2014-06-20 - Men's Wear Shade
| Title: Men's Wear Shade | |
|---|---|
| Summary: A Shade has drained much of the color out of the mall! With Prism Keeper Red nowhere in sight, it's up to the other magical warriors to fight off the color thief. | |
| Who: Yayoi Kise, Endo Naoki, Ikiko Hisakata, Lingshen Chao, Fuu Hououji, Mei Akatsuki (GM) | |
| Where: Shibuya Shopping District | |
| OOC - IC Date: 6/20/14 - 2/1/14 | |
It's a bit later in the evening, when the mall is in the midst of closing up for the night. A steady stream of employees and late-afternoon shoppers alike head out of the building's doors, and in the hustle and bustle, it's hard to notice the slowly creeping wave of grey overtaking a small section of shops. At its edges, it's hard to tell that anything particular is happening -- the colors appear slightly washed out, as if through a light cloud of fog. The closer one gets to the epicenter, however, it becomes clear that something is wrong. The bargain-price men's wear store is the most noticeably /off/, almost completely grey and emitting a sort of swirling vortex, into which a steady stream of color is being drained.
This isn't a time of day or week or year when Fuu would normally venture into one of the major clothing-store centers of Tokyo ... but necessity doesn't wait upon convenience or habit, and she's made her way out to Shibuya to track down what she needed.
She almost doesn't notice the fading of colors, except for a well-timed glance upwards at a sign - just at the right moment to realize that the sign's color is not uniformly shaded. And her gut nudges the rest of her as if to say something is not right ...
She turns towards the menswear store, frowning behind her glasses, then diverting her path towards a side corridor which leads, according to signage, to public restrooms and coin lockers.
Yayoi Kise has no reason to be in a Men's shop. She does however, have reasoning to be in a mall, mainly, to buy new shoes. Her current ones are kind of a mess, and her mother decided it was time for her to buy new ones, so thusly, she is there, walking by with her bagged shoebox. She seems pleased with her purchase. She does peer into the various stores as the Mall is begining to close for the evening. She kind of peeks into the Men's wear shop and blinks for a moment. Is the world turning black and white!? That's kind of what it looks like to her and she needs to double take. When something is obviously wrong she walks in to peers what's wrong...
"Hello?..." she calls into the shop in her usual meek voice. She looks at Fuu with a bewildered expression. "I think something is wrong...?" she asks.
Endo is out later in the evening, which isn't an unusual thing for him. In fact, he got an early shift today, meaning that once he's freed from the shackles of the 7-11 he's got time to swing by the mall and see if he wants to waste his hard-earned money.
Coincidentally, cheap clothes are one of the things that he might be willing to part with Yen for. So his path has him winding through the mall, toward that. It takes him awhile to notice the gradual shift toward monochrome. It's only when he's fairly close that he turns backward to peer at the place he'd been, and ahead at the place he's going.
"Does that seem right?" He seems to be talking to himself. And sort of half-looking down at his feet when he does it. "Aaah-that doesn't seem very right." His opinion is only reinforced when he spots the vortex proper, and the other people moving toward it. "This thing here..."
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji transforms into Magic Knight!
Lingshen Chao, GIRL OF SCIENCE, is never actually interested in clothing, because she has tailors for that. (So far nobody has actually successfully, empriically proven that she even has clothes that aren't some kind of uniform). Even now, she's in the Middle School uniform for the Infinity Institute, as she carries a bag of assorted nicknacks from one of the tech stores in the vicinity. The robot club will have all it needs to...not, conquer...anything...yes....
Still, she didn't get where she is by being unobservant, and the washed-out colors catch her eye as she passes by.
Her hand falls to her skirt pocket, and she takes a quick glance around; noting who is here, as much as who isn't, as she nonchalantly slides toward an unobtrusive alleyway. She produces an earpiece - simple Bluetooth. "Hakase," she says aloud. "Get the system warmed up, will ya? I think something's going down."
At the center of the vortex, unmanifested and hungry, is the Shade. It has had such a feast today, draining unnoticed for several hours at the least. Admittedly, much of it had been brown and beige -- bland tasting, without much of the power of more vibrant colors. It hungers fiercely. There must be more out there.
The vortex slowly stops swirling until it collapses in on itself, sending a shockwave through the nearby stores. When the burst of blinding darkness clears, a bizarre monster, at least ten feet tall, stands in the center of the men's wear boutique, amid the collapsed displays and scattered fabrics.
It is a creature of patchwork, literally and figuratively. Its body is composed of several different shirts and jackets, cut messily at the seams and stitched together sloppily with white thread. Giant scissors sit where its hands should be, blades gnashing together a few times every second. Its legs are spools of thread wrapped in denim and khaki, ending in mismatched (but impeccably shined) shoes. A mannequin's head sit atop a spindly neck. Button eyes with threaded eyebrows glance about the store, and a zipper mouth slides open with a /zrrrrrp/, revealing sharp, needly teeth. And, of course, who can forget the dashing fedora, tilted to one side on its head?
This dapper Shade is on the prowl. And if its senses are right...something very colorful, very yummy is about to come its way.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki has fully healed herself. She is now ready to take on 4 opponents!
Yayoi Kise eyes the creature..... her eyes wide...
"That is so freaky....!" she says in a shrill voice... "Wuahgh!" and then she begins to tumble away.... then she stops halfway out the door in the hallway and huffs... "No...not.. running away..." she says with as much determination, she peers into the mall's bathroom corridor and dissapears!
In a brilliant display of lightning Cure Peace appears, having transformed in the bathroom corridor with the typical 'Pretty Cure! Smile Charrrrge!' call out. "Sparkling.. Glittering..!"
"ROCK-- PAPER-- **SCISSORS!**" she says throwing the sccisors as she spins and poses. "Cure Peace!" she then pulls her hands out in the typical V for peace sign before she suddenly closes them into determinded fists.. "OoooH... you can't just go...stealing color! Color is... bright and cherry!" she says as she waits for the results of ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORU!
COMBAT: Yayoi Kise transforms into Cure Peace!
COMBAT: Cure Peace has used Pikarin Janken! on Mei Akatsuki.
COMBAT: Cure Peace has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki perfectly braces Cure Peace's Pikarin Janken!, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Critical Brace! Mei Akatsuki's Block ability activates! Mei Akatsuki's Parry ability activates!
Fuu nods back to Yayoi, "Definitely seems like something is wrong, yes ..." She moves to get a closer look as the vortex seems to subside -
"That certainly doesn't look like a very good marketing mascot for fashionable men's clothing, does it?"
Fuu smiles, albeit a little ruefully, as she gets a better look at the creature that formed out of the vortex; really, it looks more like it should be advertising a crafts or sewing store, but - well, no, not with a mouth like that. Definitely NOT with a mouth like that, and never mind how dapper the fedora looks. She heads down the corridor as well, digging out her glove-jewel and letting her shopping and other stuff disappear into the big green gemstone as she pulls it onto her left hand.
"Belief becomes power ... Winds, guide me!!"
Next to Cure Peace's lightning, the miniature whirlwind of Fuu's transformation into the Magic Knight of Wind seems downright understated - but it does what she needs it to do, and the Wind Knight emerges back into the main concourse, already preparing a spell.
"Imashime no Kaze!"
A whirlwind gusts out to surround the Shade, the Winds of Admonishment conjured to bind the monster in place and restrict its movements to the best extent that the Wind Knight can pin it down.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Imashime no Kaze on Mei Akatsuki.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki perfectly counters Fuu Hououji's Imashime no Kaze, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter!
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki's counterattack, Flying Fedoras, bursts all the way through, doing 22 Fatigue damage to Fuu Hououji!
<DANGER.>
Endo raises his hand a second too late. The shockwave sends him stumbling back, a cry of surprise escaping as he topples over. A hand saves him from bouncing anything important-like his head- against the tiled floor, but it's not graceful by any means.
"A little sooner nex-" His complaints to the Device around his neck are cut short by the sight of the nightmarish patchwork of cloth standing where the vortex used to be. Endo's eyes go wide, and wider still when his head snaps back around to see where both scissors and wind are coming from. This seems like a bit of a mess.
"Hey, get out here!" He doesn't bother to move. He just reaches down and grasps the ring tucked under his shirt, yanking it free. Things get very bright for a second, very purple, and then very sword.
Extremely sword. The huge, rectangular hunk of metal is rushing toward the monster almost as soon as it flashes into existence. "Fast! Too fast!" Endo, now armored and with cape flapping behind, is literally dragged along for the ride as it goes shooting toward the monster.
COMBAT: Endo Naoki transforms into Barrier Jacket!
COMBAT: Endo Naoki has used Corona Upper on Mei Akatsuki.
COMBAT: Endo Naoki has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki fails to dodge Endo Naoki's Corona Upper, taking 26 Fatigue damage!
What bring Ikiko to the mall today is a sale on fashionable clothes!...
...yeah, didn't think you'd believe that.
In actuality, she's feeding some of the local strays. The fading color catches her eye, so she tells the dogs to head to safety. As the strays hastily depart, she ducks behind some containers and murmurs something.
There's a silvery glow, and then Tsukiko goes bounding towards the source of the grayness. As she gets closer, she recognizes a few people, like the Wind Knight and Cure Peace. The wolfgirl takes note of the foe being targeted...
...what the heck /is/ that?!?
Time for questions later. She darts forward, trying to box the foe in.
COMBAT: Ikiko Hisakata transforms into Cute Wolf Tsukiko!
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has fully healed herself.
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has used Herd the Quarry on Mei Akatsuki.
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki narrowly braces Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Herd the Quarry, taking 3 Fatigue damage! Mei Akatsuki's Block ability activates! Mei Akatsuki's Parry ability activates! Trap applied to Mei Akatsuki!
Annnd then the vortex collapses in on itself and produces a hell monster. "Need it now," Chao mutters into her earpiece; takes it out, stuffs it back in her pocket, and produces the jeweled bracelet of her ancestors and winds it a few time around her wrist, tightening it until the magic circuitry glitters to life.
There's an outpouring of light from the alley, Chao surmounted for a glorious moment by a vision of the combat system she herself designed. Calling it 'armor' would be a wild mistake; apparently made of an easy, silk or spandex-like material, it is colored a sort of maroon and black. Actually, it looks a hell of a lot like a more full-bodied Chao Bao Zi uniform.
That would be very silly, of course. Chao Bao Zi is a restaurant, not a secret supervil^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h magical girl laboratory.
Regardless, there's a shout of "Now cut that out!" before the powersuited girl bounds across the distance. Creepy scissor hands, that's gonna be fun, she thinks darkly, coming down on the near side of the street with her gloves creaking from the strength applied to them. "If there's one thing I can't stand, it's disrupting commerce!" she declares, and spares no further time before lunging in to swing a straight flip kick to the thing's horrible mannequin head.
"Or creepy mascots!" she adds.
COMBAT: Lingshen Chao transforms into Powered Suit!
COMBAT: Lingshen Chao has used Midair Machine Kenpo on Mei Akatsuki.
COMBAT: Lingshen Chao has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki fails to brace Lingshen Chao's Midair Machine Kenpo, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Lingshen Chao is Psyched!
Ah, yes. Here the tasty morsels come now.
The first to appear is a positively vibrant yellow girl -- a Prism Keeper? No. Even with its animal-like intellect, it can recognize a Chroma Crystal's energy, and this girl doesn't have a trace of it on her. Oh, well. She'll still make a delicious snack, with all that wonderful color. It watches her, a bit confused, as she throws a v-sign its way, then gives the Shade equivalent of a shrug and shoots a grey bream at her, absorbing all remaining color in its wake.
The next girl is in green, and doesn't look *quite* as appetizingly coloful as the Pretty Cure. Even worse, she somehow conjures a gust of wind and shoots it off! Growling, the Shade removes the fedora from its grey head, multiplying it into five, very sharp hat-discs in a burst of black energy. They swirl around him at dizzying speeds, cancelling out the trapping wind, before shooting off at the attacker herself.
And then, there's a sudden, shooting pain as a sword impales itself into his torso. The fabric scraps tear with a chorus of soft wails, exposing the vortex of monochrome energy underneath. The Shade roars directly into the boy's face, needle teeth just inches from his skin, before pulling the blade out. The shirts knit themselves together again, albeit much more messily, and the Shade morphs his right arm into a menacing, sword-like needle. Growling again, he stabs at his attacker, aiming to damage his pretty clothes just as much as he'd damaged his.
The button eyes on the mannequin face look up just in time to see a wolfgirl heading his way, and though he knocks down a nearby table of starched shirts, he finds himself temporarily trapped behind its wooden legs, up against a wall. And then a maroon-suited girl's kick hits him square in the zipper mouth, knocking his head askew on his neck.
The insolence must be punished.
Out of either arm-sleeve drops a lasso of measuring tape, which he sends flying towards both girls. They will be trapped as he is trapped, and when he is free, they will suffer for it.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki has used Color Drain on Cure Peace.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki has used Needle Sword on Endo Naoki.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki has used Measuring Tape Lasso on Cute Wolf Tsukiko.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki has used Measuring Tape Lasso on Lingshen Chao.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko fails to brace Mei Akatsuki's Measuring Tape Lasso, taking 13 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Cute Wolf Tsukiko is Quipped! Trap applied to Cute Wolf Tsukiko!
COMBAT: Endo Naoki perfectly dodges Mei Akatsuki's Needle Sword, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Dodge!
COMBAT: Lingshen Chao fails to dodge Mei Akatsuki's Measuring Tape Lasso, taking 10 Fatigue damage! Lingshen Chao is Quipped! Trap applied to Lingshen Chao!
COMBAT: Cure Peace fails to dodge Mei Akatsuki's Color Drain, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Cure Peace is Taunted! Cripple and Stun applied to Cure Peace!
"Quite right, mascots should look appealing rather than scary," the Wind Knight agrees with the Chao Bao Zi Battle Mascot Girl. "Even if they're meant to be scary, they should still be cute at the same time -"
Incoming hats, with REALLY sharp brims; since when do random monsters rip off British superspy villains? The Wind Knight is distracted enough to take the worse end of the stick when the hats whip past, slashing at her along the way; that could have gone considerably worse - but it still reminds her, rather sharply (no pun intended), to keep her mind on the fight first and foremost.
It's also rather unlikely that this particular monster is going to engage in much in the way of banter, so that's another reason not to waste time or focus on talking at it. And her allies are rapidly looking much the worse for wear ... so the Wind Knight brings her left arm up, calling out, "Iyashi no Kaze!!" even as her sword materializes ...
And between the Winds of Healing and some quick but careful slices, she endeavors to free Chao Bao Zi-tan and the Cute Wolf from their lassos, the soothing breeze helping reinvigorate them to let them move at full speed again - and hopefully, to get Cure Peace over whatever debilitating effects getting the color sucked out of her will have had.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Iyashi no Kaze on Lingshen Chao.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Iyashi no Kaze on Cute Wolf Tsukiko.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Iyashi no Kaze on Cure Peace.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko accepts Fuu Hououji's Iyashi no Kaze, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Cleanse! All of Cute Wolf Tsukiko's debuffs are cleared!
COMBAT: Lingshen Chao accepts Fuu Hououji's Iyashi no Kaze, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Cleanse! All of Lingshen Chao's debuffs are cleared!
Cure Peace slowly, slowly begins to somewhat have her color drain... eeeee! She jumps back and blinks, she frowns and finds this insanely unsettling on so many levels. "Ah..you can't..." she's immediatly falling into despair and it shows on her face... if she can't be colorful... what can she be!?.....
Then Fuu Hououji uses her cleansing magic and it washes over her. It removes some of that despair, but not a lot. She's so unsure right now, as she swallows and keeps her fists clenched, as she spins, cackling with energy and shoots out a jolting bolt of lightning that arcs through the air, bouncing off the coat racks and into the creature with as must determination as she can muster. It's not a lot at the moment, but...hopefully enough!
"I don't know what you're doing...but if you're stealing color..." she grits her teeth. She can't finish that statement, it probably ended with 'that's unforgiveable!'.
COMBAT: Cure Peace accepts Fuu Hououji's Iyashi no Kaze, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Cleanse! All of Cure Peace's debuffs are cleared!
COMBAT: Cure Peace has used Morale Defibulator on Mei Akatsuki.
COMBAT: Cure Peace has finished attacking.
Tsukiko brings up an arm to try to block the measuring tape, but all that does is give the tape a point to pivot around, slapping her head. The Wind Knight's healing breeze loosens the tape, and the wolfgirl gives the Wind Knight a thankful smile.
"If we work together, we can defeat this... thing!" Tsukiko calls to the Wind Knight, Cure Peace, and the power-armor-clad combatant.
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has used Encourage the Pack on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has used Encourage the Pack on Cure Peace.
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has used Encourage the Pack on Lingshen Chao.
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji accepts Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Encourage the Pack, taking 0 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki narrowly counters Cure Peace's Morale Defibulator, taking 6 Fatigue damage! Cure Peace is Psyched!
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki's counterattack, Noose Fitting Tie, partially gets through, doing 4 Fatigue damage to Cure Peace! Stagger applied to Cure Peace!
COMBAT: Cure Peace accepts Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Encourage the Pack, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Cure Peace is Cheered!
Endo is about as interested in getting his sword out of the mess of clothing as the monster is, jerking it backward and free, gritting teeth when the blade crashes down to the floor. Must be as heavy as it looks. Endo, though, is more worried about the fact that he's got the creatures attention.
Chao smashing it in the face is enough distraction for him to move, though. He does, fast, shooting to the side before the creature makes him a pin-cushion with one of needle-shaped arm. It's a closer thing than Endo would like, the blade leaving a jagged hole in the cape that trails behind him. It's a good thing it never seems to get stuck on anything, or that might have been bad.
<WELL DONE, KNIGHT.> His sword, Fallen Stern, finds this adequate.
"Thanks." Endo breathes. Dark eyes flicker over to his allies-probably allies-, he's at least seen the wolf-girl before. The mess of tape gets a wince, but Fuu seems to be on top of that. So, he takes a second for some consulting with his weapon. "Hey! Remember how I don't listen do you? Tell me how to kill this thing and I definitely will."
<PROCESSING.>
COMBAT: Endo Naoki performs an analysis on Mei Akatsuki!
COMBAT: Endo Naoki has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Lingshen Chao accepts Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Encourage the Pack, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Lingshen Chao is Cheered!
"See, she gets it," Chao says, jerking a thumb at Fuu.
And then she actually notices what happened to its neck, and she grimaces. "That's really not OK," she mutters, unsettled - and then moreso as the measuring tape wraps around. She moves, but her foot isn't fast enough, and she gets an uncomfortable snare for her efforts. Should she...yes, but is it the right time, she thinks, glaring daggers. Her fists clench, about to start, when those winds come across her, and a sword as well, and she can feel herself moving freely again. And Tsukiko is calling for combined tactics, which seem like a great idea if she's not going to be pulling out her big guns.
She makes use of it ("Thanks!") as she bounds away, getting some distance on the target, assessing the field. Blaster, That Wind Knight Who Seems To Be Everywhere, the wolf girl, and...the other guy's not doing much. OK. She uncoils from where she squats, near the edge of the field, and then blurs in, a few quick, hard steps, as her fists buzz with accumulated electric energy.
Spooky dapperness monster. Well. ...cloth probably conducts electricity, right?
She surges into its guard, shouting a Chinese kiai, and then thrusts her palm forward - a charge of electricity flying into the creature and seizing its, uh, magic...ness, muscles. Maybe.
COMBAT: Lingshen Chao has used Stun Punch on Mei Akatsuki.
COMBAT: Lingshen Chao has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki fails to dodge Lingshen Chao's Stun Punch, taking 11 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Stun applied to Mei Akatsuki!
The Shade gives a mighty kick to the overturned table trapping him, roaring loudly as he does. The wood dislodges a bit, and one leg goes flying off. He is still trapped, without a doubt -- but not for much longer. Then they will feel his true wrath.
He's just about to correct his twisted head when the girl responsible for it hits him again, knocking the soft, grey mannequin head more or less back into place. Despite this, his head rings with pain, and he brings his scissors up momentarily to his face, trying to steady himself before he winds up totally knocked over. Seeing that she has somehow been freed from her lasso, he grabs a black bowtie with his free hand and flings it towards her neck. The slow strangulation from it should teach her to keep her distance.
The Shade looks up just in time to see the insolent sword-boy making an escape, only his cape marred by his needle attack. Furious that his revenge was denied, he roars, conjures another hail of razor fedoras, and flings them in his direction. If he will not fight man-to-man, he will suffer the consequences.
Oh, but it was time to enjoy some of the yellow girl's delicious color. Zipper mouth stretching in a mangled grin, he extends one arm towards the approaching ball of color -- only to have shimmer, quake, and fall apart, blown to bits by a gust of wind. He can only watch as the Pretty Cure's vibrant yellow returns to her. Screeching, the Shade stabs his scissors into the ground several times, denied his prize twice now. Almost without noticing, he flings another tie towards the Pretty Cure's throat, with a clear message: this is not over.
But there was a more pressing target now. His lassos undone, his sword thrown off course, the stolen color returned. The green knight is going to understand what it means to defy his hunger..
He slowly turns her way, gnashing his blades together frighteningly fast. She will /not/ get away with meddling so.
Her green is not as wonderfully bright as the yellow he had claimed, but it will do. With another screech, he shoots the Color Drain at her, looking forward to absorbing her color essence.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki has used Noose Fitting Tie on Lingshen Chao.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki has used Flying Fedoras on Endo Naoki.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki has used Color Drain on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki has used Color Blind on Cure Peace.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Endo Naoki narrowly braces Mei Akatsuki's Flying Fedoras, taking 13 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Lingshen Chao perfectly dodges Mei Akatsuki's Noose Fitting Tie, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Dodge! Lingshen Chao's Flash ability activates!
COMBAT: Cure Peace narrowly counters Mei Akatsuki's Color Blind, taking 0 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Cure Peace's counterattack, Peace Lightning, partially gets through, doing 16 Fatigue damage to Mei Akatsuki!
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji narrowly dodges Mei Akatsuki's Color Drain, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Fuu Hououji's Fade ability activates! Fuu Hououji's Flash ability activates! Cripple applied to Fuu Hououji!
Tsukiko circles around, looking for an opening to launch another attack -- or perhaps distract this foe enough for someone else to launch an attack. "I don't know what you're up to, but I'm going to unravel your plot!" she yells at the Shade, a fierce grin on her face.
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has used Bark! on Mei Akatsuki.
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has finished attacking.
Cure Peace has a black beam heading for her head, and she responds by flinging a bolt of lightning blindly into it as she fumbles around. She whews a bit when her purifying bolt of lightning seems to blast through it. She softly smiles just a bit to Ikiko..."You might be right...." she says a bit.
.oO(I hope...) she thinks afterwards in her head.
She huffs and releases a dazzling array of sparkling lights from her fingers that sprarkle and crackle! They're meant to help debilitate the creature as she closes her eyes.... "This....you need to stop, whatever you are! This is vile!" she says with wide eyes.
Endo's weapon gives a report. It's very long, guttural, and Germanic. Whenever it is, Endo seems to get it.
"Hey!" The Knight shouts, in the general direction of the other combatants, "If you have anything that'll kill-" Uh. "Evil stuff? Do that!" He knows that isn't much for advice, but it's the best he's got.
He also decides to do something more proactive to make up for it. The weapon in his hand pulses with purple light before the young man launches himself forward again. Right through the hats. The sword is raised up in front of him like a shield, the fedoras gouging into the metal, some bouncing off, others raking across Endo's body. He grits his teeth, and hurtles further forward.
The knight goes for the trapped monsters side, leaving its front for the other combatants to abuse. Fingers shift their grip of his Device, bringing it around in two broad strokes. High and low in whirling succession, throwing as much force as he can muster behind each one.
COMBAT: Endo Naoki has used Lander Blow on Mei Akatsuki.
COMBAT: Endo Naoki has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Cure Peace has used Please...? on Mei Akatsuki.
COMBAT: Cure Peace has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki narrowly braces Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Bark!, taking 1 Fatigue damage! Cute Wolf Tsukiko is Psyched! Mei Akatsuki's Block ability activates! Mei Akatsuki's Parry ability activates! Exhausted applied to Mei Akatsuki!
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki narrowly counters Cure Peace's Please...?, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Exhausted applied to Mei Akatsuki!
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki's counterattack, Noose Fitting Tie, partially gets through, doing 10 Fatigue damage to Cure Peace! Stagger applied to Cure Peace!
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki fails to dodge Endo Naoki's Lander Blow, taking 49 Fatigue damage!
Chao's response is swift and sure, this time. This guy doesn't want her in close, but in close is the only thing she does, right now. Anything else involves...complicating, things.
Not an option. So she blurs; the suit's magic power makes it easy for her to juke aside from the strangulating bowtie after her strike lands. She doesn't even leave in-close. He's going nuts on these other girls...She's pretty glad that her own suit is so drab, now! This, too, is an ultimate defensive system developed by the brilliant Lingshen Chao, GIRL OF SCIENCE.
She doesn't really call further attention to herself; she grits her teeth, muttering, "Charge, 80!" as she clenches one fist, and the glove makes a high kwwEEEEN, like an old-fashioned camera flash charging, except more powerful by far.
"Now...BUZZ OFF!" she cries, and swings - a single, hard haymaker to center mass. Another electric blast releases, creating an explosive burst of magic force that might send the Shade tumbling end over end.
COMBAT: Lingshen Chao has used Machine Kenpo Strike on Mei Akatsuki.
COMBAT: Lingshen Chao has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki perfectly counters Lingshen Chao's Machine Kenpo Strike, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter!
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki's counterattack, Scissor Grab, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Lingshen Chao!
With another mighty kick, the Shade breaks the table in half, stumbling forward as he regains his freedom at last. To the side, he sees the disappointingly uncolorful girl come in for another melee strike -- but this time, he is prepared. Throwing one scissor hand up in a v-shape, he catches the haymaker and dispels the magic completely, pushing her backwards as he does so. He doesn't seem to do much damage with this effort, but at least she didn't get another chance to bang his fragile head around.
Unfortunately, his luck seems to run out after that counter, for the sword-boy comes back with two heavy strikes that slash him across the chest again, revealing his inner vortex before the fabric sutures it up once again, messier and messier still. The Shade cries out in pain, an inhuman rumbling that knocks some nearby shoes off their racks. This boy. This /boy/ -- what insolence!
And then, he is besieged by words from two of the remaining girls, interrupting the pleasant meal he gets from the Wind Knight's green energy. He can't understand them, of course. He is not human; doesn't even truly understand the concept of humanity. All he knows is that he is weakening, and their high-pitched sounds aren't helping.
Roaring again, the Shade decides to shut the yellow girl up with both a noose-neck tie and a tape measure lasso. This is as much to punish her as to spare her. He's saving her for last, and he can't have her interfering with what he's about to do.
He takes both scissor hands and holds their blades in a diamond shape. In the empty space between them, a small vortex appears, shooting out three of the color draining beams that the fighters have already faced. A mass color drain will weaken them nicely for his grand finale.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki has used Measuring Tape Lasso on Cure Peace.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki has used Color Drain on Cute Wolf Tsukiko.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki has used Color Drain on Endo Naoki.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki has used Color Drain on Lingshen Chao.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Cure Peace fails to brace Mei Akatsuki's Measuring Tape Lasso, taking 11 Fatigue damage! Cure Peace is Quipped! Trap applied to Cure Peace!
COMBAT: Lingshen Chao narrowly dodges Mei Akatsuki's Color Drain, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Lingshen Chao's Flash ability activates! Cripple and Stun applied to Lingshen Chao!
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko narrowly counters Mei Akatsuki's Color Drain, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko's counterattack, Moonlight Growl, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Mei Akatsuki!
COMBAT: Endo Naoki fails to brace Mei Akatsuki's Color Drain, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Cripple and Stun applied to Endo Naoki!
Tsukiko snarls as the color draining beam hits her squarely, the force of her anger weakening the impact of the beam. "I take it you didn't like my pun?" she growls at the Shade. "I might not be good at flippant humor, but I *am* good at facing down evil!" She starts circling around, slowly gaining speed as she sizes him up for future attacks.
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has used Bark! on Mei Akatsuki.
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki narrowly dodges Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Bark!, taking 3 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Cute Wolf Tsukiko is Psyched! Exhausted applied to Mei Akatsuki!
Endo is suddently less purple. He flinches when the color-draining beam strikes him, staggers and goes weapk in the knees. The thrum of light from his weapon seems to falter for a moment, bleeding off into a duller shade.
Endo doesn't like to complicate things though, so he sticks with what works. This time he jerks to the side, moving faster than he had before, raising his weapon in a blurry arc. His movement is definitely more sluggish than before, the strikes taking a noticeable effort as he hefts the sword.
COMBAT: Endo Naoki has used Asteroid Vision on Mei Akatsuki.
COMBAT: Endo Naoki has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki fails to brace Endo Naoki's Asteroid Vision, taking 30 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!
Cure Peace raises her arms to try to take the hit, but falters entirely, being flung back with a oomph..."This is hopeless....this is..." she doesn't finish that sentence as she tries to shake the feeling off, closing her eyes and bringing her hands out to either side of herself as she charges up energy into her hands.... then her body, it causes bits of her hair to stand on end for a moment...
"If you think...we're...going to let you steal the color of this mall.... then... you're... mistaken!" she says through wide, perhaps moist eyes. She's not in the best state right now... before she suddenly vanishes!? Well. less vanish, and moving at the speed of a lightning bolt straight smack dab into the thing suddenly with a burst of electricity, perhaps becoming the bolt itself just for a moment as her body collides with it, trying to knock it down for the others to take advantage of the opening, if she indeed makes one!
COMBAT: Cure Peace has used Flash Tackle on Mei Akatsuki.
COMBAT: Cure Peace has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki perfectly counters Cure Peace's Flash Tackle, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Critical Counter!
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki's counterattack, Needle Sword, bursts all the way through, doing 37 Fatigue damage to Cure Peace! Cripple applied to Cure Peace!
Chao's 80-point haymaker does basically jack, the electrothaumic field dispersing with a precision strike. She staggers back from the forces involved, losing a few meters as she shakes out her hand. She's /fine/, physically, the suit's protecting her...but this isn't working out as well as she'd hoped. She's got to work on the suit, it's just not as versatile as it needs to be. She knows WHY, but...
Clenches her fist again, takes a moment to assess the scenario while she sinks into a proper, attack-ready Kenpo stance. "When it moves," she mutters. "Charge 100."
The glove beeps twice and then starts buzzing, while those diamond hands form. The beam comes, and she's off; she jukes to one side, leaping around a rack of polos; the beam narrowly misses. It's not enough to keep some of her colors bleeding off of her. The shirts are long since empty. It leaves her feeling winded, but at least she didn't eat the worst of the hit. She keeps pushing - feet hitting the floor, one after the other, eyes set. "I designed this outfit myself, you know! I don't appreciate your dumb edits!" The glove's buzzing ends, the charge complete.
"Then she roars, "CHARGE 130!"
The glove sparks dangerously, an obnoxious electric buzz filling the air as she plows right toward the Shade. She stops short in front of it - one foot landing, setting; the other coming down, setting; and her charged fist shooting forward, open-palmed, into the gut (such as it is) of the ghastly amalgam.
She makes a cry, a Chinese release. The electric discharge blows out a few lights; the force of the impact is enough to send the thing bouncing through the back wall of the store.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Lingshen Chao has used Overload Punch on Mei Akatsuki.
COMBAT: Lingshen Chao has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki narrowly braces Lingshen Chao's Finisher, Overload Punch, taking 29 Fatigue damage! Mei Akatsuki's Block ability activates! Mei Akatsuki's Parry ability activates!
The Shade lets out a contented sigh as the (admittedly dull) colors rush into the vortex, though it probably sounds less contented and more gravelly. The vortex disappears as his hands move, and though he's not exactly *nourished*, seeing his opposition suffer so brought his spirits up. To demonstrate this, he turns his right arm into the needle sword and /smacks/ Cure Peace as she attempts to tackle him, somehow sensing her presence in the lightning volt. How she managed to move so quickly within the lasso is puzzling, but he doesn't worry. She will pay later.
The wolfgirl is talking at him again -- why hadn't he hit her with a noose yet? Grumbling as she runs about him, he conjures up dozens of needles in front of him, then threads a single red thread through them, making a trap for her ever-so-swift feet. Without a sound, he throws the makeshift net to the ground, waiting to see if the girl will entangle herself in it -- or if she is more capable than he had thought.
Speaking of capable, sword-boy has returned with a vengeance.
The Shade doesn't even manage to produce a guard before the purple sword slashes through him, producing a gaping wound on his chest. Thick, white threads attempt to stitch it back together, but it is all in vain. The cut is simply too wide, and after a second, the needle and threads flop listlessly towards the ground. Some duller colors begin to leak from the wound like blood. Unacceptable. With a cry of rage, the Shade swings his own sword back around, hoping to at last do some damage to this persistent threat.
That's when he hears the suited girl begin charging her attack.
He does not dismiss this one, even though he finds her lack of color unappetizing. This electric energy is unsettling as well -- the metal on his mannequin appendages would not handle it well. In desperation, he begins to knock over shelf after shelf, attempting to form a barricade before--
BOOM!
The girl's fist flies into him, only barely stopped by the toppled display racks. His mangled, patchwork body tumbles into the nearest wall, and his metal neck cracks and leans to one side, its fedora falling unceremoniously to the ground.
He is weakening. It is time.
Walking over slowly to the yellow girl, the Shade emits a very low-pitched growl, a menacing vortex of grey appearing where his sword used to be. It takes in whatever color is remaining in the store as he approaches Cure Peace. With his remaining hand, he stabs the scissor blades in a wide V around her neck before bringing the whirling Color Drain directly over her heart.
He is in bad shape, but this wonderful color will cure him without a doubt.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki has used Thread The Needle on Cute Wolf Tsukiko.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki has used Needle Sword on Endo Naoki.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki has used Color Blind on Lingshen Chao.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Mei Akatsuki has used Ultra Color Drain on Cure Peace.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko narrowly dodges Mei Akatsuki's Thread The Needle, taking 7 Fatigue damage! Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Flash ability activates! Tangle applied to Cute Wolf Tsukiko!
COMBAT: Endo Naoki fails to brace Mei Akatsuki's Needle Sword, taking 40 Fatigue damage! Cripple applied to Endo Naoki!
COMBAT: Lingshen Chao fails to brace Mei Akatsuki's Color Blind, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Blind applied to Lingshen Chao!
COMBAT: Cure Peace narrowly braces Mei Akatsuki's Finisher, Ultra Color Drain, taking 18 Fatigue damage! Mei Akatsuki drains 7 fatigue from Cure Peace!
Tsukiko skitters past the needlework net, one foot landing on a needle and giving her a slight limp. She winces as Peace and the sword-wielder take massive hits, one by the gray vortex and the other by the Shade's sword.
Still, the Shade is weakening, and even with an injured foot Tsukiko can still go fast enough to turn into a blur. The wolfgirl dashes forward, turning into a silvery bolt as she slams toward's the center of the Shade.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Cute Wolf Tsukiko has used Silver Wolf Tackle on Mei Akatsuki.
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki narrowly dodges Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Finisher, Silver Wolf Tackle, taking 39 Fatigue damage!
Endo couldn't avoid that sword forever. His own raises to meet it, but too slow. He's paid back nearly in full, one huge gash tearing at his Barrier Jacket, flinging the boy backward. As he groans and tries to push himself up he watches the Youma go in a direction away from him courtesy of Chao's fist. He takes advantage of the opportunity to take a break.
<KNIGHT. YOU ARE WOUNDED.>
"This thing needs to go away." He's very insistent about that. "Get the thing ready." He doesn't pursue the monster this time. He has a hard enough time pushing himself to his feet, using the sword to help him along. While he's working on that he concentrates, gripping the Device tight. Endo doesn't have a lot of mana left to give it, but he does his best to dig up what reserves he has.
<CHARGING.> Steam is leaking from vents in the metal, the device emitting a low hum as it begins to conduct the force necessary for what's to come.
COMBAT: Endo Naoki has used HYPE on Endo Naoki.
COMBAT: Endo Naoki has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Endo Naoki accepts Endo Naoki's HYPE, taking 0 Fatigue damage!
Cure Peace raises her arms against the onslaught....feeling her color being drained even more, she's despairing further...she closes her eyes and perhaps, even whimpers. This creature is aboulstely horrible. She hates it. She can't even equate the greyness to one of her black and white, mangas, at least that's enjoyable....and happy... she's slowly draining, almost black and white.... it looks like she might collapse!
BUT, there's Akane again, in the back of her head.... calling her a crybaby again. She keeps her eyes closed, Akane is right. She is one... but... just because you cry... you can still. Do something? Right?
She opens her eyes and raises a hand skyward.... "Pretty Cure.....!" a bolt of lightning rockets from the sky! (Don't ask how it gets through the ceiling without destroying it!), and hits her two fingers like so much of a lightning rod. She sort of ahhhhs! and seems surprised to be shocked so visibily! This doesn't stop her from spinning and charging up energy before leaping forward, throwing her arms out, with those two peace signs. "PEACE THUNDER!" she yells, on the verge of tears, but managining a tough front regardless..this thing needs to be stopped before it sucks all the joy out of this mall.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Cure Peace has used Peace Thunder on Mei Akatsuki.
COMBAT: Cure Peace has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki fails to dodge Cure Peace's Finisher, Peace Thunder, taking 120 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!
The Overcharge Punch is a pretty decisive piece of work, but it has a problem.
It's been used, now, and Chao stands there, stock still for a moment after the dramatic release of power. It takes a second for the suit's conductive fibers to reset properly after a hit like that. "Tch," she mutters. "Another weakness..." She clenches and unclenches her fist a few times, trying to get the dexterity back into the fibers. "It needs..."
She looks up. "He's still up!" she shouts, possibly unnecessarily; she tries to throw up her hands in a martial block, but the beam doesn't stream off the dispersion wavelength the way they should; instead drinking up the light cream of her uniform, leaving Chao swaying uneasily as the effect fades. "Ugh...how do you even defend against that," she mutters, helplessly. Nothing, except...
She takes a long, deep breath, and mutters, "Last tale...my magic scir magister. Casseiopeia!"
She mimes preparing for a move, and then she's just...gone. She vanishes with a little bip! and then she isn't there anymore.
Instead, she's /right there/ inside the creature's guard, color flowing back into her figure again and her fist slamming hard into its metal skeleton. "You get /nothing else,/" she demands.
COMBAT: Lingshen Chao has used Blink Striker on Mei Akatsuki.
COMBAT: Lingshen Chao has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki narrowly braces Lingshen Chao's Blink Striker, taking 2 Fatigue damage! Mei Akatsuki's Block ability activates! Mei Akatsuki's Parry ability activates! Bind Break! All of Lingshen Chao's debuffs are cleared!
She...somehow resisted his color drain?
Before he has a chance to ponder this, he is struck from behind by a powerful, silver impact, and yet again by a bolt of blinding lightning. He screeches, needle teeth falling out of his mouth as his body slowly comes undone. The fabric of his chest tears away, helped along by the suited girl's continuing blows. His shoes all but disintegrate from the force of the electricity, leaving small piles of dust where they used to be. Finally, his already damaged metal neck snaps entirely, the head falling to the ground and rolling away slightly. All that's left of the shade is a worn, metal skeleton around a vortex of darkness, battered and broken.
But still alive.
Following his sole instinct, the Shade lets loose one last, desperate Color Drain, letting loose all of his power. Unlike before, this is totally silent, for his head sits lifelessly at his own feet, zipper mouth still open and contorted from his last scream.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki has used Color Drain on Cute Wolf Tsukiko.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki has used Color Drain on Endo Naoki.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki has used Color Drain on Lingshen Chao.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki has used Color Drain on Cure Peace.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko fails to counter Mei Akatsuki's Color Drain, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Cute Wolf Tsukiko is Taunted! Cripple and Stun applied to Cute Wolf Tsukiko!
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko's counterattack, Moonlight Growl, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Mei Akatsuki!
COMBAT: Endo Naoki narrowly dodges Mei Akatsuki's Color Drain, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Cripple applied to Endo Naoki!
COMBAT: Lingshen Chao fails to dodge Mei Akatsuki's Color Drain, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Cripple and Stun applied to Lingshen Chao!
<READY.> Fallen Stern reports.
Endo straightens, leaning his weight off of the sword, finding balance on his own feet again. His head cranes between the three girls left on the battlefield. Some of them are in better shape than him, one of them much worse. He's not doing great himself, and this thing-this dishrag...
Well. He can't let this go on. The others have done most of the job, but he's going to be sure. He has to do his part.
"Hey!" Because he might as well let the Youma--and everyone else--know what's coming. "Move!"
The muted gray wisps around his sword explode into something close to their natural vibrancy, fighting desperately back against the monochrome wave. It's a huge light; it'd probably light up half the mall if it weren't for the creature's influence. The sword is raised high overhead as Endo leaps through the wave of gray, both hands bringing it down toward the creature's head. Arcane symbols flash across its surface, and all of that mana he'd pumped into it is released in one final stroke.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Endo Naoki has used Planet Crusher on Mei Akatsuki.
COMBAT: Endo Naoki has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki accepts Endo Naoki's Finisher, Planet Crusher, taking 101 Fatigue damage! Mei Akatsuki is unable to keep fighting!
Tsukiko pivots to face the Shade, snarling to try to armor herself against the gray IT'S STILL ATTACKING WITHOUT ITS HEAD WHAT THE?!?!? Unnerved by the weird physiology of the youma, she's glad when the swordswinger demolishes what's left of the scraps of fabric and such.
Keeping an eye on the Shade, just in case it somehow stands back up, the wolfgirl circles over to Cure Peace. "You okay?" she quietly asks her friend, hugging the yellow-clad magical girl. The super-powered sword finds its mark, and the Shade is, at last, split in two.
Immediately, its metal framework disintegrates, the various bits and bobs still attached to it falling to the floor, returned to their mundane state. Similarly, the mannequin head loses its grotesque face, buttons and zipper dropping lifelessly away. Where the huge monster used to be is a small, imp-like shadow. It makes a few pitiful whimpers before collapsing in on itself, a sparkle of magnificent color erupting upward in its place.
But...not all is right.
The store is still grey-and-white, all color drained away. A look outside into the mall shows that it is in similar condition -- and though the magical fighters were not drained of all their color, they are still faded unnaturally, as though they were faded portraits of themselves. The color energy continues to sparkle in the center of the store, but it does not appear to be rejoining its surroundings on its own.
COMBAT: Cure Peace fails to brace Mei Akatsuki's Color Drain, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Cure Peace is Taunted! Cripple and Stun applied to Cure Peace!
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki is unable to keep fighting!
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki transforms into Prism Keeper Red!
"Quickly, Keeper Red! Or we'll be too late!"
Mei's bird friend squawks at her side, flapping desperately to keep up with the sprinting girl. How -- how had they not /detected/ this?! She would have been completely in the dark had she not seen with her own eyes a portion of the mall go grey. "I'm going as fast as I can! Remember, it's /your/ job to help me find these things. I just hope we're not--"
Several incredibly bright lights and massive impacts from inside a nearby men's wear store stop her in her tracks. She blinks. Apparently someone else took care of it for her.
Cautiously, the bright red girl looks inside, Color Wand at the ready. Sure enough, the place is completely torn up, with four somewhat faded magical warriors inside as well.
Sweatdrop.
Blushing in embarrassment, Red steps inside, gesturing to indicate the cloud of raw color energy. "I...I can fix that."
Chao, for her part, is panicking about having just blown her big trump card to NOT THAT SIGNIFICANT EFFECT THANK YOU and -- then it just does it to her again.
FROWN. But what's she gonna do, the system's at it's limit--!
Cue Endo blowing the thing away, and Chao finally just lets herself limp over to a wall and lean against it, wheezing. She squints at the glimmering aurora of color. "Not returning on its own," she mutters. "That's...new. It usually--"
Prism Red shows up. Chao laughs, raising a weak hand. The suit's getting heavy, that's no good. "You missed the party," she notes.
Cure Peace manages to weakly hug Cute Wolf Tsukiko. "I..I'll be okay." she manages to say in a shaky voice... then this odd red magical girl appears and color is back, even hers! This makes her a little happy, but she does blink..
"What was that thing?" she asks, sort of tapping two index fingers in front of her a moment, she asks to the new arrival.
Tsukiko gives Cure Peace an encouraging smile, then nods a hello to Prism Keeper Red, adding a thankful smile as the colors are restored. "I take it this was a kind of foe that you're familiar with?" she asks the newcomer. Having the colors faded out is rather unnerving, but knowing someone who knows what's going on is encouraging -- if something is no longer unknown, then it loses some of its power over you.
Not by much, but sometimes even just a little is enough.
"Oh, Tsukiko! Hey! Sorry...didn't see you from out here," Red says, a rather weak excuse. Truth is, it's kind of hard to recognize people who've been severely color drained, especially when the backdrop is so completely grey. This Shade must have been around for a while before the other four got to it.
"Yeah, that thing is -- was -- is? Called a Shade," she stumbles over her words, trying to figure out how to refer to a dead member of a much larger species of monster. "I'm sorry. I really should have been here to help. I hope no one got too hurt," the girl says before she sees Cure Peace, who looks /dangerously/ low on color. She lets out an almost inaudible gasp of concern, then holds her Chroma Wand out in front of her. The reservoir of color rushes into the exposed Chroma Crystal immediately, and after a second of charging, the energy explodes outwards, almost knocking Red off her feet. That Shade had gotten a /lot/ of color before it went down.
"Well, everything's back to normal now, though I have no idea what I'm gonna do about all this damage," she trails off, looking around at the toppled shelves and shredded clothing.
Cure Peace ums... "We typically...don't worry about that?" she asks. "Usually...it kinda just...handles itself?" she asks looking over a Cute Wolf Tsukiko. She always found that kinda weird, she doesn't question it. "But we should probably go before too many people come investigating..." she says, she does however, accept more of her color back. Yay, yellow. She still looks kind of overwhelmed!
She's also making a mad dash because... OH NO HER SHOES, WHERE DID SHE LEAVE THEM!? ;_;
Chao nonchalantly sets her suit to record data on this because wowee this is going to look great on the paper she's never going to get to publish or probably even really write. "Don't worry about the damage," Chao says, watching it all flow around. She looks at Cure Peace, jerking her head in her direction. "Most times, when a monster like that gets beaten, things fix themselves. It's weird, usually that includes energy drains..." She hems for a few seconds, briefly considering Red's Wand with the unsettling professional interest of the career Scary Researcher.
Her glove beeps at her, and she looks down at it before her eyes bug out. "That is a single-digit power gauge," she breathes, alarmed. "Uh, good...luck! Bye!"
And then she takes off like a shot before her suit turns off and something terrible probably happens.
Tsukiko listens to Red's explaination, keeping the information in mind for the next time a Shade is encountered. "So drained color is bad, and the heavier the drain, the worse it is?" she checks, making sure she understands the basics. "Anything else special about them?"
Out of the corner of her eye she watches Cure Peace scamper off. Tsukiko makes a note to herself to check up on her later, just to make sure she's fully recovered.
Red nods, her Chroma Wand disappearing in a burst of red light.
"Drained color is very bad. It seems to be linked somehow to the energy that keeps people alive...though I don't think they're exactly the same thing? It's weird. In truth, I haven't been doing this for very long. The Shades only started attacking recently," she explains, carefully leaving out the part where the Shades were all her fault in the first place. "Environments just get grey, but people seem to suffer a lot from it. I've never seen a person get completely drained, so I don't know what happens then. That one girl over there looked kinda close," she gestures to where Cure Peace used to be, only to see that she's already made her escape. Welp. "But I guess she's fine now, so it's no big deal. I don't think there are any extended effects from getting drained as long as you get your color back."
Red shrugs when Tsukiko asks her other question. "I don't know much about them other than that. They really don't like getting attacked by pure color energy, but since I'm the only Prism Keeper..." She trails off, hoping that Tsukiko will make the connection. "I'll try really hard to hunt them down before they get this bad again, promise."
