2016-08-20 - A Virgo Vertex

Title: A Virgo Vertex
Summary: Forestization warning! The first Virgo Vertex attacks the World Tree, but the Shinjuu draws in Heroes and other magical girls to defend itself!
Who: Georgia Jenks, Yua Chouku, Akira Moto, Endo Naoki, Fu Inubozaki, Fuu Hououji, Hikaru Shidou, Inori Yamabuki, Kasagami Araki, Takeo Akamizu, Lilian Abarth, Mai Mishou, Saki Hyuuga, Setsuna Higashi, Miki Aono GM: Utena Tenjou
Where: The Shinjuu Jukai
OOC - IC Date: 08-20-2016 - 11-15-2014

<Pose Tracker> Utena Tenjou [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

Where are you when it happens?

In the halls, after school -- or out shopping, eating, running -- playing ball in an inside court -- braving the elements, the biting wind and chill, pouring rain, to hang around outside.

BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx8F-fJ-iYo&feature=youtu.be&t=29

Only a select few get any notice, in the form of a ringtone they didn't know they'd set, a flashing red screen with an ominous message: FORESTIZE WARNING

After that, the first to realize that something has changed are the people outside, who start running into raindrops, feeling them plaster against their face by hitting them alongside instead of from above. Looking back, there's a trail of space following their footsteps; the rest of the air is filled with tiny droplets warped to spears by their own speed yet perfectly suspended in midair.

And the other bystanders are frozen too, be they outside or in, midleap on the path to a slam dunk, gesticulating wildly at a Midori-ya booth, laughing at an absurd bargain-tagged sweater, or with their friends at school. Only a few, select individuals remain aware, standing outside of time, looking back in, like kids on the wrong side of the candy store glass.

Or maybe it's the right side. Those chosen today to save the world are allowed to bear witness to one heck of a show. At first everything seems gray, washed out, but there's a gradual reckoning with altering reality; nothing has changed, everything is as bright as ever -- only now hues and saturations are competing with the fact that the sky has broken open, way out there on the horizon.

Blackness climbs the walls of the world, and there in its deepest darkness pulses the opposite: a scintillating, rainbow combination of lights, pulsing in and out, a thousand million auroras, or even nebulas. Eventually, as it meets itself in the middle directly overhead, the rainbows seem to need to find somewhere else to go, and slop up onto the land like prismatic liquid, rising rapidly into a downtown tsunami, engulfing everyone and everything in an instant of blinding, terrible, wonderful light. It doesn't hurt, when it comes. If anything, it feels delicate, like being kissed by a field of flowers.

Reopening eyes discover that this isn't at all far from the truth. The flood has passed, and yet remains, petals crowding each other for space in this new, dark sky. The ground is all but gone; people stand, more or less precariously, in a rainforest that isn't a rainforest, because it isn't hot or wet, and also the vines are too big, bigger than anything normal, some of them wider than a train car. The smallest are tangling tubes wider than a girl, that seem like tall grass in comparison to the motherlode of larger, entangled, intertwined vines -- it's a three dimensional labyrinth of epic proportions, and every single piece of flora is a beautiful, strange color, a piece of pastel stolen from the rainbow and rendered anew in plant form.

It takes a while for the sense of scale to sink in. From here at the center of things, it seems endless, but there is a single point of reference: the World Tree, the Sky Tree, the Sacred Tree Bontou, the Shinjuu-sama. It has many names, in the manner of important things that attract them. Its silhouette is unmistakable to those familiar to it, but here it stretches not hundreds but thousands of feet high. The trunk, the branches, the leaves... it is filled with light, completely golden, shining with a power greater than the heart of a star and equal to the heart of a world filled with life, life, life. It feels holy. It feels beautiful, not in the way that beauty can be passively appreciated like a spectator, but rather the Shinjuu exudes, embodies the kind of beauty that sweeps people off their feet, consumes their breath, makes them part of something bigger than themselves.

Perhaps most lovely and wondrous of all is the gradual recognition that these vines that conceal the Earth and climb into the sky aren't vines at all -- they're roots, with only one beginning and apparently no end.

Cradled by the World Tree should be a warm and comforting feeling, but those present weren't brought here to be cuddled. And that tension exists here too, from the moment this strange and gorgeous realm imposes itself upon reality, a certainty as much a constant here as gravity:

This is a battlefield.

<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Fuu Hououji would, at best, have been at archery practice - and the weather wasn't exactly favorable for archery in any dojo that's even partially open-air, as most of them tend to be. Although in point of fact, anyone who was looking for Fuu on this rainy afternoon would have had quite a difficult task ahead of them ...

Because the Magic Knight of Wind doesn't usually keep her civilian cell phone handy when she's transformed. It's not really good weather for a patrol, either, but in a way, that made the idea of patrolling Tama Park for stray monsters seem even more important. It's just something about the chill in the air, the dreariness of the rain: conditions which leech hope and warmth from the heart, little by little, if you aren't buttressed against the wet grayness.

.... and then things stop, before they stop being gray.

The colorful forest flows across Tama, if not further, and what had been a park is now a riot of vivid color and blossoming branches - or rather, *roots*, once she realizes it (which may take a little while). The Magic Knight of Wind rubs her sleeve across her forehead and hair, discerning that the rain which had soaked the latter is already evaporating and drying off, and looks around; she's not sure what happened, or where anyone else is ... but the World Tree is as good a landmark as any, and she begins making her way in that direction, dismissing her weapons for the moment in favor of making faster time. She's not above conjuring a gentle tailwind to assist her leaps, either, but she's saving her strength - she has a distinctive gut feeling that she'll need everything she's got.

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji transforms into Wind Knight!

<Pose Tracker> Georgia Jenks [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

"Awww man! Sold out! Just my luck..."

The defeated sigh of a very American teenager can be heard as Georgia walks out of the small pastry store where she's been unsuccessful in getting her favorite confectionary treat. Ah well, she'll just have to get here earlier tomorrow! With her arms stretched out behind her she looks to the sky briefly, happy that she's wearing a coat over her uniform. Winter is definitely here, with Christmas just around the corner. She briefly wonders if she should start looking for gifts for her father and uncle ahead of time -- a thought she always entertains for just long enough before discarding. Nah! She's has plenty of time to-

And that's when she notices that people are frozen in time. Her mouth drops open as she blinks a few times, lowering her arms down at her sides. "...Alright then." Is all she can say in response, noting what a head scratcher this one is. Could it be a monster? Or magic gone awry? Either way, she's prompted to look up at the sky again when it /breaks open and spews rainbows/. Georgia shields her eyes as the tide of technicolor rushes down and engulfs everything -- including her!

Moments later however she's able to see again, and where she finds herself is wholly unexpected. "A... forest?" She says in disbelief. No. More like a rainforest. And a beautiful one at that. The colors pop and dazzle. It's nothing like she's seen in books that's for sure. "Huh... Toto we are definitely not in Kansas anymore." With a sigh she runs a hand through her already mussed-up hair and shakes her head. "Guess it can't be helped, then."

Georgia brings her hands together afterward and claps them together once before spreading her arms out wide. Out of thin air appears two chrome escrima sticks, spinning lazily for a moment before she takes them within her grasp. "Better get moving... That tree is probably as good a place as any to head." And then she's off, moving briskly through the lush flora.

COMBAT: Georgia Jenks transforms into HiME Georgia!

<Pose Tracker> Kasagami Araki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

After several emotional days, Kasagami's taken her forced day of rest to good use. She's been in her dorm enjoying some cold coffee while she watches the rain pour down outside. The sounds are soothing, and for once, she feels like she can think properly. For just a few idyllic moments, she forgets all the guilt and the pain for a bit of nature appreciation.

Which is swiftly dashed as the world goes grey. Rain falls in impossible ways. Kasagami tumbles over her table in shock, a gasp falling from her mouth.

In the space of seconds, she's grabbed her sword, thrown on her coat over her tanktop and sweats. Into embarrassingly pink fuzzy slippers, and is out the window. At her first leap, lines of sparkles gather around the neck and hems of her coat, only for a flash and she's trailing roses as she moves faster and faster until she's cleared Southern Cross Island over to Tama in the span of minutes, moving from rooftop to rooftop in a blurr that leaves only the scent of roses.

And just as she arrives, there's a flash that blinds. She lands in a slide of fuzzy slippers along ground, only to open them up as she stares upon the World Tree. It's beautiful. The area around her, those roots, are a rainbow colored wonder. Kasagami shivers, lost in its marvel for more than a few moments.

Clickt. She loosens her swords in its sheath and grips it with her other hand. As much as she's in awe, she can smell that tension of battle in the air. Slowly, she grins.

"...Now what's all this? Heh heh heh, this feeling...! I CAN'T WAIT!" Her laugh is loud. She hasn't noticed anyone else just yet!

COMBAT: Kasagami Araki transforms into Crimson Rose Duelist!

<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Shidou [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

No matter how difficult things seem, no matter how tough things get, you can't let them get you down. You have to believe in yourself, and you will triumph over adversity! That's the motto of Hikaru Shidou when things get rough. Despite how sometimes she gets annoyed easily when things go downhill because of a monster or something, she knows that believing in herself and the power of her allies will always help her through things. Which is why she's more than ready to take on any dangers that come her way right now!

Of course, if one was expecting Hikaru to be showing up, they'd be surprised, because the girl known as Hikaru is nowhere to be seen. Instead, it's the Magic Knight of Fire who's taking care of patrolling the park right now, just like her colleague, the Magic Knight of Wind. Because she's on extra high alert, she isn't entirely surprised when she sees things start to go wrong. Unlike when she's in civilian form and starts to get grumpy at first because she doesn't like it when things go wrong, the fact that she's already in her Magic Knight form means that she's ready to move out.

Spinning fast on her heels, the Fire Knight races towards the World Tree, figuring that it would serve as a good spot to meet up with anyone else in the area being so big and all that. "I don't care what's happening right now, we're gonna take care of it! We can do it!" She says to herself, feeling the power of belief in herself and her colleagues coming to her fast. "We will triumph!"

COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou transforms into Fire Knight!

<Pose Tracker> Saki Hyuuga [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.

For Saki Hyuuga, after school means Softball practice. It doesn't matter the time of year, there's always time to practice!! Today, Saki's on the mound, putting away batter after batter. Coach isn't having her stop, today.

Not until someone gets a hit in. Saki doesn't intend to let them have it easy, as she brushes a drop of sweat off her cheek and focuses her whole attention on the batter. She winds up and spins her arms, windmilling a fastball straight down the middle, and--

....It takes her a good few seconds to really process that the ball should've got there by now. She tilts her head to the side, slowly. "Uhm," she says. Did...did she go faster than time?? Is this one of those comics Kenta showed her!? CAN SHE EVER GO BACK

It takes her a good few seconds to look around; to see how everything is frozen still, but also that there's a shift in the air, like the colors have come to life. Her eyes bug; she yields a step from the world itself, holding up her hands as if to beg off from the overflowing light.

But it's familiar, somehow. This power, this warmth and light, remind her of Pretty Cure, even as the color whisks her away to an impossible anti-space that her brain struggles to even describe, let alone grasp. "What...is..." ...She looks around, quickly. She'll be here. She has to be. "Mai! Mai!"

She takes off, dashing down a branch toward the girl she knows will be coming. "Flappy, what is this?!" she demands, as she goes.

"I don't know! I sense the power of the World Tree! But also..."

Saki can feel that tension in her chest, coiling dangerously. "...yeah," she breathes. "Something's wrong." Calling again, "Mai!"

COMBAT: Lilian Abarth transforms into Barrier Jacket!

<Pose Tracker> Mai Mishou [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.

Mai stares down at her phone's screen for a moment, utterly confused. Her phone doubles as a transformation device. She thinks, for a moment, that it may be a feature that she didn't know exists. But the soft voice from her feet -- "Ch-chopiiiii..." -- tells her everything that she needs to know. This wasn't planned.

Her eyes open to find colors literally bleeding across reality. Her voice catches in her throat, her violet eyes wide, and they lock onto the terrible piece of flora, vines entangled together, and the roots and toobs reaching out. She shakes her head, as she catches sight of the glowing golden tree in the distance. She recognizes that.

She looks up when she hears Saki shouting -- the bleachers had frozen around her, and the audience too -- which leaves her staring at Saki. She jumps from where she had been, Choppy leaping after her. The little pink fairy lands next to her. Mai looks at her friend. "Saki!" she cries out. "I don't know what's happening!"

"I think you should both trnasform-chopi!" Choppy says. "I-I'm worried-chopi..."

Mai looks at her friend and nods -- then clasps hands with her, as a shorter prismatic bloom glows around them both. "Dual Spiritual Power!"

Light flares up around the two girls. They spin into the strange rainbow sky -- and then land with a flourish. Cure Egret looks up, violet eyes narrowed as she looks at the World Tree she knows and loves, but finds it alien.

COMBAT: Mai Mishou transforms into Cure Egret!

COMBAT: Saki Hyuuga transforms into Cure Bloom!

<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

"Hmm - what about that one?" The senses were assaulted by a chorus of mews. Many felines hopeful that the appearance of humans meant that they'd be let out, or fed. Others were more distrustful, fearful in the back of their cages of the animal shelter.

'buki was leaning over a little to regard an orange tabby that seemed out of the kitten phase and seemed especially friendly as she gave Setsuna a glance, "It's hard to tell what a cat's disposition will be as a kitten." Her eyes trailed down though to an especially small gray fuzzy kitten, as she almost let out a tiny squeal from her throat, "Even if kittens are especially cute! What do you think Miki-chan? Do you think any of them suit her especially well?"

But then all of a sudden, the chorus of mews stops. All of them are frozen in various positions, changed into a haze of grey. 'buki blinked her luminous orange eyes several times as she took a step back. "Eh?" Her eyes trailed from one end of the cages to the other, "EHHHHHHHH?" She almost stumbled backwards into Miki looking distinctly disturbed, "C-Creepy. I- what is going on?"

And Then The World Becomes Strange And Wonderful

While she was distinctly creeped out before, everything has changed, become wonderful, more luminous, more real. It feels like stepping into something straight out of a film, when the Princess discovers a brave new world. 'buki's eyes widened in distinct awe as it swept over the prismatic foliage in all of its glorious scale and color. Her eyes trail up the tree, as large a tree as she'd ever seen, only to realize what's above her are roots and not vines. "Where are we?"

And yet despite that wondrous feeling, a certainty prickles on the back of her neck, and down into her soul. "We're going to be fighting here. Aren't we?" The realization makes her sad, but at the same time, that feeling instinctually tells her it's important, that this place is important, even if she doesn't know why. "I think- we should transform." Her hand digs around in her bag, until it brings out her Linkrun and presses a key to its top, surrounded in a haze of yellow that seems to paint this place in even more vivid, brighter color, she presents it forward, "Change! Pretty Cure - Beat Up!" A leap of faith, and she is girded for the coming battle by becoming a Legendary Warrior Pretty Cure, Cure Pine specifically.

COMBAT: Inori Yamabuki transforms into Cure Pine!

<Pose Tracker> Lancelot [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

It was one of those days that was blessidly lazy. Of course when one is Takeo Akamizu, 2nd year High School student of Ohtori Academy, almost everyday is lazy. It's jsut that there is less work to do. So for once, Takeo decides to work out his injured shoulder and chest, only recently given a marginally clean bill of health after being shot by a ribbon wearing Magical Girl.

Being compamionable with one of your best friends is also a plus. As Yua Chouku plays a fast beat on her chello, Takeo slides through Kendo forms, trying to regain his strength, and keep his muscle memory. The boy tries to match his moves to the rising and falling musical tides of the chello, as beads of sweat form from the exursion. He does an upward strike in the Shikake Waza offensive style, on the attack to keep up with Yua's fast bow string movements on the chello all in an unused classroom. He grins, clearly enjoyig himself despite the pain and tiredness the high speed brings his battered body.

His near zen like movements are interupted by the sound of their two phones going off with the SAME ringtone.

Pausing he looks around and follows the girl's gaze to the rain outside and blinks. Some of the rian is in mid splatter on the windows, and shortly thereafter the colors fade only to be replaced by a tidal wave of rainbow colors. Soon after the world tree looms before them and Takeo looks around confused as he gets the vibe of a battlefield. He looks around, briefly afraid Yua was not here, and is instantly comfortd to find his team mate present....

"Transform?"

<Pose Tracker> Yua Chouku [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

Battle has a tempo, and with it, it's own song.Yua Chouku has taken a classroom for her and her friend Takeo to spend some time catching up and praticing their respetive arts. Takeo practices his manuvers and she plays a song to match his rythm. In a way it mimics a battle.

Yua lowers the bow of her cello unable to miss the the tempo of the rain having stopped. Carefully leaning her instument against a desk she turns to look out the window. Eying how the rain hangs in the air. She starts to open the window when her phone begins to ring in protest. "Takeo look." pointing out the window as a drugtrip taken physical form starts leaking from the sky. Grip tightening on her chello bow.

"Transform."

<Pose Tracker> Fiat Silver [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

In a twelfth-floor condominium whose owners are presently in Hawaii, Fiat Silver carefully floats, legs crossed as she approaches the carved piece of African ironwood that has been sitting in cabinets since it was purchased overseas well over a hundred years ago. In her other hand is a roughly similar replica, purchased elsewhere on Earth and weighted just in case. She reaches forwards with her armored gauntlet, when

The light changes -

<Perhaps the gods are sending us a message, Madame,> Silver Scorpion hypothesizes as Fiat Silver - or is it Lilian Abarth - looks outwards, around this strange world of tangling vines and massive trees in a thousand particolor hues.

"Oh you can see it too??"

Silver Scorpion considers how to communicate the different nuances of his synthetomagical sensorium and instead merely says, <Yes.>

"I was worried I was hallucinating," Fiat Silver says, straightening up and adjusting the lapels on that coat. By comparison she feels plain, even if her silver-and-turquoise colorings don't exactly stand out that much. She then sees, hears, feels familiar voices -- the Magic Knights! And it would seem a blooming of Pretty Cure, too.

<Well, that's good,> Silver Scorpion says.

"I'm skeptical," Fiat Silver answers.

Silver Scorpion boops. <Likely wise...>

<Pose Tracker> Fu Inubozaki [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Fu Inubozaki was one of the unlucky ones trying to dodge the worst of the rain by darting from cover to cover, but it was simply impossible to not get partially drenched by falling rain even if you were pretty quick and full of girl power. The rain was simply falling much too hard now. And so, the temporarily set-back but not defeated Hero Club President waited underneath one of the many overhangs for the rain to break enough for her to attempt one final sprint to cover, her teeth chattering a little with each cold breeze. Pausing underneath her temporary sanctuary, Fu pulls out her cellphone to tap a few messages back to a couple of her friends. But it is the purple colored text box that belonged to Fu's kohai that brings a smile to the older student's face. She may be the newest member of the Hero Club, but she was already adjusting well to the duties of a Hero after her trial by fire a few days back.

The blonde bundled up teenager is just about to make a run for it when a new text alert buzzes from her phone. Oh, what did Akira-chan have to say back? But then the crisp and brusque nature of the tone hits her. That wasn't her normal text message beep. Pulling her cellphone out from her schoolbag, Fu's smile disappears as soon as she sees the words "FORESTIZE WARNING" on the screen of her cellphone. A rare, serious look appears on Fu's face as she quickly mashes out a few texts while running among the now frozen, spear-like rain droplets. Her text message to Akira is simple. 'This is it, a Vertex attack. Head for the World Tree.'

Thankfully, the Taisha provided cellphone can do a few things. It can work even during emergencies like this, it helps the heroines of the Hero Club find each other, and there is one last function of the app. It let's you become a Hero. Yellow light surrounds Fu as her normal clothes disappear and are replaced with the yellow battle vestments of a Hero. Her huge sword soon materializes into her left hand while she continues to monitor her cellphone with her right. Dodging in and around the now overgrown technicolor Tama forest, she heads for the biggest landmark left in this rainbow world they've all been pulled into. If anyone runs into the transformed Fu on her way over, she would repeat the same instructions she gave out to her fellow Heroes over text. "Head for the World Tree, you'll be safe there!" Finally, Fu arrives near the World Tree herself to regroup with any others that might have had the same idea. She also frantically looks for her kohai, the idea of her running into the Vertex before she can find them was an almost paralyzing thought to her. But she had to keep her cool. That was just what senpais do in situations like this.

COMBAT: Fu Inubozaki transforms into Yuusha Fu!

<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

Endo is on the walk to work, bundled up in a big green coat and tucking his fingers into pockets as he fares down the sidewalks. He weaves around other people in the street as he goes, scooting under awnings or past crowds of umbrella-totting people bustling on past as he makes his way with steady pace and pensive expression.

That pace comes to a stop when the rain does. "Aah?" He has to go through a few frozen drops before he notices, and then he stretches a hand out to carefully push a finger into one heavy, suspended drop. After that he's waving his hand in front of one of the frozen pedestrians. He pokes, he prods. He grabs a salaryman's nose and pinches it.

"Hey, Stern. I think something's wrong."

<LOOK.> The device requests, and Endo does. There are rainbows! Endo blinks once, then holds up a hand to ward off the blinding crash of light. There's at least a minute before he slowly opens his eyes, taking in a big breath and scanning his surroundings.

"That's...a big tree." Endo's voice lilts in wonder as he looks at the world tree, the energy of it making him straighten, sucking away the fatigue and disappointment that's been dogging him in the week since his last battle. "Do you know that tree?"

"Right. Well-" Endo fishes that purple stone out and holds it high. "Fallen Stern! Set up!" And they do. Garish purple light swaddles him, and when it bursts apart he starts a steady sprint toward the massive tree, intending to find whatever the disturbance that brought him here might be.

<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Higashi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

"That one?" Setsuna asks in return, leaning a little bit closer to see where her friend is looking. Her dark red eyes are wide as she shifts her gaze around from one cat to the next. She's been quiet because she's been listening, of course... but the girl from Labyrinth finds herself drawn most at the moment to one of the kittens hiding in the back. "Are they all r...." She never quite makes it loud enough to be more than barely heard, and the difference in the world is clear. Setsuna looks between inori and Miki in that next moment, idly shifting her hand closer to herself to shield her injured wrist. "I--I don't know. Where did..."

The world changes. It's like nothing Setsuna remembers seeing before. It resembles only sensations, feelings she's had before, things she's seen glimpses of but could never entirely understand at the time. "...It's beautiful," she murmurs, turning all around until she finally sees something familiar amidst the vines, something larger than anything she's seen on this planet. She knows, in the moment, that where they were is not gone. And yet...

"I don't have any idea where it is. I've never seen a place like this, not even when I was..." Well, wandering and looking for them. Buki brings up a realization, and it feels right. "...Yes. We should."

With her good hand, Setsuna gets her Linkrun, lifting it upward facing out. Brilliant red shines around her as, "Change! Pretty Cure - Beat up!"

A dive later, Cure Passion is ready, too, standing beside her teammates with her feet planted just so. "...The tree, there... Isn't it...?"

<Pose Tracker> Akira Moto [Infinity Institute (7)] has posed.

Its the weekend and as such, no school today! This means that Akira has had the morning to herself to do whatever. Whatever happened to be working with some clay. She'd been working very hard on sculpting a new piece. This piece happens to be of a very familiar figure skater. It was a chance to return the favor for the lessons even if she did pay for them. After carefully working for hours, forming the clay into a rather pretty image, She took it to her small kiln.

After 10 minutes of baking the sculpture... The lights in the apartment flickered and that was that. The small kiln died and the sculpture inside was officially ruined. "Oh come on!!" She frowns and shakes her head. "Ugh, I guess I gotta go to the art store. See if anyone can repair an electric kiln."

She gets dressed to head out. The sadness of having the kiln go on her and destroying the work she has done this morning and the loneliness of being the only person in the apartment just set her off. Quietly she pulls out her phone and considers for a moment as she steps out the door. A soft nod and she begins sending a text...

~Hey Fu-san, Some things are going on and I really need to talk to someone.~

No sooner does she hit send and step outside that the weird ringtone goes off. She blinks a few times and looks down at the screen on her phone. ::FORESTIZE WARNING. Vertex Approaching. Please Deploy to protect humanity.:: "Oh crap."

The world goes dark hued and then the COLORS!!! The flood of complete beauty is a stunning sight, if not completely unsettling. Her phone goes off with a text but, she doesn't answer yet. Once the Jinkai fully forms, The newest of the Yuusha just stares in awe at the complete change in surroundings. The phone said a Vertex was coming. That meant it was time for her to power up.

Quickly, Akira presses the button on her phone and the area around her shifts to fast moving violet light. Music whips around her like the violet flower petals which join in her transformation. Her top shifts, changing to a violet top with a white jacket over it. A violet, petaled, skirt replaces the sweats she had been wearing. Tights and boots cover her legs quickly and wrapping goes around her wrists. A violet flower appears on her right forearm. Suddenly she is holding a massive hammer which she swings around her body before posing with it. The violet panda fairy appears beside her and then, its done. The now Yuusha formed girl is standing at the ready to beat the tar out of a vertex! She finally checks her text. A response is sent off, ~On My way.~ Easy enough. With that she takes off, Telling anyone she sees along the way to meet at the same place.

COMBAT: Endo Naoki transforms into Barrier Jacket Aufprall!

<Pose Tracker> Miki Aono [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

So Setsuna wanted a cat. That was a good companion, because in Miki Aono's most humblest of opinions, cats were fairly antisocial, so it was a good match. For the winter season, Miki was wearing a more muted ensemble - earth tones of beige and warm browns in a vest jacket, a light pink skirt and blouse beneath that, and big socks bundled up with beige boots, with a soft fuzzy wool lining. Tucking her fists in at her hips, Miki was eyeing - not the horde of kittens that were pushing up against the glass - but the one kitten who was watching the others.

Just sitting there, flicking her tail back and forth.

It was suspicious.

"What about that silvery and grey one in the back? The one with the..." It was in that moment that the world shifts to something a little more... magical. A low gasp comes from Miki, her eyes flickering across the beautiful magicscape. "...Labyrinth?!" she states, her mouth falling open. "No, 'buki - we're not going to be fighting," she says, with a wink, lifting her hand up to her friend's shoulder to give her a wink. "We're going to be protecting," she says.

Linkrun is produced with a perfect little twist of her hand. "Change!" she intones, drawing her eyes shut for a moment. Finding a center here, admist this chaos. "...Pretty Cure! Beat up!" she calls, and a ~perfect~ runway step later, and ~Cure Berry~ appears, confidence in the edges of her smile. "Did you hear that?" she calls to the other. "The World Tree is under attack?"

One suspected that the world tree was a mystery to her - but it /sounded/ important.

COMBAT: Miki Aono transforms into Cure Berry!

COMBAT: Akira Moto transforms into Yuusha Akira!
COMBAT: Setsuna Higashi has fully healed herself.
COMBAT: Setsuna Higashi transforms into Cure Passion!

<Pose Tracker> Utena Tenjou [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

<SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2cpbC5NmmY

All at once, from every direction, everyone stumbles into something that can't be called a clearing because there are no clearings amidst the infinite growth of Jinkai (not yet, anyway, thankfully), but nonetheless has fewer huge roots and more smaller ones, such that it's almost like a meadow, if every blade of grass was thicker than a six-pack. This place isn't at the World Tree, which remains a golden beacon in the distance.

There is time enough to reunite, if briefly, but only just -- only just.

Like the sun rising over the horizon, it is felt before it is seen. Also it's golden. The comparison ends there.

A tremendous energy blast rockets through the massive, mystical rutilage, straight into the magical girls; it's not a warning shot, but a first strike, a declaration of conquest. Its force is concussive, but the light itself is painful, too, like aerosolized sandpaper.

It was quite a bit wider than the roots are tall; whereas they comprise several stories of space, there's a huge amount of sky overhead for the great golden tree to strength out into. It's up there that the culprit floats, slow and stately as an ingenue descending the stairs at her introductory gala, large as a barge.

Vertexes are gigantic, really. This one is vaguely humanoid, about as much so as a squid, which it also somewhat resembles. It is mostly white, with touches of sweet and maidenly pink. There is a translucence to its underside, where a bulbous belly intensifies golden energy, charging for a second shot. Presumably, the first one was ejected through its tail, which falls beneath it in a steady, graceful curve.

Incongruously, it has something like a shawl hovering around and above its torso. It isn't fabric, but it drapes like it, lovely and strange, gravity-defiant.

It suits Virgo well, in exactly the way that this wonderful, beautiful realm does not. But then, that's why it's here, with a purpose so elemental that it is difficult to anthropomorphize -- more like the way a magnet attracts a magnet. Or maybe that's exactly backwards, because this thing is approaching its opposite inexorably, not repelled at all. Though still far from it, and with the magical girls directly in its path, Virgo is headed straight for the World Tree.

COMBAT: Utena Tenjou transforms into Virgo Class Vertex!

COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has fully healed herself. She is now ready to take on 15 opponents!
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Massive Golden Burst on Cure Berry.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Massive Golden Burst on Yuusha Akira.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Massive Golden Burst on Cure Passion.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Massive Golden Burst on Endo Naoki.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Massive Golden Burst on Yuusha Fu.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Massive Golden Burst on Fiat Silver.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Massive Golden Burst on Lancelot.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Massive Golden Burst on Yua Chouku.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Massive Golden Burst on Cure Pine.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Massive Golden Burst on Cure Egret.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Massive Golden Burst on Cure Bloom.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Massive Golden Burst on Hikaru Shidou.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Massive Golden Burst on Kasagami Araki.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Massive Golden Burst on Georgia Jenks.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Massive Golden Burst on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji narrowly dodges Utena Tenjou's Massive Golden Burst, taking 12 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Fuu Hououji's Fade ability activates! Fuu Hououji's Flash ability activates!
COMBAT: Fiat Silver narrowly dodges Utena Tenjou's Massive Golden Burst, taking 27 Fatigue damage! Fiat Silver's Fade ability activates! Fiat Silver's Flash ability activates!
COMBAT: Cure Pine narrowly dodges Utena Tenjou's Massive Golden Burst, taking 34 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Kasagami Araki fails to dodge Utena Tenjou's Massive Golden Burst, taking 48 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Cure Passion narrowly dodges Utena Tenjou's Massive Golden Burst, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Cure Passion's Fade ability activates!
COMBAT: Yuusha Akira fails to dodge Utena Tenjou's Massive Golden Burst, taking 50 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Georgia Jenks narrowly dodges Utena Tenjou's Massive Golden Burst, taking 30 Fatigue damage! Georgia Jenks's Fade ability activates!
COMBAT: Yua Chouku perfectly dodges Utena Tenjou's Massive Golden Burst, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Dodge! Yua Chouku's Fade ability activates! Yua Chouku's Flash ability activates!
COMBAT: Cure Berry narrowly braces Utena Tenjou's Massive Golden Burst, taking 24 Fatigue damage! Cure Berry's Block ability activates! Cure Berry's Parry ability activates!
COMBAT: Cure Bloom perfectly dodges Utena Tenjou's Massive Golden Burst, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Critical Dodge!
COMBAT: Endo Naoki fails to brace Utena Tenjou's Massive Golden Burst, taking 47 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Cure Egret perfectly dodges Utena Tenjou's Massive Golden Burst, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Critical Dodge! Cure Egret's Fade ability activates! Cure Egret's Flash ability activates!
COMBAT: Lancelot fails to dodge Utena Tenjou's Massive Golden Burst, taking 50 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou narrowly braces Utena Tenjou's Massive Golden Burst, taking 8 Fatigue damage! Hikaru Shidou's Block ability activates! Hikaru Shidou's Parry ability activates!
COMBAT: Yuusha Fu narrowly dodges Utena Tenjou's Massive Golden Burst, taking 25 Fatigue damage! Yuusha Fu's Fade ability activates! Yuusha Fu's Flash ability activates!

<Pose Tracker> Cure Egret [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.

Cure Egret glances about, staring with a little confusion. Her expression brightens a little -- and briefly, all told -- when she sees familiar faces. "Passion! Pine!" the younger girl says. She lingers on Berry, not knowing her. "Have you ever seen something like this befo--"

The golden blast of light comes screaming from the sky. Those violet eyes shoot /wide/ open and Egret leaps, hand leaving Saki's. She executes a smooth backflip, before she lands and looks up at the Vertex. Forest-stuff, as much man-shaped and squid-shaped. It hurts her eyes and head to look at it. Akudaikaan's minions always made a certain sort of sense. This...

She shakes her head, the thought cut short, as she realizes where it's headed. "Bloom!" she cries out. "It's heading towards the World Tree!"

"We have to stop it-chopi!"

Mai nods. Then, she jumps high into the air. Sparkles of silver light trail after her. She whirls around in the air, and the strange rainbow world has pure silver light trailing through it, as she wheels back into a spinning kick.

That kick ends at the tail, right at its base, and she tries to knock it off-balance with one well-placed strike. "We won't ever let you harm our precious tree!"

COMBAT: Cure Egret has used Sky Dancer's Kick on Utena Tenjou.

COMBAT: Cure Egret has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Kasagami Araki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

So enraptured by the grand presence of the World Tree is Kasagami, that she fails to register the Massive Golden Beam of Doom from the Vertex until the very last second. There's no time to move, even for her speed. No time to duck, or even raise her blade.

The impact of that beam on her body comes with a howl of rage at the Vertex, driven back bodily towards that clearing where the others have gathered. The young woman goes zipping past, until finally she lands in one of the many roots after smashing straight through three more. Then, ominous silence before plummeting to the ground of the clearing right near two Heroes and Cure Passion in particular. The right side of her face quite literally sizzles as she lays there.

"Nnnngh...." She groans, slowly pulling herself to her feet with shakey hands. Half of her coat is blasted to nothing, and her fuzzy slippers got incinerated. Her body is scuffed and there's bits of Root in her hair.

"Hah...hah hah hah hah hah!" She laughs, winded, grinning like a demon despite. Her body's in agony, but the adrenaline flows. Her heart hammers in her chest.

"Passion...Fu...Aki...man, we really gotta stop meeting in the weirdest places! Somebody want to fill me in on just what the hell that blindsiding...jerk...is?" Cough hack. Her knees try to buckle. Someone might want to steady her after taking that directly to her everything.

Shiiiiiiiink. Out comes her sword, and it's raised to the sky with both hands. Then she slams it down. Her blade glows a dark red, and flowers fall off it as she slam down towards the air with enough strength to cause a pressure wave to erupt, setting her now half-coat and her hair aflutter dramatically as she sparkles with a warrior's fury!

The elegant, artful Vertex is soon assaulted by a falling storm of dark red petals that seek to cleave off it's 'shawl'. Or more hopefully, it's head.

"Now let's see if this thing bleeds!"

COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly counters Cure Egret's Sky Dancer's Kick, taking 4 Fatigue damage! Cure Egret is Psyched! Utena Tenjou's Reverse ability activates! Stun and Trap applied to Utena Tenjou!

COMBAT: Utena Tenjou's counterattack, From Point Blank, Another Blast, partially gets through, doing 15 Fatigue damage to Cure Egret!

<Pose Tracker> Yua Chouku [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

"Uhhh is this Morgana's doing?" Yua asks looking about the strange forest that does everything it can to make her feal like an ant. The land is beautiful in the kind of way the ocean is. Large colorful and all too ready to gobble you up into and endlessness you cant really hope to wrap your head around. Perhaps the efffect is simply greater of Yua, this being perhaps the second time transformed since she got her powers. "This doesn't seem like Morgana's style." letting her hand touch a blade of massive grass on her way by. Pausing she looks up into the sky. "The tempo changed again."

Moving before she can even think she takes a easy step back and turns. Chello that appears to be made of wroaght iron defying gravity and trailing after her. A almost casual movment that puts some hard cover between her and that attack.

COMBAT: Kasagami Araki has used Thorns of the Bloody Rose on Utena Tenjou.

COMBAT: Kasagami Araki has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Georgia Jenks [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

Georgia continues to run, and run... and run, until she comes to the not-clearing where the presence of others causes her to slow. "Oh. Heya guys. This place is pretty weird. Are you all heading for that big tre- WOAH CRAP!" Her cry of alarm interrupts the jovial questioning she was attempting to partake in when a freakin' energy beam comes tearing towards everyone. With a grunt she jumps backward into a flip, managing to just avoid being thoroughly creamed by it. Still, the aforementioned aerosolized sandpaper-ness of the beam is still felt by the HiME, some of her hair being seared in the process. As she lands on one of the gigantic roots she pauses to watch a few strands of her blonde locks drift to the ground. "...I'm pretty sure that thing wasn't just trying to give me a bad haircut!"

It's telling of her personality that she still manages to have a sense of humor after nearly being blasted to all heck.

"Alright, time to get serious." She focuses up at the culprit responsible for the attack, frowning heavily at it's off-putting appearance. "I swear these beasties become more and more like weird art school project rejects each day!" And after crouching down she LEAPS into the air with a stunning amount of force, legs mimicking a running motion as she closes the distance between her and the Vertex. Then, at the last moment, she goes into a spin, arms held out as her escrima sticks let out an array of fearsome green sparks. If her trajectory stays true she'll surely make impact...

COMBAT: Georgia Jenks has used Helix Battery on Utena Tenjou.

COMBAT: Georgia Jenks has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou fails to brace Kasagami Araki's Thorns of the Bloody Rose, taking 27 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly braces Georgia Jenks's Helix Battery, taking 7 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Utena Tenjou's Block ability activates! Blind applied to Utena Tenjou!

<Pose Tracker> Fiat Silver [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

Fiat Silver pivots towards Endo as she cruises forwards. There's motion towards this 'World Tree.' That seems sensible. And then a sudden huge burst of golden light erupts around and through them, screaming in its intensity.

Fiat Silver topples in the air and gets a spectacular eyefull of the creature, the entity, the Vertex. Her mouth flops open despite being, relative to what you could call the local plane of gravity, upside down.

Silver Scorpion makes another electronic noise. It's graver, more determined. His equivalent, perhaps, of a frown of thought. Finally he speaks, after long seconds.

<Madame.>

"Wh, what," Fiat Silver says, aghast at the scale of the thing and its strength.

Fiat Silver is not really reassured by her Device doing the equivalent of spraying chrome paint in its mouth, at least, as far as she can tell. "What - what are we going to do!?"

<I suggest firing one of those Tortoises of yours along this trajectory while I build reserve in the capacitors.> "Good plan!" <You have to trigger it.> "Right! Tortoise!" And so Fiat Silver, trying not to gibber, fires a shrieking blue projectile in an arc towards the front of the creature, whereupon it explodes in a thousand burning sparks while spiralling around and, hopefully, instantly rupturing the Vertex's fragile gas bag.

Fiat Silver hopes it has a fragile gas bag, anyway. She is probably in for some disappointment today!

COMBAT: Yua Chouku has used Nobody Bosses Around My Friends But Me! on Lancelot.

COMBAT: Yua Chouku has used Nobody Bosses Around My Friends But Me! on Yua Chouku.
COMBAT: Yua Chouku has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Fiat Silver has used Scorpio Tortoise on Utena Tenjou.
COMBAT: Fiat Silver has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Lancelot accepts Yua Chouku's Nobody Bosses Around My Friends But Me!, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Lancelot is Cheered!
COMBAT: Yua Chouku accepts Yua Chouku's Nobody Bosses Around My Friends But Me!, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!

<Pose Tracker> Cure Bloom [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.

Cure Bloom lands with her eternal confidence, and looks up at the World Tree - the Sky Tree - with a strange feeling. It's a home to so many of her memories...she doesn't really understand what's happening, but in her gut, she senses it needs help. That's something she'll do gladly! She waves to Egret, "Come on!" and tears off down the branches, skidding only a little as the others come into view. Her lips split a little, seeing familiar faces - "Sempai!" she shouts, encompassing Passion and Pine in one call. She sees the third in their number, head tipping a little, but her fingers curl just the same. Passion's mentioned more to her, after all. "I've never seen anything like this...!"

"It's coming-lapi!" comes Flappy's squawk from her hip, and Bloom's eyes snap over, the radiance of dawn on the horizon. "Egret!" she yelps, nodding at her partner, and they scatter. Egret jumps her way, and Saki stands her ground for half a second, light accumulating in her legs before she VAULTS skyward, golden sparkles trailing in her wake as she soars implausibly high, over the oncoming blast. She flips end over end and comes down hard on a branch, much higher up, but a splash of golden light disperses the energy harmlessly out, rather than damaging the site of her landing. Then she looks up.

Her breath catches, seeing the thing. It's not like an Uzainaa, somehow. Those are always palpablly tainted. This is, too, but in a way different enough to chill her through. Her fingers tremble.

'Bloom! It's heading for the World Tree!'

Bloom's fist swings into a tight ball. "Yeah!" Bloom calls back down, her breath catching. The thought of something targeting it like THIS sends chills down her. She's so used to Akudaikaan's approach, withering at the base. But a direct attack...!

"You can't let it get any closer-lapi!" Flappy says, in echo to Choppy. "Right!" Cure Bloom affirms, and with another splash of golden light, she soars across the distance toward Virgo, light gathering in her hands. When she gets close, with a kiai she drives that light directly into Virgo's side, not so much punching as shoving the energy into it!

COMBAT: Cure Bloom has used Fistful of Flowers on Utena Tenjou.

COMBAT: Cure Bloom has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou perfectly counters Fiat Silver's Scorpio Tortoise, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Critical Counter! Utena Tenjou's Reverse ability activates!
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou's counterattack, Vertexes Are Tough, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Fiat Silver!

<Pose Tracker> Lancelot [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

Tristan suddenly leaps and is gone from his sight, he turns to follow her with his gaze as he says with a confused lool, "Tristan? Where are you go -" Which is when he spies the huge golden orb and tilts his head. "Oh sh-" The rest is drowned out in an exlosion of orange and red fire that roars and fills Lancelot's ears. His armor soaks the lethality of it, but only just, and the knight is laid flat out on his back. He pushes himself to his feet and looks at the vertex before he spits to the side. "Yupp. It's a Saturday." Then twirls Arondight in his gauntleted hand, the knight's universal gesture for let's do this. "Tristan! This si Definatly NOT Morgana, too many colors. She only likes black. Because she ... I dunno she's a goth?" He pauses. "Anybody else, can any one of you explain what THAT is," He points Arondight toward the Vertex, "and where we are?!" He then does what he always does. He charges and starts the /lightning/ show.

Arondight crackles with blue and white lightning that trails behind the knight as he surges forward, leaping form branch to vine like branch, before leaping finally toward the monstrous thing and calls out, "LIGHITNG SLASH!" Sending a wave of lighting before his sword at the monstrous vertex.

COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly braces Cure Bloom's Fistful of Flowers, taking 6 Fatigue damage! Cure Bloom is Psyched! Utena Tenjou's Block ability activates!

COMBAT: Lancelot has used Lightning Slash on Utena Tenjou.
COMBAT: Lancelot has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou fails to dodge Lancelot's Lightning Slash, taking 11 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Lancelot is Psyched!

<Pose Tracker> Yuusha Akira [Infinity Institute (7)] has posed.

Finally Akira manages to get with Fu and a number of others. "Hi Senpai! Nice to see you. I'm going to have nightmares over that alert tone. Gods that was freaky!" She states. Thats about the time that she hears it. Something big. She turns just in time to see the massive attack. "Oh Shi..." BOOM! There was no dodging that monster for her. No getting away to save her life. She gets hit very hard and winds up on the ground writhing in pain. The purple panda is took most of the hit. Good thing too cause there was enough force in that to really hurt someone.

Then she hears a familiar voice. "You? The Shinjuu-sama sent YOU?" Akira rubs her head and gets up, hammer at the ready. "Short version. That things a Vertex. If it gets to the World Tree, its game over."

Her attention goes to Fu. "Umm, I guess we can talk after this is sorted. What do you suggest we do? Hitting it with a hammer is the first thing that comes to my mind... Maybe I can do this..."

She steps forward and begins swinging the massive hammer around her body at an increasing speed. The hammer begins glowing with violet energy and finally with a downward swing, a wave of energy goes flying towards the Vertex. "TAKE THAT!"

COMBAT: Yuusha Akira has used Windmill Wave on Utena Tenjou.

COMBAT: Yuusha Akira has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

Endo, when he arrives in the clearing with the rest, raises his hand to wave toward the mass of magical faces. He knows some of them. He barely has time to register the assembled-one of whom he's pretty sure is a bad guy-before the vertex attacks.

The attempt that Fallen Stern makes to mitigate the burst of golden energy is almost useless. The barrier of purple energy flickers and crumples as the wave of power crushes Endo into the mass of vines beneath his feet. There's a short, sharp scream of agony, and then he's flat on the ground.

<INCREDIBLE FORCE.> Warbles his device. <SILVER SCORPION: APPROACH WITH CAUTION.>

"Aaoowwww," Endo is less articulate. He spends a good amount of time rolling around on the ground before he can get his hands to find purchase on the ground to force him back up. He leans against his sword as he does, taking deep, gasping breaths. "Really, you...you big...octopus thing. You're...too much." It's the most admonishment he can manage.

<FORM CHANGE. METEOR STRUM.> The sword changes, pieces snapping and locking into new formations to form a weapon more appropriate for his skyward foe. A very large crossbow. It doesn't shoot arrows, though. Instead what pours forth at a stream tiny comets made of pure energy, a volley that arcs through the sky to impact against the Vertex.

COMBAT: Endo Naoki has used Meteor Strum on Utena Tenjou.

COMBAT: Endo Naoki has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly braces Yuusha Akira's Windmill Wave, taking 8 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Yuusha Akira is Psyched! Utena Tenjou's Block ability activates!

<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

It wasn't quite where the Wind Knight thought she'd link up with everyone else, but the clearing is as good a rendezvous point as any - and the fact that the giant, very pink, VERY unearthly monster just showed up and launched a similarly massive fireball at them ... well, if they hadn't already wound up in roughly the same place, coming under attack tends to mean 'stop trying to coordinate and either coordinate or wing it'.

She's hoping, very much, that what's going to happen is some measure of coordination. Whatever the unearthly colossus is, wherever it's from, wherever it intends to go, the Magic Knight of Wind is fairly certain of one thing: it can't be allowed to GET there.

"Does anyone know anything about that creature?" the Wind Knight calls out as she gets back to her feet, patting out some embers on her right sleeve where it's not covered by armor, and making sure her skirt's out as well. "For instance, if it has weaknesses of some kind that we can exploit?" She looks up at the Vertex again, and comes to a swift decision: no matter the scale, if she can slow it down at all, or hinder its attacks, then she'd better do what she can. And given the environment, maybe the stubborn mundanity of Earth will be less of an issue.

"WINDS OF ADMONISHENT!!!"

Even as large as the Vertex is, the Wind Knight pits her will against it, a conjured whirlwind rising as she attempts to bind the flying monster - even in mid-air, with the wind itself as her rope and chain of choice. She's kind of a sitting duck while she's trying this - not usually a major issue, but given the discrepancy of scale, who knows this time?

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Winds of Admonishment on Utena Tenjou.

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou perfectly counters Endo Naoki's Meteor Strum, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter! Utena Tenjou's Reverse ability activates!
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou's counterattack, Vertexes Are Tough, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Endo Naoki!

<Pose Tracker> Cure Pine [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

Protecting rather than fighting was an important distinction. So she's glad that Berry made it. A smile finds its way back on her face as she nods at her friend, "Right." Someone is calling at them, about the world tree being under attack, regrouping at it. The World Tree? "Isn't that...?" But she trails off. The incident where Soular stole that energy still hangs fresh in her mind though, but she's not sure how it's connected.

Forward she bounds, with the other two until... until they reach a clearing, "Egret! Bloom! Nothing like this at all-" Which is when a shine like the sun hits the periphery of her eyes. She turns to face it and squints, shading her eyes with her hand as if it were sunlight. Her eyes suddenly widen, at the realization that doom approaches. Cure Pine leaps sideways all of a sudden, just as the blast of gold light connects, the upper half of her body is taking shelter behind a massive root. The rest is seared, and strangely excoriated by the light which feels like sandpaper rushing across her skin.

But most of all, there's the colossal force behind it. It sends her spiralling backwards, and it's only through supreme effort of will that she doesn't swoon outright, but merely presses her booted feet against one of those tremendous roots, and leaps off, alighting atop another root.

It's then that she gets her first look of the enemy. "W-What is that thing?" Fear gripped her heart.

'We're going to be protecting.'

She finds her courage in those words. Her eyes search out Berry. And then Passion. Perhaps she considered it to be solely due to them that she could believe in herself right now enough to do what needed to be done. Something that even their duo of Kouhai seemed to know how to do instinctively. "Together?" It's underbelly shines gold. But that tail gleamed gold in the instant she wasn't blinded by it. She wonders about that. Suddenly she surges forward, running on roots to try to buy some momentum, to close the gap.

Suddenly leaping, she finds her way under the thing and leaps. "Please-" She leads with her fists, peppering the underside in dozens of repeating blows. "-stop-" They come at different angles every time, striking different places along it's radiant belly. "-moving-" The barrage finally ends with her spinning a thunderous roundhouse kick into it. "-forward!"

She doesn't seriously expect the eldritch titan to stop because she asks. It's more a plea, a prayer that this assault can in any way affect the colossal existence.

COMBAT: Cure Pine has used Pineapple Express on Utena Tenjou.

COMBAT: Cure Pine has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou fails to dodge Fuu Hououji's Winds of Admonishment, taking 17 Fatigue damage! Fuu Hououji is Psyched! Cripple applied to Utena Tenjou!
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou perfectly counters Cure Pine's Pineapple Express, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Critical Counter! Utena Tenjou's Reverse ability activates!
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou's counterattack, Vertexes Are Tough, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Cure Pine!

<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Shidou [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Believing in herself is what the Fire Knight is doing right now. And she's also putting her belief into her defensive skills, which is why she's adopted a defensive stance against the incoming attack, meaning that even though it does strike her somewhat, her defenses prevail, leaving her mostly unscathed by that last attack. She recovers quickly and grips her sword tightly. Noticing her ally, the Wind Knight, she smiles a little. "I know we can do this!" She says to her. "We're gonna triumph here! I can feel it!" She then looks to the flying creature that the Wind Knight is targeting and scowls. "As for you, YOU are going down!"

Conjuring the magical flames inside of her, the Fire Knight summons forth an arrow shaped fiery projectile. She points at the creature and, with a yell of, "FIRE ARROW!" The fiery projectile shoots forth, aiming at the flying entity.

COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou has used Fire Arrow on Utena Tenjou.

COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou fails to dodge Hikaru Shidou's Fire Arrow, taking 28 Fatigue damage!

<Pose Tracker> Cure Passion [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

"I don't know," Setsuna admits about what it is, where it's going. 'Protecting' sounds better to Passion, too; once they've transformed, Passion for just a moment smiles at Berry, so briefly that it might be missed entirely, before she does here what's mentioned there. She rushes off with the other two, looking around to see motion from elsewhere. Even--Bloom and Egret, to her surprise. But before she can greet them, she feels more than sees the change in the air, and hurls herself out of the way of where she was just as the column of golden energy flashes through. Her impact slams her hard against a vine, but spares her those burns, barely. It's then that she hears familiar laughter, hears questions in a voice she's only heard a few times now, and sees...

"What are you doing here!?" Passion at least knows Kasagami's around, now, just as much as she sees Fu after looking around for her.

Pine's voice brings her back to the moment. "...Together," Passion agrees, and leaps in the opposite direction, left and then upward to start, until she charges from above straight at the titanic creature before her.

"Haaaah--!"

Her right fist charges against it.

COMBAT: Cure Passion has used Passion Punch! on Utena Tenjou.

COMBAT: Cure Passion has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Cure Berry [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Heels digging into the floor of Jinkai - into the forever realm of color and light, Berry stands up taller - her eyes flickering over the other magical girls. And in spite of herself - only in spite of herself, does she allow a smile to dance at the edges of her features. Not one of amusement or higher bearing - but in spite of this grim situation? They had friends. They all had friends here.

And in spite of the unfamiliarity of the situation, she lifts up her hand, wiggling it in a wave to the others.

But perhaps it would work that if they asked it to stop first. If all this time, there was a creature that they only had to ask politely to stop damaging things and attacking people - well, Miki would like to fight one of those sometime. And these strange creature, this squid without being - needs no help in talking back.

The golden beam slams into Miki's defense, and the woman manages to twist away, her very spirit singed as she was thrown onto her front. "What /is/ it?!" she calls to the others. But she doesn't stop yet. Hopping up unto her feet again, she lunges forward - hoping to throw a kick at the side of the thing soon after Setsuna's punch, Berry looking towards Passion in that moment and giving a wry little grin.

COMBAT: Cure Berry has used Quick Kick! on Utena Tenjou.

COMBAT: Cure Berry has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly braces Cure Berry's Quick Kick!, taking 3 Fatigue damage! Utena Tenjou's Block ability activates!
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly counters Cure Passion's Passion Punch!, taking 6 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Utena Tenjou's Reverse ability activates!
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou's counterattack, Vertexes Are Tough, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Cure Passion!

<Pose Tracker> Yuusha Fu [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Fu Inubozaki comes to a halt at this 'meadow' that was a safe distance from the World Tree. It would be here that they would mount their defense of the Shinju. The heroine is relieved to see that there were others that were unaffected by 'freeze' and were able to still fight. A Vertex attack was no joking matter and it would take every magic girl and boy they had to stop this thing. Fu tucks her cellphone safely away and flourishes her massive blade in her right hand, spinning the huge weapon's hilt up her knuckle where she grasps it tightly now over her shoulder. "Listen, everyone! The World Tree has to be protected from the Vertex no matter what!" She calls out with a gesture behind her before closing her non sword holding hand into a fist. Fu felt bad that so many others were going to be put at risk, but she couldn't let that worry show.

Noticing Akira's arrival, Fu quickly dashes over and places her free hand on the shorter girl's shoulder. "This is it, this is our most important duty as heroes." She flashes her a quick grin to hopefully dissuade some of the heavy atmosphere. "Let's obliterate this Vertex and then you can tell me all whatever it is you were texting me about, okay?" But before Fu can say anything else to Akira or anyone else that arrived. A bright glow starts to illuminate the side of her face. The swordswoman turns almost too late to see the approaching blast of energy. "Move!" is all she can manage out as she too attempts to leap out of the way. But the blast is just too massive for her to completely avoid it's power. The sheer force of the attack throws Fu into a nearby branch despite her narrowly avoiding the worst of the attack. This branch snaps from Fu's impact and the yellow-clad heroine is briefly hidden by debris until she frees herself and quickly looks around to see if everyone made.

Her green eyes soon focus on the approaching collossus that was the Vertex. "That -it-. That's the Vertex! We can't let it reach the World Tree!" The dark red flowers and greeting from Kasagami(!) causes Fu to look her way. "Duck-chan, I know you said you can't be a Hero, but humor me right now and just -be- one! Let's show this thing what we can do!" Akira gets a look now too. "That goes for you too! You can do this!" Her kohai gets a brilliant and confident smile from Fu. "Now follow me!" Fu lifts her sword and points at the Vertex before beginning her charge. She leaps from small branch to small branch before gaining enough momentum to truly leap into the air, her sword clearing a path for her. Once she's clear, the blonde heroine comes tumbling out of the air past the Vertex, her sword attempting to cut part of the monster on her way past.

COMBAT: Yuusha Fu has used A Hero's Swordplay on Utena Tenjou.

COMBAT: Yuusha Fu has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly braces Yuusha Fu's A Hero's Swordplay, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Yuusha Fu is Psyched! Utena Tenjou's Block ability activates!

<Pose Tracker> Utena Tenjou [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

Cure Egret is the first to reach the Vertex, and her kick does change the orientation of the tail -- less in the sense that she knocks it aside, more in the sense that it replies to the soft impact by having it face her before it sends out its next golden blast, this one a little smaller, delivered in haste. It is still wider than she is tall, as is the apeture at the end of the tail itself.

Kasagami's red rose petals fit in well here, though they're a bit larger and brighter than the endless floral swarms in the air, which, if they evoke any single flower most strongly, evoke the tiny manifold sprays off a cherry tree. They eat into the shawl like a swarm of angry bees, but there's an issue of scale here -- they can't cleave off the shawl so much as nibble at one of its ends, one razor cut at a time. It would take all day to get to the opposite side.

HiME Georgia, Cures Bloom and Pine and Passion and Berry surround it, one with green sparks and a pair of escrima sticks, one with golden motes and a single forceful fist, and the rest with no light show but extra fists and bootheels to make up for it, and their flanking finds some success but their impacts do not, not really. More sparks fly as they impact, jarringly, on the rotund white sides of the Vertex.

Fiat Silver and Endo jointly discover much the same issue -- that's not a gasbag, and it's definitely not fragile. There's are brilliant blue and purple explosions on impact, but when the flash clears, the Vertex seems untouched, and charging a barrage of golden countermeasures to send back at the Device-wielders immediately!

The Magic Knights -- whatever their origin -- have a little bit more success. By jumping in as the next wave, they give the Vertex little time to react. Besides, it has nowhere to go; it's wholly hemmed in by magical girls at this point. Lightning cleaves away a chunk of tail, flame bores through a shoulder, creating a smouldering hole through which the soft rainbow light of the realm can be seen from the other side, and for a single hopeful moment wind is able to bring this alien to a standstill.

In that moment, the Heroes make their move, Akira's purple wave washing over the Vertex to shimmer across the shawl, taking out a solid slice of it (despite being disconnected from itself, nothing falls or flops, it still hangs there), while Fu removes a chunk of Vertex belly, making the golden energy within shine just a little bit more brightly once her enormous sword as passed through.

But this moment of opportunity does not last.

The creature doesn't hurt anyone as it simply keeps going, pulling free of the wind, forcing girls out of its path by the dual expedients of 'it's huge and strong and can't be stopped, and it's good thing it's a slow-moving floater or there could be Jukai roadkill', and sending something new out of its tail. Somethings. Weird white orbs emerge en masse, somewhat egglike, intelligent enough to chase girls like homing devices. After they impact anything, though, the explosions that erupt make any comparison but 'bomb' worthless, and it's not a metaphor at all.

It has lots of them to go around -- more than enough to send some after those defenders who have assailed it from afar. The whole battlefield becomes chaotic, between the explosions everywhere and the girls necessarily fleeing their pursuers at high speeds.

And all these assaults have left a few marks, here and there, each one a small sign of hope -- each one beginning to vanish, as though some terrible artist's eraser is removing the damage, filling the Vertex back in. A little at a time, it's regenerating.

COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Endless Golden Blasts on Fiat Silver.

COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Endless Golden Blasts on Endo Naoki.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used From Afar, A Swarm Of Bombs on Kasagami Araki.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used From Afar, A Swarm Of Bombs on Hikaru Shidou.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used From Afar, A Swarm Of Bombs on Yuusha Akira.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used From Afar, A Swarm Of Bombs on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Battlefield Curse on Cure Bloom.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Bombardier Trench Warfare on Cure Egret.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Bombardier Trench Warfare on Georgia Jenks.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Bombardier Trench Warfare on Cure Pine.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Bombardier Trench Warfare on Cure Berry.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Battlefield Curse on Cure Passion.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Bombardier Trench Warfare on Yuusha Fu.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Inexorable Advance on Utena Tenjou.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou accepts Utena Tenjou's Inexorable Advance, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Withstand applied to Utena Tenjou! Cleanse! All of Utena Tenjou's debuffs are cleared!
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Bombardier Trench Warfare on Lancelot.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Cure Pine fails to brace Utena Tenjou's Bombardier Trench Warfare, taking 28 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Blind applied to Cure Pine!
COMBAT: Kasagami Araki narrowly braces Utena Tenjou's From Afar, A Swarm Of Bombs, taking 7 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Cure Berry fails to dodge Utena Tenjou's Bombardier Trench Warfare, taking 23 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Blind and Stun applied to Cure Berry!
COMBAT: Endo Naoki fails to brace Utena Tenjou's Endless Golden Blasts, taking 18 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji narrowly braces Utena Tenjou's From Afar, A Swarm Of Bombs, taking 15 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Fuu Hououji's Block ability activates! Fuu Hououji's Parry ability activates!
COMBAT: Fiat Silver narrowly braces Utena Tenjou's Endless Golden Blasts, taking 13 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Cripple and Stagger applied to Fiat Silver!
COMBAT: Cure Passion narrowly braces Utena Tenjou's Battlefield Curse, taking 20 Fatigue damage! Cure Passion's Block ability activates! Cure Passion's Parry ability activates! Utena Tenjou drains 8 fatigue from Cure Passion!
COMBAT: Lancelot narrowly braces Utena Tenjou's Bombardier Trench Warfare, taking 3 Fatigue damage! Lancelot's Block ability activates! Lancelot's Parry ability activates! Blind applied to Lancelot!
COMBAT: Cure Egret narrowly braces Utena Tenjou's Bombardier Trench Warfare, taking 4 Fatigue damage! Cure Egret's Block ability activates! Cure Egret's Parry ability activates! Blind and Stun applied to Cure Egret!
COMBAT: Yuusha Akira narrowly counters Utena Tenjou's From Afar, A Swarm Of Bombs, taking 12 Fatigue damage! Yuusha Akira's Reverse ability activates! Yuusha Akira's Tactician ability activates!
COMBAT: Yuusha Akira's counterattack, Reflective Swing, partially gets through, doing 16 Fatigue damage to Utena Tenjou!
COMBAT: Georgia Jenks perfectly counters Utena Tenjou's Bombardier Trench Warfare, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Critical Counter!
COMBAT: Georgia Jenks's counterattack, Spark Shield, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Utena Tenjou!
COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou fails to dodge Utena Tenjou's From Afar, A Swarm Of Bombs, taking 25 Fatigue damage!

COMBAT: Cure Bloom narrowly braces Utena Tenjou's Battlefield Curse, taking 18 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Cure Bloom's Block ability activates! Utena Tenjou drains 7 fatigue from Cure Bloom!

COMBAT: Yuusha Fu fails to brace Utena Tenjou's Bombardier Trench Warfare, taking 20 Fatigue damage! Blind and Stun applied to Yuusha Fu!

<Pose Tracker> Kasagami Araki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

A cocky, if very winded and dazed laugh is given to Akira. From anyone else, it'd be a mocking one. From Kasagami? It might almost sound welcoming, and just a little like a push forward. Right towards the enemy, a goading little laugh to say 'Go Hammer Their Face In, Kid'.

"I don't know who this 'Shinjuu', is. But there I was, enjoying the rain outside my window. Next thing I know, the world's gone all trippy on me and I get this /feeling/! Like I need to be somewhere."

Reeeach, smack! She'll try to whack the hammer-girl on the back before she hauls off for the Vertex's face. That might even help Yuusha Akira go that much faster!

Then she asides to Fu. "Man, I love that kid's style! Look at her go, just right up in there! No hesitation, no mercy! IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL!" Are those tears in her eye? Akira's violence seems to move Kasagami. It helps she's been on the other end of that hammer, and has definitely gotten a good dose of respect for both Heroes gathered today.

Akira might recognize an understanding nod though. A shrug of her shoulders. And then there's Passion. Her face twitches in one part irritation, one part happiness. She's strong. Kasagami knows that. And they need strong people right now.

"Oh come on, Passion! Isn't it obvious!? Can't exactly let this thing run around and trash my Kingdom before I've even taken the crown! Man, man, man, man, MAN! That sort of thing just can't be! LET'S CRUSH THIS THING MY LOYAL SUBJECTS!" Since when does Kasagami rule this rag-tag group of Heroes, Knights, Device Users, and PreCure?

In her own head. Don't question it too much.

Fu asks her to be a Hero. There's an outright glare this time. But it softens. Between the pair of Heroes, she knows the stakes. More than that, she knows it in her heart. If they lose, it really is Game Over for everyone, villain, King, or Hero.

"And I stand by that statement, Fu! No, I'm not going to be a Hero!" A big, wide grin. And then she's leaping towards an overhanging root, and her feet land. Then she's a blurr of forward motion just behind Fu as that root crumples under the power of her charge and legs. She delays enough for them to attack, for Fu to cut aa path, and for Akira to Hammer in. For the PreCure, Passion amongst them, to strike. For Knights to use their blades.

"I told you all before! I'm a King, and a King protects their lands and their people! This thing...isn't allowed!"

But her rapid charge is met by the homing mini-vertexes that the big one emits! An entire pile of the things rush for Kasagami. Many of them are immediately sliced to bits, exploding far past her. One particularly dedicated group swarms her as one! The explosion that occurs rocks the very air around her!

At the last minute, Kasagami flicks her coat around her defensively, growing a garden of roses. BOOM! Like so many cherry blossoms, there's a scattering of those dark petals all around her. She emerges, scuffed, sweats torn to the knees, but going all the faster for their explosive intensity. Like some kind of human projectile, she crashes straight towards the Vertex with her blade trying to lash out at what passes for a face on the thing, as massive as the Vertex is!

Where her comparatively miniscule sword won't reach, she lashes down with magic, fury, and sparkling lines of pure speed as she seeks to ravage the thing with a blurr of sword strikes backed up by momentum! She seeks, more than anything, to try to help force it back with sheer force of will, heart, and blade.

COMBAT: Kasagami Araki has used Falling Petals Cut The Soul on Utena Tenjou.

COMBAT: Kasagami Araki has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Yua Chouku [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

Yua peeks about the corner. "Geeze, Merlin was right you do get hit by everything." ribbing her friend and she too brandishes her rapier towards the strange monster. "Okie not Morgana but still a monster." Pysking herself up a little, glancing at her little rapier wishing she had something with a bit more heft to it. Deep breath she charges in after Lancelot. Somehow not being noticed by the monster she moves in unabated to strike!

<Pose Tracker> Lancelot [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

Leaping away, Lancelot runs along a branch, Arondight flashing left and right in an attempt to swat the incoming attacks out of the air that are aimed at him. He jumps to another branch and barely manages to keep them off him, but spinters form a nearby explosion send the wooden fragmentation his way, one of them cutting along his cheek. He hisses but keeps moving.

"Keep it way form the World Tree! Got it!" He calls back to Fu and then, leaps toward the lower end of the Vertex, Arondight flashing and then sending out a pulsing wave of Electricty, designed not os much to wound the thing but to slow it down. Beneath the monster, Lancelot looks up and tilts his head. "This... Is not the best place for me to be ... " And then sprints, full tilt in any direction to get out form beneath the thing that may or may not be trying to kill him.

By that he's pretty sure the thing IS trying to kill him.

COMBAT: Lancelot has used Disabling Strike on Utena Tenjou.

COMBAT: Lancelot has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Vertex. So that's what the giant eldritch monster is called; the Magic Knight of Wind waves briefly at Akira and Fu, and would actually nod to further acknowledge what they said if the Vertex was giving them enough leisure to converse at greater length. There's one moment of hope as the Winds of Admonishment actually stymie the Vertex's movement, too -

And then it just keeps pushing forward, launching not another massive sunlit fireball, but a barrage of smaller - bombs?

Close enough, the Wind Knight thinks as she hunkers down and tries to use a wind barrier to limit the damage. It certainly feels like explosions going off at too-close proximity, although without shrapnel or comparable exacerbating nastiness.

By the time the Magic Knight of Wind looks up again, she can't even see where the Vertex had already been hurt, and her lips tighten briefly. "I suppose, Fu-san, that all of us have to be Heroes today!" she calls out. "Everyone, if you have area-effect attacks at your disposal, allow me to suggest using them! Otherwise, do the best you can without leaving yourself excessively vulnerable!"

She holds off from launching any attacks for the moment, trying to navigate further ahead of the Vertex's seemingly-inexorable advance. She wants to get a really good look at this thing, and not just to take in its appearance; if this were a monster in one of her video games, it would almost certainly be the kind of boss fight that takes more than highly-ground levels and the toughest weaponry and spells that can be acquired.

And since nobody's started compiling a strategy guide for magical girls' assorted enemies, she's going to have to puzzle this out as well as she can.

COMBAT: Yua Chouku has used Sword Slash on Utena Tenjou.

COMBAT: Yua Chouku has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Let Me Take A Look on Utena Tenjou.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou perfectly counters Kasagami Araki's Falling Petals Cut The Soul, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter! Utena Tenjou's Reverse ability activates!
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou's counterattack, Vertexes Are Tough, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Kasagami Araki!
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly dodges Yua Chouku's Sword Slash, taking 5 Fatigue damage! Utena Tenjou's Flash ability activates!
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly braces Lancelot's Disabling Strike, taking 1 Fatigue damage! Utena Tenjou's Block ability activates! Cripple applied to Utena Tenjou!
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou perfectly counters Fuu Hououji's Let Me Take A Look, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Critical Counter! Utena Tenjou's Reverse ability activates!
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou's counterattack, Vertexes Are Tough, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Fuu Hououji!

<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

<BARRAGE SEEMS INFFECTIVE. ASSAULT FORM.> Endo's weapon is a crossbow no more, but takes the shape of that huge sword once again. <SUGGEST FRONTAL ATTACK. FULL POWER.>

Endo, once the mass of explosions clears, sinks down to a half-crouch. The reason is almost immediately clear as Belkan symbols begin to glow around his feet, lighting up the vines around him as he prepares the spell.

<SILVER SCORPION.> Fallen Stern warbles to the other device, <TARGET THIS.> It pings a location, passing visual indicators along to the other device what it pings it.

As to how Endo's going to hit it: He jumps. The triangular symbols around his feet explode in a burst of energy, launching the knight skyward in pursuit of the Vertex. There's no grace, or skill, just momentum that takes him in a straight line toward his enemy. He starts to spin as he goes, more symbols tracing the air, his body rotating in a wide arc to put as much force as he can behind what's coming.

And when he and the underside of the vertex meet Endo plunges his sword toward it as hard as he can, at the same spot that Fiat Silver is targeting.

<Pose Tracker> Georgia Jenks [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

"...Alright so that didn't really go as planned!" Georgia shouts to no one in particular when her hits don't seem to stagger the Vertex much at all. She goes past it, starting to fall down back to the ground below, though she doesn't seem super concerned about it. Indeed she nimbly lands on another root, the frown from earlier having deepend severely. "Guys... I'm sure if we hit it hard enough it'll start to crack. Like an egg!"

...How coincidental is it that right after she says that it sends out little white orbs that do in fact resemble eggs. Georgia blinks. But then she sees one coming RIGHT FOR HER and brings her escrima sticks up in front of her in an X-pattern, knocking them together once. Immediately a shower of sparks manifest and more or less coalesce around her into a barrier, which totally saves her from being exploded upon. "Holy hell." Once it all dies down she lowers her sticks, the shield flickering away. Shouts about protecting the "World Tree" are of course heard. "World Tree, huh? Alright. Dunno what the heck that thing is but if it needs saving..." She also takes a moment to turn in Kasagami's direction, eyebrow lifted at her loud antics and actions. But she doesn't judge if being CRAZY works for that chick.

Holding up her sticks she clacks them together once again whilst pointing them at the Vertex's back, shooting of a couple of sparks. Hey, if she can just be a nuisance and help distract it, she's doing /something/...

COMBAT: Georgia Jenks has used Spark Shot on Utena Tenjou.

COMBAT: Georgia Jenks has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Yuusha Akira [Infinity Institute (7)] has posed.

Akira gives a smile and a wink to Kasagami before she moves along with Fu. A few days ago, they were enemies. Today they are allies as everything is on the line. She quickly works to get behind the Vertex. That way they can surround the creature and hopefully more easily bring it down. Then, Oh look BOMBS! "Fu, Put it on record that being a Hero Sucks sometimes!!" As one of the bombs come at her she winds up her hammer and attempts to reflect it back at the vertex. The bomb explodes launching Akira backwards but still being effective to a degree.

Quickly the young Hero gets in place, "Fu! Are you alright? What should we do, Just wail on it? This thing is healing as fast as we are damaging it!" She begins winding up as she glares at the vertex. "We gotta slow this sucker down! So here I go!" She quickly winds up. With a powerful jump into the sky, she swings the hammer several times before coming down and SLAMMING the gound sending a massive shockwave right into the Vertex.

COMBAT: Endo Naoki has started a combo targeting Utena Tenjou!

COMBAT: Yuusha Akira has used Seismic Wave on Utena Tenjou.
COMBAT: Yuusha Akira has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou fails to dodge Georgia Jenks's Spark Shot, taking 11 Fatigue damage!

<Pose Tracker> Cure Passion [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Fu's explanation tells Passion the important part, at least; their objective. "Right. We can't let it get near the World Tree!"

Why? Well, she doesn't know. Maybe she'll find out later; what's important to the Cure from Labyrinth right now is action. So act she does; she isn't alone as she strikes at the creature, only to find sparks and little else at how sheerly dense this thing is; she starts falling back towards the ground again, the impact taking her far enough away that she doesn't simply hit its front to begin with. "It's /strong/!" she calls out, "There has to be a way through that armor!"

And there's Kasagami's answer to her, finally. She's worried about her before, but now--"Did you hit your head or something!?" Passion shouts back at Kasagami. "Nobody's your subject! If you want to stop it, then just keep hitting it already!"

Kasagami does, of course; Passion, instead, has a series of bizarre things to deal with that turn into explosions, slamming into her before she can even finish landing. She curls up to make as small a target as she can and soars, smouldering, against a wall of green. She goes rolling, folding back in on herself a moment at the impact to her left. "..."

Passion pushes herself up and stares at the moving Vertex. If she can't do it herself...

"Berry! Pine!" Passion calls out, "Let's do our best!"

Passion starts at a sprint--and then /leaps/, somersaulting forward and extending her foot straight towards the Vertex at an angle. But by the time she gets close, her briliant red won't be alone.

COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly braces Yuusha Akira's Seismic Wave, taking 3 Fatigue damage! Utena Tenjou's Block ability activates! Stagger and Tangle applied to Utena Tenjou!

COMBAT: Cure Passion has started a combo targeting Utena Tenjou!

<Pose Tracker> Fiat Silver [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

Fiat Silver's Current Status: D8

Silver Scorpion at least picks up Fu's report about how the World Tree has to be protected NO MATTER WHAT. He was getting that vibe from the room anyway. The somewhat archaic Intelligent Device sets its metaphorical shoulders.

The incoming signal from Stern gets a response. <Understood. Madame, if you could please take aim -> He provides Fiat Silver, even as they are subjected to a barrage of counter-battery fire that shines splendidly with silver sparked and half-melted by gold, with targeting information. Fiat Silver herself grits her teeth, raising the baton that is the means by which the shooting gets done in Abarth Mountain, and closes her left eye to focus.

"Scorpio... SEVEN" Fiat Silver concludes as the not-entirely-unfamiliar barrage of jagged, glowing shards of sapphire streak down towards the Vertex, a tight shape aimed to permeate the area that Endo is aiming at. He can see them streaking round him, the 'cone' wide enough that they pass him without harm.

"What is even cover around here?!" Fiat Silver cries out, even as she attempts to zip behind some kind of projecting piece of gorgeously pink... leaf? Flower? She can't even tell! It seems to be a plant, that's as far as she can commit right now. "And why are they trying to get ON the thing?!"

<It's actually called a Vertex, madame!>

"I don't care if it's called Sopapilla Express!" Fiat Silver cries out. "It's going to explode in that all-direction assault again! They're going to get blasted!"

<I respect their choice,> Silver Scorpion concludes stoutly, <even if I reiterate that we should not enter Telson Mode just today.>

COMBAT: Fiat Silver has joined the combo started by Endo Naoki!

COMBAT: COMBO! Endo Naoki and Fiat Silver have used Combo: Teamwork Overcomes Size Differentials, composed of Meteor Absturz and Scorpio Seven, on Utena Tenjou.
COMBAT: Endo Naoki has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Fiat Silver has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Cure Pine [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

Eventually she loses momentum, gravity takes charge, the huge hovering Vertex moving overhead. All she got for her troubles are bruised knuckles. Still she's not ready to give up, determined to get ahead of it again... she knew from experience that despite frightening size, Pretty Cure could work miracles there.

But that doesn't mean it's not going to try to force the issue either. The Vertex's tail fires off a swarm of white eggs, several breaking off towards her as she falls. Instinctively-

-she punches it. That turns out to be a mistake. An explosion erupts upon impact, sending her yelping backwards, where she impacts another egg.

It explodes too, and she's sent rocketing forward with a shriek. Where she impacts another.

For a while it's like a game of extreme Pretty Cure Pinball, until finally, mercifully, she runs out of eggs to hit. The final explosion makes catching up to the Vertex irrelevant, as by happenstance it sends her that way, crashing hard against one of the prismatic roots. Wisps of smoke still rise off of every centimeter of her clothing as she slides down on another below. "Ow." She says pathetically, needing a moment to pull herself back up to a standing position.

Her eyes flit towards the Crimson Rose Duelist as she attacks, and then at her teammate. She feels dazed, and yet with the two arguing they're all she can focus on for a moment, "Passion- what's going on between you two?" The grand boast seemed too large for life, she doesn't comprehend that. Was it someone else she knew as Eas? Someone who had a problem with her as Eas?

That's fair, but was this really the time?

It takes her a while to shake it off and focus on what's important again. Here perhaps, Fu is like the general in an army of Magical Girls. Her words resonate in her mind, don't let it reach the world tree. But it's Passion that rallies the three girls in particular of the many to do what they do best. "Our best- right!"

Pine synchronizes the timing of her leap with Passion's and Berry's, flipping end over end once, coming alongside the pair, as she extends a single foot, putting all of the strength of her belief behind it, her lead foot plowing into it as if it belonged to some Pretty Cure missile.

COMBAT: Cure Pine has joined the combo started by Cure Passion!

COMBAT: Utena Tenjou fails to brace Endo Naoki and Fiat Silver's Combo: Teamwork Overcomes Size Differentials, taking 116 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!

<Pose Tracker> Yuusha Fu [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Fu's downward momentum from her slash takes her past the slow moving floating monstrosity, landing hard on a technicolor branch which bends under her weight but doesn't quite snap. She quickly turns to see the impact that the Cures, Knights, and Heroes (yes you, Kasagami) did to the creature. Sure enough a few of them were lucky to make dents into it, but the Vertex does have a nasty ability to regenerate damage done to it. Seeing this happen before her eyes causes Fu to grimace. She raises her sword up defensively as the Vertex begins to dispatch its minions to hunt down its attackers. Fu is ready for the evil orb that comes for her, skewering it with her sword. But just as she is about to celebrate, the defeated orb explodes right in Fu's face. The blonde heroine goes rocketing through the branch she was just standing on and into the ground painfully.

Her green eyes are forced open as Fu stands back up again and glares at the Vertex balefully in a way that even Kasagami wouldn't recognize. It doesn't last long as Fu once again resumes her battle-face which was actually a little less imposing little but no less serious. Her attention soon goes to Kasagami when she refuses her offer verbally, but follows it up through action instead. "I still haven't forgiven you for last time, but we have to work together to beat this thing! We can't let any part of the Vertex reach the Shinjuu, that includes those explosive orbs it is firing at us! Nothing can be let past, we need to stop it -here-!"

Lancelot's affirmation of the plan gets a firm nod from Fu. "That's it! Don't let it get any closer!" She calls out before looking to her fellow Fuu. She smile towards her classmate and pumps a fist in her direction. "We're all Heroes now. And that's whether you like it or not -Kasagami-!" The Sword-wielding club president calls out before looking to the numerous Pretty Cures assembled. Having fought alongside numerous of them in the past, she knows their power. Fu jumps over near the epicenter of powerful precures and looks to them each in turn. "Yo. Can I trust on you being our last line of defense? Will you all become an impenetrable wall of girl power that even this Vertex cannot pass through?" The heroine beseeches of the Cures.

Surveying the battlefield, the transformed club president attempts to find Akira in this beautiful disaster of color and explosions. "Akira-chan! Gather up whomever you can and start surrounding the Vertex!" She then gives a nod to the Cures before raising her sword up into the air. "Everyone remember, if we fail here. Our entire world dies." Fu now makes a b-line for the Vertex, her sword shining in yellow energy. "So take your power into your own hands and show that you want to fight for our world! Hero..SLASH!" The massive shining blade in Fu's hands now sings out through the air and she attempts a much more powerful swing than her previous attempt.

COMBAT: Yuusha Fu has used Hero Slash! on Utena Tenjou.

COMBAT: Yuusha Fu has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou perfectly dodges Yuusha Fu's Hero Slash!, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Critical Dodge! Utena Tenjou's Flash ability activates!

<Pose Tracker> Cure Egret [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.

Egret does a flourishing feint backward at the first shot from the tail. She gasps, only barely ducking away from it -- the blast of golden light still sends her hair whipping back and leaves a light, black singe mark along her dress. Her lips straighten into a line, as she realizes: this thing will keep walking away from them. It will take a lot more to stop it than that.

And the weird white orbs come flying in. Cure Egret raises her arms, forearms crossed, and one strikes them -- then explodes, the fiery blast throwing her backward. Her boots scrape into the ground as she hisses, then shakes her head. Her eyes dart to Kasagami. She looks, for a moment, concerned (to say the least). "King...? What--what do you mean?" Egret asks. "I don't understand!"

Her arms uncross with a flick. Smoke wafts from them, as Egret turns to look back up at the Vertex. "Passion! Pine! Berry!" she calls out to her fellow Cures. "That... I think that's the World Tree! It can't get to it! That place... it's very important!"

Even if it's only a sentimental importance.

She looks sideways at Bloom, then. Cure Egret's eyes are wide; the worry in them is clear. "Bloom! We need... we need to try to get in front of it!" she yells, before she holds a gloved hand out towards her partner.

Bloom's fist slams home, and the girl recoils back a second later, her power insufficient to really rupture the Vertex. She touches down on a branch below a moment later, where she finds herself swiftly bombarded by exploding bombs! Light flickers around her arms as she swings at them, not attacking so much as shoving them aside with powerful barriers of her own. A brighter curve of light becomes obvious when they explode against her, a half-tangible barrier protecting her from the worst.

Still, at the end of the barrage she's huffing for breath, watching the Vertex lumber, unimpressed, away. In that moment, Kasagami's words reach her ears, and she gives her an incredulous, cock-eyed look. "Huh??" she squawks, unable to rally a more rational question in the moment. Fu, at least, provides a more helpful comment, and it's one Flappy's already endorsed, so Cure Bloom holds up a fist in a confident affirmative. "Keep it away from the World Tree," she says, and her eyes travel off to that monumental trunk, remembering the soothing feeling she gets from its presence. "...yeah. You don't need to ask me twice!"

She shoves off, somersalting as she comes down near Egret, and looks her in the eyes with a nod. "Yeah! Let's hit it front and center! We'll push it back!" Quite a bit of confidence, given so far nothing's even made it flinch, but she reaches to take Egret's hand with a smile of total certainty. With the two of them, they won't fail.

COMBAT: Cure Egret has started a combo targeting Utena Tenjou!

<Pose Tracker> Cure Berry [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

The kick was uncoordinated.

The strikes - unbalanced, weak.

Berry purses her lips as her kick falls through, only to dart away and...

"...ew, what is that?" she asks, gesturing one hand towards the bombs. Right before they show themselves to be what they are saying... explosively joining the fight with little piffs and paffs that knock her left and right. With a blast that knocks her against a multicolored boulder with a scream, she leaps behind it as another impacts against the boulder, and then... nothing.

Well, but the pain, but pain is temporal. And they - they were eternal. Or something like that. Breathing in deeply to steady herself, she glances across towards Berry - Passion. They had a certain cadence together, formed by dancing together. And she saw the look in their eyes, and shares a smile of her own.

Their first strikes were uncoordinated. They would be no longer. Prancing out with a forward mighty flip, Berry lands upon the ground of this forever forest, leaning forward as she starts to dash towards the creature, only to lift up - and strike, in the same moment as the others. "Triple...! Precure Kick!"

COMBAT: Cure Berry has joined the combo started by Cure Passion!

<Pose Tracker> Cure Bloom [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.

Cure Egret smiles, briefly though, and nods. Then, clasping her friend's hand, she flies straight into the air. The two become blurs of white and black, tinged blue and pink, as they rise up into the air. The two do a tight spin. They come down at the Vertex as one -- but they don't land on it, arcing down to come up in front of the thing. Gravity seems to fail its hold around them, their feet anchored against sparkles in the air before it.. Their hands never separate.

Egret lets out a breath, glancing sideways at Saki. Her violet eyes narrow, before she nods, and looks back at it. "We'll drive it back!" she cries out. Bloom nods back, and her fingers tighten around Egret's. She lets Mai speak for both of them.

The light around their feet gathers together, swirling tightly into bolts of light at the soles of their feet - that then hurl the both of them straight at the Vertex's center. The two throw their hands out in front of them, before they spin around. Mai's blue-and-white boot swings out, heel aimed at the Vertex, and comes side by side with Saki's fist; although, perhaps to most, all they see is a sudden pair of pink and blue streaks screaming to hit the Vertex dead on, pushing back against its advance!

COMBAT: COMBO! Cure Passion, Cure Pine, and Cure Berry have used Combo: Triple Pretty Cure Kick!!!, composed of Pretty Cure Fresh Kick, on Utena Tenjou.

COMBAT: Cure Passion has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Cure Pine has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Cure Berry has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Cure Bloom has joined the combo started by Cure Egret!
COMBAT: COMBO! Cure Egret and Cure Bloom have used Double Pretty Cure Spirit Splash on Utena Tenjou.
COMBAT: Cure Egret has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Cure Bloom has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Shidou [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

OK, that was a foolish mistake. Dodging explosives coming at her at a fast rate of speed didn't work. She got hit hard and sent tumbling, but managed to recover. Now back on her feet again, the fiery power burns within her as she stares down the vertex with her sword gripped tightly with both hands. "It takes more than that to put me down!" She yells, still feeling the power of believing in herself and courage.

With a battle cry, the Fire Knight rushes towards the vertex, attempting to slash at it with her sword. It's a simple enough attack, but it's being done to prove that the Fire Knight is feeling no fear whatsoever right now.

COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou has used Sword Slash on Utena Tenjou.

COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly braces Cure Passion, Cure Pine, and Cure Berry's Combo: Triple Pretty Cure Kick!!!, taking 67 Fatigue damage! Cure Passion, Cure Pine, and Cure Berry are Psyched! Utena Tenjou's Block ability activates!
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou fails to counter Cure Egret and Cure Bloom's Combo: Double Pretty Cure Spirit Splash, taking 83 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou's counterattack, Vertexes Are Tough, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Cure Egret!
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly braces Hikaru Shidou's Sword Slash, taking 3 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Hikaru Shidou is Psyched! Utena Tenjou's Block ability activates!

<Pose Tracker> Utena Tenjou [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

Getting in close, Kasagami seeks to ascend to a higher plane, to become what she wants to be most, to embody and actualize a wall of steel, a barricade of furious, passionate denial, and every sparking glance of her sword off the Vertex -- or her lines of speed, her sparkling magic extending her range significantly -- is demoralizing at best. The way it never even slows, not even a little bit? RUDE. It doesn't even have a face. It would be better if it did, easier to know if it's noticed this attempt at opposition. To the extent that it has attention, it seems mostly fixated on the distant World Tree, a sort of underlying obsession.

It's hard to get its attention. Led by Yuusha Fu, the Knights of the Round Table Reborn team up with Magic Knight Hikaru and HiME Georgia to give it a shot, though, deliberately distracting; Yua's rapier gets a nice angle and makes a little (quickly healing) scratch, as does Hikaru's longsword, while Lancelot's electric wave and Georgia's sparks pour across it, opening up tiny burns. And it finds Fu's immense swing so threatening that it manages, just barely, to waft out of the way -- the blowing air behind the blade sends it spinning gently askew. Does it have eyes? It doesn't seem to have eyes. Blinding it is hard, but nonetheless, like a slowly revolving door, its awareness begins to focus in on these poor brave souls up in its face.

Its response is inevitable: detonating another one of those huge golden blasts at point blank, one which trickles light out of the tip of its tail for several sections before emerging to engulf all six opponents.

But in that moment, it is, indeed, distracted. One Heo and three separate teams take advantage of this, as follows:

First, Akira sends out her shockwave. An earthquake can't jar this Vertex per se, since it's in the air, but what it does do is send a profusion of Jukai roots up towards it, like an entangling rainbow wave. It almost disappears inside of it, though the roots, somewhat ominously, start turning gray immediately, with little red blotches, as though they're being gradually burned away.

Without the efforts of the Furious Five this never would have been possible -- surely it would have intercepted the floral tide with bombs. But it didn't, and here comes the cavalry: Endo's sword gouges out a huge piece of the underbelly, like a third of it, allowing him to briefly witness the living sun inside of it, face-first. It's beautiful (and scary), but probably kind that he can't see it completely directly, in that Fiat Silver's sapphire shards are exploding all over the place, veiling it.

At the same time as the Device-wielders hit the Virgo Class Vertex from below, the Splash Star Pretty cure come in fist-and-foot-first from the front, and Fresh Pretty Cure's three-footed kick slams in from above.

There is a voluminous sound, as a shockwave rips through the air in all directions, the monster's frame unable to contain this combined impact. The roots are torn away, scattering on the breeze, already nothing more than ashy debris, and for a few seconds, at least, the Vertex is staggered, and reduced to less than half of itself. Where Pretty Cure impacted, on its head... thing and its front, there are immense, jagged craters, all of them leaking more of that light.

Look upon ye mighty, Magic Knight of Wind, and despair: even after all that, those incredible displays of heartful teamwork, it's already regenerating again, and after a few stunned seconds, decides to engage these enemies in earnest. It seems to have no weaknesses, no silver bullets, no tricky solutions. Fuu comes up with a complete blank.

But, good news: for the moment, it's not moving towards the World Tree anymore.

The bad news: It seems to have decided to remove its enemies first -- with concussive force. More of those bombs swarm the sky almost as thickly as the omnipresent flower petals, with blasts of pure golden light mixed in for good measure. By the time it's through attacking, it once again appears to be completely unharmed.

COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used From Point Blank, Another Blast on Kasagami Araki.

COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used From Point Blank, Another Blast on Yua Chouku.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used From Point Blank, Another Blast on Lancelot.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used From Point Blank, Another Blast on Georgia Jenks.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used From Point Blank, Another Blast on Yuusha Fu.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used From Point Blank, Another Blast on Hikaru Shidou.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Bombardier Trench Warfare on Endo Naoki.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Bombardier Trench Warfare on Cure Pine.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used From Afar, A Swarm Of Bombs on Yuusha Akira.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Battlefield Curse on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Battlefield Curse on Cure Egret.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Endless Golden Blasts on Cure Bloom.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Bombardier Trench Warfare on Cure Passion.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Bombardier Trench Warfare on Cure Berry.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Endless Golden Blasts on Fiat Silver.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Cure Berry fails to brace Utena Tenjou's Bombardier Trench Warfare, taking 15 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Blind applied to Cure Berry!
COMBAT: Cure Pine narrowly braces Utena Tenjou's Bombardier Trench Warfare, taking 8 Fatigue damage! Cure Pine's Block ability activates! Cure Pine's Parry ability activates! Blind and Stun applied to Cure Pine!
COMBAT: Kasagami Araki narrowly dodges Utena Tenjou's From Point Blank, Another Blast, taking 15 Fatigue damage! Kasagami Araki's Fade ability activates! Kasagami Araki's Flash ability activates!
COMBAT: Yua Chouku fails to brace Utena Tenjou's From Point Blank, Another Blast, taking 30 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Cure Passion narrowly dodges Utena Tenjou's Bombardier Trench Warfare, taking 20 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Cure Passion's Fade ability activates! Blind and Stun applied to Cure Passion!
COMBAT: Yuusha Akira narrowly dodges Utena Tenjou's From Afar, A Swarm Of Bombs, taking 25 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Yuusha Akira's Fade ability activates! Yuusha Akira's Flash ability activates!
COMBAT: Lancelot narrowly dodges Utena Tenjou's From Point Blank, Another Blast, taking 15 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Georgia Jenks narrowly dodges Utena Tenjou's From Point Blank, Another Blast, taking 27 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Georgia Jenks's Fade ability activates!
COMBAT: Fiat Silver narrowly dodges Utena Tenjou's Endless Golden Blasts, taking 4 Fatigue damage! Fiat Silver's Fade ability activates! Fiat Silver's Flash ability activates!
COMBAT: Endo Naoki narrowly counters Utena Tenjou's Bombardier Trench Warfare, taking 5 Fatigue damage! Endo Naoki's Reverse ability activates! Stun applied to Endo Naoki!
COMBAT: Endo Naoki's counterattack, Asteroid Eilen, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Utena Tenjou!
COMBAT: Cure Egret narrowly counters Utena Tenjou's Battlefield Curse, taking 18 Fatigue damage! Cure Egret's Reverse ability activates! Utena Tenjou drains 7 fatigue from Cure Egret!
COMBAT: Cure Egret's counterattack, Light of Feathers, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Utena Tenjou!
COMBAT: Cure Bloom narrowly counters Utena Tenjou's Endless Golden Blasts, taking 7 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Cure Bloom's Reverse ability activates! Cure Bloom's Tactician ability activates! Cripple and Stagger applied to Cure Bloom!
COMBAT: Cure Bloom's counterattack, Petal Flash, partially gets through, doing 8 Fatigue damage to Utena Tenjou! Diversion applied to Utena Tenjou!

<Pose Tracker> Yuusha Akira [Infinity Institute (7)] has posed.

"Hai!" Akira shouts to Fu as she takes off running. She is moving as quick as she can towards the Cures first. As she gets close She will stop and speak, "Move in. Surround the Vertex. We can do this! You're doing an awesome job!" With that she takes off towards Kasagami. She tells her the same thing. Then to the HiME and the various Knights. She is moving the best she can. Its the same thing every time.

She only stops once. Her phone chirps and she quickly checks. "Sealing prayers. Do We really have time for this? These prayers are ginormous!" She quickly makes a call, "Fu, What is this about sealing prayers? Its insane? How are we going to lock down the vertex long enough to seal it? CRAP one moment!" She quickly dives out of the way, just as one of those nasty bombs hits th jukai behind her. She goes flying. Her body is quickly racked with pain. "Fu-senpai... We gotta finish this. I can't take much more." She is panting heavily. "What do we need to do?" With that she quickly continues getting people to surround the Vertex.

COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou narrowly braces Utena Tenjou's From Point Blank, Another Blast, taking 4 Fatigue damage! Hikaru Shidou's Block ability activates! Hikaru Shidou's Parry ability activates!

<Pose Tracker> Kasagami Araki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

That wink from Akira? It gets returned with double finger-guns, sword-and-sheath in hand regardless. That's right. Right now, they're allies. Kasagami doesn't even think on the past for just right now. Hero, Villain, or King, there's a single driving goal: preserve the world, dirty as Kasagami might think it is. After all, a dead world is useless to all but the worst of Villains.

There's definitely a few loose bolts in that head of Kasagami's. A double dose of almost arrogant self confidence and some proper Ohtori attention to theater helps. She's just louder than most of the student body. Georgia gets an appraising glance somewhere amidst all the violence.

Grin. She likes the young woman's passion.

Passion gets a laugh, short and amused! "Oh, please, Passion! You're all my subjects because it's inevitable! No matter how much this filthy world grinds my face into the dirt by it's heel, I'll get back up until I'm the one at the top! That's a good plan, though! I like it! Show me what you're made of, Cure Passion! This thing is in both of our ways!" There's an odd note to her voice, as though she might be putting some amount of faith in Passion. Surely not. Kasagami Araki doesn't believe in anything other than herself and her sword.

Surely not.

That battle face is met with a smirk. "Didn't expect you to, Fu! Come at me any time you like if you're looking for revenge! But yeah, I'm with you. We gotta put it all on the line for that tree! So you're saying don't let these things get anywhere near!? PERFECT! I'll use all of these Vertexes to sharpen my sword up!"

If anything, Fu's proclaimation has Kasagami snarling!

"Y...you cheeky little! Don't compare me to you! I'm gonna...gonna..." Pause.

"Bonk you on the head in revenge later if we all survive this! RIGHT. ON. THE NOGGIN!" Is her 'dire' threat!

Egret gets a peer in turn! Mid-air, she points at the Pretty Cure! "What do you think? It means I'm going to be the one to rule this dirty world, and make it the place it should be!" She cries passionately, even if that's rather vague.

Bombs seem to erupt from the Vertex, unharmed by her furious assault! That only gets her teeth grinding, her anger all the more spiteful. No, it's not just that the thing is still alive. She feels ignored. Tossed aside to the winds of an uncaring world, just like she did when she lost those dearest to her.

The tiny creatures come for her, the bombs, and the explode. They'll find an intercepting blade, a scuffed chin by their assault, abs tightening and simply taking the blow on her body as she zooms away. There's an explosion on her back that leads to a cry of pain, but she pushes off on a single foot of rose petals that keeps her in the air. Even as her body sizzles in pain and fury from the bombs that hurt her, she keeps moving forward, relentlessly, even as the thing seems unharmed.

Akira calls out. Kasagami grins.

"That's right...we'll...all...stop this thing and keep our friends safe!" In her mind, she suddenly thinks of Utena Tenjou. The young woman that pulled her up when she was at her worst.

"Get back to whatever horrible place you came from! Raaaaaah!" She lifts back her fist, and tries to bluntly punch the Vertex right in the face with all the power and passion that she thinks a King and a certain Pink Haired Prince would offer to this abomination!

COMBAT: Kasagami Araki has used Disciplinary Facepunch on Utena Tenjou.

COMBAT: Kasagami Araki has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji fails to dodge Utena Tenjou's Battlefield Curse, taking 43 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Utena Tenjou drains 17 fatigue from Fuu Hououji!

<Pose Tracker> Cure Egret [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.

Egret's eyes move to Kasagami. Those innocent violet eyes widen -- and shakes her head, quickly, as she looks forward. "How horrible...! This world isn't dirty!"

Her cry, though, ends, for the Pretty Cure flies with her friend -- and kicks, mightily, into the thing. She bounces back with Saki, hand in hand for a moment until they part. She drifts backward, looking at the Vertex. For a moment, Cure Egret is pleased -- or, at least, not worried -- because the efforts of everyone left the Vertex battered, dented, and reduced. But then she sees how it begins to regenerate, how the damage quickly is undone. Her violet eyes widen; her pupils seem to shrink.

"No...!"

The damage is undone. The fact that the Vertex isn't advancing on the precious World Tree is a cold comfort, all of a sudden. She opens her mouth in despair, then she shakes her head. "We can't give up," she says. "There must be a way to defeat this!"

Cure Egret lands as a bomb comes down. She throws both hands up, having pulled free of Bloom, and a shield of silvery light forms. The bomb strikes it, then explodes. The fireball drives her back along the ground. Mai lets out a soft breath, then she flies up into the air. She isn't hand in hand with Bloom this time, but she doesn't doubt that her friend will be far behind. Silvery light dances along her fist--

--and she delivers a quick backhanded punch into the thing's trunk, before she spins 'round. Her foot kicks into the side, pushing her off, and she finishes with a spinning backflip. Her hands come together, fingers entwined, and she delivers a hammerblow into it.

"Hyah!"

COMBAT: Cure Egret has used White Wing Flurry on Utena Tenjou.

COMBAT: Cure Egret has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Yuusha Fu narrowly counters Utena Tenjou's From Point Blank, Another Blast, taking 31 Fatigue damage! Yuusha Fu's Reverse ability activates!
COMBAT: Yuusha Fu's counterattack, Overruled!, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Utena Tenjou!

<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

Endo raises his hands to shield his face from the force of the light inside of the vertex, turning his head aside as he rebounds off the monstrosity. <VERY GOOD.> Not so good, though, is the mass of energy hurtling back toward him. This time Endo is more prepared, gritting teeth as the spheres explode around him, his weapon flashing out to take several cuts and slashes as the bombardments bounce him through the air.

The bad thing is that he doesn't fly. What he does instead is roll through the air, twisting around and plunging his sword into one of the legs of the Vertex as he falls. The aim is to find a hook, or at least slow his fall as he tears downward.

<Pose Tracker> Lancelot [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

From underneath, Lancelot runs and runs and runs, almost like how he looks when a certian somebody offers to cook him bacon. Which is to say very fast, and very motivated, that motivation is to live, but Bacon is life yo. As such the close quarters in his face blast is narrowly avoided but it sends him sprawling in a roll that he ends up at smacking into a branch and knocking him on his back again. He growns and rolls over, before he lets out a little growl. "Okay. No more mister nice Knight. TRISTAN!" He calls as he gets to his feet and rolls his shoulder, wincing and hissing at the pain there. "BRING THE THUNDER!"

Lancelot rushes forward, holding Arondight to the side and gripping it with both hands. As he rushes lighting rolls along the blade and a low rumbling of thunder reverbrates off the blade with every foot step, and as he closes he unloads with a massive series of incredibly fast sword strikes. With each stroke Lighting erupts from the blade almost in a song like cadance...

COMBAT: Lancelot has started a combo targeting Utena Tenjou!

COMBAT: Endo Naoki has used Hang on! on Utena Tenjou.
COMBAT: Endo Naoki has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly dodges Kasagami Araki's Disciplinary Facepunch, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Utena Tenjou's Flash ability activates!
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly braces Cure Egret's White Wing Flurry, taking 7 Fatigue damage! Utena Tenjou's Block ability activates!
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly counters Endo Naoki's Hang on!, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Utena Tenjou's Reverse ability activates!
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou's counterattack, Sparkathon, partially gets through, doing 7 Fatigue damage to Endo Naoki!

<Pose Tracker> Cure Pine [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

"Very important?" Pine says in response to Egret in consideration of the situation. That sounded a little like they had more of a stake than just being drawn here. "We won't let it get to the tree, Egret." Down Fu comes, again acting as the general, Pine looks at her as she turns, implores for their aid. "An impenetrable wall of girl power?" Pine echoes in wonder. Blink blink, then finally a firm nod. "Alright. I'll do my best to be a part of it"

But then the Cures are on the attack, attempting to be that impenetrable wall of Girl Power. It seems at least to have contributed to being that, as it's stopped it's forward advance, the impacts of the three working in unison with the duo causing craters which leak blinding light.

This time when the bombs come she changes her strategy. Into her hand, she catches the egg shaped thing, twisting at the hip, before casting it forward at the others. It impacts, setting off a chain of explosions in the sky. Good news is, it keeps her from the worst of the harm. Bad news is it synergizes into a larger explosion that fills her vision with spots, the many blast waves knocking her out of the sky.

It takes a lot of effort to right herself, but this time she lands on her feet, with a clap of heels upon mystical roots. That's an improvement from before, right?

But Kasagami speaks against Passion. It sounded so personal, "Rule the world - turn it into a place it should be - are you from Labyrinth!?" That doesn't entirely make sense, I mean she said 'friends' didn't she? And subjects? And they hadn't mentioned Mobius-sama even once, but maybe the explosions had drowned that out. Pine takes a breath, she doesn't have time to mull it over so she just gets to the point, "You shouldn't talk about our world that way. Isn't this place evidence enough that it's beautiful?"

Facing against the Vertex, she stares it down, "-Well, I believe it is at least." She doesn't try for the underbelly again, seeing the shining sun that Endo has unleashed, instead she leaps forward, smashing a knee into its front, trying to continue to be the wall. To stand, to keep it from moving forward.

<Pose Tracker> Fiat Silver [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

Silver Scorpion puffs up, metaphorically.

Fiat Silver hears what Fu said. "They're going to destroy Midchildia?!?"

<I believe she means Earth,> Silver Scorpion states. <However, Miss Jentra and Mr. Rucci presently reside upon the planet in question along with 27,409 artistic and cultural objects suitable for the group's activities.>

Fiat Silver isn't sure if this makes her feel better, but she does say, "Then we have to defend it. We have to stop this creature!"

<We could be heroes,> Silver Scorpion suggests, sensing, perhaps, an opportunity.

"Just for one day," Fiat Silver replies as she twirls round her baton.

The mixture of cover and quick motion keeps her Barrier from taking more than several sharp glancing strikes, though the shockwaves from all of those bombs bursting in air are not helping anything better. Her teeth feel like they're rattling.

The Grenadier Mode baton starts firing sturdy bursts of blue light in long arcing trajectories, perhaps intent on not being so easily predicted, dodged, or blocked. "Aah! Naoki!!" Fiat Silver cries, seeing that Endo seems to NOT be aloft. She dives afterwards, abandoning her limited shrounding broadleaf of not being shot +2 to sweep down, extending her armored hand to try to grasp him before he plummets!

COMBAT: Cure Pine has used Enduring Conviction on Utena Tenjou.

COMBAT: Cure Pine has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Fiat Silver has used Scorpio Blindfiringgrenades on Utena Tenjou.
COMBAT: Fiat Silver has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou fails to dodge Cure Pine's Enduring Conviction, taking 11 Fatigue damage! Bind Break! All of Cure Pine's debuffs are cleared!
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly braces Fiat Silver's Scorpio Blindfiringgrenades, taking 5 Fatigue damage! Utena Tenjou's Block ability activates!

<Pose Tracker> Georgia Jenks [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

<SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb90lkvaIU8&feature=youtu.be

Her sparks do contribute to the ongoing assault in a favorable fashion at least. Georgia begins to move not long after that, hopping from root to root while keeping an eye on things. What happens next within that following span of minutes definitely makes it look as though the tide is finally turning in their direction -- the combo attack from the two device wielders, combined with the awesomely potent assault from the Cures, earns a whoop of joy from Georgia. "Yeah! Show that thing not to mess with the World Tree!" Nevermind that she had /zero/ clue that the World Tree even existed before now! Georgia stops her trek along the edges of the battlefield, temporarily catching a breather.

Which proves to be not such a great time for that when the Vertex strikes back. She's forced into another desperate dodge, cursing audibly when she's once again clipped by the blast radius, which sends her into a tailspin that is only stopped by her slamming ribs-first into one of the massive roots.

"Ow! Son of a-!" That's going to leave a mark! Georgia shakes her head, and by the time she's no longer seeing double from the impact the Vertex has gotten up from the earlier assault on its defenses like nothing happened at all. Oh. This is /really/ not good.

"No choice then..." She steadies herself where she's stood, then starts to twirl her escrima sticks in a well-practiced, fluid fashion -- kind of like a drummer would a pair of drumsticks. And given that she happens to /be/ a drummer -- well, that's not important right now! What /is/ important is the fact that in the next breath she's jumping forward into the air, and as she does this leap of faith, she calls out a name.

"TITHONUS!"

There's a brief moment where a superimposed afterimage of herself billows forth, followed by a veritable /shower/ of sparks that erupt with such ferocity that the surrounding air seems to distort. Then they're gone, leaving behind not just Georgia, but also the chrome-encased "magimechanical" grasshopper that is her Child! It lets out a screech, Georgia standing on it's back as they both continue to sail forward towards the Vertex. "Let's get 'em!" She shouts with a flourish of one of her escrima sticks which she points in the direction of the monster in question.

Tithonus screeches again, this time keeping it's mouth open as a steady stream of the same sparks Georgia has been wielding with wild abandon ushers forth, seeking to bathe the Vertex in them completely.

COMBAT: Georgia Jenks transforms into Georgia and Tithonus!

COMBAT: Georgia Jenks has used Scintillating Spray on Utena Tenjou.
COMBAT: Georgia Jenks has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou fails to dodge Georgia Jenks's Scintillating Spray, taking 43 Fatigue damage!

<Pose Tracker> Yua Chouku [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

Tristan spits a bit of blood from her mouth, using her chello to drag herself off the ground. "What the heck is this thing made out of?" taking a defensive stance trying just to keep herself in the game and how the heck to hurt this thing. At Lancelots command she grins, turning her sword so the hidden bow string within is visable. Pulling her chello in she pulls the string across the others creating a shockwave of magical sound force that rockets to the monster."Drop the bass!"

COMBAT: Yua Chouku has joined the combo started by Lancelot!

COMBAT: COMBO! Lancelot and Yua Chouku have used Combo: Bass Thunder and Light Show, composed of Furious Assault and Butterfly Cello Shot, on Utena Tenjou.
COMBAT: Lancelot has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Yua Chouku has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Cure Bloom [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.

Cure Bloom preoccupies herself with a rising scream as they bullet toward the beast, and the phenomenal forces released blow it away with more power than even Saki was expecting. Physically, though, rather than directionally, and that's a shock to her. For Cure Bloom, the monsters always seem so light. Even the Uzainaa, massive beasts the size of houses with phenomenal strength, with Egret at her side and the spirits in her hands, they fly even more easily than the softballs she throws for club, sailing dozens of miles when she applies her heart to it. The last time she exerted herself like THIS, the thing ended up at the other end of Tama Ward from her house. And she knows she's gotten much stronger since then.

So when it /barely moves/, other than to explode...when that much power, from herself and Egret and their Pretty Cure Sempais and others can only make it stop for a while... When she touches down next to Egret, her eyes are wide and more than a little frightened. "We hit that thing with everything!" she yells, objecting to the universe. "There's no way!"

And it's already attacking again...she's not fast enough to evade, this time. The seemingly endless barrages of golden light rain down, and all Bloom can do is throw up her arms. Where's Egret!? She needs her for an attack like this! She sees Mai, off on another one of the branches, and her worried look is the last thing Egret can see of her before Saki's golden barrier is barraged beneath a never-ending wave of more insidious golden light. From Bloom's end, the shield cracks rapidly under the ceaseless barrage. But she squares her stance and grits her teeth, screaming a noise that can't be heard over the devestation around her - and finally forces back, the barrier around her detonating such to send the waves of light scattering, searing across the Vertex's hulk. She stands there, wheezing for some seconds. Her shoulders quaking and her stance unsteady. "Can't....slow down now," she tells herself...as the thing's healing completes its work. Her fist slowly balls. "Don't mind," she whispers, remembering the words of her softball coach. "It's stopped. So that means we made it mad. So that means we're a problem!" She nods to herself; glances at Egret as her partner soars in, and then pushes off herself, light racing around her feet for a moment before she shoots off into the air, rising back up to the Vertex to slam into its side with a hard punch. She slams her foot down into the side, and a blast of light shoves her away and back toward the high-flying branches. She touches down - it's hardly graceful, roughly slamming in with both feet under her and mostly squatted - and then immediately rushes again, bulleting in with a second hard strike, a bolt of light in her hand that she slams into the thing's side!

COMBAT: Cure Bloom has used Petal Clash on Utena Tenjou.

COMBAT: Cure Bloom has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou fails to brace Cure Bloom's Petal Clash, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Cure Bloom is Psyched!

<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

That was a lot less profitable of an effort than the Wind Knight was hoping it would be, and she pays dearly for it - her momentary perch is transformed into a practical deathtrap of explosions, and rather than landing from a leap to safety, the green-clad Magic Knight winds up faceplanting not once but SEVERAL times as she rejoins some of her allies ... by dint of a long, very bumpy tumble. (Somehow her glasses survive the ordeal, though - which is a new experience for her.)

"As I was saying, Inubozaki-san," the Wind Knight states while regaining her feet, "I think all of us are Heroes today." She looks up at the Vertex, frowning briefly, then calls out, "Storm-Dance of Kamaitachi!!" Gathering up her magic once more, the Wind Knight unleashes the wrath of the storm; she may not be able to conjure rain or lightning, but the wind itself can be just as destructive as the other elements - and hopefully the turbulence will help keep the Vertex from picking up speed again.

COMBAT: Utena Tenjou perfectly dodges Lancelot and Yua Chouku's Combo: Bass Thunder and Light Show, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Dodge! Utena Tenjou's Flash ability activates!

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Storm-Dance of Kamaitachi on Utena Tenjou.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Cure Passion [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Pine asks her a question, and Pine actually takes a few moments to respond; after all for just another few moments, it /isn't/ the time, not as far as she's concerned. But she doesn't forget it, as she trades a look with Pine and then with Berry. And neither does she forget...

"I'm not sure what you mean by girl power," Passion answers Fu, "But we won't let you down!" She can promise it of herself; she's even more certain of the others. So defend she does; first, with Pine and Berry, finally hearing the impact of their blows against the thing, even as...

"It's already...?" She remembers; Egret told them it was important, too. ...And she's spent time there, too. So...

She finds herself amidst another cluster of those bombs again, leaping out of a larger ring of them only to still impact a smaller set, the explosions painfully impacting her as she tries to keep moving. She's kept her feet, but...

"I--" Can she explain? The conversation gives her something to help keep herself going, "I met her somewhere, before! We fought then! She's... She's not from Labyrinth at all! I think she's from Earth!"

This place /is/ beautiful, despite the creature trying to destroy it. "...Right. I'll help defend this world, too."

Friends...?

"Tell me if I'm doing your 'girl power' right!" Passion calls to Fu, and charges in with a flurry of kicks right on the heels of Cure Bloom's blast of light.

COMBAT: Cure Passion has used Following Flurry on Utena Tenjou.

COMBAT: Cure Passion has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly braces Fuu Hououji's Storm-Dance of Kamaitachi, taking 6 Fatigue damage! Utena Tenjou's Block ability activates!

<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Shidou [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Taking the initiative here defensively, the Fire Knight braces herself as best as she can, finding herself getting hit less harder than she did before, which is saying something since she was pretty close this time when the blast occurred. Apparently, she's illustrating just how well the power of believing in yourself works when you know how to focus it properly! Even though she's taken a few hits, she's still standing strong and willing to fight in the face of adversity. That's the fiery determination of the Fire Knight!

When the Fire Knight sees the Wind Knight doing some kind of dance, or something related to dancing maybe, the Fire Knight decides to follow her lead. "Let me show you a trick!" She says as she proceeds to maneuever her sword while moving in a style that almost seems like dancing. "You can follow my lead if you want, but after this you might need a new partner!" She says before coming out of her routine with a swift slash!

COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly dodges Cure Passion's Following Flurry, taking 13 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Utena Tenjou's Flash ability activates!

COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou has used Dancing Blade on Utena Tenjou.
COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly counters Hikaru Shidou's Dancing Blade, taking 26 Fatigue damage! Hikaru Shidou is Psyched! Utena Tenjou's Reverse ability activates!
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou's counterattack, From Point Blank, Another Blast, partially gets through, doing 7 Fatigue damage to Hikaru Shidou!

<Pose Tracker> Cure Berry [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Look upon ye mighty, and despair.

But the blue heart was the emblem of hope. Even if that selfsame heart wobbled in its spirit in these moments. In these moments where that shockwave rampages through her body, twisting her heart and spirit with wracking pain. Bombs. Bombs and explosions. It was rebuilding itself. It was regrowing again.

The blue heart was the emblem of hope. And they had been through worse - much worse. Blinking light and flash from her eyes, her eyes flickering towards Kasagami. The others were speaking to her, for now. She was gritting her teeth.

She was twisting around, leaping through the air, tucking her hands together as she spins, gaining speed and momentum.

The blue heart was the emblem of hope.

And right now, that hope was in her fists as she hopes to impact the thing. It was in those moments that she notices Bloom alongside Passion, and she gives Bloom the briefest of smiles - a light admist all of this darkness.

COMBAT: Cure Berry has used Bonzanza Spiral on Utena Tenjou.

COMBAT: Cure Berry has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou fails to dodge Cure Berry's Bonzanza Spiral, taking 39 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!

<Pose Tracker> Yuusha Fu [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Fu, mid-fight, sneaks a look towards Kasagami. The comment about getting 'revenge' causes the Vertex fighting girl to smirk darkly back at her. "You can count on it! The only thing that is going to take down a tyrannical king is an even more terrifying dark queen!" She yells back as she follow through with her mighty sword slash. But the Vertex ends up dodging her powerful swing somehow. "How did it do that?!" The Heroine remarks as she narrows her green eyes on the massive being. Was she not taking this seriously enough? No, it just got lucky. The impact of Pretty Cures, Endo, and Fiat against the monster is enough to put Fu into a state of awe. "Incredible! Keep it up!" She cheers from her positon close to the Vertex. Maybe she won't be able to do much herself, but she can atleast help the other succeed. They all were in this together afterall.

The counter-attack from the behemoth comes quicker than Fu was expecting as she brandishes her mighty sword and swings it vertically at the approaching blast in a desperate attempt to knock it away from her. Her sword impacts the side of the blast and halts its forward momentum for only a moment. It proves far too powerful for her heroine to stop alone and she soon crumbles onto her knees as she tries to keep the blast from her before succumbing to the blast itself. Fu goes spiraling through the air with her massive sword flying harmlessly to the ground where it lodges itself in a random branch. The young blonde swordswoman starts to pick herself back up, but fails at her first attempt. From her downed position, she surveys the amazing technicolor battlefield. They were halting it's process, but they needed to defeat it before it broke through. "Keep surrounding it!" That was step one. As for step two? Akira's words find Fu and the club president looks to her with a nod as she struggles to her feet. With a mighty leap, the young green-eyed fighter lands by her blade and pulls it free with a mighty tug. Next, the swordswoman jumps to the ground beneath the Vertex and slams her sword into the ground beneath it. She quickly turns towards Akira with her blade half embedded in the ground as a whirlwind of yellow and white Hero power starts to surround her. "It doesn't matter what you say, so long as you say it with spirit." The older club president points out with a nod before adding, "Now go! This is our chance!" Fu now looks to the others and calls out to them with her hands still on the hilt of her blade. "That goes for the rest of you too! Hit it with everything you've got, our world depends on it!" The cures get a thankful from Fu when she seems them mount a stellar defense before she also nods towards Fuu to confirm that indeed they all were heroes tonight. Just hopefullly, all their efforts won't be in vain!

COMBAT: Yuusha Fu has started a combo targeting Utena Tenjou!

<Pose Tracker> Yuusha Akira [Infinity Institute (7)] has posed.

Yuusha Akira is quickly back on the front lines and ready to deal damage. As Fu gives her the skinny on how what to do, She nods, "Got it!" She takes off towards the opposite side of the creature! She chokes up on her hammer and smirks, "Ready when you are Fu-Senpai!"

Quickly she begins focusing. A big smile forms on her lips as she points that massive hammer at the Vertex. "Just go away cause you will never get to the Shinjuu-sama!" She is very spirited.

COMBAT: Yuusha Akira has joined the combo started by Yuusha Fu!

COMBAT: COMBO! Yuusha Fu and Yuusha Akira have used Combo: Sealing Ritual, composed of Sealing Prayer and Hero Club Tenet Number 5, on Utena Tenjou.
COMBAT: Yuusha Fu has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Yuusha Akira has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly dodges Yuusha Fu and Yuusha Akira's Combo: Sealing Ritual, taking 14 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Yuusha Fu and Yuusha Akira are Psyched! Utena Tenjou is Quipped! Utena Tenjou's Flash ability activates! Trap applied to Utena Tenjou!

<Pose Tracker> Utena Tenjou [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

Kasagami punches the Vertex right in the face! But it doesn't have a face, not really, and that moment of confusion causes the Disciplinary Executive's impact to distribute more widely across its 'upper front' than it might have otherwise. Still, there is a satisfying meeting of knuckles and -- flesh? -- it's sort of like flesh, it's substance, it's matter, this time it gives a little, sending some wobbles propagating down.

Down towards Cure Egret's manifold violence-induced wobbles, the double-handed hammer blow the most impressive of them because she jams it straight into the shallow scratch Endo's opening up with his sword, which has managed to catch and drag, slowing his fall but sending hissing, burning friction sparks straight into his face, all the way down.

Lancelot and Tristan's teamwork is perfection, but with the Vertex neither distracted nor secured, it's able to respond well. It angles itself upwards, getting just above the sonic shockwave, and is able to ride it past Lancelot and his blade like a ridiculously massive surfer on a choice wave. It leaves bombs in its wake, because it can, and Tristan faces a larger threat in the form of a backhanded slap from the abruptly and unexpectedly mobile shawl, which rushes forward to try to engulf her, to drag and drown her.

The Vertex gains a few yards on the World Tree, but there's another wave of magical girls eager to stop it by any means necessary. Cure Pine nails its underbelly, which was already mostly healed from the wound, but will, now, take a little longer to scab over with its smooth white surface, and Fiat Silver's randomized firing support further weakens the surface with each burst of blow. Meanwhile, around another side, Cures Bloom, Passion and Egret strike it in rapid succession, Bloom's slammed light an excellent predecessor for Passion's kicks and Berry's spinning backfist.

The strength of the girls' impacts drive them back out of melee range, which is really just as well, because here comes Georgia, who warps reality to bring in her immense Child, Tithonus! With the Pretty Cure safely out of the way, she can douse much of the Vertex's body in his immense exhalation of green sparks. The Vertex makes no sound, but there's a sense of a silent scream, and when it's visible again, it's got smoking holes all over -- and through -- its form.

They're going to heal, that's well established at this point, but there's time for Hikaru and Fuu to get in a few good hits. Fuu's vertex vortex momentarily slows its retaliation on the HiME and her Child (another one of those terrifyingly huge blasts of golden light, quite a bit larger than the Child itself), and allows Hikaru to dance in under its defenses. Her graceful slice opens up a nice wound, but it means she's dangerously close to that blast when it goes off -- and to the next volley of bombs that come after, showing the whole area, aiming for no survivors by attrition alone. The shawl, also, leaves Tristan behind, going next for Fiat Silver, and then finally for the Child, hoping to smother Tithonus while he's recovering from his mighty breath (and being shot by a huge golden blast).

And then the fight -- finally -- seems to change. Akira and Fu have to brave some more bombs to get close enough to make their bold invocation, and in response the Shinjuu, in the distance, seems to gleam just a bit more brightly. There's a sense of power on a grand scale, of something sacred rushing inwards towards the Heroes, who are suddenly the center of everything, the axis on which the world will, or will not, continue to turn.

Petals of energy burst out from both girls, yellow from Fu and violet from Akira, and rise in a double helix, spiraling around the creature. Beneath it appears, written in beautiful, calligraphic white light, a countdown timer; it starts at 100 and begins ticking down rapidly, more than one per second.

And while the monster may not have a face, it does have a head -- a head that unfolds abruptly, unfurling like a flower with big, heavy white and pink petals. From within floats an inverted pyramid which positively burns with power, feels more real than anything else here, more present, more sharply defined. No pastel pinks here, it is pure black, seems somewhat metallic, with blue and purple underlights.

It rotates slowly, glimmering with potential.

COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Bombardier Trench Warfare on Lancelot.

COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Bombardier Trench Warfare on Kasagami Araki.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Bombardier Trench Warfare on Cure Egret.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Bombardier Trench Warfare on Endo Naoki.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Bombardier Trench Warfare on Hikaru Shidou.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used From Afar, A Swarm Of Bombs on Cure Pine.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Battlefield Curse on Cure Bloom.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used From Afar, A Swarm Of Bombs on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used From Afar, A Swarm Of Bombs on Cure Passion.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used From Afar, A Swarm Of Bombs on Cure Berry.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Bombardier Trench Warfare on Yuusha Fu.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Bombardier Trench Warfare on Yuusha Akira.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Utena Tenjou has used Unstoppable Force, Virgo on Yua Chouku.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Utena Tenjou has used Unstoppable Force, Virgo on Fiat Silver.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Utena Tenjou has used Unstoppable Force, Virgo on Georgia Jenks.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Fiat Silver narrowly dodges Utena Tenjou's Finisher, Unstoppable Force, Virgo, taking 54 Fatigue damage! Fiat Silver's Fade ability activates! Fiat Silver's Flash ability activates!
COMBAT: Yua Chouku narrowly dodges Utena Tenjou's Finisher, Unstoppable Force, Virgo, taking 66 Fatigue damage! Yua Chouku's Fade ability activates! Yua Chouku's Flash ability activates!
COMBAT: Georgia Jenks narrowly dodges Utena Tenjou's Finisher, Unstoppable Force, Virgo, taking 35 Fatigue damage! Georgia Jenks's Fade ability activates!
COMBAT: Cure Pine narrowly braces Utena Tenjou's From Afar, A Swarm Of Bombs, taking 24 Fatigue damage! Cure Pine's Block ability activates! Cure Pine's Parry ability activates!
COMBAT: Cure Passion narrowly braces Utena Tenjou's From Afar, A Swarm Of Bombs, taking 34 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Cure Passion's Block ability activates! Cure Passion's Parry ability activates!

COMBAT: Yuusha Fu narrowly dodges Utena Tenjou's Bombardier Trench Warfare, taking 16 Fatigue damage! Yuusha Fu's Fade ability activates! Yuusha Fu's Flash ability activates! Blind applied to Yuusha Fu!

COMBAT: Endo Naoki narrowly braces Utena Tenjou's Bombardier Trench Warfare, taking 22 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Endo Naoki's Block ability activates! Endo Naoki's Parry ability activates! Blind and Stun applied to Endo Naoki!
COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou narrowly dodges Utena Tenjou's Bombardier Trench Warfare, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Blind applied to Hikaru Shidou!
COMBAT: Kasagami Araki narrowly braces Utena Tenjou's Bombardier Trench Warfare, taking 6 Fatigue damage! Blind applied to Kasagami Araki!
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji perfectly braces Utena Tenjou's From Afar, A Swarm Of Bombs, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Brace! Fuu Hououji's Block ability activates! Fuu Hououji's Parry ability activates!
COMBAT: Cure Bloom narrowly braces Utena Tenjou's Battlefield Curse, taking 33 Fatigue damage! Cure Bloom's Block ability activates! Utena Tenjou drains 13 fatigue from Cure Bloom!
COMBAT: Cure Berry narrowly braces Utena Tenjou's From Afar, A Swarm Of Bombs, taking 7 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Cure Berry's Block ability activates! Cure Berry's Parry ability activates!
COMBAT: Yuusha Akira perfectly counters Utena Tenjou's Bombardier Trench Warfare, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Critical Counter! Yuusha Akira's Reverse ability activates! Yuusha Akira's Tactician ability activates!
COMBAT: Yuusha Akira's counterattack, Hero Hammer Toss!, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Utena Tenjou!
COMBAT: Lancelot perfectly counters Utena Tenjou's Bombardier Trench Warfare, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter! Lancelot's Reverse ability activates! Lancelot's Tactician ability activates!
COMBAT: Lancelot's counterattack, Veil of Steel, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Utena Tenjou!

<Pose Tracker> Kasagami Araki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

Egret gets a glare! Kasagami huffs! "There's nothing but pain in this world! What else could you call this kind of place!?" She calls out in turn to the Pretty Cure, even as she launches towards the Vertex and punches straight into the thing!

So too does another PreCure speak! Kasagami gives Pine a look that's one part annoyance, one part utter confusion. At least this particular Duelist trades on honesty and honor, dark though it may be. "...Huh? What Labyrinth are you even talking about!? Do I look like a Minotaur to you!? Huh? Don't you see it!? So many people suffering...I CAN'T STAND IT!" She howls, and then she turns back to the fight.

Nod nod! She's definitely not with this Labyrinth! But there's the edge of curiousity that's offered to Passion. What /is/ she talking about?

Another laugh, long and almost happy. Almost /accepting/ of the Hero in front of her. Fu gets an equally dark nod. This...this is a young woman Kasagami can respect utterly.

"That's just what I wanted to hear! A King needs a Queen needs a Prince needs a Princess! It's all a pillar, all a desperate clinging to hold an entire Kingdom up! Hero Fu! Show me that you're worthy of that kind of position!" By the pure passion she pours into her words, Fu may well have made Kasagami's month.

It's substance. Matter. Wobbly reaction, and even as her already calloused hand whines in complaint, she smiles. It reacts. It lives. It can be /pushed back/! The smallest part of herself puts faith in the magical girls gathered. She won't admit it. But she feels the smallest kind of Hope she gave up on so long ago for just a moment.

Once again, there's a swarm of bomb-like Vertex that converge on her body. They drive her back, all the way into the ground as Kasagami curls up on herself while explosions grind her into the dirt. Her back impacts the Forestized earth with a thud, and then tremendous scrape as she's sent flying back until she digs her blade into the ground! Sparks fly, and she finally arrests her flight, her coat finally floating away in tatters as her back is exposed. Rough on both sides, and in utter pain.

Her breaths come ragged. Kasagami is on her last legs, but she fights for her so-called Kingdom. Wordlessly she leaps.

It's a single stab she offers, trying to smash into the center of the Vertex's body, and shove her back with utter, reckless force!

COMBAT: Kasagami Araki has used Thorn Stab on Utena Tenjou.

COMBAT: Kasagami Araki has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Great, the Wind Knight thinks, even more bombs ... but she does see them coming, maybe she even expected them before they started getting launched at her. This monster may be immense beyond belief, but it doesn't have THAT wide a range of options.

"WINDS OF PROTECTION!!"

With an attack that she knows and anticipates correctly, she actually has the time and advantage of casting a full-fledged shield of wind-power to protect herself; as a result, none of the bombs even manage to get close to her this time; those which come closest are blown back into the next-closest, so the explosions cascade away from her rather than engufling her.

The only thing which could have made that a better defense would be if she'd been in a position to protect anyone else at the same time ... but while she didn't quite manage *that* spot of awesomeness, she still finds herself fairly close to the Hero whom she's less familiar with. As the Wind Knight's barrier fades, she takes a deep breath - then holds her left hand out towards Akira, the glove-jewel glowing brightly as she gathers her mana. Not to cast a spell - not just yet - but to offer that mana, to support Akira's efforts. Just holding the Vertex in place with that sealing ritual looks like it's taking a lot out of her; if the Wind Knight were able to cast the same seal -

Well. That's clearly something the Heroes have to do on their own, the Vertex is *their* natural enemy, nobody else's. But the whole point of magical girls working together across origins, factions, or what-have-you, is that they're so much stronger when they cross those lines and work *together*.

This has been a major touchstone for the Wind Knight practically since the day she took up arms; she doesn't care about affiliations when they're fighting together against a threat to the city, and to the world, which all of them share. She's not going to hold back if she can help somebody, and if Akira can benefit from some extra magical oomph, it's there for her to draw on.

COMBAT: Utena Tenjou fails to brace Kasagami Araki's Thorn Stab, taking 28 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!

<Pose Tracker> Yua Chouku [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

"It dodged it?!" Yua is a bit more than shocked as her attack goes wide with Takeo's. "Its the size of the barn!" eyes widening as the scarff like thing goes straight for her. A tsunami of cloth drowning her in wave after wave, its shear weight enough to crush most. At the last moment though Yua is able to roll out of it. Taking a deep gasping breath. "OKIE THATS IT." Turning she looks at Takeo "Lets finish this!" puling up her chello, speakers pop out of the side, and more speakers pop out of that. "Its time for my bass cannon!"

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used May My Will Be Your Strength on Yuusha Akira.

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Yuusha Akira accepts Fuu Hououji's May My Will Be Your Strength, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Yuusha Akira is Reinforced by Fuu Hououji!
COMBAT: FINISHER! Yua Chouku has started a combo targeting Utena Tenjou!

<Pose Tracker> Georgia Jenks [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

Seeing Tithonus lay into the Vertex earns a satifying smirk out of Georgia. "Take that you overgrown Picasso!" Although this monster probably resembles anything but that. Who's going to correct her in the midst of battle, though? Hah.

Another golden blast is lobbed their way for daring to strike back against the Vertex. Tithonus dodges out of the way, taking Georgia with him thankfully. Though it's not enough to avoid the shawl completely when it to comes their way. "Hrk!" Georgia yelps, Tithonus pitching to the left as they are sideswipped by the hit. The Child lets out a screech of pain, and Georgia grits her teeth having "felt" that through their bond. "It's alright! We're still good!" She tries to reassure the pained grasshopper, reaching a hand down to stroke it's head soothingly, which seems to work more or less. Tithonus lands on a root, using it as a perch as it then begins to rub it's leg together against it's wings.

"We're gonna be fine..." Georgia says in a low tone, as a harmonious "song" begins to trill softly from the Child's rubbing legs...

COMBAT: Georgia Jenks has used Tithonus' Rapture on Georgia Jenks.

COMBAT: Georgia Jenks has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Georgia Jenks accepts Georgia Jenks's Tithonus' Rapture, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Georgia Jenks is Reinforced by Georgia Jenks!

<Pose Tracker> Lancelot [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

"VEIL OF STEEL!" Lancelot calls out, and Arondight flashes in rapid succession to deflect the incoming assault on him. When the complex sword manuver is over Lancelot crouches in the middle of a pitted branch. Each hole a deflected barrage from the Vertex and smoking. He slashes the sword to the side and lightning arcs in a dangerous line across the edges of the blade. When Tristan looks at him, he shares a mischevious and feral grin. "Yeah. Let's do this."

He lunches forward, every step a bolt of lightning arcs down form the sky to strike Arondight. One step becomes two, and so the lighting bolts, and soon he's at a flat out run as he closes the dinsance. As Tristan calls out that is't time for her Bass Cannon, Lancelot calls outm "CHARGING ASSAULT!!" and leaps to hit the Vertex at the same time as Tristan's attack, the strike unleashing each stored lighting strike that had struck Arondight. Lighting couarsing, arcing and striking to Tristan's Bass assault.

COMBAT: FINISHER! Lancelot has joined the combo started by Yua Chouku!

<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Shidou [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

With the Fire Knight feeling it more than ever, she's able to avoid damage a little more efficiently than before. She finds herself less hurt than the previous time she attempted to dodge out of the way. Even though she's hunched over a little, breathing somewhat heavier than normal, she still maintains that strong fighting spirit within her. Because the belief that she can triumph is still strong within her. "It burns within me like a flame!" The Fire Knight says to herself. "I will let it burn those who dare oppose us!" She feels an aura of flame swirling around her as she speaks. "No one will defeat us! No one!"

With that, the Fire Knight raises her sword towards the sky. "I shall call forth the flames which shall burn those who threaten us!" And then an aura of flame begins to form above the Fire Knight as she begins to gather all of her power within her. "I believed that we could triumph, and I know we will triumph!" The flames begin to grow bigger and bigger in size. "Nothing will stop us! We will win!" The flames get bigger again, this time starting to take the shape of what looks like a huge sword.

"The flames will guide us! We will win!" And then the Fire Knight casts forth the flaming appartion. "SWORD OF FLAME!" She calls out, sending forth the fiery shape at the enemy.

COMBAT: COMBO! FINISHER! Yua Chouku and Lancelot have used Combo: Charged Bass Cannon, composed of Butterfly Bass Canon! and Charging Assault, on Utena Tenjou.

COMBAT: Yua Chouku has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Lancelot has finished attacking.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Hikaru Shidou has used Sword of Flame on Utena Tenjou.
COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

Endo goes zipping along down the monster, kicking against the side of the vertex and parting with a sweeping cut as his hand stretches toward Fiat Silver when she flies by. "Fiat! Thanks!" Otherwise he'd have a long way down to go.

He must manage to hear Fu's request in all the mess, because he makes an affirmative nod of his head. "Stern--we have to protect the tree!"

If everyone else is going to give it their all, he will too. As much as he can. "Hey-Fiat, can you drop me?" He makes this request of the mage that's caught him. He's probably very easy to drop, it's not like he's light.

When he's close enough to spy an opening, Endo lets go. He aims for the highest point he can, the head being his primary target. Magic explodes around him, the boy gritting his teeth, fighting back the pain and darkness that cloud his vision. Symbols form as he goes, the magic torqueing his body, setting him awhirl. He builds force, momentum, power, all of it channeled into another massive impact with the Vertex.

COMBAT: Endo Naoki has used Meteor Absturz on Utena Tenjou.

COMBAT: Endo Naoki has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Cure Egret perfectly dodges Utena Tenjou's Bombardier Trench Warfare, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Critical Dodge! Cure Egret's Fade ability activates! Cure Egret's Flash ability activates!
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly braces Hikaru Shidou's Finisher, Sword of Flame, taking 32 Fatigue damage! Utena Tenjou's Block ability activates!
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly braces Endo Naoki's Meteor Absturz, taking 10 Fatigue damage! Utena Tenjou's Block ability activates!
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou fails to brace Yua Chouku and Lancelot's Finisher, Combo: Charged Bass Cannon, taking 237 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!

<Pose Tracker> Yuusha Fu [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Getting close to the Vertex was an ordeal in itself. More and more of those orb like bombs were flying their way in an attempt to stop their advance. One in particular explodes close enough to Fu that Inugami, her blue dog-like fairy spirit, materializes at the last moment to block the attack in a flash of white that shields Fu from the worst of the blast. The concussive impact of the attack is still enough to throw the heroine off her feet. But she knows what must be done. If they aren't able to pull off the sealing prayer, then she would no longer have a plan to lead everyone victory. They had to succeed! Both heroines do make it close enough to start the prayer with Inugami disappearing as soon as Fu was moving again. Alternating flashes of purple and yellow emanate from Fu and Akira as the otherworldly countdown begins.

Fu locks eyes with her kohai, Akira, and gets her a stern nod of approval. She was one tough cookie to make it this far alongside her and she was still hanging in there. "We have to keep going, for everyone's sake." Fu finally says to Akira in response to her early questions and to her continued efforts to fight this Vertex. It would not be hard to see the pride in the president's eyes that she had for the newest Hero. She now looks around not just to Akira, but to everyone that was close enough to hear her voice. "Our sealing prayer exposes the soul of the Vertex!" The yellow-adorned heroine pulls her sword out of the ground and points it squarely at the inverted dark pyramid. "Destroy that and we win!" Her sword now is lowered to point towards the countdown at their feet. "But let that run out and our prayer fades and the soul goes back into the Vertex. We -have- to destroy it before then or the World Tree and everything we care about is doomed!" That means all of their friends, enemies, and family members would be gone. "And that's something that I am -not- going to let happen!" Flashes of her Itsuki appear in Fu's mind as she prepares herself to launch one last attack against the dark purple and black pyramid. Her sword is gripped a little tighter as a sudden grin appears on the Hero's face. It was time to be a Hero.

First Fu jumps off a few branches and lands near the Pretty Cure. "Thank you all for not letting it past, but now it's time for me to show you what girl power is all about." She says with her grin being mostly aimed towards Passion whom had seemed the most confused before. She does catch Fuu giving Akira her boon out of the corner of her eye. It was great seeing her return the favor by coming to help her in her time of need. But she still figures she owes the other girl that shares her namesake one for not coming to help Fuu out earlier. She now turns her attention to the powerful Kasagami, saluting the king with her sword. "Keep your eyes on me then! I'm putting everything that I am into this, so you better not blink!" Girl. Swordswoman. Dark and Terrible Queen. Udon Lover. Hero. Fu is all of these things, but it will take a combined effort to defeat this thing. However, this doesn't mean that Fu wasn't going to do her part too!

The increasingly full flower on the young teenager's thigh flashes bright yellow as a new petal is added to it as Fu readies her attack. Gritting her teeth, the young woman begins running along the different colored branches, jumping here and there as she attempts to get closer to the soul of the Vertex. Finally, Fu lifts off the ground and strikes at the pyramid mid-flip. If she hits, her weapon would rebound off the hardened shell of the pyramid, but Fu wouldn't stop there. She would swing again and again until her muscles begin to fail her from lifting that massive weapon of hers. But she keeps just enough energy left to jump high up into the air. "Take my attack that's full of girl power!" Fu the Hero then attempts to pierce the outer shell of the inverted by driving her sword into it's core. Hopefully, her last ditch effort would be successful as she turns to Akira from atop the Vertex's soul. "Akira! Attack! -NOW-!" She says before leaping off the Vertex, but hopefully leaving her embedded sword in the center of the pyramid.

Curiously, her sword would suddenly look like a very large nail.

COMBAT: FINISHER! Yuusha Fu has started a combo targeting Utena Tenjou!

<Pose Tracker> Fiat Silver [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

Fiat Silver looks over with astonishment and shock at the arrival of a giant grasshopper of iron. Fortunately - well - compared to the Vertex it's not massive. Her momentary terror (is it another one!?) fades, even as she plummets down towards the falling Endo.

No longer the falling Endo! Though as she hauls him upwards, he asks to be dropped. "... Well, if you're sure," she says with what might be interpreted as a flirty tone. Then, it's bombs away. And immediately after that--

The shawl comes for her. Fiat Silver does the logical and sensible thing - raise up her armored arm - and does it help? Yes! That is why Fiat Silver still has an arm there. The agonizing impact the shawl has as it tries to wrap around her, arm first, is countered largely by the simple expedient of FLYING AWAY. Sounds simple.

It's not that simple. Have you ever felt your arm get stuck - pulled against? Sheer momentum saves her. As it is, Fiat Silver feels a loud POP more than hears it, as her shoulder, at least for the moment, disjoints itself. Her mask hides the hot sear of agony from it.

Fiat Silver floats, momentarily helpless. Floats back... and then upwards. Her baton is held firmly in the unarmored hand.

Silver Scorpion watches grimly as the Vertex's mouth opens and gapes. His software does not comprehend in all details just what is going on, but there are certain heuristics he learned, or was given, back when he was forged. Among them is that when something's head opens upwards and reveals a glowing object.

The speech between Fiat Silver and her inherited Device is subtle and not verbal. She brings the baton around, breathing in through her nose. She sees circles in her visions, circles that Scorpion is drawing for her. Lilian Abarth's eyes narrow.

Silver Scorpion feels an odd sort of pride. "Scorpio..." Blue shines forth, forming a good seven interlayered and densely woven disks directly in front of the baton. "SABOT!" And a ray smashes outwards --

THROUGH the disks -- catching them, forming a bullet-shaped projectile that spirals its way towards the core. As it does, the outer layers of shining blue in different hues - cerulean, prussian, that one that hasn't been made yet (on Earth), sapphire, tourmaline, cornflower, and that luminous fluorescent day-glo blue that you see when you shine an ultraviolet light on a scorpion's shell - start cracking off with seven distinct snaps.

As each falls, the velocity snaps forwards, like a sparkling tree of light. By the time the final layer is gone, the spell is perhaps the size of a pencil - maybe a pencil's /lead/ - but white hot, shining like a star as it arcs forwards, aiming straight for that ominously glowing shape.

It's a shame, Fiat Silver thinks absently. If it wasn't so violent, it would be beautiful...

COMBAT: FINISHER! Fiat Silver has used Scorpio Sabot on Utena Tenjou.

COMBAT: Fiat Silver has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Cure Bloom [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.

The bombs come raining down after Mai bounces back from the impact. She weaves and dodges through them. Artful swan leaps and twists take her away from their trajectories; she sails over a few explosions, before she finally lands, and looks up as the Vertex unfurls. She sees the countdown -- and the way it has a head. Her eyes widen as she looks up at the thing.

"It's so horrible-chopi..."

Mai stares at the Vertex, head shaking. Her violet eyes remain widened in disbelief. There is a hint of tears in the corners of those eyes; a hint of raw frustration in the way her lips draw back. She feels despair setting in; she feels the awareness that they may not save the World Tree. The place that her and Saki met; the memories of the festival five years ago shoot through her mind, with a starry night and beautiful yukata.

"No..." she repeats, again, softly. Then, she looks to the side, at Cure Bloom. Her hand reaches out, fingers grasping, for her friend's. "Bloom!"

It's ready to be taken. Silver light begins to glow around her, a soft aura that stands out in its subtlety against everything around them.

Bloom comes back down from her attack, sparkles flashing from under her soles as the spirits ease her landing next to Egret. Her hand slowly balls together. That place she's cherished...the Sky Tree! The World Tree! "How the heck do we stop this thing..." Saki breathes. She can feel her lungs struggling to produce the air she wants, quick breaths coming and going. "It's stopped for now, but we have to put it away-lapi!"

She catches a flash of Berry smiling at her, and Saki struggles to return it. Saki's the sunny one, but this is a kind of enemy unlike what she's faced before. And even those are still pretty weird for her...For a moment, her confidence is faltering.

That's the moment the bombs land all around her, and she's forced to block again. She throws her arms around, magic light around her arms and fists forcing the bombs away from her, but the defense is imperfect, and explosions riot all around her. One finally breaks through, slamming into her and smashing her into the bark of a branch.

From that hole, dazed, she looks back up at the towering wonder of the World Tree. The days she's spent there...she met Mai there, and Flappy and Choppy, too. The thought that something might happen to it...

The whole world might be in danger here, but for Saki, only one thing matters. Golden light flows up her form as she drags herself upright, half-slumped. "That tree is precious," she says, quaking at the knees as she puts her weight back on them. "I still have people I want to show it to! I still have days I want to spend there! That's why..."

She balls a fist and throws it out wide, defiance in every inch of her posture. "I absolutely won't give up! Egret!"

She reaches out a hand, grasping for Egret's. Their fingers slide easily together, and as they grasp hold, their individual lights explode - silver and gold erupting into a riotous light that defies all wish to dim it. As it flares, Bloom and Egret hold out their hands, eyes shut and breathing calmed. "O Spirits of the earth..." Bloom breathes, and golden lights - spirits of the earth - burst out of the surroundings, rising from the world itself and rushing toward Pretty Cure. Much the same, streaming down from the sky above, streamers of silver spirits draw down toward Cure Egret. "O Spirits of the sky..."

"Now, together with Pretty Cure..."

"Release the power of miracles!"

Before them, those two colored streams of lights gather together, spiraling in to form shimmering pools of Sacred Fountain water, vertical before them.

"Pretty Cure..." "Twin Stream..."

Both girls throw their hands forward, releasing the sacred waters as a purifying torrent rushing toward the poisoned soul of the Vertex, washing its evil away in the pure waters of the World Tree's sacred fountains.

"SPLASH!"

COMBAT: FINISHER! Cure Bloom has started a combo targeting Utena Tenjou!

COMBAT: FINISHER! Cure Egret has joined the combo started by Cure Bloom!
COMBAT: COMBO! FINISHER! Cure Bloom and Cure Egret have used Pretty Cure Twin Stream Splash on Utena Tenjou.
COMBAT: Cure Bloom has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Cure Egret has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Yuusha Akira [Infinity Institute (7)] has posed.

Yuusha Akira smiles as she sees the violet and the yellow flowers swirling around the vertex. She smiles even more as that pyramid comes out. To her, right now, that is the single most beautiful thing she could possibly see. "I am guessing that's the target!" She calls over to Fu. Oh crap. Inbound bomb! "Seriously! Quit trying to blow me up!!" She Manages to counter and throwas her hammer at the Vertex. It doesn't work. She extends a hand outward and the hammer rematerializes in it.

As Fu launches up and begins the attack. As she calls for Akira to engage. Akira doesn't need told twice. "Time to sculpt me up a Vertex!!" She screams out as she launches herself upward. "TAKE THIS!!!!" She begins swirling the hammer around her body. Left then right, Double forward downward swinging flip as she comes down onto the Soul of the Vertex. Having lined up her shot. Her hammer glows and several petals on her own flower appear as the head of that massive hammer connects with the hilt of Fu's massive sword!!!!

COMBAT: FINISHER! Yuusha Akira has joined the combo started by Yuusha Fu!

<Pose Tracker> Cure Pine [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

The horror is driven back by all of their efforts, long enough for Pine to catch a glimpse of Tithonus electrocuting the thing. She marvels a bit at its strength- even as she wonders what it is! Fu tells them they did well- "We'll try!" And yet some part of her doesn't know exactly how long they'll last.

Herassion says she thinks that girl's from Earth and Kasagami, denies but-"Well if you were, a minotaur seems like it'd be pretty cute." But that's beside the point- "But of course we see it! That's why we believe in protecting what's important."

Bombs come, one after the other after the other. More and more. In a spinning flurry Pine bats away one after the other, trying her best not to set them off too close. She's met with some success- but many of them are detonating close enough that it feels like her entire form is covered with burns. She's growing more and more tired with fending off each assault of horrific ordnance, and soon she'll have nothing left to give to form an impenetrable wall of Girl Power but-

Perhaps- just perhaps, there is something she can give. She watches the head unfurl in a swarm of petals from the prayer from Fu and Akira. She notes the countdown of the timer, rapidly plummeting. But Bloom and Egret were determined, and in their words she finds out exactly why they want to protect this place. "So that's why-" She gives her own determined nod. "-you'll get your chance. I know that you will." Passion and Berry get a smile, "I feel like I'm going to fall over but- I'll try to believe in myself just a little longer, if you'll help me out."

The light swirling around head she wonders- and with a prayer on her lips and in her heart, raises her hands above her head, "Nasty things, Nasty things- Fly away!"

Her fingers lower slowly, to become a diamond of finger tips touching. Fresh Golden energy forming within, "Pretty Cure-" She spreads her finger tips wide, "-Healing Prayer!"

It's a wave of golden energy that smells faintly of pineapples and summer breezes. A promise of new beginnings. But it's a gamble at the same time. She has no idea if there's any darkness within this horror of golden light and sun to send away- in the first place.

COMBAT: Cure Pine has used Pretty Cure Healing Prayer on Utena Tenjou.

COMBAT: Cure Pine has finished attacking.
COMBAT: COMBO! FINISHER! Yuusha Fu and Yuusha Akira have used Combo: Hammering it Home, Hero Style!, composed of Dancing Sword and Shattering Impact, on Utena Tenjou.
COMBAT: Yuusha Fu has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Yuusha Akira has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou fails to dodge Fiat Silver's Finisher, Scorpio Sabot, taking 69 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly braces Cure Pine's Pretty Cure Healing Prayer, taking 18 Fatigue damage! Utena Tenjou's Block ability activates!

<Pose Tracker> Cure Passion [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Hit it with everything they have? Passion is doing what she can on that front, trusting Fu's explanations of what this thing must be, what it's trying to do... and seeing a lot that certainly adds up to it. "Everything...?" This entire world she loves could fade that way? ...No. "I won't allow it, either!"

She's almost left no choice. This monster she can't even say seems to /notice/ her for certain, huge and unyielding as it is, but the explosions that result from its counterattack send her flying back through greenery roughly, landing on the closest thing to ground these roots seem to allow her for the moment. But still...

he energy spiraling around the Vertex is dazzling; Passion finds herself pausing, string to see what the numbers must mean, before the explanation comes. ...It's a time limit. So she doesn't have time to deal with the fact that it hurts. Still favoring one side, the Cure starts upward to her feet again, right hand down against a root to push upward. From where she hadn't said it before...

"I will, Pine." A glance to Berry next, before she straightens, standing the rest of the way. "Right! ...We can do this!" The chant starts efore her, but as Pine does that, Passion instead steps back, and extends her hand. A small, heart-shaped harp appears within it. She brings her other hand, if more slowly, to set its cap into place, completing her weapon and holding it under the crook of her arm.

She remembers visiting that tree with Saki, even as she hears Cure Bloom talk about it, bring forth her own attack. Just like she fought with Fu before...

"Rage! Storm of happiness!"

Feathery energy surges forward as Passion plays a line of notes on her weapon, and draws in a breath. She starts to spin. Pretty Cure! Happiness...!" Like a rising storm more energy rises from below beneath the Vertex, a sea of pink and red hearts, faster and faster. "Hurricane!"

All of it clusters at once, trying to close around the core, as Passion holds out her harp. She won't let the others down if she can help it.

"Haah....!"

COMBAT: FINISHER! Cure Passion has used Pretty Cure Happiness Hurricane on Utena Tenjou.

COMBAT: Cure Passion has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou fails to brace Cure Bloom and Cure Egret's Finisher, Combo: Pretty Cure Twin Stream Splash, taking 190 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly braces Cure Passion's Finisher, Pretty Cure Happiness Hurricane, taking 46 Fatigue damage! Utena Tenjou's Block ability activates!

<Pose Tracker> Cure Berry [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

What was bothering Berry about this whole thing... about this whole unknowable creature from the beyond...

Was the fact that it was unknowable. They knew what they were here for, what they were protecting, but... this whole thing seemed slippery to Berry. Like a part of her mind was trying to grasp a thread and follow it - and she couldn't wrap the finger around the thread to hold it fast.

She couldn't...

A troubled frown dances upon her features. Pushing herself up from the ground - her legs shaky after the latest assault from the creature, she draws herself up, and with a fervent CLAP! over her head, begins, the remains of her determination leveled upon the creature. "Evil things, nasty things - go away!" she calls. "Pretty Cure..." she says, stepping forward - stepping forward and chasing the shape of a spade through the air in front of her.

"Espoir..." the spade flares with power. A breath in, a breath out. This power was pure, clear. Hope. Hope for future alongside all of her friends here - both those she knew - and those she did not.

"Shower!"

The energy releases, and she... watches it fly.

COMBAT: Cure Berry has used Pretty Cure Espoir Shower! on Utena Tenjou.

COMBAT: Cure Berry has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly braces Cure Berry's Pretty Cure Espoir Shower!, taking 18 Fatigue damage! Utena Tenjou's Block ability activates!
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou fails to brace Yuusha Fu and Yuusha Akira's Finisher, Combo: Hammering it Home, Hero Style!, taking 298 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Utena Tenjou is unable to keep fighting!

<Pose Tracker> Utena Tenjou [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

<SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8b-NFvM-vs

99

That monster may have its Core exposed because of the Sealing Prayer, but the fight is far from over, not least because it's eager to try to reswallow it, putting those big meaty white petals back in the way. Kasagami stabs one straight onto her sword and it rips off with a mighty tear, while Endo all but renders his into fine white mist. Hikaru burns the third away with her mighty Sword of Flame, and the fourth and the fifth too, her fire spreading to leave nothing between the encroaching magical girls and the Core.

80

It's a mighty thing, that floating pyramid -- dense with souls. In the realm of the World Tree, its protective barrier from harm, no wonder that density makes it stand out so much, makes it feel so terribly present.

And so terribly hard.

The first few attacks have a tough time hitting it squarely, but each one adds a precious, precious crack to the diamond-hard surface; Cure Pine's own diamond is a taste of its own medicine, glorious golden light, and it glances off the top; Cure Berry's beautiful blue spade widers the crack it makes by another few feet, sending sparks everywhere on impact; while the slow but steady rotation of the prism makes it rough for Fiat Silver's pencil-thin ray to burst straight through. In skipping off the side, though, it, too, leaves a mark, weakening the whole.

70

Tristan and Lancelot jointly make the first true breach. To the beat of the bass cannon, lightning strikes, over and over, an explosive discharge with Arondight as the rod, and it sends bits of Core flying in all directions, little black chips that fall into the Jukai and hiss, sending up little plumes of smoke.

50

The Pretty Cure strike next. Invoking the World Tree's own Sacred Fountains, Cure Bloom and Cure Egret send a twin stream of golden and silver waters pouring over the Core, and it's deceptively powerful, a gentle baptism with torrential force. In its aftermath, Cure Passion's hurricane of hearts close in, her harp blending with Tristan's bass to create a strident, thrilling harmony.

20

Over it all, the eerie singing of Georgia's Child soars in descant, weaving in and out, rendering their shared music otherworldly and strange, but not otherworldly and bad, in the manner of the Vertex.

As Fu and Akira abandon their places in the sealing prayer, the petals they were exuding begin to fade, and the countdown rapidly accelerates, even as they leap towards the still-intact Core.

10

Fu's likely to succeed if she tries -- it takes three, to be precise, three utterly mighty blows with the first two jarringly, painfully deflected, sending the huge hilt of her sword twisting, skinning the palms of her hands -- and then it's in, it's set, driven several feet into the greater mass.

5

Akira swirls the hammer around her, then flips, once, twice --

2

-- and then, with a mighty blow, impacts Fu's sword and drives it straight through the Core.

There's a terrible second where it seems like nothing happened, like that wasn't enough... and then the sword falls all the way through, plunging towards the ground below, where it sinks up to its hilt. High in the air, the Core explodes, causing the entirety of the white-and-pink body of the Vertex to fade away. Out of the Core itself pour dozens of beautiful orbs of light, each one a distinct color and in combination an even more vibrant double rainbow than the petals of Forestization were in the first place.

They disappear into the sky, which is already changing... rising from swirling darkness to overcast gray light, as the sun returns and the roots recede. Color, once again, rises en masse to wash over everything...

...and when it's gone, so is that strange, mysterious battlefield. Everyone, still transformed, finds themselves standing on the roof of Infinity Institute, which is to say, a hundred stories in the air. The rain peters out like a gentle goodbye. It's bitingly cold up there, but looking down on the nearby World Tree is a warm feeling.

It's over -- for now.

COMBAT: Georgia Jenks has fully healed herself.

COMBAT: Georgia Jenks transforms into Georgia Jenks!

<Pose Tracker> Kasagami Araki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

Fu is giving her all! Kasagami nods in time, and she grips her sword at once!

Kasagami's sword is held tightly, and she looks to Fu! A rough laugh, and she nods. That's a woman who is putting everything into her attack. Everything into what she believes in, and Kasagami can appreciate that much!

Hero Akira rusheg in, and attacks. Kasagami smirks, and nods. The Heroes, as rough and naieve as they are to someone like her, are worthy of her respect.

"Crash into her, Akira!" She encourages, a King to her supposed subjects!

Pine causes a sudden pause in Kasagami. A throaty noise, that's just pure surprise! Huuurk! She stares at the other lady, coughs, and turns away.

One utter blush! "H...hey! I'm not that cute you jerk!" For all her words, Kasagami sounds like she's blushing and slightly awkward thanks to Cure Pine. A chuckle. Another small blush on her face.

Fu gets a grin! She's putting everything into it! And yet, she's an /udon/ lover! "I can't stand Udooooon!" Is Kasagami's warcry!

Cure Passion seems to hesitate, and she sighs. A single, steel-eyed glance backwards.

"If you want any kind of opportunity, then train and realize your strength alone! Anything else...is useless!" She offers, all at once!

There's a tearing petal, and then, all the magical girls pile in! At the end, it's Fu's blade that cuts in to the Core! Orbs of light fall out, and Kasagami closes her eyes. A deep sigh.

Kasagami finds herself on Infinity's roof and offers a slightly awkward wave in turn.

It's over for now. But she sure isn't! "....Good job, everyone. Let's get back home." A laugh, a smile of triumph, and then she's rushing back to Ohtori as if she had some kind of job.

Kasagami takes the Discipline Executive Job seriously!

<Pose Tracker> Yuusha Akira [Infinity Institute (7)] has posed.

As the Jukai vanishes and everything returns to normal. The rookie hero Akira just falls to her knees. That took everything out of her. She had seriously left everything she had on the battlefield. That fight was completely crazy. With a quick flash, her henshin breaks and she is left wearing a tee-shirt and a pair of sweats.

Quietly she begins weeping. It's not something she is being open about. Its simply the fact that she is completely overwhelmed is really messing with her. She was on the front line between continuing life and the end of the world. Its enough to really shock anyone.

<Pose Tracker> Yuusha Fu [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Fu may have set Akira up, but that didn't mean that victory was assured. The density and hardness of a Vertex's soul was tough indeed and it was only thanks to a combined magic knight, slightly more traditional knight, Pretty Cure, HiME, and duelist assault that the core was weakened enough for Fu's sword to break through the outer layer. And even then, it was up to Akira to drive her hammer home and finish the job before the Vertex expelled her sword and the countdown ended. This all happened in a matter of quick moments that resulted in the explosive shattering of the Vertex's soul and the subsequent disintegration of the vertex itself. Fu could only smile upon seeing her kohai's final blow in action as she falls back onto her rear end, utterly exhausted from the battle.

The world retches and rights itself which finds everyone -ontop- of Infinity Institute which was pretty high off the ground. Fu's entire body gets engulfed by a yellow light as her clothes return to normal and she's just sitting back on her behind as the rain falls down upon her head. Victory was theirs. Kasagami's words and hasty exit causes Fu to try to lift a hand to wave her down. But she's too weakened from the fight to stop her. "Good job, hero." She says softly to herself before looking to her kohai. Grunting, Fu forces herself to her feet and she attempts to come up from behind and hug Akira. "Everything will be okay. Don't worry, cry all you want. No one will even notice in the rain." She says supportively of her kohai even if she's not able to hug the younger girl. "You did good too. I'm proud of you." Fu says to Akira with a weak, but earnest grin on her face.

COMBAT: Yuusha Fu transforms into Fu Inubozaki!

<Pose Tracker> Yuusha Akira [Infinity Institute (7)] has posed.

Yuusha Akira looks up to her Senpai and gives a weak smile. "Thank you, Fu-senpai. I wasn't expecting that. That thing was freaky." She sniffles a little and wipes her eyes. "A lot has happened in the past few days and now... That was just crazy. That thing was so big." She continues crying it out.

"Fu... my Mom had to go back to Kyoto. She didn't want to take me because everything that happened the last time I was there. So I got left alone. I'm trying to handle things. I really am. But I don't really know what I'm doing. I made myself cream stew and Yanari got out and ate it while I was patching up a bump on my head. I just don't know what to do."

COMBAT: Yuusha Akira transforms into Akira Moto!

<Pose Tracker> Fu Inubozaki [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Fu's head drifts down as she struggles to maintain her own consciousness despite her injuries, but the seriousness of what Akira has to say to her steadies her resolve. "It may have been big and scary, but we were able to defeat it with everyone's help." The president says before looking up at the sky as it spits out more rain. "But that was not the first Vertex, and it won't be the last." She explains before focusing in on what else Akira has to say, her arms still around her. "Hey, don't worry. The Taisha can arrange for you to move into the dorms here at Infinity. I'll be sure to ask them to do so, they helped Itsuki and me when we needed them." Fu smiles down at Akira. "Don't worry, you're a Hero now. It can only get better from here on out!" Suddenly a growl escapes from Fu's stomach. "Hey, hey. Let's get out of the rain and get some warm udon. We can talk more then." She offers with a faint gesture to the roof exit.

<Pose Tracker> Akira Moto [Infinity Institute (7)] has posed.

Akira Moto Nods to Fu as she stands up. "Okay. That sounds really yummy." She frowns a little. "My kiln went out this morning. I was working on a gift for someone and The thing just stopped working, destroying the sculpture." She sighs and she looks as rough as Fu does. She will be feeling that attack for days to come. "So where do we find good udon? You know I don't get to have that very often. I did make some good cream stew. I was looking forward to enjoying it. I just dunno how Yanari got out. Or how she ate almost four liters of stew!"

<Pose Tracker> Fiat Silver [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

Fiat Silver had quickly removed herself. In fact, tired and sore, she immediately slipped into her dorm room window - just a few stories down - and flopped out for a moment, before howling in dismay and then claiming that she had hurt her shoulder falling in the bathroom, in the infirmary.

In the infirmary, she gets a call.

"Hello!"

"Lili?"

"Aa, Edward, hey."

"I don't know how to put this, but... you're not still inside 'the place we were at', right?"

"Can we talk later?"

"... Of course."

2016-08-20 - A Virgo Vertex

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