2014-08-26 - Shade in the Forest
| Title: Shade in the Forest | |
|---|---|
| Summary: A relaxing day in the woods is interrupted by a Shade from the forest! | |
| Who: Prism Keeper Red, Prism Keeper Orange, Forever Sunshine, and Hayate. (GM: Ikiko Hisakata) | |
| Where: Tama - Nishitama Park District | |
| OOC - IC Date: 08-26-2014 - March 4, 2014 | |
It's an early March day, late enough in winter that the snow is slowly starting to retreat, but still way too cold to even think of being spring. Still, the weather is nice enough for a picnic, as long as you don't mind bundling up for the cold, as scattered handfuls of bold picnic-goers can attest.
Other people, slightly less ambitious but still intent on enjoying the weather, are out walking pets or going on hikes. A few optimists are even out watching the wildlife, on the chance of spotting a returning bird heralding the approach of spring.
Still, it's unlikely that animals will consider this to be anything but winter, as the trees have yet to start growing their leaves for the year. But that's just a matter of time...
Roy is standing on a Fencepost. "No." he says with a scrunched up sour face, the red cardinal looking entirely unpleased. "I won't do this! This is a waste of time, Reiko-chan!"
"Pleeeassseeee?" asks Reiko with wide eyes peering over the edge of her sketchbook, through her glasses, trying to do her best pleading expression. "No birds will stand still long enough! Or get close enough! Can't you ask them to!?"
"It doesn't work that way!"
"Pleasseeeeeeeee?"
"I don't even speak much bird!" insists Roy.
Reiko hrmphs! "Well then. I'm going to draw you! You can sit there and don't move....please?" she asks a little dissapointed as she steps back a bit and begins to draw Roy. Roy long-sufferingly sighhhhhs and stands still, and does his best to look birdlike. He succeeds mostly at this for obvious reasons.
ERIKA INAGAWA
Is walking out of the park carrying some empty bags from a sporting goods store which had previously been filled with some cook stove gear and other things that was on sale. She left them... somewhere. (Heh heh.) It may not be strictly necessary, but it makes her feel better to know that even if that hidden place is strange, they'll be able to have cookouts and warm sleepovers!
She is also toying with a certain object she'd found, though gingerly. It sits in her pocket. Thus far, it has done nothing much. To all appearances, Erika is just another young woman in a winter jacket, out for a walk, here in this completely terror-free park!
Amidst the bare branches of one of the tallest trees in the area, a shape is perched which is clearly not a bird.
Without the screen of leaves to obscure him, it's not exactly the most subtle perch the Knight of Wind could have chosen from which to observe the park. The dark blue of his uniform, accented in red and gold, stands out against the wintry pallor of the sky, fluttering gently in the chilly breeze that also ruffles at his long hair. Then again, people don't often seem to look up. It's a risk that Hayate is willing to take for the sake of having a vantage point from which to see as much of the park as he can.
So far, the air seems clear... but still, he keeps his vigil.
COMBAT: Hayate transforms into Leafe Knight!
"Stop being so dramatic, Roy. We both know you love it when people pay attention to your handsome face~"
The needling voice comes from a few feet behind where Reiko and her bird friend are sitting, and after a second of waiting, its source pops into sight: a tiny girl with very red hair in two pigtails. Mei Akatsuki is on the scene, a mischievous grin from ear to ear.
"He's right about not being able to speak bird, though. They chirp at him all the time, and he can't do anything about it. It makes Biv jealous," she remarks, plopping down next to Reiko. Roy's bluebird counterpart hardly ever leaves the home, as she still has to play the part of the Akatsukis' mother to little Momo. But she does sit menacingly on the windowsill sometimes to scare away the cardinals that try to flirt with her husband in increasing numbers.
Spring is going to be an interesting time at their house.
"So whatcha sketching, Reiko-chan? Just Roy's ugly mug?"
(thump)
It's hard to hear, but from off in the thicker part of the forest comes the sound of something large hitting the ground. It's probably nothing...
thump
That also came from the depths of the woods, a bit closer this time. It's a bit more audible, and... did the ground just shake slightly?
Thump.
That's certainly audible, and much closer. Those with a good vantage can see what looks like a cluster of trees, leaves and all, moving through the forests -- wait, isn't it too early for leaves to start growing?
THUMP!
The tree-like youma knuckle-walks into the clearing, and as it does the colors in area, already dull from the winter, get even more muted. The wood of the Shade looks gnarled and wicked, and it has two sickly glowing orbs -- eyes, perhaps?
So far it doesn't seem to be actively aggressive... well, other than ambiently draining humans and animals in the area, anyway.
COMBAT: Ikiko Hisakata transforms into Youma Form Forest Shade! COMBAT: Forest Shade has fully healed herself. She is now ready to take on 4 opponents!
Roy suddenly darts his head into the distance with a shocked expression! "!?"
"Roy, I said stand stilllllll." she whines. She look at Mei and blushes. "Well...I'm... I'm thinking about entering this magazine contest in one of grandpa's nature magazines...." she says. She has juuust begun to get the basic shapes in.
"No!...I mean, not that! Something is coming!!!" he says.
And Indeed, soon there is a Shade! "Ah!? Right here!? Did it... sense you?" she suddenly asks worried and shamefully. Regardless. she looks at Mei and looks around. There's not too many around and all eyes are probably on this massive tree and plant like Shade as color drains around it. She dashes behind a tree and...!
"Chroma Prism Orange... Transform!"
Orange Flash. Dress Transformation. Koi tying a bow into a knot. She reappears, Roy has already done the smart thing and taken off. He does however announce. "Prism Keepers! I'll head back to make sure everything remains safe back home!" he says off into the distance.
Orange gives a curt nod. "Right!" she says as she glances at the Shade.
"Hey!... um. Get pruned!" she announces as she fires off a brilliant beam of orange energy into the shade.
COMBAT: Reiko Touyama transforms into Prism Keeper Orange! COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has used Orange Beam on Forest Shade. COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has finished attacking.
THUMP. THUMP.
There is unrest in the forest. There is trouble with the trees. Erika Inagawa looks towards it - and unfortunately, she CAN believe what she sees! It would be nice if it was just an early leafer, but no, she sees a squirrel topple out of a tree.
Erika ducks behind a concrete duck (painted beautifully). A vial of perfume comes out of her pocket. "Forever Sunshine --"
"Splash!"
Forever Sunshine leaps atop of that concrete ducky with a dramatic flourish. "Hey! Whoever or whatever you are, you're providing a false hope of spring! Why don't you make like a tree and -"
thunk
"Leave," Forever Sunshine says, distracted by scrabbling for the compass. "Aaaahhh!" She grasps it -
It opens, revealing that it is not quite a compass, but rather a sundial -
And perhaps it's the orange light in the air, perhaps it's just Forever Sunshine not wanting to faceplant, but there's a sudden gleam -
A sphere of violet-red surrounding her -
And with a loud WHIZZ she streaks forwards, fast as a speeding car, towards the trunk of the tree. A distorted "WHHHAAAA" comes from the magical girl within!
Fortunately, those present do not realize this is anomalous! Probably.
COMBAT: Forever Sunshine has used Sunset Rushdown on Forest Shade. COMBAT: Forever Sunshine has finished attacking.
The sound of something large and heavy moving through the park draws Hayate's attention quickly, and from his watchpoint in the branches of the tree, it doesn't take him long to home in on the Shade. His blue eyes narrow, watching the way the color drains away from everything around the tree monster as it thumps its way along.
"One of these again...?"
The wind picks up around him and he leaps from the tree into the air, taking flight towards the creature on a descending path that quickly gains in speed. By the time he nears the site of the altercation he's almost a blur of blue through the air, pushed along by the wind that rushes between the trees and rattles their leafless branches. Hayate flies with his arms braced ahead of him behind a shield of swirling air, on a direct collision course with the Shade's back.
He's almost certainly had better ideas, he can't help thinking.
COMBAT: Hayate has used Gale Force on Forest Shade. COMBAT: Hayate has finished attacking. COMBAT: Forest Shade fails to dodge Forever Sunshine's Sunset Rushdown, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Forever Sunshine is Psyched! COMBAT: Forest Shade narrowly braces Hayate's Gale Force, taking 12 Fatigue damage! Forest Shade's Block ability activates! Forest Shade's Parry ability activates! Stagger applied to Forest Shade!
"A nature magazine, huh?" Mei repeats, leaning back and resting her head on her hands, relaxed. "It must be hard to draw a bird and make it look real, though. Like, an actual bird, and not some cartoon." She eyes the posing bird a few feet away from them, and her grin comes back in full force. "Of course, no bird on Earth has as big a head as Roy does, so he might look like a cartoon anyway."
He flaps his wings and squawks in indignation while the girl herself bursts into giggles. Hey, stop pestering her so much about school, and maybe she'll stop pointing out your gigantic ego.
The gigglefit is cut unfortunately short, however, when a few loud thumps shake the very ground, and a wave of grey more grim than winter muting begins to wash out her peripheral vision.
By now, she doesn't even need Roy to tell her what's going on. The change in her attitude is immediate: time to get down to business. Mei is the one who ducks behind the tree, but it is Prism Keeper Red who emerges.
"Ugh, it's been a while since one of these showed up," she complains, wings fluttering just enough to keep her an inch above the ground. "Be careful, Orange. This one looks kinda dangerous." But her companion is away before she can think of any strategy to impart, so the pint-sized magical girl shrugs, then shoots a few feet in the air.
"Hey, Treebeard! Over here!" she shouts to direct his attention away from the blast of orange he's about to take. "The park's grey enough without your help, thank you very much." To punctuate this, Red holds her hands in front of her and shoots a beam of red at its big, wooden eyes.
(She doesn't quite remember who Treebeard is, but she heard it in a movie once, and it seemed fitting.)
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki transforms into Prism Keeper Red! COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red has used Paint It Red on Forest Shade. COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red has finished attacking. COMBAT: Forest Shade narrowly braces Prism Keeper Red's Paint It Red, taking 12 Fatigue damage! Forest Shade's Block ability activates! Forest Shade's Parry ability activates! Diversion applied to Forest Shade!
While the Forest Shade is big, it's not exactly fast. It blinks owlishly when Prism Keeper Orange appears, trying to think why this person seems significant.
It flinches slightly from the Orange Beam, realization dawning that, hey, this is an enemy. The youma tries to step out of the way of Forever Sunshine's rush, but it's still moving sluggishly. It leans into Hayate's charge, taking the edge out of the impact but still rocking slightly.
By the time Prism Keeper Red blasts it with a red beam, the Forest Shade has finally decided that it's had enough. It flails around with its trunk-like arms, trying to clobber the ones who attacked it.
COMBAT: Forest Shade has used Big Swing on Prism Keeper Red. COMBAT: Forest Shade has used Big Swing on Hayate. COMBAT: Forest Shade has used Big Swing on Forever Sunshine. COMBAT: Forest Shade has used Big Swing on Prism Keeper Orange. COMBAT: Forest Shade has finished attacking. COMBAT: Hayate perfectly dodges Forest Shade's Big Swing, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Critical Dodge! Hayate's Fade ability activates! Hayate's Flash ability activates! COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red fails to dodge Forest Shade's Big Swing, taking 39 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Stun applied to Prism Keeper Red! COMBAT: Forever Sunshine fails to dodge Forest Shade's Big Swing, taking 36 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Stun applied to Forever Sunshine! COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange narrowly counters Forest Shade's Big Swing, taking 7 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange's counterattack, Orangella Obfuscation, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Forest Shade!
Prism Keeper Orange eyes go wide as this thing draws up and arm to swing at everyone. She raises her hands and a vibrant array of bright and orange koi spin around her like a protective round shield, being absorbed as she pushes back at the fist with all her might, before it gets pushed away, most likely---or the thing just stops swinging. She frowns as her eyes go wide at Mei. "Ah! Red-chan are you okay!?" she calls out, she got hit pretty good. But so did that other Magical Girl that rocketed past almost like she didn't mean to, she frowns. "Is EVERYONE okay!?" she calls out.
She looks at the odd boy. She hasn't seem him before, but she regards him with wonder for a moment before looking at the tree monster. "Nrg....everyone... we can do this!" she calls out as she summons her wand and causes a sparkling orange effect to appear around the heroes, following with koi that spiral up from the feet, to the head, swimming in delight!
Koi should make everyone happy, she thinks.
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has used Orange Optimism on Prism Keeper Red. COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has used Orange Optimism on Forever Sunshine. COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has used Orange Optimism on Hayate. COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has finished attacking. COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red accepts Prism Keeper Orange's Orange Optimism, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Prism Keeper Red is Cheered! COMBAT: Hayate accepts Prism Keeper Orange's Orange Optimism, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Hayate is Cheered! COMBAT: Forever Sunshine accepts Prism Keeper Orange's Orange Optimism, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Forever Sunshine is Cheered!
That worked out great!
...a little too great, it seems. Time to dodge the angry tree branch that's headingrightthiswayomgwingsGO--
thump
Prism Keeper Red is temporarily blinded as the oaken arm collides directly with her head, her attempt at dodging actually sending her careening into it at greater speed. Following the darkness is an explosion of stars in front of her eyes and a dull throb that fills her skull and intensifies with every beat of her pulse. She also feels herself collide with the ground, but somehow, it doesn't seem quite as bad -- landing on grass from ten feet up is a bit less severe than taking a massive blow to the head, it would seem.
Ok. It's ok. I've still got this. I just...have to be able to see again, she thinks to herself, struggling back to her feet while the lights dance in front of her eyes. For a long, scary moment, she thinks there might have been permanent damage; but then the vague outline of the giant tree comes back into view, and she reasons that she'll be fine in a few minutes.
Probably with a killer headache, though.
"Let's see how fun you think violence is when you're the one getting hit," Red threatens, a shield of crimson energy humming into existence around her. Well, and koi, courtesy of her friend. She can't exactly see the other Prism Keeper at the moment, but she waves in the direction she thinks she is.
(And is totally wrong, but A for effort, anyway.)
Still, her vision is clearing more and more by the second, and before the Shade can act again, the girl launches herself at bullet speed towards it, surrounded by an impenetrable bubble of her own color.
Hmm, someone else tried this strategy too, didn't they? But her addled brain can't quite place the name or face, so she drops the train of thought, for now.
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red has used Red Comet on Forest Shade. COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red has finished attacking. COMBAT: Forest Shade narrowly braces Prism Keeper Red's Red Comet, taking 4 Fatigue damage! Prism Keeper Red is Psyched! Forest Shade's Block ability activates! Forest Shade's Parry ability activates!
The whirling cloud of light around Forever Sunshine does NOT, it seems, actually manage to protect her from damage. With a meaty THWAP she rebounds off another tree, looking momentarily daized...
And awakens to being gently nibbled by a koi.
Forever Sunshine gazes at the orange light with wonder and surprise, the soreness in her back fading in honest and frank appreciation. She smiles, pushing herself up to her feet, and calls out, "Thanks!!"
She looks at the sundial in her hand, which has closed. "It worked this time... I wonder why it did that to me when I touched it before? Everything just got really blurry and slow, except me, I guess..."
Forever Sunshine hoists up its looped cord and hangs it around her neck. "Well, I have to think about taking out the BURNABLE TRASH before I can worry about my ancient heritage!" Sinking into a ready stance, she breathes in. Sweeping one leg around, she stomps the ground, quite intimidatingly...
And a ripple of tangerine-and-purple light rips through the ground, towards the root of the tree. "Citrus is a good way to clear up what ales you!" she says, mostly to fill the air. "I don't have to get close to beat your butt!"
COMBAT: Forever Sunshine has used Tangerine Storm on Forest Shade. COMBAT: Forever Sunshine has finished attacking. COMBAT: Forest Shade narrowly counters Forever Sunshine's Tangerine Storm, taking 12 Fatigue damage! Forest Shade's Reverse ability activates! Forest Shade's Tactician ability activates! Trap applied to Forest Shade! COMBAT: Forest Shade's counterattack, Leaf Storm, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Forever Sunshine!
The Knight of Wind meets the tree-Shade with a satisfying impact; the shield of wind bursts into vapor, but it did its job and Hayate rebounds away, catching himself to hover in midair. From here, for the first time he gets a good look at the allies who've joined this fight, and his eyes widen slightly in recognition as he sees Prism Keeper Red-- "There's two of you now?"
But this is no time for conversation, not with the Shade thrashing its powerful arms in all directions. The wind surges up underneath Hayate and he whirls clear of the assault, coming back to the earth a short distance away just in time to be met by the surge of... magical fish?
They're almost like a little flock of orange Tipis. Oddly encouraging, in its way.
In another moment Hayate has leaped into the air again, once more homing in on the Shade. After Red and Forever Sunshine make their attacks, he follows with one of his own, throwing out his arm to slice two fingers through the air and send a blade of shimmering wind flying at the monster.
COMBAT: Hayate has used Razor Wind Slash on Forest Shade. COMBAT: Hayate has finished attacking. COMBAT: Forest Shade fails to brace Hayate's Razor Wind Slash, taking 22 Fatigue damage! Hayate is Psyched!
The Forest Shade watches the koi dance across the magicfolk, raising their spirits. All this flow of energy is reminding it of it's primal directive: drain color!
Still, it doesn't get much time to dwell on that. The youma takes a step back as Red slams into it, then launches a volley of leaves to try protecting itself from Forever Sunshine's wave of light. (Fun fact: it takes a lot of leaves to provide shade... and that wasn't enough leaves).
The cutting wind of Hayate's blade of air makes the Shade howl in pain. Furious and more than a little hungry, it unleashes beams of dimness, siphoning color out of everything that they hit.
COMBAT: Forest Shade has used Color Leech on Prism Keeper Red. COMBAT: Forest Shade has used Color Leech on Prism Keeper Orange. COMBAT: Forest Shade has used Color Leech on Forever Sunshine. COMBAT: Forest Shade has used Color Leech on Hayate. COMBAT: Forest Shade has finished attacking. COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange narrowly braces Forest Shade's Color Leech, taking 3 Mana damage! Prism Keeper Orange's Block ability activates! Prism Keeper Orange's Parry ability activates! Forest Shade drains 2 mana from Prism Keeper Orange! COMBAT: Forever Sunshine narrowly dodges Forest Shade's Color Leech, taking 3 Mana damage! Forever Sunshine's Fade ability activates! Forever Sunshine's Flash ability activates! Forest Shade drains 2 mana from Forever Sunshine! COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red narrowly braces Forest Shade's Color Leech, taking 3 Mana damage! Forest Shade drains 2 mana from Prism Keeper Red! COMBAT: Hayate narrowly braces Forest Shade's Color Leech, taking 3 Mana damage! Forest Shade drains 2 mana from Hayate!
Prism Keeper Orange raises her arm as the color drain washes over her. Her bright orange fades just a hue, and you can tell because her wand's crystal remains it's same vibrant orange. She eeks and panics, and shakes her head, trying to get this aboulsute down and terrible feeling off of her quick, she takes a deep breath. "Ah---! Wha---" she shakes her head.
She looks at Hayate with wide eyes. "What do you mean there's two of you....." she says to him. She looks at Red... Mei, for answers on that one. "Do you know him, Red!?" she calls out.
She frowns and slings a school of koi from her hand, it appears as from nowhwere in front of her, and proceeds to rocket off into the Shade.
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has used Koi Rush on Forest Shade. COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has finished attacking. COMBAT: Forest Shade fails to dodge Prism Keeper Orange's Koi Rush, taking 17 Fatigue damage!
Hayate grits his teeth as the deep blue of his uniform begins to desaturate - he at least knew to expect something like this after his previous encounter with one of the Shades, but it's no less an unpleasant feeling, and far too much like having the leafe drained out of him by a demon larva. It's enough to prompt him to retreat a short space, touching down to the ground near Prism Keeper Orange.
"Stay focused," he tells her. The look he shoots her from alongside is an opaque one, but his voice is matter-of-fact and almost mild, the tone of one who is simply stating a piece of truth. "You're doing well."
COMBAT: Hayate has used The Wind is With You! on Prism Keeper Orange. COMBAT: Hayate has finished attacking.
A beam lances out and touches the back of Forever Sunshine's hand. Caramel hued skin goes a sudden stark corpselike white in a blotchy oval.
Forever Sunshine looks at it in horror. Her hand comes upwards, her fingers curling - loosening - and then she says, "Is... is this what they always see...?"
But she doesn't focus on it. Her fingers stay tightly curled. Her cheeks puff out with focus, and she looks at Hayate momentarily. He's throwing a wind slash, she thinks. "Oiiii! Handsome guy!! Do you know the Knight of Wind??"
"She also uses wind!!"
"Like you do!!"
Forever Sunshine's eyes flick forward as she focuses up. She then turns around - to flee? No - to climb up the tree she's near, to gain height. "Alright, you big wooden blockhead - you're not talking... maybe you're just some kind of wandering monster. But I don't plan to let you steal any color from the skin of innocent children playing around!"
Another beam washes over a squirrel, who is now an albino; the squirrel, naturally, is dismayed.
"Feel the passion of my beating heart! The warm memories of summertime that you're denying! PINK - PEONNNYYY--"
Forever Sunshine backflips, her right hand extended, fingers curled. Purple-pink crackles of lightninglike energy whips out - and the uncharacteristically summery scent fills the air as it tries to ground itself, much like its visual equivalent, in the tree itself! "OVERDRIIIIIIIII oof"
(Forever Sunshine hit another tree.)
COMBAT: Forever Sunshine has used Pink Peony Overdrive on Forest Shade. COMBAT: Forever Sunshine has finished attacking. COMBAT: Forest Shade fails to brace Forever Sunshine's Pink Peony Overdrive, taking 30 Fatigue damage!
"Eh??" Prism Keeper Red cries out as her orb of crimson glances of the towering Shade, leaving only the faintest trace of red behind. "B-But that other guy's attack worked! Why didn't mine?"
"There are two of you now?!"
"Heeeey, I know that voice," she says, wheeling around in midair as the last remnants of the magic fade around her. It's from a while ago, to be sure -- and she's not completely sure if she heard it correctly, having been a bit involved with charging the Shade when he said it. But after looking around for a second and catching sight of her friend's bright orange, she spots the source of the voice. And her jaw all but unhinges.
"It's you again!" She shoots over to them as fast as her little wings can carry her, then alights next to them, her vision now almost completely returned. "You were there the first time I -- I..."
Her voice fades away as the Shade unleashes its signature attack, and particles of color energy loosen from her outfit and float slowly towards the giant tree. With a burst of red, she's able to interrupt the drain around her immediate area, but the insidious effects of it stick with her, and she can feel the hollow in her spirit where that color used to be.
She'll handle the re-introductions later. Right now, they have to bring this thing down.
"Okay, listen up, everyone! This Shade is gonna keep this up if we don't bring it down, so I suggest we do it as quickly as we can," the young Prism Keeper shouts, conjuring her Chroma Wand above her head. The big guns have come out. "Let's protect springtime in this park!"
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red has used Red-Letter Day on Hayate. COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red has used Red-Letter Day on Prism Keeper Orange. COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red has used Red-Letter Day on Forever Sunshine. COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red has finished attacking. COMBAT: Hayate accepts Prism Keeper Red's Red-Letter Day, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Empower applied to Hayate! COMBAT: Forever Sunshine accepts Prism Keeper Red's Red-Letter Day, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Empower applied to Forever Sunshine! COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange accepts Prism Keeper Red's Red-Letter Day, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Empower applied to Prism Keeper Orange! COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange accepts Hayate's The Wind is With You!, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Prism Keeper Orange is Cheered!
The Forest Shade seems somewhat invigorated by the drained color, but it doesn't get time to enjoy it before Orange bombards it with koi. The fish prove to be faster than the forestry, slamming into the youma hard...
...but not as hard as Forever Sunshine's lash of summer. The impact of the energy slams squarely into the Shade, knocking it to a knee and leaving scorch marks. The glow of its eyes takes on a furious tone as it stands back up, eyeing its opponents.
With an inarticulate bellow, the Shade stomps HARD, suctioning the color out of the ground and causing a burst of vines to appear around Orange, Hayate, and Forever Sunshine. A fresh reinforcement of leaves appear in its canopy, dislodging the old ones forcibly at Red.
COMBAT: Forest Shade has used Growth Explosion on Prism Keeper Orange. COMBAT: Forest Shade has used Growth Explosion on Hayate. COMBAT: Forest Shade has used Growth Explosion on Forever Sunshine. COMBAT: Forest Shade has used Leaf Storm on Prism Keeper Red. COMBAT: Forest Shade has used Robust Growth on Forest Shade. COMBAT: Forest has not concluded their actions. Reactions are not yet available. COMBAT: Forest Shade has finished attacking. COMBAT: Hayate narrowly dodges Forest Shade's Growth Explosion, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Hayate's Fade ability activates! Hayate's Flash ability activates! Stagger and Tangle applied to Hayate! COMBAT: Forest Shade accepts Forest Shade's Robust Growth, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Empower and Withstand applied to Forest Shade! COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange narrowly dodges Forest Shade's Growth Explosion, taking 8 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red narrowly counters Forest Shade's Leaf Storm, taking 6 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Prism Keeper Red's Reverse ability activates! Prism Keeper Red's Tactician ability activates! Diversion and Exhausted applied to Prism Keeper Red! COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red's counterattack, Rose Darts, partially gets through, doing 23 Fatigue damage to Forest Shade! Stagger applied to Forest Shade!
Prism Keeper Orange eyes go wide, as she tries to get out of the way of the vines---and mostly succeeds, though some tug at her dress and shirt, as she huffs. "Too slow!" she chides the monster as she looks to Mei and nods. "R--Right....!" she says as she frowns. But... she has been giving it her all. She can sure /take/ hits, but when it comes to giving them--- that's Mei's department. That's what SHE excels at. She does, however, try her best, raising her wand again and summoning a rush of vibrant, orange color energy to it's tip as she eyes the handsome knight of the wind....
She kind of feels a little like she did when she admiring that handsome boy in the tuxedo who fought alongside Sailor Moon, but that feeling is ultimately ruined by his subpar delivery, it still helps, her all the same. "Right!" she says with a bizzare expression at the boy, before she unleashes the beam of color energy that had been resting at the tip of her wand in a charge the whole time.
COMBAT: Forever Sunshine fails to dodge Forest Shade's Growth Explosion, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Stagger and Tangle applied to Forever Sunshine! COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has used Orange Rush! on Forest Shade. COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has finished attacking. COMBAT: Forest Shade narrowly dodges Prism Keeper Orange's Orange Rush!, taking 15 Fatigue damage! Forest Shade's Fade ability activates! Forest Shade's Flash ability activates!
When Forever Sunshine calls out to him, Hayate's eyes widen in surprise - and then he makes the world's biggest stinkface. "The only Knight of Wind I know of is myself," he snaps back in reply. That would probably be a 'no'.
In the next moment, vines burst from the ground under his feet, and Hayate leaps into the air again to avoid them almost too late. A couple of the longest and fastest-growing of the vines manage to grab at his feet, tangling around his boots and bringing his flight up short, prompting him to turn a ferocious glare downwards. Throwing out both hands, he sends a flurry of wind-blades flying outwards, slicing through not only the vines snaring him but the ones entangling Forever Sunshine as well - and the moment he's free, another wave of his hand creates a soothing breeze that wells up around Prism Keeper Red, clearing the air of any floating leaf matter and giving her a chance to breathe.
COMBAT: Hayate has used Precise Razor Wind on Hayate. COMBAT: Hayate has used Precise Razor Wind on Forever Sunshine. COMBAT: Hayate has used Precise Razor Wind on Prism Keeper Red. COMBAT: Hayate has finished attacking. COMBAT: Hayate accepts Hayate's Precise Razor Wind, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Cleanse! All of Hayate's debuffs are cleared! COMBAT: Forever Sunshine accepts Hayate's Precise Razor Wind, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Cleanse! All of Forever Sunshine's debuffs are cleared! COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red accepts Hayate's Precise Razor Wind, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Cleanse! All of Prism Keeper Red's debuffs are cleared!
"Eh... ehhe..."
Forever Sunshine's will to use a Finisher attack has been broken by embarrassment! Well, that and - "The Overdrive didn't work...?!"
She glances at Prism Keeper Red, nodding once and sucking in a deep breath as she sinks down to the ground, crouching low and narrowing her eyes at the thing. Vines then snap up - "Wah!"
But then Hayate snaps them away. Forever Sunshine's cheeks redden slightly as she steals another look up at the handsome man with command of the winds themselves, for he is now the one who has freed her.
Sucking in a deep breath - she dives inwards. Light shimmers around her hand and her feet kick up plumes of fragrant sandalwood smoke; her plan is to draw close, terribly close, to the thing --
And then smash her fist into it in a tremendous full-body uppercut! Can she break THIS much wood in a single blow!? Maybe it will, at least, give the Prism Keepers an opening!
COMBAT: Forever Sunshine has used Rising Sandalwood on Forest Shade. COMBAT: Forever Sunshine has finished attacking. COMBAT: Forest Shade narrowly counters Forever Sunshine's Rising Sandalwood, taking 29 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Forest Shade's Reverse ability activates! Forest Shade's Tactician ability activates! Stagger applied to Forest Shade! COMBAT: Forest Shade's counterattack, Big Swing, partially gets through, doing 8 Fatigue damage to Forever Sunshine! Stun applied to Forever Sunshine!
You're going to attack Prism Keeper Red with greenery? Fine. She has just the response for it. Namely, a dozen razor-sharpened roses that she summons with a snap of her fingers and sends flying into each leaf that's shaken at her, impaling them before they can even reach her.
Well, most of them. A few cut up her arms and legs, but she's had worse. The young magical girl is ready to fight on despite it when she feels a magical wind encircle her, gently carrying off the pain of the cuts as well as the building ache in her head. Wait...she's definitely felt something like that before.
Red turns her head to look at Hayate suspiciously. "Are you sure you've never met the Knight of Wind? Because you fight in really similar ways."
Not that it matters too much right now -- she's refreshed, healed, and ready to go. On the heels of the Perfume Warrior's punch and Orange's blast, Prism Keeper Red leaps into the air again, holding the Chroma Wand with both hands just beneath the crystal on its head.
"Let's hit 'em with everything we've got!" she yells, a spark of red glinting off the surface of the scarlet crystal. Steadily, a greater supply of color energy flows into and around her, replacing the magic that was stolen from her earlier and turning her into an impossibly bright speck of red against the backdrop of encroaching grey.
"Prism Aegis Power! Red Rain!"
The gathered light shoots into the sky, focused by her Chroma Wand, and opens a portal just above the Forest Shade, raining down blasts of searing crimson and maroon, all hues and shades of red.
It won't be enough to kill it, not on its own. But it's the signal to start the magical volley that will take down the Shade.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Prism Keeper Red has used Prism Aegis Power! Red Rain! on Forest Shade. COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red has finished attacking. COMBAT: Forest Shade fails to brace Prism Keeper Red's Finisher, Prism Aegis Power! Red Rain!, taking 75 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!
Even in the best of times, the Forest Shade isn't the fastest... and this certainly isn't the best of times. First Orange's beam scorches it harshly, even with its glancing blow. And speaking of glancing blows...
It swings at Forever Sunshine as she does her uppercut, and there's a loud CRACK as her magic-boosted fist leaves visible fractures in its arm. The youma screeches, its eyes widening in pain.
The eyes narrow as Hayate carves away the overgrowth; it spent valuable drained color making those plants! Sure, it was going to reabsrob them when done, but still!
When Red leaps into the air, the Shade bring up its arms to try absorbing the attack that would likely come from the Prism Keeper. When the color flies away, up into the air, it looks with puzzlement... which quickly leads to pain as the crimson rain catches it flatfooted.
Trembling with range, the Forest Shade seems to be slowing breaking apart; perhaps it took more damage than our heroes thought? No, it's growing its outer layer into easily-launched chunks, like a botanical bomb, and as it thrashes around these chunks go flying, shattering into dangerous fragments and raining on Red, Hayate, and Forever Sunshine. While Orange is out of the path of the wooden barrage, one of the Shade's arms happens to flail her direction like an oversized baseball bat.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Forest Shade has used Explosion of Splinters on Prism Keeper Red. COMBAT: FINISHER! Forest Shade has used Explosion of Splinters on Hayate. COMBAT: FINISHER! Forest Shade has used Explosion of Splinters on Forever Sunshine. COMBAT: Forest Shade has used Big Swing on Prism Keeper Orange. COMBAT: Forest Shade has finished attacking. COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange fails to counter Forest Shade's Big Swing, taking 25 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange's counterattack, Orangella Obfuscation, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Forest Shade! COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red narrowly braces Forest Shade's Finisher, Explosion of Splinters, taking 21 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Hayate narrowly braces Forest Shade's Finisher, Explosion of Splinters, taking 23 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Forever Sunshine narrowly braces Forest Shade's Finisher, Explosion of Splinters, taking 22 Fatigue damage!
Prism Keeper Orange opens her eyes wide as the arm comes racing at her and her first reflex is to summon that shield of vibrant koi again! Like last time, they appear, but unlike last time- the attack sends her flying off in the opposite direction and against a tree off in the treeline. The shield shatters dramatically and she falls to her feet, and closes her eyes. "Ugh----"
She gets back up to her feet and wow. She's a bit away now. She proceeds to race back as fast as her tiny little wings will carry her. She's getting better at the flying thing. She at least, flies straight and stops when she apparently wants to.
"E..Enough of this! We have to--take this down! And bring back all the green and spring colors...." she says as she raises her wand, another energy ball forming at the top as calls out. "Prism Aegis Power!" she flingers her wand down and forwards. "Orange Outburst!" she calls out as a brilliant Orange Beam aims to slice through the beast!
COMBAT: FINISHER! Prism Keeper Orange has used Prism Aegis Power! Orange Outburst! on Forest Shade. COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has finished attacking. COMBAT: Forest Shade fails to dodge Prism Keeper Orange's Finisher, Prism Aegis Power! Orange Outburst!, taking 50 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!
Hayate just shoots Prism Keeper Red a thoroughly exasperated scowl as he maneuvers through the air for a better shot at the Shade. "I told you--"
The blazing reds of the Prism Keeper's power rain down on the tree-monster; Hayate stays just out of the area of the assault, gathering power. The wind swirls around him, stronger and faster each second, picking up little bits of twigs and other small debris and spiraling it around the Leafe Knight in a column - the explosion of wood chunks and splinters is caught in it as well, not entirely, but enough to keep the worst of the attack from getting through.
When Prism Keeper Orange calls out to the rest of them and unleashes her beam of color, Hayate is gathering the wind between his hands, twisting faster and tighter into a sphere so compressed it's a visible blur--
"--I AM the Knight of Wind!"
With this shout of declaration he releases the wind in a vortex blast, a tornado funnel cloud in miniature that races toward the Shade with a shape like the head of a dragon forming at its leading edge in the moment before impact.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Hayate has used Dragon Vortex on Forest Shade. COMBAT: Hayate has finished attacking. COMBAT: Forest Shade fails to brace Hayate's Finisher, Dragon Vortex, taking 72 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Forest Shade is unable to keep fighting!
She made it squeal! Forever Sunshine feels vaguely guilty about that, and much less so when she's suddenly bombarded with spikes of wood. "Kyah!" she cries, throwing an arm up on reflex alone to shield her face...
Forever Sunshine hits the ground, bouncing, and lands in a half-squat - just in time to see the shining bright orange beam and the dragon vortex behind it. "Ahh--"
"Those are AMAZING!" she says. "Go! Goooo and finish it off! Orange! Knight of Wind! Yeaaaah~!"
The Forest Shade was already looking shaky when it launched shrapnel at the magicfolk fighting it. Orange's beam carves deeply into it, cracking the underlayer and leaving it barely holding together. When Hayate's vortex slams into it, the coherency fails, and the remaining chunks of wood are scattered far and wide, falling apart into dust as they fly.
All that's left is the glob of stolen color, floating and pulsating.
Prism Keeper Orange watches as the Shade explodes into dust and she takes a deep, hard breath. Everyone's okay. Good. She walks towards the glob of stolen color and picks it up into her hands and holds it up the sky and with a thought.... zoop! She knows Mei is okay, and runs over to her though. "We did it!" she says with a wide smile... "I hope... Roy didn't attract them out...." she says again, sounding like this might be her fault.
She looks over to Hayate. "Oh! Hi! Um...Thank you!" she calls out. "Um.... The Knight of the Wind....?" she calls out. That's the only name she's gotten so far out of all this yelling. At least she's prepending it with a 'The'?
In the aftermath of the Shade's destruction, the magical winds die down into the faintest whisper of a cold breeze. Hayate still hovers, however, hanging in the air a foot or two above the ground. He looks at his hands, frowning, not seeming to at all share the others' excitement or satisfaction in the good work they've collectively done.
Then again, maybe it's just that nothing pleases this guy.
When Prism Keeper Orange calls out to him, he shoots a sharp look her way, letting out a sigh. Well, whatever - he already told the red one his name the last time, didn't he. "Hayate," he says crisply, and those blue eyes flick momentarily toward Prism Keeper Red, then back to Orange. "I see you guys have been busy." It's hard to tell if he means it to be approving or judgmental.
Either way, it's clear he doesn't mean it to be the start of a conversation; he's already rising upwards. "Maybe I'll see you again." Once more, the wind picks up, lifting bits of fallen leaves into the air - and the Leafe Knight vanishes in a flicker of bluish light, and peace returns to the park.
