Team Juicy Trappers VS Explosive Cleaners [Paintball Match]

Shimizu Haruto was in an awkward spot. The reason he had come to this military base in the first place was in part to cheer Elise up after recent events, so he had agreed to join this game of paintball, but... This was his first time even looking at a real gun, even if it was a paintball gun! Which would be fine if it was a free for all or one on one matches, but when put on a team... Wouldn’t he just be dead weight?

As for questions, it was rather awkward, but- “Err, I’m sorry, but... How does the respawn ticket system work?” In seven words, he proved to everyone present just how utterly clueless he was. But he would rather be embarrassed than stay clueless, and the only way to fix that was to ask questions! Still, he found himself rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish grin on his face.

Turning to his teammate, he offered a polite bow. ”Pleased to meet you, Noir-san. I can only admit that I’ve never done anything like this before, but I will do my best not to hold you back!” While he worried that his inexperience and overall lack of fitness would hold his teammate back, it wasn’t like Haruto was giving up without a fight! Win or lose, this would be a fun time. And a messy one! Hopefully his quirk didn’t consider the paint to be toxic, or he might be heading straight back to the medical bay when they were done!

Jokes aside, that was actually a concern. After all, while the paint was meant to be nontoxic- That was for being shot with, not ingesting. And since his quirk didn’t care about the difference... We’ll, he’d worry about that after getting shot! For now, all he could do was head to the prep room opposite the one Elise and Seiji had entered. The protective gear was the simple part- Pants, vest, and mask, to protect him and his clothes from bruising and paint splatter. But when it came to the gun itself, to call the choice complex would be an understatement!

There were so many options, from elongated barrels with prominent sights, to stockier guns with larger bullet cases, perhaps for rapid-fire? Absolutely lost, Haruto turned to his only hope- ”Ah, Noir-san, I don’t suppose you have any advice about what gun to pick?” Haruto asked hopefully. If the girl didn’t know either, all he could do was pick a gun and pray.

"Is that so?" Jasmine asked in response to Elise's small taunt, her voice a low, cold taunt. Honestly it wasn't even that much of a question but more of a statement - they wouldn't go down without a fight.

Quickly thereafter the blonde and her soon to be partner in murder quickly found themselves in their designated preparation area. The blonde's lilac gaze shifted over the many mock weapons on display, her mind quickly running through her options. She couldn't say she had much experience with guns. Besides that one time she had one of her friends in the force sneak her into the NYPD's gun range to practice firing a few different 9 mil's like the Gen4 and Gen3 Glocks, she had also tried out an Ithaca 37 shotgun - something that had given her an idea of how to use her quirk. Regrettably, Jasmine wasn't able to use her special ability in this particular instance. Honestly this whole challenge took away two of her strongest advantages - her destructive quirk and her exceptional physical strength. On some level it almost seemed like this challenge was designed to make her fail. She grinned at the thought.

The blonde lioness hummed at her team member somewhat curiously, offering him a small smile, "Likewise... Haruto?" She asked, completely ignoring whatever honorifics system Japan had. She always considered that a waste of time anyway. "And don't worry about it. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be much help here, but... that doesn't mean we're going to make this easy for them, huh?"

Glancing through some of the gear, Jasmine snorted with some amusement, thinking on her action plan. She decided against taking a vest - her natural durability would be enough to absorb paintball shells without slowing her down too much. The added weight of a west would likely just make her more encumbered. In a situation like this where mobility was likely key, she couldn't afford that. There were very few pieces of gear she decided on using. First and foremost was an utility belt that she strapped on, storing several extra magazines in the different compartments. On the side of her right thigh she strapped on a Glock 17 - a weapon she was somewhat familiar with. Not her main choice but rather her go-to if things went sour with her first and second plan of attack.

The next choice items were pads. Jaz was likely to go rolling and tumbling either to avoid fire or to simply increase her mobility. Her instincts and reaction times were one of her biggest assets, so much so that sometimes the sheer output she displayed because of them were impossible for her body to keep up with, especially in a situation like this where she couldn't use her quirk to control her mobility. Glancing over the choices, she nodded to herself before smirking. Riot gear: hard, sturdy, and if used correctly not as restricting. She rummaged through the boxes set out for them, most of which were marked with the word DAMASCUS. Opening several of them, she opted for three sets of gear - hard shell forearm/elbow protectors and hard shell shin guards/knee caps. The final item? Riot gloves, slightly modified to have hard claws at the fingertips. This would be perfect.

"I couldn't say, really. I haven't had much - if any real training with them. All I can advise is taking what feels natural in the given situation?" She explained as she fixed up her newly acquired gear, taking a few hops up afterwards to check how much they were slowing her down. It would take a minute or two for her to get used to the added weight but it wasn't anything that would generally damn her combat ability. "Let's recap the situation - I don't know much about you, nor them. Seiji is a mystery to me and as far as I'm concerned Elise isn't that combat savvy either. I may be wrong, though - been told the girl's magically become great with weapons. In which case... they're probably expecting the most out of me," she said, bluntly. "Not trying to be cocky or anything. Actually I think we can use that to our advantage."

"They're probably expecting me to go in guns blazing and ram their asses without any lube. Normally, that would be the case, but in a challenge that's literally made to knock the feet out from under me that would just be stupid." Then Jasmine turned to the table with guns again. She grinned. Three more guns - two MP5's which she could easily dual wield without much of an issue. If somebody threw recoil at her face, she'd tell them she has been dealing with recoil and shoulder issues ever since she was little. Having dealt with C4-sized explosion all her life, she was pretty confident she could handle a little gun kickback. Then, as her second option, she fixed a sawed-off on her lower back.

"So we're going to be careful. Being smart will be key here - be as quiet as possible, keep your head down and stay behind cover. We'll lure them out and put a bullet between their eyes, what do you think?"

Then, the last item; something she had brought over herself when she was told what kind of challenge she would be participating in. It wasn't anything major - just something she had picked up at a random Halloween shop when she was bored and in town, ready to spend money on stupid shit. Honestly all she used this thing for was to scare Rin off in their room for the shits and giggles. She hadn't considered how useful this damn thing would come to actually be. Her grin was very firmly on her face as she stared at it, the message behind the item very clear. Snickering to herself in an almost sinister way, she fixed the mask on her face.

"Let's go hunting, shall we?"

“Got it!” The rules were simple enough, though, Haruto was afraid he would likely be responsible for more than half of his team’s tickets... After all, he had seen Elise with a gun, and from what the soldiers had said, she was really, amazingly skilled. What an unfortunate first matchup. Although, to be fair, was there a matchup that was good for Haruto? He should just count himself lucky he hadn’t been placed against Chise... Or with her. Was it selfish of him to want to avoid looking uncool in front of the girl he- No, it wasn’t “the girl he liked” anymore, was it? It was, “His girlfriend.” Even now, it still felt like he had only imagined it...

But he couldn’t afford to get distracted by strawberry colored thoughts right now! He had a paintball match to fight! ”And our opponent just had to be Elise, too... From what the soldiers were saying about her shooting skills, she could probably enter this tournament without a partner and still come out on top.” Haruto let out a sigh. It was thoroughly demotivating to think about just how heavily outclassed they were. “”Her favorite weapon is a sniper rifle, so, I suspect she’ll pick one of those. If we can get up close to her, perhaps we stand a chance? But then there’s still Seiji, and I don’t know what his skill level is, so we should probably expect the worst case scenario...” Unwilling to go down without a fight, Haruto attempted to put together a strategy. But with limited knowledge and even less experience, his train of thought could only run so far.

For his weapon, he ended up taking a semi-automatic handgun, the weapon Elise had suggested he try when they visited the armory. Besides, with his nonexistent build, a light weapon like that was probably the only one he could properly handle. Even if picking a weapon like this could easily be suicidal in a long range fight. Still, what was the harm in trying? He was certainly undergeared when compared to his partner, who had more guns than hands, though.

”I agree, I wouldn’t be surprised if they just ignored me completely. If you draw enough of their attention and they lose track of where I am, we might be able to pull something off- But that’s a big if. As I said, I expect Elise to be bringing a sniper rifle, so, one key point will be figuring out where she is, and making sure there’s cover between us and it at all times. Not that I expect her to be nice enough to pick a place and sit there for us to find her. Of course, that all hinges on the if of her picking a sniper, and not going in with something better ranged... Seiji, I know as little as you.

He didn’t quite get the reference of the mask that looked like something out of a horror film, but nodded anyways. ”Let’s take down the tournament favorites, shall we?”

The match started, and Haruto went for nearby cover. He didn’t know where Elise was or would be headed, but he knew where she had started, and knew she could only get so far from it so fast. Wouldn’t it be awful to be hit the second the match started? Unwilling to expose his head to look for the enemy team, Haruto would focus on listening, trying to get a general idea for where the enemy team was by using his ears.