2014-07-05 - Feng Shui 2
| Title: Feng Shui 2 | |
|---|---|
| Summary: Strange things are underway at Uminari Seaside Park. Will no one think of King Penguin? | |
| Who: Japanese Cherry Blossom, Dark Amber, La Sirene du Nord, Lux Corruere, Lux Lapsa, Fuu Hououji, Hikaru Shidou, Utena Tenjou, Prism Keeper Red, Cure Peach | |
| Where: Uminari Seaside Park | |
| OOC - IC Date: 6 February 2014 - 07/05/2014 | |
<Pose Tracker> Juri Arisugawa [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
The definition of a powerful conspiracy lies in their ability to maintain secrecy. Theirs is the invisible hand, the inevitable motion, the touch so subtle that it's impossible to feel until it is far too late.
Different conspiracies leverage different weapons, because playing to their strengths is how they operate -- but a conspiracy built of boardrooms and shining towers and money, money, money, it wields itself accordingly. First comes bribery; then intimidation; then lawsuits, accompanied by more bribery, or a critical piece of legislation, if need be. Usually, given the amounts of money in play, this series of escalations never progresses past step one.
Once in a while, though, it stalls out on someone or something that money can't buy. And although conspiracies often span hundreds or even thousands of years...
...sometimes the hourglass is running out of sand, the window closing on an opportunity that's worth a little risk.
Uminari Seaside Park's playground is colliquially known as Penguin Park. There are penguin swings and a penguin merry-go-round, but the literal crown jewel is the mighty King Penguin, his gaping mouth a slide that has captured decades of laughter and joy.
On a Saturday afternoon it's incredible that the area isn't crawling with tykes, but not completely beyond all reason; a rational explanation is to be found in an apparent surprise concert by musical sensation Utau Hoshina. There are massive crowds, little kids on every parent's shoulder, and no small number of older people as well -- Hoshina is a major teen idol, and that has widespread appeal across all ages.
In the crowd, her music is its usual extraordinary experience; a voice fast becoming legendary backed by organ, electric guitar and drums enchants as much as it mesmerizes, communicating the highs and lows of her emotions as powerfully as poignantly as they might be experienced by any heart. No wonder people pay exorbitant sums to see her in the arena; and no wonder the crowds are reaching critical mass now.
- o/` Don't look at me / Don't catch me o/`
- o/` I'm a butterfly who got lost o/`
- o/` I sing of freedom with these wings no one can see o/`
- o/` They're hiding in your heart o/`
However, all that is set up at the opposite end of the park, with a good half a mile of windswept winter grass in between. At a distance, her voice sounds ghostly and strange, as mournful as the breeze off the bay. The abandoned playground seems almost lonely without anyone there.
Well, except for the monsters.
For a moment it seems as though the shadows cast by the penguin-monkeybars are animated with minds of their own, writhing like snakes. The acrid, metallic smell of toxin fills the air, and faint wisps of gas rise off the merry-go-round.
Then the shadows congeal into the source of this burning acid: twin creatures, one crimson and one azure, with wrong-jointed wriggling limbs that number twenty between them. Their fangs are as long as golf clubs, with sticky, hairy backing the precise color of an aging professor's beard --
-- until motes of red light ignite at the tip of every single one, and they begin to move in all directions, uncountable eyestalks.
Upon the approximation of their foreheads, at the top of their skulls, are long, sharp horns; and in between these, a sigil engraved upon their thick carapaces in harsh red light, light that occasionally pulses as though it, too, were alive.
<Pose Tracker> Sakura Akagi [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
It would've been nice to have had a peaceful day for people to listen to music. But that apparently was not to be.
"Henshin! Cherry Blossom! Splash!"
Sakura Akagi sprays perfume toward her body, as it glows in white and gold. A dress appears, tied with a sash with a bow at her back. The dress sprouts its skirt and sleeves, cherry blossoms decorating the entire ensamble. Shoes appear, and socks rise up her leg with a glittering flash. Her hair changes into a perfect blossom pink...
Japanese Cherry Blossom knows her friends can't be far. With a morass of evil like this, the tainted acid smell is almost unbearable!
The leader of the Perfume Warriors appears standing atop the penguin slide in a flash. She crosses her arms to look at the creature that's appeared below. ... "What a stench! I'm glad I won't have to handle this alone..."
COMBAT: Nori Ankou transforms into La Sirene du Nord!
<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
Nori Ankou had been out for a walk here by the sea, where she often takes a trip to gather her thoughts and simply enjoy the ambience of the crashing waves, when she found to her great surprise that the playground was abandoned - bereft of children. Left, with haunting music in the distance, to spin in the cold breeze.
/this is so her scene/
She had spun on the merry go round, savoring the limp and slightly sickish sensation of a solitary spin; she'd swung on the swings; everything, by and large, had been wonderful, a lonely but wonderful playtime interrupted only when she had to go and rinse off her shoe in the restroom after a particularly gooshy land in some muck.
As she emerges, shoe still trailing laces, she frowns at the sight of creatures lurking in that playspace. Her eyes narrow. The smell doesn't bother her much, but the acid, the damage...
She pulls her shoe back out and ducks back into the ladies' room.
SOON
La Sirene du Nord, /wearing magical boots/, leaps out of the skylight, hurling a shoe at the creatures that have appeared. "Ruining everything with your pollution!? The sea does not appreciate your unsolicited donation! Take my disdain!"
COMBAT: Nori Ankou has used Thrown Shoe on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Nori Ankou has finished attacking. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly counters Nori Ankou's Thrown Shoe, taking 6 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Nori Ankou is Psyched! COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa's counterattack, OM NOM NOM, partially gets through, doing 11 Fatigue damage to Nori Ankou! Critical Counterhit!
<Pose Tracker> Kinzo Hiroyuki [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
Kinzo Hiroyuki is here with his mother, who dragged him here. See, Inori Hiroyuki is a Utau. It may be odd for a woman her age, but there's just something about her music she likes. Kinzo is not as intrested, and looks bored. But he smells the horribleness that's about to go down. He also smells something else. Cherry Blossom. His mom is entranced in the music, so this gives him time to back up and dissapear into the crowd and...
"Henshin! Dark Amber! Spritz!"
He transform, in the manner similar to Sakura, colonge spraying, a transformation into Dark Amber.
It's easy to get across the park at this distance, he dissapears from his current location and appears besides Sakura, at the top of the slide and smiles a little bit motioning his hand out. "I wonder what these things are..." he muses. "But does it matter. It seems they mean malcontent!" he says to Cherry Blossom.
COMBAT: Kinzo Hiroyuki transforms into Dark Amber! COMBAT: Dark Amber has used Amber Darkness on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Dark Amber has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Touka Chigami [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
For her part, Touka Chigami always liked the penguins. They made the park friendly, even when things seemed a bit scary otherwise. The air out here was good for her, and even now kids who are the age she was back then are out here to enjoy it all the time. It's kind of nostalgic, really, and accordingly it's a place she sometimes likes to go to think. The sounds of laughter and shouting and playing aren't really that much of a distraction for her; she's pretty good at focusing on one thing, and letting the rest fade into the background.
Today, of course, that's different; with the concert, there's music in the distance instead. Touka thought about walking over, but instead has stayed at the park, working in her sketchbook thoughtfully. ..Right up until she looks up for reference, and the shadows are... /moving/.
"What--" The smell hits her next, and almost makes her pass out on the spot. Almost; a voice within calls her back to awareness, as she sees these strange eyes become something--
Hopping down off of her perch, she moves behind the little structure of shelter, and pulls out a small object, a little burned cross on a loop; gathering it in her hands, she lets it fall beneath her palms, bowing her head. "Earth, hear my wish; Heaven, grant my desire!" She looks up again, "Fio Corruere!"
She fades into brilliant light for a moment, the rush of flames from the ground blurring the very air. In moments, the ground melts and bursts upward, leaving glowing armor behind that cools into red plates about her form; great wings burst from her back, flexing once, and with a shake of her head, her hair grows, and lightens; in moments, the transformation is complete.
Lux Corruere stands in her armor, and looks to the monster. "...How dare you invade this place of peace and joy!" She stretches out her arm, and suddenly in a flash of red light there is a great, flaming sword held in it, pointed at her foe. "We, Lux Corruere, will issue your punishment!"
"Attrita Clipeus!" Her magic gathered, she strikes. With a flap of her wings, she hops off the ground into the air, only to charge downward, swinging her blade in both hands across the creature--and where it lands, it may leave a spectral melting to crush its defenses.
COMBAT: Touka Chigami transforms into Lux Corruere!
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.
For claiming not to be an otaku, Fuu Hououji certainly visits Akihabara pretty regularly .. but then, besides her affection for RPGs, she *is* also a computer hobbyist, and Akihabara is still renowned as a hotbed of electronics and computer stores, not just for gaming. And one of her friends who'd brought a bunch of neighbors' kids to Penguin Park texted Fuu about the concert at just the right time for her to swing through ...
But Fuu never gets near the concert, as the monsters draw her attention. "Goodness," she murmurs, ducking behind a convenient playset to pull on her glove-jewel, letting her shopping disappear into the gem's magical pocket ...
"Belief becomes power ... Winds, guide me!"
A green-tinted whirlwind gusts into existence around Fuu; even before her transformation has finished and the whirlwind dissipated, she's already stepping out to approach the monsters, her quiver and bow manifesting as she's left in the armor of the Magic Knight of Wind. "Whatever force sent you forth," she calls out to the monsters, "I'm afraid we can't let you roam free as you like - particularly if you would wreck a place of innocent joy such as this. Imashime no Kaze!"
Her gentle reprimand is backed up by the Winds of Admonishment - but not as widely-spread a 'net' as she normally would go for against massed numbers; she still has very sharp recollections of a spell getting 'hijacked' not that long ago, and she does NOT want to see a repeat of that tonight. Control has to be first and foremost ...
COMBAT: Lux Corruere has used Attrita Clipeus on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Lux Corruere has finished attacking. COMBAT: Fuu Hououji transforms into Magic Knight! COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Imashime no Kaze on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking. COMBAT: Sakura Akagi transforms into Japanese Cherry Blossom! COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom has used For Sweet Memories on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Utena Tenjou [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
Though Utena has few childhood memories of Penguin Park, she can at least occasionally appreciate it and think of youth; more importantly, she can get into the idea of taking in a concert. It's a welcome reprieve from school, which Utena is very much not hype for by default.
When things stop being fun, though, she's ready for action -- Ms. Tenjou has developed quite a talent for shifting into gear in unexpected situations. Her transformation is much subtler than many of the others -- just a quick, gentle touch of her duelist's ring, and...
Poof! Sword at the ready, Utena charges in toward the bluer of the monstrous creatures, coming in with a simple, straightforward slash with her blade. Fuu isn't the only one keeping it direct.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou transforms into Duelist! COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Straight Slash on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has finished attacking. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly braces Dark Amber's Amber Darkness, taking 2 Fatigue damage! Juri Arisugawa is Quipped! Juri Arisugawa's Block ability activates! Juri Arisugawa's Parry ability activates! COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to dodge Lux Corruere's Attrita Clipeus, taking 8 Fatigue damage! Stun and Trap applied to Juri Arisugawa! COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa perfectly counters Fuu Hououji's Imashime no Kaze, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter! COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa's counterattack, Spores, bursts all the way through, doing 28 Fatigue damage to Fuu Hououji!
Love Momozono walks over from Tokyo Bay. Love Momozono has arrived.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly braces Japanese Cherry Blossom's For Sweet Memories, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Juri Arisugawa is Quipped! Juri Arisugawa's Block ability activates! Juri Arisugawa's Parry ability activates! COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to dodge Utena Tenjou's Straight Slash, taking 8 Fatigue damage! Utena Tenjou is Psyched! COMBAT: Yukimi Amane transforms into Lux Lapsa!
<Pose Tracker> Lux Lapsa [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Aww, penguins. They're so cute! For some reason, Yukimi always feels hungry for apples whenever she sees them. She's not sure why.
She's looking forward to seeing them today, especially since she's meeting Touka there at the exhibit. Due to stuff and things, she's running kind of late, and Touka told her she'd go on ahead and wait for her... which motivated Yukimi to finish up SUPER-FAST so her friend wouldn't be waiting long.
She's in the middle of running there when she smells a godawful smell, and would have passed out if she hadn't crashed into a bench and sent herself sprawling across it. The pain keeps her sensate, and she shakes her head and gets up.
"Wh-what in the world...?" she gasps, seeing the roiling shadows. Then she swallows hard narrows her eyes, and finds a spot that's out of easy view so she can clasp her hands together. A strange rosary swings from her wrist, and the inverted cross catches the light. "Heaven, hear my wish; Earth, grant my desire! Fio Lapsa!"
A moment later, the fallen Lux Angeli, Lux Lapsa, stands where Yukimi was, with black and ice-blue armor and frost-rimed dark wings. She flaps them hard and takes to the air, and it takes her only a moment to spot the enemy, Lux Corruere, and the other gathering magical girls.
"Corruere!" she calls, winging up to her. "Sorry I'm late!" She looks over to the monsters, which may be burning where Corruere struck at them, and summons her own spear of ice. ...It's not so hard when her partner is helping instruct her on how it should feel. She twirls it, then cracks it down.
"Glaciem Tempestate!" she shouts, and where it hits, it shatters, then blows itself hard onto the enemy, potentially freezing it over. And then: "Awww, I forgot to make a speech /again/!!" She looks terribly disappointed in herself over this.
COMBAT: Lux Lapsa has used Maelstrom on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Lux Lapsa has finished attacking. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly counters Lux Lapsa's Maelstrom, taking 14 Fatigue damage! Lux Lapsa is Psyched! COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa's counterattack, Tendril Slap, partially gets through, doing 5 Fatigue damage to Lux Lapsa!
<Pose Tracker> Mei Akatsuki [Juuban Public School (4)] has posed.
Mei is a MATURE YOUNG WOMAN, who is OBVIOUSLY only at Penguin Park because she couldn't get tickets for Utau Hoshina's concert. And she's only at the top of King Penguin because it has the best view. And she's only slid down seven or so times because she can't make it look like she's trying to *illegally observe the concert* or anything. Obviously.
Look, it's been a hard week, alright. Don't judge.
The girl is just climbing up the massive penguin-slide again when a smell like rotting metal reaches her nose, nearly knocking her over in surprise -- and no small amount of disgust. She makes a face and coughs, ducking inside the mouth of the giant penguin so as not to be seen just yet. /It...it could be something else,/ Mei tries to mentally reassure herself, pictures of her most recent battles flashing through her mind. /I mean, this park has to be kind of old. It's not like there's automatically gonna be a--/
Aaaaand there's the youma. Two of them, actually. Wonderful.
She sighs heavily, withdrawing back into her hiding place and grasping her red locket. Others are out there, she's sure of it. Already the scents of the Perfume Warriors float up to her nose, mixing with the noxious fumes that are making her light-headed. Is she really duty-bound to fight this creature just because she was in the area?
Knowing what happened last time she hesitated before a battle, she thinks that the answer is yes. Ugh.
"Chroma Prism Red! Transform!"
King Penguin momentarily looks like he's breathing out a beam of red light, and just seconds afterward, a red-clad fairy comes buzzing out, wings beating furiously to keep her on the right course.
"Hey, monsters!" She calls out, despite her better judgment. Isn't it basically required that magical girls give a speech? "I came out here to have a good time, and I'm just feeling so attacked right now." Hmph. Attacking a park for children. That's just bad taste. "I won't let you get away with ruining the free time of the people of Tokyo, or for vandalizing Penguin Park!" Prism Keeper Red turns around and strikes her signature pose. If it's well known enough to be signature, that is. "Roses are red! Violets are blue! For your evil deeds, I'll punish you!"
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki transforms into Prism Keeper Red! COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red has used Seeing Red on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Love Momozono [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
In all normal circumstances, Love Momozono would not need some ulterior motive to go to Penguin Park. She -loved- that place; correction, she -still- loves that place! The only problem with the Seaside Park was that it was getting harder every year to convince her friends to keep coming back there as they all were getting a little old for the park despite Love's arguements over just how cute penguins are. But today was special! There was a musical concert going on at the park. An Utau Hoshina concert to be exact! Sure, Trinity held first place in Love's heart, but the combination of being able to visit Penguin Park and attend a Hoshina concert was completely irresistable.
The young teen completely misses the opening of the concert because she was busy loitering around the concession stand. Arms completely full of snacks, Love starts running back to the concert grounds proper when one little misstep causes Love to drop and spill everything she was carrying onto the ground. The girl herself goes tumbling end over end until she comes to a skidding halt a few feet from where she first took her fateful fall. "Ow-ow-ow!" complains Love loudly as she looks over towards her dropped snacks witha crestfallen expression on her face. Her expression soon transforms into one of panic when she notices that there is something -worse- going on their spilled drinks. There were monsters and other strange things afoot!
It was time to transform into Cure Peach and quick!
A bright pink light washes over the auburn haired girl as Love Momozono CLAPS her hands together and completes her transformation on the run. "This pink heart is the emblem of love!" She yells out as -Cure Peach- begins to run forwards towards the nearest monster, fist raised in the air. "Freshly picked, Cure Peaaaaach!" Cure Peach continues to yell as she brings her raised fist forward in an attempt to throw a punch and introduce herself at the same time.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly counters Prism Keeper Red's Seeing Red, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa's counterattack, Meme Punishment, partially gets through, doing 5 Fatigue damage to Prism Keeper Red! COMBAT: Love Momozono has fully healed herself. COMBAT: Love Momozono transforms into Cure Peach! COMBAT: Cure Peach has used Peach Straight Punch! on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Cure Peach has finished attacking. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly dodges Cure Peach's Peach Straight Punch!, taking 11 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou has fully healed herself.
<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Shidou [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
There's a concert here, and Hikaru was hoping to go to it. But apparently, that concert is on hold, since there's something going on here involving monsters. And when monsters interrupt something Hikaru's looking forward to, she gets mighty angry. In fact, she's burning up with rage now! "So, they wanna ruin things for us?" She thinks to herself out loud, unaware that her buddy is already here. "Well, I'm gonna have to purge them with fire!"
Thinking quickly, Hikaru ducks out of sight and uses this time to transform into the Magic Knight of Fire. When she reappears, she's got her sword at the ready and a fierce scowl on her face. "I'm gonna make you pay for ruining my attempt to have a good time here!" She yells while pointing her sword at the monsters.
<Pose Tracker> Juri Arisugawa [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
<SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNe5Ytf7EHg
A shoe tumbles heel over toe through the air towards one of the monsters.
Its hairy jaw gapes, and out shoots a tongue as thick as a tire iron, the air sizzling, burnt by its passage. It reduces Nori's shoe (since La Sirene, surely, did not personally originate such footwear) to sloppy chunks of goop in one acid-filled second flat.
Then it spits it back out -- ptoo~ -- for its twin to finish the rest.
While indulging in this snack, it fails to notice the avenging angel descending towards it with flaming sword drawn; what would have bounced bullets yields pliantly to the divine instrument, parting carapace like a hot knife through... carapace. That is what it is, after all. It's the blue monster that is wounded in this way, and, critically, it does not roar in agony; it chitters unhappily instead, the sound muted almost as though someone had dropped a thick cloth over the ear.
The red monster, espying the fate of its ally, is less surprised by the whirlwinds coming for it. Inhaling deeply, it exhales... spores? As though mouth odor had been given physical form, they flow outwards, first encompassing the winds until they are dragged down to stillness, and then falling upon their summoner. They sting, and harshly. Utena flanks it, however, and carves off a slice of red meat. Now they match, red and blue, equally scarred.
A second angel joins the first, wielding ice instead of fire; those deadly-sharp shards are swatted out of the air by underbelly tendrils, the blue monster leaping to the fore to undertake this task. Some, however, are caught sharp side first, and sever the delicate fleshly vines straight off. Where they fall, they fade, into motes of light.
The red curls around the blue, just in time to hear the Prism Keeper's abnormally apt speech; it exhales a smaller puff of those spores at her, apparently unimpressed. Or maybe it just doesn't speak people. It does seem to speak punch, though, rolling into a wiggly ball in order to let the Pretty Cure's fist pass narrowly over its carapace, which shudders from the force of the near miss.
Rearing back, each of their ten legs wriggling unnaturally, their faces, each sporting that beard full of eyestalks, suddenly writhe forward. Apparently unafraid of injuring any given optic nerve, they lash about in all directions, whipping to and fro with as much energy as any weighted chain. Sticky weighted chain... they're oozing pus.
Distantly, Utau belts like a diva over the cheers of the oblivious crowd.
- o/` The silver flames engulf the sky o/`
- o/` Though my heart may be torn asunder o/`
- o/` I want to give myself only to you o/`
- o/` Please accept me, my true self is this cross. o/`
COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou transforms into Magic Knight of Fire! COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Tendril Slap on Hikaru Shidou. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Tendril Slap on Cure Peach. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Tendril Slap on Prism Keeper Red. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Tendril Slap on Lux Lapsa. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Tendril Slap on Utena Tenjou. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Tendril Slap on Fuu Hououji. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Tendril Slap on Lux Corruere. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Tendril Slap on Dark Amber. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has finished attacking. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Tendril Slap on La Sirene du Nord. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Tendril Slap on Japanese Cherry Blossom. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has adjusted her boss levels. She is now ready to take on 10 opponents! COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has finished attacking. COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord narrowly counters Juri Arisugawa's Tendril Slap, taking 15 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord's counterattack, Les Mysteres, partially gets through, doing 7 Fatigue damage to Juri Arisugawa! COMBAT: Dark Amber perfectly counters Juri Arisugawa's Tendril Slap, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter! Dark Amber's Reverse ability activates! COMBAT: Dark Amber's counterattack, Amber Striker, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Juri Arisugawa! COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Tendril Slap, taking 6 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Utena Tenjou's Parry ability activates! COMBAT: Cure Peach narrowly counters Juri Arisugawa's Tendril Slap, taking 13 Fatigue damage! Cure Peach's Reverse ability activates! COMBAT: Cure Peach's counterattack, Pretty Cure Fresh Punch, partially gets through, doing 8 Fatigue damage to Juri Arisugawa! COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom fails to dodge Juri Arisugawa's Tendril Slap, taking 16 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Tendril Slap, taking 6 Fatigue damage! Hikaru Shidou's Block ability activates! Hikaru Shidou's Parry ability activates! COMBAT: Lux Lapsa narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Tendril Slap, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Lux Lapsa's Block ability activates! Lux Lapsa's Parry ability activates! COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Tendril Slap, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! COMBAT: Lux Corruere perfectly counters Juri Arisugawa's Tendril Slap, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter! Lux Corruere's Reverse ability activates! Lux Corruere's Tactician ability activates! COMBAT: Lux Corruere's counterattack, Magma Cor, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Juri Arisugawa!
<Pose Tracker> Japanese Cherry Blossom [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Gross! Agh! Japanese Cherry Blossom sees the sticky, ill-smelling tendril snap out for the slide. She tries to leap off of it, but, to no avail. A tendril slaps around her leg, pulls her down, and slams her into the cold ground. It's not an auspicious start, but at least she isn't pinned.
She rolls back to her feet, and slaps her hands down toward the ground. A little whirlwind picks up, kicking up dust at first, but then blooming with pink light and tiny cherry blossoms. The little breeze is aiming for the red monster at the moment, carrying blossom scent with it. "I don't know what kind of creature you are, but... Let's see if your smell can improve at all!"
COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom has used Petal Blast on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom has finished attacking. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly braces Japanese Cherry Blossom's Petal Blast, taking 5 Fatigue damage! Juri Arisugawa's Block ability activates! Juri Arisugawa's Parry ability activates! Stagger applied to Juri Arisugawa! COMBAT: Fuu Hououji narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Tendril Slap, taking 13 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!
<Pose Tracker> Prism Keeper Red [Juuban Public School (4)] has posed.
"Bwaaah!"
Poor Red gets a faceful of spores after her speech is finished -- apparently having no effect on the extremely creepy-looking monsters. That's what you get for speeching at things that probably don't understand Japanese. Admittedly, these spores aren't nearly as bad as some that she's faced before. But she still gives a few mighty coughs before getting her breath back.
"You are...so gross," she says as she huffs and puffs, clearing the spores from her immediate surroundings. "You're a disgrace to the color red. I won't let you keep wearing my color while you hurt people!"
Before she can match some bite to that bark, one of the eye-tentacles (SO GROSS AUGH) comes hurtling her way, and she's slammed into the side of the penguin slide. Since she was prepared for the hit, it could have hurt a lot worse. But still...she has pus all over her shoes now.
Another speech, wasted.
"Ok, you wanna play hardball?" Red yells, hovering into the air a bit with her wings and holding her hands in front of her. "I'll show you what the real color of red can do!" A ball of pure, sparkling energy appears in her palms, then shoots towards the red monster.
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red has used Paint It Red on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red has finished attacking. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly dodges Prism Keeper Red's Paint It Red, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Diversion applied to Juri Arisugawa!
<Pose Tracker> Dark Amber [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
Dark Amber calls out..."Cherry Blossom watch ou---!" but it's too late, it's caught her and managed to get through, he frowns as he looks back to the monster going for the slide as a tendril now comes for him! He brings his arms up, apparently for a brace!? But instead, his wrist blade extends and charges forward, managing to deflect the tendril...barely. He was aiming to slice it away, but that didn't seem to happen. It makes him frown more. He looks over to Cherry Blossom with a concerned look... "I'm positive this can be made to smell... better." he says with the most encouraging smile he can muster. It's pretty encouraging at least. "We need to protect everyone here afterall..." he says with a curt nod. Besides. His mother is here. At least this is all happening away from there....
COMBAT: Dark Amber has used Steel Your Memories on Japanese Cherry Blossom. COMBAT: Dark Amber has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Lux Corruere [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
"Lapsa! I'm glad you made it," Corruere repies, smiling towards her friend a moment in some relief. But... she forgot the speech. Hmm.
"Maybe next time, you could just say 'Freeze, evildoers!' or something?" Another attacker swings in, however, and Touka has to move quickly to get out of the path to the creature now that her own blow has hit home, reminded that now isn't the best time for these kinds of chats.
"Disgusting--" She /swings/ her blade once again, blocking the tendril meant for her quite completely before she flaps her wings to move upward again and look down at her opponents. ...There's another red magical girl here, however, one who... seems proud of it.
And why shouldn't she be?
"I like red, too," Lux Corruere calls down to Prism Keeper Red, and considering that her armor is all that color, it sure seems sincere. But she charges down /past/ the other red one, towards the pink one, "Cure Peach? I like your style." She barrels down to the blue one, however, and this time, instead of hacking at it, she just lifts her weapon before her--
And is, for a brief, shining moment, on red-glowing fire in a burst all around her.
COMBAT: Lux Corruere has used Calor on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Lux Corruere has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Shidou [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
When things are getting rough, sometimes the best thing to do is just steady yourself and hope for the best. That's exactly what Hikaru does as she sees those weird looking tendrills coming at her. She brings up her sword and assumes her best defensive stance possible, and when the tendrills hit, she barely feels it, although she does feel it somewhat. She lets out a small grunt before getting back into her fighting stance.
"All right, I'm done being disgusted by you," Hikaru yells as she starts to add a fiery glow to her sword. "I'm gonna burn you up big time for this!" She attempts to deliver a swift slash with an aura of fire around her blade.
COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou has used Flaming Slash on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> La Sirene du Nord [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
Nori remembers belatedly that her shoe fitting is always a little awkward since one of her feet is very slightly larger than the other - just larger enough that she often has to swap two pairs of shoes together, as she did in this case.
"Noooo!!" La Sirene wails.
The incoming tendril lash is met with a shimmer of silvery magic that doesn't quite cut it. She's knocked loose from the roof, plummeting down with a loud 'thud' and bouncing back up just a foot or so, rolling to a stop, momentarily dazed.
"Ugh," she groans. "If it has ten eyes, it'd have vision in all directions... escaping anything would be child's play for it!"
La Sirene comes to realize, slowly, that other people exist in the world as well as her, and have thoughts, feelings, and magical attacks of their own. She puffs out a breath as she pushes herself up to her feet, wiping off whatever horrid goop they'd gotten on her coat with a look of disgust.
Two of them, she thinks, and glances back towards the concert. Hm.
La Sirene jogs a few yards, turning a corner as other people bombard the creature with pink and red. She throws up her hand, now filled with the shimmering, sea-scented mist of the Black Mirror, and calls to the creatures, "You! Attention! Do you think you belong here, menacing these parks? Hah! Surely you have chosen the wrong day to imperil penguins!"
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has used Before I Leave Your Eyes on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has finished attacking. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Hikaru Shidou's Flaming Slash, taking 20 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.
If, among Fuu Hououji's love of RPGs, she included the franchise of Pocket Monsters, she would probably have her suspicions that this is a horrible type match-up and that she should leave this fight to those whose elemental affinities are better suited to the monsters at hand.
Whichever that might happen to be.
But the storm of spores, followed by the whipping tendrils, proceed to make a terribly productive start on ruining the Wind Knight's day, the spores eliciting a lungbuster of a coughing fit (at the VERY least) before the tendrils send her flying into a concrete jungle gym.
Not through, just into. That hurts quite enough, not to mention knocking the wind out of her, and it takes several seconds before she regains the ability to breathe. Even before her lungs have reinflated, though, the Magic Knight of Wind has drawn an arrow back on her bowstring, and is trying to focus enough to line up her shot; a loud gasp as breath re-enters her body lets her clear her mind, and she takes a precious second longer to line up her shot, timing the monsters' swaying ... and loosing her arrow.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Trick Arrow Shot on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to dodge Lux Corruere's Calor, taking 25 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace La Sirene du Nord's Before I Leave Your Eyes, taking 8 Fatigue damage! Juri Arisugawa is Quipped! COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly braces Fuu Hououji's Trick Arrow Shot, taking 3 Fatigue damage! Juri Arisugawa's Block ability activates! Juri Arisugawa's Parry ability activates!
<Pose Tracker> Cure Peach [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Cure Peach stared unblinkingly at the extremely gross monsters before her. She could not see the tell-tale Data Diamond anywhere. What was exactly going on here? These were the strangest, most disgusting Nakewameke that she had ever seen! The pink-eyed warrior now looks around for the villain in charge of these things. But she couldn't see or -hear- anything besides the other girls fighting these things and the concert. Where was the villain taunting them about collecting misery? Everything about this fight was so wrong!
And then it hit Peach, quite literally. One of the wriggling monsters slaps at her mightily with its tendril. These weren't nakewameke at all! This was something else! The tendril snaps against Peach's guard, causing her to visibly grimace and be pushed back a foot or so from the force of the blow. But, the blonde puncher keeps her ground and swings a counter-punch directly at the offending tendril before it can withdraw in an attempt to sever it. "Hyaaah!"
Now with a little breathing room, Cure Peach notices a few familiar faces fighting alongside and one flying -above- her, Lux Lapsa. Oh! And there was another angel up there too whom Peach waves to when she is complimented. "Let's beat up these gross things together! We can't let them ruin the happiness of everyone at the concert!" The pink-wearing warrior implores of the angels before glancing around herself. "And that goes for everyone else too! Let's do our best and get our happiness!" Other than her cheering, Cure Peach holds her ground for now.
COMBAT: Cure Peach has used Let's Get Our Happiness! on Lux Lapsa. COMBAT: Cure Peach has finished attacking. COMBAT: Lux Lapsa accepts Cure Peach's Let's Get Our Happiness!, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Lux Lapsa is Cheered! Empower applied to Lux Lapsa!
<Pose Tracker> Utena Tenjou [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
Slapped at with a tendril, Utena braces herself for the worst of it, bringing her sword up in an extremely defensive posture. She ends up staggered back regardless -- but only just the littlest bit. She's still fine. She does, however, get the sense that she needs to vary up her approaches a little bit, or else things are going to get a whole lot worse before they get any better.
The duelist glances over to Cure Peach for a moment; even though Peach isn't cheering her in particular, her enthusiasm is infectious, and leaves her feeling much more ready to give the monsters a taste of her own pressure.
Staying in close, Utena goes for a quick slash at the red monster -- only to reveal that to have been a fakeout, and whirling to face the blue with a forceful strike instead.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Pump Fake on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Lux Lapsa [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
One of those underbelly tendrils smacks Lux Lapsa back, and she cries out as she retreats a step. Still, she gave more than she got, and that's worth a lot, right? Right! She smiles at Corruere, which falters at her suggestion. "What... a pun? I don't... I dunno about that, Corruere..." she says. "I mean, it's pretty clever, but... Hmm... Maybe it'd be a good idea after all...? I mean, it works for her!" A nod towards Prism Keeper Red. "Ooh, this is tough! I really should've just sat down one day and figured all this stuff out," she complains, before adding hurriedly, "Oh, watch out!!"
The creatures surge forward at that point, lashing out in all directions with their eyestalks, which is SUPER DUPER CREEPY to the Fallen Lux Angeli, even moreso when she realizes that they're... oozing. She only barely manages to get her arms up to defend herself, and she still gets hit hard, prompting her to cry out in pain. At least Utau-chan's concert isn't getting interrupted, if she can still sing like that, but it's only a matter of time. They've got to defeat them here!
At least they're not alone. Lux Lapsa recognizes Cure Peach along with PK Red, and giggles a little when Peach encourages everyone, but more specifically her. "Yeah!" she calls back, feeling even more pumped up thanks to the Pretty Cure's encouragement. "We can't let this gross thing interrupt Utau-chan's concert!" She lands not far from Cure Peach, then twirls, raising up one hand, and grips the icicle lands that forms overhead. "Stiria Lancea!" she calls, before hurling it towards the foul creature like a javelin.
COMBAT: Lux Lapsa has used Icicle Lance on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Lux Lapsa has finished attacking. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Utena Tenjou's Pump Fake, taking 36 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to dodge Lux Lapsa's Icicle Lance, taking 18 Fatigue damage!
<Pose Tracker> Juri Arisugawa [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Japanese Cherry Blossom decides to do the world a major service by applying a whirlwind of cherry blossom petals to the mouth of the red demon. Considering the awful spores that have emitted from it in the past, this is essentially a direct assault on bad breath by the power of sweet smells. Foolishly, the creature tries to inhale them; it gags, chokes, then explosively sneezes out gooey petals, looking staggered by the experience it has just gone through.
And then it flexes its hind...eighths, segmented weirdness that it is, when the Prism Keeper brings forth that pure, sparkling energy. Three of its legs, two on the left, and one on the right, tear into the concrete, raising little chips with sheer excitement. When the ball comes, it LEAPS for it like a cat going after a laser pointer. The energy splatters against its forehead without direct effect (doubly so, since it was already red), but...
...that means it's very distracted, and also in midair, when the Magic Knight of Fire comes for it. That flaming slash does less, perhaps, than it might, the carapace unscorched; the sword does plenty on its own, however, and it creels softly as it crashes down to earth, curling into a ball just in time to send the Magic Knight of Wind's arrow glancing off with a sharp 'ping!'
The blue demon, meanwhile, has a lot less luck against Lux "Spontaneous Combustion" Corruere. It can't get out of the way fast enough, and when the blinding flash of flame fades, bubbles of char are flaking off of its shell, which looks much softened. It's hard to know how chastened it is by La Sirene du Nord's speechifying, but it certainly seems to be ready to punish her acquiring its attention--
--when Utena stabs deeply into its gut with a tremendously powerful strike. Its chittering screech is closer to a scream, now, though still not loud enough to penetrate the roars of the crowd as Utau continues the latest song in her set.
To the sound of an angelic voice rising above a screaming piano riff, Lux Lapsa's massive lance strikes home, impaling the red monster from above -- and slicing straight through it, momentarily pinning it to the ground! Freezer burn rises from it exactly as it didn't from Hikaru's flaming blade.
Eyestalks writhe towards each other, meeting in the middle in an interlocking gaze of almost hilarious complexity. Who knows what it is that they're seeing, sensing?
The red runes on their forehead pulse once, and the blue monster leaps atop the red, before they both curl into balls, ice cracking away from the force. There's an explosion of force, and when the dust clears, two have become one.
Purple, of course. It is otherwise not a linear combination, however; twenty legs have been reduced to four, in a gross and gigantic charicature of a centaur, still with the weird backwards joints. What rises above it, impossibly supported by those mere spindles, is more muscle than carapace, throbbing with exposed veins and oozing gouts of acidic spores.
Leaning back, it expels one such blast directly at King Penguin, which is in no way equipped to survive such an assault, no matter how well-crafted his crown! Its horns are now claws, claws on arms that flail outwards, grasping, trying to seize an angel in each and bring them to that still-hairy, still-eyestalky, now-literal beard for permanent dissolution. More spores fill the area, burning infinitely more harshly than they did before, swirling with motive and malice despite their seeming separation from their creator, to rush and drown and sting the assailants.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Spores on Mytho. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Devour on Lux Lapsa. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Devour on Lux Corruere. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Spores on Utena Tenjou. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Spores on Cure Peach. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Spores on Japanese Cherry Blossom. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Spores on La Sirene du Nord. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Spores on Hikaru Shidou. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Spores on Dark Amber. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Spores on Prism Keeper Red. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has finished attacking. COMBAT: Dark Amber fails to brace Juri Arisugawa's Spores, taking 28 Fatigue damage! Diversion, Exhausted, and Stagger applied to Dark Amber! COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom fails to brace Juri Arisugawa's Spores, taking 27 Fatigue damage! Diversion and Exhausted applied to Japanese Cherry Blossom! COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly dodges Juri Arisugawa's Spores, taking 19 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Utena Tenjou's Fade ability activates! Utena Tenjou's Flash ability activates! Diversion and Exhausted applied to Utena Tenjou! COMBAT: Fuu Hououji covers Mytho for Juri Arisugawa's attack, Spores, taking it upon themselves instead! COMBAT: Fuu Hououji narrowly counters Juri Arisugawa's Spores, taking 13 Fatigue damage! Diversion and Stagger applied to Fuu Hououji! COMBAT: Fuu Hououji's counterattack, Reppu no Ya, partially gets through, doing 13 Fatigue damage to Juri Arisugawa! COMBAT: Lux Corruere fails to dodge Juri Arisugawa's Devour, taking 39 Fatigue damage! Juri Arisugawa drains 16 fatigue from Lux Corruere! COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou perfectly dodges Juri Arisugawa's Spores, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Dodge! COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord fails to dodge Juri Arisugawa's Spores, taking 26 Fatigue damage! Diversion and Stagger applied to La Sirene du Nord! COMBAT: Cure Peach narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Spores, taking 10 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Cure Peach's Block ability activates! Cure Peach's Parry ability activates! Diversion, Exhausted, and Stagger applied to Cure Peach! COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red fails to dodge Juri Arisugawa's Spores, taking 26 Fatigue damage! Diversion and Exhausted applied to Prism Keeper Red! COMBAT: Lux Lapsa narrowly dodges Juri Arisugawa's Devour, taking 28 Fatigue damage! Juri Arisugawa drains 11 fatigue from Lux Lapsa!
<Pose Tracker> Japanese Cherry Blossom [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Cherry Blossom is a little energized by Cure Peach's speech, even if it wasn't directed at her exactly. It kind of reminds her of Vanilla's speeches...
But she's doing a bad job of keeping her eye on the monsters, and the retaliation is swift. Spores assault her, rushing into her, stinging her throat and making her eyes water. She coughs a few times, overwhelmed by their attack and not sure how she can function.
She needs some magic...
She presses her hands together, and says a quiet prayer. "Please, aid me, cherry trees--"
A branch pops up from the ground, and another, and then another, trying to keep the spores at bay and give her room to breathe. She finally has a clear sight of the monster, and gasps as it's now become one creature! Cherry Blossom lets out a squeal now, and gestures for the branches directly in front of her. They surge as if with a mind of their own, trying to wrap one of the spindles in white wood.
COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom accepts Dark Amber's Steel Your Memories, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Japanese Cherry Blossom is Cheered! Withstand applied to Japanese Cherry Blossom! COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom has used Cherry Tree Magic on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom has finished attacking. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Japanese Cherry Blossom's Cherry Tree Magic, taking 21 Fatigue damage!
<Pose Tracker> Lux Corruere [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
A pun! "It kinda suits you--besides, I don't really stop and think in advance like you do, so--" Corruere ducks again, banking out of the way of a flying bit of goo. ...She does find the things pretty nasty still, but Peach is right! Confidence flows through her as she calls back, "We'll protect this place!" And, so far, it seems to be going rather well; at first at least. Lux Corruere dives downward again, volcanic ash dropping from her black wings, as she watches the runs glow and the creatures exploding into.. A purple one. A huge, muscly purple one. "This is almost /worse/--"
Her sass doesn't serve her well. "--NO!" she sees the thing go directly for King Penguin, and thus doesn't at all see the clawed arms that grab her, while she can't get out of the way. Her sword falls from her hand, and she lashes out with her other arm, a flaming whip suddenly held within it as the creature chomps down. "Aaah!"
Her whip coils around stone, however, and, punching at the thing with her free gauntlet, /pulls/ herself free to roll onto the ground below moments later.
When she hits the ground, it's with an unpleasant noise, and clanking--but she's still alive. "Ugh... What... /is/ this thing? ...Do you know?"
Whoever she's speaking to, the result is that she looks up at it, wincing on the ground, in an effort to find out. But it's not her memories and experience that will make this answer happen...
COMBAT: Lux Corruere performs an analysis on Juri Arisugawa! COMBAT: Lux Corruere has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.
The Wind Knight is, temporarily, out of the immediate fray ... although the sight of her arrow ricocheting off a stronger-than-it-looked carapace doesn't do much for her evaluation of how much she's contributing to the fight ...
And then a cloud of incredibly corrosive spores is violently expectorated in the general direction of the big penguin slide. The Magic Knight of Wind promptly bolts, gathering her magic as she goes and moving to plant herself in the spores' path, nocking another arrow and drawing it back, sighting along it -
"Reppuu no Ya!!"
- and loosing the Gale Arrow, her wind magic accelerating the shaft and steadying its flight at the same time, helping to disperse the spores on its flight towards the now-singular monster. King Penguin is spared for the moment, but the spores settle around the Wind Knight instead, eliciting a squawk of pain and some other unhappy noises, maybe even unpleasant ones.
As badly as her share of the fight's been going so far, this isn't going to make things go any better; the Magic Knight of Wind forces herself to stand upright again, gathering her magic as she carefully fills her lungs. "Iyashi no Kaze .. !" The Healing Winds answer her call, gusting gently around her and curing the illness-inducing effects of those spores - and as she surveys the fight, she directs the spell towards Japanese Cherry Blossom and Dark Amber as well, since it looks like they could use the help.
Granted, so could quite a few others from what she's seeing ...
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Iyashi no Kaze on Fuu Hououji. COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Iyashi no Kaze on Dark Amber. COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Iyashi no Kaze on Japanese Cherry Blossom. COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking. COMBAT: Fuu Hououji accepts Fuu Hououji's Iyashi no Kaze, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Cleanse! All of Fuu Hououji's debuffs are cleared!
<Pose Tracker> Dark Amber [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
Dark Amber is covered in horrible spores and they sap his energy and make him feel horribly weak he needs to take a knee and sort of hold an arm over himself a moment. The pain is unbearable. He sort of needs to close his eyes and get his bearings again. This is dangerous, but he can't really go off and fight at the moment. "J..just a minute." he says to himself through his teeth as he closes his eyes...
Then Fuu's healing winds glaze over him and he feels, slowly, a little better as he stands again.... taking a deep breath. "Thank you Wind Knight...!" he calls out as he raises his hand and then calls out.. "Amber Blight...!" sending a wave of brown, wooden smelling smoke at the creature.
MEANWHILE, Inori Hiroyuki is happily watching Utau perform.
COMBAT: Dark Amber accepts Fuu Hououji's Iyashi no Kaze, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Cleanse! All of Dark Amber's debuffs are cleared! COMBAT: Dark Amber has used Amber Blight on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Dark Amber has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Prism Keeper Red [Juuban Public School (4)] has posed.
Oooh, another angel, like the ice one she's fought with before! And she wears red, too!
"Thanks!" Keeper Red says excitedly at the compliment. "Red's my favorite col--" Before she can finish, she's moved onto Cure Peach, the cheerful warrior standing nearby.
k bai.
With a shrug, she flaps her wings and maneuvers to a better spot in the air, trying to get a good view of the battlefield. Sadly, the red color energy did very little to the already red monster -- who would have guessed? But there are so many other fighters around, some /much/ better than she is. When they're all together, they'll definitely be able to defeat this thing! Right?
Cure Peach certainly seems to think so. Red gives her a smile, then dives towards the newly reformed monster for another attack.
Only to be hit by yet more spores -- these ones much, much nastier. She doesn't have the speed to dodge or the wherewithal to hold her breath, so the red-haired girl takes a deep breath of the acidic cloud and immediately feels its effects.
Her throat, already raw from her earlier coughing, is all but set on fire; her lungs feel like they're being repeatedly stabbed with tiny swords, making it nearly impossible to get in a good breath. Overcome by the intense pain, Red falls a few feet to the ground, her little wings beating quickly in an effort to dispel the floating cloud around her.
"Why...is it always.../spores/?" she manages to complain in between coughs, bracing herself on a nearby bench so she doesn't accidentally propel herself into the air.
Despite her burning lungs and the tears of irritation from the acid in her eyes, Red turns her head towards Dark Amber and smiles wearily. "I think you have the right idea. Let's clear up this nasty smell." With a snap of her fingers, four roses with razor-sharp stems appear around her, poised to be launched. After a second snap, they go flying towards the icky-purple-centaur thing.
"Don't you dare touch King Penguin!"
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red has used Rose Darts on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red has finished attacking. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly counters Dark Amber's Amber Blight, taking 4 Fatigue damage! Dark Amber is Psyched! COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa's counterattack, OM NOM NOM, partially gets through, doing 13 Fatigue damage to Dark Amber! Critical Counterhit!
<Pose Tracker> La Sirene du Nord [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
"Utau-chan?" la Sirene murmurs in thought, even as the Luxes move.
As everyone whips into action - and as spores descend towards them all. She clutches at her throat, the unfamiliar sensation of /drowning/ rushing into her. Yes, a sensation she'd never felt near water-- thick, rather burning, making her cough wetly once as her face blanches. She staggers, swallowing dryly and then coughing again, sweat coming to her brow as she sags down into a half-crouch, helpless for the moment.
Helpless... to defend King Penguin. She might appreciate him more, damaged, but destruction...
She raises the mirror to her mouth, not knowing what else to do.
La Sirene breathes deep - of the air of strange seas that rarely if ever see the sun - the salty tang, the scent of the different things that dwell in the water...
She crouches slightly, and then she leaps like a celebrated frog might, vaulting through the air.
Her point of aiming, the place where she intends to land?
Atop King Penguin!
She speaks with resonant clarity, throwing a finger in the air, one hand (and the mirror) on her hip. "Foul creature! This is a place of solemn celebration, a land where muscles are trained and joyous memories are forged. And a place where sorrow is to be found! Where knees are harmed, where the petty cruelties of childhood begin, and where they end; where solitude is felt and experienced for the first time, but perhaps not the last..."
Her hand clenches into a fist. "So! For the sake of the sorrows that cross this assemblage, I give you one last chance to listen -- and depart! Shoo! Retreat to what foul and toxic fens gave birth to you, and if you have a master, tell them that there is more to this world than their ambitions!"
Thunder rumbles, distantly. Is that gonna mess up the concert?
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has used Salute The Four Corners on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has finished attacking. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly dodges Prism Keeper Red's Rose Darts, taking 16 Fatigue damage! Stagger applied to Juri Arisugawa! COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly braces La Sirene du Nord's Salute The Four Corners, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Juri Arisugawa's Block ability activates! Juri Arisugawa's Parry ability activates! Bind Break! All of La Sirene du Nord's debuffs are cleared!
<Pose Tracker> Cure Peach [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Cure Peach was loathe to imagine this creature becoming more hideous. But apparently, expectations are meant to exceeded as red and blue gross things become a purple grosser thing. The young warrior's mouth drops open in bewilderment as she continue to an look wide-eyed at this monstrosity as it secretes pus and oozes acidic spores. She quickly began to miss the robotic and relatively sanitary nakewameke that she usually fought against. This thing was disgusting and proving to be very powerful as well!
One such spore is flund towards her and Peach looks around for something to defend herself with. Aha! She sees a nearby picket with a sign attached to it and unearths it with some effort. She then adopts a baseball stance just like she had practiced with her friend Setsuna recently. All she had to do was hit the spore right back at creature. "Home-run!" Peach says aloud in preemptive celebration as the spore comes rocketing towards her. The blonde then lets out a gap and a yelp as she notices the spore is literally a few feet from her and she swings the picket in her hands wildly. Contrary to what Peach thinks will happen, the spore just -breaks- and explodes right in her face. The disgusting attack blows Peach off her feet and sends her spiraling through the air. She eventually slams hard down on the ground a good dozen feet away from where she started. Okay, that was simply a horrible idea.
While still on the ground and covered in grossness, Peach still manages to smile brightly at Mei when she stops nearby. She nods her head towards her just the young girl goes speeding off onto the attack! That's Mei for you! Always diving in head first! Well it was time for Peach to rejoin the fun and start attacking the creature herself. She plants her arms against the ground and begins to push herself up.
But Cure Peach is not the only one having a bad time as the monster attempts to EAT both of the angels. "No! Watch out!" She calls in vain as she struggles to her own feet and runs -straight- towards the creature. "Let them go!" While the angels are surely strong enough to free-themselves, Cure Peach jumps into the air and aims a flying side-kick straight to where she guesses the stomach of the creature is. "Pretty Cure Kick!" She's definitely trying to give the monster indigestion of a different sort!
COMBAT: Cure Peach has used Pretty Cure Solo Kick! on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Cure Peach has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Lux Lapsa [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
"O-oh. You think I'm overthinking it?" Lapsa frets. Fortunately, gross monster fusion time that leads to purple ropy bits everywhere distract her handily from her concerns, especially when it goes for the iconic King Penguin. She gasps as Corruere leaps in. "What?! You can't do that, that's not fair!!" she protests to no one in particular. She extends an arm to call up more of her ice magic-- --except she gets grabbed by a clawed arm, same as Corruere, and she freezes just before the thing chomps down. She cries out, but her frantic flailing enables her to get away before she can go down the hatch. "Aaaaaahhh that was gross that was gross I need a shower," she babbles, wings shaking. She shakes her head vigorously at Corruere. "I have no idea what's going on!!" But she gets back to her feet and clutches a fist. "Okay! Now you've made me mad!!" she declares, crystal-blue eyes blazing. "Let's see how you like the taste of Heaven!!" She leaps up into the air, frost-rimed wings beating hard to keep her aloft, and they shine bright with holy light as she banks down hard towards the monster. She doesn't actually hit it, sailing by overhead, but the cold whistles around her as she calls, "Angelus Orote!!" The motes of holy light fall from her wings and begin to bombard the monster, assuming they manage to hit their target. Hopefully, whatever this creature is, it's weak to sacred powers. She won't waste the encouragement Cure Peach gave her--even with this gross stuff, she's still got the will to fight! And considering it's /Yukimi/ in charge, that really does mean a lot...
COMBAT: Lux Lapsa has used Angelus Orote on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Lux Lapsa has finished attacking. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa perfectly counters Cure Peach's Pretty Cure Solo Kick!, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter! COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa's counterattack, Acidic Skin, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Cure Peach! Bind Break! All of Juri Arisugawa's debuffs are cleared! COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom accepts Fuu Hououji's Iyashi no Kaze, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Cleanse! All of Japanese Cherry Blossom's debuffs are cleared!
<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Shidou [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Spores. They aren't nice to look at, and if they caught Hikaru, they'd be very unpleasant in even more ways. Fortunately, Hikaru somehow manages to calculate the way the spores are coming at her, and she manages to avoid the incoming spores with swiftness and luck. She finds herself breathing a sigh of relief as she comes up to find that the spores missed her entirely. When she sees what's happening to the others, though, she makes a face. "That's disgusting!" She says.
Deciding there's no time like the present to increase the heat, Hikaru raises her sword and draws more flame into it. This time, when she slashes it, she doesn't aim directly at the monster. Instead, she sends forth a flaming projectile made to look like an arrow.
COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou has used Fire Arrow on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou has finished attacking. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly braces Lux Lapsa's Angelus Orote, taking 19 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Juri Arisugawa's Block ability activates! Juri Arisugawa's Parry ability activates! COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly dodges Hikaru Shidou's Fire Arrow, taking 20 Fatigue damage!
<Pose Tracker> Utena Tenjou [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
Utena's defenses don't go nearly so well this time; she attempts to get out of the incoming wave of spores with a backward leap, but ends up landing wrong and nearly snapping her ankle. Only nearly, though -- Utena manages to kip right back up and keep going, even though it's /really/ starting to sting... and wear her down, for that matter.
Attacking King Penguin!? Such a thing is unforgivable! Utena redoubles her efforts once she realizes that the penguin is in danger, continuing to aggress against the now-unified monster. Just because two have become one doesn't mean they're actually any more powerful, she tells herself -- even though now that they're much larger, they /are/ a little more intimidating.
Then again -- this is what it means to be a prince who protects people, rather than a princess who needs protecting, isn't it?
She presses her assault again, this time coming in for a simple pair of slashes -- one-two, up-down. Not exactly /artful/, but...
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used V-Cut on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has finished attacking. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Utena Tenjou's V-Cut, taking 19 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Utena Tenjou is Psyched!
<Pose Tracker> Juri Arisugawa [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Growth! Cherry blossom trees surge towards one of the monster's spindly legs, and though it attempts to flex the sinew to throw them off, it cannot; in no time at all it is struggling to extract itself from a woven tapestry of victin wood, without success. Unable to move freely, it once again leverages use of its mouth -- gratefully inhaling Dark Amber's smoke, it is exhaled (along with a faint cherry scent) right back in the boy's face.
It has to throw itself as flat as it can (with one unmovable leg; this requires serious contortions, not dissimilar to how a spider will squirm its way around an incoming newspaper) when Prism Keeper Red's rose darts zip towards it, obviously seeing them as a major threat, then all the way to the other side to limbo precariously under a Knight's Fire Arrow; Cure Peach, meanwhile, discovers another thrilling new ability of this uber-demon, as her kick lands solidly on its shoulder... only to be blasted back at the last moment by a gout of acid that erupts like a boil.
La Sirene continues to lecture the beast relentlessly, and it continues to either not understand or else ignore her relentlessly; so too is the thunder overhead ignored by the crowd (if they can even hear it, which is frankly unlikely), and the skies, indeed, remain relatively clear, the beauty of this day too strong to be marred by any more than an /extremely/ isolated storm, for example roughly playground-sized, should one be brewing.
Holy light, however, seems well able to fall like rain, flickering downwards to open up tiny burns on that sheer, purplish skin. Whether or not it is particularly /susceptible/ to sacred force is harder to say; what Lux Corruere observes through her fiery eyes is a creature clearly not of the natural order, something Other, something distant and impossibly strange. Something slashed by someone like a Prince, the V-cut once again opening up unpleasant gouts of pus and ooze.
It lunges forward with those claws again, this time eager to crush Prism Keeper Red and Utena Tenjou between those mandibles, and where spores rise from its back to explode towards King Penguin, the tendrils from its beard that once again lash across the battlefield in a startling array of whips and eyes are, this time, acid-free.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Spores on Mytho. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Devour on Prism Keeper Red. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Devour on Utena Tenjou. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Tendril Slap on Hikaru Shidou. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Tendril Slap on Lux Lapsa. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Tendril Slap on Cure Peach. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Tendril Slap on La Sirene du Nord. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Tendril Slap on Dark Amber. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Tendril Slap on Fuu Hououji. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Tendril Slap on Lux Corruere. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has finished attacking. COMBAT: Lux Corruere narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Tendril Slap, taking 13 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Lux Corruere's Block ability activates! Lux Corruere's Parry ability activates! COMBAT: Lux Corruere covers Mytho for Juri Arisugawa's attack, Spores, taking it upon themselves instead! COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Tendril Slap, taking 8 Fatigue damage! La Sirene du Nord's Block ability activates! La Sirene du Nord's Parry ability activates! COMBAT: Cure Peach narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Tendril Slap, taking 2 Fatigue damage! Cure Peach's Block ability activates! Cure Peach's Parry ability activates! COMBAT: Fuu Hououji fails to dodge Juri Arisugawa's Tendril Slap, taking 16 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Lux Corruere perfectly counters Juri Arisugawa's Spores, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter! Lux Corruere's Reverse ability activates! Lux Corruere's Tactician ability activates! COMBAT: Lux Corruere's counterattack, Calor, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Juri Arisugawa! COMBAT: Dark Amber narrowly dodges Juri Arisugawa's Tendril Slap, taking 19 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Dark Amber's Fade ability activates! Dark Amber's Flash ability activates! COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red fails to counter Juri Arisugawa's Devour, taking 39 Fatigue damage! Juri Arisugawa drains 16 fatigue from Prism Keeper Red! COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red's counterattack, Red Comet, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Juri Arisugawa! COMBAT: Utena Tenjou fails to brace Juri Arisugawa's Devour, taking 38 Fatigue damage! Juri Arisugawa drains 15 fatigue from Utena Tenjou! COMBAT: Lux Lapsa narrowly counters Juri Arisugawa's Tendril Slap, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Lux Lapsa's Reverse ability activates! COMBAT: Lux Lapsa's counterattack, Frozen, partially gets through, doing 9 Fatigue damage to Juri Arisugawa! COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou narrowly dodges Juri Arisugawa's Tendril Slap, taking 14 Fatigue damage!
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.
Oh, look, even more tendrils -
And the Wind Knight is batted aside like an annoying mosquito; unlike a mosquito, she manages to roll with the landing, although even that much impact doesn't do her many favors. She manages to get back to her feet, though, even though she's favoring her left shoulder - and her quiver and bow disappear, since an injured shoulder won't let her use it effectively. Not that she does that much better with a sword that depends on having both arms to wield .... and her left hand is her spellcasting hand too, for the most part.
She's not about to let any of that stop her from *trying* to keep on assisting her allies, though. Bad arm or not, her sword materializes in her grip, and she leaps from where she stopped, to the top of a lamppost, and onwards towards the monster, letting out a wordless cry like a kiai as she tries to slash into the monster's midsection.
.... if any of the corrosive puddle from earlier remains, the Magic Knight of Wind may well be landing in it. Hopefully she can stay on her feet, and more hopefully her boots will stay intact long enough for her to leap cleaer again. But that's the price of melee, isn't it?
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Sword Strike on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Japanese Cherry Blossom [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Dark Amber's earlier words seem to keep Cherry Blossom in good spirits, in spite of the awfulness of the creature bearing down on them. Then Fuu assists as well, the breeze of healing blowing away more of the spores that were plauging her. The monster avoids her for now - the breeze around her and miniature forest she's temporarily conconcted give her some much-needed respite.
It's time for her to take that opening, to rise to the challenge, and to deliver a stronger blow.
"Just getting warmed up now," she says, with a glance at Dark Amber, and then at Fuu. "Cherry Blossom..."
She lowers her hands. Then she raises them up, her look almost triumphant! A wind slams into every tree that she's so far created. It picks up the petals and blooms on its edge, and it gathers them up into a tiny twister, which straightens out into a burst of wind. The petals and flowers and light all soar for the creature, coating it in the scent of spring: "Breeze!"
COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom has used Cherry Blossom Breeze on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Lux Corruere [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
"No no, thinking about it is your style!" Corruere insists to Lapsa, though now she says it a little more weakly than a moment ago. She still hurts from the blows she's taken, though not so much that she can't finally stand back up again while the others press the assault, coering her long enough for her to get to her sword and pick it back up off the ground again. It didn't ignite the grass around it; perhaps that, too, is part of its magic.
"Turbo nasty," she agrees with Lapsa, as she finally gets to a combat stance again. What she's learned.. "It's not a demon!" she calls to her friend and to her potential new friends here. "But I think magic will work best, its body is too squishy!"
She leaps upward, however, and it turns out to be a good thing; not only does she see Cure Peach blasted by acid, but she sees those spores erupt again towards King Penguin. "Not this time!" Corruere calls back, and parks herself right between the creature and the Penguin, igniting herself once again as the spores approach and burning them to harmless ash before they can get past her.
Shehe moves closer, cracking her whip towards it--enough to get its notice, not enough to do much harm. "Hey! This way!"
COMBAT: Lux Corruere has used Heat Seeking on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Lux Corruere has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Dark Amber [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
Dark Amber jumps back at a tendril, it takes a lot of energy to do this, as he runs backwards, it still manages to graze him, but it's better than the alternative of taking the hit head on. He comes skidding to a stop as he whips his arms up in a throwing motion and throws two blades of amber at the beast, before he smiles at Cherry Blossom... "Well can do this..." he says, before he throws another set of of blades, and then he thwips into full gear, begining to throw what appears to be an almost endless stream of blades through the air into the beast, trying to pin it down and hopefully cause an array of damage across it.
He takes a deep breath, and grins. "Just a little more..right?" he says to the various heroes around him. "Just, a little more...." he says in a more hopeful tone. Sure these things must be being worn down.
COMBAT: Dark Amber has used Amber Bladestorm on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Dark Amber has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Cure Peach [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Cure Peach sails through the air with a mighty heeled-boot leading the way! Just as she begins her final approach, she notices something wrong. A huge spore bubble was forming right where she was aiming her kick. Peach's eyes go huge in disgust as her foot cushions inwards before the bubble bursts and expels Peach back through the air. The blonde 'legendary warrior' crashes back down towards the ground and braces herself with her arms before flipping herself acrobatically back up onto her feet. She breathes a sigh of relief that she survived that attack and nearly gets swatted again by monster. Peach forms an 'X' with her hands is able to plant her feet firmly in the ground, rooting her from being sent back through the air by the mighty blow.
The young girl now takes stock of how her allies are doing as well as the current state of this rampaging filthy centaur, insect creature. Things weren't looking so good! "Come on everyone, we can still squash this bug!" She yells out quickly before charging the monster directly, "Hyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" That mysterious pink-haired swordswoman and the other equally mysterious swordswoman with flame sword were doing some serious damage to the creature as were several of her other allies. It was time for Peach to contribute too! Or atleast try to. Cure Peach will then leaps in front of the creature and attempt to deliver a quick combination of punches before ending her attack with a big kick!
COMBAT: Cure Peach has used Kick! Punch! It's all in the Heart! on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Cure Peach has finished attacking. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to dodge Fuu Hououji's Sword Strike, taking 7 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Japanese Cherry Blossom's Cherry Blossom Breeze, taking 22 Fatigue damage! Diversion and Tangle applied to Juri Arisugawa! COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to dodge Lux Corruere's Heat Seeking, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Lux Corruere is Psyched! COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly braces Dark Amber's Amber Bladestorm, taking 17 Fatigue damage! Juri Arisugawa's Block ability activates! Juri Arisugawa's Parry ability activates! Stun applied to Juri Arisugawa! COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to dodge Cure Peach's Kick! Punch! It's all in the Heart!, taking 19 Fatigue damage! Cure Peach is Psyched!
<Pose Tracker> Utena Tenjou [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
Utena, unfortunately for her, ends up quite literally in the creature's mouth thanks to her closeness to the monster. While she manages to pry herself out of its maw before it manages to crunch all the way down, she doesn't quite manage to avoid being in a whole lot of pain as a result; she crumples a little when she lands on the ground, looking /much/ the worse for wear.
For a moment, she just stays right down; when she pulls herself up to her feet, she's slow, tentative. She doesn't aggress, this time; instead, she takes a deep breath in through her nose, holding back for a second and gathering herself together. She can do it... she just needs a second.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Naked Determination on Utena Tenjou. COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has finished attacking. COMBAT: Utena Tenjou accepts Utena Tenjou's Naked Determination, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Accelerate and Withstand applied to Utena Tenjou!
<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Shidou [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
More tendrills, and this time Hikaru isn't lucky enough to avoid them. She finds herself getting hit once again by them, and is forced to wriggle out of them after a moment. "This is truly disgusting," Hikaru comments as she checks her sword to make sure it's still ready for action. Because this time Hikaru's forsaking the magic and just going in with a simple slash!
COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou has used Sword Slash on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> La Sirene du Nord [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
"Disgusting creature, are you even hearing me!? Do you even have ears?!" La Sirene huffs.
THWAP!
La Sirene is no longer standing on the top of the King Penguin. Well, that settles that. "Hhhh..."
The sky is clear, and her storm may be localized, a mere tension in the air and a suggestion of wintry rain. Perhaps, la Sirene thinks as she dangles from the side of the slide, it's the sun that's doing it. Direct sunlight...
The lace on her sleeves seems to droop as she thinks it.
La Sirene hoists herself up onto the top of the slide after a few moments. She sits there, legs crossed, and seems to do nothing. She's focusing. Listening to who's out there.
Listening to the curiously musky Dark Amber. The energetic and spunky Cure Peach. The interplay of Lapsa and Corruere. The stalwart magics of Japanese Cherry Blossom. All of them thriving in the sunlight.
A small gray shape forms over her, like so much cotton. Not /right/ over her - twenty or thirty feet up. From a distance it might look like a puff of smoke. It thickens, the close-attending seeing it spread out from near-invisible wisps of cool mist rising from her mirror's surface.
A raindrop - clean and clear - lands on the slide's surface. Then a few more. A steady, soft patter.
La Sirene's eyes are hidden by her bangs, but as the pocket-sized cloud succumbs to the beautiful weather, a wisp of it coils in front of the sun as the last bit of drizzle falls. Her lip quirks up.
"Creature," she calls out, "do you know what you are standing in?" Her little micro-rainstorm might rinse off some of the gunk from the creature, at least; rinse off its pus... and make puddles around its feet.
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has used Are you ready? on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has finished attacking. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly counters Hikaru Shidou's Sword Slash, taking 2 Fatigue damage! Hikaru Shidou is Psyched! Stagger and Stun applied to Juri Arisugawa! COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa's counterattack, Tendril Slap, partially gets through, doing 16 Fatigue damage to Hikaru Shidou! Critical Counterhit! COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to dodge La Sirene du Nord's Are you ready?, taking 10 Fatigue damage! La Sirene du Nord is Psyched!
<Pose Tracker> Prism Keeper Red [Juuban Public School (4)] has posed.
"My-my darts?!" Red exclaims as she watches her well-sharpened flowers miss their mark, the monster contorting in positively unnatural ways to avoid them. They've worked so well in the past...if this creature is able to dodge one of her best attacks with such speed, then what could she--
Her line of thought is cut short as she sees a meaty claw shoot her way, and without time to react properly, her Chroma Crystal decides to defend for her.
Her tiny body is lifted up suddenly in a ball of glimmering red energy, then propelled forward by a blast of magic that the young Prism Keeper doesn't fully control. This expression of her power only activates in desperation, and with everything that's happened lately...she hasn't exactly had time to get it under control. So, hurtling at the beast with speed akin to a bullet, she can only hope that the Crystal knows what it's doing.
Well, apparently not.
The Red Comet is fast, but not fast enough to penetrate the defenses of the youma's claw. Instead of blasting through in a blaze of glory, her attack is stopped by the carapace armor, dissipating the energy around her completely, but not breaking her momentum. In the nanosecond between her making contact and her ricocheting backwards, Red feels the claw clamp down on her leg, and even worse, feels its ragged tip tear an ugly gash as she shoots away from it. Too shocked to make a sound, the tiny girl makes a sickening *thunk* as she hits the head of a lamppost, falling to the ground but a second afterwards.
There's a brief moment where the world stands still. Then the pain crashes over her like a wave, and Red doubles over in pain from her head, her lungs, her back, and her leg, which is coloring her stocking with a different kind of red.
"Why..." she whimpers between strangled breaths, desperate not to start crying even though tears run down her cheeks. "Why does this keep happening?"
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red has used I'm No Good... on Prism Keeper Red. COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red has finished attacking. COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red accepts Prism Keeper Red's I'm No Good..., taking 0 Fatigue damage!
<Pose Tracker> Lux Lapsa [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Lapsa's taking a decent beating too, though she's pumped up enough that it hardly even bothers her--an impressive feat. When those tendrils come slapping out again, she shoots glacial spears back at it, returning tit for tat. She's flying high right now, both literally and figuratively. Thanks, Cure Peach! When she swoops back after her flight, she lands next to Corruere to hear her analysis. "Oh... really? Then we'd better stick with magic!" she says firmly. Good thing that's her specialty! "I'll keep on hitting it--I'll leave the King Penguin to you!" And so it is that she runs the other way from Lux Corruere, concentrating again on the glacial magic she possesses. Coming to an abrupt stop, she sweeps one arm to the sight with as much dramatics as she can muster. "Adhibitus!" she calls, and a downpour of ice crystals avalanches towards the monster. It's not as strong as it looks, but it keeps coming!
COMBAT: Lux Lapsa has used Avalanche on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Lux Lapsa has finished attacking. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly counters Lux Lapsa's Avalanche, taking 14 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa's counterattack, OM NOM NOM, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Lux Lapsa!
<Pose Tracker> Juri Arisugawa [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
<SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiSLlg6rFtM
Despite the fact that it belongs on the set of Godzilla, this behemoth purple monster briefly disappears beneath a storm of attacks. The Magic Knight of Wind opens a long slash across its central abdomen, which promptly leaks ichor; Japanese Cherry Blossom's tremendous cherry blossom-fueled breeze nearly carries it away, with those clawed arms swatting every which-a-way to keep the sweet-scented storm off to no avail. It lumbers eagerly after Lux Corruere's stinging whip, straight into Dark Amber's series of blades, which at least it seems able to mostly ward off with a spare claw, shattering them as they come in.
Cure Peach, however, gets under its guard while it does so, softening it up with the punches and knocking it airbourne with the ferocious strength of the final kick, ripping it straight out of the cherry trees, which, now barren, are torn to splinters from the force. It lands, hard, in time for Hikaru to stab it while it's down, and rises sopping wet from La Sirene du Nord's abrupt rainstorm. It tries to inhale as many of Lux Lapsa's ice crystals as it can, and though it swallows them harmlessly, it reduces 'being crushed by an avalanche' to 'being smacked around by a few ice shards, which freeze all the water on its body.' Which is unpleasant, to say the least, those beads of rain now bits of hail. But it's not more than it can bear.
Its mouth gapes wide, and from it pours more of those spores -- its arms fling open, and from beneath its claws sprout still more of them, three distinct beams converging on King Penguin, intent on reducing him, and the joy he provides to the local children, to slag. Then it takes a knee, hard, apparently summoning all of its strength... or else driven to it by the sheer intensity of the attacks that have been pouring down upon it.
Either way: red light leaks from the rune on its forehead, trickling and trailing across its back and down its arms, crackling with strength. If it gets up again -- King Penguin may pay the price.
And into the dangerous silence flows a new song, accompanied by the gladness of the neighborhood children, their parents, and many others, who have no idea what transpires half a mile away...
- o/` The miracle of our encounter o/`
- o/` is connecting us to the prologue of our unimaginable story o/`
- o/` Even if they're trivial words o/`
- o/` I want to honestly convey them to you. o/`
- o/` I fly towards you-- o/`
- o/` "Here I go..." o/`
- o/` I won't hesitate anymore! o/`
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Knee-Driven Shockwave on Lux Lapsa. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Knee-Driven Shockwave on Prism Keeper Red. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Knee-Driven Shockwave on La Sirene du Nord. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Knee-Driven Shockwave on Hikaru Shidou. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Knee-Driven Shockwave on Utena Tenjou. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Knee-Driven Shockwave on Cure Peach. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Knee-Driven Shockwave on Dark Amber. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Knee-Driven Shockwave on Lux Corruere. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Knee-Driven Shockwave on Japanese Cherry Blossom. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Knee-Driven Shockwave on Fuu Hououji. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has finished attacking. COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Knee-Driven Shockwave, taking 1 Fatigue damage! La Sirene du Nord's Block ability activates! La Sirene du Nord's Parry ability activates! COMBAT: Dark Amber narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Knee-Driven Shockwave, taking 6 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Spores on Mytho. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has finished attacking. COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord covers Mytho for Juri Arisugawa's attack, Spores, taking it upon themselves instead! COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Spores on Mytho. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has finished attacking. COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou fails to dodge Juri Arisugawa's Knee-Driven Shockwave, taking 13 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! COMBAT: Fuu Hououji perfectly dodges Juri Arisugawa's Knee-Driven Shockwave, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Dodge! Fuu Hououji's Fade ability activates! Fuu Hououji's Flash ability activates! COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord fails to dodge Juri Arisugawa's Spores, taking 29 Fatigue damage! Diversion and Exhausted applied to La Sirene du Nord! COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red fails to brace Juri Arisugawa's Knee-Driven Shockwave, taking 8 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Cure Peach fails to dodge Juri Arisugawa's Knee-Driven Shockwave, taking 10 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Cure Peach covers Mytho for Juri Arisugawa's attack, Spores, taking it upon themselves instead! COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Spores on Mytho. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has finished attacking. COMBAT: Cure Peach narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Spores, taking 5 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Cure Peach's Block ability activates! Cure Peach's Parry ability activates! Exhausted and Stagger applied to Cure Peach! COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom narrowly dodges Juri Arisugawa's Knee-Driven Shockwave, taking 5 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Lux Lapsa narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Knee-Driven Shockwave, taking 2 Fatigue damage! Lux Lapsa's Block ability activates! Lux Lapsa's Parry ability activates! COMBAT: Lux Lapsa covers Mytho for Juri Arisugawa's attack, Spores, taking it upon themselves instead! COMBAT: Lux Lapsa fails to dodge Juri Arisugawa's Spores, taking 26 Fatigue damage! Diversion, Exhausted, and Stagger applied to Lux Lapsa! COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly dodges Juri Arisugawa's Knee-Driven Shockwave, taking 5 Fatigue damage! Utena Tenjou's Fade ability activates! Utena Tenjou's Flash ability activates!
<Pose Tracker> Japanese Cherry Blossom [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Japanese Cherry Blossom doesn't seem too harmed by the knee shockwave, leaping up again as it ripples underneath her, across the ground. She lands in a three-point, with her hand down, but rises back up immediately.
Her eyes glint. It's time for her to do her part in finishing things. She makes sure that Dark Amber, Fuu, and her other friends won't be in the path of this...
"I'm going to give it what I've got now-- get ready! Where ever you've come from, go back there, and take those foul-smelling spores with you! I'll be sure that you're cleaned and fresh."
She lowers her hands, placing them palms down to the ground.
"Cherry Blossom!"
She lowers her hands, placing them palms down to the ground. Light builds up at her feet. Then she slowly turns, her sleeves and skirt billowing as she charges pink energy around her body. The scent of flowers follows the wind building up around her. Whole blossoms and scattered pink petals appear in the air, hovering, building up with the light. Cherry Blossom does another slow spin, gathering up the energy and the wind.
Then she holds out her left hand, and the petals, flowers, and pink light spiral out all at once in a wave! "Elimination!"
COMBAT: FINISHER! Japanese Cherry Blossom has used Cherry Blossom Elimination on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom has finished attacking. COMBAT: Lux Corruere narrowly counters Juri Arisugawa's Knee-Driven Shockwave, taking 5 Fatigue damage! Lux Corruere's Reverse ability activates! Lux Corruere's Tactician ability activates! COMBAT: Lux Corruere's counterattack, Attrita Clipeus, partially gets through, doing 6 Fatigue damage to Juri Arisugawa! Critical Counterhit! Stun applied to Juri Arisugawa!
<Pose Tracker> Dark Amber [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
Dark Amber looks over to Cherry Blossom and nods, getting out of the way as he jumps to the side, and the wave of spiraling , fresh scented petals blast out just beside him, he smiles a bit as he watches it fly at the creature... "It's my turn, too...." he says as he dissapears into a wisp of smoke....
He appears just over the create and bursts down with an energetic burst of energy, aiming to place his hand against the create... "Dark Amber.....!"
If he connects, dark, hard gemlike amber would begin to form at the point of impact.... when this is done, he pushes off and attempts to land back on the ground with a flip, as he skids a bit, before snapping his fingers....
"Crush....!" and then the the amber would shatter inwards, like so much sharapenl into the horrible creature.
Hopefully, this helps damage it, and hopefully, he did not miss!
COMBAT: FINISHER! Dark Amber has used Dark Amber Crush on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Dark Amber has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.
This time, the Magic Knight of Wind sees enough warning signs to leap clear again, evading the shockwave that the monster unleashes against the magical warriors who surround it - and she's nowhere near being in a position where she can protect King Penguin this time, either; she has to trust her allies to do so ...
Although considering the number those spore-blasts did on her when she was protecting King Penguin, she really CAN do more than just trust them, can't she?
"Iyashi no Kaze!!" The Wind Knight's voice rings out strong and clear this time, reverberating with her will and her determination; once again, the Healing Winds blow forth at her bidding, enfolding La Sirene du Nord, Cure Peach, and Lux Lapsa to clear their systems of the debilitating effects of the attacks they just tanked for the sake of the landmark slide. The Magic Knight of Wind even lifts her sword as in a fencer's salute to the trio, signifying further her thanks, before turning her attention back to the monster who seems bound and determined to wreck the playground's centerpiece ...
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to dodge Japanese Cherry Blossom's Finisher, Cherry Blossom Elimination, taking 44 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Dark Amber's Finisher, Dark Amber Crush, taking 104 Fatigue damage!
<Pose Tracker> Lux Corruere [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
"I've got his attention now!" Corruere calls. "Best if I don't get near anything important for a while!" ...Since she doesn't expect the creature's attention to be very pleasant.
The music keeps playing as she whirls around the creature, looking towards the magical girls below and around to find her opening, advice from the voice within her still issuing tactics, telling her what to look for--
Peach calls out to encourage everyone, and Corruere hears it. She smiles, despite the danger and the creature before them, because of it; she's right. They /can/ do it. And they have to--
The knee slams down, and she /hacks/ at the shockwave with her weapon, sending flames in return even as it gives her a lot of turbulence in the air. Now's the time. She looks to its run, and closes her eyes, focusing.
One arm moves to set her whip back at her side, where it fades away into the ether; after that, she places it back on her weapon, now holding it in both as she bows her head, focusing. A red glow surrounds her. "Caelum et Terra..." Her voice echoes as if two speak at once, one the youth here and the other somehow older, more imposing.
Her eyes flash open, and suddenly she /dives/, not for the creature--but for the ground right in front of it. Her weapon jabs into the earth, and heat explodes all around her. ...For a moment, that's all that happens. But only for a moment.
"Flamma!"
The ground opens, and a sudden column of magma bursts upward to engulf the monster before her.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Lux Corruere has used Caelum et Terra: Flamma on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Lux Corruere has finished attacking. COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Iyashi no Kaze on La Sirene du Nord. COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Iyashi no Kaze on Cure Peach. COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Iyashi no Kaze on Lux Lapsa. COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking. COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord accepts Fuu Hououji's Iyashi no Kaze, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Cleanse! All of La Sirene du Nord's debuffs are cleared! COMBAT: Lux Lapsa accepts Fuu Hououji's Iyashi no Kaze, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Cleanse! All of Lux Lapsa's debuffs are cleared! COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Lux Corruere's Finisher, Caelum et Terra: Flamma, taking 87 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! COMBAT: Cure Peach accepts Fuu Hououji's Iyashi no Kaze, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Cleanse! All of Cure Peach's debuffs are cleared!
<Pose Tracker> La Sirene du Nord [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
La Sirene suddenly pushes herself forwards, sliding down that slide - will she be the last to enjoy it? She throws up her black mirror with a sudden wondering to herself: is this a good idea -
The ray sweeps over her. It sizzles lace and scorches her hair. But then the beam reaches the Black Mirror and there is a distant sound of a foghorn and within that black expanse there is more than an obsidian shininess - the ray discharges itself into a tumultous sea, sizzling water into a huge flash of steam...
But not King Penguin.
La Sirene du Nord pants afterwards, gazing at the purple beast with dismay. The sight of Prism Keeper Red on the verge of tears moves her.
Is this not what I'm here for? she thinks.
The Black Mirror, still luminous, is raised aloft. "I have already said that I have to say to you, foul creature! Now you will know my wrath. Appel de la Foudre!" she declares; and there's a sudden tension in the air, as if SOMETHING is looking, something is now present. Dark Amber may feel uncomfortable. (It's just stray negative ions, but even so.)
"Your target... is the slayer of dreams. The ravager of childhood memory! The foe of love - the enemy of sorrow - the wordless, heedless beast of poison and misery that stands before me. Your target is purple and vast -"
Wind howls around her, courtesy of Fuu. Her hair spreads out underneath it.
"And I am its scourge! I call thee forth"
And as she finishes the syllable a bolt of lightning strikes out of the clear blue sky to smash into the creature. The resulting SLAM of thunder is a palpable force outwards, rippling through puddles and rattling steel. But these structures are stout, built to endure the play and love of the young.
The light's quite bright, though. Eye-searing; enough to cast momentary horror-shadows of all assembled, stretching out across the entirety of Uminari park for a tiniest fraction of a second, just long enough for persistent of vision to glimpse them. The one that la Sirene casts isn't quite right, somehow, but it's a minor oddity - probably from her hair.
<Pose Tracker> Lux Lapsa [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Woah--/that/ was close. Lapsa manages to just avoid getting inhaled along with her attack by flapping back powerfully, landing on the ground with a grimace, silver hair whipping over her shoulders towards the purple creature. "Whew," she breathes, assuming she's in the clear. She is, of course, not. Not with those three beams of destructive light zeroing in on King Penguin, and not with that shockwave. After getting blown backwards and managing to land on her feet, although she drops to one knee and scuffs herself badly, she sees the beams and has to make a decision, one that she follows up on with encouragement from her partner. Lux Lapsa isn't the only one to fling herself in the way--she isn't even the first--but she does get there in time... And gets smacked down, hard, for her troubles. Concrete cracks underneath her as she lands, and she groans in pain. Maybe if she stays very still for a moment, she can collect herself. Fortunately for her, that Magic Knight of Wind--did she ever learn her name? Lapsa knows she knows her, she recognizes her from the Shard of Ruthlessness--uses her magic to give her the strength to stand up again. This she does, giving Fuu a wave and smile of gratitude when she does, but she still has to rally herself for a moment as others pour on all their might on the creature. "Right," she murmurs, eyes shut, preparing herself mentally. "I can do this!" Her ice blue eyes snap open, and she flaps her black wings once, twice, thrice, to unleash feathers on the monster and attempt to distract it, so as to give her and the others a better opening.
COMBAT: FINISHER! La Sirene du Nord has used Appel de la Foudre on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has finished attacking. COMBAT: Lux Lapsa has used Black Wings on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Lux Lapsa has finished attacking. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace La Sirene du Nord's Finisher, Appel de la Foudre, taking 119 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Lux Lapsa's Black Wings, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Diversion applied to Juri Arisugawa!
<Pose Tracker> Cure Peach [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Cure Peach hops into the air and lets out a loud cheer when she hits the huge lunk of a creature into Hikarui's sword range. Everyone is really giving it there all and she should continue to do so too! The only problem is that this creature is seemingly taking quite a beating and is still attacking them all quite earnestly. The monster puts it foot down and the shockwave knocks Peach off her feat and back on her rump hard. And as if to add insult to injury, the monster launches more spores at King Penguin. Peach can't let the happiness of those children be threatened like that! She might have her happiness, but she knows that not everyone else has it yet!
Peach runs and leaps in front of one of the spores, bringing her arms up to defend herself as she does so. The vile orb explodes and knocks Peach down into the dirt near to where Mei is located. The dust clears and Peach is still on the ground as the mighty blows from that creature were quickly tiring her out. But she glances over at Mei and is reminded of the those whose happiness would be crushed if they fail here today. No, they can't fail right here! They have to fight on! And just as Peach begins thinking this, aid comes to her in the way of Fuu Hououji. The winds descend upon her and lift her and her spirits up! That's right! They can still fight on! "We...we can do this!" Cure Peach shouts loudly to the heavens above.
The weary Peach trains her pink eyes on the monster and raises both hands above her head before bringing them down to her side. "Nasty things, nasty things, fly away!" She flings her wrists out in front of her and forms a heart in front of her with her pinky fingers outstretched. "Pretty Cure! Love Sunshine!"And then suddenly, a swath of pink energy erupts from Cure Peach towards the monster in an attempt to engulf in its pink aura!
COMBAT: FINISHER! Cure Peach has used Pretty Cure Love Sunshine on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Cure Peach has finished attacking. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Cure Peach's Finisher, Pretty Cure Love Sunshine, taking 133 Fatigue damage!
<Pose Tracker> Utena Tenjou [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
The shockwave bowls Utena off her feet, though she recovers her footing pretty quickly; she's starting to really feel the pressure inherent to fighting something of this /size/. It never really starts to seem normal -- especially for a Duelist.
She pulls herself up into a full-on standing stance now, having taken the moment she needed to get her bearings again. Springing back out in a burst of motion that should've been impossible considering the shockwave not too long ago, Utena raises her blade high. What follows is a simple, direct thrust for the monster's center of mass.
If she manages her initial strike, Utena follows by leaping up into the air, pulling the blade up with her, then kicking back off of the monster; otherwise, she just leaps back, but the result is the same -- Utena, standing not too far from the purple beast, hoping it doesn't destroy that poor king of the penguins.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Utena Tenjou has used Down But Not Defeated on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Shidou [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
A shockwave. Whether it's from an earthquake or from a monster, it's not enjoyable. And Hikaru is painfully aware of that. She finds herself getting a bit beaten up over this. All the while her patience has started to run out as well. "I think it's time to finish this!" She clutches her sword with both hands and focuses on the monster. "It's time to take you out once and for all!" She then attempts to send forth a huge blast of flame.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Hikaru Shidou has used Claw of Flame on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou has finished attacking. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Utena Tenjou's Finisher, Down But Not Defeated, taking 110 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Juri Arisugawa is unable to keep fighting! COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Hikaru Shidou's Finisher, Claw of Flame, taking 71 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Juri Arisugawa is unable to keep fighting!
<Pose Tracker> Prism Keeper Red [Juuban Public School (4)] has posed.
The very ground beneath her feet rumbles as the youma stomps, and Red feels herself launched into the air and brought back down to Earth -- though to be honest, she doesn't even notice the pain, compared to what she's feeling everywhere else on her body. Through tear-filled eyes, she can make out the forms of three warriors as they leap in front of the iconic penguin slide, absorbing the spore attacks with grace. And despite the misery that this battle has put her through, she feels a small smile spread across her face as they do so.
"See?" the girl mutters, not quite able to make it to her feet yet with the gaping wound she took. "You can't win. There are too many good memories here for everyone. And we'll fight to protect them." There's a lot less determination and fire in her speech than usual, possibly because she's so tired. But not tired enough to be out of the fight yet.
Weakly, she holds out her hand and summons her Chroma Wand, which appears in a flash of red light. The crystal at its top is shining only dimly -- she isn't exactly overflowing with power, at the moment. She could only hope that whatever she produced would be enough.
"Prism Aegis Power. Red Rain."
It hurt to speak too forcefully, considering the state of her throat and her vocal folds. Regardless of her volume, a weak ray of red shoots out of the wand and opens a portal over the youma's head, showering color everywhere.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Prism Keeper Red has used Prism Aegis Power! Red Rain! on Juri Arisugawa. COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red has finished attacking. COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Prism Keeper Red's Finisher, Prism Aegis Power! Red Rain!, taking 51 Fatigue damage! Juri Arisugawa is unable to keep fighting!
<Pose Tracker> Juri Arisugawa [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
The massive attacks of the two Perfume Warriors come from either direction, cherry blossoms knocking the monster back while shattering amber knocks it forward. It staggers sideways, directly into the gigantic column of magma, and whatever resistance to fire had afforded the red creature does not seem to transfer to the purple. With a monumental shriek, it windmills its arms, landing one claw in the burning mud, desperate to leverage itself to its feet.
It finds them, just in time to be blasted directly into the air by a colossal bolt of lightning, air filled with razor-sharp feathers, that it inhales in a panic, then chokes on, weakly spitting half-chewed plumage, pus, and acid all around itself.
And then the Love Sunshine finds it, and it feels itself burning away, suffused in pink, pink everywhere, pink shattered into the red of blinding pain at the end of Utena's sword, red that spills from it like broken roses in the wind, large petal-drops scattering to and fro. Incinerated by the Magic Knight of Fire's final blow; when the smoke clears, nothing remains.
Well.
Almost nothing.
That red rune still flickering on its head, the awful creature somehow still has one leg to stand on, no, two; joints screaming, twisting in directions they should never be asked to. It looms upwards, towering over King Penguin, its power no longer able to be contained within its rapidly disintegrating form--
--but before it can detonate, taking the playground and who knows how many people with it, it feels the touch of a gentle rain.
It does not shatter so much as erode; like a sand castle collapsing in on itself, trickling particles of white light spill from its mouth, its eyestalks, its remaining claw and legs. It mixes with the red rain, pinkening until red is all that remains, glorious crimson, burning with an incandescent brilliance that cannot be matched.
Until all that's left is that mystic red rune of light, which twinkles once, as if winking, and then zaps out of existence.
And the crowd goes wild as Utau Hoshina's show comes to a close, audible from all the way across the park, their cheering and whistling and roaring so vibrantly joyful and alive that it feels personal, precious, as though the audience were right there, and the performance they were celebrating, that of the magical girls.
In a cavern beneath Ohtori, a girl swoons, and is eased onto a couch to nap off the exertion of her extensive Orphan-summoning.
In a penthouse above all of the Tokyo skyline but itself, a man glances down at his tablet, then closes it with a snap. "Call my lawyer," he barks at his assistant. "We're getting that modern art installation up /no matter what/. No, I don't /care/ how many children use the playground. There are a thousand others like it in the city! Build fifty thousand, p, puh," his rage sputters on the word, "PENGUINS, for all I give a damn!"
The tip of his crown a little acid-pocked, and one side of his beak mildly dented, but still unbowed, unbroken, and structurally sound to support children less than 5'3", King Penguin looks over Penguin Park, ruler of all he sees, master of all he surveys.
COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom has fully healed herself. COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom transforms into Sakura Akagi!
<Pose Tracker> Dark Amber [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
The Concert ends and Inori Hiroyuki claps. "That was wonderful! Don't you think Kinz---- where did that boy get off too now!?" she says stupidfied. "I swear....."
MEANWHILE, Dark Amber watches as the monster throws about as he sighs and takes a deep breath. They did it. He frowns as he looks over to Prism Keeper Red.... "Are you okay, Prism Keeper...?" he asks softly. "You do not look well..." he says walking on over to her. He's standing at least, though looks scuffed up.
He looks around, again- just to make sure. Everything has ended it seems for the evening.
He knows his mom is going to be upset at him later. He ponders, 'let her be upset, just for a night... but...'
COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou transforms into Hikaru Shidou!
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.
If anyone looks at her rather than the dissipating monster, the Magic Knight of Wind is holding her breath as its 'body' disintegrates to leave only that ominously glowing glyph hovering in the air ...
And only when the enchanted rain washes it away does she relax and start breathing again, letting her sword disappear as well. "Very well done, everybody ..." she calls out, looking around at her allies with a relieved smile. "Is anybody in need of healing before we go our separate ways? That was a particularly strenuous fight, and I'm sure most of us don't live in the neighborhood."
<Pose Tracker> Lux Corruere [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
"Woo!" Corruere lands heavily, bending her knees to absorb some of the impact as she looks at where there is no longer a huge monster--and there are still a bunch of the combatants. "We did it." She lets out a breath, though; she's still pretty sore. "That means we--"
Wait.
The concert seems over, which means...
"Lapsa! We're late!" Er. That is, "I mean... we should... go.."
"Nice meeting everyone, glad we succeeded!" She waves to splashers and prism keepers and knights and all, and her weapons are, mysteriously, gone. She doesn't see the issue with the small person over there atm; instead, she waves Peach's way, "--Cure Peach, right? I hope I see you again! I'm Lux Corruere! This is Lux Lapsa!" She may be pushing Lapsa at this point to go.
...But she can't help but smile at the Penguin King.
<Pose Tracker> Lux Lapsa [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
"...o-oh. Or... or that could happen," Lux Lapsa says lamely, watching the others tear down the monster with their combined magical might. This frustrates her for a moment, but then, as her partner points out, she helped protect King Penguin, didn't she? She definitely helped out! The thought helps cheer her up, and so she's smiles again a moment later. Until Lux Corruere points out that they're /late for the concert/. "OH MY GOD YOU'RE RIGHT," she squeaks, and even without Corruere pushing her along, she only stumbles a little before she starts hurrying too. "Um, yeah, good work everybody! We all did it!" she cheers, waving to the others. She does see Prism Keeper Red, but the others seem to be on top of that, so she just calls, "Take care of yourself, okay, Red-chan? Nice seeing you again, Cure Peach! Bye! Bye!!" And then she and Corruere are off. They appear to have forgotten they can fly...
<Pose Tracker> La Sirene du Nord [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
La Sirene adjusts her cap, as the thing dissolves.
A sea breeze washes over her. However, the lure to walk down the beach (and enter her closing credit animation) is resisted, for now. She hears Fuu ask if anyone is in need of healing; but her attention cuts towards the Prism Keeper, who she walks towards.
Her boots splash lightly through what puddles remain in the aftermath of so many magical effusions.
"... Do you feel like crying?" she asks the girl, not unkindly.
<Pose Tracker> Cure Peach [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Cure Peach stands triumphantly alongside her fellow victors with her arms dropped to her side. She wears a surprisingly serious expression on her face that turns into one of near panic as the disintegrating monster nearly falls onto King Penguin. But thankfully, it's their ace in the hole, Mei, who saves the day from becoming bittersweet. Peach breathes a huge sigh of relief before scanning around to see how everyone was doing. Thankfully, everyone made it through the terrible fight even though a few were definitely the worse for wear. She does quickly move to Mei's side to see her now frequent ally was doing.
She gets beaten to the punch by Dark Amber, but she is quick to echo the sentiment. "How are you holding up? You did great again today!" Peach says cheerfully as she smiles broadly through her own injuries. The cheering of the crowd causes Peach to turn and cast her pink eyes in that direction. It looks like she completely missed the concert. For a brief moment, Cure Peach looks instantly downtrodden. But she catches a glimpse of the still standing King Penguin out of the corner of her eye. She nods to herself and grins even stronger than before. "Yes! Everyone did great! We protected the happiness of those children!" Those kids would be able to not only attend the concert, but be able to play on and around King Penguin the next day. It was a win-win situation for them!
"That's right! Cure Peach!" The blonde-warrior affirms to Lux Correure before waving to her and Lux Lapsa as well. Smile on her face, Peach turns back to those remaining. La Sirene's question draws a blank look and then an audible whaaaaa out of Peach. That was a heck of a thing to ask someone after all they have been through. "I know what she needs...." Cure Peach thinks back on all the sweets she bought and how she could share them. No wait, she dropped them all on the ground before this all started. "....donuts!" She then decides upon instead with a grin. Peach clearly is no medical professional, but she knows what would make her smile in this situation.
<Pose Tracker> Prism Keeper Red [Juuban Public School (4)] has posed.
"I'm...ok, I think," Prism Keeper Red says quietly when Dark Amber asks, her Chroma Wand disappearing into sparkles of light. It's true -- the pain in her lungs is easing up somewhat, as is the ringing in her ears from taking a lamppost to the head. The only thing still really bothering her is her leg, which continues to bleed and shows no sign of clotting yet. She bites her lip worriedly. If she needs stitches...
But the Knight of Wind appears to be offering her services in that regard, so she raises her voice to get her attention, despite the hoarseness still present from the coughing fits. "I think I might need some healing, actually. Can you close up wounds at all? My leg isn't in real good shape. And I really, really don't want to get stitches." How would she explain a jagged cut, at least three inches long, on the /back/ of her leg?
She's distracted once again when the magical girl with power over storms (or something like that) comes up to her, and asks a very odd question. Red tilts her head to one side. There are still tears in her eyes, and more than a few tracks on her face where they'd fallen; but no, she isn't actually crying anymore. "Well, I kinda wanted to during the fight," she replies quietly, unsure what this girl's angle is. "And I do feel...bad...about not being more useful when I'm fighting. But we did beat that gross monster. And King Penguin's still ok!" The last sentence visibly delights her, though she tones it down quickly. After all, she is a /grown up young woman/ who don't need no slide.
Red nods and smiles at Peach's compliment, though there's a hollowness to it that denotes insincerity. She appreciates the happy girl's support -- and she certainly is a capable fighter, just like the magical girls on tv! But she knows in her heart that she is not as powerful or as useful as many, many of the others that protect the city. And even though her mood has improved, it's something that she still hasn't managed to escape.
But one can only be sad for so long when donuts join the picture. Red *visibly* perks up at their mention, and nods vigorously. "Yes, I'd definitely like some donuts~ Just...maybe after my leg is fixed?"
<Pose Tracker> La Sirene du Nord [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
La Sirene listens, looking downwards.
She smiles, if wanly, at the younger girl's enthusiasm.
She then reaches out - and if not prevented, touches the tears wetting Prism Keeper Red's cheek with her mirror. First left, then right - very lightly. They vanish afterwards.
"Sorrow is a part of life. Don't restrain it; let it flow, if it needs to," she advises. "I am the north wind, la Sirene du Nord... think of me, whenever you see this place."
And /then/ she turns, with a toss of her hair, to walk towards the beach. Did she really have to add in that little flourish at the end?
(yes)
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.
It doesn't sound as though most people need healing, which the Wind Knight would tend to consider a good thing - but there's one girl, a young one, who *does*, and Fuu hastens to Prism Keeper Red's side, wincing as she sees the blood. "Let me see," she says gently.
If there are any hints of debris or shrapnel or the like from whatever opened that wound, she wants to make sure those bits won't stay in there. Once she's content as to that, she holds her left hand near the wound as she murmurs once again, "Iyashi no Kaze ..." and the Winds of Healing play gently over the wound.
It's not the middle of a fight now; she can focus completely on healing the injury, and even though she has to cast more than once, eventually she's able to close the wound. "Be careful on that leg for the next couple of days," she advises the Prism Keeper.
Then, with an encouraging smile, she reaches over to clasp one of the younger girl's hands. "You're doing well so far, I think - standing beside the rest of us against a monster like that is no small feat."
<Pose Tracker> Dark Amber [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
Dark Amber smiles at Red... "You'll be alright...okay?" he asks. "Fuu will help you." he smiles up at the Wind Knight.
He huffs. "You did fine, Red. You put in just as much effort as everyone else!... he loks at La Sirene du Nord. Her statements hit home with him, in a weird way.... people need bad memories. People need... sorrow? "Hey.." by the time he manages to say anything, she's gone and leaving. "...Another time..." he says as he closes his eyes. He sighs and opens them as he looks down to Red.. "You did a good job tonight, Prism Keeper. I think this could had ended differently without your help." he smiles softly. He nods. "Right Fuu!" he says as he brushes his own form off. "I'm going to need to explain to my mom why I left her in the middle of a concert." he laments.
<Pose Tracker> Dark Amber [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
Dark Amber smiles at Red... "You'll be alright...okay?" he asks. "Fuu will help you." he smiles up at the Wind Knight.
He huffs. "You did fine, Red. You put in just as much effort as everyone else!"... he looks at La Sirene du Nord. Her statements hit home with him, in a weird way.... people need bad memories. People need... sorrow? "Hey.." by the time he manages to say anything, she's gone and leaving. "...Another time..." he says as he closes his eyes. He sighs and opens them as he looks down to Red..
"You did a good job tonight, Prism Keeper. I think this could had ended differently without your help." he smiles softly. He nods. "Right Fuu!" he says as he brushes his own form off. "I'm going to need to explain to my mom why I left her in the middle of a concert." he laments.
<Pose Tracker> Cure Peach [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Cure Peach looks completely admonished for few moments by her lack of common sense as pointed out by Mei. Donuts -after- medical care, of course! She sheepishly smiles before chuckling. "Yes! We can go get some after your leg gets looked at!" That's the problem with Peach sometimes, she attempts to solve problems using the most obvious and simple solution that comes to her mind. Her fighting style today surely reflected that same kind of mentality.
La Sirene elaborates and her mysterious question, but somehow ends up being even more mysterious by what she does next. Pink eyes flicker over whe she heads out towards the beach. "Nice to meet you!" She calls out cheerfully anyways. That was a little strange, but she helped out a lot today which makes her a-okay in Peach's mind.
And speaking of helpful people, Fuu gets a cheery smile when she comes over and cares to the young magic girl. Phew! At least, someone here knew what they were doing! She nods graciously towards the Fuu before adding, "Thank you very much for helping. You really helped me out a lot out there!" She then looks to those remaining; Mei, Dark Amber, and Fuu all get looks from the pink-eyed Peach. "Let's all go get donuts then, together! We all did really good today afterall." That's the great thing about getting donuts. They are even better with friends!
<Pose Tracker> Prism Keeper Red [Juuban Public School (4)] has posed.
Prism Keeper Red sighs in relief as the cool winds sweep over her poor leg, eventually closing the ugly wound entirely. Phew. That's one less worry for her poor mind. It had already been tough to explain being bedridden for two days to Momo -- if she'd come home with stitches, the effort of keeping her double life a secret would have become much, much harder.
Nodding at Fuu's advice to take it easy on her leg, she stands up slowly, testing the limb's strength. It seemed to hold up all right, though she still feels the tender spot where the claw had caught onto her. Ick. *That* is one memory she wouldn't mind losing.
She doesn't say anything in particular as the Siren touches her face with the mirror. She doesn't really like the idea that sorrow is an unavoidable part of life...but maybe it's true? Life could be very unfair sometimes, as evidenced by her rollercoaster of a life in the past few weeks.
But whatever. She much prefers Cure Peach's approach to life. Donuts cure all manner of ills.
"Yay, let's go!" The girl says excitedly, bouncing up and down juuust a bit. "I haven't had donuts in /forever/!"
