endgames | Appointment's Post II

[His eyebrow goes up at the shadow spreading out underneath him, and he floats up a few feet in the air- he doesn't know what that's supposed to do but he's not going to stand in it, that's for sure. And if it tries to come out from the ground and attack him he's poised still to move.]

Whatever trick this is, it isn't going to save you. [And for good measure he throws a few more fire blasts down, grinning devilishly all the while. What he doesn't know is what Shikamaru is actually setting up for.]

That's what you think.

[Even flying, Vegeta is still casting a shadow - only a few feet up, it's a distinct one even, in this morning light. When the wave of Shikamaru's shadow comes into contact, Vegeta will notice an instant change if it works:

He cannot move. All control of his limbs, wings, muscles - everything sans his eyes and mouth - no longer belongs to him. It will feel very much like paralysis, although as strong as he is, if he forces his movement he would likely be able to get more than a few twitches out.

Shikamaru hadn't planned to use the Kage Mane this early, but he can't take more hits from the fireballs like that. He's not a masochist.]

What's this?! [He grunts as he tries to move, but can't. He glares down at his opponent, rage boiling to the surface as he tries to break out by letting his energy spike out around him, blue in color and licking around him like a flame.]

You just signed your own death warrant, fool! [He struggles but can't get out of the shadowy grip Shikamaru's got on him.]

Kage Mane no Jutsu... successful.

[Only if it weren't for Twila, Shikamaru knows it wouldn't be. At the very least, he wouldn't be able to hold this jutsu for another minute solid.

The level of strength he's measuring from his opponent's attempts to fight back alone put him on a scale ahead of Hidan... It's probably a match for that Kinkaku guy, in his demon form. And it seems he doesn't need the wings alone to fly either, which is interesting.

It's not gonna be fun at all when he has to be released. In that case, they really should get away from the store now. And rather than exhaust his chakra leading him away from it, Shikamaru has something else in mind.]

And I haven't even dumped you in a lake yet.

[With that, the standing shadow raises its arm, only for its hand to grow exponentially. it stretched upwards, and with a sudden strike it will make to slam Vegeta back to the ground.]

[The hand slams into him and he goes crashing back down onto the ground, face first and still lacking the ability to move his own muscles. The kid had some good tricks up his sleeve, that was for sure, but that strike paled in comparison to how hard he'd been hit before. He might be more worried if he starts getting sent through rock formations and mountainsides. The realization of that makes him grin despite his current position.]

Is that all you've got? Oh my, a lake, I'm certainly shaking in my boots at the prospect. I might drown in there, now that isn't very nice, where are your manners?

[His curiosity is piqued- let's see what the boy could do, what kind of strength he had. Vegeta still had his own tricks he hadn't pulled out yet.]

[That's when two hands come out of the ground - or the shadow over it, to be more accurate. Solid and human, they grab Vegeta by the shoulders and pull down just as the head comes up after. This time when they're face-to-face, it's for real.]

Sorry. I only hold doors open for ladies.

[With that, he's going to push Vegeta all the way into the shadow, while simultaneously pulling himself out. It's where he's been hiding this whole time, so they'll just be switching places.]

[Well, if that wasn't freaky enough, being face to face with the boy like that, what's even more freaky is getting shoved into living shadow. It's black. Not a thing can be seen no matter where he tries to look, as restricted as eye movement is right now. So maybe this wasn't such a good idea, but Vegeta's pretty confident he can get out of this if he wants.

But there's no reason to show all the cards in your hand if you don't have to, and he prefers not to. It more or less makes him angry to have to do that, and so he'll wait patiently.]

[He won't have to for long. Shikamaru pauses when he's finished, to wipe the sweat from his brow. He feels out of breath, but keeps his breathing silent. If he could hear Vegeta when he was in there, chances are Vegeta can hear him now that their roles are reversed.

And this is a straining technique. Without Twila, he wonders if it would even be possible... Time to get on the move, regardless. The shadow across the ground shrinks back until it's the normal shape he's always cast, and Shikamaru breaks into a run for the lake.

Where he stops, instead, is the forest. Up in a tree.

For a moment he stands in conflict with himself, then shakes his head and reaches down into the shadow. With the help of shadow hands to cast his load from the branch and to the ground, he tosses out Vegeta.]

[Even he can't deny that it's insane that he's being transported via shadow. The Saiyan can hear the footfalls of Shikamaru running, even though the sound never seems to be getting farther away. There isn't too many places he can go anyway, Luceti isn't that big and it would take less than a minute for him to get back to the village from anywhere in the enclosure. He's getting pretty impatient until he finds himself being grabbed and thrown out of his black prison- straight at the ground.

Before his face slams right into the ground, he catches himself with his ki, floating a few inches above it until he rights himself, looking up to where he'd just fallen from with a raised eyebrow. And he will be looking for Shikamaru's chakra signal, because he wants to find the ninja.]

Dumping me here was a bad idea, freak. When I find you I'm going to rip you apart. [And unless he's suppressing his chakra...it's very likely that Vegeta's already found him, but just hasn't moved yet or let on that he knows where he is.]

[He's not hiding it - he has, in fact, remained in the same tree as before. Should Vegeta hone in on his location like he expects, he'll be in plain sight when he looks higher up.

It's hard calling back what Naruto had taught him (the Naruto who remembered being here, that is), but he remembered. And the preparations are complete.]

Life's too troublesome for me sometimes... But I still want to live. [He spreads his hands.] So I can't let you do that of course.

Isn't that too bad. Didn't your mother teach you that you don't always get what you want. [He sees him there, in the tree, and one moment he's standing there- and the next he isn't.

He's appeared behind Shikamaru, floating there behind the ninja and the branch, arms crossed and looking very, very perturbed.]

[Fast. When he's out of sight, Shikamaru's first response is to draw on ninja instincts - check your surroundings. Left, right, up, down, behind. This is done with as little movement as possible, and when the only option is left, he turns his head with a smile.]

With a vengeance. Funnily enough, she also gave me a healthy love for explosives.

Your brain must be a dud if you think your pathetic human weapons are going to even make a dent on a Saiyan warrior. Why don't we cut the chit chat and get to the demonstrations then.

[With that, still in midair behind his opponent, his right foot comes up hard and fast- a turn kick aimed right at Shikamaru's midsection.]

[So invulnerability then. Sensor abilities. Energy blasts. Enhanced speed. Flight and fire blasts, possibly a result of Eferin's magic and possibly not.

Check. Check. Check. Check. Check and check.

Shikamaru responds by letting himself fall backwards off of the branch, right as he sees the move coming. He can feel a ghost of the breeze against his chest - has enough time to imagine the power behind that kick and what it would have done had it connected (enhanced strength - check) - before he feels gravity weigh down.

Wings add a whole new layer of mobility to this battle, and he drops the genjutsu to let his large black ones unfurl. They catch quickly, and he propels himself back and away. Probably not far away enough, but if he fails here he'll have collected plenty data.]

Maybe you're invulnerable. Blow up the forest, though, and you'll be halving the source of your power. Won't you?

[That might be appealing more to Eferin than to Vegeta.]

[It's not appealing to Vegeta at all. But it is very appealing to Eferin, and the contact between the two spirits has made Eferin bubble to the surface more in the Saiyan's mind than what he would experience the entire week. It wants Twila gone and it'll exert its influence as much as it can to get Vegeta to get rid of it.] Then if I can't blast you I'll just have to do it the old fashioned way. Not that I've got a problem with that.

[He disappears again, appearing once again next to the boy, upside down and arms crossed.] This body has a lot more power than you could even dream of. [Though...that was more the spirit talking than the Saiyan. Which doesn't go unnoticed by the host.

And Vegeta doesn't particularly like something controlling him.]

[Last thing to test: Twila's magic versus Eferin's. Shikamaru turns at once, a barrage of kunai crafted from Twila's darkness materializng in an instant beneath his fingers. They're thrown at Vegeta, but oddly not aimed for vital spots.]

[He sees the kunai coming. He can see them coming from a mile away, being used to speeds that not even the eye can see- but that last little stunt Eferin just pulled on him really pissed him off. Using his mouth to talk, even for a moment. How dare it. And this boy, he was probably obeying the influence of his own spirit. That really pisses him off. If they want to fight, Eferin and Twila, they can count him out because he does not give one single shit about their stupid squabble.

And if anything, out of pure spite for the spirit, he takes the kunai, every single one of them save one that he catches between his fingers just to prove a point to this thing inside him that he doesn't take orders from anyone. They pierce him in every spot they land, wincing, blood running out of every point. Vegeta's grinning though, not in malice at Shikamaru, but more at himself- his mind was more powerful than the thing inside him and he knew it. Interesting.]

Whatever your problem is with this other dark spirit is none of my concern. Take your little argument somewhere else, I'm not interested. [Spoken to Eferin, out loud because Dragon Ball characters are like that? But he looks at Shikamaru-] And you, if you're going to attack you're going to have to use something a little bit more effective. [He throws the single kunai at a tree, sinking it far into the wood.]

[They did pierce, though. Shikamaru eyes the blood. He's not invulnerable. Not when he relies on Twila.

Frankly, hearing Vegeta talk out loud - words not directed at him - just serves to remind him how much he doesn't want to fight at all. He doesn't want to hurt people, he wants to survive.]

I already accomplished the primary goal I had in this. I've thought out the next two hundred possibilities, but they're all troublesome. [A shrug.] I don't care what happens next.

You should very much care about what happens next. [He rips the remaining kunai out of him, letting them drop to the ground below.] Listen, ever since that little stunt back at your store all this spirit has done is feed my thirst for combat. It would like nothing more for me to rip that head of yours right off your shoulders. Normally I wouldn't mind but I won't be a puppet to some mind-bending abomination. So you better high tail it out of here before I change my mind.

[Or before Eferin's rage tries to overwhelm him, because that's what it's doing; screaming at him to kill. However, it does feel good to be able to think a little clearly for now.]

Hm. [All right. Whatever. Shikamaru turns his shoulders, before disappearing all together with a pop and puff of smoke.

Shadow clone. Naruto taught him.

Thirty feet off, the shadows pool together around the trees and give upwards, the real Shikamaru stepping out of them as if coming up from a flight of stairs. He sticks his hands in his pockets and walks off into the dark without looking back.]

Appointment's Post II

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yeah sorry for the tl;dr x.x it's sort of a nasty habit of mine

No prob! I do that too.

Yay, we can be tl;dr buddies~

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