[Tokyo City] Interchange

[Apollymi]

http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s474/benihime469/RPU/Air%20Gear/52bf1173-2efc-460a-a4de-e2e1c5f91440_zpsx12xjnox.jpg

Formerly the turf of the Black Order, this is an abandoned railway exchange in the middle of Tokyo City. It is a hub for transportation, though it is no longer used it grants access to the entire city from a low vantage point. It was originally held by Akaru Chiyo but transferred to the other Generals when she left Tokyo. It is well furnished and doubles as living space for the team who holds it. right now that team is the Raidraptors, led by Kawashima Tayuya. Tayuya decided this was the best place for her, because she can see it from the apartment she keeps in the building across the street, she also personally contributes to anyone challenging her holding this place.

[Bloodedge]

One Saturday afternoon at the end of June, one Tsukino Mukuro rolled along the railway until reaching the Tokyo Interchange. He remembered this place from the early days of the team he was content to be a member of. When they kept this area, there was constant access to the Glum Slum whenever it passed through. Now, it seemed another team of third generation Gravity Children were keen on making use of the location, likely for the same purpose. But, to obtain it, they had overcome one of his fellow generals of the Black Order, using a skill he could not believe existed. So, he had to see this for himself, all while killing a bit of time with one Izayoi Akiza. "Now then... where's the welcome crew?"

[Apollymi]

"I assume they are coming, after all, given the placement I know someone saw us coming." mentioned the pink haired girl as she arrived and stopped crossing her arms under her chest. With this stance she looked around, she'd visited this place a time or two to get to the Glum Slum. She knew the tactical advantage of this place as well as it having multiple lines of sight all around. As if on cue, a girl would descend from the apartment building across from this place. She had blue hair and when she landed her descent was slowed by the wind. "Did you come here to challenge us?" she asked rather simply. Her eyes showed no real emotion, as if she didn't care one way or the other what was decided, she simply couldn't let strangers approach the other children here without knowing what the intended. She was their protector, a girl known as Kawashima Tayuya.

[Bloodedge]

"Surely," Mukuro stated. "The only question is, where..." His sentence never ended, as his unfinished question to the universe was answered immediately in the form of a descending blue-haired girl. She wasted no time in revealing her status as a wind rider, nor as the leader of the Raidraptors as far as Mukuro was concerned. "So you're the leader of the Raidraptors. You're quite the protective one, aren't you?" Following Tayuya's appearance, there was the silent arrival of another individual. A brown haired boy, who answered to the name Sawada Natsu, approached from within a dark alley nearby. He took a side to Tayuya, having watched the approach of these Black Order members. "They're more members of the Black Order. They're a bit late, but I imagine they've come back for revenge on what Rokuro did."

[Apollymi]

"Yes, I am the leader here, Kawashima Tayuya. And I may be a bit protective of them. But this is the only spot we want... So, I'll sit here and wait for people to challenge us. It's a good spot tactically, but I am sure you already knew that... this was a spot kept by you guys for the duration of the last Gram Scale Tournament. Or so it's said." she mentioned as way of acknowledging the words spoken by Natsu. Who had approached from the shadows. "Natsu, I didn't expect you to come here. You said you didn't wish to participate in non-essential functions." stated Tayuya to her second-in-command.

Meanwhile, Akiza watched this interaction and the arrival of two of the people who belonged to the Raidraptors team. This was after all quite an interesting collection of the younger generation. To the statement that they were here for revenge, she simply chuckled. She never thought to settle such scores, they were only here to see if there was actually a child here who could steal tricks. "We're just visiting, and to be clear revenge isn't really my style." mentioned the Thorn Queen her eyes travelling over the brown haired male while she became a bit uneasy. Something about this child was a bit off putting and that was rare. She flicked her eyes over to Mukuro as if to question this.

[Bloodedge]

"Since long before the tournament, if you want to be technical about it. This spot was taken by one of our veterans long before the Black Order was formed. Even before the days of the Cyclone Striders." Following the arrival of the second member of the Raidraptors team, Mukuro felt a bit strange about the group. He wondered for a moment if all the members of this team were so full of lethargy, but given the team leader's disposition, he figured this was not at all the case. Akiza had picked up on something strange as well, it seemed, and Mukuro could tell what it was within seconds of looking at this new lad. "Are you sure it was a good idea to recruit a killer to your group? Trust must be difficult to maintain among your ranks."

Having nothing in particular to say to the Black Order members, Natsu shifted his eyes toward Tayuya, speaking to her in a voice devoid of emotion or any form of emphasis, with a facial expression to match. "I don't, and I won't. I'm not familiar with the woman, but this man is one of the Black Order's generals. It's more beneficial if I don't fight. You need something challenging every now and then, and I believe the Tar King will be a good enough challenge to keep you... sane."

[Apollymi]

"Oh? I wasn't aware of that... Clever or battle hungry?" she questioned with that same apathetic look on her face. Her eyes were indeed quite blank, but she knew certainly there were only two reasons to keep catch of this place, the battles that were sure to come, or the necessity of keeping tight reigns on the people coming and going to Glum Slum. Of course, this was a matter of both for this young woman which is why when she had enough members to make her team she'd chosen and taken it with haste. Of course, there was then brought to light the matter of her second-in-commands activities of choice which made her look to the lad. "Oh, that isn't anything important. They all believe in me absolutely, they trust who I trust." she mentioned with that same calm look on her face, but she was wary of this situation as well, both of these people seemed to notice something off about her second-in-command, and beyond this at least one of the newcomers was recognized by Natsu. "Hm, the Tar King, huh? Well, that's fine I suppose... though it makes me wonder who Mizu is stalking if she isn't with you." she said a hand reaching up to palm the back of her head as she thought about the situation presented before her.

"I need... Roku or Kuro, if you don't plan to participate either of them will do. Also I am perfectly sane, don't say that as if you are worried Natsu." she mentioned which made Akiza look at the young woman. She didn't know what either of them was, but she specifically wanted to see what the one who'd taken Shizuka's tricks was actually like. Given what she'd seen of these kids so far, it was a wonder to her, that Shizuka didn't know from the jump that they'd not be so easily overcome. "Mendokuse." mentioned the pink haired girl as her glance shifted. If the killer wasn't fighting then she could at least relax, though the idea of getting her tricks stolen wasn't really high on the list either, it would at least give the chance to figure out what kind of skills this younger generation possessed.

[Bloodedge]

"On her good days, she's a bit of both," Mukuro said regarding their current Ice Queen, who once held the interchange during her days as a rogue Storm Rider. What he heard from this girl was, frankly, a bit surprising. In fact, he was quite perturbed by it. "Absolute faith in others. So, your team is a bunch of morons. That's intriguing. Ours was no different."

As the discussion progressed, the boy Natsu became increasingly disinterested in the happenings in front of him. He was content to leave, but before doing so, he had a simple bit of advice to offer his team's leader. "Kuroko is best saved for a situation like this. Rokuro's abilities may prove useful again."

[Apollymi]

"Hmph." was all that Tayuya had to say on the matter of the person who'd held this place much longer than the Black Order had existed. Of course, such information about the whole thing only caused Akiza to laugh because she knew the reference being made here. Given the information provided by the boy known as Natsu. "Thanks, Natsu. I guess I'll let them decide. Enjoy the rest of your evening." she said this would be calmly followed by the girl turning and whistling twice in two very different tones. A deep almost empty one would summon the boy known as Kuroko if he chose to appear for this race. And a high pitched one which was more like a scream would summon the boy known as Rokuro. What couldn't be known is she had a different one of these for each member of her generation, even the ones who weren't currently on her team. And they were loud enough to carry for a couple of miles if the acoustics were right, or if she chose to make them carry with the wind.

The sound of these whistles would cause Akiza's eyes to widen. "Did she just whistle summon people?"

[Bloodedge]

"I'll stay to watch. Nothing more." This was the final statement made by the brown-haired boy, who would soon be seen hopping onto the roof of the interchange, where he then sat while watching below for the coming parts war. One would notice in this moment that the boy wore a pair of ATs that had nothing spectacular about them, which Mukuro found strange, but said nothing about. As this move took place, Tayuya's whistles reached the ears of Kuroko and Rokuro respectively. After a few moments had passed, a lad with spiky white hair and a blue and white-striped shirt descended from the rooftops, wearing a pair of very mechanized ATs reaching halfway up his legs. "Finally. I've been wondering how long it would be until we got to do something else."

[Apollymi]

"As you like, Natsu. I figured you would do such a thing anyways." said Tayuya to the brown haired young man who would apparently be staying to watch whatever was going to happen next. But soon enough a boy who she had whistled for appeared with something rather cheeky to say about the current moment. In those moments Tayuya's eyes shifted to the boy and she shook her head from left to right. "I didn't expect you to be bored Roku, not with Nana having come along as well." she said seeming to be rather calm but this was simply a mildly teasing statement. "Though, I expected you... though I at least expected Kuro to answer when I called... he must be gone for the night."

Looking at the arrival of the white haired lad, Akiza could only assume this was the boy who'd stolen the tricks of their Echo Queen. She then immediately wondered how he'd managed such a thing considering that he didn't look at all like he'd do much of anything to anyone. But she was beginning to notice this group of children were all sort of odd, and this one was no different though she couldn't place why.

[Bloodedge]

"Whatever. I want to see new things, and there's only one way to do that," the white-haired boy replied. Most of his entertainment, as far as parts wars were concerned, came in the form of seeing new Roads and tricks. Figuring he'd be the one participating in this particular battle, he stepped up to the plate, in a manner of speaking. "There's no telling where he is. Would you have me deal with these guys too?" he asked, referencing the boy known as Kuroko prior to the query. Little did he know, that very boy was standing at Tayuya's other side all along.

"Ano..." said the teen clad in black, hooded robes. "Kawashima-san. I've been with you the whole time."

[Apollymi]

Tayuya looked at the young boy known as Rokuro and nodded her understanding of his statements. "If you say so." she concluded as he appeared ready to step up to take a spot in this particular parts war she'd explain the situation. "Natsu seems to think this will be fun for me as well. So, I'll be fighting Mizu's brother and you can take the pink haired girl, after the type is decided." she mentioned only to pause her eyes widening just a tad as an outward show of shock when she was addressed by one of the boy's she'd called who claimed to be with her the entire time. "Were you in my apartment again?" she asked as if she was unsure of how long the boy had been in her presence.

The random extra child speaking shifted Akiza's focus from the two they'd apparently be taking on in this parts war to another person. Her eyes widened and she turned and held her hand over her chest because this child had appeared basically out of nowhere. "Mendokuse... that kid just appeared out of nowhere." she said looking to her partner and wondering if this was something he'd also noticed already or if she and the other children were alone in their lack of knowledge of this person.

[Bloodedge]

"Fun? For you? Let's be honest with ourselves; that isn't possible anymore." Without further ado, Rokuro took a step forward. Afterwards, however, he took pause the moment their team's phantom sixth man made his presence known to the group. 'God damn it,' he thought, though there was also hardly a physical reaction in him by this point.

Though the cloaked boy had not escaped Mukuro's notice during his and Tayuya's arrival, the Tar King had been rather intrigued by the fact that no others had even looked in this boy's direction the entire time. Now that everyone had shown some level of surprise by Kuroko's existence, Mukuro had all the confirmation he needed. "Sou ka. The invisible boy. And here I thought we were all just being purposefully rude. Shame." With that said, Mukuro stood with arms akimbo while shifting his eyes toward Akiza. "You're up first then."

In the meantime, Kuroko was once again addressing Tayuya. "I was," he said, confirming that he had been in her place of residence prior to the leave which led her here. "You never kicked me out, so I had my milkshake there. You never drank the one I left for you," he went on to say, somehow seeming to sound a bit dejected in spite of the lack of emotion his voice suggested.

[Apollymi]

"Well, I know it isn't likely, but it isn't as if I can completely give up." these were the words of the blue haired girl. The entire times he spoke her voice was calm and her face was passive, there was something there though, just below the surface of that un-moving face of hers. But whatever emotion the girl seemed to have was soon enough displaced, as Kuroko answered her question and went on to say that he'd actually been in her apartment and that he'd even left a milkshake there for her. Even more surprising than this, was the fact that the Tar King had noticed the boy. "He can see you... that's new." she said with a nod. As for what she'd found in her apartment she reached out to pat him on the head, as she often did when she noticed he felt dejected, of course, she hadn't done this on purpose. "Well, I saw the milkshake and I was going to have it, but then I noticed them. I decided to have it later in celebration of our victory." she said for the first time since her appearance she offered this child in particular a smile. One could also notice that she spoke of their victory as if it was assured, and in her mind it was. "Also for the future Tetsu, I am going to need you to make a little noise or something... Maybe we'll get you a bell like they do with kittens so they don't get lost in houses." she mentioned.

And while this happened, Akiza rolled a bit forward grinning in Mukuro's direction. "Invisible boy? And me up first... alright fine~" she said as she came to a stop in front of the white haired young man. The one who'd apparently be her opponent. This one also made her feel a bit odd, but it was a different kind of odd than normal. "Izayoi Akiza~ Nice to meet you." she said, and she genuinely meant it because it was the type of person the Thorn Queen was. The next person to speak surprisingly enough would be Tayuya about the Parts War in general knowing the layout of the place as well as what it was outfitted for. "The building is outfitted for use in F, E, and D class parts wars, since, this is two v. two and we're both capable, I'll say D-class Parts War, best, 2 out of 3 wins." she named these terms because in her mind there was no way either herself nor Rokuro would lose she waited for agreement and once it was done she'd whistle for the creation of the cage between the two nearest buildings and around the grouping in general for the parts war.

[Bloodedge]

Even Kuroko Tetsuya's face showed some semblance of confusion when Tayuya suggested that he be outfitted with a bell. The boy was fully aware that his presence was nothing shy of nonexistent, but he believed the use of such a tool would only hinder him in future. "I don't think that would be a good idea," he said in response to the concept.

Meanwhile, Mukuro's brow furrowed. Of all the things this girl could have suggested, she chose a Cube battle on a railway. More importantly, her win condition was a 2 out of 3 victory. Two of the four present members from Raidraptors wouldn't be participating, but something bothered him about the Talon Queen's attitude and the combination of race type and win condition. "That's the move of a person who doesn't plan on losing the first two rounds of a match. Be wary," he said to Akiza in passing, though his eyes were trained on Tayuya all the while.

As the cube was being created for this parts war, Rokuro moved toward its interior. He was quite keen on getting this started immediately, but it seemed to be the case that the Thorn Queen was one for introductions. Now, Rokuro wasn't the rudest person, so he did choose to reply accordingly, if only to move things along quicker. "Haizaki Rokuro. Show me something fun."

[Apollymi]

A smile crossed the blue haired woman's face as the young man she'd just petted and suggested a new tool to, seemed confused as to why she'd say it. So she'd explain with a bit of knowledge. "Well, I don't mean for Parts Wars or when you are out in public, just for when you are with us, so you'll be noticed and included." she said knowing that the young man might want the extra bit for whatever reason. "Besides, the really good kittens figure out how to move and make it jingle only when they want to." she finished up her explanation as the terms of her race were apparently accepted.

Moving right along, the cage came into place as Mukuro began watching Tayuya, the girl's impassive eyes glanced in his direction. She knew the kind of race and the conditions would likely perturb a person used to doing such races. Of course, she also knew the capabilities of her own team so she wasn't worried at all by it. In fact, she was wondering why the Tar King was choosing to watch her instead of the battle coming.

Akiza had her greeting replied to by the young man in a manner most unexpected. Though the passing warning of Mukuro wouldn't be forgotten either. "Mendokuse, I always end up in the fights against ones like this." She moved around the established space and knew it was created by the Ice Queen of their generation. It was about the size she'd like for this sort of thing and keeping people from running from her, of course, it was still big enough that she could move about freely so Akiza opened up as usual jumping into the air, her breath beginning to quicken as she spun her hips and shifted her weight downwards creating a flurry of thorns which would whip out from her body in an attempt to hit the boy below. Of course, these were only the base sonic booms initiated by the kicks of her tense legs so they would hurt if they made contact but not nearly as much as they could. That being said those weren't really intended to do direct damage, she was setting up trying to figure out what about this boy made her so unstable.

[Bloodedge]

"... Sou ka," the young male replied. He supposed it was fair that he give his comrades a way to know when he was around, and where he was most of all. As he considered the potential benefits of this, he shifted his eyes away from Tayuya just in time to see Mukuro joining them on the sidelines of this parts war.

In the cube below, Rokuro anxiously awaited the opening move of the Thorn Queen. His eyes followed her every movement as she leaped to produce an array of thorns to send his way. His expression in this moment seemed to be one of boredom. Nevertheless, as they encroached upon him, he leaped over the barrage to gain altitude over Akiza. This was ended with the young Mirror King producing the same quantity of thorns in what appeared to be the same pattern. However, the pace and rhythm of the trick was ever so slightly offset, which would result in an effective stealing of the move if Akiza were to witness his performance. Success in his efforts here would mean the Thorn Queen herself, regardless of how she chose to deal with the barrage moving toward her, would be rendered incapable of her most basic trick. "That's no fun. I thought all of you had really flashy moves," he commented.

"Hoh? Interesting..."

[Apollymi]

The Tar King had joined Tayuya and Kuroko on the sidelines of this fight and the Talon Queen noticed this and cut her eyes in the purple haired man's direction. This wasn't at all what she expected from him, but she supposed that it would be alright considering. "I'll find you one later, okay?" she said of the bell, moving her eyes to the show in the cage below, she saw a trick which was strikingly similar to ones used by someone who used to be close to her, the recognition of it, seemed to move across the normally bland expression the girl had.

Meanwhile Akiza was left to watch as a little boy imitated the trick she used, but the coming barrage of thorns didn't require her to move from her position, no at the last possible second her body shifted her hips intending to create the wall of thorns she normally used to disperse incoming attacks and deal damage back to her opponent. But... "Mendokuse." was the only thing spoken as the girl's rhythm normally used for creating thorns was completely thrown off, given this, she couldn't perform another trick based on the thorns she so regularly used and found herself incapable of doing anything about the coming attack. As such she took it, thorns raining down on her much like they had earlier in the day, and this would be accompanied by the creation of new lightly bleeding scars down her body. She was quite used to this sensation though so it wasn't much if anything to her, in fact, the only major change in the girl was hyperventilation which had stared to create cushion for the coming sonic booms. "Most of us, have a couple of really flashy moves. But a flashy move from me is instant death for a kid..." after she said this she looked at the boy who'd taken the high ground. 'Hm... I guess I won't have much of a choice though.'

During this exchange, Tayuya took note of the observations being performed by the Tar King. "What's with that response? She can't do anything now, and she just took a major hit..." this was a simple enough question.

[Bloodedge]

"Is it?" he asked in rhetoric; sarcasm, even. As he descended, he kicked softly at the air numerous times. A slight shift occurred in his ATs, producing bell-like extensions around his ankles as he did this. Chiming sounds came as a result of the kicks and these alterations, and these sound waves would lead to eardrum popping, and furthermore, vertigo in the listener.

When Tayuya addressed his observation, and went on to make an observation of her own, Mukuro snickered and rested his hands on his waistline. "Really now? I don't know what fight you're watching, but I'd say Akiza won this round about three years ago. Please, use your brain more often. Your eyes will always deceive you."

[Apollymi]

Akiza was in the middle of this fight and though she'd taken a pretty major hit she didn't seem to be at all of the thought that she was about to lose. Quite the contrary when she saw the shift in the boy's ATs she was a bit stunned but a large grin came to the pink haired girl's face. "Huh? Really, sarcasm while using a borrowed moves, particularly the ones of one of my favorite run partners." she mentioned the bells at the boy's ankles. Beyond that the added sound and vertigo did force a change in pressure in her ears, but it wasn't nearly enough to completely burst her eardrums, she had the added cushion of nitrogen bubbles throughout her person to control her own internal pressures, but that was something this young man couldn't possibly know. And as she looked at the boy's movements she was almost certain he was wrong. "Mendokuse, you're doing it wrong ya' know." she said aloud but in her head she was thinking a bit more than that. 'Oh, Chi-chan said that he threw off Shizu's rhythm. Maybe that's the trick.' and with that thought in mind she looked to Mukuro for confirmation and if she received it she'd do something very unexpected.

While watching the fight below and following Mukuro's rather condescending statement Tayuya seemed to be a bit more confused. She wasn't stupid by any means, but perhaps there was something she'd missed about this particular girl that she hadn't thought of before. "Three years ago?" she didn't know anything of the Black Order or any of its lesser known members. But from what she'd seen they wouldn't be a threat, then again, it was this lack of knowledge which would likely cause problems.

[Bloodedge]

"Whatever you say, you've lost. The very core of your tricks is mine now." As far as Rokuro was concerned, this accomplishment secured his victory. He'd never been bested in a parts war prior to this one, and he didn't intend to be bested until Tayuya was crowned Sky Queen. Of course, such was the case for many, if not all of the Raidraptors' members.

Mukuro, on the other hand, had other ideas in mind, and a very casual grin was upon his face as he responded to Tayuya using words loud enough to be heard by the fighters below as well. "Mirror King is an interesting title to hold. Conceptually, a mirror will always mimic what is in front of it, but you can never copy a mirror. It simply isn't possible. This mirror is a bit warped, though. What it copies is just a bit off when compared to the original. In a way, it's copying while making a vision its own... stealing by using its distorted glass." With that said, Mukuro turned his gaze toward Tayuya. He knew the precise outcome of this battle now, so he had no need to watch it. "What happens when you place a warped mirror in front of a warped mirror? Three years ago, Akiza lost the Regalia she's currently wearing. She's had to subconsciously perform her tricks just a bit differently ever since."

[Apollymi]

"I wouldn't make that assumption just yet, kid. Besides... my tricks hurt me." she mentioned rolling her eyes just a bit. After she said this the words of Mukuro carried down to her, and it was exactly as she expected. Her tricks were being copied just a bit different from how they were, which kept her from using them. Then again... all she had to do was complete her trick in a different manner and she'd be able to use it again. "Sou ka, that's what I thought... brilliant as always Muko~" she said turning to the boy she began a move which would lift her up and off the ground twisting in the air in a manner slightly different from before, actually, it was closer to her original run, or rather precisely the way she was before she lost her regalia, which was a movement altogether different from the one's she'd been using until this point. "I'm taking my tricks back now Mirror King. You don't need them and besides, your body can't take them. There's a reason all who ride the Sonia Road are Queens~" she mentioned only to flip and come down with her hips spinning rapidly and with much force. Such a move would cause a flurry of thorns to appear from her body spiking around the boy and creating vines of thorns which grew up around him, while simultaneously activating her regalia. At such a time as it reached its active state she'd pull back on the bow at her ankle with just the tiniest amount of blood at her finger tips. "You can't copy this, Black Garden." and just like that she shot a thorn arrow through a blackened blood drop creating the image of a black rose as it exploded. Such a thing would cause the previously used vine like thorns to crawl up the boy's body snapping to a close so that he'd feel as if he was suffocating from the sheer pressure of it. And because this match took place in a cube there was nowhere to go to escape from it. Even Akiza was prone to taking a bit of the backlash, the odd barrette she used to keep her bangs in place seeming to blast off allowing her hair to fall all around her face and down to her chest.

Meanwhile, Tayuya watched a bit stunned as the Tar King fully explained the abilities used by Rokuro, and what was more, it seemed the Thorn Queen had already been on her way to the same assumption because the trick and movements she performed after were unlike anything the Talon Queen had ever seen before. "What?! That's not possible."

[Bloodedge]

The white-haired lad looked onward with widened eyes as Akiza regained the ability to perform her thorn-related tricks. This, however, did not prevent him from aiming to mirror the next move she made. The vines being created around him were no concern of his, so long as they kept away from his body. To the contrary of the Thorn Queen's words, Rokuro could foresee the copying of even this trick, and his Regalia's form was changing to a bow-like state in preparation. This thorn arrow being used in conjunction with blood was exactly the kind of exciting trick Rokuro had been looking forward to. However, he was not struck by it, and this seemed to be intentional. Vines crept around the boy, and the chain reaction of sonic booms which followed riddled him windless for the trick's duration. In the end, the boy was left standing in place, gasping for air before ultimately having his battered and bruised body fall to the ground.

"Impossible is just another word for unlikely. Contrary to your belief, however, this was the likeliest of outcomes. Even I would dread having to face her in a real fight." As Mukuro spoke, he rolled toward the edge of the railway. He had only one more thing to say to this lass prior to his descent into the cube. "You shouldn't deal in absolutes. It will only lead to a more crushing defeat of your ideals."

[Apollymi]

Akiza took a deep breath and exhaled pushing her hair out of her face as the wheels of her now deactivated ATs hit the ground once more. Here she looked at the now fallen and gasping child and felt a little bit bad, so she gave a tiny bit of advice. "Deep breaths, kid. It'll pass." she mentioned as she began trying to trace visually the spot her bow should have gone too. Upon finding it with her eyes she rolled towards it, reaching down to pick it up. "Mendokuse, it always blows back like that... even when it's not fully powered up." she spoke to herself of the trick she'd just used.

Beyond this, Tayuya heard the words of the Tar King. Dealing in absolutes was a bit of a risky thing to do, but this wouldn't change anything about her. No, ever the protective one she dived into the cube to remove the Mirror King from the cube, if successful she'd pick up the smaller teen and take him back above without being upset at all. "That was a tough match, Roku. Don't feel bad about it." she'd state plainly as she sat the boy down above before aiming to go back to the cube for her own match.

[Bloodedge]

While Tayuya retrieved her teammate, Mukuro landed at ground level next to his. "I expected flawlessness, you know; but..." His sentence trailed off for a moment. In truth, he struggled for a moment to find the appropriate wording for what he actually meant to say here. "I surprisingly found this equally pleasing. There's just a hint of... madness about that execution that I can't speak ill of."

[Apollymi]

While Tayuya handled her teammate, Akiza was approached by hers, having retrieved her bow she held it in hand as the Tar King commented on her battle and was apparently left a bit speechless. A grin crossed the pink haired girl's face as she pushed her bangs back and looked up into Mukuro's face. "Speechlessness and not disapproval, sounds like two compliments to me~" she said giving a minor bow. "I'll accept them both." she mentioned looking back up from the bowed posture with a bit of deviousness in those eyes. "Your turn, Muko~" she mentioned having given them a lead in this two of three parts war was kind of good, though unlike the boy who'd fallen to her, Akiza didn't believe in absolutes. Even whens he already knew the capabilities of those on her team.

Right after Akiza spoke her final words, she hopped towards the outside of this cube, going to retake her place at the other side to watch the fight below. She passed Tayuya on the way as the blue haired girl descended, and her face retained that same oddly placed bit of calm emotionlessness. It was like there was nothing in her, like she didn't care one way or the other even now. Though her words dealt in the absolutes of her wins, her body and posture and the way she dealt with the other members of her generation, indicated that she didn't like fighting or even hurting people. As it stood she was simply thinking about the best way to handle the young man before her, and with the knowledge that her team was currently down one in this match she knew what had to be done. "I get it, you watch people and figure stuff out as you go. That's an interesting approach." she said of Mukuro. She didn't have any such leanings herself, but she'd figured out in watching this young man react to the previous match, that it simply wouldn't be possible to let this next one carry on too long.

[Bloodedge]

"Do with them what you will. Let's finish this," Mukuro said in passing as Akiza left the cube, and Tayuya entered. It seemed the Talon Queen had figured him out. This was good. To Mukuro, this meant that she retained at least a basic level of acceptable intelligence, which ensured that she would be capable of comprehending his words... most times. "That may pass as an astute observation. You're an interesting one, though; so dead inside. It hurts being superior to your peers by such a large margin, doesn't it?"

[Apollymi]

Outside of the cube, Akiza worked to get her hair flawlessly situated once more, and after a few minutes, she'd done exactly that while watching as the girl and young man below seemed to fall into a bit of the battle stances. It would seem the girl known as Tayuya was a bit more astute than one would initially give credit for. In the case of dealing with Mukuro this was a good thing, but as the purple haired young man went on to make more observations about the young man's current predicament it only became more obvious that she couldn't allow him to continue watching. Still there was nothing wrong with what he'd said so recently so she'd answer him with a sigh and a nod.

"I can't argue against that, but you know I can't let you to keep watching. I still have a lot to do, so this conversation will have to end very soon." the man before her, or even the pink haired girl who had so recently fought Rokuro, were the most likely to give her a good fight currently. That being said, she had to keep this place, and winning for the sake of her team and what they stood for, was more important than her personal fun. To be honest, she didn't want to fight anyone, she never did... hurting people was always a bit more than she wanted to do at any point in time. Even so she moved and edged herself towards the upper corner of the cube, as if she intended to perch from the high ground, it seemed defensive or tactical in nature.

[Bloodedge]

"You're right; you can't let me keep watching if you want to win. However, you also cannot stop me from watching. The scales will tip in only one direction, and the winner will be determined in that shining moment." Mukuro expected that Tayuya would avoid an immediate and straightforward attack, but he remained wary nonetheless. As he revved up his ATs, his front wheels opened into bladed fans, while the rear wheels super-heated the chunks of road that were ground by the former to melting point, creating tar from it. There was quite a bit of tar around him in only a few moments, and with one sweeping kick, he launched numerous globules of hot tar in the area inhabited by the Talon Queen. "Are you able to tip the scales?"

[Apollymi]

"You're right, I can't stop you from watching, yet." she said as the purple haired man before her activated his ATs and began doing things the likes of which she'd never seen before. The coming tar slung her way was met by the winds which exploded from her body and soon enough a slight twist of her body which would rocket her forward and down towards the young man. The speed which happened because of this gave her the ability to activate her ATs, turning them into knee high bladed single wheeled ATs with 'wings' apparently made of sharp blades and the coming attack gave her the timing needed to use her Wind Scar trick. This would bring winds around the globs of tar hurled her way and rocket them back towards the Tar King in the wake of Tayuya's forward movement. Such a thing would make it so the Tar King was caught by his own attack plus the added force of her winds and behind him her legs kicked out slicing winds which were fired in a manner most speedy and akin to those of the Bloody Road, as if she meant for him to be maimed from both sides at once. If Mukuro was still watching, he'd notice a vast change in the countenance of the Talon Queen as she aimed to maim him with his own attack and hers combined, right when she passed him there was something rather fierce in her eyes and the tiniest hint of regret.

As Akiza watched from above she was stunned. This girl had shown no kind of battle instinct before that moment and when she did it was so aggresive she was stunned by what she was seeing. "Mendokuse, so that's what Shizu meant." mentioned the young woman as she rubbed a hand over her face. Watching a wind-user with this kind of aggression was totally new.

[Bloodedge]

"Yet? That's the spirit." Following Mukuro's initial assault, the Talon Queen's demeanor seemed to undergo a rather drastic shift. With this, came winds with aggression which somehow reminded him of his generation's Sky King during the days in which his Brain Charger state was more commonly activated. Either way, this reaction of Tayuya's was quite problematic. Not only was her attack swift and powerful, but she carried his own attack as well. To defend, Mukuro had to kick up a layered wall of tar in front of him, and quickly solidify it to snuff out the wind. The wall was further fortified by the tar globules Tayuya had been kind enough to return to him, which freed him up to not worry about the wall's stability. When he turned to view the Talon Queen, he was immediately forced into an instinctual guard, which he kept up as the girl's cutting winds lashed out at him. Within moments, the Tar King's blood was splattered onto the wall behind him, while the rest dripped from lacerations along the front of his body. "Chikushou. I don't think I've bled in a couple of years. You really are a cut above the rest. If not for those little restrictions about inflicting injury... you could have killed me."

[Apollymi]

Tayuya heard the praise from the Tar King and it was quite acceptable. Beyond that, he seemed to have survived the first of her attacks, which was surprising to say the least. She understood now why Natsu had spoken of this being a bit fun for her, she had to admit it had been quite a while since the first attack wasn't one for an immediate death, but the Tar King seemed to both shocked by his current bleeding status and mistaken about the nature of the girl known as Tayuya. "Don't get the wrong idea, if you didn't have the natural instinct to guard that likely would have killed you. I don't like injuring people, you're right about that." she said as she bounced back into the air spinning her legs and gathering the wind most expertly. "But that doesn't mean I won't do it." as she said this the last spin made a gentler wind one meant to pull this young man towards her person and would end with her flying past the Tar King and aiming to maim him more directly, her intent to force him to stay down. If successful a spiral of blood would be left in her wake, carried directly upon the talons of her ATs with the Tar King falling where he stood, the injuries were shallow but every pass would make them deeper. If Tayuya had to continue eventually this young man would spill his guts before her. "Please stay down, I don't want to kill you in front of your friend, but I will if I have to."

[Bloodedge]

"Iie," the man replied while sliding his hands into his pockets. "The subconscious is a powerful thing. If you wanted me dead, it wouldn't have mattered how quickly I rose to block it." Mukuro had become stationary at this point. His reaction to the following onslaught by the Talon Queen was a simple one, which merely involved the constant upturning of the land as tar, creating from it barriers once the tar solidified. This kept him out of the girl's path of attack even as he was being pulled toward her. "Let's be honest; you lost the ability to kill me with that first attack, though I'll admit to underestimating you. On the other hand, there's nothing I can do to defeat you now, either. I offer my forfeit."

[Apollymi]

Tayuya didn't know what he was getting at. Her subconscious didn't keep her from doing anything, if nothing else, it made her do the things she did, but as she was offered a surrender she didn't really care. It was just that simple for her, and she'd stop attacking. Though she was quite interested in how the Tar King had managed to stay away from her so much she supposed that was the benefit of having a proper tactically thinking mind. "I'll accept the surrender." she said calmly. That same general apathy returning to her face before her eyes flickered upward to Akiza, who was by all means the next target. "And you?" she asked of the Thorn Queen, who now looked as though she hadn't been fighting in the first place. As she hopped into the cube she landed next to Mukuro and looked at the girl. "I don't want to lose so I won't forfeit." she mentioned knowing that it wasn't the type of person she was, but she was worried about the Tar King at least a little and didn't need to know a fight against this girl would be an uphill battle even if she tried. "Counteroffer, we call this a draw, you keep your spot and we walk away because this was interesting enough for a night out." mentioned the Thorn Queen which caused shock to appear on the Talon Queen's face. "Oh don't look at me like that, and before you respond, you should note that even if you say he didn't, Muko got in your head a bit. Your heart isn't in this fight any more, and mine would be... you could hurt me, and it'd make me stronger, it's a losing situation. But I don't want to take this place from you, it's not my place to do so." If Akiza was nothing else, she'd always been a bit of a mediator, a stable personality among her friends, as such... she had no problem making this offer. She'd wait to see what the girl said in reply. And after a few moments she looked up to her fallen friend and nodded. "Fine. Tie. I'm leaving now." and just like that Tayuya hopped from the cube and went about her business, inside her head, she felt like she could have beaten this pink haired girl, but... there was a rightness about the Tar King's observations gnawing at her a bit.

[Bloodedge]

A few weeks later, the white-haired young man by the name of Takeuchi Shoichi landed atop the Tokyo Interchange. His arrival was early afternoon, and he seemed to be having a conversation via his cellphone when he landed. "Right. Found it. What kind of strength are we talking?" he asked. A male voice then went through an extensive explanation of how he didn't have such measures, also stating that he was quite certain Shoichi wouldn't understand them even if he did. "That doesn't help much. Whatever. Arigatou gozaimasu. Ja." The Sky King hung up his phone then and there, slipping it back into his pocket along with his hand. He had been instructed to wait here until someone arrived, at which point he would receive the intriguing challenge he'd been waiting for.

[Apollymi]

Soon after the arrival of the unknown white haired male, a gust of wind would be accompanied by the landing of a girl with flat bottomed ATs with two small talons protruding from the ankles as she landed one could get a reasonable look at her. She had short blue hair jaggedly cut and large deadpan blue eyes which were unwavering but there was something behind them which couldn't be seen. Her outfit was strange but that could be said of most of the Gravity Children eventually. A black and blue high collar halter top with pink straps over her chest and what appeared to be small pieces of armor hung off her person. In addition she also wore long pieces tied up to her sides revealing shorts and thigh highs black in color fitting her cool color palate aside from the pink strips across her upper body. "Did you come here to challenge us?" this was a sole question because she didn't know the young man before her. And in general if she didn't know someone that was all they came for. Whether or not others had seen this and decided to come out and investigate yet, hadn't been seen.

[Bloodedge]

The gust of wind marking Tayuya's arrival caught Shoichi's eye, which brought his attention directly to the blue-haired girl. At the very least, he could assume this was the Talon Queen he'd heard so much about in recent times, and he could say for sure she had at least reasonable control over the wind. Her dead expression was met by a blank stare from the Sky King, who was in fact without the Sky Regalia; he instead wore what appeared to be a normal pair of ATs. "That pretty much sums it up, yeah. Something wrong with that?"

[Apollymi]

Tayuya's eyes didn't seem to shift, but this young man wanted to challenge them and that was fine. It wouldn't even be the first time this had happened in the last 24 hours. Given the time of day it was, any of them could take the challenge but since they didn't intend to take other territories this spot had to be defended always by the Talon Queen herself if it was only a single challenge. "No, it's no problem. I simply didn't expect another so soon." she said seeming to be disinterested. In general there was never really a challenge worth taking, it was simply a thing that the Talon Queen did to keep her spot for the rest of her members and she saw no reason to assume this would be different. "Fine, you versus me." she said calmly. They were discussing terms and she didn't intend to make this take any longer than it had to.

[Bloodedge]

Shoichi's challenge by word of mouth was accepted. This was good, but it seemed the Talon Queen was keen on taking the challenge herself. Shoichi couldn't agree to this. Shaking his head with closed eyes, he gave his verbal retort. "No. That's not what I'm here for..." he said. This was not going to be a battle for parts, territory, or status. The Sky King had been intending to check out this team since he first heard of them, and now, he felt like getting a fair bit of exercise. "Bring out your team. I'll take you all on, one by one, in whatever class you guys prefer."

[Apollymi]

Something akin to shock crossed the Talon Queen's face as this young man claimed that he wanted her to bring out her entire team and that he'd take them all on in the matches they chose. This was completely unheard of and a bit shocking and for the first time in ages a smile broke out over the girl's face and she laughed. After a few seconds she seemed to pull herself together. "You're kidding, right? This is a joke..." she said. It simply wasn't the sort of thing that should be expected at all, she'd whistle and it'd be kind of exotic the kind made for a bird who had a lot of acoustics to work with. Such a summons would be for one specific member of her team, after all, if this young man was serious she had to consult with the brains of her operation a boy named Natsu.

[Bloodedge]

"You think I'm joking. That's no surprise," Shoichi stated. When his eyes finally opened, they bore the Over-Cross Twinkle Eye of Brain Chargers. Shortly afterwards, the brown-haired teenage hitman descended from a nearby rooftop to join Tayuya in response to her call. He nodded to the blue-haired girl, then looked toward Shoichi. This man's eyes were nothing shy of strange to him, and he would certainly make this known. "Looks like someone's failed attempt at making a Gravity Child. Is this one mine to take?"

[Apollymi]

There was a moment where the boy before her apparently thought to state that she thought he was joking but the seriousness of him let her know that he wasn't. Still it was rather shocking and she wasn't sure what to say about that, so she said nothing waiting instead for the arrival of her second. After a few seconds the brown haired young man she sought landed at her side. It would appear he too was unfamiliar with what she was seeing before her and when asked if he would be the one taking the challenge she simply shrugged. "I have never seen that before either, but... Natsu. He wants to fight all of us, one by one in the matches of our choice." she said giggling again because the idea was still funny to her. "Should I allow it?" she asked finally wiping a tear from her eye. "I mean, I'd let you handle this if you wanted to... I took the last few anyways." she mentioned. She trusted this young man with her to advise her in this matter, something new could prove to be a bit fun for her but she wasn't against the younger members of her team having a bit of fun also.

[Bloodedge]

When Tayuya explained what this man was doing here, Natsu looked at him as if he didn't know what the man could be thinking in doing such a thing. "Obviously, he doesn't understand what that means. They come every now and then; those who think they're strong enough to take an entire team alone. Sometimes it works, but..." As he went on, Natsu looked down toward this man's ATs. "They usually show up wearing something more than just ATs. This one isn't worth your time." With that said, he raised his left arm, signalling the others from the area to descend. This was marked first by Rokuro's arrival, with the white-haired boy standing in front of the line. "Whatever we're doing, I'm up first," the boy said. In his mind, he had a loss to make up for, and he intended to do so as soon as possible. "We're all fighting. To answer your question, Tayuya... if someone wants to challenge an entire group alone, it only sends a message when they lose from the start."

[Apollymi]

Tayuya heard out what Natsu had to say. Given this she simply nodded and found this to be accurate. She'd heard of single people taking on entire teams before but she didn't assume anyone would actually do that for the sake of a match without at least being geared up enough for it. "Hai hai." she said after which a motion from Natsu brought down the rest of their team including one girl with purple hair and lilac eyes which didn't seem to have pupils. "All of us are fighting one guy, Tayu-sama... that seems unfair." she said frowning slightly. She did agree to participate in fights where she was necessary but the idea of all of them fighting a single individual made that a bit annoying. Beyond this Rokuro had arrived seconds before her and seemed to go want to go first anyways. "Oh well, Rokkun is going first so I suppose it is unlikely I'll have to do anything." she said all of this talk made Tayuya happy. Her team was strong and so was her generation in general. "Natsu, if you say it isn't worth it, I'll go last. Assuming Roku doesn't just make him useless... getting to me should be a feat. I'll watch and let you guys have fun. Nana, I didn't choose this fight, he did." she said knowing the parameters of this race. "According to this one, he'll take us all on one by one in the races of our choice. Choose the one you want." she said to Rokuro before taking up a perch on the railings beside the building in one swift jump.

[Bloodedge]

"Any race I want? Kuh!" the Mirror King scoffed. He also had a look over this nameless man, and decided that any tricks he had weren't even worth the trouble of trying to steal them. "Alright. Let's go dash. First one there wins," he said while pointing down the railway at a building around the corner. "Dash?" Shoichi questioned, preparing himself to move while Rokuro did the same. Rokuro, on the other hand, had his Regalia convert into a different form, gaining bell-like additions at the ankles. "Whatever."

On Rokuro's mark, given by a drop of his hand, both competitors took off toward the destination. As he moved, Rokuro utilized the bells on his ATs to produce a chiming sound meant to throw off Shoichi's equilibrium, but to his surprise, the man had gone too far from him already. "The fuck!?" he questioned aloud while watching his opponent reach the goal before he even reached the halfway mark. In fact, by the time Rokuro reached this point, the Sky King was passing him on the way back to take the next challenger. One versed in wind manipulation would likely realize in these moments how Shoichi managed such speed.

[Apollymi]

And as such Rokuro chose his race and the rest of them watched on as the boy tried to use the tricks and gear he'd 'stolen' from the Echo Queen of the Second Generation. Of course, there was much surprise when the dash type race that Rokuro chose ended in his loss. In fact, Nanami was more surprised at the speed that had been seen utilized by the unknown male and she looked to Tayuya. "Tayu-sama, you see that right?" she asked, not knowing if any of the others with them would know or understand the kind of wind manipulation they'd just witnessed. Tayuya was at the very least surprised and widened eyes showed that shock. Tayuya looked to the girl and nodded. "I did. Natsu... do you think that was a fluke?" she asked looking to their challenger as if he was a bit strange. His eyes were weird, his use of regular ATs was strange but he'd beaten Rokuro without any problem and that was worthy of acknowledgement. He'd moved up the rungs a bit as far as she thought, but surely he wouldn't make it past someone like Nanami.

To answer Rokuro's question it would be Nanami who explained what they'd just witnessed. "Rokkun, he's a wind manipulator. A fairly advanced one, he added the wind to the winds created by his movements to increase his own speed. You couldn't have caught up to him, he could have gotten past you after giving you a head start." she said knowing the situation. Still, she wasn't aware of any people who could do such things and it made her wonder who this man was. Tayuya would nod, of their group Nanami was one of the best at wind manipulation techniques, but that was necessary given her road. "Nana is right, Roku." she said her eyes trained on the white haired young man. "Who's going next?" she asked of the group at large waiting for whoever to step up. Nana pressed her hands against the railings preparing to hop off, she likely had the best chance of beating this young man given what he'd shown himself to be capable of.

[Bloodedge]

With the understanding of how this man had won the race against Rokuro, the cloaked boy called Kuroko stepped forward, next to Tayuya's left side. "I forfeit. Even if it was a fluke, I couldn't catch up to his slip stream. Sumimasen," the boy said. Meanwhile, Natsu analyzed the situation, and came to a solid conclusion regarding the loss of Rokuro. "It could easily be a wind road in its early stages. From what we've seen here, it can only be assumed that he's a speed type wind rider, but his chip has him listed as a B-Class. By all means, this is exceptional, but it only means he's developed a few additions to a normal run. Nanami should be able to shut down anything he has to offer beyond a simple speed boost."

[Apollymi]

"Tatsu, you too?" said managing to suppress the amount of shock she felt at his appearance down to an single bit of eye widening. Meanwhile, Nanami couldn't hide her reaction to the rather sudden appearance of the boy in the cloak. "TATSU-CHAN! YOU SCARED ME!" she exclaimed seeming to need a moment to recover from the innate bit of fear which was this boy's supremely quiet approach to them as a group though she'd figured he was around. This was the curse of the young man who was really only seen if he chose to speak. Beyond this, it seemed that Natsu had a decent explanation of the abilities of this rider before them, and with that in mind, Tayuya went back to her usual amount of disinterest but not without reassuring her team members of their value to her. "It's fine, Tatsu and Roku as well. Come on, and watch the next match with us... Nana's changed a bit." she mentioned of the girl who'd hopped off the railings and rolled into the center area. "Hm, I didn't expect to actually have to go. Sumimasen. I think... I'm best D-class... so Cube." she said to Shoichi directly. This girl in the light lavender hoodie with her long hair and ATs which were like boots that came up her legs with two large vents on the sides of them. At the mention of the Cube match she wished for, the tracks moved opening up for a walled space which had been used for the last cube battle which had taken place here. Still it offered a view from above to the spectators who were there.

[Bloodedge]

Rokuro returned to the group, and in spite of Tayuya's reassurance, he seemed to be quite disturbed after suffering another loss. Even if nothing was on the line, nothing was more bothersome to him than this. On the other hand, he had faith in Nanami's ability to put and end to this challenger. "You next?" Shoichi asked rhetorically, mostly just to voice his understanding. As he moved toward the cube that would be the location of their battle, he spoke to the girl. "Don't come at me with anything less than all you've got."

[Apollymi]

"Hai." Nanami said to the assertion that she was next. When the boy before her went on to say that she should give such a match up everything she had she looked at him a bit strangely he was asking a lot and though he'd beaten one of theirs in a dash it still felt a little wrong to give someone without a regalia the kind of punishment he was seeming to ask for. "Nii-san... if you are sure that is what you want fine. But if you can't walk away after this I won't be faulted." she said. She wasn't bragging or even thinking about doing anything to the young man, but she knew for a fact that if he was a wind user against her he'd be at an extreme disadvantage. Within the cube she began to move grinding against walls and causing wind to blast through her regalia as she rode across the surfaces. Eventually she built up enough to spin forcing wind into the turbines and causing them to open blasting the area and creating a plethora of solid wall like mirrors around them, sort of like obstacles which she would appear to disappear around and into at various angles depending on the angle of who was looking. She could have made these one at a time, but she'd done it this way to force the use of her regalia and keep this as easy as possible for her. It turned into a larger pair of boots extending further up her legs with multiple turbines lining them making them blow air through even while she wasn't moving. This was a Rumble Queen but she was very different from the one that was part of the 2nd Generation. And when she moved again she aimed to strike the young man but with a flat hand and the wind that was expelled would be at high force and speed from beneath the young man's sternum even if he managed to see her coming towards him through the mirror set up.

[Bloodedge]

"I never want anything less from anyone," Shoichi replied. What he witnessed next from within the cube was the activation ritual for Nanami's Regalia, and he had to say it was an interesting one. The way the wind moved through the Regalia, and what it formed as a result, led Shoichi to believe this was a Rumble Queen of the Over Road, or some variation of it. "That's pretty cool," he said blandly. As she approached him, he was looking in her general direction, but he didn't seem to be looking directly at her. In fact, he was watching the wind's movements to keep track of where she was, picking out the disturbances that seemed different from those made by the mirrors. "Sugoi. I see why you chose cube," he stated. As he did, Shoichi held out both palms toward the lass, producing a wind barrier between her and himself to disperse the vacuum as it formed. As if to spite his earlier demeanor, he now had a smile on his face, and his eyes were back to their normal violet form. "You'll be amazing one day. You'll even finish this trick." To give purpose to his words, Shoichi flexed the muscles within his left hand, mimicking the vacuum from a standstill while multiplying its size, speed, and power. His aim in doing this was simply to show her why he said to give all she had, showcase an improved version of this newer trick of hers, and also send her rocketing toward the other side of the cube.

[Apollymi]

This was a strange match for the young purple haired girl. As it soon became obvious that this young man was observing her actions and commenting on them in a way which wasn't unlike what her leader was known for doing. He was standing here facing off against her, but he was doing so from a much higher platform than the apparent small gap between them. In most cases a person being a slightly better wind user than her meant that she'd be able to overcome them with the intensity of their own strength. In this case he was much bigger than the small space own abilities currently occupied. The wind barrier that met her thrust she was surprised, no one had yet completely overcome that maneuver. "Nani??" she questioned eyes widening. No one responded that way, this was a Wind King, he had to be because he fully understood her trick and nullified it. As he went on to compliment her work and even advise how she should fix it she seemed completely and utterly stunned. This sent her reeling backwards as she was hit with her own trick in a much stronger variation. "Who are you, how is that even possible?" she question as she tried to right her brain and work herself back into the standing position. Though she hadn't been able to stop this attack, she'd used the wind to cushion her fall, making her take a lot less damage than something of the strength of her multiplied attack would have done normally.

While this all occured, Tayuya watched. This was strange indeed. Beyond the fact that Nanami had been stopped and that she was now trying to get back up to continue her fight, this young man had used the girl's trick and it was so new that the girl hadn't fully perfected it yet herself. "This is getting stranger by the minute." she mentioned to those around her, because for all her pondering she couldn't figure out what was going on with this young man before her.

[Bloodedge]

"You should know how. When you can see the Wing Road, everything's possible. You can already see it a little, can't you?" he asked. From what he understood of the Rumble Road by having his best friend use it for years, and using it himself to create the Hurricane Road in the past, it wasn't necessary to see the wind while using this Road. However, the girl's vacuum attack told Shoichi otherwise. She had to see it, at least to some extent. "Gomen. I came here in a shitty mood just to blow off some steam, but you've got me excited. Let's keep going!"

During all of this, Natsu seemed to share Tayuya's surprise. He had come to the conclusion that this man was not up to par in these battles, but now he had officially won two out of five battles, and had simultaneously countered and improved a technique of Nanami's which he could only envision Tayuya, and perhaps himself, countering. "I thought this one was just an idiot, but he might be some sort of genius."

[Apollymi]

There was something that this young man said which made Nanami's eyes widen just a bit. His understanding of the wind was well beyond her own, and to be fair it was something which only seemed to confirm her earlier thoughts that this boy was a much more advanced wind rider than the norm. At least on par with the girl who was their leader by virtue of his ability to understand and copy her trick. "Hm, I suppose I do. I kind of have to... given the way the mirrors work." she mentioned dusting herself off the turbines of her regalia still blowing the wind around herself. "But I don't think I see it as clearly as you do." she stated. She knew this to be a losing battle for her, but she was rather studious in nature so it would give her a chance to figure out something new, even if she couldn't conquer this particular young man with it. Then much to her surprise he apologized stating his earlier display was the result of being in a bad mood, but that somehow she'd contributed to making it better and that he wished to continue their match. "Eh? I have no idea how I did any such thing. But I'm glad you feel better. Nii-san you're a bit strange, but we can continue since you want to." she said gesturing for the young man to try her again. This time she was ready so it wouldn't be a shock, and to be fair her road was better suited to defense than offense anyways.

"Yeah, I wasn't hopeful he'd make it so far. Perhaps... I might get to have some fun today after all." mentioned the girl whose big blue eyes continued to watch passively from the distance but deep down she was a bit excited. Beyond this there was at least one other person unrelated to this group watching the fights taking place here. She'd posted up on the top of the exchange with a clear view of the kids sitting around waiting their turn and the cage below. As she watched she seemed to be quite interested in what was taking place here.

[Bloodedge]

"Ya' gotta see more. Look for the light and how it moves to predict the wind and pressure. That's the fourth principle of my Road." While Shoichi was giving this brief explanation, he gathered the wind between his hands and turned it in a circular pattern. This created a small tornado, which he kicked with his ATs, sending it horizontally across the cube to where Nanami stood. By the time he kicked it, though, he was already preparing another, more powerful version of the trick for his next move.

"I wouldn't say that much. The last big challengers also exceeded expectations, but they all fall the same by the time you join in," Natsu said regarding the overwhelming strength of the Talon Queen beside him. The fight below seemed like one among Gravity Children of different quality, but what he had seen from Tayuya was far beyond even what he was seeing here today from the white-haired man. "Don't get your hopes up too high. Even if he gets past me, do you really think he'll be up to the challenge?"

[Apollymi]

"Look for the light?" she questioned. It was strange but she supposed she'd give it a try, and given what she understood of her mirrors she supposed she could give this a more thorough try. And she was given an opportunity to do so, because a tornado of a smallish size was made within the cube. And when it came towards her the Rumble Queen created a wall of the winds which were much like the initial activation of her regalia. Only this time it seemed to take the brunt of the wind-laser pushed against it and after a second she kicked back against it forcing it back with a bit more intensity. The Mirror Rumble Wall allowed this while retaining its original shape, thus she lost no defense while redirecting the offense. This was how she used the wind.

The Talon Queen looked to the boy at her side with the same deadpan eyes she always had. Looking at the fight and the types of tricks being used by the young man in the cube, she shrugged. "It's hard to say... going through all of us though he hasn't seemed to slow. I am not certain of his getting through you..." she'd had a lot of time to consider her own strength and knew herself to be well above the level of almost all of her peers. With this in mind, she also figured she'd never get to have any real fun. The previous showing of Gravity Children had shown at least one among them who was also strong but it wouldn't have been a good match up for either person involved. But the wind could be a bit different. Meanwhile the dark haired girl with pigtails had moved to right at the edge of the roof and was looking over with wide eyes. 'Sugoi!~' she thought as she watched the fight below. This group and had ended up in the spot she used to hold was rather interesting and now she was a little disappointed not to be participating herself.

[Bloodedge]

"Yep." Shoichi knew the Rumble Road quite well, so when the initial Pile Tornado trick was returned to him, he was in no way surprised. The method was different from the two he had become accustomed to, but the end result was the same. However, he intended to showcase yet another advancement on this day. With a spin of his body while amplifying the swirl of his second tornado, Shoichi absorbed the returned attack into his current trick. Afterwards, he kicked out a Pile Tornado again, though this one was quite different. The second use of the trick was quite a bit stronger than the first, and it was fired away from Nanami instead of toward her. The angle it was fired in let the shot ricochet off the wind mirror behind him, and subsequently off other mirrors in the cube, gaining strength and velocity at a rapid pace as it bounced around on a course that would eventually lead to the wall Nanami had in place. By Shoichi's approximation, the Pile Tornado would be more than enough to break the girl's defense like a hot knife through butter by the time it reached. "So... I heard your leader is really strong."

[Apollymi]

With her defenses up, she figured she could take time to try and reason out this watching of the light. And the attack presented to her by the white haired young man seemed to be something quite strange indeed. But the wall could take the first one at least so she watched and was then stunned when the young man had his attack redirected and continued forward with his attacking method, though not in a way which was direct to the young woman. Instead she watched and watched seeing the light and the pressure changes and she understood what she was looking at now. And was stunned by the winds bouncing around the cube. A grin crossed her face as the one which would have struck her from behind became one of the things she changed to be subject to her, she spun in a circle using her hands and the vacuum palm to rotate the air of the tail winds in the direction it was already travelling and then around herself creating a barrier of defense from swirling circular winds which had the same properties as the mirrored rumble wall but the strength of the pile tornado. It allowed her to protect herself from all angles while avoiding the attack which came her way. At the question of the strength of her leader she nodded. "Tayu-sama is quite strong, she always has been. She's miles ahead of the rest of us." this was all she had to say about it, and it was the truth as far as she knew it. She knew not of her spectators but it was beginning to look like she'd be able to turn this around a bit.

[Bloodedge]

"Sugoi. She blocked it with vacuums. Maybe my new trick would have been useful against him after all," said the otherwise silent Kuroko. Tayuya of all people present, at the very least, would be privy to what he meant when speaking of his newer trick. He had created a vacuum ball attack after quite some time working at it, all in his attempts to gain offense while retaining his invisibility.

Ironically enough, in the meantime, Shoichi was clapping to create that which Kuroko Tatsuya spoke of. His, however, was quite a bit larger than what the boy could have managed at this point in the trick's development. "Miles, huh? Sugoi. Sorry, but... I gotta get a piece of that, so I'm gonna have to cut our fun short." Without further ado or any explanation, Shoichi launched his vacuum sphere into the barrier created by Nanami. This sphere of his was surrounded by an outer casing of swirling wind, small but strong, and spinning in the opposite direction as Nanami's winds. This would cause a nullification on impact, allowing the vacuum sphere to continue through the wall en route to the Rumble Queen.

[Apollymi]

"Well, your trick would be useful, you'd still have to be able to hit him with it. It seems like he's better than we thought getting around Nana's walls." she mentioned of the girl currently in the cage developing a new trick right now. If what she'd done hadn't been enough to get past this young man, then knowledge of the one Tatsuya was talking about meant that she knew that his fight wouldn't have ended any different from the surrender.

Beyond this, it seemed that the man she was fighting was now done with it. She'd known herself to be quite through before she even bothered continuing. Still it was amazing to her that he continued after saying he was trying to fight against their candidate for Sky Queen. She was stunned more over when a vacuum was created by this young man which managed to slip through the defense she'd so recently created and making contact with her upper arm where she felt the press of concussive damage which knocked her over bringing her to a stop and causing a sincere pain in her which she couldn't rightly decide as it felt simultaneously hot and bloated before a cut created itself across her shoulder thus relieving the pressure but still causing quite a bit of pain to the girl. "OWWW!!!!!" she mentioned pressing her hand against the wound as she sat up from the sensation of being knocked down. But if he could do something like that, she felt like he could have done much worse to her overall.

[Bloodedge]

Once his vacuum passed through the defenses of this girl, Shoichi began moving toward her. He reached his destination at her fore while she had her hand against the laceration on her shoulder. As far as Shoichi was concerned in this moment, the battle had been decided, so he extended his right hand toward the teenage girl. "Gomen. I've never actually hit anyone with that; I didn't think it would be that bad."

As Shoichi waited for the girl to accept his hand, Natsu descended into the cube. His Regalia was already active and absorbing heat from the air around him when he landed. "This is an atrocity I won't accept. I'll finish this," he said, intending to begin the next battle the moment Nanami vacated the cube. From above, Kuroko made an observation about how this man had dealt with the wind in his most recent battle. "He's used both of our tricks... and made them stronger. He didn't even see mine first..."

[Apollymi]

It took a few seconds for Nanami to register that this young man was extending a hand to help her up, and apologizing for the strength of the trick he apparently hadn't known until this point. "It's fine Nii-san." she said taking his hand and pulling herself up without moving the laceration on her shoulder too much. "I'm a bit tougher than most... just be careful, it felt really hot then it just opened up on its own. I wouldn't do anything dumb like put a whole person in there, I'm pretty sure it'd be deadly then." she mentioned. She wasn't sure how it worked exactly but something about the vacuum seemed to have negative effects on the body. But more surprising than this, was the entrance of Natsu into the cube and something akin to him being upset. "Tsu-chan, I can read your face." she mentioned as she headed up, hopping out as her Regalia deactivated. Upon reaching the top she heard the commentary of Kuroko and knowing he was there she was less surprised this time when he spoke. "Hai, he's something very different. Going against him... it's like he's some place high above us. Tatsu-chan, be careful with that trick you're developing... it isn't friendly." she mentioned with a nod. Though her own skills weren't much to scoff at either. She was quite stunned to have taken a loss. "Gomen Tayu-sama. I didn't think I'd lose." she said to the girl. But surprisingly enough Tayuya looked at Nanami and reached out with a hand to pat the girl on the head an affectionate type of thing she did with all the rest of them. "No need to apologize, it seems even Natsu wants in now, do you want to watch with us, or are you going to patch yourself up." she said of the girl and her injuries. Nanami posted up beside them taking the spot that Natsu had abandoned. "I want to see this." she said paying no heed to her injuries.

[Bloodedge]

"... Eheheh~" was Shoichi's response to the girl's advice. Just a few weeks prior, he had placed himself inside the vacuum spheres and used them for travel around the battlefield. Moving right along, the Rumble Queen was vacating the cube, and the next-to-last member of the Raidraptors was already prepared to start the battle. And so, he did, sending an incredible wave of super-heated wind in Shoichi's direction without much warning. This was hot enough to begin peeling away the Sky King's skin after a few moments of exposure, but Shoichi would be having none of that. A single clap created a Moon Drop which expanded outward from his location, blasting away Natsu's attack immediately. "Not to be rude, but..." During the moment of surprise Natsu experienced due to this trick, Shoichi clapped again. This created a second Moon Drop of the conventional type, forming a dense sphere of air to slam against the Heat King from above. This quickly incapacitated the boy, and even left a crater in the ground where he stood. As Natsu struggled to pull himself out of the crater, Shoichi completed his clause. "I've had my warm-up already. I can't hold back enough to have fun with the rest of you guys anymore," he said while looking up in the Talon Queen's direction.

[Apollymi]

And so they watched, but it seemed that it wasn't going to last very long, it appeared the young man was done with the starter fights and wanted to move along. But beyond that his use of wind was well beyond what any B-class rider should be capable of, whatever information Natsu had on this young man was wrong, or exceedingly outdated. It was a stunning thing to be able to take a team which was composed of strong King Class riders without breaking a sweat. Tayuya stood for the first time in a while and she was positively giddy though her outward appearance didn't have any thing in it but calmness. She'd just seen her entire team be wiped out before her and though this wasn't serious it wasn't really something she could tolerate even Natsu had fallen. She stood away from the rails and jumped high into the air, higher than most people needed to but in so doing she fell towards the ground and the opening of the cube in a single twirling motion which would cause the wings of her regalia to unfurl creating the three sharper talons at the calves of her now knee high ATs.

"And just who are you?"she asked this was a touch of impatience herself. It was quite different for her to seem anything but lethargic and right now she was on the verge of being upset, still she reached out to offer Natsu a hand up from the crater he'd found himself in while those large eyes cut in the white haired lads direction. Conquered her entire team, and here she'd thought the pink haired girl who beat Roku was surprising enough a feat.

[Bloodedge]

When Tayuya offered her hand, Natsu shook his head and pushed himself out of the crater using his own strength. "This is interesting. I've never been wrong before. His body is seasoned to resist strong wind currents; I thought I could blast him away and burn him before he got to do anything." Natsu proceeded to stretch his limbs and pop his joints, loosening up from the crushing sensation he had so recently been exposed to. He then left the cube, but not before delivering one final piece of advice to the Talon Queen. "Have fun, if it ends up being possible."

As the Heat King was taking his leave, the white-haired man was rotating his shoulders in preparation for the final battle. "Shoichi desu," was the only response he had to offer for her given question. With that, he held out his fist, aiming to begin the battle to end the war with a simple tap of knuckles. "And you?"

[Apollymi]

Tayuya rolled her eyes just a little, but she sort of expected Natsu to pull himself up. After all he'd been much the same way after the match she'd had with him that ended with him being part of this team. Beyond that he seemed to have a good analysis of the challengers body down and it made her brows raise slightly. "Really?" she said seemingly surprised, both at the apparent physical condition of the white haired man, and at the strategy that the Heat King planned to use to finish this battle. His advice upon leaving surprised the girl just a bit, making her eyes widen if only slightly. "You changed your mind then?" she said to Natsu who was already going.

Just like that it seemed this boy wanted to fight and he gave his name in answer to her question and she frowned slightly. "That isn't what I meant at all." she said only to extend her own fist to tap his knuckles after all, she had to admit he was quite skilled even if he didn't look it at all. "I'm Tayuya." she offered though this was a fight there was no need to be rude. She'd carried on a conversation with their last major competition there was no reason to offer any less. The rest of her group seemed content to watch from the outside but with her regalia already active it didn't matter that this battle was taking place within such a confined space. A cube was her preference for battle as well, simply because it let it be over with as quickly as possible. Chiyo watched the start of this battle and smiled showing fangs. From what she could see, Shoichi had gone back to being his usual self already and was content to have a fight so she'd take it as an opportunity to observe, a blink would follow the activation of her eyes as she allowed herself the ability to have a better look at the battle and a wider field of vision to keep everything in frame. After all, she didn't want to miss a second of this.

[Bloodedge]

"Yoroshiku... Tayuya-chan," he said as greeting before hopping away from the lass. Judging by the entrance she had made to the cube, she was a wind rider through and through... and this made the cube they were in unacceptable. As such, Shoichi's first attack was another outward Moon Drop, not aimed at Tayuya, but at the cube around the pair of them. Once everything around them began to crumble, the man took to the sky and beckoned Tayuya to join him. "C'mon. You like the wind too. People like us shouldn't be boxed in, yeah? I wanna see everything you can throw at me, and I don't think you'll be able to do that from a cage. Not with those wings." As Shoichi spoke, his ocular ability was slowly becoming visible until one could easily see wings spread around his conical pupils, and light waves spanning around the wings.

[Apollymi]

"Yeah, nice to meet you too." said Tayuya. She found this niceness odd considering the different between how this young man was acting now and how he had been when he first arrived. It was very strange to see. Beyond this it seemed that Shoichi wasn't too keen on remaining within the cube, of course, she could understand this cube battles were limiting but what he did was simply use the wind to shatter the block. It was unheard of as he hopped off into the sky she looked stunned. "Wings? What was that? You destroyed the cube..." she said though she was now hopping after him up and into the sky, she had to admit she liked the open air better than anything else, but it isn't like anyone should have known that fact. Beyond this the boy's eyes underwent another change, he seemed to have regular eyes, those freaky almost twinkle eyes and now these ones which she could see wings spreading through. She was a science experiment herself and she found him to be stranger in all ways that she was herself. "What are you, your eyes do freaky things, that is the third set I've seen in your face." she said seeming to not understand any of this. It was shocking and she needed to reconcile what she saw with all that had happened. It seemed to be that this person was well beyond what she'd imagined him to be at first, but she still didn't know if he couldn't be beaten, the thought of trying, made her a bit giddy as she soared up higher.

'Eh, that was my first cube, fuck... I liked the one inside better anyways.' the Storm Queen thought as she watched the pair of wind riders rise into the sky. It was after all always an amazing thing to witness, she understood at least that up was where Shoichi felt most comfortable and she'd also assume the same of the blue haired girl considering how she'd chosen to enter.

[Bloodedge]

"I'm a Gravity Child, just like you. Well... a bit more than that. I had someone else's personality implanted in my brain when I was a kid, but right now, I'm me. And while I'm me, I can see the wind itself." When Shoichi reached the desired altitude with his wind manipulation, he spread his arms and gathered a large amount of wind with his hands. This wind was forced into the hind wheels of his ATs thereafter, causing those very wheels to open and form a pair of wings which allowed him flight without continued wind control. This gave him the freedom to show Tayuya the wings of which he spoke, by accentuating the view he saw of them using his Stardust Road. "The wings... they're something I properly figured out pretty recently. Every Storm Rider, no matter what Road they ride, has to interface with the wind. How they do that determines how the wind moves around them, and the bigger the impact is, the bigger the wings are. Take a look," he said, gesturing toward Tayuya's back. If she chose to look, then Shoichi would immediately make visible the wings of all known people in the vicinity. "Your wings show your potential, and yours are among the biggest I've ever seen."

[Apollymi]

"Sou ka, so your Twinkle Eye is just weird. And you have another form of vision that lets you see wind..." she said in response to the news that this young man was a Gravity Child. At the very least it made a bit of sense as to why none of them could get a proper read on the kind of person he was and how he'd ended up being underwhelming with his initial appearance. She didn't know about this other vision and assumed it to be something special about him in particular. It made even more sense when the back wheels of his ATs unfurled revealing a pair of wings which were his wheels. Now things were beginning to make sense, and the more sense it made, the more giddy the Talon Queen got. Upon being given an explanation of what wings were Tayuya turned to have a look at what were apparently her own. Looking back she saw large wings. "Eh, that... is so weird to see." she commented. It was strange but she didn't imagine the sort of impact she had to be making for her own wings to be as large as they appeared to be, and the man before her said they were just her potential, this made her believe it was possible to make them larger or something of the sort. Still, the fact that he seemed to be so advanced could only mean that he was part of the previous generation and she'd still not actually heard of him. The wings of all the other children present were also visible and sizable even though not as large as her own. A smile crossed her face as she noticed them. "Hai, must be nice to see how everyone can be." she mentioned only to turn back and see Shoichi's wings as well her eyes widening as he couldn't even begin to fathom what his potential was given how large his wings were compared to her own.

Down below the people still spectating the fight were having their wings made visible as well. Nanami who had fought the young man before had wide eyes as she stared up and saw the light reveal wings and her own. "Sugoi. Tayu-sama has wings." she said seeming to be surprised. Only to get more surprised as she noticed the ones around her and her own. "What is this, Nii-san, is this something you did?" she yelled upwards both confused an in awe but then from below she saw the 'wings' attached to Shoichi and got really quiet. "Who is he and why are his so big?" she mentioned. All the while Chiyo was able to see both the battle and the people below from her slightly raised position. It was always a shock to see the wings Shoichi could apparently see, her own weren't included probably because it wasn't obvious she was here. 'I only ever really understand him while he's in the air.' she thought to herself as she enjoyed her friend making new friends.

[Bloodedge]

"Hai. I've taken to calling it the Over-Cross Twinkle Eye. It's kinda hard to explain, but it sees in four dimensions." Shoichi's explanation came with a quick circle around Tayuya, spacing himself around her wings as he did so. "It weirded me out at first, too. I've only been able to see them clearly for a few months or so, and I couldn't rationalize it until last week." With a sigh of contentment, Shoichi finished his mental preparation, or rather, separation from his other self entirely. He was more than ready to begin this fight and abandon everything unrelated to it for the time being. "So... We doin' this, or nah? I came to check you out, remember?"

[Apollymi]

Shoichi went on to explain how his eyes worked and what he'd taken to calling the strangeness of his earlier version of the Twinkle Eye. Beyond this he seemed to be a nice guy which was odd considering how he'd approached initially. She supposed she couldn't fault him for his actions everyone has bad days after all. And it seemed after a contented sigh he was ready to get down to this actual fight. The smile that had crossed the girl's face remained, and it seemed that she was actually excited for once, she didn't know how legitimate his explanation of wings were, but if they were at all factual to his description, it meant that he was better than her. And if this was the case then it meant that for the first time in a really long time... she'd be able to have some real fun. "Hai." was all she said. And it was just like this the girl suddenly became rather serious and moved forward at break neck speed past Shoichi to his left only to stop a bit behind him and up, with the stopping came a spinning motion which created wind blades like tiny stops from the motions she'd created. These could be similar to fangs as they were quite similar in their production but, they had a different substance they were pointed and sharp but flexible and backed by the wind so penetrating and they would aim to impale and lacerate the young man before her, like she hadn't at all thought of the consequences before this moment. But in her own head, if he fell to something as simple as that she'd never get the chance to do anything more anyways.

Chiyo continued to watch with wide eyes as this fight finally got underway. The movements of the Talon Queen made the girl's eyes widen as the tomoe within seemed to dance. "Sugoi!" she said aloud for the first time since she'd been there. Those movements she could see and understand and knew them to be rather similar to her own, but wind powered. Such a thing was unheard of and amazing.

[Bloodedge]

"Osu!" Tayuya agreed to starting the fight, so Shoichi immediately put himself on high alert. From what he was told by none other than Mukuro earlier this day, she was one that required watching during combat. When she moved past and above him, his eyes followed her pattern and his body turned to match it. Her attack was an intriguing one; blades of pure wind were quite aesthetically pleasing, and effective to boot. However, it was Shoichi's plan to ignore these entirely while holding his right hand toward Tayuya for his own trick. Wind gathered around his arm and shot forward in the form of a laser, which plowed through Tayuya's attack and shredded the atmosphere itself en route to the girl's location. "Never seen the Wing Road do that. Weird variation ya' got there, but I like it~"

[Apollymi]

Tayuya continued on her quest to attack this young man and his handling of her attack was an intriguing one, as was his reaction to the coming attack. There was no fear, and he seemed perfectly capable of handling it. "I ride the Winding Road... my title is the Talon Queen." she mentioned of herself, it's been quite a while since someone had seemed to excited about what she could do. She had at least one other but that wasn't very important to this moment. This was starting to get exciting and with that in mind, she jumped back as the laser was fired off in her direct her right leg spinning as she gathered the wind and kicked back at the exact moment it would have struck her. She'd gone quiet for the duration because this trick took a lot of concentration from her, but at its outset it twisted the wind causing the laser to strike it but sending it back in the opposite directing with her on spiraling winds around it at the same ridiculous speed that her attacks were made. This was something special and that she'd not really had much occasion to use, there weren't many who could stand against her to begin with and this trick of hers was something special to her.

[Bloodedge]

Frankly, Shoichi wondered how this particular rider would react to one of his favored tricks, and what he saw made his eyes widen. "Sugoi! That's it!" he said, as if this trick was something he'd been seeking for a long time. In fact, it was, and Shoichi was quick to mimic the trick against itself. However, his came with a bit of a twist... "I was always missing something when I tried to finish the head, but THAT'S what I needed! Motherfucking Bakuryuuha!" he exclaimed as he forced the returned winds outward again, following the precise principles for the trick Tayuya had so recently performed while adding what seemed to be the mechanics of the Pile Tornado as well. This produced a twister of phenomenal strength, which held the appearance of a rising dragon's head as it ripped through the clouds above and caused nearby buildings and other structures to tremble in its wake. Even the individuals below were very likely to feel the force of this trick which had been powered up twice, and then had a multiplier applied via the new mechanic. "OSU! I've been trying to make that trick work for years, but I always thought it needed something added to the end. Turns out it just needed that sort of start-up. Arigatou gozaimasu! You can have that one, by the way."

[Apollymi]

Tayuya was satisfied that she'd sent this attack back, but the reaction of Shoichi was not at all what she expected. He seemed to be really excited about the principles she'd used to return his attack and she wanted to question this but he went on to copy the trick she'd done and make it better. Improving it and changing the way it worked to make it something way beyond that which she'd used in the first place. The roaring dragon's head was sent up into the sky breaking the clouds and causing the windows and buildings to shake. This was unheard of, literally she'd never seen anyone cause such a massive attack. Beyond that he seemed to be really excited and she was simply stunned beyond words. "But.. how and ah..." she was done if he'd used that attack against her it would have killed her instantly, but it wasn't even aimed at her. This man was like something from a completely different planet. He said she could have that trick but she didn't know that she'd be capable of it at such a massive level as what he'd shown. He'd used the tricks of the younger members of her generation and made them better in front of their eyes, and had even used one of hers in a way she'd never really thought possible.

Nanami below seemed to be stunned by the things she was watching happening. This young man was going against Tayuya and doing more than just holding his own, he was standing before her doing better from where the purple haired girl sat. She found herself grabbing the railings and holding on for dear life. Chiyo was also still watching and the shaking of the nearby buildings was ridiculous but she'd gotten quite used to such disasters occurring so she didn't seem to be upset by it. Still the trick used by the girl then perfected by Shoichi were more than she'd expected them to be. 'Man, he's so good... I wanna go too.' she thought started to get excited over the new things she could potentially do and show the Sky King of her generation. She still didn't now why he was upset before but right now he was in his element and that was amazing and the sort of thing that made her rather happy she knew him.

[Bloodedge]

"That's awesome!" the Sky King said, continuing his admiration and awe of the long-awaited completed trick. "It was really awkward just having tails. I wanted to make the head for so long. Now, if I could figure out what to do with a giant pair of wind wings, and maybe some claws or something, we'd be in business. But... I guess it doesn't have to be that kind of dragon," he continued. It took him a bit, but he was soon over this moment and looking toward Tayuya again. "Pile Tornado. That trick I used earlier... add it to what you just did; it's pretty fun. It doesn't seem like it'll work with too wide a power gap though, so tone it down a bit if you're up against something smaller. Might end up imploding the trick. Anyway..." Without further ado, Shoichi clapped his hands and slowly pulled them apart. Their separation brought into existence a spiraling sphere of wind which kept its form thanks to its own overlapping patterns and a vacuum shell. Interestingly enough, though, the excess swirling winds created by the clap itself rolled into similar spheres around Shoichi's location at the same time. There were several dozens of these - hundreds, even - all of which appeared in the blink of an eye. "Back to it!" Next, Shoichi tossed the original sphere over his head, then jumped and spun around 180 degrees while performing a backflip, all in order to kick the sphere toward Tayuya. What added to the offensive power of this maneuver was the movement of the other spheres in the same general direction.

[Apollymi]

"Hai!" the girl said she was also admiring the trick it was beyond anything she'd ever bothered thinking to do. Given how high she stood above her peers the idea of developing a trick like that seemed unnecessary at best, but she was starting to rethink that at present. Beyond this she listened as the young man explained the trick he was apparently giving to her and watched as he started his next trick apparently willing to get right back to it. She didn't use her hands much but she figured it had something to do with why he had so many varied forms and shapes to the tricks he used, though they all started their base the same way. Now there was something else entirely to deal with as numerous small orbs of air appeared all in front of her and the man back-flipped kicking them towards her. A grin crossed her face as she began spinning the pressure differential created by her body caused a vacuum and the blades on her ATs sliced at the coming winds. Such a thing was something rarely done, but would allow her to suction things towards herself and slice them to ribbons before they could harm her. This was how she chose to deal with the barrage coming her way, and in so doing fired off a barrage of long talon like protrusions which would encompass a wide area around her. This trick was normally unused simply because there was never a need but right at the moment it was amazing to see as small orbs of air depressurized around her and she flung her spinning self forward through them. She took this time and the slicing winds she'd created to try out the trick this young man had recently shown, unsure if she'd be able to pull it off, she clapped her hands together vertically creating a ball of wind, but unlike the ones created by Shoichi in the moments prior this one had small bits coming off the side like it was sharp for some reason. She held it in the palm of her hand a bit confused. "Eto... I think I did it wrong."

[Bloodedge]

Shoichi's eyes darted around the area inhabited by Tayuya as she countered the wind spheres thrown her way. There was a certain amount of flair being applied that the young man could appreciate, and when it came to an end, the girl made her first attempt at creating a sphere of her own. It was a very interesting sight to behold, and markedly different from his own form. Shoichi moved toward the lass to get a closer view, and in doing so, he placed a hand under the one she held the sphere in. "Iie. You didn't do it wrong... you made it yours." With a smile on his face, Shoichi utilized wind manipulation of his own to enhance Tayuya's sphere. Its size quickly grew to that of a house, and it seemed to sustain itself over the pair's heads and the surrounding buildings. "You added some cutting power to it. That baby's gonna do some damage!"

[Apollymi]

"Sou ka." the girl mentioned it'd been quite a while since the last time she tried something new and had it not turn out badly. This whole thing was an amusing day to her, and Tayuya had to admit she was having quite a bit of fun. It seemed that Shoichi thought that her trick wasn't wrong, but instead had simply been made her own. He took this a bit further, using his own wind manipulation to increase the size of the small orb in her hand to something gigantic and out of her hands. "Sugoi! It's huge!" she said laughing in amazement. Something that large was bound to do a lot of damage but she doubted she'd make one so big without needing to. Still it was just nice to have fun at this point. "Shouldn't we not have it be so big if it's already going to be damaging though?" she said there was a lot of power to be found in the kind of run that Tayuya had, and she didn't want anyone to be hurt.

[Bloodedge]

"Damn right it is!" he replied. Shoichi was happily looking up at the slicing sphere when Tayuya commented on its size and the potential dangers of having such a thing. In this moment, he raised a brow and lost his grin. "Uhh... probably. Didn't think about that, but it looks so awesome like this. Oh well..." In the end, Shoichi had to agree to the dangers of this sphere, so he clapped once and dispersed it without causing any collateral damage to the surrounding area. "There. So... got anything else for me?"

[Apollymi]

A smile was on the face of the normally alone girl. She was the strongest of her generation so often alone because she couldn't play with them properly without hurting people. It seemed now that her lack of development for the sake of the rest of her friends might have been a bit of a miscalculation on her part so as the man known as Shoichi dispersed the giant form of the newest trick she'd used she shrugged. "Gomen. I haven't actually needed to develop any new tricks... I sit so high above the rest of them already, it made me sad to think about it." she mentioned rubbing the back of her head with her left hand as she looked a bit bashful. "And... you didn't actually say what you wanted... you challenged us but there weren't any terms set for what happened if you won." she said thinking about this parts war in terms of what it should have been. She was responsible enough to remember the other important things about what had been taking place here.

[Bloodedge]

As Tayuya explained her situation and why her repertoire of tricks was smaller than it could be, Shoichi looked upon the lass with an expression insinuating raw confusion. "Oro? Why is it sad that you're better than everyone else? If you're leading this team, you're gunning to be a Sky Queen, right? Don't you want to bring them up with you?" As for the matter of this battle's terms, Shoichi actually became more confused. He didn't recall even thinking of such a thing when he arrived here. "Who said anything about winning or losing? I just wanted to check out the next top candidate for Sky King before I decide whether I'm in this parts war or not."

[Apollymi]

Tayuya watched as confusion spread across Shoichi's face. It was an odd thing to explain, why it was sad for her to stand so high above the rest of her friends. And while it was true, she wished for them to reach her, she didn't think it was possible to do so while reaching even higher for herself. "Because if I get too far ahead of the rest of them, they'll end up hurt and I'll be alone." she mentioned, it'd been a long time since she had a friend that matched her who kept pace with her and without that, she'd stagnated. Already being too far ahead of the rest of her peers for them to catch up. "But I will be Sky Queen so they can occupy the sky and I can look after all of them." she said a smile on her face, her intention as the Sky was quite different than the two previous people who held the title, but she had her friends backing her. Beyond this it was stated that this young man had just come here to have fun, there weren't any stakes on the match the whole team had just lost and it was about determining his future participation in the parts war. "Ah... what? Deciding to participate. How does that make sense... why do you care who gets to be the Sky? Someone like you could..." she paused looking at this young man and had a rather stunning realization that she'd missed before now.

[Bloodedge]

"If you get too far ahead of them, they should reach for you," he replied. His experiences grew him into being the type of Sky King that sought to be uplifting for the other members of his tower. It seemed, though, that Tayuya wished to be a different type of Sky. "That's an interesting way to look at it. I dunno if I agree, but this is your world, not mine," he said further. When the girl spoke of his potential participation in the parts war, her pause brought a grin to his face. "I wanna see the next Sky King. I'll wait for whoever's chosen and see what their world's atmosphere is like."

[Apollymi]

"I... don't know if it works like that, at least not for us." she said of her own tower's population which was full of people very different than what the man before her probably had to deal with. The words spoken by Shoichi made her smile and she couldn't help but like what he wanted. "Hai, I'll try to make it interesting for you then." she said seeming to not doubt her eventual position as Sky Queen. Besides that fact it was her world as he put it, so she knew that she could do this. "Does that mean you're the last Sky King?"

[Bloodedge]

The words spoken by the Talon Queen hinted that she was certain of her eventual ascension to becoming the Gram Scale Tournament's victor. "I like your confidence. From what I've seen of your tower's riders, and even knowing that sister of mine, I'd say you're the closest thing to the sky in this whole tournament. If you stay that way, I guess I'll be meeting you there in the end. Fair warning, though. If you want to get there, there are 28 pieces to the puzzle at the bottom of the tower. All of your peers have to accept you."

[Apollymi]

"Hai!" she said to the information she was given. She had been looking into the nature of the Gram Scale Tournament and understood what he was getting at though she didn't have all the details yet, she figured when they were needed she'd have them. Her group was a varied one, and she wasn't sure she could make all of them accept her, but it didn't matter to her if they wanted to or not. A smirk crossed her face as her regalia deactivated finally. "I had fun, thank you." she said smiling. Nanami had been right in saying that this man stood miles above them, even Tayuya now had something to aspire towards, and that gave her a great feeling inside.

[Bloodedge]

"Yeah, it was fun. Let's do it again sometime. If you ever wanna get in touch with me, just send me a flashy message in the sky. Y'know, something that'll let me know it's you." For this sort of situation, Shoichi didn't think it appropriate to exchange phone numbers; no, that would perhaps come at a later time. Here, he thought it best to have the same form of call that he had once used to reach his predecessor in wind manipulation. With a casual wave using his fore and middle fingers, he rose higher into the sky to mark his leave. "Ja ne, Tayuya-chan~" he said as he disappeared in the clouds.