2022-10-14 - Ferris Wish! The Vertex Approaches Tomoeda
| Title: Ferris Wish! The Vertex Approaches Tomoeda | |
|---|---|
| Summary: The allies of justice -- and the World Tree's Hero, Abiko, in particular -- are transported to a strange realm to fight a strange foe. There were plenty of them on site at Tomoeda, because there was a half-off ticket special... | |
| Who: Abiko Tsugaru, Setsuna Higashi, Kyouka Okazaki, Endo Naoki, Eri Shimanouchi | |
| Where: Tomoeda Theme Park | |
| OOC - IC Date: 2022-10-14 - 2016-01-19 | |
<Pose Tracker> Rei Hino [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
The theme park is running a special deal, this week -- tickets are half-off for school-aged students, because even now they've returned to school, there's always time to have a little fun after school. The weather's been holding pretty well (nippy, but clear, sun shining in the sky!), so it's a good time to get outside.
A parade of clowns and dancers prance down the main 'road', in a flurry of lights and colour and sound; balloons soar upwards, released from colourful plastic string as young children clap and point. There's always more to go around. More attractions, as well -- like the house of mirrors, a mind-bending affair to trick the eyes and delight the heart. There's a roller-coaster, for those who prefer to stop theirs, with gut-wrenching dips and careening downward drifts. Sideshow games, placing balls into the mouths of turning porcelain clowns, funnel cake, and...
... the Ferris Wheel, of course. It towers overhead, broad and tall, a statement of engineering going back a hundred and twenty-three years. Its colours are bright as anything here, primarily primary; for some, it is a test of bravery, and for others it is a test of romance. People say that if you ride it to the very top, if the light shines in just the right way on your cabin, when you make a wish -- that wish will come true.
It's the sort of rumour which occupies high-school girls. It's not entirely serious, but it is fun, and everyone can use something like that in their lives.
And there's plenty here to occupy everyone -- even a petting zoo, back there.
<Pose Tracker> Abiko Tsugaru [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Abiko Tsugaru Abiko is making her way through the large gates to the theme part with a new acquaintance from school, looking over the entrance with a look of mild awe, "Oooooh, I've never been to a theme park before. Just festivals." she muses out loud to the girl beside her. She pauses just off to the side as she takes in all the lights, sounds and smells, "What should we do first?"
<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Higashi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Setsuna Higashi lives out here in Tama, so it's not so uncommon for her to drop by the theme park after school. It's a nice place to be, and she has... well, she has memories. They aren't all good. But they aren't all bad, either! They are Memories.
And just now, still in uniform from Juuban, Setsuna sees Kyouka and another student as she seps inside. "Hello!" Setsuna greets them, and looks up to the Ferris Wheel thoughtfully.
She of course knows about the rumor... but she doesn't say anything about it yet.
Indeed if not stopped she'll wave and then start walking towards...
The snacks.
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Kyouka is looking forward to checking out the amusement park. She's gotten to see a few, but world-hopping makes her track record of having access to one rather spotty, at best. So when she heard that there was a special on tickets, and several of her friends were going to be there... how could she resist?
Especially her newest friend--a brand new transfer student, that she practically jumped at the chance to show around. (Certainly, her hand was up before the teacher even had a chance to finish asking 'Would anyone like to show the new girl around?') She paid the rumors circulating around her little mind--she'd rather make her own judgement, thankyouverymuch.
And naturally, she had extended an invite to Abiko to come as well. They had arrived together, so Kyouka could help show her the way.
Kyouka grins at Abiko as she takes in everything. "Yeah, I've been to... a couple? It's been a while though, for sure." She'd already explained to Abiko how her family had moved around a lot, how she was also new to Tokyo (and Japan) as of a couple months prior.
"Mmmm... well, I'm torn between the roller coaster ride and the funnel cake.... Should probably do the roller coaster first, just to be safe..." Kyouka ponders out loud. "Though, maybe we should look for some of my other friends--then we can all go together."
"Speaking of..." she waves to Setsuna excitedly. "Here, c'mon." She gestures Abiko along and heads over to meet Setsuna. "Setsuna-chan! I'm so glad to see you. Tsugaru-chan, this is Setsuna Higashi. Setsuna, this is Abiko Tsugaru. She just transferred into our class. I'm showing her around."
The amusmenent park is a bit far away from the school, but it still counts.
<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.
Endo Naoki is awaiting the arrival of company at the theme park but his companion is running late. He is not, however, one to waste time standing around. There's only so much after school time in the day, and it would be a shame to waste it.
Currently, he has engaged the spinning target-clown in ranged combat. The boy is standing at one of the ball tossing booths, a small collection of spheres placed in front of him. He's squinting viciously at the porcelain clown, attempting to calculate the correct angle to land a shot in its mouth. Multiple tries have already failed, leaving discarded balls scattered around the floor.
"Ah why are you like this?" Endo asks the clown as another shot pings off the rim of its mouth and bounces away.
<Pose Tracker> Eri Shimanouchi [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
>save u some funnel cake
Eri taps a text as she moves down the main thoroughfare of the park, as she gets into her own Ferris Wheel Cabin, still eating her own. Her eyes flit over to the clowns, and to the others in the park. The door's about to be shut by the attendant when a high school boy tries to get in.
"Take the next one." Eri warns.
He tries to flash a million dollar smile, "No reason you have to make the ride yourself - besides something could always bloom on the way u-"
"As a good friend of mine likes to say-" He's met with Eri getting up, a hand bearing a ring against his breastbone. "-noone likes a pushy guy." There's a gleam by his feet, right as he she lightly shoves. She barely uses any strength, but he topples over anyway.
The cabin door shuts, Eri glares at him over her glasses for a moment before sitting back down. He struggles to get up, only to find he's having trouble moving his feet. A brief glimpse and there's something like a vine like strand binding his shoelaces together, when he blinks, its gone making him feel thoroughly gaslit by his vision.
Unsettled, he doesn't get into the next cabin at all, he just sort of slinks away, looking over his shoulder at her every so often.
Eri goes back to the funnel cake, as she waits for her ride to begin.
<Pose Tracker> Rei Hino [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed. <SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSAIDK71lro Yuki Yuna Is A Hero - Into The Forest
All a sudden, Abiko's phone rings.
/ / / / / / / / / / /
FORESTIZE WARNING
/ / / / / / / / / / /
/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
vertex approaching. deploy to protect humanity.
And all a sudden, everyday life is put on hold... just like that.
A balloon pauses, halfway to space.
A ribbon halts, where it was tossed into the air.
The Ferris Wheel ceases motion, and so do most of the people, inside.
Yes... almost everyone here STOPS, all at once, and without preamble. Only a precious few girls remain -- each with magic the World Tree recognises, each with power the World Tree can trust. The World Tree knows much of trusting girls.
But though it leaves those with magic aware, in this place... there's only one girl who's called for help, phone chiming with a distinct noise.
At first, it may not be apparent why.
The world stops; the world stops, and hangs in an instant. There is time, here, for confusion -- time for nervousness, time for fear.
And then, light all crackling down the Ferris Wheel, so, SO close to Eri's cabin -- the world opens up.
The world which pours out is all pastel-shaded, painted in watercolour, abstract and wonderful and -- in the way which something too lovely must be -- terrific, in the old sense, a wonder born of meeting something horrible in the middle. It is the fairy's circle, beautiful and too beautiful still, all captivating, all consuming. Such a picturesque existence --
It pours out and out and out. It floods the dancing parade, the house of mirrors, the Ferris Wheel. All a sudden the bright colours of the theme park are made strange and spectacular, and then the theme park isn't, any more; in a flurry of leaves it is replaced by twisting, painted roots, pastel pink and blue and green and yellow.
The forest of Jinkai has bloomed, a world apart from reality. Its painted existence twists and wends, a complex journey of roots and vines, cliffs and valleys.
And you are alone, together.
<Pose Tracker> Eri Shimanouchi [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Tap tap goes Eri's finger against the phone as they climb up steadily towards the heavens. At the top, she knows one is supposed to make a wish.
She knows better.
The world stops, and hangs as if some massive cogs had ground its linear progression to a halt. She taps once to put her phone to sleep. Then takes off her glasses, folds them up. The light opens up, above her cabin - right as her soul's housing appears, in a flash, and a spin.
Where she ends up...
... the Puella Magi clad for battle halts. "What in the world-"
Her eyes taking in the full majesty of the pastel twisting painted forest. There is something within her that makes her feel like crying. All she does is make a single slow blink of her eyes. And makes a singular exhalation of contentment.
She knows it won't last before something happens, but there is something about this place that feels like it's the opposite of a Labyrinth. Instead of twisted imagery of a tortured soul, it is something otherworldly in a way that feels almost sacred.
She's in an Odd World again, alone, save that her feelings are upside down from how it ordinarily is - it's something unfamiliar, something she doesn't know, something she isn't used to.
Despite herself, she just stands still for a while, taking it all in. "It won't last." She says to herself of this strange peaceful feeling, "It never does."
<Pose Tracker> Abiko Tsugaru [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Abiko pulls her attention away from all the distraction as Kyouka guides her towards Setsuna, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips as she offers a polite bow, "Nice to meet you, Setsuna-san." she says politely to her fellow student, her demeanor anything but what certain rumots might have people believe.
She starts to turn, eager to explore this new land of snacks and potential friends before reality comes crashing down around her with the ringing alert and vibration from her cell phone and the frozen world around her. "What in the...." her soft voice trails off as the world shifts and changes around her suddenly.
Abiko's mind races, she had only just recently began learning about the world hidden from the majority and what was expected of her should this very moment arise...
- Gulp*
"I just load up the app, right--" she taps a finger onto her phone and a soft purple motes of light being to grow from her body and clothes, taking form and shifting as the glow intensifies before subsiding slowing and leaving Abiko with a new appearance -- Heavy boots over leggins under a short Kimono stitched with cartoonish looking explosions. On her forearms are segmented metal bracers that emit a soft glow from beneath the plates. Once transformed she exhales lowly and looks around the area, noticing that she is not alone she waves at Eri and looks down on her phone again, "Now what...."
COMBAT: Abiko Tsugaru transforms into Yuusha Abiko!
<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Higashi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Setsuna's snack run... interrupted! By new friend! "Oh, yes," Setsuna says of Abiko. "Hello, Tsugaru-san." She smiles. "That's nice of you," she says to Kyouka. She has not spotted ENDO's ATTEMPTS yet nor Eri and the pushy boy, but perhaps she will. The day stretches out before them...
Util abrubtly it doesn't. Instead, the beauty and strangeness of the moment approaches. "...?" Setsuna glances around, thoughtfully. Abiko loads up and app, and changes, and Setsuna looks to her. "There's trouble?" she wonders, and eyes Kyouka thoughtfully.
"...Right." She pulls her own phone--really, her Linkrun--and opens it, and in moments--
Light suffuses her, and Setsuna flips back into an ocean of radiance, rising once more in the red dress of Cure Passion, feet clacking against the ground. "Freshly ripened--Cure Passion!"
She looks up to Eri, thoughtfully, and back to Abiko. "..All right."
COMBAT: Setsuna Higashi transforms into Cure Passion!
<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.
Endo is mid extension when the world freezes, a ball just loosed from hand. The sphere is stopped in mid air, the boy peering quizzically at the frozen object for just a moment before his attention turns toward more pressing matters: the ferris wheel, and the pastel colors bleeding into existence.
Though the forest is beautiful in all its color, it's clear that there's something amiss. It reminds him of a barrier, or a handful of other magical phenomenon that he's experienced over the past year.
Purple-black light flares outward, crawling along Endo's figure and leaving sleek, dark armor behind. The boy's eyes sweep over the sprawling forest as he grasps the giant sword that's appeared in his hand. There are other figures appearing that he recognizes, but no sign of immediate danger--though he's prepared for that, too.
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
All thoughts of roller coasters and funnel cake and introductions are halted when--well, whatever happens happens. Kyouka pauses as the rest of the world does--not because she is affected, but because she is seeing the world halt around them, followed by a crack in the world, light spilling out, and then... a forest? She has no idea what it means.
But she has a few guesses.
Kyouka is also in her school uniform still, and she brings her wrist right up to her face. The bending of her elbow draws the sleeve of her uniform's blazer back enough to reveal Strike Wolf's standby form: a black leather bracelet on her wrist, topped with a small, purple, five-sided gem. "Strike Wolf, set up!"
<Stand by ready. Set up.>
In a swirl of surging purple energy her uniform and backpack are replaced by her barrier armor: vest, tank top, shorts, visor, and armored boots and gloves, with Strike Wolf resting on the back of her right hand. "Strike Wolf, do you know what this is?"
<Analyzing...>
"Cure Passion? Any thoughts?" she asks, without even looking to see if her friend's unfrozen and transformed. She kind of takes it for granted as she looks around.
And then notices Abiko beside her. "Oh. Hello."
<Pose Tracker> Rei Hino [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
You are alone.
The Jinkai barrier is SUCH a beautiful place. Divine is, certainly, a word which can be applied to it -- the girls and boy laid here are small, against those giant roots, but not INSIGNIFICANT. No, in fact: They are the most important people here.
The only people here.
The only...
Alone, are you?
Abiko's phone chimes.
-------------
( ? ) HELP
-------------
-----------------------------------------------------
the Jinkai is a barrier created by the World Tree
for Protection of Humanity
the Vertex is an Enemy of Humanity
come to destroy the World
when the Vertex reaches the World Tree
the World will be Destroyed
-----------------------------------------------------
There's a whisper of something, on the wind, like some forgotten spirits of the green; their voices are ineffable and delicate as spun sugar, but there are no carnival snacks to be had, any more.
The forest is still.
Until, in the distance --
It's an intrusion. The broad figure in the distance -- floating, slow, in tattered cloth like a person but distinctly NOT -- does not belong to this watercolour world. Its lines are distinct, dark pink on light, and there is something wormlike to the twist of it, but it isn't just long. The arrangement of its curves evokes something; at the same time, it cannot be feminine.
The Vertex approaches, slow and implacable.
COMBAT: Rei Hino transforms into Youma Form Encroaching Vertex! COMBAT: Rei Hino has fully healed herself. She is now ready to take on 5 opponents! COMBAT: Rei Hino has used Another One Entered The Forest on Rei Hino. COMBAT: Rei Hino has finished attacking. COMBAT: Rei Hino accepts Rei Hino's Another One Entered The Forest, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Empower and Withstand applied to Rei Hino! COMBAT: Endo Naoki transforms into Barrier Jacket Zerstörer! COMBAT: Kyouka Okazaki transforms into Barrier Jacket Wolf Fighter!
<Pose Tracker> Abiko Tsugaru [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Abiko notices she is alone but also... far from it? She blinks in surprise, looking between Setsuna, Kyouka and the few others she can see before reading the new message on her phone mumbling bits out loud, " ...Jinkaii... Barrier... World Tree... Vertex.. Enemy of Humanity... Destroyed...!" a quick tap closes down the phone as it vanishes in a brief sparkle of light.
"Were... you also chosen by the World Tree? I didn't know there were others here..." she asks, a bit unsure -- Then the Vertex appears, "It'll have to wait... it's the end if that thing reaches the tree. I've gotta take it down!" she calls out, turning her attention to the monster and crinkling her nose in disgust, "Yuck..." she says before crouching and sending herself soaring into a jump, using the roots to push her towards the foe, her right hand chambered at her hip as she closes in and snaps it out with a burst of energy and a loud 'Hyah!' for good measure
COMBAT: Abiko Tsugaru has used Forceful Palm on Rei Hino. COMBAT: Abiko Tsugaru has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Rei Hino braces 7 Fatigue damage from Abiko Tsugaru's Forceful Palm, taking 6 Fatigue damage! Abiko Tsugaru is Psyched! Cripple applied to Rei Hino!
<Pose Tracker> Cure Passion [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Cure Passion looks to Kyouka again and nods. "It seems like she knows what needs doing," she says of Abiko, and puts her hands together, getting ready to fight. "...No. I'm Pretty Cure, with my friends Peach, Pine, and Berry."
She looks up to the Vertex in all its strange glory.
"We'll back you up, then!" Passion says to Abiko. "If the stakes are that high... Let's do our best!"
She leaps up after Abiko, jumping against the ferris wheel onto a great root, upward further still into a somersault before she starts to kick her way up the Vertex's form.
COMBAT: Cure Passion has used Rising Passion on Rei Hino. COMBAT: Cure Passion has finished attacking. COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi transforms into Puella Magi Eri!
COMBAT: Rei Hino braces 7 Fatigue damage from Cure Passion's Rising Passion, taking 6 Fatigue damage! Cure Passion is Psyched!
<Pose Tracker> Eri Shimanouchi [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
A Magical Girl she doesn't recognize waves at her, Eri looks her way, and there's a nod of her head. Before then nodding Cure Passion's way, "Passion." Endo she also recognizes, as well as Kyouka with her Device. That peaceful feeling becomes a growing dread. They're in an unfamiliar place to her, and there's almost certainly an unfamiliar enemy.
She listens to snippets of words from Abiko. "No." On being chosen by the World Tree, "Nevertheless, we're here to support you."
What if it's too much for someone new to this? However her mind also flits to the idea that 'It always is.'
A whisper on the wind, she reminds herself of the Forest Spirit, afflicted by the plum pox. Then comes the intruder...
... for one there's distinct relief, that the world still remains as it is, that things haven't been overturned. She's grateful that the unfamiliar is still familiar.
It's an invasion. That much she can grasp, and she's a defender.
Abiko moves towards it, she appears to be the Magical Girl chosen for this, so she watches her for a moment. And then she just moves. There are short hops from one pastel root structure to the next, getting to a higher vantage point.
"I'll back you up."
A hand moves up to the soul gem in her barrette, as a wooden handle extends, vined tendrils following behind it. The whip flies out in the air, it's lengths arcing around in dizzying blurs. Slashing and slicing as she tests and teases out its defenses. Each crack of the whip striking like a stunning thunderclap.
COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi has used Ephemeral Dance on Rei Hino. COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
If it weren't for the fact that this had replaced her planned outing with something wholly unexpected... it might be rather nice, here. She loves nature and the outdoors, after all, and this feels about as pure a representation of that concept as she's likely to find anywhere else on Earth.
It's too bad that she knows it must portend danger. Would be rather nice to be able to relax here for a while.
She listens to abiko's muttering, and picks up the word 'barrier'. Seems about right. She glances around--Endo! And Eri! Good to see familiar faces, at least. "Nope, I think that's just your thing. We're just magical so we kinda got carried along for the ride. World Tree probably thought you'd need the help."
And then, off in the distance.... That thing appears, and she's got a pretty bad feeling about it, which Abiko quickly confirms. "Hey! We've gotta stop it! Strike Wolf, let's go." She courches, and a circle appears beneath her feet, bright neon purple and enscribed with runes and symbols. A moment later the stored energy is released as she charges towards the creature. "Fangbreaker!" She aims for the head of that thing, magical energy stored up in her gauntlet and released with a small shockwave if she makes contact.
COMBAT: Kyouka Okazaki has used Fang Breaker Strike on Rei Hino. COMBAT: Kyouka Okazaki has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Rei Hino counters 10 Fatigue damage from Kyouka Okazaki's Fang Breaker Strike, taking 10 Fatigue damage! Kyouka Okazaki is Psyched! Cripple applied to Rei Hino! COMBAT: Rei Hino's counterattack, Wardrum Chant, partially gets through, doing 11 Fatigue damage to Kyouka Okazaki! Stun applied to Kyouka Okazaki! COMBAT: Rei Hino braces 16 Fatigue damage from Eri Shimanouchi's Ephemeral Dance, taking 7 Fatigue damage! Stun applied to Rei Hino!
<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.
The arrival of the Vertex sends a shudder down Endo's spine. This is the danger, he's very sure, even without a helpful app to inform him.
Abiko seems to have the right idea, taking the lead to strike at the foe. Endo decides that seems like a good course of action.
The boy hefts his device, launching off a nearby vine and sailing toward the Vertex. The sword is brought around in a sharp arc, a slash delivered toward the monster.
"'I'm here to help!" He affirms, as if it weren't already obvious.
COMBAT: Endo Naoki has used Blauverschiebung on Rei Hino. COMBAT: Endo Naoki has finished attacking. COMBAT: Rei Hino fails to counter Endo Naoki's Blauverschiebung, taking 33 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Rei Hino's counterattack, Wardrum Chant, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Endo Naoki!
<Pose Tracker> Rei Hino [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
The Yuusha, Abiko, descends on the Vertex, palm outstretched; there is a PULSE of energy as she strikes, and she may come to know, in the shimmering, that it is a very hard, very strong, very sturdy thing. This, too, is a thing known by Cure Passion, as her heel strikes the underside of that curled and wending creature; if it were meant to be softer in its underbelly, it has, apparently, missed the memo.
When the Device-users, Endo and Kyouka, come in for their assault, they are met with an uncomfortable realisation: that trailing end of the Vertex is hollowed out for a REASON. Baubles, like missiles, fly out to meet their faces -- and while Endo manages to cut straight through his, with his massive blade Fallen Stern, Kyouka finds that punching hers apart gives her no remove from the explosion whatsoever. Smoke rises as she crashes through, to strike the Vertex.
Amongst all these melee assaults, there's a gardener in the forest -- and Eri backs them up with a whip lashing out. She ruffles the cloth floating about the creature's, oh, don't call it a neck -- but the Vertex remains unharried.
It continues floating forward.
And that curve, below it, BULGES --
Just as Endo and Kyouka discovered: it isn't helpless. With horrific power, the Vertex launches explosive baubles from its underside, like a vacuum set to some opposite setting; they crash, about Endo and Kyouka and Passion, about Eri, about Abiko. The Vertex cares nothing for causing destruction in this place, but...
... a place like this must be designed for destruction, mustn't it?
COMBAT: Rei Hino has used INCURSION on Endo Naoki. COMBAT: Rei Hino has used INCURSION on Kyouka Okazaki. COMBAT: Rei Hino has used INCURSION on Cure Passion. COMBAT: Rei Hino has used From Distant Shores on Eri Shimanouchi. COMBAT: Rei Hino has used From Distant Shores on Abiko Tsugaru. COMBAT: Rei Hino has used Relentless Advance on Rei Hino. COMBAT: Rei Hino has finished attacking. COMBAT: Rei Hino accepts Rei Hino's Relentless Advance, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Withstand applied to Rei Hino! Cleanse! All of Rei Hino's debuffs are cleared! COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi neatly dodges 28 Fatigue damage from Rei Hino's From Distant Shores, taking 7 Fatigue damage! Eri Shimanouchi's Fade and Flash abilities activate! Stagger applied to Eri Shimanouchi! COMBAT: Cure Passion partially dodges 14 Fatigue damage from Rei Hino's INCURSION, taking 54 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Cure Passion's Fade and Flash abilities activate! COMBAT: Abiko Tsugaru fails to counter Rei Hino's From Distant Shores, taking 45 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Stagger applied to Abiko Tsugaru! COMBAT: Abiko Tsugaru's counterattack, Rain of Cherry Blossoms, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Rei Hino! COMBAT: Endo Naoki fails to counter Rei Hino's INCURSION, taking 51 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Blind applied to Endo Naoki! COMBAT: Endo Naoki's counterattack, Asteroid Eilen, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Rei Hino! COMBAT: Kyouka Okazaki perfectly dodges 46 Fatigue damage from Rei Hino's INCURSION, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Dodge! Kyouka Okazaki's Fade and Flash abilities activate!
<Pose Tracker> Abiko Tsugaru [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
It looked good at first, and in spite of it's toughness an idealistic hope and confidence began to swell up. She was a hero. She was fighting monsters and doing the things! Or that was the thought, at least. Abiko lands after her strike and looks to the others as they all follow up and rain down their own variety of pain on the Vertex, "Thank You!" She calls out to Kyouka and the others as the Vertex launches the missile-like projectiles towards her, she glows and narrows glimmers of magic infused light streak out of her bracers in an attempt to intercept only the scatter or deflect.
Another gulp and then an explosion sends Abiko flying back with what looks like it should have been a very hard bounce but the quick-eyed would have noticed a magical barrier appearing just before the impact of the missile and the ground both, dampening the impact and landing enough to keep her standing but breathing heavily with a scuffed cheek, "But... I hit it.." she mutters, the realization of the stakes and difficulties that lay ahead starting to become reality in real time.
She takes a few deep breaths, her fists clench and unclench a few times as light builds around her body like a cloak, intensifying and then lingering like an afterglow, "Be careful!" she cries out, seeing at least one other that had taken a hit like hers.
COMBAT: Abiko Tsugaru has used Radiant Cloak on Abiko Tsugaru. COMBAT: Abiko Tsugaru has finished attacking. COMBAT: Abiko Tsugaru accepts Abiko Tsugaru's Radiant Cloak, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Accelerate and Empower applied to Abiko Tsugaru!
<Pose Tracker> Cure Passion [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
If there's no obvious weak point, then Cure Passion will have to keep striking until she batters through anyway. That's the theory--but before she can do that, she gets hit by one of those explosions, rocketed backwards into the foilage where she hits the ground and rolls. It's easy to worry, for a moment--before she puts out her hand, and pushes herself back up from the ground. "Don't give up!" she calls to Abiko. "When you fall... the only thing to do is to get back up again!"
True to her word, Cure Passion launches herself back with a flurry of punches and kicks, trying to break through the Vertex's armor.
COMBAT: Cure Passion has used Breaking Through on Rei Hino. COMBAT: Cure Passion has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Endo manages to slice through the missle headed for him, but Kyouka has less luck--she grunts her teeth as she's left with no recourse but to power through and let her barrier jacket absorb the blow. Her attack still lands, but that explosion definitely slowed her impact. But on the plus side--
"Hey, good to see you here!" she says to Endo as she bounces back from her assault. "Both of you," she adds, as she sees that whip, but she doesn't look up for that one.
Then the worm thing does something... well, weird, but then again, what thing has she fought that could be described as normal?
(Actually, the ogre kind of counts. Relatively speaking, at least.)
But all of those explosive baubles come out, and... she's on the move. Whereas the miasma set her on edge, threw her off her game (and the sheer numbers of wraiths didn't help), here--the forest has her in a state of calm, at least for a moment, and she manages to duck, dodge, and weave effortlessly through all of those bubbles flooding into the area, nimbly weaing her way through until she can set herself up for the next attack.
She leaps--powered by magic--and weaves her way around one last bauble in mid-air before twisting her way into a kick. The thing is hard, so let's see how it stands up to a...
<Piercing Fang.> COMBAT: Kyouka Okazaki has used Piercing Fang Strike on Rei Hino. COMBAT: Kyouka Okazaki has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.
Endo's plan, as it always is, is to cut right through to the enemy. The projectiles that the Vertex launches are obstacles in the way, and with a sharp thrust of his sword Endo attempts to drives through the mass of baubles to strike at the Vertex once more.
It does not go as planned, however. The impact of Fallen Stern striking the barrage lets the pastel world alight with explosions. The force of the blow hurls Endo backward, the knight tumbling across vines and crashing into an oversized root. Colorful debris follow in his wake, and the indentation he leaves behind gives indication that the blow must have been something enormous.
He does, though, push himself up once again. On shaky feet, with the help of his Device, he stumbles back toward the fray. A triangle of purple energy spins to life under his feet, providing a launching pad to send him back toward the Vertex as mach-speed.
The sword is raised again, Endo turning in a full circle of motion, a 360 spin that leaves contrails of ugly light in his wake.
<METEOR ABSTURZ>
The blade comes down on the Vertex again, Endo throwing as much power as he can behind the blazing strike
<Pose Tracker> Eri Shimanouchi [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Eri examines the aftermath, does it have a weakness? Is the weakness whatever Abiko can do to it? She doesn't know. She hit it from so many sides and she's no closer to figuring it out. And then she sees the baubles launching. The Puella Magi clad in green makes short leaps down from one pastel branch to another, timing it to try and avoid each detonation. The last leap she mistimes just slightly, and is struck by the aftershock.
Her boot heel lands in an unbalanced way and she nearly slips - but only nearly.
However there's a visible wince when she sees how Abiko, how Endo, how Passion ended up.
It's dangerous. Really, really dangerous.
"Don't just throw yourself at it haphazardly. Use the openings others create to attack. There's something more to this - we just have to figure what it is."
And so Eri tries to think of how to change tactics. Instead she waits, and waits, until Passion launches herself, until Kyouka, until Endo...
This time, she leaps when she sees an opening, her whip lashes out, trying to encircle a point of fabric. Then she tugs in mid-air. Using strength, and weight, and momentum to try and yank it out of the air - to see the results. She might not be able to overpower it, certainly, given its size. Leverage or not. However, she's hoping at least to momentarily halt its advance - or learn something about it, even if what she learns is that it's truly immovable.
She can understand, something horrible will happen if this thing keeps advancing, but what...?
Better to never find out.
COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi has used Gardener's Grasp on Rei Hino. COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi has finished attacking. COMBAT: Rei Hino braces 13 Fatigue damage from Cure Passion's Breaking Through, taking 11 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Rei Hino fails to brace Kyouka Okazaki's Piercing Fang Strike, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Kyouka Okazaki is Psyched! COMBAT: Rei Hino braces 37 Fatigue damage from Endo Naoki's Meteor Absturz, taking 30 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Rei Hino fails to brace Eri Shimanouchi's Gardener's Grasp, taking 20 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Eri Shimanouchi is Psyched! Stagger and Tangle applied to Rei Hino!
<Pose Tracker> Rei Hino [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Oh, yes. They hit it. They ARE hitting it -- but still it comes. It does not sink or falter as Cure Passion's blows fall upon it; nor as Kyouka's tectonic kick cracks down, with full jaw power. Meteor Absturz is a strike which can sunder the greatest of foes, which makes it all the more notable how it DOESN'T -- though the Vertex does sag, to the side, briefly.
Briefly.
A brief moment which Eri is able to capitalise on, to encircle and yank. For an instant, it might feel as if she can exploit this weakness, until --
The fabric lashes out around it, and it rights itself, and it is whole, and it is still coming. Still coming, as those ribbons crash out to strike the girls -- and Endo -- around it, swiftly and without mercy or thought.
Once again, Abiko's phone chimes, echoing in the light of her radiant cloak. Brrring-brrr-rrr-ING.
-------------
( ? ) HELP
-------------
-----------------------------------------------------
Vertex will Regenerate Indefinitely
perform the Sealing Ritual
1) Surround the Enemy
2) with Conviction, Recite the Prayer to Immobilise the Enemy:
O lord of the afterlife
Have mercy on us
Bestow your blessings upon us
O spirit of good luck
O spirit of miracles
Protect us
Bring us fortune and happiness
3) Expose the Soul
4) Destroy It
-----------------------------------------------------
-------------
( ! ) ALERT
-------------
-----------------------------------------------------
failure to swiftly Destroy the Vertex will result in real world damage
damage intrudes as the Jinkai wilts
act Swiftly to Protect Humanity
-----------------------------------------------------
COMBAT: Rei Hino has used The Leaves Will Fall on Endo Naoki. COMBAT: Rei Hino has used The Leaves Will Fall on Eri Shimanouchi. COMBAT: Rei Hino has used The Leaves Will Fall on Kyouka Okazaki. COMBAT: Rei Hino has used The Leaves Will Fall on Cure Passion. COMBAT: Rei Hino has used The Leaves Will Fall on Abiko Tsugaru. COMBAT: Rei Hino has finished attacking. COMBAT: Cure Passion counters 3 Fatigue damage from Rei Hino's The Leaves Will Fall, taking 8 Fatigue damage! Diversion and Tangle applied to Cure Passion! COMBAT: Cure Passion's counterattack, Crimson Counter, partially gets through, doing 9 Fatigue damage to Rei Hino! COMBAT: Abiko Tsugaru perfectly dodges 11 Fatigue damage from Rei Hino's The Leaves Will Fall, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Dodge! COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi counters 3 Fatigue damage from Rei Hino's The Leaves Will Fall, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Eri Shimanouchi's Reverse and Tactician abilities activate! COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi's counterattack, Gardener's Trick, partially gets through, doing 11 Fatigue damage to Rei Hino! Exhausted applied to Rei Hino!
COMBAT: Endo Naoki cleanly braces 11 Fatigue damage from Rei Hino's The Leaves Will Fall, taking 2 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Endo Naoki's Block and Parry abilities activate! Diversion applied to Endo Naoki! COMBAT: Kyouka Okazaki perfectly counters 11 Fatigue damage from Rei Hino's The Leaves Will Fall, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter! COMBAT: Kyouka Okazaki's counterattack, Howling Wind Barrier, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Rei Hino!
<Pose Tracker> Abiko Tsugaru [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Abiko flinches a little as Cure Passions word's bring her out of her daze with a look of determination but to do what exactly...? The sound of her phone also gets a little jump before it appears in a sparkle of light in her hand.
No time for a break though, the Vertex's doom-ribbons are on the hunt, raining down but Abiko is ready this time. She crouches before launching back into a series of leaps away from danger, putting a little distance between herself and the Vertex and calling out, "We have to seal it and destroy its soul or it will just keep regenerating itself." she grits her teeth and quickly forwards the message of the Ritual words to Kyouka, "Some of us have to manage to surround it and perform that ritual." she adds, standing up straight now, slowly walking towards the Vertex at first re-reading the text to herself the calling to Kyouka, "I'll get it started, I can't do it alone but together I know we can!" and with that she breaks into a run and then a leap.
Glowing magical energy collects around her and her bracers again, briefly charging up mid-leap before releasing a swirl of short-ranged light pink shards that trace around her and into the Vertex as she lands near it's base and lifts her voice as confidently as she can, "O lord of the Afterlife... Have mercy on us!" and with her words the faint outline of a magic circle would begin to appear emiting an eerie light.
COMBAT: Abiko Tsugaru has used Rain of Cherry Blossoms on Rei Hino. COMBAT: Abiko Tsugaru has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Cure Passion [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Eri calls out to them, and Passion looks thoughtful. "...No, I remember--the Vertex... Endo!" she calls. "Remember?"
On the one hand--throwing herself at the enemy is rather what she does. On the other...
Abiko's got it. She can do what needs doing--and Passion remembers, now, that sequence. "...Right!" the Precure calls to Abiko. "You open it up, and we'll shatter it!"
She's already pretty tired; these things hit hard. Nevertheless, she won't give up so easily. The ribbons crash towards them, and Cure Passion, swings back at them, a barrier of red force forming with the power of her counteratack and carrying through the ribbon back to the enemy. But it still stings.
Surround and chant.. "Then I'll get around the other side!" Passion leaps up against another root, bouncing from wheel to wheel, before she approaches the other side, and starts a spinning sequence of kicks to try to draw the Vertex's attention. "Hyah!"
COMBAT: Cure Passion has used Spinning Strikes on Rei Hino. COMBAT: Cure Passion has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Eri Shimanouchi [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
The fabric Vertex rights itself, Eri with a flick of her wrist has her whip release itself. She lands on a great root with a light foot, and suddenly pivots around rapidly to swing her whip out. It cuts a horizontal arc through the ribbons, if not severing them then at least battering and diverting them. Still one of them lands far too close despite her efforts.
Again the phone buzzes on the Magical Girl she doesn't recognize, she's - probably the one who is meant to handle this. But how?
She barely seems to understand her role herself, so all she can do is try to delay this thing until - her eyes light up as the phone gives her an answer.
"A ritual?"
There's a pause, "From the flanks then." She comments to Passion. As suddenly she darts forward, and once beneath it, stamps her foot down, as a green rune ripples out. Vines suddenly sprout and grow out of that rune that forms, and moves up to try and encircle it in multiple ways.
Alone it stands little chance of doing any good, but she'll contribute in trying to help immobilize it so Abiko can get the job done.
COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi has used Dryad's Interdict on Rei Hino. COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Kyouka winces as she sees her compatriots knocked about. Their attacks don't seem to be slowing it. Eri tries to graps it, to hold it in place, and yet... it shakes free, and lashes out. As she's landing a band of bright purple magic is already circling her gauntlet, with a flurry of wind building up within it. She thrusts her hand up, blasting out a gale of wind that rebukes all of the blows.
There's that chime again, and Kyouka darts back to consider her next move. She glances over to Abiko. "Alright, this seems like it's one of yours, so... whatcha got for us? Any info on this thing would be appreciated right about now."
And--there's a text message. A ritual chant, and... "Got it! Stike Wolf, forward that out!"
<Affirmative.> A moment later, Strike Wolf has synced with Kyouka's phone and redirected the text of the chant to Endo, Passion, and Eri's phones.
Kyouka herself is already in motion. A brief circle appears beneath her feet as she jumps--then changes as a sharp angle mid-air as she dives down at the worm, rebounding again to place herself roughly in a 'surrounding' position.
She's used to ritualistic chants, now. She has her own, but this is not that one. Not yet, at least. She takes a stance to help center herself and chants along. "Bestow your blessings upon us o spirit of good luck."
COMBAT: Kyouka Okazaki has used Piercing Fang Strike on Rei Hino. COMBAT: Kyouka Okazaki has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.
The ribbons crash against Endo, his barrier jacket cracking from the strain of holding back the attack. He fares better than the first time though, aside from a short stumble backward.
His eyes go to Abiko when she shouts out her instructions, and a sharp nod is made. He doesn't question how she knows this, merely accepts that she has the necessary knowledge.
"I remember!" Endo calls back to Passion. "Be careful!"
Endo moves forward again, this time coming at the monster from an angle. The sword is swung once more, a jagged cut as Endo slides past. The attack is a cursory thing, more meant to get him into position than anything else.
Once he's taken up his place surrounding the Vertex, he too begins to chant, following Abiko's example.
COMBAT: Endo Naoki has used Blauverschiebung on Rei Hino. COMBAT: Endo Naoki has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Rei Hino fails to brace Abiko Tsugaru's Rain of Cherry Blossoms, taking 27 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Rei Hino fails to brace Cure Passion's Spinning Strikes, taking 15 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! COMBAT: Rei Hino fails to brace Eri Shimanouchi's Dryad's Interdict, taking 20 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Rei Hino is Quipped! COMBAT: Rei Hino fails to brace Kyouka Okazaki's Piercing Fang Strike, taking 16 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Kyouka Okazaki is Psyched! COMBAT: Rei Hino fails to brace Endo Naoki's Blauverschiebung, taking 35 Fatigue damage! Stagger applied to Rei Hino!
<Pose Tracker> Rei Hino [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed. <SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEy1rYGbuuk Yuki Yuna is a Hero - Sealing Ceremony
The Vertex's cloth lashes out, to strike at Abiko and Passion and Endo, as they try to get into position. Kyouka and Eri aren't so lucky -- they end up dealing with some more of those explosions, trying to stop them from approaching into position.
It doesn't want to be surrounded. Even so -- eventually, it is. Those light shards from Abiko impact it; Cure Passion kicks THROUGH a ribbon; a vine which isn't painted in watercolour sneaks up to grow from below, courtesy Eri. Kyouka strikes from above, and lands to one side -- and Endo clears space with his blade to take position, too.
As it happens, the words of the ritual weren't nearly as important as the passion behind them -- or, in one case, the Passion behind them. Cure Passion is the final piece of the incantation puzzle, despite the fact that she simply vocalised her assault, which may raise questions about how necessary the words were.
At five points, they stand around it -- and the world is painted in a more violet shade, as light flecks around the Vertex like a hundred-hundred petals. A vortex about the Vertex, it swirls, and rises, and the thing which isn't its face blossoms to reveal --
It's a pyramid all turned upside-down, massive enough to be a platform for a girl to stand upon. It is a thing of POWER, as well; the heart and soul of a thing unlike this world. It is the Vertex's weakest point.
And it is harder than any other point on its body.
Below the swirling flecks of light, a number, bright, appears.
99
98
97
96
95
It's ticking down, and not slowly. As the number decreases, one of those pastel roots grows deeper in colour, darker -- all charcoal shades and colours, angry orange, deep brown.
Though the Vertex is bound, it will not be bound forever.
The world will be destroyed.
COMBAT: Rei Hino has used The Leaves Will Fall on Endo Naoki. COMBAT: Rei Hino has used The Leaves Will Fall on Eri Shimanouchi. COMBAT: Rei Hino has used The Leaves Will Fall on Abiko Tsugaru. COMBAT: Rei Hino has used The Leaves Will Fall on Kyouka Okazaki. COMBAT: Rei Hino has used The Leaves Will Fall on Cure Passion. COMBAT: Rei Hino has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Abiko Tsugaru dodges 8 Fatigue damage from Rei Hino's The Leaves Will Fall, taking 5 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi partially dodges 2 Fatigue damage from Rei Hino's The Leaves Will Fall, taking 7 Fatigue damage! Eri Shimanouchi's Fade and Flash abilities activate! COMBAT: Endo Naoki fails to dodge Rei Hino's The Leaves Will Fall, taking 14 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Tangle applied to Endo Naoki! COMBAT: Kyouka Okazaki fails to dodge Rei Hino's The Leaves Will Fall, taking 10 Fatigue damage! Tangle applied to Kyouka Okazaki!
<Pose Tracker> Abiko Tsugaru [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Abiko's expression softens as the others fight their way to position, the rituals power growing and the light intensifying as the core appears, "That's... it's soul. But it's not the end yet!" she says, her focus drawn by the lashing of the Vertex. Her focusu doesn't betray her, the lashes able to do little more than scuff her as she slides around them before fixing her gaze on the Core and finding her own opening to attack.
She crouches again, light coalescing around her hand as she chambers it and leaps into a mighty jump at her target and snapping out her arm once again, the energy compressing beore blasting forwards.
COMBAT: Abiko Tsugaru has used Forceful Palm on Rei Hino. COMBAT: Abiko Tsugaru has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Cure Passion [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Passion will be careful, as Endo advises her. She doesn't know the chant, but she gets the message about what it is as she tries to help, as she goes for the flanks opposite Eri. Luckily she doesn't have to check the phone... Because it works! So she looks to Kyouka, to Abiko, to Eri, and to Endo--and then to the creature's strange Power. The Vertex's weakes point...
A number is there. "We have to hurry!" Passion says. "Right--we're with you!" to Abiko. Passion rears back, and jumps upward, moving faster than the eye can see until she's a red blur that appears on the other side of the core--at which point her attack registers.
COMBAT: Cure Passion braces 7 Fatigue damage from Rei Hino's The Leaves Will Fall, taking 3 Fatigue damage! Cure Passion's Block and Parry abilities activate! Diversion and Tangle applied to Cure Passion! COMBAT: Cure Passion has used Passion Flash on Rei Hino. COMBAT: Cure Passion has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
They all manage to get into position, and... well, add a new weird thing to her catalog of weird experiences. At least it seems like the ritual worked, anyway. Even if they didn't quite get the whole chant out.
Then again, the brief glimpse she got of it did seem rather long...
Then again, her own incantation isn't much shorter.
Things to worry about for another time, as the vertex's soul is revealed. "I don't like the looks of that countdown..." she says, and crouches in her spot. A circle appears beanth her feet as she gets ready, only-- The beast lashes out, and she tries to dance to the side, only to run into one of the blows. An attempt to get out of that one's path sends her into another one still, and several more yet. "Ack! Pft! Dangit!" And she was doing so well, too.
"Alright, that's it!" She crouches, letting the magic build up in a circle beneath her feet as she charges magic--and takes off in a flurry of motion as she jumps--or really just charges in a straight line, at the soul, rearing back with her fist to bring it crashing down.
<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.
Endo's eyes widen as the Vertex bares its soul. It's still coming though, and there's not much time.
He leaps again, triangle platforms appearing underneath his feet, allowing him to launch into the air and bring his weapon down on the exposed core.
"I think we're almost there!"
COMBAT: Kyouka Okazaki has used Vertex Soul Smashing Blow on Rei Hino. COMBAT: Kyouka Okazaki has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Endo Naoki has used Blauverschiebung on Rei Hino. COMBAT: Endo Naoki has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Eri Shimanouchi [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
More of the explosive baubles fall. And Eri has to react more swiftly this time, leaping just out of the epicenter, the explosion smashes into her in mid-air and she's flipped around and over. Striking a root, she bounds back to her ritual point.
And something that looks like a core is revealed which Abiko notes as the soul - a fact which gives her momentary pause - as the countdown appears in the bright light.
That sort of speaks for itself doesn't it?
For one brief moment Eri wishes she had a cell phone app for that whenever a weird witch with a deadly gimmick reared its ugly head - rather than a Kyubey. This is definitely better, isn't it?
(Editor's Note: It is not.)
"That's a lot of countdown for us to get through." Eri notes at Passion's call for a hurry. However, at least they have a weak point to work upon? Gripping her whip, she runs a sparkle of energy through it, as suddenly the dark thorns extend to stiletto size.
Wordlessly she starts swinging the whip in great arcs at the soul as it slices towards it as rippling blurs.
It's definitely the first time she's ever taken aim at someone's soul within a vessel.
Isn't it?
COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi has used Aerating Edge on Rei Hino. COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Rei Hino fails to brace Kyouka Okazaki's Vertex Soul Smashing Blow, taking 21 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Rei Hino fails to brace Endo Naoki's Blauverschiebung, taking 36 Fatigue damage! Stagger applied to Rei Hino! COMBAT: Rei Hino braces 44 Fatigue damage from Cure Passion's Passion Flash, taking 19 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! COMBAT: Rei Hino braces 32 Fatigue damage from Eri Shimanouchi's Aerating Edge, taking 26 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Rei Hino fails to brace Abiko Tsugaru's Forceful Palm, taking 20 Fatigue damage! Abiko Tsugaru is Psyched!
<Pose Tracker> Rei Hino [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
The energy blasts forward -- and though there's a crack in the black and violet inverse pyramid, it doesn't shatter. It is hard to the touch, the way diamonds or lineaments are hard. The Vertex's soul meets the red blur of Passion without breaking; so too does it meet Kyouka's fist, direct as a bolt fired out. Not even Fallen Stern can make it fall. And this is clearly Eri's first time striking an exposed soul -- because her whip, despite the size of its thorns, cannot shatter it.
The Vertex is implacable. It is unshakable. Even still, even cowed, it is not so easy to destroy.
63
62
61
60
59
The number continues falling, too, too quickly. As it does, more of the Jinkai wilts around them -- horrible holes eaten through those too-wonderful watercolours, pale beauty besmirched by something deeper, darker, rotting embers and black.
Soon, it will be freed. It will reach the World Tree. And then... and then...
COMBAT: Rei Hino has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Abiko Tsugaru [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Abiko grits her teeth, "Just a bit more.." she calls out, hopping backwards quickly to get into a better attacking position. Mid hops there is a light in the air next to hear that shimmers before materializing into.... Some kind of turtle? Dark purple scales, dark green markings and a matte black shell covered with short knobby spikes -- it stares at the surprised Abiko blankly, almost seeming lazy, "You must be... my fairy?" she mumbles quickly, recalling the dampening affects when she was being knocked around earlier. A new friend has joined the fight.
No time to spare daydreaming about her flying turtle just yet, that timer continues its ominous tick down and she knows what's at stake. So she leaps up, the turtle flying upwards with her and acts as a stepping platform helping her reach a good height above the Vertex before she tucks her knees and rotates forward turning upside down and launching in a rapid kamikaze dive, "You can't have you way...Bully Breaker!" she yells out -- Was it necessary? nah... But did it feel good? Oohhhh yeah..-- then grasping her hands together and turning in a quick flip at the end swings her grasped fists down releasing a massive burst of air from around her body.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Abiko Tsugaru has used Bully Breaker on Rei Hino. COMBAT: Abiko Tsugaru has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Cure Passion [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Almost there--almost!! Passion glances Eri's way as she mentions the countdown, and is dubious that they'll be able to do it with time to spare--she remembers how tough the last of these she saw was. They'll have to put in everything they can...
Abiko gives the signal. As she swings in with her dive, Passion brings her hands together in focus. "Focus," she murmurs, and breathes in quickly.
Then, she rears back one fist. "Haaaaaah--!" A red shimmer overcomes her fist, and then becomes a shell that erupts before her as she leaps towards the Vertex's heart, driving all that energy and force straight for the center.
"Hah!"
COMBAT: FINISHER! Cure Passion has used Passion Drive on Rei Hino. COMBAT: Cure Passion has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.
As the numbers tick down Endo redoubles his efforts. He rebounds after his first attack, touching down once more as he watches the other magical girls strike at the exposed core.
Once again Endo summons a triangle of energy underneath him, using it as a spring pad to rise upward. His next slash is another heavy cleave, a spinning blow aimed to drive Fallen Stern as deep into their collective enemy as he can.
<METEOR ABSTURZ>
"Let's finish it!"
COMBAT: Endo Naoki has used Meteor Absturz on Rei Hino. COMBAT: Endo Naoki has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Eri Shimanouchi [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Eri slashes and slashes again with her whip. Clearly this thing got an enhanced soul protection plan.
Eri eyes the appearance of the turtle fairy and, "Cute." She notes.
It clearly wasn't enough force to halt it forever, the roots below them are looking worse and worse- What's she to do?
Well, it's simplicity itself. Hit it harder. Hit it more. Overwhelm it as best as she can until the ritual is finished. As the others make their call of cooperation, her face splits into a grin, "Let's see how much you can actually take."
And so she upturns her whip and it sinks into a ripple of green rather than the Jinkai itself. More ripples appear outwardly like raindrops upon a pond.
There's stillness for a second or two, as the magical effect seems to calm. Then black vines laden with such sharpen thorns appear from each place where that green magic rippled, each emanating out of a runic sigil of her magic.
At her direction, they immediately start to batter that core repeatedly, quicker and quicker in a constant rhythm. Over, and over, and over - she doesn't think she can pull it apart, or impale it. So instead she has them wear it down, erode it down, grind it down.
Even diamonds can be ground into dust - and even though this is immensely harder - she tries to make herself equal to the task of keeping at it while the ritual progresses.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Eri Shimanouchi has used Child of Thorns on Rei Hino. COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi has finished attacking. <Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
They're all raining attacks down on that thing and... it's not working. Well, it might be doing something but... it's not doing it fast enough. That countdown is moving awfully quickly, and she can see the watercolors wilting around them.
Surely that can't be good. Abiko mentioned something about a World Tree earlier. If that thing goes off, then...
"No time for holding back, then."
How many times has she done this in the past... damn, has it only been a week since she first unleashed this attack? And then a few days prior, against that swarm...
What in the world is her life turning into? To have gone from a transfer student with ambitions about making friends to suddenly being responsible for the fate of the world?
Time to ponder that later, when there's a world left to ponder that in.
She takes a stance. A circle forms at her feet, as she holds out her hand, murmuring to herself. "From warded den, through hallowed glade..." A bright ball of scintillating light appears at her opened palm, growing rapidly as she progresses through the chant. Leaves from the forest floor swirl about her as she poors open the floodgates of her soul into the attack. "To bright moon watching overhead..." It's becoming so familiar now, so practiced as the ball builds brighter and brighter. Her hand closes around it, and the leaves draw in from the sudden vaccuum... before there's energy swirling at her feet to blow them out again. "Lend your strength, light my path..." Her body shimmers with energy, a pale white yet bright aura--with just a tint of blue light--encases her body, but her right gauntlet is glowing pure white. Wisps of white energy join the swirling and dancing leaves as her energy builds and builds. "And guide your guardian's hand!" The power peaks-it flares brightly as she completes the process. Her right hand is alight with bright, silvery blue-white moonlight as she slides her foot back, brings her hand up and takes a ready pose.
She takes off, charging forward as she lends her attack to the rest, driving her fist home into the Vertex's soul. Unlike two nights ago, she does not conserve the power, use it to strike again and again at a swarm of targets. No, tonight there is only one. And with a loud yell she unleashes it all at once in a fearsome blast.
<Shining Moonlight Strike.>
COMBAT: FINISHER! Kyouka Okazaki has used Shining Moonlight Strike on Rei Hino. COMBAT: Kyouka Okazaki has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Rei Hino braces 66 Fatigue damage from Kyouka Okazaki's Finisher, Shining Moonlight Strike, taking 44 Fatigue damage! Rei Hino is unable to keep fighting! COMBAT: Rei Hino fails to brace Eri Shimanouchi's Finisher, Child of Thorns, taking 258 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Rei Hino is unable to keep fighting! COMBAT: Rei Hino fails to brace Endo Naoki's Meteor Absturz, taking 75 Fatigue damage! Rei Hino is unable to keep fighting! COMBAT: Rei Hino fails to brace Cure Passion's Finisher, Passion Drive, taking 82 Fatigue damage! Rei Hino is unable to keep fighting! COMBAT: Rei Hino fails to brace Abiko Tsugaru's Finisher, Bully Breaker, taking 136 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Rei Hino is unable to keep fighting!
<Pose Tracker> Rei Hino [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Cure Passion comes from a martial tradition with so MANY greats -- and she demonstrates, as she dives towards that heart of hearts, that she is a Cure to be reckoned with. A crack splinters, where she strikes it; splinters further, as she clears the path for the next assault.
Eri knows well the war of attrition. The vines which erupt at her call batter the sides of the soul, knocking it this way and that where it floats. A dozen dozen fractures appear alongside it; while no ONE of those vines has the killing power to destroy it outright, there isn't ONE vine. There are so, so many.
Fallen Stern, too, is a war-blade to meet armies. Endo spins, and the side of the pyramid, where Eri has weakened it, finds itself bitten -- his Device digging in and dragging out with all the violence one would expect, from someone following a black blade. (Not quite the black blade which has followed up on Eri's vines before, but in this new world, there is room for so much cooperation, isn't there?)
Kyouka, thrown into the deep end so, so rapidly, draws her power from her hallowed glade. Her hand shines with all the incredible powers of the moonlight, as she slams her fist forward, in a single, closing argument. It IMPACTS, and forms another small crater, underside.
Finally, there is Abiko -- the Hero -- spinning in her all-out assault, all upside-down, all aggression. She screams of breaking, and those fists POUND, the reverberation echoing throughout the forest. She knows just the right angle to strike. She is chosen by the World Tree, after all.
The soul shudders -- and SHATTERS, all at once, devastated in the wake of so many hearts all coming together against it.
When the pyramid breaks, there are two sides to the destruction.
One, the lights, streaming up from the soul in all the colours of the rainbow, dots of colour all trailed by lines. They escape into the abyss of the sky; they leave.
And then, the Vertex itself -- it crumbles to sand, pouring to the ground, sending up clouds of dust. Its cremation is sudden and complete.
For a moment, it is still...
... until the World Tree relaxes its barrier, with a flurry of watercolour leaves. All at once the world is restored, at the precise moment it paused. The World Tree places the girls -- and Endo! -- just where they were, before they were called to protect everything.
And the bright colours of Toemada are so much more defined and less painted, than the strange beauty of Jinkai.
Eri's Ferris cabin climbs up, and up... and halts, midway up. "Sorry," a voice comes through the speakers. "We're having some difficulties right now, so please sit quietly while we fix the ride." And this, perhaps, is the consequence of the rotting forest -- an inexplicably broken Ferris Wheel.
It's all right. They'll get them down, soon enough.
<Pose Tracker> Eri Shimanouchi [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
It's over- as the Hero shatters the soul. Even for a horror like that, it is still not the best thing to carve into her memory. She does it anyway. As lights stream from the soul, as the Vertex crumbles to dust. And the barrier relaxes and-
Eri's stuck at the top in her cabin, due to technical difficulties. For a moment, she considers just opening the door and leaping out.
Then she just shrugs, and releases her transformation in a shimmer of green sparkles, back to the winter coat she was wearing.
Sitting down with mittened fingers, she goes back to work on the plate of funnel cake.
Patience is a virtue sometimes, especially when there's funnel cake.
<Pose Tracker> Abiko Tsugaru [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
As the world returns to normal around Abiko, a faint swirl of light scatters from her clothes and body returning her back to the Juuban uniform. Not everything is back to normal though, a few small scuffs and scrapes act as a not-so-gentle reminder of the power she is expected to face -- But for today, at least, it all worked out.
Abiko looks around and spots a nearby bench and half-collapses onto it, "What in the world..." she asks, her brain going into overdrive trying to process it all. And the others? What was that about... she was still trying to wrap her head around not only the World Tree and her being a hero but that there is apparently a whole variety of multi-colored flavors of craziness in the world that she was thrown into...
Her stomach let's out a LOUD snarl, and her cheeks blush slightly, "I can worry about all of that later. Right now I need..." her eyes scan to food shops, "Snacks..."
COMBAT: Abiko Tsugaru transforms into Abiko Tsugaru!
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
They all come together, and in short her crack apart the protective coating of the soul, and then Abiko comes in with the finishing blow. The lights escape, the vertex crumbles...
And the barrier releases.
She'll save her self-questioining for whether it's okay to destroy something called a soul for another day. It's not the first fight she's had, after all.
She quickly releases her own transformation as the world around them returns to normal, barrier jacket vanishing to be replaced with her school uniform. Stretches her arms out overhead for a moment as she takes in a deep breath.
This is getting a bit too easy. Or rather, she's getting too accustomed to it, is the better way of phrasing that.
But she follows Abiko over to the bench, sits down next to her, and gives her a sort of amused grin. "So... you too, huh?" She looks out at the rest of the amusement park, musing quietly. "First time?"
When she hears Abiko's stomach snarl she chuckles. "First round's on me. I invited you along, after all."
<Pose Tracker> Abiko Tsugaru [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Abiko steadies her breathing and looks over as Kyouka sit next to her, "Yeah... I bet that rotten old man knew something like this would happen" she mutters under her breath, and though the phrasing seems harsh it's said bit obvious endearment to whomever she is talking about. As quickly as she drifted to those thoughts she drifts back, sniffing the air a little as if looking for a specific aroma, "I'll take you up on that, and later we'll have to trade info... I was expecting some of this but definitely not all of that." she says as she stands up, brushing the front of her skirt off and straightening it before her gaze comes to rest on a food stall filled with smells of baked sweets.
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Kyouka chuckles softly, in a strange sort of reminiscing way, when Abiko mentions she wasn't prepared for all of this. "Yeah, you see... well, you're gonna see a lot of weird shit in this job." She glances sidelong at Abiko. "I've only been really doing this for a few weeks, myself, so this is still taking some getting used to. I'll be happy to share with you anything I can, try to make it a bit easier on you if I can."
She follows as Abiko gets up, and a thought occurs to her. "Oh! And Abiko... one thing you can count on, is that there's a whole bunch of us running around and..."
How did she say it?
She reaches out to give Abiko's shoulder a friendly pat. "Together, we can do so much more than we can do apart. Don't ever forget that. It can be overwhelming, but... You're not in this alone. Okay?"
Another squeeze, and then she lets the girl's shoulder go. "Alright, let's go find something to eat!"
