Stoking the Fire

"Huh... You'd think if I'm standing by your enemies side that you would at least do your best to keep me out of the way to get to who you really want. Geez, and I thought you were a smart guy before. Too bad."

Her tone was less than pleasant. She was blatantly condescending Wilhelm, which made it painfully obvious that the Yukiko that Caen knew from before was very much gone. 
The female had an inkling of what the weapon was that he had tried to throw at her. Powder on it's own without anything to ignite a fire -that she knew of anyway- could mean one of two things: some sort of paralyzing remedy to halt her in her tracks while he did something else to finish the job, or something much more dangerous to everyone. She found herself raising a curious eyebrow as she decided to make it a priority to keep away from the general area of where the projectile now lay discarded. But not before she encased it in some ice to be able to keep an eye on it's location if she needed to move around more. 

"Hm. Clever thinking with that. I am a cat, therefore I could be curious, but right now you should have guessed already that I don't give a shit about what your little toys do. All that matters is you go down."

Yukiko raised a hand to have it glow again ever so slightly. She once again twisted her wrist and flicked her fingers forward to send out a shower of tiny ice needles towards the scientist again. Would he miss them this time around though?

(Shall I wait for Seraph?)

((I think it should be fine. We can just imagine that while she's busy irl that Mae is scoping the place out and waiting for the right moment to strike. But it is up to Red I guess, but just throwing out a suggestion before I go to bed ^^"))

((yeah, I was just going to skip her until she's happy to jump back in))

(So we are skipping her?)

((that was what I clarified in my last post, yes))

He thought of it for a minute. ~"Paying me to kill Caen?"~ He crossed his arms. "Pay me?..." He wasn't fond of using money, he never bought anything. But if he could have money on his back whenever he needed was a good idea. Then again, this is a stranger who he never met and isn't probably trustable.

"I bet you don't even have that much money in the first place." He commented. "How much, anyways?" He asked the 'blackhearted creature'.

One thing Yukiko had not foreseen, somehow, was that this device of Wilhelm's was, indeed an explosive. She had seen him make fiery substances already, which should have sent alarm bells ringing. The ice around the device wouldn't do a fat lot, either, as it was designed to destroy, and only to destroy.

The wolf laughed, baring his sharp fangs, "oh, I am smarter zen you shall ever know, and I zink you should start giving a, how you say, 'shit', about my devices. Observe." Wilhelm used his other arm to push a button on his gauntlet. This button will cause the device to explode, causing quite a large amount of destruction. It would be difficult to dodge, if possible at all.

--------

"You're actually listening to him..." Caen muttered, sounding disappointed, yet unsurprised. "Look, the money will all come from me and my-"
"You can name your price." Xavier interrupted, his smile growing "as long as that hedgehog leaves this place a red corpse, then I do not care for the cost."

"I wouldn't suggest listening to him," Caen said, looking at the cyan hedgehog with a sense of indifference "if he doesn't kill you, then I sure as hell would."

With a laugh, Xavier spoke again "my, my, how disappointed your father would be with that complete and utter lack of empathy."

Suddenly, Caen saw red, and his eyesight locked entirely on the green hedgehog, a look of anger taking over his old expression. He jumped back, before holding out his arm "fire!" He shouted, as each arrow took off at a nearly unperceivable speed, straight towards Xavier.

It felt like so much conversation was going on at once. White tipped ears folded back in irritation at the voice that drawled out of the male canine before her. He was gloating, like he had already won. 

It irked her.

While she knew that her small splatter of ice wouldn't do much to aid anyone, it really was just as a safety precaution. To basically keep away from it as much was possible. The only issue was, the clearing they were now in was rather small. If there was to be an explosion in any form, the city just a short while away would be able to see and most likely hear it as well.

"You think you've won this?" Yukiko snarled angrily. "You need to count your chickens before they hatch, my dear."

The leopard looked over to the cyan hedgehog, just to ensure that he wasn't going to jump in and potentially get himself hurt. Then she looked to Caen and his uncle, only to see a deep conversation happening between the three hedgehogs, the cyan newcomer seemingly contemplating on whether to take up the offer of money to kill her red friend. 

'Is he for real right now?' The feline thought, dumbfounded. 'He believes he can just buy out anyone who stumbles in the way so he can just sit back and not get his hands dirty? Disgusting.'

Then, just as she ended that thought process, the fiery hedgehog yelled out, spewing arrows made from his own fire out from his arm wildly. 
Unbeknownst to him, that projectile filled with the 'gunpowder' as Yukiko could only guess the destructive force behind it was very much in radius where he was currently battling. 

"Caen, no!" She cried out. The only thing she could do was try and hold up any form of shield to keep any stray embers away. But it was all for naught. 
She looked over to her enemy at that point, only to see him reaching for something on his gauntlet. 

A loud, aggravated sigh came from her white muzzle as she closed her eyes and began to try and focus on the others. To raise shields for them would be the best shot she could have to help them out. She could sort herself out later, but in the end up, this was Caens fight.
As soon as Yukiko deemed the shields good enough, she ran forwards towards Wilhelm as fast as her legs would allow her, forming a sharp icy spear on the way and her dull eyes blazing with an angry fire of their own. "Hit me with your best shot, you beast!"

He looked at Alastor, smirking in the act. ~Thinks~ If I can pretend to kill Caen, then maybe I'll receive his family's money! Suddendly, the red hedgehog jumped back. The red hedgehog shouted a word he couldn't seem to grasp, then arrows went speeding straight for Xavier.

"Caen!" He was dumbfounded upon what is going on. If he was here earlier, then maybe this would be an easier outcome. But alas, that was not the case. He tried to mimic Yukkiko, but instead, he watched in despair.

~Thinks~ Would the arrow pierce through him?

With a smirk, Alastor merely sidestepped most of the arrows, blocking a couple of them with his metal-covered arm. "It appears you never learn. That attack is predictable, slow," his smirk turned into a smile "powerless."

Caen replied with a smirk of his own, his outstretched arm moving to the side, before it shot upwards. Unbeknownst to Alastor, the rest of the arrows seemed to follow Caen's arm, before positioning themselves above the green hedgehog. "This power means that I can crush you, once and for all, Alastor!" With a swipe of his hand, each arrow shot downwards, straight towards the hedgehog.

"What?" He questioned aloud, before seeing the oncoming threat above him. The metal on his arm changed shape, taking the form of a large shield. Arrow after arrow hit this shield, making a loud metallic scraping sound.

With Alastor distracted, Caen crossed his arms across his chest, swords in hand. With no warning, he launched himself at Alastor, screaming "Burning Horizon!"

-----

Wilhelm stopped just as he was about to push the button, and saw Yukiko forming a barrier, to try to protect her allies. "Ho, ho! Very interesting, girl, but you are too late! Now... Die!" With a swift push of the button, this bomb exploded, taking up a fair amount of the earth beneath it.

Time seemed to slow down. She was too slow. Was this it?

The violet female felt a pressurized pain flow through her body as she lifted off of the ground and was blown backwards, hitting her head off of a tree as she went. The world went black for a few moments before Yukiko stirred from her unexpected nap.

She stood up shakily and glared at the wolf just a short distance from her. 

"You'll pay for that..." She growled. Taking a moment to cease the spinning she felt, she then threw herself forwards towards Wilhelm and opted for a close combat situation. Her icy blade melted away, only to be replaced with her clawed hand again as Yukiko thrust her hand forward to try and pin the male -arms caught in the middle or not- once again to a tree, her dark gaze boring holes into his head as she snarled almost in a feral way.

(Skip me, just think my character is standing there still)

Just as the last arrow pinged off of Alastor's makeshift shield, Caen had reached the green hedgehog, slashing horizontally across his chest. In that split-second, Alastor somehow fashioned a thin metal pole, catching both blades just as they had begun to dig into him. He gritted his teeth as a small amount of blood began to drip out of the wounds.

"You have gotten fast, boy. Let us see if you can finally keep up with me," he said, confidently as Caen's blades began to grind at the pole, causing sparks to fly. Caen grinned "I'm not the one bleeding. Admit it, you've lost."

"You should know better than any, it is not over until the fat lady sings," he replied, letting out a sharp breath as he pulled the blades out of him.
"that's opera, not drama. I would've thought you'd know that,"

Just then, there was an explosion. Loud, and powerful. It shook the ground that everyone stood on, causing both Alastor and Caen to lose their balance and fall backwards.

----

As the dust settled, Wilhelm was shocked to see that the snow leopard was still breathing, let alone able to get up and threaten him. "Persistent," he muttered. He moved his arm just in time to deflect Yukiko's clawed hand, each claw scratching uselessly against the metal "zis is six centimetres zick steel, zose useless claws vill barely even scratch it!" He announced, taking a step back from her "now, as I said before, do us all a favour und die!"

Scratched and partially burned from the explosion, Yukiko wasn't exactly looking her best right now. Her hair had long fallen from her hair tie and was flying around in the heated air wildly. She had landed on her other arm in such a way that it had been bashed and so was out of commission for the moment while she attempted to drive herself on and on to try and put Wilhelm down. Not taking much notice to the fact she had actually twisted her right ankle as well, she refused to go down at this point. 

She bared her teeth angrily and snarled loudly as her ice couldn't penetrate the metal she had attempted to break through. Then a thought came to her, making her smirk in a creepy fashion. 

"Maybe... Maybe not. But... H-have you thought... Of everything?"
As she panted out her confusing words, unbeknownst to Wilhelm, she had formed a large icy spike behind him and was almost ready to drive it into his back. But how to distract the male canine? 
Yukiko looked down at the metal arm and instead of trying to penetrate it, she instead began infusing her ice into it. Forcing it to get into every tiny little nook and cranny, she was aiming to try and make it as useless as possible. She wrapped her tail around the Wilhelm and held him tightly as she worked on his appendage as fast as she could. Her tails strength was fantastic but she knew he would obviously have a plan B. The dark grin on her face only grew darker and more grim as she leaned right in to Wilhelm's face. 
"Let's take away some of that shine, shall we?"

The explosion had knocked Turqoise backwards. He landed right on his back. "Argh... jeez.." He felt weak now. He got up to his knees. "What was that all about?" He questioned, then looked at the fiery hedgehog. He put his hand on his head. "Ouch..." He looked at all the smoke the explosion caused. He didn't know what would happen.

Caen landed on his back, his ears ringing. What was disturbing, though, was the fact that he still had a smile plastered across his face. Was he enjoying the chaos that had ensued around him? To put it simply, yes. This power that coursed through his veins, mixed with the sheer thrill of all of the events happening around him made him feel so alive.

"That man... He is mad, truly. But," Alastor sat up, looking on at the other fight between the snow leopard and the wolf "he is effective. That girl does not stand a chance, and neither do you, Caen." He stood up, brushing the dirt off of his trousers "if you come quietly, then you have my word that nobody else shall get hurt."

Caen himself got up, chuckling again "in other words, you've lost? Do you really think I'll give myself up, when I know I'll win?"

Alastor gritted his teeth. Was he actually losing ground? Impossible.

-------

Wilhelm laughed, in a manner that was very similar to a cackle. Yukiko knew that she would not penetrate his defenses, and this knowledge was just... delicious to the scientist.

His smile dropped, however, when Yukiko had wrapped her tail around him, and begun to attempt to use her ice on the device strapped to his arm. He shook his head, as liquids began to flow through the tubes, again. "Did zey ever tell you vat happens ven you play with fire, girl?" He asked, as a test tube shot into his hand. "Vell, continue zis pointless fight, und you shall know. I crush zis test tube, und ve both go up in flames, und your silly ice vill not help you ven you are burning alive, nein?"

"Continue zis pointless fight and ve both shall go up in flames, und your silly ice vill not help you ven you are burning alive, nein?"

While the last word sounded exceedingly desperate, The whole sentence made Yukikos heart skip a beat. This man was willing to sacrifice himself just to take her out of the game? 
She bared her teeth towards the male canine she was latched onto. 'Caen, what have you got me into?' She thought silently, all the while continuing to glare and keep her grip onto Wilhelm at the same time. 

"Well... If you're willing to take yourself out, that must... Mean you're still having troubles against me... I'm not as weak as you think!"

As she cried out the last of the sentence, she poured all of her strength into her tail and attempted to throw off the male to the side while she tried to dart backwards. Her ice had penetrated his metal arm as much as she could, and just before she left his side, she noticed the tiniest hints of rust beginning to show up. It wasn't much at present, but if she could just hold him off then his arm would become completely useless in,  maybe about half an hour at max? 

"You honestly believe that all I can do is conjure ice?" A dark laugh came from the female. "Maybe to a little more looking into the person before you attempt to kill them, sir."

If push came to shove, Yukiko would take extreme measures to ensure Caen was safe. An overload of her abilities would definitely halt Wilhelm in his tracks, but... 
Did she really want to freeze her heart before she could say goodbye to everyone?

"I'd like to see how you fair with hand to hand instead of your little toys. Or is that too much to ask? Hiding behind them alone is pure cowardice!" Yukiko spat at Wilhelm. 
She looked over to Caen and Alastor. She knew she could do this. She didn't care anymore. She HAD to do this.

He got back up, and brushed himself off. He took a quick stretch before putting his fists up. He shifted his pupil to Yukkiko. He heard the darkish laugh. He then immediately heard a stick break. He looked up to a tree, trying to find the enemy.
________________________________

The wolf sat on the tree. Being unseen by the animals. He grabbed out a special kind of binoculars. "It's been 10 years. Justice shall be served." He whispered. He stood from the tree. Watching them fight.

Caen continued smiling. However, one thing he did not show to the outside world was the fact that he was starting to feel... Completely exhausted. He had to finish this soon, or risk passing out there and then, and that certainly wouldn't bode well.

"Alright, how about this?" Caen asked the green hedgehog, pacing around him. "We fight, one-on-one, no bending metals, and no flames. Skill alone will see who wins." Was Caen giving up? Was he trying to bargain with him? No, he simply wanted to avoid using any more pyrokinesis. After all, he didn't know what his new limits were, and this certainly wasn't the time to push them.

"Well, this is unexpected. Caen Flare, willing to have an even fight?" Alastor replied, his face twisting into an unsettling grin. His shield was soon turned into two short swords "well, I cannot deny my dear nephew, can I?"

-------

After being thrown to the side, the test tube in Wilhelm's hand smashed, and the red liquid spread over the ground. It was oddly viscous, and had a certain sheen to it. He laughed "it does not matter, clearly you are easily fooled!" Wilhelm said, grinning. He used his finger to take a small amount of the liquid from the ground, putting it into his mouth. "Delicious," he remarked, making it known that this liquid was probably a condiment of some sort.

He looked to his arm, noting the small patches of rust "now that is interesting..." He muttered, before raising his eyebrow at Yukiko's remark. "I am a scientist, not a warrior. I believe zis is merely evening the playing field."

The second Yukiko saw Wilhelm scoop up some of the strange liquid from the ground, she couldn't help but wince a little. Along with hearing the tail end of Caen and Alastors conversation, she believed everything was going very weird very fast. 
Looking closer for a split second, she could see tell tale signs of the crimson hedgehog feeling fatigue. He had clearly overused his flames. Similar to her, although he just got tired, from what she knew of anyway. For someone who didn't have a life full of contabtly fighting someone, she believed she had lasted a lot longer than most in the same position. 

Yukiko looked over to Willhelm once again, eyes narrowed as he commented on the rust showing on his metal appendage, before relaying his thoughts on them playing fair now. It brought a smirk to her face. 

"You have no idea... " the violet feline pulled her fingerless gloves off and stuffed them into her jeans pockets, revealing her snow white hands as they were held out in front of her. She did a quick double check to see where the cyan hedgehog was and made a mental note to herself to try not to get too involved with a hedgehog again. There were just too many these days. 
Swivelling her white tipped ears around to double check for any possible interruptions, Yukiko lowered herself down to get ready for anything else that the male wolf could possibly have in store. 
"You say easily fooled, I say making sure." The leopard began forming her claws again before bouncing off towards Wilhelm again, firing small spears of ice towards her enemy. As they drew closer however, they seemed to break apart into even smaller forms to pick up speed before making their impact on her target.

The wolf dropped from the tree, making himself more noticeable. He stared right into the hedgehogs pupils. He cracked his fist and headed toward him. "Woah, woah." The hedgehog put his hands in a crossed position, staring right back at the wolf.

Caen was definitely feeling an overwhelming sense of fatigue right now, and he knew that he wouldn't last long. This fight will need to be short, and to the point. Still, this was better than how overuse of his fiery powers would usually end up. What was weird, though, was that Caen had no idea how this pin worked. Why was it able to sustain his flames in a way that doesn't harm him? That would probably be a question to save for later.

With a grin, the hedgehog got into a battle position, his arms crossed across his chest, swords ready to slash at a moment's notice. "Let's go, then, you worthless murderer," Caen said, with a rather incongruous, almost cheerful tone.

------

Without another word, Wilhelm waited for the next move, which soon came. Icy spears shot towards him at a blinding speed, almost too fast for him to register. He prepared to block them, even if that would be difficult. Then, they seperated, into smaller, yet still fast projectiles. "Vat in ze vurld?" He spoke, before gritting his teeth. He attempting to dodge, by rolling out of the way.

A deadly smirk was on Yukikos uncharacteristically blank face as she flicked her wrist to make a small handful of the tiny spears follow Wilhelm as he attempted to dodge. She began to feel cold. More than normal.

"No. This is NOT my limit!" The violet spotted female cried angrily as she took off running towards the male canine, forming dangerous swirling frost in her hand. Her eyes began to swirl with a frosty blue as the original orange amber colour resurfaced for a moment before Yukiko shot off a blast of ice towards Wilhelm. At this point she just wanted it to be over. She stood a few feet away from where her giant ice crystal had formed where Wilhelm was standing and held her right hand to her chest. The coldness was starting to get worse.

(Skip.)