PlagueOfUndeath

ZERO analyzed the new threat.
"Classification: A, possessed mortal. No record found. Energy levels exceding safe parameters. Plus I think he's a jerk," she said in her strange mixture of robo-human speech.
Her gatling gun had run out of ammo, and wouldn't get any new ammo unless she recalled it, which she had earlier. However, her programming called for a different weapon.
"Activate: SoulSunder," she said. Her left arm formed into a long, blue blade.
She was about to attack when...

Sae felt drained. Chiyoko said she'd get better at handling the Heavenly Garment with time, but she'd have to take it easy at first in order to get used to it. "Ten Thousand Lights of Heaven" was definately not 'taking it easy', each gun she manifested required a certain degree of concentration and focused soul energy. The broach around her neck allowed her to easily split her control over the whole Garment, but manifesting additional weapons would start to drain her (OOC: This is why she didn't just run around guns firing every which-way). Chiyoko had told her she'd last a few hours before having to rest if she stuck to two 'pistols' and one regular-sized sword, but she had manifested over a hundred pistols.
Needless to say, she passed out in mid air, and the Garment returned to the broach. And she fell...

ZERO was faced with a dilemma: face the enemy, or rescue her leader. Unfortunately some dingbat in programming gave Class A enemies and a Captain-rank superior officer the same priority, leading her to be further confused.
Fortunately, she still possessed a human mind and soul, and thus human judgement.
She took off and caught Sae, the friend she couldn't even remember, in her hands, and landed softly on the ground.

Chihaya approached Toshio. Now that most of the weaker demons were dead, she didn't have to concentrate on the shield.
"You're infected, aren't you?" she asked in English.

(OOC: Yeah he's been mysteriously absent...and he's the GM!)

As she and her little group began skirting the edge of the battle, she began to notice that the demons were, in fact, focused on one particular area: One of the shrines located in Ochanomizu.
The mecha and the barrier had managed to hold them off, but things were looking grim. From the looks of things, the man-hound demons were totally ravaging the mecha. It was as if they were bred for this battle.
Fighting her way through the throng of enemies, Sae finally made it to one of Allen's crawlers. (OOC: Not XANV or the lead one tho)
"\OK, you guys stay here, I'm gonna go even the odds a bit,\" she told the band members, "Mage, Hinomu-san, you guys should try to meet up with the lead crawler. It's probably the one covered in ice."
She turned away and took flight again.

Meanwhile, ZERO was having problems of her own. A short while ago she had separated from the lead crawler, and had gotten caught up in the throng of battle. It wasn't long before she found herself stuck. Her retreat by air was cut off by a group of demons prepared to take her apart, and hounds had surrounded her on the ground.

Chihaya and Ryuji had problems of their own. Chihaya had a plethora of powerful spells at her disposal, but thanks to the virtually unlimited horde of demons attacking, she had to completely focus on her shield and light-ball to keep demons from wrecking the crawler. Ryuji was, of course, in the same boat.

Sae flew high above the battle, dispatching any demons that came her way. Below she saw the demons focusing on areas with high population: a few department stores, a hotel, the crawlers, and ZERO's location.
I hope this works... she thought to herself.
"\Command Line: Transmit Ten Thousand Lights of Heaven. RELEASE!\" she called to her armor.
All around her dozens of the modified, floating pistols formed, each one taking targets.
"IIIKEEEEEEEEEE!!!!" she screamed, and all the pistols fired at once in volley after volley.
Chaos rained down upon the demon hordes. The shots were carefully aimed, and avoided humans and mecha alike with ease.

(OOC: Sae and DeviousMe's characters are nowhere near each other. Sae and the band are still on the ground floor of the station with Soviet and Shinji's characters, and DeviousMe's guys are...elsewhere with the rest of my guys and Toshio)

"A holy seal eh? Guess that's an interesting workaround for the barriers..." Sae remarked.
"Nee-chan! \He's a demon! Why isn't he attacking?!\" Shuji asked, scared out of his wits.
"\He's here to help...why I don't know but at this point I'd accept help from the devil himself. We're just lucky the 'other guy' decided to help us out\," she said, referring to Chiyoko being the Eyes of the One.
(OOC: BTW what soul are you talkin about Essex? I'm curious...)

"Ugh, you again," Sae said, grinning, "For a moment I was actually SCARED!"
She walked up to the mage, "You like the power Chiyoko gave you? Hm, actually what DID she give you?"

Sae walked up to to the top of the staircase. Lo and behold, a group of hounds were waiting for them.
Materializing her sword, she sped into combat, dispatching three of the hounds before they even knew she was there.
Four more...

"MOST DELICIOUS EXCELLENCE!" Pan said (OOC: No typos, that was english )
"\Don't mind Pan,\" Kouhei said, "\He's an outstanding drummer but he's a few notes short of a full song.\"
"\So my sources say you punks were arrested for disturbing the peace. Did Pan eat another old lady's cat again?\" Sae asked, desperate the change the subject.
"\We were arrested for playing music,\" Shiina said matter-of-factly, "\But the head honcho...uh, that's the leader here, he literally calls himself 'head honcho'...said he wanted us to do public shows to raise morale. Guess that deal's out the window.\"
Sae smiled warmly. She admired Shiina and Shuji. Pan was passionate, sure, but he was just doing the only thing he was good at. Kouhei wanted to be a rockstar and get chicks. But Shiina and Shuji genuinely wanted to play music that people would love. Sae had no doubt in her mind that the two of them would end up married, they were just WAY too compatible.
"\I could talk to the council about getting you guys a concert in Shinjuku,\" she offered, "\But only if Pan promises not to eat anymore cats.\"
"CATS ARE EXCELSIOR!" Pan replied.

"\Friend of a friend of mine\," she replied, "\Ah, and this is my kid brother, Ukyo Shuji, and his bandmates Pan, Takamura Kouhei, and Takamura Shiina. Yes they're twins\." (I'm not sure how this exact moment fits into continuity...for the sake of argument let's just say she knows Ryuji who knows Reishi who knows Asuka who always tells Reishi about jobs who always blabs to Ryuji. In my non-CoH/CoV stories the three of them are teammates)
"\Pleased to meet you sir! Thanks for the help!\" Shuji said.
"\We should get out of here before more demons show up\," Sae said, moving towards the exit.
"\Nee-chan, where did you get those weird clothes? You look like a cosplayer!\" Shuji asked bluntly.
"\A...friend,\" she said vaguely.

"\My name is Ukyo Sae. I call every guy 'mister', sorry. Guess I'll just call you Hinomu then\," she said, bowing, "By the way, are you related to Shinji?"
(OOC: Sae knows several of my other characters who have met Shinji, and Ryuji receives letters from Reishi.)

(OOC: Sae's 18, a senior in high school. She'll be 19 when she graduates because she spent roughly a full school year fighting in the Rikti War)
Sae held up her hand and one of the 'pistols' manifested again, blasting the demon several times before it flopped over, screamed, and disintegrated.
Shiina, Pan, Shuji, and Kouhei ran up to Sae.
"Sugoi nee-chan!" Shuji said excitedly. Sae punched him.
"\What's wrong with you?! I told you to stay in Shinjuku! Yet here you are, running off with your band to Akihabara...you had me so worried," Sae began crying, "You're all I have left, Shuji, I don't want to lose you...\"
"\What about us?\" Kouhei asked, grinning mischieviously, "\You gonna hit us too Sae-chan?"
"\Go jump in a hole Kouhei\," Sae replied. She was glad to see them, but Kouhei and Pan were both frustrating to deal with. Pan because he was a complete idiot, and Kouhei because he was a playboy and the same age as Sae...which meant he was constantly trying to get into her pants.

The worm demon screamed in agony and began to writhe. It wasn't dead, but it was sure hurt.
This gave Sae an opening. She flew up above the worm and came down hard on its head, driving her sword into it like a spike.
It writhed a bit more, then began to disintegrate.
"Thanks mister, now let's get the other one!" she said.

Sae moved down the stairs towards one of the subway platforms. She saw a group of refugees doing battle with a pair of worm demons, barely holding their own.
"\Hang tight guys!\" she announced.
Materializing her sword, she sped towards the group in time to block one of the worms from slamming its bulk on the group.
"Nee-chan! \You came!\" her brother called.

Sae landed just outside the station, near the place the band had been playing just hours before. She crossed through a passageway littered with lockers, hoping to find her brother.
Not far away, at a store called 'Gamers', a guy dressed in a giant Dejiko mascot outfit and three french maids, all armed with AK-47s, were holding off a large amount of demons. (OOC: There really IS a big store like that exactly in that spot )
Sae had to help them, so she raised her hand and her pistols, modified by Chiyoko's power to resemble the floaty things from Phantasy Star Online (OOC: Everything about Sae's current get-up has anime inspiration. Chiyoko was a closet otaku) and each fired a series of shots hitting each target, vaporizing them.
"Ganbatte!" she called and turned inside the station.

(OOC: You need to pay more attention when I'm describing how Reishi's power works: she adapts to a situation to make it an even match. There's no way to completely overpower her unless you do so all at once. Your mind reading won't work forever, just like the human body builds resistance to pathogens, so does Reishi's body consider ANY invasion of ANY kind short of the astral plane to be a pathogen. Add to that she's much faster and much stronger than she normally is, so even if you CAN read her mind, what good does that do if you can't keep up in speed or strength?
I'm also starting to get irritated with the powers Becky seems to have. She's a martial artist, can materialize blades, can regenerate, has super strength, psychic powers, and mind reading. Reishi has super strength, regen, and a temp power that gives her a sword or augments her physical attributes. No matter what I try it just seems you come up with some way to counter the attack. I'm not trying to overpower, I'm trying to win but at the same time make the battle even. Becky, Coldfire, and that Drone guy are ridiculously overpowered. Mostly related to the fact that they've all been blinded, dismembered, had vital organs blow up, and cut in half yet they're all still alive. My two characters only survive because one of them can heal herself and was literally born for combat, and the other only because the first one saved him. The only reason you haven't actually won a match is because you've given up or been called off before the 'final blow', which is absolutely insulting to a fighter.)
Becky's probe into Reishi's mind worked...for a few seconds. All of a sudden there was a psychic *SNAP* and Becky lost all contact with Reishi's mind.
"Nice try," she said, "Countess Crey? That wench tried to use me for a puppet, it didn't work. My mind is trained as well as my body, or else I'd never, ever be able to use this power. You wanna watch my brain, ye gotta pay admission!"

Becky didn't even know what hit her.
All she could know is that one moment she was on the ground, the next she was pinned against the ceiling, both her arms shattered, seven ribs broken, and a severe pain in her neck.
"I've only just begun," Reishi said, slamming Becky's head with the force of a meteor the size of a school bus falling to Earth. (OOC: For reference, that could cause a tidal wave and wipeout the eastern seaboard.)

Reishi kicked Becky straight up, into the ceiling (OOC: or a corner of the ceiling depending on the angel, point blank and all that)
"You've forced my hand. Kid," Reishi said, "Do you know WHY I don't mention my personal tragedies?! I have none. No family, no real friends. I've spent my life traveling the world, becoming stronger, learning the ethics and morals of battle. In that time, I gained this blade. Look at it, it's big, right? It's powered by the strength of one's soul. It may look heavy, but to me it weighs about as much as yours does."
Reishi held the sword up into the air, "But there's something interesting about it: All this power, was not accessible to me prior to using the sword. What do you think would happen if I merged this power into my own being? The energy used to create a sword as large and powerful as this....heh.
"\Burn beyond brightest flame, Kamui\!" she called.
The sword dissipated into a ball of red energy that flew inside Reishi. Reishi's eyes began to glow and seemed to be on fire, but it wasn't fire. It was the spiritual energy hidden deep within her, channeled out and focused with the power of Kamui.

(OOC: Uh, Reishi is standing above Becky, there's no way her arm would be able to reach her face. The distance from Reishi's foot to her face is more than five feet, and I don't think Becky has five foot long arms. Not only that but she has to contend with Reishi, who is also super strong, pushing down on her chest. So unless Becky has extendo arms you didn't mention before, there's no way she could hit Reishi in the face.
Add to that, where did her superstrength come from? You acknowledged in the last battle between the two of them that Becky wasn't particularly strong.)

(OOC: There you go again...The sword is the size of a surfboard i.e. taller than Reishi, you can go around it or over it sure, but unless you can dig you can't go UNDER it)
Reishi grabbed Becky's leg and tossed her aside.
"You think that? You think you're the only one who doesn't face the uncertainty of life or death situations?! Peh! No matter how powerful I get, I can't be everywhere. I have more blood on my hands from people I couldn't save than you could even fathom. I've watched small children get burned alive while I was fighting Hellions, I once threw a car that hit a short bus, and I saw a child crushed to death when a villain slammed me into a building. Count yourself lucky! Love is something I can't have," she angrily put more pressure on Becky's chest, "I'm too strong, I'd rip them in half if I tried to do it. I'd also put them in danger because I don't use a secret identity."
Reishi brought Kamui down hard right next to her neck. Becky could feel the strange warmth of the blade. Reishi anticipated Becky would try to grab her leg and throw her off the same way she had, so she moved her right foot onto Becky's hand, and angled her blade in such a way that Becky would cut herself if she tried to move her arm and grab Reishi's leg.

(OOC: Y'see, therein lies the problem. I stated ahead of time that Sousuke had human limitations, and from MY perspective, you were in a rage willing to KILL him. Reishi sees anyone willing to kill so savagely as a monster, and she has no qualms about killing monsters. And, to me, since you openly attacked a human with force so great that it left a blood splatter on the wall, to me it was clear that there was only one way to stop an attack that savage. Dismemberment was out, because, predictably, you could just have Charcold heal you and attack again. Reishi's intention was to save everyone in the arena, not just Sousuke. What he did to Becky isn't unusual for him.)

"You'll just break your hands over and over on my sword," Reishi told Becky, "I'm tellin ya, give up. If you gotta be angry at someone, be angry at that Coldfire guy or Sousuke. If Coldfire had given up and left instead of attackin' Sousuke, he wouldn't have blow up your neck."
Reishi blocked another infuriated punch, then a kick.
"Not to mention he attacked a walking atom bomb. Now, Sousuke's at fault too, threatnin' people like that all the time," Reishi continued, "An' I do regret hittin him so hard, but if the alternative is bein' a pile of dust? No thanks. Besides, last I checked, Med porters don't teleport out corpses."

(OOC: He had a hole in his gut and no superhuman metabolism. Notice the last bit of his dialog has a lot of ...'s, insinuating he is weakening. Reishi carried him to the Arena offical, who would deem him unfit to fight if Coldfire hadn't slammed into him to 'finish the job'. He didn't break the rules in terms of attacked Becky either, as even though she was blinded, the wound was obviously not going to have any lasting effect given she's a regenerator, a fact Reishi probably would have shared with Sousuke before the match began. In addition, she's still fighting, Sousuke isn't.
Reishi's attack on Coldfire was warranted based on the explanation provided: Coldfire was out of control, he was savagely beating on someone who would be more than willing to take the entire arena out with him. Add to that, he was savagely beating someone who had withdrawn from the fight.
Basic rules for most arena matches state that if the opponent gives up, they're free to leave the arena. Or, if a combatant is unable to fight, they're taken out of the arena. Sousuke doesn't have a medical teleporter as he's neither hero nor villain, if he's severely hurt he has to escape on his own or with a friend's help, which he did.
Add to that Coldfire activated his intense heat powers right next to an arena official. Reishi, Sousuke, and I'm assuming Becky have resistance to heat...Sousuke mostly just due to the nature of his power really...but there's no way to know whether the official would. Therefore, it could be assumed that Coldfire, intentionally or not, assaulted an Arena official.)

(OOC: How did Sousuke break the rules? He never attacked anyone who gave up.)

(OOC: Coldfire broke the rules, that's it.)
Reishi just dodged Becky's attacks, parrying any that she needed to with her sword.
"Becky, you don't understand," Reishi said, "Your friend was going to kill Sousuke...and if Sousuke dies, he...explodes. You would have died, I would have died, that guy over there would have died, the ninjas would have died, and there's a strong possibility that the arena could have been leveled. I don't know about you but I don't want to be a pile of dust."
Reishi went completely defensive, only moving to block or dodge Becky's attacks. Even if the girl did have seemingly infinite stamina like her, mentally she would only be able to handle not hurting Reishi for so long.
Reishi's entire focus went in to defending herself, Becky wouldn't be able to land a single blow on her, but at the same time Reishi wouldn't move to attack her.
"Give up," Reishi said.

The massive number of enemies was startling. All around them were ruined mecha, and the screams of the dying being dragged out of small shop basements and torn apart permeated the district.
Sae surveyed the scene. Devastation, everywhere.
She reached into her pocket....only she had no pockets.
"\Where the hell is my cell phone?\" she asked herself, panicking.
Oddly, when she said \cell phone\ it materialized in front of her.
Shrugging, she picked it up and hit the speed dial button for her brother.
"Moshimoshi? Nee-chan! TASUKETE!!" came the frantic voice on the other end.
"Ima doko?!" Sae asked.
"Akihabara-eki, hayaku nee-chan!" he replied.
Sae turned towards Akihabara station and flew at full speed.

Meanwhile, Chihaya and Ryuji aided the assault by the crawlers with an Orb of Banishing Light and Wall of Frost, respectively.

(OOC: Don't talk for my characters, And as for missing, you can check my posts: unless i'm literally standing RIGHT in front of my target, I always end my post with the beginning of that attack. And as for Sousuke...the very nature of his powers means he can't miss as long as he touches them)
Sousuke cursed as the arena official helped him out of the arena. He had a severe concussion, a deep wound to his stomach, and his pride had taken a hit. Had coldfire continued his attack and Reishi not intervened, with his dying breath he would have detonated his entire aura, which, given that a simple touch of his hand could turn someone's skin into a handfull of cherry bombs, detonating his entire body would have the force of a nuke, probably. Not that there was any easy way for him to find out. The biggest explosion he caused was leveling a building by focusing his touch on the supports.
Reishi, stopping the sword with her right hand and holding her own with her left, looked Becky in the eyes.
"You just started breathing again. There's been enough bloodshed today, and considering I probably just saved your LIFE you should be a little more grateful!" (OOC: Remember, REISHI was the one who carried both Sousuke AND Becky to the arena official and out of harm's way)