recolle | [closed-ish] if the clouds don't clear

It would be a good shot, if the figure didn't have two separate Keyblades. Somehow, it manages to block both of them, sending the bullets ricocheting off into the night. But the movement gives Dante an opening, shoving through the other's guard and slamming his shoulder into the figure's chest, body-checking him hard. The figure stumbles backward, then jumps away to regroup, giving Dante enough time to try and cobble together some sort of a plan.

"Let me get one of the Keyblades away from it!" he calls to the man, dismissing his own in another flash of light. "I think... I'm pretty sure that's what happened before."

That's assuming that this figure is the same one that threw him the Keyblade as he'd jumped off the skyscraper in the abandoned city. It looks the same, and he knows that the black Keyblade is the one that he'd held, but there's no way to be certain. It all comes down to trusting his instincts and his own abilities...

Dante just hopes he isn't wrong.

Togusa is at once startled by the other man's speed, and then tenses up when Dante goes in so close. But he's okay. He comes out of the exchange all right. There is a lot to process at once, but only one word really sticks out, "Before?"

Dante knows this guy? Okay, correction. Dante knows what's going on here. Which means that Togusa's role really needs to fall into backing him up and giving him openings to act. We're in this world of monsters and magic that is being shown to Dante a piece at a time, something Togusa has no concept of.

But, all right. Togusa nods firmly, and aims again. Another two shots, before Dante gets in close. Either it'll force the figure to turn his defense on Togusa, which should give Dante a chance, or Togusa just shot him in the arm, which should also help out Dante.

"Yeah." Dante spares a glance his way. "I think the other me met this guy before."

As Togusa aims--and then fires--Dante runs toward the hooded figure, all of his senses working in overdrive, incredibly aware that one of these blades is the one that broke the other him's arm. He doesn't match the other him for fighting skill, not yet, so this is an even more dangerous battle than it would have been for him.

But luckily he's got someone else on his side: Togusa's shots do indeed distract the figure, making it twist toward him to block the shots. It gives him an opening that Dante will gladly exploit, stepping inside the figure's guard and grabbing his wrist, following the same feeling of instinct that's helped him through his other battles so far. The figure swings the white Keyblade in as Dante twists his back to him, reversing his arm as though to knock him in the head with the pommel, but Dante's got both hands on his wrist and the greater height and he ducks beneath the blade and pulls, yanking the figure after him and forcing it to lose its grasp on the black Keyblade. Dante releases its wrist a moment later, diving for the black Keyblade and rolling, coming up into his normal battle stance and brandishing it at the figure.

They're equal now, which means he should be able to hold it. The two of them are only separated for a moment before the figure charges him again, this time cutting up from below, but Dante's there to meet him, their blades catching together and tangling. "Togusa!" he shouts, pressing hard against the white Keyblade. He's got him pinned for the moment; the other man should have a clear shot!

This is dangerous, more dangerous than anything Togusa's done before, but he has to keep calm. Trust that Dante knows what he's doing. His shots still don't connect (and thank god, don't ricochet into Dante). But just as planned, it gives Dante the opening he needs. One of those blades is pulled away, and maybe Togusa has a shot now.

Togusa has to wait for them to lock up again, the guy is moving too fast otherwise. So is Dante, to be frank. He barely hears Dante's shout as he lines up the shot. Center of mass, he aims, and fires the last two shots in the cylinder.

Togusa is immediately moving again, before he even sees the results of his shots. Pops the cylinder and reaches for a speed-loader. It's not the smoothest motion, but he's there.

There's a thought, about how much he trusts Dante that he's just throwing himself into this, even shooting at a man, without a question. Something to bring up later.

If Togusa trusts Dante enough to shoot without question, Dante trusts Togusa as well with how close he's putting himself to the target. But it's not without merit, because finally the shots connect, the hooded figure seizing up and staggering, the lock between their swords breaking as Dante steps out of the way.

There's a part of him that demands to go back on the attack, to ride his advantage, but that's the part of him that belongs to the other Dante, the part of him that seems to be used to fighting for his life. The Dante in this life hesitates, just long enough for the figure to turn back toward them and look past him to Togusa... and that's enough. That's all it takes for Dante to go on the offensive, letting his instincts drive him as he presses the figure back. The other fights back, just as he'd expect, and it seems that in spite of being shot it's still on par with Dante and even armed with a lot of the same moves that Dante himself is.

Dante stumbles when the figure jumps away, putting a good amount of distance between the two of them, and hurls the Keyblade at him in the same manner that he might do to another enemy. It spins end over end toward him, a danger he isn't sure if he can block.

The damn thing can be hurt. Sometimes, Togusa has been wondering about that with these monsters in the fog. He lowers the gun and scatters empty brass before he reloads, then just drops the empty loader anywhere.

And then that thing is looking at him, and Togusa hurries faster. Who or whatever it is, Togusa is not going to fare well against it. But Dante presses the advantage, striking, almost like he's coming to Togusa's defense? Keeping the guy focused on him. All right, Togusa knows what his role is, then.

He waits for his next opening, and his heart stops when the figure gives it to him. The Keyblade is thrown/i>, but Togusa is firing, this time just letting the automatic action do its job, and sending all six bullets at the thing. Damn it all.

He holds firing position for an extra heartbeat before he dares glance at Dante to see the results of the figure's tactics.

It's obvious at once that the figure doesn't entirely know how to fight two enemies at once. It takes all six shots directly to it, one hand going up as though to block before it realizes it's missing both weapons. It staggers again, and this time it will take the figure a while longer before it recovers at all, giving Togusa that opening to glance at Dante.

Dante, for his part, just dives out of the way as the Keyblade spirals toward him, letting it pass by him and recoil toward the hooded figure again (who catches it; of course he does). He comes back up to his feet unharmed, but man is it unnerving to see your own moves turned against you! "I think he's weak!" he shouts to Togusa--perhaps obvious, by the way he's moving, but it'll at least explain why Dante rolls up to his feet and immediately bolts for the figure, anxious to press their advantage before all the shadowy holes seal back up and they're facing the guy at full force again.

Except he's underestimating their foe. There's an exchange of blows, quick and furious, but the hooded figure strikes once in just the right place, and Dante's swearing as he trips back over the hem of his coat, his Keyblade falling out of his hands to the ground.

Welp. That's embarrassing, to say the very least.

Togusa is scrambling for another reload. He doesn't have another speedloader, but he does have a shit-ton of bullets because for some reason these stupid vending machines with clowns on them showed up around town with 9mm bullets in them.

Don't tell anybody, okay, Dante?

"Dante!" He is startled when Dante falls, so he snaps the cylinder closed again, spilling a few bullets at his feet, and fires, just the once, to try to get the figure to back off and give Dante enough time to get his weapon back into play.

Honestly, what startles Dante more than falling, more than Togusa's firing and the figure's jump back to give him room, is when it speaks.

"Shut up!"

It's a boy's voice, and Dante doesn't know whether it's aimed at him or Togusa or neither of them at all, but the boy rushes him again and Dante doesn't even think; he just moves. The Keyblade's in his hand again, dragged back from where it had fallen to the ground, and the boy is flying backwards: in that heartbeat's time, Dante had shot up to his feet, blocking the other's attack with one of his own, with enough force behind it to throw him. The boy hits the ground hard a few feet away, and this time he doesn't move.

Dante chances a glance at Togusa, then tips his head toward the figure on the ground. Think we got him?

There is a slight thrill of satisfaction when Dante takes over again, throwing the target down with enough force that he isn't getting back up again. Good. Togusa glances at Dante, but he keeps his gun trained on the boy, moving in just like he's trained to. He is watching for even the most minute movements, breathing, twitching, anything that would signify that the fight is going to restart when he gets into range.

Togusa nods sharply as a response, and takes a knee to reach for that hood that's been hiding their opponent's identity. He doesn't give the boy time to react, just yanks it back to try to reveal the boy's face.

Dante moves in alongside Togusa, his stolen Keyblade held in guard. He extends it as Togusa kneels down, placing the tip of the blade's prongs just over the boy's chest... and Togusa yanks the hood back.

And there's nothing.

The moment the hood starts to move, the figure (as well as the Keyblade Dante's holding) dissolves, nothing more than little wisps carried away on the slightest of breezes. Anything could have been beneath that hood, be it human, monster, or machine--they'll never know now. But that's all right by Dante, who releases a long sigh and seems to finally relax.

Damn.

He shakes his head, then turns his attention to the other man. "Thanks, Togusa. I don't know what would've happened if you hadn't shown up when you did."

Togusa pulls back, startled, but as soon as he sees what is happening, he realizes he shouldn't have expected anything different at all. He heaves a sigh at the same time as Dante, just a breath out while he shoves his gun back in the holster.

"Me?" Togusa shakes his head, looks up at Dante in some disbelief. "You could've taken him." Blunt. "You've gotten even better since August." He dusts his hands off and stands up. "Or maybe that's what you always looked like when you haven't been through three weeks of crap first."

"Any guesses on who it was?" Sorry, his thoughts are still on the information they didn't get.

Dante shakes his head. "No idea. All I know is that I've seen him before. Last month, when Cleo..." lost it for a moment? Chased the rabbit? "When she broke my arm. I remembered that guy doing the same thing to my other self. I apparently fought him before--or the other me did, at least."

He pauses, his eyes drifting to one side. "And... you're wrong. The other me, he couldn't beat him. Not by himself."

I have to release the power in my heart--the dark power I've been holding back.

It's maybe a good thing that he's been wearing the blindfold this whole time. It keeps his eyes from Togusa's view.

Togusa's response is immediate, almost before Dante is done speaking. "I wasn't talking about the other guy. I meant you. You could take him."

"That other guy seems interesting and all, but he's not the one I care about." Again, being exceptionally blunt, because that seems to be the only way to get a message through Dante's thick skull. "Use his abilities and the things you learn from him to live your own damn life. That's what we're all out here trying to do, isn't it?"

"So don't accept his limitations, either."

Whoa, what? Even with his eyes hidden, Togusa can probably read the lines of Dante's posture to see that he's a bit taken aback by the intensity of his response.

"No, that's not what I--" Dante shakes his head again. "I've gotten better since August, sure, but the other guy had years of experience behind him where every day was like that fight at the end of August. He was a lot better at fighting than I was. That's not me being hard on myself, Togusa, that's just a fact."

He meets Togusa's gaze now though, staring directly at him. "I'm not going to make the same mistakes he did, though. I've got people around me that'll help keep that from happening."

Togusa knows where his own faith lies, but he nods resolutely at Dante's last words. "I can accept that much." Because he knows that he is one of the people Dante is talking about.

He finally looks away after a long moment, looks up the road, and tilts his head towards back where he is parked. "I can give you a ride, get you out of here quicker, minimize any kind of risk." Another thing that Togusa is having to keep an eye on this month.

Togusa is definitely one of the people that Dante's talking about. The few people he's confided in... he trusts them, wholeheartedly, no reservations.

But when Togusa makes the offer to give him a lift, he hesitates. "Thanks for offering, but... I don't know. I think maybe I should be out here to help everyone else. In case they run into something they can't handle alone."

Which admittedly is something a bit hypocritical, considering how he just needed Togusa's help to take care of his own demons, but... he can't just sit inside doing nothing.

(Please send him home, Togusa.)

Togusa gives Dante a much more serious look. "Dante." With the tone of really? "If this month is anything like the others, we've got weeks ahead of us on this thing. We're in it for the long haul, so pace yourself and don't burn out fast. And it's trying to fight when you're tired that's going to get you hurt."

He again gestures back the direction he came. "It'll keep. I'm not the only one on patrol tonight, anyway." Let somebody else handle it, Dante.

He's right, honestly. And Dante knows he's right too, which is the more frustrating part...

(He frowns to himself; when had he started caring so much about looking out for people? What happened to the whole "not my problem" thing he'd always been so big on..?)

Hell, maybe that mindset should serve him well here. He can't make everything his problem, after all. Dante sighs, relenting. "You're right," he says, reaching up to untie the blindfold from his eyes. "Sure. A ride back would be pretty nice."

[closed-ish] if the clouds don't clear

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was waiting on a regain for this one :')

Re: was waiting on a regain for this one :')

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