Xaviers!

Chase twisted out of the way to the best of his ability and sent a foot at the Admiral's ankle.

Unfortunately for bland man, Tereza's ears are sharper than they look and the ice shatters as she rips her feet free and heads swiftly in Sam's direction, eyes flashing dangerously. She begins to close the distance, not so much weaving through the crowd as knocking people out of her way.

Sam is struggling with the man, though it's probably not the best idea to exert yourself when your airway is being blocked.

Chase manages to dodge the punch but only barely so, his reflexes letting him keep up with whatever strange casual super-speed is at work here. As he twists to the side though Walter pulls on his wrist and almost casually yanks him to the side and off his feet before his kick can land. Instead Chase goes sailing through the air and roughly tumbles to the ground.

"Is this really necessary? This doesn't concern you, meddlesome interlopers." Walter complains.

Meanwhile Sam's assailant pulls her backwards a bit to adjust his angle on the incoming Tereza, putting Sam between himself and the angry cryokinetic.

Now that Tereza's getting a good look at what he's doing to Sam, her lip curls into a snarl. If Sam's still in contact with her mind, she can tell just how murderous Tereza's thoughts immediately become. Tereza hauls up short, which outwardly looks like hostage-induced indecision. Internally though, Tereza is debating whether to kill him with ice or her bare hands.

A wall of ice springs up in front of the white-haired woman, the knives sinking into it.

"<Should've gone with your first instinct and ran,>" she sneers in flawless Chinese to Weikun.

Ice rushes along the pavement from the barrier towards Weikun's feet.

Slow Motion Walter wrote:Chase manages to dodge the punch but only barely so, his reflexes letting him keep up with whatever strange casual super-speed is at work here. As he twists to the side though Walter pulls on his wrist and almost casually yanks him to the side and off his feet before his kick can land. Instead Chase goes sailing through the air and roughly tumbles to the ground.

"Is this really necessary? This doesn't concern you, meddlesome interlopers." Walter complains.

Chase knew how to land well, but the impact still hurt. Rising despite his future bruises, he said, "You might have convinced me killing her makes you the good guys, but then you went and said 'meddlesome interlopers'."

Natalya Romanov wrote:A wall of ice springs up in front of the white-haired woman, the knives sinking into it.

"<Should've gone with your first instinct and ran,>" she sneers in flawless Chinese to Weikun.

Ice rushes along the pavement from the barrier towards Weikun's feet.

"<Aren't we full of ourselves today.>" Weikun snipes back and, having taken note of Chase of all people intervening to save her, focuses most of her attention on Natalya. "<I suppose you're my replacement for failing to execute the contract then?>" she asks, running towards the creeping ice and jumping at the last moment, feet finding her daggers in the ice wall and propelling her upwards and over it, coming down on the other side with another dagger in her hand, slashing at Natalya on her way down.

Chase Delacroix wrote:Chase knew how to land well, but the impact still hurt. Rising despite his future bruises, he said, "You might have convinced me killing her makes you the good guys, but then you went and said 'meddlesome interlopers'."

"Hmm, so many people after the young lady. Very popular indeed." he says, kinda aimed at Chase but mostly just musing to himself. He looks over to Weikun and Natalya and suddenly the Chinese woman seems to slow down mid-attack, giving Natalya ample time to react or even counter-attack. Slow Motion Walter meanwhile just kind of looks back over to Chase to see if he'll try to save the assassin again.

"Better the devil you know," he answered before stubbornly coming in with a series of lunging punches, hoping Walter couldn't split his focus.

"If you want to die quickly, you'll let her go right now," Tereza growls at the bland man, fingers flexing with just the slightest sounds of bones wanting to realign.

Nearly losing consciousness, Sam stabs out wildly with her mind in hopes of getting the man to loosen his grip.

"<Why I'm here is nobody's business. Why you're here just became everyone's business.>"

The woman puts her arms up, the knife slashing at her thick coat.

It's like trying to punch the water. There's just barely the hint of any resistance before it just completely slips away. He does let up his chokehold just enough to let Sam get one gasping breath in though.

"You really should consider the situation more carefully, young lady, if you care for your friend."

Walter's focus does seem to shift a little, letting Weikun get a slash in instead of just slow-motion tumbling into her demise. Instead he avoids Chase's blows and making it look almost casual.

"I'm afraid we cannot let you apprehend her, my friend. She might know too much and compromise the safety of Mother Russia." he says, though his lack of an accent and the stilted way he pronounces 'Mother Russia' almsot makes it sound like he's not Russian at all.

Weikun lands and immediately tries to sweep Natalya's leg to push her attack, trying to keep the woman on the defensive so she can't find a moment to concentrate on her powers.

"<Those who hired my services just tried to take me out of the picture. Might I suggest a truce?>"

Secret Asian Man wrote:It's like trying to punch the water. There's just barely the hint of any resistance before it just completely slips away. He does let up his chokehold just enough to let Sam get one gasping breath in though.

"You really should consider the situation more carefully, young lady, if you care for your friend."

Tereza grins predatorily and it seems like her canines are longer, but it's all a trick of the light and motion surely. "I've considered the situation. You're hurting something of mine. Last warning, let her go or this becomes painful for you." The temperature around her starts to drop as she draws on her power.

Slow Motion Walter wrote:Walter's focus does seem to shift a little, letting Weikun get a slash in instead of just slow-motion tumbling into her demise. Instead he avoids Chase's blows and making it look almost casual.

"I'm afraid we cannot let you apprehend her, my friend. She might know too much and compromise the safety of Mother Russia." he says, though his lack of an accent and the stilted way he pronounces 'Mother Russia' almsot makes it sound like he's not Russian at all.

"If you're... Russian, then... I'm Harry Potter," he said, continuing his distracting onslaught while looking for an opening, "You know... her boss won't... appreciate you breaking... his toys... right?"

Tereza Rozanov wrote:Tereza grins predatorily and it seems like her canines are longer, but it's all a trick of the light and motion surely. "I've considered the situation. You're hurting something of mine. Last warning, let her go or this becomes painful for you." The temperature around her starts to drop as she draws on her power.

"I doubt your friend is immune to your powers. Call the young man back from meddling in things that don't concern him and I will let her go."

Chase Delacroix wrote:"If you're... Russian, then... I'm Harry Potter," he said, continuing his distracting onslaught while looking for an opening, "You know... her boss won't... appreciate you breaking... his toys... right?"

"Her employer is of course free to seek retribution on those who hired them. We will be long gone by then. Do you often side yourself with assassins, boy?"

Secret Asian Man wrote:"I doubt your friend is immune to your powers. Call the young man back from meddling in things that don't concern him and I will let her go."

"She's not," Tereza admits, apparently ignoring the request as she paces a couple of steps back and forth. "One thing you appear to not be aware of though." A spike of ice springs up behind him, aiming for the back of his thigh, "I don't need to go *through* her to get to you."

"<You'd have to convince me they're worse than the people I know you really work for.>"

The woman creates a patch of ice to harness her momentum, sliding out of the path of what she assumes Weikun's next strike is before lashing out with a volley of ice shards.

Slow Motion Walter wrote:"Her employer is of course free to seek retribution on those who hired them. We will be long gone by then. Do you often side yourself with assassins, boy?"

"Finding out who hired them is why we're even here."

Chase Delacroix wrote:"Finding out who hired them is why we're even here."

The man lets out a deep belly-laugh. "Oh are you now? Well good luck with that. Secret Asian Man, stop messing around. We're leaving!" he bellows across the plaza as his attention moves towards Weikun.

Tereza Rozanov wrote:"She's not," Tereza admits, apparently ignoring the request as she paces a couple of steps back and forth. "One thing you appear to not be aware of though." A spike of ice springs up behind him, aiming for the back of his thigh, "I don't need to go *through* her to get to you."

The attack does seem to catch him unaware, the spike driving through his leg and eliciting a scream. He lets go of Sam who goes stumbling forward as the man tries to twist his leg, snapping the icicle at the base. It probably would have been much simpler to just pull away. Maybe he is concerned about the spike having punctured an artery? Regardless, he limps away towards the entrance of the cafe, disappearing through the door.

Natalya Romanov wrote:"<You'd have to convince me they're worse than the people I know you really work for.>"

The woman creates a patch of ice to harness her momentum, sliding out of the path of what she assumes Weikun's next strike is before lashing out with a volley of ice shards.

Weikun's blow misses. Anticipating a counterattack of some sort she tries to use her momentum to carry through into a handstand-flip when she suddenly seems to be moving so much more slowly, compared to the rest of the world. The fan of iceshards striking her right in the stomach and sending her tumbling out of her acrobatics with a horrified look on her face.

Tereza seems torn as she moves to catch Sam. The prey is getting away. He is injured. We will lose him if you don't move. She growls in frustration, deciding instead to scoop Sam up in her arms before turning to survey the rest of the situation.

"You could just..." he began, distracted by seeing Weikun get hit. He felt strangely upset by the development. Without thinking, he attempted to disengage with Walter and rush to defend the assassin.

Sam is doubled over, gasping.

"...let's never do that again," she pants.

"...what are you doing??" The white-haired woman asks Chase in English.

"Trying to preventing a murder, what's it look like?" he answered, taking a defensive fighting stance. "Even though she might well stab me in the back for it."

"Assisting the assassin. How odd." the man says, noting the blood spreading through Weikun's clothes at the stomach. "I believe you can work it out amongst yourselves from here then." he adds before calmly wandering away across the plaza.

Samantha McManus wrote:Sam is doubled over, gasping.

"...let's never do that again," she pants.

Tereza just growls in response to Sam's statement, blinking her eyes a bit as if trying to blink something away. "We need to go. Too much attention."

"It didn't need to be too much attention. Is he with you, or do you just not care?"

"Then again, I recognize the fighting style on this one..." She says, looking back to Chase.

"I broke free of the Lotus, so maybe she can. Killing her prevents nothing anyway. Brainwashed assassins are quite replaceable."

The white-haired woman's expression softens as Chase says that.

"...then just tell me you don't care if I do this."

Quickly and almost completely silently, a trail of ice snakes out to try to trip up the fire engine guy.

Tereza watches the snakes and frowns at Natalya, "Who..."

It does indeed trip him up and sends him tumbling, but he recovers much more gracefully than one would expect from an older, slightly pudgy man. He turns around and looks at them with what even at the distance looks like an almost fatherly frown, coupled with a slow shaking of his head. Meanwhile Weikun lets out a groan as she continues to slowly bleed through her shirt.

"So... not with them. Good to know," he said, cautiously backing up to check on Weikun.