Blissful Ignorance

Things had been going very well for Donût that morning.  He was out the door at a reasonable time, having packed up the night before with what little he was bringing.  His mother had made him his favorite breakfast in preparation of his journey, Country ham with redeye gravy and grits (with all the fixings in said grits).  He'd even found someone that wasn't sketchy to sublet his apartment until the lease ran out, so Donût didn't have to worry about paying rent from the road.  Yup, all he had to do was get to the train station on time and-

BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG!!!

Five gunshots ran out from somewhere in the direction of the farmer's market.  Donût was tempted to just let the police handle the problem... but he thought better of it.  Better to miss the train than for someone to wind up dead because he did nothing.  With a "Hup!" he leaped from the street, to the astonishment of a wolf-man in front of him and a woman across the street with her tots in a stroller.  The reason for the astonishment was because he made it all the way to a third-story balcony on a single leap, and was over the five-story apartment complex with another hop.

A few hops and streets later, and Donût found himself staring over the blocked-off street from a rooftop... seeing an armored Majin with a big, real-ass sword on her back staring down two VERY intimidated looking cops.  There were bullets on the ground between them, crumpled as if they'd struck something without penetrating.  Once again, Donût was VERY tempted to just let someone else handle this whole situation... but people were cowering, this Majin looked dangerous, and the cops seemed to be just about useless at that moment.

Donût set down the duffel bag and knapsack he was carrying with him.  He unzipped the duffel and pulled out his stage outfit, quickly changing from the relative safety of the rooftop.  Then, he leapt down... somehow GLIDING from his rooftop vantage point down to the concrete, to softly land on the very tip of his toes.  Said toes were encased in a pair of hot-pink boots, beneath a pair of bright orange gi pants...  And a sleeveless, aqua-blue gi shirt that barely covered a hairy chest.  Add on the mullet-mane of hair and the cheap sunglasses, and this man was quite the sight.  Especially given he was about 4'11".

"ALRIGHT!", Donût began in his stage-voice, "I don't know who tha heck ya think ya are, kid.  But threatnin' the police and causin' a ruckus on MY turf ain't gonna be tolerated!  Cause I'm..."

Donût did a few quick jabs at the air, then a kick.

"THE UNBREAKABLE..."

He then twirled a bit before flexing, to show off the rippling muscles his little body contained.

"MISTER..."

He stopped flexing and threw up dual victory signs into the air.

"STEEEEEEEEEEL!  Now you got about one minute ta surrender or-"

Donût's eyes bugged out from behind his sunglasses as he recognized a very well-known fighter from the professional circuit.  One of his personal heroes, even... right there, wearing the hat and everything.

"Holy schnikes, izzat Cowboy Cerrone?!"

He completely forgot the armored majin and ran right up to Cassidy while letting out a high-pitched squealing noise.

"I can't believe it!  THE Cowboy Cerrone, right 'ere!  I didn't think ya lived anywhere near East City!  Everyone guessed ya lived out West after ya retired, so did I!  I gotta say, it's an honor ta meet ya sir and be in yer prescence, I've been a fan of ya since I was a kid!  Yer fight against Crazy Eights back in 1010, tha guy whose arms could move so fast it seemed like he had eight?  It was a nail-biter, I almost thought he had ya on tha ropes!"

He made a few jabs and kicks at the air as he gushed.

"'Till ya faked 'em out in tha third round, just ta give 'im tha ol' Ten-Cent Takedown!  Usin' yer ground-game ta turn it inta a grapple fight!  It wus a helluva move!"

    Moments before the girl charged forward, she felt it. A shift in the air, along with the charged aura of something powerful. Her gaze left the frightened officers, as a new man strolled up. Dressed in stranger garb than the two idiots with guns, this man spoke in a drawl towards the two officers.

    The girl hefted the sword off her back, letting it rotate in her grip, before slamming it into the ground. The cement cracked and the dust below rose into the air from the weight of the weapon, as she shifted her grip on the handle. She took a deep breath, focusing her aura...when a new disturbance arrived. Cadabra had been wrong; the first strong intruder had been normal in appearance; the new figure, dressed in tacky attire complete with glasses, took the weirdo trophy. Already her motivation was being sapped by his performance, complete with posing.

A swordsman would only gain shame fighting that pitiful shrimp. I don’t think eating him would be safe either...I might catch whatever makes him dress like that.

    As the man started squealing about something regarding the...cowboy? The Majin girl turned away, preparing to heft her sword and flee the scene. But something touched her conscious, an invisible hand that seemed to swipe and scour. Her gaze shot towards the figure who stepped into the open, immediately feeling her rage surge to the front once more.

---

---

    If any of the trio could sense energy, they would notice the spike in the Majin’s power, as her anger started to build. Clenching her hand into a fist, she shot forward, driving her armored boot into the buried blade. It burst from the ground, and she held it like a crude spear as she sprinted towards the Halberd-Wielding Demon. Her goal was simple; to defeat this stranger and force him to forget what he saw from that look inside of her. Her glowing gaze left trails in the darkness of her helm, as she looked towards both of the strange humans. She didn’t expect them to charge into the fray between the two, but was prepared if either tried something.


Burning Swordsman Activated!
20,000 PL

4/6 KP
Metal Gauntlet Used, 4,000 PL - Stasis

2MP

Donût was about to continue gushing over his childhood hero, and perhaps ask for a few signatures to his official "Cowboy" Cerrone merchandise that he still had stowed away in a box at his parents' place...  When the already ridiculous situation devolved yet further.  First there was the VERY shady looking man in a cloak, whose appearance coincided with a chill running down Donût's spine.  A chill that almost felt like a pair of clammy hands pawing about up and down his back while eyes judged him for his sins.  The feeling disappeared rather quickly, so perhaps Donût's most awful and heinous acts of cookie theft, returning a library book past its due date, and getting in a schoolyard scrap with a fellow kid that left said kid on the ground with a bloody nose weren't so bad.  Even if he still regretted and judged himself for them well into his adult life.

The hooded figure had asked a question, but Donût wasn't really focused on him once the uncomfortable sensation had ceased.  Instead, he could only think about how the Cowboy Cerrone was offering a once-in-a-lifetime chat about his experiences.  A chat that would take place after he expected Donût to fight alongside him against a strange and perhaps villainous Majin woman.  It was like something out of a fanfic that the young man had written when he was twelve!  ...And thirteen... and fifteen...

"Ya really mean tha-?"

However, before Donût could fully savor the moment, things suddenly went off the rails.  First, the armored Majin charged at the cloaked figure, apparently for staring at her or reading her book.  It was unclear.  What was clear, however, was that the Majin was much, much faster than before.  So fast that not even the trained eye of the Unbreakable Mister Steel could follow her movements.  Cowboy was moving fast, too, not as fast as the Majin but still very quick.

Well, the Unbreakable Mister Steel couldn't just stand by and watch now could he?  But first, he needed to unlock his full power.  As he had seen countless men do in countless tutorial videos, Donût clasped his hands together near his belly.  Then, he took a long, deep breath...  In through the nose... hold... out through the mouth...  His mind's eyes focused on the energy that flowed through his body like blood through his veins.  Around and around, never escaping if it could be helped... energy that he used every day to fight, train, live, laugh, love.  In... hold... out...  He had more power in his core, power to pull forth and suffuse his body, enhance his senses, strengthen his muscles, fill his very being with power.  Eyes opened, seeing the minute details and quick movements of the others.  Ears heard, catching whispers and scrapes and clacks and clangs.  Nose smelled sweat, a churro stand down the way, and metal.


Steel activates Warrior Focus for x2 PL.
Current PL: 10,000!
With double his previous speed, the Unbreakable Mister Steel tried to get in on the fight.  He leaped toward the Majin woman, trying to help Carrone's Ten-Cent Takedown reach maximum effectiveness.  How?  A series of coordinated strikes against her armored hide to specific points across her body.  Majin had a far different physiology to a human body, less organs, no blood, etc.  However, there were several Majin clients at Nedle's Acupuncture and Spa next to the Quick-Go on Spoon Street.  And their pamphlets had a handy-dandy guide to the benefits of acupuncture on such a body... complete with a basic diagram of soft spots!

"DISCOMBOBULATE!"

Steel uses Discombobulate!
-4 KP
Attacks with 30% of PL, or 3,000 PL.
Can Cadabra block both attacks and avoid the Exhaust entirely?!
2/6 KP remains
No Momentum due to transformation on this turn.

    The Majin didn’t slow her charge, as the two humans shifted into more powerful forms. She grimaced under her mask when the cowboy darted behind her. She felt his arms as they wrapped around her shoulders. Her hand vanished, slamming with a resounding boom into his gripped fists. One foot braced forward on the ground, preventing the attempt at a takedown. Her earlier decisions to let the humans stand aside was coming back to bite her. She released her grip on the sword, letting it fall into the ground to rest buried. She whirled on the man, but the sound of something stepping next to her caused her to pause.

    The momentary break in her focus was all it took; the strangely dressed man’s assault took the knight by surprise, shattering the armor she wore with the force of the assault. Her breastplate shattered, along with her shoulder guards and the other armor around her side. The final strike that struck her helm shattered the black metal, causing the woman to stagger back. Her glare landed on the strange man, who was shouting a strange phrase triumphantly.

    As if on cue, the demon said something. He was engulfed in smoke, before it parted, revealing 4 figures. All of them were the same strength as he’d been starting out, and each wielded a different weapon. Her glare shifted into a weariness, as she clicked her tongue in irritation.


“This...is a circus. There’s no real chance of me winning this, is there?” Shaking her head, she looked down at the pink-clad man. The statement hung on the empty air, moments before she lashed out in a simple punch, aimed directly for his face. Regardless of the effect of the punch, the girl would lash out with a kick, knocking herself clear of the cowboy as well.

Her armor was already reforming with new scars, as the woman snatched her sword from the broken concrete. She was scanning the crowd for a break; she found it, near the gate leaving the area. Hefting her sword onto one shoulder, she stuck her tongue out at the 5 devils, before dashing towards the retreating crowd. Her cloak formed in the same instant, turning into a tattered screen that blocked her from view. The intent was clear; she was already running from this messed up battlefield.

The Unbreakable Mister Steel appeared to have... saved the day?  The Majin girl that had been in a stand-off with the police was retreating, the police themselves were content to let her go since she was bullet-proof and probably way above their pay-grade.  As for Donût... well he wasn't so sure that this sword-wielding maniac was going to keep out of trouble, especially since she threatened to EAT PEOPLE for getting in her way.  However, he couldn't really keep up with her speed, she was already out of sight by the time he was able to turn around to try to follow her.

And then Cassidy also left, with such alacrity that all Donût could get out was a,

"Well I live here, so-..."

And then his greatest hero and idol was gone.  Much like the wind he purportedly could ride in on.  This left only two... well, five in total but four of those five had all been hiding in the same body a mere few moments before.  Donût, remaining a defensive position in case the majin woman came back, OR the demons decided to attack, turned his head to look at the four that had come forth from Meister.

"So uh... you fellas come here often?"

    The Majin grinned as the cowboy slipped out through the crowd, vanishing from her sight. She saw that the weird one in spandex was still hanging with the demons; she still owed him for the punch from before. Stopping on a dime, she spun around, dropping into a crouch as her huge cloak spilled out across the ground around her. Her blade dug into the ground, as she placed her open palm onto the ground. Her red gaze followed the three demons sprinting towards her, taking stock of their weapons.

    None of the weapons were normal, all formed from spiritual energy. Much like her own blade, they were a reflection of the weapon the demon was most familiar and comfortable with. At least, that was Cadabra’s assumption at a mere glance. The Majin wasn’t an expert on Demons after all, and her reference was the hours of cartoons she had watched before.

    Her thoughts then turned towards the combat situation. Without the cowboy, only the spandex man could hurt her now. And he wouldn’t be hard to beat, if she could catch him unawares. It was time to try something once more, in order to see its effects.

    Hidden under her cloak, her metal gauntlet began glowing once more. Clenching it into a fist, she shot to her feet, dashing towards the 3 demons. Her glowing fist was kept hidden in her jacket, as she swung her sword off her shoulder and prepared to assail the 3 offenders and the 2 that lay behind them.