2018-01-30 - Sir Prunealot
| Sir Prunealot | |
|---|---|
| Summary: Final preparations are being made for the fundraising gala to restore the gardens and forests of Ohtori Academy, but things are interrupted by a disgruntled party... | |
| Who: Chihaya Izumi, Takeo Akamizu, Kimiko Akane, Anthy Himemiya, Ye-jin Song | |
| Where: Ohtori Academy | |
| OOC - IC Date: 01-30-2018 - 03-23-2015 | |
*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ Ohtori Academy +*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+* The ivory crown on the brow of Southern Cross Island, Ohtori Academy is separated from the world by more than just water. Outside, education can be a luxury. Within this white-walled compound, education is /luxurious/. Marble colonnades spring up like fountain spouts, scarlet flowers drench every free surface. The architecture is at once daringly art deco and austerely Classical, white marble lending an angelic weightlessness to pillars and fences that can seem more woven than carved. At the center of campus is the Chairman's Tower, a dizzyingly tall spire in the center of a manicured grassy field. Radiating around this field are the lecture halls, dormitories, art buildings, and other facilities by which the chosen few receive education, with small class sizes in large buildings. It's common for students to refer to a building's location as if the hour hand of a great clock extended from the central tower. At twelve o'clock, for instance, the Duel Arena looms like a jade stormcloud, a great forest forming a living pagoda of leaves that reminds even longtime students that their school keeps many secrets. The rose is the emblem of Ohtori, and campus is decorated with a profusion of them, both living and frozen in frieze. Poppies are favored as well, and thick carpets of either flower can be found wherever the loosest excuse is available. Only the most bitter of winters seems able to fully erase the faint fragrance from the air, and students who leave the island via quick, convenient bridge or ferry can often find a memory of it on their clothing.
<Pose Tracker> Chihaya Izumi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed. <SoundTracker> Ohtori Concerto For Oboe, 2 Horns, Violin and String https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPlPnhZjfKo
Ohtori Academy has more than one grand ballroom, but there's only one Grande Ballroom. Unlike most of its peers in estates around the world, it is rarely boarded up and shrouded in protective drapery -- this chamber sees use. Despite that, or perhaps even because of it, it is as beautifully appointed a ballroom as exists on Southern Cross Island -- or anywhere off of it.
We're talking chandeliers. We're talking polished floors with gold inlay. We're talking the glorious marble staircase down which debutantes precess. Every conceivable Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous stereotype is present and accounted for -- and they are all gloriously executed (or else the architect would have been ingloriously executed, a hundred years ago, when it was made).
There is not a party going on yet. But there will be.
One gets the keen sense that the Cast Of Thousands alternatively recruited or hired for the myriad preparations are being directed, choreographed, with such precision and artistry that it's wondrous to behold... and this is just the setup.
Any students who have won the right to present something (be it a food item, dinner music or one of the garden prospectuses) are working on that, but most other random volunteers have been set to work on the flower arrangements for each dinner table. One can fairly easily guess the rationale: with such nice ingredients (fabulous blooms from around the world, strings of pearl and gold leaf, 1800s-era lace ribbons, etc), one cannot fail to make a wonderful bouquet. It is probably impossible.
Sakura Uehara seems dubious. She's the middle school prodigy captain of the Ohtori Ikebana Club, and is off to one side of the huge banquet table straining to hold all the flowers people have to work with, having, shall we say, an intense discussion with the event's organizer, Chihaya Izumi. It's hard to hear exactly what they're saying, but Sakura's face is getting redder and redder with rage while Chihaya's lips are getting firmer and firmer with strained patience.
"FINE!" Sakura yells, finally, throwing her hands up in the air and storming away. Chihaya clears her throat, looking towards the volunteers with a 'well, what can you do' smile.
"Please do your very best, everyone. I will try to arrange for volunteers' bouquets to be at their parents' table, where possible. That, too, will help make this a night to remember."
<Pose Tracker> Takeo Akamizu [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Having been present at the begining negotiations with Eri in a Tea Room Ceramony and very fancy Kimono's had apparently been enough to "win" Takeo the "honor" of being volunteered to help with the set up for this very grand and extravegant event. Which now finds Takeo at a table with flowers. A lot of flowers. Of different types. There are so many flowers that Takeo at first just sort of stares at them, completely and totally at a loss of what one DOES with flowers.
After many long minutes of staring at the flowers in total confusion he hears Sakura's cry of anger and then decides that this means Chihaya is thus free and could find him being lazy. He immediately picks up a flower and sniffs it carefully. He's 'pretty' sure he's not supposed to eat them. So instead he looks around. Picks somebody who appears to know what they're doing, and jsut sort of tries to copy their flower arrangement. With each flower they pick, he picks the same flower and places it in as close to an order of placement as he can from a table away and watching somebody make a flower arrangement a table away. With a sigh he says, "I wonder how Merlin is doing?" The lucky rabbit had been left with a very confused Mai. "He's probably enjoying a Carrot Cake that Mai baked." He mutters as he palces another flower, his gaze briefly and clearly entering that state of teenager daydream. "mmm. Cake....."
<Pose Tracker> Kimiko Akane [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
Kimiko, despite being a long-time Ohtori student, wasn't usually in the habit of attending a lot of the formal gatherings at Ohtori but she found herself more interested in this event than some of the others. The call for volunteers had piqued her interest even more and enough to want to offer her time, limited as it was. Knowing that parents were attending didn't bother her as she knew her own father wouldn't be here.
After arriving and being given the list of jobs that needed to be done, Kimiko had quickly been assigned to help with the tables and the flowers. With this being Ohtori, she could imagine there would be a lot of roses but she was surprised to see a lot more than that. Every flower Kimiko set her eyes on seemed more elegant than the last and she couldn't even name the majority of them. Idly, she wondered if maybe Eri or Rinji could, given what she knew about their gardening skills.
The young student, gathers flowers carefully and slowly as she looks to make her first flower arrangement ever. While there is uncertainty of how to make it look pretty she doesn't ask for help but instead starts placing the flowers in the water in order of height, adjusting the stem lengths as needed so each flower bloom can be seen.
When Kimiko finishes at the first table, she takes a small step back and looks at her work. It seems to be okay but just to be sure she sneaks a look at the other arrangements around her. They all look pretty to her though and seemingly satisfied she moves onto the next table. Even though her hands work carefully, Kimiko makes quick progress and each arrangement she makes seems to take less time than the one before.
<Pose Tracker> Anthy Himemiya [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Halfway through the volunteer instructions, Anthy Himemiya already knew which table held the bouquet she wanted to work on. She spent the second half sidling toward the edge of the listening volunteers closest to that table.
Now her fingers, deft and knowing, weave antique lace beneath the leaves of antique roses. Imported all the way from the exotic state of Texas, Sombreuil blooms fluff and fan out in a teardrop spray of white that's tinted cream as if by great age. But no, the flowers petals are silky and youthful.#-1 ARGUMENT OUT OF RANGE
Anthy draws a fingertip across the plush bed of one bloom, downcast eyes only for it, before lifting it to slide it home into the growing arrangement. She keeps to herself, works in silence...
...and listens with a keen ear to all of the bustlings and goings-on around her, as always; watches student movements in the periphery of her vision, as always. She seems unconcerned with speed or getting much at all done, really, aside from perfecting this one display a little endlessly. The exchange between Sakura and Chihaya absolutely gets noted, though Anthy doesn't look up.
She also hears something about carrot cake, or thinks she does, coming from the direction of one of the Student Council members. That gets filed away with everything else the Rose Bride observes, but in this case it's a little less sinister. She's just thinking now about baking one, herself, sometime.
<Pose Tracker> Ye-jin Song [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Ye-jin Song, Student Council hopeful, is of course amongst the decorators. It would reflect poorly if she weren't seen actively taking part in school events, after all. She is also on flower arrangement duties, a bouquet in hand and an empty table in front of her.
Her first instinct is to merely select the brightest yellow orchids laid in front of her, plucking each up and stuffing her bouquet full in short order. She's almost content to leave it at that, until she decides to add her other favorite color: a few bright red tulips scattered across the field of yellow. She examines her work, haphazard as it is, and comes to the only natural conclusion: It is perfect in every way.
It's finished with a string of golden leaves, and then she steps back to admire her work. She takes a picture of it too, to commemorate her undertaking.
<Pose Tracker> Chihaya Izumi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
A ballroom this fine has many balconies and verandas to storm out to, and Sakura Uehara picks a good one, complete with double glass doors to smash open and a good railing upon which to commence a head-in-palms sulk.
"I'm right," she growls into her hands, trying to fight off sobs with raw anger. "She's wrong and I'm right. She got the best in the world for everything but flower arrangement? What kind of insult is that to my club's honor?"
"Yes, I quite agree, my kitten," murmurs a voice behind and above her. "Truly, such injustice must not stand."
Sakura startles and spins, not expecting to be addressed, much less by an impossibly rich and sophisticated soprano that drips with a lovely darkness.
Her eyes widen at what she sees, but she isn't given the chance to reply. Instead an invisible force drags her down to her knees, and a magic wand, topped with pointed star, natch, descends on her left shoulder, her right shoulder, and finally her brow.
"Arise, Sir Prunealot, Knight of Shear Terror," murmurs Morgana, the Dark Faerie Queen. "Arise and do my will -- and yours."
"...yes, my Queen," murmurs the Knight, voice now distorted by a very grand helm indeed.
---
The double doors slam back open, and in strides quite a sight: a warrior in sparkling plate mail the precise color of cherry blossoms, decorated elaborately with inlays that evoke roses, lilies, and other blooms. Really, it might be the most gorgeous armor ever made -- what a shame that the magical aura pouring off of her, more impressive than any cloak, is a sickly, livid violet.
"JUSTICE!" she screams, and it's not impossible to recognize Sakura Uehara in there, though it helps further to contextualize things when rose whips materialize in her hands to lasso Chihaya, who she just fought with, and drag her straight over.
"I am Sir Prunealot!" she declares furiously. "And you have insulted my honor for the very last time! You're a weed in my garden, so prepare to be cut!"
Chihaya is difficult to see under all those vines and thorns, but her eyes are wide and glossy with fear. Her mouth is free, though, and she spits back, "Do whatever you want with me, just leave the preparations alone!"
"You are not in any position to make demands!" Sir Prunealot hisses back, as she trades one of the rose whips for a scythe that looks like it's made of petrified wood, living vines curling down its length.
And she starts bringing it down--!
COMBAT: Chihaya Izumi transforms into Knight of Shear Terror! COMBAT: Takeo Akamizu transforms into Chevalier Knight Lancelot!
<Pose Tracker> Lancelot [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
A Knight of Shear Terror slams opens the doors and Takeo has to do a double take. He blinks as the Knight of Whatever has better looking armor than him, and the aura that pours off of her is at least twice as powerful. He stands up narrowing his eyes, looking at the Knight as she drags Chihiya toward her in a rose vine whip. He reaches under his shirt and pulls out his medallion and begins to charge forward. Without a second thought he calls out, "I SWEAR TO DEFEND THE INNOCENT!" Leaping as he does so.
In mid air lighting strikes hundreds of times, the blue and white bolts coming from nowhere to hammer into the boy in mid air. Each strike creates a glowing piece of armor that crackles with energy. He twists in the air catching two bolts of lighting that form into the twin shining blades of Arondight at the apex of his leap. With a second cry he calls out, "LIGHTNING IMPACT!"
The Chevalier Lancelot lands slashing lightning infused blades at the weapon wrapped around Chihiya to try and sever the whip and free the girl. He crouches and looks up at the Knight of Whatever, the energy flaking off to reveel blue and silver armor of the Knight of the Round Table. "I'm sorry miss. This is an invitation only event."
COMBAT: Lancelot has used Lightning Impact on Chihaya Izumi. COMBAT: Kimiko Akane transforms into Puella Magi Kimiko!
<Pose Tracker> Kimiko Akane [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
As she continues to arrange flowers, Kimiko actually starts smiling and humming to herself. Something about seeing the beauty of the arrangements makes her feel happy and maybe even more energized than she had been lately. It doesn't erase the faint circles under her eyes but it does put a slight spring to her step as she walks around each table.
Picking up her next group of flowers, the young girl starts to set them in a vase when the doors fly open. The flowers drop to the ground as Kimiko stands there in surprise with her mouth open for a few seconds. Her first reaction is that it's a costume but then sensing the magical aura, she realizes it's definitely not just a costume.
In a different circumstance she may have admired the beautiful armor but the magical aura surrounding her makes Kimiko fear for the safety of everyone here. It's a much different circumstance than she is used to but nonetheless she suddenly becomes very serious and quietly she slips away from the main ballroom.
When she returns only a second later, Kimiko is carrying a large, silver hammer on her shoulder which appears that it could make her fall over at any second. Her outfit is no longer the formal dress she was wearing before has been transformed into something completely different as she approaches the, now bound, Chihaya. Kimiko shakes her head at the name. "Sir Prunealot... really? You couldn't come up with anything better than that?"
Before Kimiko can say anything else, she watches as Lancelot attacks. There is confusion but since this isn't the time for questions Kimiko nods silently, a gesture of solidarity with him. "I don't know what you're after but let her go!" The puella magi quickly joins in the fight and her hammer grows large spikes from each end as it slams down between Chihaya and the Terror Knight. Her aim is to help free her from the vines or at least separate the two.
COMBAT: Kimiko Akane has used Steel Devourer on Chihaya Izumi. COMBAT: Chihaya Izumi narrowly dodges Lancelot's Lightning Impact, taking 12 Fatigue damage! Lancelot is Psyched! Chihaya Izumi's Fade ability activates! Chihaya Izumi's Flash ability activates! Exhausted applied to Chihaya Izumi! COMBAT: Chihaya Izumi narrowly counters Kimiko Akane's Steel Devourer, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Chihaya Izumi's Reverse ability activates! Chihaya Izumi's Tactician ability activates! Stun applied to Chihaya Izumi! COMBAT: Chihaya Izumi's counterattack, Flower Power, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Kimiko Akane!
<Pose Tracker> Anthy Himemiya [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
She may have been keeping her garden-green eyes on her work up until now, but Anthy's introspection -- both performative and true, as such things can be at times with the Rose Bride, with no mention of the layers between those -- shatters when the Knight of Shear Terror's scream for 'JUSTICE!' echoes across the Grande Ballroom. A lovely length of Victorian-era lace flutters to the floor, dropped by fingers gone slack.
Rose armor and rose whips. For Anthy there is a sneaking tendril of effronted encroachment winding through the vivid fear. Peril won't keep the Rose Bride from her spite, not entirely.
Chihaya tries to make her demand, but the floral knight refuses and raises that vicious-looking wooden scythe. Anthy shrieks a little behind hands that have fisted over her mouth, eyes as round as her glasses lenses. She looks away, she can't watch really, and sees instead the almost-completed Sombreuil arrangement.
It comes with Anthy when she takes shelter beneath the table, and she curls up around the fluted vase. It's halfway between a hug and a protective shielding. These flowers will be as safe as Anthy is, at least -- but she does not feel very safe at all, not huddled alone with a magical battle raging around her. She shuts her eyes tight and rides out the storm in her little shelter.
<Pose Tracker> Ye-jin Song [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Ye-jin had, truthfully, largely ignored the conflict between Chihaya and the other girl. Her focus was more on her floral arrangement than anything else. Which leaves her quite surprised when the disgruntled knight bursts into the ballroom and snatches up her classmate. "Eeh?" Her bouquet, which she'd been holding to pose with, is abruptly lowered as she jerks her head in the direction of the disturbance.
Her eyes widen a few fractions more when Lancelot appears in a mass of sparking energy to intercept the enemy knight's blow. The addition of the girl the gigantic hammer to the fray gives her further pause and her hand, half raised, sinks to her side once again.
She hears, distantly, Anthy's cry and no doubt the same from others nearby. But Ye-jin Song doesn't scream. She remains standing. She observes. And, absently, she carefully places her flowers back on the table.
<Pose Tracker> Chihaya Izumi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Exit stages left, right, and center as the fight commences; students and hired staff alike scream at the boom of thunder and scram. Considering Sir Prunealot's lack of hesitation in dragging an ordinary girl into this, that is probably just as well.
Lightning flashes and the flower-pink Knight leaps back. Chihaya's knees make a loud, unpleasant crack on the floor as she hits it and is dragged along, but not without Lancelot having severed about half the vines. The Puella Magi accounts for the other half, rendering chlorophyll to dust with a single huge stab, faster than it can regrow -- it did try.
Like so, the event organizer is freed. She doesn't get up right away, though, perhaps hesitant to drag the thorns across herself too quickly. Or maybe she's just a bit stunned by it all.
Sir Prunealot howls her rage. "I HAVE AN INVITATION, AND I'M AFTER HER HEAD!" she explains, succinctly, to her newfound enemies. "And my title was bestowed upon me by my Queen. I'll thank you not to degrade it." That was a little calmer, but the backswing of her scythe at the Puella Magi -- not so calm. As for Lancelot, the vines on the weapon abruptly explode out, trying to hogtie him, and they're definitely hale and strong far beyond the lot of mortal plants. "You get between me and my prey at your own risk, mortals!"
COMBAT: Chihaya Izumi has used Scythe To Meet You on Kimiko Akane. COMBAT: Chihaya Izumi has used Flower Power on Lancelot. COMBAT: Lancelot narrowly dodges Chihaya Izumi's Flower Power, taking 19 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Kimiko Akane fails to dodge Chihaya Izumi's Scythe To Meet You, taking 34 Fatigue damage! Chihaya Izumi is Psyched!
<Pose Tracker> Lancelot [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Lancelot leaps back and then to the side, barely managing to stay out of the clutches of the reaching and snatching vines. Despite all this, a thorn manages to grate on his leg and the knight grits his teeth. "Your Queen doens't belong here! And you're just as mortal as we are!" He calls out. Wishing that Azyana was here, and not for the first time. He winces as he sees the girl with the hammer get scythed and slides to a stop near the other warrior.
"Be careful. There's an innocent that's been twisted under that armor." He says panting slightly. "We have to defeat her, but she's just as fragile was we are. We can kill her." He then crosses his swords, creating a swirling mini vortex of lightning. "LIGHTNING STREAM!!" He calls out, sending that vortex toward the Knight of Whatever. The Cortex swirls into one blast of Lighting, it's blue and white bolts arcing and whipping as it travels toward the other Knight in the room.
COMBAT: Lancelot has used Lightning Stream on Chihaya Izumi.
<Pose Tracker> Kimiko Akane [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
With Chihaya freed for the moment, Kimiko is able to step in between the stunned girl and the flower knight. For a moment, the young Puella Magi lowers her hammer and leans on it. She doesn't appear overly concerned by the knight herself but she is concerned for the innocents nearby. "What could she have possibly done to warrant this kind of treatment? I won't allow it!"
The scythe gets her notice quickly but Kimiko, despite her best attempt to avoid it, cannot move quick enough. As it makes it's mark, pentrating her armor, the young girl stumbles, wincing at the pain. It takes her time to get back up but Lancealot's words encourage her and she stands, approaching again.
"Invitation or not, this is no place for you or your Queen, Sir Prunealot!" Kimiko's hammer suddenly becomes two as she retaliates, not just for herself but for Chihaya and the other innocents as well. The puella magi jumps into striking range and with as much force as she can muster aims at the knight with both of her hammers in quick succession.
COMBAT: Kimiko Akane has used Dual Crusher on Chihaya Izumi. COMBAT: Chihaya Izumi narrowly braces Lancelot's Lightning Stream, taking 14 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Chihaya Izumi narrowly braces Kimiko Akane's Dual Crusher, taking 4 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Kimiko Akane is Psyched!
<Pose Tracker> Chihaya Izumi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
The faint smell of charred plants fills the ballroom, which is really a shame, considering this event is supposed to be about RESTORING the damage done by the terrible fires of the Ohtori invasion last year. Good thing there is still a little time before the actual party.
Sir Prunealot raised her scythe and spun it in a rapid, hand-over-hand circle, stafflike, to intercept the lightning, and by the time that's done, there's nothing left but ashes. She seems to have no shortage of weapons, however; stomping her foot, a floral battleaxe made out of a single, sharp petal attached to a hard green haft pops out of the floor and into her hand. She whirls it gamely, then interposes it between herself and Kimiko's hammers with a hard block.
CLANG!
Jerking the axe back, she tries to drag the hammers out of the Puella Magi's hands with the motion -- and then throws her own axe in a massive arc back towards Lancelot. Blade over haft it spins, humming like a paean for the soon-to-be-dead.
"Not so!" she cries, as to her own mortality. "I have been blessed like the flowers themselves! And they know no true, final death! In winter they sleep and in spring they rise again -- just as my time to rise is now!"
Clapping her hands, she summons a bunch more of those axes, which quickly fill the room with lots of sharp edges, as they soar to and fro like missiles.
Chihaya winds up under another table, adjacent to Anthy's.
COMBAT: Chihaya Izumi has used Disarmed Dangerously on Kimiko Akane. COMBAT: Chihaya Izumi has used Babes With Axes on Lancelot. COMBAT: Kimiko Akane narrowly braces Chihaya Izumi's Disarmed Dangerously, taking 6 Fatigue damage! Kimiko Akane's Block ability activates! Kimiko Akane's Parry ability activates! Cripple applied to Kimiko Akane! COMBAT: Lancelot narrowly braces Chihaya Izumi's Babes With Axes, taking 18 Fatigue damage! Lancelot's Block ability activates! Lancelot's Parry ability activates!
<Pose Tracker> Ye-jin Song [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Ye-jin's head is slowly becoming one with the horizontal, a steady and increasing tilt as she watches the battle unfold before her. A finger touches is laid at her cheek, a contemplative gesture as she considers the combatants.
She doesn't have long to do so before she's hauled abruptly backwards.
Her small entourage of classmates, mistaking her immobility for the shock of fear, are taking matters into their own hands. Very literally, considering how they grab and violently tug out of the path of incoming axes. Blades sink into tables and walls nearby as they make their retreat, toward the nearest exit.
It would not be accurate to say she's grateful: "Hey! Lemme go, you idiots!" She fails as she's carted away, struggling in vain as she's forced off to safety. "Yaa! Yaa! I'll send you to hell, you--" Her voice vanishes amidst the crash of weaponry, and she too is soon removed.
<Pose Tracker> Lancelot [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
"Oh come on!" Lancelot cries as Sir Prunesalot simply disipates his lightning and then summons first one, then lots of Axes. "That is just ... Blatently unfair!" He then goes on the defense, Arondight whirling, and the knight twirling in place to parry and slap aside income Axe blades. Despite the sheer speed more than one axe blade leaves a seering cut on an ar, on his side and his cheek. "Kssst." Is heard as the last one leaves the red line on his cheek.
Then he is moving. The Knight of the Round Table rushes forward, his blades slashing left and right as he charges the other knight. "Listen to me! I don't know what Morgana told you, but she's wrong! Whatever she promised you is a lie!" he slides to a stop, his swords held defensively and blazing with lightning. "If she chose you that means there is GOOD in you too! Fight through this, focus on the good and ... do .... Good... " He looks over his shoulder for a second at the other girl. "It really sounded better in my head."
COMBAT: Lancelot has used Charge! on Chihaya Izumi.
<Pose Tracker> Kimiko Akane [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
The smell of burning plants and flowers is a little sad considering all the hard work put into this event. Kimiko glances at the arrangements even as they battle against the knight. The sudden appearance of the yet another weapon causes her to raise her hammer in defense with both hands in front. The movement makes her more vulnerable to losing her weapon but the willpower of the girl is stronger than the force of the axe. With all the effort she can, Kimiko somehow keeps herself from becoming more vulnerable.
As Ye-Jin is dragged away, Kimiko frowns wishing she had said something to the future student council member but there are clearly more important things to worry about.
The puella magi is amazed at Lancelot's moves. However, the small girl finds herself getting more and more frustrated. "I don't think reasoning will work." She mentions to him with a slight shrug before turning back to the flower knight.
"You seem more like a weed to me..." The dark-haired girl says off-handedly before raising her hammer high into the air. Instead of striking out directly though, she throws it and the hammer spins quickly as it aims for their opponent.
COMBAT: Kimiko Akane has used Whirling Hammer on Chihaya Izumi. COMBAT: Chihaya Izumi narrowly dodges Kimiko Akane's Whirling Hammer, taking 26 Fatigue damage! Kimiko Akane is Psyched! Chihaya Izumi's Fade ability activates! Chihaya Izumi's Flash ability activates! COMBAT: Chihaya Izumi narrowly braces Lancelot's Charge!, taking 2 Fatigue damage! Lancelot is Psyched!
<Pose Tracker> Chihaya Izumi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
It's probably a good thing Ye-jin's friends got her out of there, because those axes in midair mean serious business.
And they aren't even all going for Lancelot and Kimiko -- quite a few of them are splitting off to attack tables, chairs. Floral displays. Lighting.
Sir Prunealot is determined to have her revenge. Can the magical girl and boy stop this with some healthy interposition of their own weaponry? Probably. Can they do so without leaving themselves at some serious risk from the distraction? Probably not.
The other option is to end this right here, right now -- there's little time left if they want to take the brute force route.
"You're right! I am not the bad guy here!" she yells back at Lancelot, meeting his swords with a greatsword of her own, made out of a bundle of straining thorns. Blood drips from her gauntlet, where she grasps the hilt. "I made a reasonable request and was denied! For no good reason at all!"
Grunting as she backflips over Kimiko's hammer -- a spectacular dodge but not one without cost, her armor clanks heavily as she lands and she seems exhausted from the motion -- this lets her disentangle her blade lock with Lancelot and put some more distance between herself and the Puella Magi in a single motion.
"Power is all that matters here! I've been given my chance to seize it -- I won't let go, no matter what!" That purple aura around her flares, becoming enflamed, and then she swings the thorned greatsword out in a mighty arc, sending the flame pouring towards her enemies!
COMBAT: Chihaya Izumi has used Firestorm on Lancelot. COMBAT: Chihaya Izumi has used Firestorm on Kimiko Akane. COMBAT: Lancelot narrowly dodges Chihaya Izumi's Firestorm, taking 34 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Kimiko Akane narrowly dodges Chihaya Izumi's Firestorm, taking 8 Fatigue damage!
<Pose Tracker> Lancelot [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
As the fire surges forward Lancelot tries to leap out of the way. For the most part he makes it, but the flame still seers him. Still drives him to a knee and forces him to take first one, then another step back. He stops when hsi bumps into a table and then his eyes look up to the other knight. "You wanna know why we call you guys Knight's of Whatever?" He asks as the lights flicker and power begins to build up inside the blades of Arondight. The power flows through him, a humming song of electrcity and violence that is his to control. It builds and swells inside him until even his eyes shine with all that energy. Glowing first blue, and then dripping motes of white light. He grins ever so slighty. "We call you Knights of Whatever because yer Basic."
Then he slams his blades together and cries out; "ANIMAS TEMESTAS!"
All that energy, all that power surges forward in a blinding explosion of lighting. Thousands of arcs of electricity crackle and whip along the pure beam of lightning that glows white hot as it flies toward the other Knight. The sheer heat, the sheer power of that blast searing the ground as it passes over, lighting everal table clothes on fire, and more than one rose burns in that blast's passing.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Lancelot has used Anima Tempestas on Chihaya Izumi.
<Pose Tracker> Kimiko Akane [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
Luckily, Kimiko is small and fairly agile. The axes flying in all directions don't seem to phase her too much. Every once in awhile there is a narrow miss but the general destructiveness of the Knight bothers her immensely. "Why are you determined to ruin this night? Just for revenge?" Kimiko is still unsure of what she missed before.
As the knight dodges her attack and turns around, Kimiko sighs. "Power is only useful in the right hands. What are you going to gain from what you are doing right now?" Before she can think of anything else to say, the fire is burning a path quickly towards her. Her immediate reaction is to basically roll away from it and despite smelling the burning around her, it misses the puella magi almost entirely. She notices a small flame on her skirt but it is easily put out before it can hurt her or do damage.
Noticing Lancelot getting burnt Kimiko is concerned but it's unfounded as the knight turns to retaliate. Just behind him, the young puella magi is prepared to help him end this fight. "I am getting sick of this." She mentions to him as she steps past him towards the flower knight. This is not the way she wants to use her magical energy but still it's time to finish this.
From above the knight, Kimiko's silver hammer descends quickly. It appears to grow in size the closer it gets to the target and somehow, although it doesn't look overly threatening like the fire and lightning, the force it exudes can be felt throughout the ballroom.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Kimiko Akane has used Sorrow's Fall on Chihaya Izumi. COMBAT: Chihaya Izumi fails to brace Lancelot's Finisher, Anima Tempestas, taking 163 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Chihaya Izumi fails to brace Kimiko Akane's Finisher, Sorrow's Fall, taking 132 Fatigue damage! Chihaya Izumi is unable to keep fighting!
<Pose Tracker> Chihaya Izumi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
"Satisfaction," Sir Prunealot snaps at Kimiko, by way of reply -- she doesn't deign to answer Lancelot.
And then the lightning comes -- and the hammer.
They strike as one -- her greatsword is incinerated in an instant. A moment later, the armored knight is crossing her arms over her head to try to endure the hammer.
With a massive crash, what's left of the armor -- what hadn't been weakened and blackened by Lancelot's assault -- is smashed right off of her, leaving nothing but young Sakura behind. The brilliant violet aura evaporates in an instant, along with the pretty pauldrons and lovely greaves.
It seems that she is normal once again.
Normal and unwell -- wavering where she stands. She collapses a moment later, smoke still rising off of her.
Also unwell: the party preparations. There is broken furniture everywhere, and shattered glass from windows and chandeliers alike. Many a beautiful flower arrangement has been rendered unto little more than a garbage pile.
Chihaya emerges from beneath her table and surveys the damage with a steady gaze. Her shoulders slump for a moment, but then her posture steels, and her chin lifts, and she claps her hands a few times to get the attention of those outside.
"All right, all right! Everyone is now on cleanup duty, we have a lot to do and very little time! And someone get Uehara-san to the infirmary!"
She could probably do with a trip there herself; she is all over bruises and scratches from her mistreatment at the hands of the Knight of Shear Terror. But one gets the feeling, from the fiery look in her eyes, that such a suggestion would not go over well.
"Come on, people! It was just a stupid fistfight, the fun's over!" She seems to believe it -- can anyone claim such a thing with such fierce conviction if they don't? The shadowy sorcery that preserves the secret of magic at work, presumably. "ATTENTION PLEASE: if anyone else has any challenges to make as to my decisionmaking, would you please take me OUTSIDE! THANK YOU!"
And, like a kicked anthill, activity resumes in the ballroom...
<Pose Tracker> Kimiko Akane [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
Sir Prunealot falls from the force of the combined effort of their magical forces and Kimiko finds herself relieved that it's over. The puella magi offers a bow of thanks to Lancelot for his help. "I hope she will be okay..."
Kimiko is tired and concerned about her ability to do her evening patrol until she remembers the gift given to her and suddenly she is even more grateful for it than before. Hopefully, it wouldn't be needed but knowing she had it was enough to be reassuring to her.
Activity resumes in the ballroom and Kimiko, despite wanting to help, has other business to attend to. As everyone starts to clean up, the young student slips away and heads away from the school quickly, opposite of the direction of the dorms.
<Pose Tracker> Lancelot [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Lancelot watches as the Knight of Whatever falls. The armor shatters, and only Sakura remains as she falls to the floor. He looks to his blades, steaming from the sheer power they released. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. Just in time to see Chihaya emerge and start barking orders. He has to blink several times at the other woman. Stnading there. Strong and proud despite what she had just been through. He tilts his head as he realizes she's organizing. She's organizing this disaster and once again creating something ...
Beautiful.
Lancelot quickly leaves before she focuses those eyes of her's on him. He might not survive that encounter. With a flourish of his blades he goes through the motion of sheathing them, the white blades dissipating into the ether along with his armor. With one final flash the boy is holding the Medallion again. He looks at it, takes a deep breath and puts it under his shirt again before walking around the building and then coming back in.
He walks up to Chihaya and nods to her. "Where do you need me?" Hecaused a lot of this. He should have fought smarter. instead he just attacked like he always does. With a sigh he realizes that maye be's what he called the Knight of Whatever. Maybe Takeo Akamizu is barely getting through life, getting through school, getting through being Lancelot because he's just Basic.
Well. For now he can help. So he does what he's told, and tries his best to undo his destruction and make something beautiful. Which. When he thought about it, is exactly what Chihaya was doing to begin with.
