and then a liet landed on your floor
[There's a trail of destruction running down the halls of Headquarters. Every door in a number of hallways has been destroyed: slashed in half, broken off its hinges, or splintered to pieces. The rooms beyond these doors are overturned: bookcases tipped forward onto the floor, sofas and mattresses flipped over or ripped apart, closet doors torn
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He is not wholly familiar with the building, but he is reasonably certain that all the destruction is recent. Not done by Alfred, though. He's only slightly relieved, but immediately returns to full alert when he rounds the corner and hears what sounds like Toris' voice, whereas the only person in sight is Braginsky.]
Ah, Mr Braginsky. What a pleasant surprise.
[No, not really, but it's the gentlemanly thing to say. The only thing pleasant about this is that he now knows where half his objective is. And that likely the other half isn't far behind.]
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But the entire point of this exercise, as far as Toris is concerned, is to defend Ivan, so he doesn't take that too well.]
Mr. Kirkland - back off!
[He twists in Ivan's grip, concentrating his wavelength in front of his blade to strike more than cut. If he lands where he's aiming, Arthur will lose his entire forearm; if only his wavelength lands, he'll wrench Arthur's elbow, the much more desirable outcome.]
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Hahhh... You're the one who wanted the fight!
[He keeps an eye on both of them, but for the moment, does not attack.]
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Arthur gave us no choice. Could have just let us leave, but you didn't. It's your fault.
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Toris doesn't want to permanently hurt Arthur, but he's in deep with the resonance now. He aims for blood as well.]
I didn't want this fight! But I will protect the meister!
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[His tone is mocking, as he drops into a low crouch, bringing his hands up, clapping them around the blade and protecting himself with his soul. Arthur's glad he braced as he did so, because the physical strength behind the blow drives him back, the floor ending up gouged by the heels of his boots. The muscles in his arms, his shoulders, strain to keep Toris from being pressed any further; the only reason they haven't failed already being the strength of his wavelength.
He looks up, pupils barely pinpricks as he watches his opponents. The grin spreading across his face should likely concern any relatively sane person looking on.]
I'm going to enjoy destroying you.
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I'm sure you will be the one destroyed~
[He moves back, then, only to ready another strike with the blade.]
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At least Feliks, for everything else he is, isn't insane. Toris misses him hard and deep for a moment, long enough that despite the combined efforts of himself and Ivan, they can't break Arthur's wavelength.
That's when Ivan kicks Arthur and Toris is pulled back, readied for another strike.
Maybe they should try another tactic. Ivan is good at forcing weapons to his own wavelength; Arthur is good at manipulating his own; Toris is good at matching wavelengths. He says to Ivan: Could I resonate in counterpoint to Arthur, break his wavelength that way? Like a harmonic? Is that even possible?
His blade flashes forward towards Arthur's shoulder, to cut from collar to hip.]
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Unaware of what the pair is planning, he rushes, trying to circle around the slash of Toris' blade. It gets his upper arm but good, though the pain does nothing to dissuade him from pressing his assault. He aims for Ivan's gut as he passes, intent to hit with all his physical strength and just enough wavelength to be on the overkill side of disabling force.]
Come on! I'll destroy even your very soul if I must! Burn it 'til there's nothing left...
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Or. Well.
That and be the one to control the attack itself.
With Arthur about to strike, Ivan counters, pulling the sword back between them, pressing his free hand to the spine, and pushing out. Fast. It might not cut. It might be easy to dodge. But Ivan's reach is longer. If Arthur doesn't stop his own attack, it will connect.]
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Toris doesn't even hear the words that Arthur grinds out in that strange voice he's never heard from the meister before; his entire focus narrows to that wavelength coming at them full force.
Don't match it. Counterpoint. Sine to cosine. Math has never been his strong point, but Feliks taught him about music.
It feels strange to warp his wavelength away from Ivan's controlling force but even as their resonance stretches thin, he can feel his soul vibrate and then hum against Arthur's until it's a perfect counterpoint.
If Ivan meets Arthur's attack with Toris, Toris can only hope this will work, his wavelength humming down his blade.]
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In two more heartbeats, he'll hit that blade and he might not have enough wavelength to make the damage worth it.
He drops. Hits the ground hard. Tucks his head in, rolls, leg coming out to redirect as much as he can at such short notice at Ivan's legs. Not as powerful as the attack he'd planned, between not being able to redirect everything in time and the force broken by the counter-resonance.
Still, he hopes, powerful enough.]
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There's little accuracy to it, of course. There can't be, when the target's below him and he needs to focus on keeping his balance. But then, there isn't too much force in the movement, either. It's only really enough to suggest an attack. Not lead it.
And it's intentional.
Finish it for me.]
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Toris doesn't do feints.
He doesn't need Ivan's instruction to finish it, although he sends back an affirmative; he automatically adjusts for the weakness of Ivan's swing, turning the soft blow into a hard, decisive one for whatever part of Arthur will happen to be the closest when he connects.
He keeps his wavelength firmly countered against Arthur's. They will win, Arthur will be sent home licking his wounds, and Toris can do his best to talk sense into Ivan later. For now, it's enough that he can hold onto some faint will in all that insanity of hurt not kill.]
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Arthur refuses to back down, refuses to let them win. When he clears the blade, he's up and moving for the other end of the hall. This simply won't do; he doesn't have a means to defend against the physical side of Toris' attacks and thus needs distance.]
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Running?
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