly makes his way to his feet.*

they...they're clean. don't gotta worry 'bout tetnus or nothin'.

*Blood drips down his arm, and his pants have a shiny wet patch on the thigh that appears to be growing.*

From:

slayer_fray

"Right."

She can do this. She's had worse. So she uses her scythe as a crutch and pushes herself up onto her twisted ankle. She doesn't put her left foot on the ground yet.

"I have no idea about mine," she admits, not able to look him in the eye. "Dunno how many..."

She trails off, and stares at the ground between them.

From:

mnt_raph

don't... i don'...it don' matter. 's fine.

*She wouldn't meet his eyes if she tried. He's not looking anywhere that isn't down and away. He sways slightly.*

'm sorry.

From:

slayer_fray

She swallows.

She remembers... she remembers it wrong. Some of it twice, some of it not at all, some of it...

"What happened?"

From:

mnt_raph

we lost our shit. we're hurt. all that needs knowin'.

*He wipes at his nose with the back of his hand.*

From:

slayer_fray

We.

OK, that somehow... doesn't make it better at all.

She goes to wipe tears from her eyes and noticed she's still holding the sai. So she drops it to the ground. The alternative is to hand it to him. And she's not doing that

"'m sorry, too."

From:

mnt_raph

*He shakes his head, until he realizes how bad an idea that is. With a grimace he explains*

don'be. my fault. pushed you. all my fault.

From:

slayer_fray

"I don't..."

Hesitantly, she takes a step back, towards the bar. It hurts, and she's trailing blood, but she needs to get away.

"Oh god. What's wrong with me?"

The last sentence isn't spoken even at a whisper. It's a breath, scared and girlish.