Here Comes a New Challenger ... [Not an RP]

[Aburabuta Yutaka]

NPC: B-2647

"As you can see Grand Master even if the other Orders had presented a candidate there can be no doubt that the Journeyman Order would have stood above them."

The Master of Journeymen gloated haughtily as he and the Grand Master of Otogakure stood by and watched from a balcony as their entry into the tournament practiced on the dojo floor beneath them. The candidate's name was Bee-Two-Six-Four-Seven-- the latest in the B-Series of the Journeyman Order's experiments into merging the burgeoning sciences of advanced puppet technology and less savory schools of chakra science and theory. They were every bit the lethal weapon that the Master of Journeymen had led Kageoni to believe that they were, even the Grand Master had to admit that. A little over seven feet tall, Bee-Two stood even taller than the Master of Rangers who was well known for his prodigious size and ferocity and was covered from head to toe in a complex red and orange suit of puppet technology that was grafted into their very flesh and bone. The armor served both to protect Bee-Two's body but also to enhance their physical abilities as well. The multiple lens on their helmet granted them an enhanced perception field around their body and the suit itself was capable of enhancing Bee-Two's physical strength, stamina and speed with a variety of different adrenal and nerve stimulating compounds. To top it off they had been armed with a large two-handed longsword with a curved edge that served as their primary method of offense outside of the suit's offensive features. They were as much a living machine as they were a human being but that was well enough as long as she proved dangerous enough to compete against the shinobi from the other villages.

Red and white flashed as Bee-Two practiced against the eight or so armed guards that had been pressed into service to keep the Otogakurian candidate occupied while the first round passed. They still had their sword sheathed as they had been instructed not to kill any of the guards that they were being set against as the Otokage was not particularly interested in seeing the staff of Kotodama Keep gutted unnecessarily by their half-machine fighter.

"Hey! Bucket face!" Came a call from the far side of the exhibition hall, drawing the eyes of both Kageoni and the Master of Journeymen as a young woman with long blonde hair and fair skin burst through the doors with her attention squarely upon Bee-Two. Almost immediately as the young woman appeared in the hall one of the Keep's staff appeared from the door on the balcony and rushed over to Kageoni's side with a look that was equal parts panic and distress on his face.

"I'm sorry Grand Master, we don't know how she--" He began to rasp, attempt to choke out an excuse before the Grand Master turned his ire unto him but instead of being met with a furious Otokage the only thing that Kageoni did to respond was turn to the staffer and raise a single extended index finger to his lips to shush him.

Considering himself extraordinarily lucky to have gotten off the hook, the staffer immediately bowed deeply and took a few steps backwards before fleeing the balcony and leaving the Otokage and Master of Journeymen to observe the spectacle going on in the hall below...

 

[Aburabuta Yutaka]

NPC: Matsuo Yasha

She was angry. Word had gotten around that the Otokage had asked each of the three Orders to submit a candidate to fight in the upcoming shinobi tournament and she hadn't been considered. None of them had, in fact. Their Master had decided that he was the one worthy of that honor and for whatever reason the Grand Master had decided to select this... this... this thing instead of a Ranger.

And that made an already excitable Matsuo Yasha very upset.

Against the better judgement of others in her Order, she'd decided to come to Kurosawa and see for herself this Journeyman abomination that was apparently so special that it had been selected to represent Otogakure over the Master of the Rangers. She couldn't have known of course that Kageoni had barred the three Masters from participanting personally because such knowledge had not been common. In fact, that Yasha had learned at all about the selection process for the candidates was a testament to her connections in the City of Secrets. So now she was here and had finally found the object of her displeasure. Originally she'd just wanted to see it, see what kind of horrific creature that the Journeymen had created to replace the Rangers but this? This was just a dude in armor.

"You're it? This is what represents us at the tournament?" She growled, narrowing her eyes in disgust at the faceless creature that stood in front of her. "You're nothing!"

"I take it that you are displeased with my judgement." Called out the voice of the Otokage from the balcony overhead causing Yasha to freeze in place. She'd been so focused on getting a good look at Bee-Two that she hadn't realized that he was present and watching them. Pulling her eyes from the crimson-clad Bee-Two and looking up to the balcony, she saw that not only was the Grand Master present but so too was Tarou, Master of the Journeymen as well.

Swallowing hard, any adrenaline or pent up frustration that Yasha had towards Bee-Two drained from her as she stood in the withering gaze of the Otokage. She knew that Master Zanku would be upset with her for having traveled to Kurosawa City without his permission but to have had that outburst in the presence of another Master as well as the Otokage... she would be severely punished for her reckless judgement and she knew it. Strangely though the Otokage did not wear an expression of anger or displeasure on his face but rather one of casual amusement as though her tantrum had struck a chord of humor in him.

"Grand Master, I didn't realiz--" She bowed and began to back-peddle-- anything to get herself out of the situation she'd bungled her way into.

"No, no. By all means. You came all this way. Speak your mind."

Kageoni was... offering to let her speak? For a moment there was a pregnant silence in the demonstration hall as Yasha's mind raced. Was this a trick? If it was, why? She knew that the Otokage could crush her in an instant if he wanted to so why ask her opinion at all? Rising from her bow, Yasha took a deep breath and steeled herself with a fresh wave of confidance. She'd already screwed up things about as badly as she could, might as well make the best of it.

"Grand Master, I request the right to crush this tin can and prove that the Ranger Order should be the ones representing us at the tournament." She demanded, her conviction apparently found in the realization that she was likely already dead either way. Her demand was arrogant to say the least but at this point she had nothing left to lose. Master Zanku would almost certainly kill her for the insult she'd paid the Otokage with the name of his Ranger Order on her lips and her only hope to survive her misjudgement was to rise above it through strength of arms. Strength through suffering. That was what he'd taught her. She expected Kageoni to reject her challenge outright but instead he simply cleared his throat and smoothed out the front of the expensive-looking black and red suit that he wore before looking to her with an expression of expectation on his face.

"Very well. I accept your challenge." He responded with what almost looked like an intrigued smirk on his face. Was he... had she impressed him with her choice to come here? Was that what she was seeing in his face? For his part, Master Tarou immediately moved to object but before the vocalizer that served as his voice box could manifest a word Kageoni silenced his companion with a withering look. "Bee-Two. Kill her."

Without another word, the red-armored puppet warrior turned towards Yasha and with a deft flourish of it's right hand it drew the tremendous longsword on it's back and charged forward at her with murderous intent rolling off of it's metallic hide in waves.

 

[Aburabuta Yutaka]

NPC: B-2647

There was a flash and a spray of sparks as the young woman named Yasha deflected the first barrage of strikes from Bee-Two's longsword with a pair of armored gauntlets that she wore around her wrists. Bee-Two said nothing as they moved from strike to strike to parry to strike with flawless and precise alacrity but even still none of their attacks could find their way through Yasha's defenses as the blonde-haired girl easily knocked away each swing of Bee-Two's sword with either a block of her gauntlets or a strike to the flat of Bee-Two's longsword.

Silently Master Tarou boiled with indignation that a member of the brutish Ranger Order had dared to barge in during the moment of his Order's ascension to the most favored of the three Orders and proclaim their superiority when it was the stupidity of their leader that had precluded them from consideration for candidacy in the first place. That the Grand Master was even allowing this travesty in the first place was an insult to Tarou and his entire Order and even though he had full confidence that Bee-Two would triumph over the arrogant flesh bag that had dared to challenge the brilliance of his work he made a mental note to revenge himself upon Master Zanku at a later date for the insult paid to him by Zanku's subordinate.

"You do not approve of my decision." Observed Kageoni as they watched the dance of death unfolding on the exhibition floor beneath them. He did not turn to look at Master Tarou as he spoke but just the same the Master of Journeymen felt the weight of the Otokage's attention on him as he spoke. "I understand your frustration Master Tarou. Your Order was selected to represent us at the tournament but I will not sponsor a fighter that is easily beaten by a child throwing a tantrum. Either your Bee-Two will triumph and bring me young Yasha's pretty blonde head as reassurance of my faith in your Order or they will be defeated and I will know that our village is represented by the stronger candidate. You are invited to retire to Otogakure if the indignation of my decision is too much for you."

Kageoni's words did not explicitly spell things out for Tarou but he took the Otokage's meaning just the same. The Grand Master was telling him that he had no intention of tolerating a dispute between the Journeymen and Ranger Orders over this and that he would hold Tarou responsible if things escalated over it. His "invitation" for Tarou to return to Otogakure was not made out of interest in Tarou's feelings but rather a clear statement that any further outbursts regarding Matsuo Yasha's eligibility would not be tolerated. A thin smile spread across Kageoni's features as he continued to observe the duel going on beneath them and Tarou's attention was drawn back to the floor just as there was a flash of bright orange-gold chakra and Yasha's body seemingly ignited into flames just as her fists both made contact with either side of Bee-Two's sword and with a small explosion of chakra that send both fighters skidding backwards across the floor shattered Bee-Two's blade in several pieces that each when ricocheting away.

Without delay, Bee-Two snapped their hands up and pointed their right fist in the direction of their opponent as they engaged one of the various pieces of puppet technology that was built into their suit. Sparks of chakra condensed into aetheric current coursed down the length of Bee-Two's arm as they calibrated for Yasha's estimated physical speed and took aim. Raising her arms to cover each side of her head, Yasha went into a forward charge with a sharp yell attempting to close the distance between them before Bee-Two could finish engaging whatever weapon it was that they were preparing and to her credit she managed to get close enough to wrap her arms around Bee-Two's extended forearm and attempt to throw the puppet-clad warrior over her shoulder but as she did a sharp current of energy lanced off of Bee-Two's arm and into Yasha's body causing her muscles to tense and freeze up, preventing her from excuting her attack and putting her in the line of fire directly in front of Bee-Two's now prepared energy weapon.

Leveling her knuckles with the temporarily paralyzed Yasha's chest, there was a heartbeat of time where the air around them was sucked inwards towards the space right in front of Bee-Two's fist before the blast triggered and slammed squarely into Yasha's chest, hurling her across the room in a ball of flame and smoke where she crashed into the far wall with a wet smack leaving behind a blackened streak of burning blood as her body slid down the wall and crumpled into a heap. With their opponent defeated, Bee-Two turned to bow to the observing Otokage and the Master of Journeymen and Master Tarou would have worn a self-satisfied smirk on his face if his twisted facial features could have accomodated it.

"I see my faith was misplaced after all. How unfortunate." Remarked the Otokage and as Tarou turned to request clarification from the Grand Master as to his meaning, Tarou understood what he was talking about.

 

[Aburabuta Yutaka]

NPC: Matsuo Yasha

Dark chakra began to flow from the place where Yasha's body had fallen on the floor and as Bee-Two turned their attention back to where they'd left their opponent in a burning and bloody heap, Yasha crashed into Bee-Two's body with a savage grapple and a manic look on her otherwise pretty features. Her hair and body a burning inferno, Yasha's expression was one of exuberant adrenaline as she prevented Bee-Two from turning fully to face her. In a few brutal moments, Yasha maneuvered her grasp on Bee-Two to a position where she had a strong grasp on the puppet-warrior's right arm, the same arm that Bee-Two had just blasted her with, and with a beastial shout she tore Bee-Two's arm clean away from their body in a shower of blood and oil.

"Just a weakling in puppet armor." Growled Yasha, her chest heaving with pain and exhaustion and her voice ragged from Bee-Two's brutal attack. Looking down at Bee-Two's severed arm, she grinned widely with bloodlust plain in her features as the spiritual flames that her body was generating licked the air around her. "A little maggot dressed up in fancy armor and weapons to make up for the fact you're weak. Worthless!"

As a testament to their conditioning, Bee-Two rallied quickly from having their arm torn from their body but as they did and prepared to re-engage Yasha, the burning young woman discarded the severed limb and once more was upon her opponent with speed and strength that had been previously absent from her attacks and while lacking a limb and with their weapon destroyed, Bee-Two was helpless before Yasha's onslaught of attacks. Her knuckles rapped off of the steel of Bee-Two's armored form but each strike left behind deep grooves and dents until finally Yasha landed a blow on Bee-Two's helmet that caused sparks to fly from it and blood to pour from a number of gaps in the helmet. The two green lenses of the eyes on the side of the helmet that had taken the blow flickered and went out as Bee-Two stumbled backwards under Yasha's unrelenting beating only to catch a boot from Yasha in the chest that toppled the struggling warrior from their feet and onto their back.

"Unworthy!" She cried as she fell to a kneel over the flailing Bee-Two and reached forward to grasp Bee-Two's chest plate with her hands... and began to pull them apart with a horrific yell erupting from Bee-Two as she did. In a few brutal moments it was over as Yasha tore Bee-Two's chest asunder in a shower of blood and gore causing the puppet-warrior to fall limp in her grasp at last as she tossed half of the sundered chest plate away from where she held the remains of her opponent. Not content with the devastating she'd wrought on Bee-Two's broken body, she released their chest plate and instead seized the dented and damaged remains of Bee-Two's helmet before planting her boot on the corpse's shredded chest area and with a swift jerk and a sickening crunch she pulled both Bee-Two's helmet... and their head clean away from their body before turning back to Kageoni and Master Tarou and tossing it forward where it landed and rolled forward a bit before coming to a stop.

Falling into a kneeling position near the decimated corpse of Bee-Two, Yasha looked up at the Otokage and the Master of Journeymen as the dark energy and visible spiritual flames surrounding her began to ebb and finally disappear.

Even though Master Tarou's physical features allowed for little in the way of emotional range, Yasha could tell that he was livid with rage and embarassment at the total and complete domination that Yasha had just laid down unto one of his brightest projects but in that moment as she looked from Master Tarou to the Otokage she didn't care. The look of satisfaction and approval that rested on the graceful features of the Grand Master was more than enough for her to put aside any fear she might have had of retaliation from the Master of Journeymen... or even her own Master. Zanku would be angry but he would respect that she'd been strong enough to seize her place in the tournament from the Journeymen order.

That was their way, after all.