2015-12-23 - Taiko Torment
| Title: Taiko Torment | |
|---|---|
| Summary: A Taiko drum festival turns terrible when a drummer turns to despair. | |
| Who: Sachiko Majime, Cure Sword, Garnet, Cure Pine, Cure Fortune | |
| Where: Shinjuku Capital Ward | |
| OOC - IC Date: Sep 17 2014 - 12/23/2015 | |
<Pose Tracker> Honoka Yukishiro [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Shitamachi loves festivals and tradition in equal measure, so the existence of a joint festival and competition for taiko drumming is certainly cause for a major party. Kids come out with masks and gongs, the food stands set up with steamy scents for all, and as the sun begins to set, torches light the intersections more wonderfully than any LED display could hope to do across the river amongst the skyscrapers.
The thunderous and resounding team displays are underway. After this there will be a solo competition, with the best of each team dueling drumbeats, but seeing dozens of strong people, some young and some old, pound away in beautiful synchronicity is the big crowd pleaser.
As the latest team comes to their ear-ringing conclusion, a marvelous silence falls upon the square. Then it's filled with even more deafening cheers. One of the drummers, a young man with brown hair, wearily adjusts his hachimaki, glancing down the line of his teammates at the one who was selected to do the solo competition.
He rubs his wrist wearily. "If only..." Then he shakes his head. "Nah, that's no good. We're a team." The woman who's come up behind him, resplendent in pink, leans over his shoulder curiously. There's something wrong about her... she may have a cute getup, but her eyes are so cold.
"There's nothing wrong with wanting all the glory for yourself," she reassures him. "Here. Let me show you!"
She casts out a hand, and a feeling of urgency and darkness engulfs the crowd. "LET THE FUTURE REFLECTED IN THE MIRROR TURN TERRIBLE! COME FORTH, TERRIBAD!"
A moment later, the taiko competitor is locked in a dark mirror, his eyes closed, his slumber despairing. On the ground he's been replaced by a thirty foot tall, pink-scarved monster with a massive and bulky black body, a white bandanna that bears the word 'INVASION', and huge drums everywhere, one on each shoulder and one hanging down in front.
The Terribad has drumsticks, of course, and begins pounding out a truly awful sound. As the sonic punishment pours across the square, people clap hands to their ears and flee. But there's more to flee than just the ear-torture... the buildings are beginning to transform, a few bricks at a time, into an unearthly landscape.
Cotton candy trees. Gingerbread houses. Frosting everywhere.
It would be heaven, except that it's obviously hell. Something about this place feels terribly wrong. And besides... the woman in pink, who gaily leaps atop a sugary tower to sit down, legs crossed primly, at a newly-materialized tea table, doesn't look too interested in sharing her sweets with anyone else.
"Ohohohohohohoho~! The despair of others is as sweet as honey."
Then she takes a long and satisfied sip.
"Terribad! Destroy the happiness of this city, and give me even more sweets!"
From around cookie towers and behind candy cane pillars, Kindabads, those small, red-sunglassed fellows, begin rushing down the food stands, overturning them. Another group knocks down a stack of round taiko drums that had been held in place with ropes, and they begin rolling through the fleeing crowd with supernatural speed and greatly impending danger...
COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro transforms into Terribad and Kindabads!!
<Pose Tracker> Sachiko Majime [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Sachiko Majime slouches back in an unladylike manner in her seat with her hands already interlaced behind her head. She lets out a small sigh as this date was turning out to be way more boring than she had anticipated. Well, he seemed like he was going to be fun at the time, but he ended up being an absolute bore and just another cocky narcissist. Apparently the poor boy didn't get the theoretical memo stating that the only narcissist to be present was Sachiko herself. But thankfully, Ohtori's young softball starlet is saved by the sudden appearance of a rampaging, thirty foot tall drum-master and his entourage of ne'er'do-wells. For the first time tonight, Sachi smiles.
"You better save yourself while...." Sachiko trails off when she notices that her date has already fled arse over teakettle out of there. The young blonde clicks her tongue against the roof of her mouth. Figures. She then untangles her fingers from behind her own head and lesiurely stands up tall before doing a few warmup stretches. It's been awhile since her last bout and she was looking forward to knocking the proverbially dust off herself.
But before Sachiko transforms, she reaches down the front of her shirt to pull out the orange 'charm' at the end of her necklace. The once shining gem was now a murky imitation of its former glory. Such is the life of a Puella Magi with no territory of their own. However, Sachiko is not the kind of girl that backs down from a fight just because the odds are stacked against her. No, she was still going to fight this monster and its cohorts. Then she was going to find whomever was really behind this and get some answers of them!
Cracking her knuckles, Sachiko Majime is engulfed by a bright light as her clothes are replaced by the stylished orange and black softball uniform of her transformed state. She strides forward lazily and heads toward the nearest group of Kindabads. "Hey weirdos! It's about time the real entertainment showed up!" Sachi then charges forward and attempts to grab ahold of the nearest Kindabad, spin around quickly in place, and then HURL her hopefully grabbed foe at his baddie buddies.
COMBAT: Sachiko Majime transforms into Puella Magi Sachiko! COMBAT: Sachiko Majime has used Bowling for Baddies on Honoka Yukishiro. COMBAT: Sachiko Majime has finished attacking. COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro narrowly braces Sachiko Majime's Bowling for Baddies, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Sachiko Majime is Psyched! Honoka Yukishiro's Block ability activates! Honoka Yukishiro's Parry ability activates!
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Kenzaki [None] has posed.
Princess An always had a fascination with Japanese Earth culture, to the point where she became an expert at karuta, a uniquely Japanese sport--and she's also always been a people person and someone who delights in lively gatherings. Makoto Kenzaki doesn't know for sure if the Princess might appear here at a festival, as maybe it might be *too* lively for royalty, but the fortune that girl gave her earlier gives her the emotional fortitude to try.
She has an hour of free time. Between jobs, she has D.V. drive her to this festival, and joins in on the fun (...so to speak) with face-obscuring shades and oversized floppy hat in place... as well, of course, as her Pretty Commune, tucked away in phone form in her purse. An is tall, so she should be easy to spot...
Unfortunately, Makoto never gets the chance to see her. Before anything like that can happen, there's a sudden giant monster in shades and a bandana, and buildings turn into candy castles, while people scream and run.
"Davi," she murmurs as she ducks away behind a building, pulling out her phone.
"Let's go, Makoto!" Davi agrees.
A minute later, Cure Sword leaps up from seemingly out of nowhere and lands on a rooftop near the candified spot and the young woman seemingly in charge of his chaos. She narrows her eyes at her... but so long as she's hanging back, the various monsters terrorizing the people need to be dealt with first.
"Terribad," she murmurs to herself, echoing its master, narrowing her eyes at the big one. She recognizes the name; she read the bulletin from the Tuners. She doesn't need any kind of monetary reward, but if the rumors she's heard about some wish-granting cards are true...
There's already another magical girl on the scene, though Sword doesn't recognize the Puella Magi. There's sure to be more soon. Since Sachiko is taking care of the smaller ones (or at least a group of them), Cure Sword aims for the mid-boss. She dashes forward, leaps up from the edge of the roof, and with a fierce shout, aims a powerful kick towards the Terribad's head.
COMBAT: Makoto Kenzaki transforms into Cure Sword! COMBAT: Cure Sword has used Melee Barrage on Honoka Yukishiro. COMBAT: Cure Sword has finished attacking. COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro perfectly dodges Cure Sword's Melee Barrage, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Dodge! Honoka Yukishiro's Fade ability activates! Honoka Yukishiro's Flash ability activates!
<Pose Tracker> Garnet [None] has posed.
Garnet catches one of of the rolling giant taiko drums and sets it on its side, then jumps after another and catches it as well. She's only one being though, and as fast as she is, and even with her Future Vision, that's all she can manage by herself. It looks like most of the people have gotten out of the way and are clearing out, and she takes the moment to observe the unfolding scene and she's... not sure what she is seeing exactly, even though she's seeing it for the second time. Scanning her future vision for threats revealed this location, and a brief glimpse of these events, but she was hoping the images of the Traditional District turning into various sweets would make more sense in context. Garnet still finds herself at a loss. The danger behind this visually benign display of power is unmistakable however, (she wouldn't be here just to bust up a free candy parade) and the strange woman's audible enjoyment of the despair of others is disturbing to say the least. It reminds her of an encounter she had with a maniacal young man who warped a parasol into a monster not unlike the drummer monster here. She wonders briefly if the two are related, and makes a note to think on it later. For now, the monsters can't be allowed to continue their assault, or their defamation of mirrored sunglasses. Her Gauntlets are already summoned, helping her grasp the barrels, but she takes a moment to brace herself and fires them off as rockets towards the Kindabads, in hopes of disrupting their foul work!
COMBAT: Garnet transforms into Garnet's Got Gauntlets! COMBAT: Garnet has used Rocket Gauntlets on Honoka Yukishiro. COMBAT: Garnet has finished attacking. COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro narrowly braces Garnet's Rocket Gauntlets, taking 3 Fatigue damage! Honoka Yukishiro is Quipped! Honoka Yukishiro's Block ability activates! Honoka Yukishiro's Parry ability activates!
<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Festivals are always a good time. The thrumming of the percussive chorus something 'buki watched from a distance, until their usual tune ended, leaving the girl applauding politely with a pleased smile.
"They work so well together." At the sound of delighted toddler giggling behind her she turned around, "How are you liking your Watame Chiff-" She placed a hand over her mouth, as she looked upon a pink cotton candy bearded ferret that looked none too pleased about his sudden growth of facial hair. "A little too much if you ask me." He says with a deadpan, as the toddler looked far too pleased with her mischief, holding the near empty stick of festival food, "Wa-ta-me!"
Turning around, the girl covered her mouth with both hands, barely suppressed peals of laughter muffled by her best efforts at keeping her mouth shut. The antics a momentary distraction, "Right... right, laugh it- whoa!" Not too far away a tree was transformed into Cotton Candy, "Did Chiffon do that!?" He stared right at her, wondering whether she'd gained a new power despite having this growing sense of unease that caused him to rub his paws nervously, "Feels a bit like home actually... but you can't just change the scenery up like that whenever you feel like it Chiffon!"
But Chiffon didn't look happy. If anything she looked upset, her face already twisting up like she was about to cry. Inori was already running to cover, having spotted the Taiko drum Terribad from nearly the start, "Tarte, I think it's the Phantom Empire! Take care of Chiffon!" "Oh now you tell me!"
Just around a corner and then a key is twisted, "Change! Pretty Cure - Beat Up!" A shimmer of pineapple fresh light, not long after heels clad by golden boots clop down upon a candy cane lamp post, fingers put together as a heart, "The yellow heart is the symbol of faith. Freshly harvested, Cure Pine!"
And with that, the Pretty Cure takes a short skip off the lamp post to kick the nearest Kindabad in the face. She then uses her other foot to press against it and propel herself off to the next, which receives similar treatment, as she tries to crowd surf the Kindabads one by one to get closer to the Terribad itself.
Pine isn't too familiar with the Puella Magi, so she kind of tries to keep away from her rampage amongst the Kindabads, instead calling out to Cure Sword between her kicks, "Cure Sword be careful! These Terribads can be pretty rough to deal with!" In the distance, a tiny ferret fist shakes its paw at the lady behind it all, "Hey! Sweets are happiness best shared with everyone you know!"
COMBAT: Inori Yamabuki transforms into Cure Pine! COMBAT: Cure Pine has used Pineapple Express on Honoka Yukishiro. COMBAT: Cure Pine has finished attacking. COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro narrowly braces Cure Pine's Pineapple Express, taking 10 Fatigue damage! Cure Pine is Psyched! Honoka Yukishiro's Block ability activates! Honoka Yukishiro's Parry ability activates!
<Pose Tracker> Iona Hikawa [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Iona Hikawa has been milling around the festival for quite some time, having set up a small purple fortune-tellers tent in the far side of the grounds. Of course, this meant that Iona had to hoof it across the grounds to get to the taiko drum competition. Not that she minded, the stalls were cute and full of neat games and good food. She'll just mill around for a little bit to get some air, then go back and tell more fortunes.
She does, admittedly, cast a sort of subtle, tired look back towards her tent, where a few scattered individuals were standing around her tent, in a sort of 'no we're really not here waiting for a fortune even though we are' way. Well, they can wait their turn. She'll get to them eventually.
She turns a corner on one of the makeshift paths, just in time to have direct sight of the taiko competition...
...And the creation of the Terribad, this time led by that pink-haired woman. Iona's smile turns into a grim frown, and the girl ducks behind a couple of stalls and pulls out her mirror.
Thus, where was once Iona Hikawa, now there was Cure Fortune. Fortune jumps out of the isle and dashes for the Kindabads! She punches, and kicks her way through the herd, attempting to get closer to, perhaps not the Terribad, but the one who controls it.
COMBAT: Iona Hikawa transforms into Cure Fortune! COMBAT: Cure Fortune has used Kindaclearin' Kindabads on Honoka Yukishiro. COMBAT: Cure Fortune has finished attacking. COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro fails to dodge Cure Fortune's Kindaclearin' Kindabads, taking 23 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!
<Pose Tracker> Honoka Yukishiro [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
The orange Puella Magi sends one of the Kindabads flying into the rest of a nearby clump, and they topple with all the spread and sound ("CHOIII!") of any rack of bowling pins. Another group advances, only to be taken out en masse by Garnet's rocket-propelled taiko drums, which smush but do not explode, probably thankfully (since surely those drums are precious to someone). Between the two of them, they succeed at clearing a wide path for the last of the normal people to escape the area.
Cure Pine and Cure Fortune each advance through the sea of Kindabads from two other angles -- the former surfing, the latter parting, to extend the metaphor a little further than is strictly necessary. Whether hanging-ten or commanding ten, though, the yellow and purple Pretty Cure find themselves near each other, with very few Kindabads remaining, after a few moments of fierce destruction.
First to the Terribad however, is another purple Pretty Cure, who lands a solid kick on its face, leaving a small bootmark on the white bandana. It roars its displeasure, reaching up with one drumstick to try to swat Cure Sword out of the air on the way to her landing. The other stick commences a thunderous roll on the main drum hanging in front of its gut -- sending concentric red rings of pure sonic hell out to assault the rest of the battlefield.
From her elevated tea table, Hosshiwa delicately nibbles the edge of a fancy, multi-hued cookie. With her spare hand, she gestures with her parasol (also pink, currently closed) at Cure Fortune. "Ohohoho! Pay too much attention to me, and you'll leave yourself open...!"
COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has used Not Terrible At Kicking Butt on Cure Sword. COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has used Gangcure Style on Sachiko Majime. COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has used Gangcure Style on Garnet. COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has used Gangcure Style on Cure Pine. COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has used Gangcure Style on Cure Fortune. COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has finished attacking. COMBAT: Cure Pine narrowly braces Honoka Yukishiro's Gangcure Style, taking 7 Fatigue damage! Cure Pine's Block ability activates! Cure Pine's Parry ability activates! COMBAT: Garnet fails to dodge Honoka Yukishiro's Gangcure Style, taking 37 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! COMBAT: Cure Fortune narrowly braces Honoka Yukishiro's Gangcure Style, taking 9 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Cure Sword narrowly braces Honoka Yukishiro's Not Terrible At Kicking Butt, taking 14 Fatigue damage! Cure Sword's Block ability activates! Cure Sword's Parry ability activates! Stun applied to Cure Sword! COMBAT: Sachiko Majime narrowly braces Honoka Yukishiro's Gangcure Style, taking 5 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!
<Pose Tracker> Sachiko Majime [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Doki-doki. Sachiko's heart beats faster and faster as her thrown Kindabad-shaped projectile makes a Kindabad-shaped dent in the approaching enemies. She was beginning to feel the rush, the exhilaration, the excitement that only comes in a battle such as this. If only playing softball elicited the same response in her anymore! But for now, it didn't matter for she had this. Buttkicking for more or less goodness!
Garnet's dual drum launch draws a side-look from Sachiko. "Not bad." She admits just as a red ring of deadly energy comes bursting her way. Crouching down and raising her arms up, the softball player anticipates the play and is able to stay on her feet despite the resounding blow. She begins to smirk towards the source of this attack, the Terribad. It was no use wasting her time on the small fries anymore. It was time for the main course! Sachiko sprints now into action towards the colossal foe!
As Sachiko draws closer, she begins to stretch out her right arm in a circular fashion. Sachi then dash forward so that she was directly in front of her oversized foe. "Yo big guy!" She points her right hand forward accusingly and then holds her left arm out to her side where an enormous axe materializes out of thing air and into her grasp. "Ready for your big fall? Hiiiiiiyah!" A smirking Sachiko confidently calls out as she steps in and swings her axe with all of her might at the inside of Terribad's left ankle.
COMBAT: Sachiko Majime has used Swing for the Fences on Honoka Yukishiro. COMBAT: Sachiko Majime has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Cure Sword [None] has posed.
As Sword expected, more magical girls arrive, including one who uses her own fists to knock away the taiko drums threatening the civilians. That's good; she'd anticipated that the Puella Magi would handle it, but the more the better when it comes to protecting civilians. If Sword knows that's being handled, then she can deal with this Terribad without worrying. This is cemented when two more Pretty Cure arrive to bowl through them. One of them, Sword even knows.
She narrows her eyes slightly at the warning against the Terribad. "Cure Pine..." she murmurs. Hmph; Pine can't possibly be so much more experienced with these types of monsters that she can give her advice like that.
Still, it does help. When she rebounds off her kick, leaving behind a bootheel imprint on the Terribad's face, she's at a bad angle to dodge the drumstick it swings her way. The warning lets Sword cross her arms defensively in front of her in time, which doesn't stop the Terribad from smacking her into the ground and smashing her into a booth, leaving naught but splinters in her wake, but does at least mitigate some of the pain it would have done had it been a direct hit. All the same, that landing leaves her a little woozy, and she staggers a step as she gets back to her feet.
"This isn't enough to stop me!" she calls nonetheless. Determination drives her forward into a sprint, and she sweeps her fingers across the face of her Lovely Commune, leaving behind a Cure Lovead. The surface sparkles with brilliant light, and Cure Sword sweeps her hand away. Magic coalesces in her palm, then bursts into the form of a long blade. Shouting defiance, she leaps up at the Terribad and swings the sword down for the very same drumstick it had used to attack her with the intent to cleave it in twain... or, if such is not possible, at least slice it up good so that it might snap later.
COMBAT: Cure Sword has used Bright Edge on Honoka Yukishiro. COMBAT: Cure Sword has finished attacking. COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro narrowly dodges Sachiko Majime's Swing for the Fences, taking 24 Fatigue damage! Honoka Yukishiro's Fade ability activates! Honoka Yukishiro's Flash ability activates! COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro narrowly braces Cure Sword's Bright Edge, taking 3 Fatigue damage! Cure Sword is Psyched! Honoka Yukishiro's Block ability activates! Honoka Yukishiro's Parry ability activates!
<Pose Tracker> Garnet [None] has posed.
Garnet looks satisfied at her routing of the Kindabads, but it's that moment of reflection that proves her downfall, literally, as a wave of sonic energy knocks her off of her feet. Not currently having any forearms throws her balance off completely, and she ends up "dodging" right into the brunt of the blast. "Augh!!!" Garnet screams and shudders in pain, her ears and balance wracked, and her body seems to glitch momentarily. She reforms her arms out of magical light, and struggles to her feet. Still grimacing from pain, she focuses, and leaps at the Terribad, intent on repaying his percussion in kind!
COMBAT: Garnet has used Leaping Smash! on Honoka Yukishiro. COMBAT: Garnet has finished attacking. COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro narrowly counters Garnet's Leaping Smash!, taking 13 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Honoka Yukishiro's Reverse ability activates! COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro's counterattack, Catch and Release, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Garnet!
<Pose Tracker> Cure Pine [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Pine isn't really surprised to see Cure Fortune here. After all, the Phantom Empire were her enemies. In a sense that was a great relief, knowing that there was someone here who was more knowledgeable about fighting them. "Thank goodness you made it Cure Fortune!"
Because as it stands, Cure Sword is right. She's not much more experienced. Her first encounter with a Terribad had just been a really rough fight.
Feeling the ripples in the air before the red rings even reach her. She clamps her hands down on her ears, just before she's battered right out of her flight.
It knocks her down into the midst of Kindabads, but she manages to clop down on chocolate pavement just in time to keep her footing. "Nngh."
Pressing forward with her hands clasped firmly against her ears, she slides beneath the legs of a groping Kindabad just before taking her hands away from her ears, she presses both hands to the ground for some lift, and uses that to send her in a rising kick that sends both feet flying against the Terribad's dark body.
She's a bit late, it comes just after Sachiko's axe sweeps in low, and Cure Sword's energy blade cuts high at the drum stuck. "You're so sure of yourselves." Pine comments, with perhaps a small amount of admiration creeping into the statement
COMBAT: Cure Pine has used Pretty Cure Kick on Honoka Yukishiro. COMBAT: Cure Pine has finished attacking. COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro narrowly braces Cure Pine's Pretty Cure Kick, taking 3 Fatigue damage! Cure Pine is Psyched! Honoka Yukishiro's Block ability activates! Honoka Yukishiro's Parry ability activates!
<Pose Tracker> Cure Fortune [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Fortune continues to punch and kick her way through the remaining Kindabads. She looks over to the Terribad to keep its location fresh when it applies stick to drum. She manages to raise her arms and brace herself for the red ring. Though it washes over her regardless, she manages to shield herself from the worst effects.
It's at this point that Hosshiwa starts to taunt her, bringing Fortune to look back up at the reclining woman. Fortune clenches her teeth. She stops and looks at Hosshiwa, and considers jumping at her instead. But, Fortune turns away and instead heads for the Terribad. Her ribbon morphs, enlarges, and the Cure takes flight, a fist aiming directly at its main drum.
Cure Fortune, when Cure Pine talks to her, looks back to the latter Cure...
...but she turns back towards the fight without a word.
COMBAT: Cure Fortune has used Punching For The Doldrums on Honoka Yukishiro. COMBAT: Cure Fortune has finished attacking. COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro perfectly dodges Cure Fortune's Punching For The Doldrums, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Dodge! Honoka Yukishiro's Fade ability activates! Honoka Yukishiro's Flash ability activates!
<Pose Tracker> Honoka Yukishiro [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
The last of the Kindabads seem to be dispatched almost as an afterthought; Sachiko gets one on the backswing, after the Terribad moves its leg out of the way in the nick of time, Cure Pine tips one over on her way past, then discovers that this puffed-out chested Terribad can simply force her feet back off of its torso by rapidly inhaling and expanding. Cure Sword chops some splinters out of the Terribad's massive drumstick, and as they fall they impale another Kindabad.
Garnet comes in swinging and winds up catching the Terribad's full attention -- it falls back against the first few pounding blows, then intercepts with a hand, tossing the Gem harmlessly back and away from it. One might think this would leave it too busy to notice Cure Fortune soaring in fist-first, but...
"Ohohohoho!!" Hosshiwa doesn't bother getting up, but she points that parasol at the Pretty Cure's retreating back and zaps several laser blasts out of it. These give the Terribad the warning it needs to leap bodily out of the way...
...landing, huge feet first, one headed towards Cure Pine, the other threatening to crush Cure Sword. With a bada-bum-bum-badang, it strikes out with its stronger drumstick towards Sachiko in what could almost be called a fencing engagement, feinting left, driving right. Garnet, a little at range, gets to enjoy the beat from one of those accursed drums again -- this time the one on its right shoulder.
COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has used It Came From... Behind on Cure Fortune. COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has used Up, Up And Away on Cure Sword. COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has used Up, Up And Away on Cure Pine. COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has used Gangcure Style on Garnet. COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has used Terribadass Assault on Sachiko Majime. COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has finished attacking. COMBAT: Cure Pine narrowly braces Honoka Yukishiro's Up, Up And Away, taking 13 Fatigue damage! Honoka Yukishiro is Psyched! Cure Pine's Block ability activates! Cure Pine's Parry ability activates! Stagger applied to Cure Pine! COMBAT: Garnet narrowly braces Honoka Yukishiro's Gangcure Style, taking 12 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Cure Sword perfectly counters Honoka Yukishiro's Up, Up And Away, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter! Cure Sword's Reverse ability activates! Cure Sword's Tactician ability activates! COMBAT: Cure Sword's counterattack, Bright Spade, bursts all the way through, doing 11 Fatigue damage to Honoka Yukishiro! COMBAT: Cure Fortune narrowly dodges Honoka Yukishiro's It Came From... Behind, taking 14 Fatigue damage! Cure Fortune's Fade ability activates! Cure Fortune's Flash ability activates! Stagger applied to Cure Fortune! COMBAT: Sachiko Majime narrowly counters Honoka Yukishiro's Terribadass Assault, taking 11 Fatigue damage! Sachiko Majime's Reverse ability activates! COMBAT: Sachiko Majime's counterattack, And My Axe!, partially gets through, doing 25 Fatigue damage to Honoka Yukishiro!
<Pose Tracker> Garnet [None] has posed.
Garnet was taken aback by the first blast, but is ready for the second one, bracing against it. She grimaces in pain as the wave flows through her, but it's not as intense as before, and she's still standing. She takes a moment to take stock of the Cures and the Puella around her, and nods at each of them in approval, the different colored lights of their magic reflecting off of her shades. They don't seem to have suffered any particularly grievous wounds so far, so Garnet presses on with her attack on the Terribad, rushing towards it and punching it over and over in a blur of pummeling strikes, the light gleaming off of her rapidly moving gauntlets, giving the blows trails of sparkling illumination not unlike that of a glittering gemstone.
COMBAT: Garnet has used Adamantine Barrage on Honoka Yukishiro. COMBAT: Garnet has finished attacking. COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro narrowly braces Garnet's Adamantine Barrage, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Honoka Yukishiro's Block ability activates! Honoka Yukishiro's Parry ability activates! Stagger applied to Honoka Yukishiro!
<Pose Tracker> Sachiko Majime [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Sachiko Majime is unsure if she's ever fought alongside these Pretty Cure before. That one yellow one seemed familiar, but she was unsure. Yellow was a bad color in her book thanks to Mami Tomoe. She does send a distracted glare up at first her and the other Cures. Well it looks like her and Garnet had some considerable reinforcements against the Terribad and the Notquitesobads. She stays squared off with her much larger foe and keeps a white knuckled grip on her battle-axe. This Puella Magi was not about to back down so easily!
A huge drum stick feints left and Sachi is able to se enough of the redirected strike to reposition herself to face the new direction of her foe's attack. She grits her teeth together as she skips forward, turns low, and brings her axe up high in a massive swing to meet her opponent's attack mid-air. The sheer force of axe colliding with drum sticks causes the ground beneath Sachiko to beging to shatter, dropping the Puella Magi down a half-foot or so. But the young softball star holds her ground against the much larger foe. This wasn't enough! She had to push herself more to see what her limits truely were. Sachiko's smirk turns slightly more fearsome as she continues to size up her foe. The battle was beginning to get quite interesting!
"They expect me to wait my turn like a good girl. Toe the line. Be a scavenger and wait for scraps." The orange and black Puella Magi begins excitedly as she waits for her opening. "You know what I say to that?" Sachiko takes her axe and begins spinning it around and around in what looks to be a big windup. She huffs and she puffs from the simple exertion from this continued action. "-Never-. Sachiko Majime walks her own path and this day....my path leads straight through you!" Sachi then takes a big step forward and pitches her axe towards Terribad, a fastball straight down the plate.
COMBAT: Sachiko Majime has used Fastball Special on Honoka Yukishiro. COMBAT: Sachiko Majime has finished attacking. COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro perfectly dodges Sachiko Majime's Fastball Special, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Critical Dodge! Honoka Yukishiro's Fade ability activates! Honoka Yukishiro's Flash ability activates!
<Pose Tracker> Cure Fortune [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Fortune is about to punch the drum... when she gets shot at from behind! Lasers whiz past Fortune's body, and a number of them impact her back. She immediately veers away from the Terribad, and zips left and right to avoid the remaining shots. She glares daggers at the pink lady. Does she /want/ to get punched in the face? She looks at Hosshiwa, then to the Terribad, then back to Hosshiwa.
Coming to a decision, she flies towards the Phantom Empire general, spinning the multicolored dial on her PreBrace, creating five purple stars of light. "Fortune..." She raises her arms over her head. The stars of light turn into rings of light. "Staaar..." She suddenly stops! Turning directly behind her, she sends the rings not towards Hosshiwa, but instead towards her Terribad creation. "Ring!"
COMBAT: Cure Fortune has used Fortune Star Ring on Honoka Yukishiro. COMBAT: Cure Fortune has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Cure Pine [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
The look Fortune gives her... well suddenly she feels embarrassed for saying anything at all. Especially when Sachiko adds another glare that looks downright unnerving. Any sense of relief or delight falls away into a deep void of insecurity within herself.
"Huh? What!?" She calls out as the Terribad leaps, and as it comes back down with a giant foot ready to crush her. Cure Pine is suddenly indecisive about which way to run. She jukes one way then another in a nerve-wracking, sweet-inducing panic but really it looks like she can't figure out which way she needs to run to evade it. By the time she figures it out, it's too late. It's shadow looms too large for her to do anything more than to dig her feet into what feels peppermint and raise up her arms, palms high.
It lands on her hands with enormous force, driving her legs deep enough to crack the swirly red footing, but she despite her limbs bending from the strain of its weight, she manages to keep herself from being crushed, seconds before she lets go and rolls backwards just as the foot slams down where she last stood showering her in pieces of cracked candy.
Despite her arms feeling like gelatin, she barely misses a beat, as she rolls upright, she takes a hop step to the left before she leaps upwards, and twists at the hip to attempt to drive a haymaker right about where she approximates the Colossal monster's stomach would be if it were human.
COMBAT: Cure Pine has used Pineapple Punch on Honoka Yukishiro. COMBAT: Cure Pine has finished attacking. COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro fails to brace Cure Fortune's Fortune Star Ring, taking 21 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Tangle and Trap applied to Honoka Yukishiro! COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro narrowly dodges Cure Pine's Pineapple Punch, taking 14 Fatigue damage! Honoka Yukishiro's Fade ability activates! Honoka Yukishiro's Flash ability activates! Exhausted and Stagger applied to Honoka Yukishiro!
<Pose Tracker> Cure Sword [None] has posed.
Poor Cure Pine. She just wants to be friendly and have her friends around. Instead, she has... present company, Cure Sword included. Sword at least listened to her? A little? Not that she gave any outward indication of that?? Pine can't be feeling too good about that. A shame Sword isn't really thinking about that, or her, right now. She doesn't... *dislike* Pine per se, as a person, but... well, it's complicated, and Sword prefers to keep it professional anyway.
That large foot comes down towards Cure Sword, and in retaliation, she hurls her magical sword towards it, which breaks apart into multiple magical daggers. They land true, giving Sword the space she needs to leap out of the way just in time. She snaps a glance towards Hosshiwa, who seems to be concentrating her malice on Cure Fortune. She leaps back, then upwards, and swipes her hand again across her Lovely Commune.
"Radiaaaant..." she calls, sweeping her hand up and then down towards the Terribad. Lavender light glitters and sparkles around her, then shoots down in the form of multiple magical daggers, stronger than the ones she'd hurled at the Terribad earlier. "Spade!!" she concludes, finishing the attack. The sooner this ends, the better. Just a little more, and...!
COMBAT: Cure Sword has used Radiant Spade on Honoka Yukishiro. COMBAT: Cure Sword has finished attacking. COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro narrowly braces Cure Sword's Radiant Spade, taking 12 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Honoka Yukishiro is Quipped! Honoka Yukishiro's Block ability activates! Honoka Yukishiro's Parry ability activates! Trap applied to Honoka Yukishiro!
<Pose Tracker> Honoka Yukishiro [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
All around the battle, the sickeningly sweet candyland is spreading further and further away in all directions. It carpets the concrete with green licorice grass. Some of the clouds in the sky are replaced with spun sugar. Even the sunlight tastes a bit lemony on the skin, now.
Hosshiwa exchanges a look with Cure Sword, chuckling as she sits back with her tea. When Fortune threatens her directly, she pops the parasol open at the last minute, expecting to deflect -- and growls with frustration as the rings settle around the Terribad's shoulders instead, leaving it unable to defend itself properly. Garnet's endless punches thud into its side, while all it can do is shift its weight away from Cure Pine's haymaker, so that she winds up punching the big central drum instead of the stomach.
This makes a huge noise, one that materializes in a burst of red sonic light. Like a beautifully swung bat, it intercepts Sachiko's mightily thrown axe, and sends it flying directly back at her in a beautiful and deadly line drive! Smaller red energy streamers peel away from the blast to torture the ears of the Pretty Cure. Finally, wriggling unhappily inside Fortune's rings, it tries to hip-check Garnet away from it, that that barrage may cease -- in the same moment that Cure Sword's lovely daggers thud into its other side with brilliant bursts of light.
"TER-RI-BAAAD!" it objects, loudly.
COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has used Line Drive on Sachiko Majime. COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has used Gangcure Style on Cure Sword. COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has used Gangcure Style on Cure Fortune. COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has used Gangcure Style on Cure Pine. COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has used Not Terrible At Kicking Butt on Garnet. COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has finished attacking. COMBAT: Cure Pine fails to dodge Honoka Yukishiro's Gangcure Style, taking 35 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! COMBAT: Garnet fails to dodge Honoka Yukishiro's Not Terrible At Kicking Butt, taking 28 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Stun applied to Garnet! COMBAT: Cure Fortune fails to dodge Honoka Yukishiro's Gangcure Style, taking 25 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Cure Sword fails to brace Honoka Yukishiro's Gangcure Style, taking 38 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! COMBAT: Sachiko Majime narrowly dodges Honoka Yukishiro's Line Drive, taking 35 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Sachiko Majime's Fade ability activates! Sachiko Majime's Flash ability activates!
<Pose Tracker> Sachiko Majime [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
The forward momentum from Sachiko's throw is so great that she topples over from the action. From the ground, the exhausted pitcher watches eagerly for the result of her thrown pitch. But much to Sachiko's horror, the Terribad smashes her axe back towards her. "No!" Sachiko screams as she gets up and throws herself out of the way of the incoming axe. She barely is able to get out of the way in time in what could have cut the poor Puella Magi into two halves. "No, no, no, no!" She eloquently elaborates as she stalks off after where her axe landed.
All around the orange clad Puella Magi, the landscape has turned into a wondrous candyland which only serves to enrage the girl even further. She kicks a newly formed lollipop tree in passing before smashing her first through a gingerbread house that once was a business stand. That last thrown punch causes Sachiko's fist to get stuck in the aforementioned gingerbread house. She places a heeled foot against the side of it and frees herself with a loud OOMPH that causes Sachiko to fall back onto her rump. "None of this was supposed to happen! No one is supposed to be able to hit my fastball and....and..." She gets back up onto her feet and reclaims her axe. She silently stares at her misthrown weapon before throwing it into the gingerbread house that had just nearly trapped her, utterly demolishing what was left of it.
".....I'm still far too weak." finishes the drained softball pitcher softly as the murky orange gem in the center of her uniform becomes slightly more burnt orange in appearance.
<Pose Tracker> Garnet [None] has posed.
If Garnet needed to breathe, the breath would be knocked out of her, as her agility fails her for the second time in this battle, and she is hip-checked but good. She reels off, and crashes into some surprisingly solid candy debris. Right before the impact, she manages to fire a large electric orb at the Terribad, only able to hope it strikes true as her impact both stuns her and buries her under the resulting debris. She's going to need a minute.
COMBAT: Garnet has used Adamantine Spark on Honoka Yukishiro. COMBAT: Garnet has finished attacking. COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro fails to brace Garnet's Adamantine Spark, taking 17 Fatigue damage!
<Pose Tracker> Cure Fortune [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Fortune smiles, just a little bit, when the rings land true and binds the Terribad up, letting the rest of the good team beat up on it. Then one of them hits the drum, and the same red sonic sound comes out of the drum, to Fortune's surprise! She's caught off guard, and the tones of the drum rattles her entire body, and the Pretty Cure falls to the ground.
Cure Fortune climbs her way back up to her feet slowly, teeth clenched. Stopping a brief moment to gather herself, she charges again at the Terribad, just giving it a quick, swift punch. This time, /away/ from the giant drum.
COMBAT: Cure Fortune has used Fortunate Punch on Honoka Yukishiro. COMBAT: Cure Fortune has finished attacking. COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro narrowly braces Cure Fortune's Fortunate Punch, taking 8 Fatigue damage! Honoka Yukishiro's Block ability activates! Honoka Yukishiro's Parry ability activates!
<Pose Tracker> Cure Pine [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
This time, when the sonic rings move towards her she can't exactly get out of the way in time. She tries, but the leap doesn't quite take her far enough before she's hit head on. Her world descends into blurring vertigo and tinnitus that makes it hard to even understand what's happening as she's sent backwards, crashing into a chocolate bar that's jutting out of the landscape.
Getting back to her feet is tough, everything is blurring together like some surrealist painting that makes evey step a wobbly challenge. But after a moment she feels a nudge against her shoulder. Turning her head, she sees a cheerful face that looks like something straight out of art class until all the features line up and... "Oh, Kirun. This is getting a little out of hand." She murmurs how she feels a bit miserably. The little yellow Pickrun makes a worried noise, "Kiii?" "I think I'll be alright. Are you ready?"
She responds with more cheer this time, as she descends into the top of her Linkrun, where she turns. Pine holds it up, and runs a finger across the pad. Out of the air, a flute appears in a sparkling shower of radiance as it descends like a baton into her outstretched hand, when she catches it, she spins it around once. "Heal, harmony of faith! Cure stick, Pine Flute!"
Running her fingers across prismatic keys, concentric circles of joyful sound and light appear as she plays them. Whirling it from side to side like it's instead a wand, she even adds a little hop at the end as she cries out, "Nasty things, Nasty things, fly away!" Upon landing, she draws a golden diamond. It touches the senses lightly, with the scent of a freshly cut Okinawan pineapple, or the feeling of fulfillment that one gets from successfully doing something hard for the first time. "Precure Healing Prayer-"
Drawing her arm back, she then thrusts the flute forward, "-FRESH!" The diamond launches forward riotously, trailing streamers of blazing luminescence. And if it strikes, it collapses into a huge heart. Then many hearts, that orbit around the Terribad like electrons around an inner atom with the power of inner belief backing it.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Cure Pine has used Precure Healing Prayer Fresh! on Honoka Yukishiro. COMBAT: Cure Pine has finished attacking. COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro narrowly braces Cure Pine's Finisher, Precure Healing Prayer Fresh!, taking 104 Fatigue damage! Honoka Yukishiro's Block ability activates! Honoka Yukishiro's Parry ability activates!
<Pose Tracker> Cure Sword [None] has posed.
Tch! These evil generals, always so smug...! Though the look Sword shares with Hosshiwa only lasts an instant, it still rubs her the wrong way how utterly confdient and uncaring she is. This sugarland is spreading further and further, and she's *happy* about the unhappiness she's spreading. But then, they're all like that, aren't they? That's why Cure Sword needs to defeat this enemy!
That being said, it won't be easy. Cure Sword hasn't been hit by the Terribad's sonic drum attack before now, so she's unprepared for how *discordant* it is, how LOUD. The waves of sound hit her dead-on, and she yelps in pain, clapping her hands over her ears. This leaves her wide open, and she crumples to the ground in a heap.
"A-are you all right?! Hang in there, Cure Sword!!" Davi yelps, her own ears curling in on themselves.
"I-I'm fine...! I won't... lose to... something like this!!" Sword gasps. She staggers to her feet, then sets a Cure Lovead into her Commune--the strongest one she has. This enemy might be strong, but that just means she'll have to give it her all. She sucks in a deep breath, then leaps into the air. "Flash!" she calls, swiping her arm up and down again. Her hand glows with sacred light, then sparkles away and into the air. "HOLY SWOOOOOORD!!" A hailstorm of magical shortswords--no, a torrential downpour--sweeps in the direction that she gestures, and the million points of light hurtle dangerously towards the Terribad.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Cure Sword has used Flash! Holy Sword on Honoka Yukishiro. COMBAT: Cure Sword has finished attacking. COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro fails to brace Cure Sword's Finisher, Flash! Holy Sword, taking 146 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Honoka Yukishiro is unable to keep fighting! COMBAT: Sachiko Majime has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Cure Sword [None] has posed.
"See that you do," Cure Sword declares coldly to Hosshiwa just before she disappears. She flips her ponytail back and turns... but then Davi vibrates in her Commune form, and Sword brings her out just in time for the cat fairy to give a hearty sneeze. Sword, startled, drops her--but fortunately for both of them, Davi can still float even while in phone form. Between them float a pair of cards with a sword sigil on front, and Sword takes them in hand, eyes wide with wonder. She hears what Davi says--about the rumored cards that grant wishes. And when Davi looks her way, Sword meets her hopeful gaze with hope enough of her own.
"If it's really true, then...!" she utters, holding the cards a little tighter. It doesn't occur to her that anyone might want to contest or take the cards from her. After all, she defeated the Terribad, and her fairy sneezed (?!??) them out; they're her spoils. However, these PreCards represent something too valuable to take lightly. If she can collect enough, not just finding Princess An but restoring all of the Trump Kingdom could be within their grasp!
Her expression sets with determination, and she moves to put them away in her hip pouch--though someone could still interrupt if they were so inclined.
<Pose Tracker> Sachiko Majime [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Sachiko pauses momentarily in her rampage through the transformed candyland when she is addressed by Hosshiwa. The Puella Magi halts in her movement and slowly turns just her head towards the baddie general. "What did you say?!" She demands as she turns now fully, her axe forming back into her hand. Sachiko may not understand directly what Hosshiwa was saying, but she could easily leap to conclusions over the subtext. The young blonde looks ready to start another wind-up when a bunch of shouting and a lightshow draws her attention back towards the fight at hand.
Oh right. They were fighting a 30 foot monster.....that now was being destroyed by the others. She missed the end up the fight?! Sachiko had messed up. Even worse, she felt like she was benched. "No..way."
The Puella Magi tosses her axe away carelessly which causes it to dematerialize into nothing. She then haughtily crosses her arms against herself. "You can take your wish and shove it...."An exhausted and humiliated Sachiko clicks her tongue against the roof of her mouth again and begins to stalk off..
Simply put, she didn't want anything more to do with wishes.
<Pose Tracker> Garnet [None] has posed.
Garnet tosses the last of the rubble off of herself, and looks over to the monster, intent on unleashing her power upon it, only to find it already gone. She lets her rage, and power subside, and dismisses her gauntlets. She watches the Cures and their interaction with the card, she closes her eyes and focuses on its Future, and so knows it for what it is and what it possibly can do, but doesn't seek to claim it for herself. It could be better used by others, and frankly, having them around the Temple creates the potential there might be accidentally used by Steven, for something like Fry Bits... Well... hopefully something so benign... or Pearl, or Amethyst. And the chaos they might each cause she can only imagine. Garnet collects herself but still stands at a distance.
COMBAT: Garnet transforms into Garnet!
<Pose Tracker> Cure Fortune [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Cure Fortune watches as the Terribad disappears under the concentrated fire of punches, love and justice. There's a brief sigh of relief as she checks around for any rogue Kindabads. Finding no more, she finally relaxes.
She turns away for a moment as Glassan floats up to her. "Great job, Cure Fortune!"
Fortune opens her mouth to say something, but she's suddenly interrupted by the sound of... sneezing? She looks to Glassan to see what the fairy is sensing... only for Glassan to look back at her with a similar look of surprise! The two slowly look over at the sound... and see another fairy sneezing out the PreCards. Fortune turns to Glassan again, eyes wide. "I... didn't know that could happen to others. Are you sure you don't sense anything?"
"No, I don't sense any power."
Fortune turns back to the rest of the group and walks up to Sword and the sneezy fairy. "How did you get those?" She asks the other loner Cure directly.
As for Sachiko, her wish shoving desire causes Fortune to look at her as she's walking away, but Fortune turns back to Sword in no time at all. Does she not have something she wishes for?
<Pose Tracker> Cure Pine [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
The relief from her is palpable, more than just the exhalation of breath from being glad that the hard fight. "Thank goodness that's over with." Pine says, mostly to herself, as the landscape changes back and Hosshiwa vanishes, giving Fortune and Sword what she thinks is one last look.
She then turns as if she's about to go back over to Tarte and Chiffon when... 'chuu~' She remembers the fairy as Davi, from a time on rooftops, and pauses to listen to them talk.
At first she really doesn't process just the great import of what they're talking about, but then her gold eyes go wide and she asks suddenly, "Any wish at all?" She'd spoken before she'd really thought it through, insecurities making her think she'd instantly overstepped. Wincing especially when the Puella Magi throws her remark in about shoving it.
Even so... she looks pensive, as if she's considering something, in particular what she would want if she had any wish in the world. "... I wonder." Her mind keeps coming up with one thing she'd wish on, though she doesn't really say what she wants aloud. She seems unlike to contend Cure Sword possessing it at least.
But before she knows it, Fortune is approaching Sword and she does say something now, "Ah - well last time you defeated it. Maybe its drawn to the fairy of the one who scores the final blow?" She tries to work out the logic of this.
<Pose Tracker> Cure Sword [None] has posed.
Cure Sword has not, to her knowledge, spoken with Cure Fortune directly before. Garnet opts to simply watch and wait, and Sachiko washes her hands of the whole affair, so while Sword glances their way, she's content to leave them be. Fortune, on the other hand... Sword frowns up at her. How? That's a good question.
"By defeating the Terribad, I suppose," she replies. It's a logical connection; hers was the finishing blow, and the moment after the Terribad and Hosshiwa disappeared, taking the sugary scenery and the last of the Kindabads with them if any were left, Davi sneezed out the PreCards. Beyond that... it's as much of a surprise to them as it is to Fortune and Glassan.
Cure Pine enters the conversation, and postulates the same that Sword just had. She eyes Pine in particular, given how she latches onto the idea of any wish at all, but... well, even if Sword doesn't care for other Precures, they're still all soldiers of justice. Pine wouldn't do anything underhanded, and she doesn't seem likely to try to demand anything, either. "The Phantom Empire--were you awakened to fight them?" Sword continues, returning her attention to Fortune.
<Pose Tracker> Garnet [None] has posed.
Garnet remembers Steven is probably home alone, and as much as she would like to learn more about this, she should get back to him. Everyone's attention is rightfully focused on the phenomenon of the card, and she feels that's something they should work out without her input. She turns around and starts walking home, They'll meet again someday soon, and she'll ask her questions then.
<Pose Tracker> Cure Fortune [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Cure Fortune doesn't attempt to try and take the cards. The fact that they look different to hers is part of the reason why, also the fact that both of them did just fight a Terribad, and neither Fortune nor Sword (or Pine) is at their best. Plus, as upset as this development makes her, she's not too keen on fighting another person like her anyway. She looks to Pine as she makes the connection, and ditto Sword when she does. She herself turns to leave like Garnet or Sachiko, but stops as Sword asks her a question about her past. She doesn't move for a few moments, but turns again to look at the other Cures. "No."
Memories, fresher than she would like, flood Fortune's mind, of a young girl following her sister as she went out into the night, and of a young girl watching her sister lose to the forces of evil. The pain in those memories are easily reflected in Fortune's face. She looks directly at Sword. "No, I was not awakened to fight them."
<Pose Tracker> Cure Pine [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Pine just nods hesitantly at Sword's similar conclusion. When Sword asks that question of Fortune, she honestly expects the answer to be 'yes'. After all, she was awakened with the purpose of fighting Labyrinth. Fortune had spoken on the Phantom Empire and how they came to be...
Oh.
The pain in Fortune's eyes is unmistakable even from Pine looking at her from the side. And while she hasn't quite figured it all out yet...
... she has a feeling that the cause of that pain is a certain Princess that Fortune spoke about. The one that caused the fall of the Blue Sky Kingdom.
Her own eyes drop to the ground, as she clasps her palms together and considers, before finally saying extremely softly, "It must have been really hard... harder than I can imagine... everything you went through." She doesn't really know what else to say, and she's not feeling good enough about herself to inquire more.
<Pose Tracker> Cure Sword [None] has posed.
"..." Sword sets both the cards and her Lovely Commune in her hip pouch. With the PreCards and her Precure partner safe, she can take a good look at Fortune and how she stares back at her with pain in her face. She wasn't awakened to fight the Phantom Empire...? It seems like there's a story there... She could just mean that she is a Precure who opposes some other Dark Fall foe, but...
Well, it's none of her business, anyway. Although Pine seems to know about some of it. Sword glances her way. It doesn't sound like it's something as simple as it could be, but that doesn't change that it's not her place to pry. She looks back to Fortune.
"I see," she replies. And... that's it. Cure Sword turns and begins to walk away. It's apparently a painful topic, so she's not going to pry for information that won't do her any good and is only going to hurt the person being asked.
Of course, on the surface, she probably seems like she just doesn't care.
<Pose Tracker> Cure Fortune [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Cure Fortune looks at Pine for a few moments. She doesn't reply to Pine's comments, but her face softens, just a little bit. A part of her cares that Pine cares, but the rest of Cure Fortune doesn't. It's not really her concern, thinks Fortune, and she's not exactly keen to offer additional information. When Cure Sword starts to walk away, her face hardens again as she also watches the salvation of her sister walk away as well. Maybe? If she had all the ones but those sword ones required, she's not sure if they'll work for her! But what does bother Fortune is Sword's posture as the latter is walking away. She doesn't seem like she cares. A little 'hmph' escapes from Fortune as she likewise turns away from Pine and Sword, and starts to walk away as well (though if Pine does say something she'll stop).
If what it takes to get these cards is to beat the enemy herself, well, she doesn't /need/ anyone else to fight for.
