1963-08-10 - Oh Sister Where Art Thou?
Summary: X-23 and Daken meet for the first time, it gets bloody
Related: Central Park Caravan
Theme Song: None
akihiro laura 


The mysterious-yet-familiar young lady took off like a shot when the rest of the men in the vans
scattered. For anyone else… she'd be pretty hard to follow. As it is… she's still a bit of a
challenge to track, her path heading out into the seedier areas of Harlem. She's zig-zagged often,
and more than once climbed through a garbage bin to disrupt her trail. Now she's come to a halt,
though, three stories up a fire escape, watching down into an alleyway between disreputable
buildings to see if anyone's following her. It's pretty unlikely, her training suggests. But
something has her hackles up and she knows better than to ignore that vague feeling. Thus, a little
extra caution and— if necessary— an ambush.

*

And with all of Akihiro's training, following Laura isn't that bad. His footfalls are pretty much
impossible to hear with regular ears, so with advanced hearing they're muffled. But as he appears in
sight it's clear stealth isn't his end goal, "Woah there." The teen brings his hands up as he
finally catches up to Laura, "I'm a friend, you don't have to be jumpy."

*

Even at this distance, the girl's scowl is noticable, and she tilts her head to one side like he's a
particularly curious prey animal. Which.. okay, he kind of is. Her orders under these circumstances
are… a little unclear. She can't let him just follow her. But it is not firmly mandated exactly
how she keep him from doing so. Obviously the expedient choice is the most straightforward choice,
but… she swings over the fire escape, drops a level, and then a longer drop to the ground, landing
silently and cat-like. Obviously trained for it. "Stop following me." First thing she's said in
hours. Her tone is… flat. Uninviting, inflectionless. Fits her perfectly, really.

*

"Soon as you tell me who you are." Akihiro says as he follows suit, dropping down onto the escape
before jumping and landing on the ground with a role. "We have the same mutation." as he speaks the
claws erupt from between his knuckles in the same spots Laura's do, "And you smell like family."

*

Okay… so… apparently claws were not really the best idea. Laura was mildly curious. X-23 has
identified a weaponized threat, however, and that is a *very* clear set of parameters. She whirls on
him, slides forward, and snaps a fist towards his throat that definitely would have ended a plain
ol' human in one shot. Especially when her claws do this very precise little pop-out-pop-in SNKT-
SNKT for about a half second on the end of the strike. It does afford him a pretty clear view of two,
not three, metallic claws situated between her outer fingers, for the brief moment they're visible.

*

Akihiro jerks out of the way, causing Laura to sever something very vital, but thankfully not as
vital as his spine. He doesn't bother putting pressure on it, because the wound stops bleeding and
heals over almost instantaneously. "Alright, that hurt." he growls lowly in his throat, launding
himself at the woman in an attempt to drive his shoulder into her solar plexus, clearly not driven
to act with any sort of lethality yet.

*

She is clearly not entirely used to being on an even footing with opponents, but that isn't going to
last. X-23 gives out a muted grunt at the impact, but also clearly she is made of sterner stuff than
that, *and* is extremely well-trained. She recovers from the blow quickly, reflexively slamming her
elbow down into his back, hard. The angle is again just not good enough to go for the spine, though
even that might not be that big a deal for either of them. Now is probably not the time to find out.

*

Akihiro is dropped to a knee thanks to that strike, but that's when he grabs onto her sides. The
time for talking is over, and rather than pop the other two claws on his right hand out, he pushes
forward and up (spine clearly fine), shooting the claws hidden inside his wrist out in an attempt to
better hold Laura in place by skewering her.

*

Laura gives the first hint of emotion she's shown all night in the form of a short, cold snarl.
Clearly they actually do have as much as he thinks in common becuase she sure doesn't care about
being impaled. She grabs his wrists, squirms a bit in place, and headbutts at him in the kind of way
that only people not worried about healing afterward can manage. It obviously won't kill him, either,
but… loose is the first step here. If she can manage it.

*

And there goes Akihiro's nose, squashed down at an angle. He howls in pain and rage, reaching up
straighten his nose out before it heals. The claws inside his wrist retract, but his other two
extend, and Laura may notice from the familiarity of it, that he's no longer quite there, having
entered a killing rage without the presence of the trigger scent.

*

X-23 lands in a slight crouch, feet planted under her, Arms bent and spread slightly. She is not in
the habit of fighting with her claws out— she's an assassin, not a brawler— but sometimes it is
desirable. This is one of those times, and her claws pop on either hand with the same quick, quiet
SNKT noises. She… can no longer rage, at least not naturally, but a clear head is an advantage if
she's honest. The girl shifts a little in place, getting set and watching him for the inevitable
commitment to a rushing bloodlust.

*

There is no more hesitation to Akihiro's movements, now he's lunging at Laura, apparently intent on
slashing at her face. It's clear now that he has either some form of training, or the feral nature
of his brain makes him adept at killing, because that slash is revealed to be a faint. His claws are
redirected, powering toward Laura's abdomen in an attempt to lift her off the ground.

*

Not a great deal she can do about that, when she's lured in by his raging. It's a bit surprising
that he can manage to be so cunning while locked into it. Impressive, X-23 notes even as she finds
herself lifted, clamping her hands down on his wrists so she can keep herself stable and have some
modicum of ability to control her own motion. Of course… being lucid herself, she still has an ace
up her sleeve. Perfect time to use it— it's unlikely he'll remember it later. She brings her foot
up, and plants the toe of the boot solidly into the meaty part of his thigh. SNKT. Six inches or so
of adamantine blade spears from her toe, and she kicks straight down, like a cat eviscerating a toy
mouse. Only… you know… 'just' his leg. She's not sure she could kill him anyway, but her
creators will be upset with her if she does. Standing orders are standing orders.

*

Akihiro howls in pain, his weight no longer being supported fully thanks to the shredding of his leg.
As his knee hits the ground his claws retract, looking to slam into her own leg now. It's clear the
his already impressive pain resistance is bolstered further at the cost of suppressing his humanity.

*

X-23 isn't looking to give him the chance. She needs to withdraw, leaving him intact, more or less,
and report the find. And the rest of the mission. She lines up a shot while he's working out how to
get at her leg for his pound of flesh, opting for the simplicity of slamming her palm into his
temple just…. so. It should be enough to put even her, and she'd therefore assume him, out for a
few minutes. It's a bit like playing berzerker chicken. Or taking out Bull in Punch-Out.

*

Akihiro's arm continues forward, but only because of inertia. The teen slumps slightly before
falling over, unconscious and covered in blood, even if he's completely healed where all of his skin
has become exposed thanks to the slicing of his clothing.

*

X-23 pauses, in the middle of standing, and reaches over to get a fistful of Akihiro's hair. She
saws it off with a claw, shoves it in her pocket, and stands, getting a move on getting back to home
base. There's a little bit of initial stagger to her step as her body closes up the most recent stab
wounds, but by the time she hits the back of the alleyway she's running at a full clip again.

*

Akihiro comes back around, five minutes later. Much to his surprise he's covered in blood, and not
all of it is his own. Immediately he pushes to his feet to look around and make sure he didn't hurt
anybody, "Small miracles." He sighs quietly, reaching up to run a hand through his hair, pausing
when he feels the length difference. "Oh son of a bitch." he snarls, lashing out and punching the
wall nearest to him. Without saying anything else he turns to head back to the institute, clearly in
a bad mood now.

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