Doppo Kishibe, Streets

Doppo grumbled a little at being forcefully picked up by Blaze, but had no objections to the plan. It was when he thrust the poetry towards Rhino Strangle that things went wrong. The big crook was completely unaffected by his writing, which left Doppo aghast.

"Wh- but- IMPOSSIBLE! Nothing can resist my poetry!" he cried, so distressed he wasn't even focusing on getting out of the way out of Rhino Strangle's imminent attack. "It's capable of moving anyone, without fail! This shouldn't-"

Fortunately, Blaze managed to get him to safety in time, and informed him that they were in need of other ideas. He cursed in Japanese under his breath, before returning to English.

"His defense is practically impenetrable...none of our attacks seem like they're harming him, only slowing him down. We need to find some kind of weakness, something we can exploit. A chink in his armor, or..."

He trailed off, scratching his chin for a moment, then turned to Joseph.

"Mr. Colton-Joestar, you're our planner, whether we like it or not." he grunted. "Any ideas on how to take him down?"

As the grappling hook caught Rhino, Anemone cheered, and then immediately groaned as she saw it didn’t do much. “Why won’t this dipshit just die already,” she thought to herself. “Can’t believe this is happening to me, I’ve killed warlords, Faceless Watchers, sealed the Ruined Gardener, and then this guy comes along and…” she snapped back to reality as she rolled out of his shockwave. “So… any ideas on how to kill this dude,” she shouted to her teammates.

Streets

Rhino Strangle's fists slammed into the ground thanks to Blaze getting his targets out of the way, the impact leaving a hole in the pavement. However, upon hearing someone yelling at him, he looked up... and was hit square in the face by Alcides' elbow drop.

"Finally, someone who can put up a REAL FIGHT!" Rhino Strangle roared as he spread out his arms and began to charge again at Alcides.

Joseph released Rhino Strangle from his cable, figuring that the thug's focus on the Raging Oni would keep him from going far, allowing him to muse over what the failed attempt had stopping the crook had shown. While Joseph's had initially thought that the drop in intelligence had resulted in Rhino Strangle losing his ability to read... but then he claimed he was trying to hit two people instead of three. Even if he'd clearly gotten dumber, losing the ability to count was a new low. But then Joseph remembered that Doppo was getting held by Blaze... and things started to fall into place.

"He's got a weakness all right," Joseph stated to the rest of the Bud Nippers. "His vision went the same way his brains did." He looked around at the surroundings, and saw a sign indicating a route to the nearby waterfront. "So we can use that to turn his strength against him! If we can lure him to the docks, we just might be able to take the big guy down without having to kill him." That last part he specifically directed at Anemone. While Joseph had taken lives before during the course of his life, that didn't mean he was going to do so if there was still a chance they could take their targets in alive.

Blaze Butterfly, Streets

Lifted her arm as highly as she could while being the shorter in the team "oh oh I have an idea, what If we throw insults at him until we can get him to follow us to the docks?" she said thinking that it shouldn't be a problem to get that big brute, riled up and angry.

Kenta - Streets

His chakra continued to surge, even as another joined the fray to attack the oversized idiot. Kenta kept pace with Rhino, and when the villain charged the elbow-dropping newcomer, Kenta came up behind Rhino and lunged forward.

Elongated claws began to slash at Rhino from behind, leaving red streaks in the air with each swipe. Kenta kept up the assault, making use of any opening Alcides cared to provide.

It was fairly obvious from his strikes that Kenta didn't care whether Rhino lived or died. Though he hadn't hit his second tail yet, already his fangs had grown out, the lines on his face thickening and his pointed ears elongated, his body slowly warping into the fabled beast. A beast taking out its rage on the unfortunate Rhino.

Anemone rolled her eyes a little at Joseph’s insistence on not killing Rhino. She’s killed all kinds of lowlifes before, with the added bonus that all their victims got revived. She did, however, perk up at Blaze’s suggestion. “Yeah! Maybe a bit of trash talk could send this fiend into a bit of a rage. I’m sure it’ll be easy. Right guys?”

Alcides Itto, Vs. Rhino Strangler

"Ahh, Shogun's sake!" Alcides hisses, rubbing his bruised elbow and standing, only to see the charging Rhino Strangler, and immediately his pain left his mind. "Ohohohoooo yeah, come to PAPA!" Itto roars, grinning madly as he stomps, digging his left foot backwards, breaking into the ground to stabilize himself. His right foot dug forward into the ground, and the Raging Oni spread his arms wide and crouching low, hoping to use his opponent's charge to lift him up in the air as a show of strength, before slamming the guy into the ground, ignoring that his arms hurt.

"This chump's not yet good enough to use Stonethresher on." he thought, flexing his fingers in a double Bring It gesture towards Rhino Strangler.

Edited by Jules-Firenze on May 10th 2024 at 2:34:32 AM

Doppo Kishibe, Streets

Doppo listened to what Joseph had to say, and a grin slowly spread across his face.

"The docks, you say? I think I can take care of that."

He began to move towards Rhino Strangle, only for Blaze to suggest they gain the advantage via trash talk, which prompted a smug smirk from him.

"No need for advice, I've got this handled. I won't be caught off guard by that barbarian again."

He briefly checked his phone to pinpoint the location of the docks, then stowed it away in his pocket and waltzed over to where the fight between Itto and Rhino Strangle was going on cooly and confidently, the damage he'd suffered to his ego seemingly vanishing as quickly as it had appeared.

"HEY, ONI!" he shouted. "Knock him this way as hard as you can!" He pointed in the direction of the docks.

Streets

"That oughta get make him follow us," Joseph remarked to Blaze. "As long as you make sure he can keep up, you'll have the best chance of keeping a safe distance when-" But then Joseph stopped talking when he heard Doppo shouting at Alcides.

"Damnit Kishibe!" swore Joseph. He knew that Alcides' love of battle meant that if he was paying attention to what Doppo told him, the rest of the Bud Nippers would have to act quickly before things went wrong.

"Rebis, get to the docks! Make sure the big guy doesn't crush anyone!" Joseph yelled as he threw his cable towards the brawl.

Meanwhile, Rhino Strangle roared in anger and pain as Kenta slashed at his back, but he didn't, or couldn't, slow down. Instead, he twisted behind him to try and grab Kenta, and if he succeeded, throw him at Alcides in one motion. But regardless of what became of Kenta, Rhino Strangle would still slam into Alcides, leading with the elbow of the arm he'd reached for Kenta with.

Anemone gave a yelp of surprise, before saying, “Looks like there’s been a slight change of plans, huh? I’ll try to stop tall, dull, and ugly over here before any of our friends get hurt. Anemone away!” With that she shot her hook towards a wall, and swinging into the air, hope to both shoot Rhino into submission and knock Kenta out of the way.

Alleyway

"Still can't get over how on-the-nose that is..." Jaden muttered to himself, having remembered the briefings on major drug kingpin Headman.

"Sounds excessive. I'll mark it down as option C." Jaden responded to Kareta's idea in a tone that suggested he wasn't above considering it as a third option. Clayman's hands remained tightly clasped around Jaden - he wasn't going to budge until his master told him to.

To Luca, Jaden said "If they want to hurt you, they'll have to get through us first. But that's only if you cooperate." Looking out of the alleyway, he continued "Anyways, let's try option B. Clayman, follow me, and take Luca with you."

On Jaden's command, the Elemental HERO hauled Greasy-Eye into a fireman's carry and both monster and master started to move out of the alleyway. Clayman's steps were slow and steady, only making an average walking pace despite its wide strides, but Jaden seemed to have been expecting this and was matching it with his own slow and leisurely walk. As he walked, heading in the direction that the fight with Rhino Strangle had taken the rest of the Bud Nippers, he began whistling a low tune that sounded like it could've been written for a church organ.

Edited by TheGoldLeaf on May 15th 2024 at 8:32:11 PM

Kenta - Streets

Rhino was strong, but Kenta was faster - when the oversized idiot tried to grapple him, Kenta moved in closer, so that when Rhino awkwardly grabbed him, Kenta could wind one arm around Rhino in turn, to prevent the throw.

Kenta's other hand glowed with energy as he brought it towards Rhino's mouth. "Hey, you want to know what death tastes like?" The fox grinned, trying to force the incoming explosive blast inside his enemy's mouth before Rhino could hit Alcides. Failing that, he'd just blast the fucker in the face at point blank.

Alleyway -> Streets

Clearly Luca's fear of Headman was going to take some work to surmount if they wanted to shake him down for more info. For her part, Kareta kept pace with Jaden with a casual stroll, dismissing her Black Monolith back into subspace tattoos, which reappeared on her legs.

"So, Card Guy, what's your name?" she asked, watching him as they approached the rest of his team at Clayman's stilted pace. "I wasn't able to get deep enough into the Justice Association servers to find profiles of Bud-Nipper members."

After he answered, and once Joseph was in view, she waved at him with one arm while cupping her mouth with her other hand to project her voice as she shouted across the distance, "Heeeeeeey, Old Man! Where do you want this dealer guy? We don't have anything to tie him up with!"

Edited by darksidevoid on May 18th 2024 at 9:50:27 AM

Alcides Itto, Vs. Rhino Strangler

"Hey, hey, HEY!" Itto laughs. "Nice going, Tails!" he shouts to Kenta before winding himself around Rhino Strangler, so the now-unattended back of the bad guy faced Kishibe's direction. "If you're sure you can handle him, then HERE!" Itto roared as he pushed as hard as he can, using Kenta's explosion as extra help in throwing Rhino Strangler as hard as he could towards the writer's general direction.

Streets

Luca squirmed a bit in Clayman's hands, but he wasn't putting much effort in now; he could tell he wasn't getting himself free. Instead, he just rubbed his eyes and looked around...

...only to suddenly stop all movement when he started looking down one particular alley. Luca swore that he could see someone standing in the shadows, a feminine figure dressed in a black cloak, a black conical hat with ornate gold detailing, and a white mask with red lines coming from its eyes. Luca rubbed his eyes even harder, questioning if the mucus in them was making him see things... and when he looked back again, the figure was gone, causing him to breath a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, Rhino Strangle took Kenta's energy blast square in the face, throwing his head back and knocking him off his feet... so when Alcides shoved him, the massive thug sailed over Doppo's head and crashed next to the docks. Kenta would have taken quite a hit as well... had the cable Joseph released earlier not wrapped around his torso, causing him to be wrenched free from Rhino Strangle's grip as he was thrown.

"Just cuff him with these," Joseph yelled to Kareta as he tossed a pair of handcuffs he had hooked to his belt. Setting down Kenta, he turned to the other Bud Nippers. "Now, lure the big guy onto one of the docks, but make sure you'll won't be trapped on it by him!"

Rhino Strangle rose to his feet, with a large dent and web of cracks now in the pavement where he'd landed. His face was banged up from the blast, with some blood trickling out of some newly-formed gashes. But the damage didn't stop him from making quite the intense glare, nor did it keep him from letting out a roar of anger.

Edited by RapidFirestormer on May 20th 2024 at 1:31:36 PM

Having deciding on not doing anything during her swing, Anemone landed onto the ground with a roll. Hearing Joseph’s order, she grinned. Now she could have fun. Running to Rhino, she began waving her arms. “Hey, look over here, ya ass! Yeah, come get me, ya nullhead! I bet I could knock ya out in five minutes. Wanna find out? Come on!” She took out her gun and began firing into the air for extra emphasis. If everything went well, she’d led him right onto one of the docks.

Doppo Kishibe, Streets

Doppo smirked upon realizing just how well his callout to the oni had gone. He wasn't normally one to trust a being like that, but this time, it had gone shockingly well. Rhino Strangle was now practically right next to the docks, and that meant he was practically already beaten. Now it was time to apply the finishing touch.

He moved close to where Anenome was, and began shouting insults of his own.

"Pathetic beast! You think yourself so powerful, so indestructible, and yet your armor crumbles like anything else before sufficient might. No wall can last forever, and you are no exception! Everything falls before the might of nature! Try and strike me down, I dare you! You will find yourself eroded before you even manage to inflict a scratch!"

His grin only grew wider as he taunted the criminal.