2013-10-05 - Unknown Enemy II

Unknown Enemy II
Summary: Ohtori Gets A Visitor After School, One Who Wants Something More...
Who: Eri Shimanouchi, Sakura Kinomoto, Syaoran Li, Miki Kaoru, Daichi Daigo, Fate Testarossa, Hisae Misumi, Aimi Saionji, Junko Ishiki, Homura Akemi, Alexandra Noblesse, Kumi Chou, Anthy Himemiya, And Pink Moon Stick as a mysterious silver orb who temporarily took the form of 'The Smelly Rose Witch'!
Where: Ohtori Academy
OOC - IC Date: 10/5/2013 - 9/29/2013

Pink Moon Stick [A] has posed:

It is a brisk fall day on Southern Cross island; tiny, crisp maple leaves are buoyed by the sea breeze, partaking in brief, delicate dances on their path from treebranch to the cobblestone paths. Sunday, the one day fully off of the school week, means that Ohtori Academy is relatively deserted, but there are still students and visitors here and there, mostly participating in club (or secret society, ahem) activities. There have even been several Sister Schools events; in preparation for the upcoming Sports Festival at Juuban, Ohtori has (perhaps somewhat presumptuously) unrolled a bunch of its old but devastatingly high quality sports equipment for a mass cleaning-and-lending operation.

When It comes, It is as sudden as It is unexpected.

Many fluffy white clouds have passed over the sun for a few moments today, but in the span of a single heartbeat, the light grows dark, eclipsed by a perfectly round sillhouette. Shadows grow long, then soft, then vanish entirely.

And then the shadow descends at terrible velocity from heaven to Earth, dragging clouds with it, ultimately plowing into the shining green front lawn of the Academy with a cratering crash.

The dust begins to clear, revealing glinting silver behind it. A... sphere? A floating sphere? Its surface swirls with motion, without ever disrupting the perfection of the color; a moderately nauseating sight.

"Moooooore..." It groans, its voice too resonant to ever be mistaken for a zombie. It is an inhumanly deep, bone-penetrating baritone, vaguely male but not fully resolved, as though coming through an organic rather than electronic distorting synthesizer. "Moooooore!"

The nearest student, the exceedingly unfortunate Onion Prince of Ohtori, collapses on the spot, presumably not from fear but from the energy rising out of his body. It's difficult to see, behind all that dust, exactly what happened, but the Mystery Pinball is surely behind it.

Eri Shimanouchi [?] has posed:

Eri Shimanouchi should be practicing for the Sports Festival, after all she was a member of the Swim Team, but instead she's taking advantage of this brisk fall day to spread peat moss in her garden plot. She had on a rather humble looking straw hat to shield herself from the heat of the sun, even if it was mitigated somewhat by the sea breeze. Taking the time to till some of the clay like top soil at part of the plot, she methodically spreads it out from the bucket she was keeping it, even as sweat beads on her brow, to which she brings up her arm to rub across it.

Looking up, she found the time to smile at the carefully tended grounds of the Ohtori Academy, until long shadows cause the sun to vanish. Then there's a niggling feeling on the nape of her neck, which gives her pause, and causes her to take a second look.

Which is then that she sees the looming shadow. Taking the time to analyze the situation, she sees the arrival of the sphere, which gives her cause to frown. She doesn't complain though, she simply takes a look around, before ducking into the gardening club's shed. Which is when she plays at the ring around her finger, concentrating on willing it to its normal size. Once in her palm, she invokes it. There's nothing all that stylish about her transformation, no playfulness about it for her. This was her job, and she was new to this. She had no idea what the expectations were on how she was supposed to act. She simply changes, from her toes up to the crown of her head, in a slowly travelling line of green energy, the soul gem coming to a rest within one of the hair ribbons.

And then she runs. Every so often bounding across one of the hedges until she comes upon where the sphere made its landfall. The voice gives her pause, and she tries to spend some time analyzing the situation before charging in...which she does with careful observation of the sphere until the Onion Prince collapses, with waves of energy wafting off of him. She hesitates for a moment, wondering if she will be caught up in the same effect, but then deciding that she is likely better equipped to ward it off. Which then has her moving in, in order to attempt to move him out of the way, to safety. She would charge over, attempting to scoop him up with the enhanced strength she's barely used to, holding him under one arm, before continuing to move him away to safety.

<<COMBAT>> Eri Shimanouchi transforms into Puella Magi Eri!

<<COMBAT>> Eri Shimanouchi performs an analysis on Pink Moon Stick!

<<COMBAT>> Eri Shimanouchi has finished attacking.

Sakura Kinomoto [?] has posed:

Sakura was here to help participate in the cleaning of equipment for Juuban's Sports Festival, washing down and polishing without complaint. After all, it's for fun later, right? At least, Sakura thinks so. But then she enjoys physical activity in a way that a lot of others don't. She's in the middle of a happy little reverie, polishing bars until they gleam, when she hears the horrible voice. "Hoe?!?" She looks around for a moment before spotting the source. "Is that a Clow Card?" she asks herself. After all, she's only seen two so far. But no, it doesn't feel right.

Card or no, it doesn't look friendly at all and so Sakura runs off and looks for a convenient spot behind some bushes to make ready with the Sealing Rod. "Key which hides the powers of the dark, show your true form before me! I, Sakura command you under our contract! RELEASE!" Lights sparkle and a sound not unlike many small bells can be heard as the rod goes from being a tiny think she keeps strapped to her cell phone to the symbol of her authority as the Mistress of the Cards.

Speaking of cards, she tosses one into the air and taps it with the head of the rod. "FLY!" And now she comes back, seated astride the rod like it were a witch's broomstick. What is that thing? Something mean, no doubt: whatever it's doing certainly doesn't look friendly. She holds up a second card in her right hand. "Wind! Form a binding chain!" The card flashes in her hand and a gust of swirling wind comes into being, trying to pull the sphere away from students.

<<COMBAT>> Sakura Kinomoto transforms into Cardcaptor Sakura!

<<COMBAT>> Sakura Kinomoto has used Clever Distraction on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Sakura Kinomoto has finished attacking.

Syaoran Li [?] has posed:

Syaoran Li is so often at Ohtori these days, maintaining and building ties between the Magic Association and the Academy's Guardians, that he almost feels like he should register. The familiarity has come with a price, however, as at least one person (that Anthy something-or-other) knows his name. She may also have an idea with respect to his identity, as the impromptu "Seifuku Kamen" disguise he adopted was not exactly foolproof.

God, such a stupid name. At least now he's marginally more prepared.

This is fortuitous, as it turns out, given the sudden descent and impact of...a giant steel ball bearing? No, Syaoran thinks, lifting a hand against the dust thrown back by the object. The young magus's senses recoil from the power pulsing out from the silver sphere, but he cannot recognize the energy. Is this an Orphan? Something else? It doesn't matter, he realizes as he ducks behind a pedestal, pulling a long cloak from his backpack and drawing it around his face. There are people in danger - and he's the only mage around.

Within moments of the sphere's arrival, a cloaked figure with a pair of goggles over its eyes leaps up onto the buildings of Ohtori, wielding a dopuble-bladed jian in one hand. Syaoran skips along the rooftops, running toward the abomination, drawing a long paper slip from his pocket. "All of you, out of the main gates!" he cries in as commanding a voice as a ten-year-old can muster. "It looks like it's a...."

The young man suddenly stops in his tracks, jaw dropping as he stares at a young girl surfing up on a staff. More specifically, at the card in her hand.

>:O

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH?" he screams, shaking finger pointing at Sakura. "E....EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH?"

<<COMBAT>> Syaoran Li transforms into Eastern Mage!

Miki Kaoru [?] has posed:

CLICK: 09:44:22

As co-captain of the Fencing Team, Miki Kaoru is here supervising a fencing event. By 'supervising,' he is of course participating as well, but at the moment he's just watching a match between two less-experienced teammates. "They're doing well," he comments aloud to no one in particular, proud to see others embracing the elegant sport.

And that's when he hears something...strange.

And sees something...very strange.

As the sky darkens, Miki knows he's not dealing with a normal rainstorm. He's seen a bit too much in the previous few months to think it as simple as that. Still, he claps his hands together at the end of the short match. "Storm rolling in. Sorry, but I'm afraid we'll have to cut this match short..." He offers an apologetic smile.'

After the fencing team dissipates, Miki dashes over the hill to find the source of that strange noise. When he sees a fellow student laid low by a curious silver orb, his mouth narrows to a thin line. To be honest, the unknown scares him...but how else can he justify being given that ring if he just /ignored/ that kind of thing? His hand moves to the rose signet...

There's no obvious transformation, exactly. Maybe Student Council Member Miki Kaoru just looks more dignified or princely somehow. But he arrives on the scene, wielding his fencing blade and rushing right at the silver orb. "I won't let anyone harm our students on my watch...!"

<<COMBAT>> Miki Kaoru transforms into Blue Rose Duelist!

<<COMBAT>> Miki Kaoru has fully healed himself.

<<COMBAT>> Miki Kaoru has used Swift Strike on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Miki Kaoru has finished attacking.

Daichi Daigo [?] has posed:

Hallelujah, it is the weekend! As such, Daichi has no classes and, furthermore, absolutely no reason to stay in school. The world was his pinata, and it was nigh time he hit the scene.

Which is exactly why Daichi is currently locked in his dorm room, lying in bed and napping.

Turns out Daichi may not have had reason to stay in school, but he also had no interest in going back home, or... to have any kind of social interaction for that matter.

Oh well.

As he snoozes peacefully, Sora is seated on the windowsill, one knee drawn up to her chest with her chin resting on it as she gazes outside. Unlike humans, spirits do not sleep, and Sora is no exception. Rest was something only those with a physical body were in need of, and dreams -- ah, those were a luxury! A whimsical, delightful luxury that Sora could only afford when she was transformed.

As it stands, Sora has no plans to transform today. Granted, transforming very rarely is planned, but this being the weekend, even Sora recognized it as a time of rest, a time of reflection, a time of evil to attack-- wait, what?

Sora straightens in her seat, sensing something in the air she has no sensed in... how long was it? The spirit frowns. Has she ever sensed something like this to begin with? She honestly does not remember. All she knows for sure is that something is amiss. Indeed, a moment later it grows dark and ominous.

Sora turns to the bed. "Daichi," she softly says his name. No movement. Again, she drones out the name, "Daichi," and again, no response.

"Daichi."
"Daichi."
"Daichi."
Bueller.

The young punk grunts and rolls over, resolute in his nappytime.

Sora sighs and closes her eyes, mentally reaching out in preparation for her transformation. THAT catches Daichi's attention. He shoots up in bed faster than a hamster on crack, blurting out, "WAIT, WHY ARE YOU, NO--"

Too late. A bright flash of light streaming out of Daichi's dormroom window is all the indication something had occurred.

Sitting in Daichi's bed in place of Daichi, Light Maiden Hope throws Daichi's blanket aside and hops to the floor. From there, it is but a blink of an eye for the girl in the dark iridescent robes to throw the window wide open and leap outside, skipping from one roof of the building to the next, seeking the source of the disturbance.

<<COMBAT>> Daichi Daigo transforms into Light Maiden Hope!

Fate Testarossa [?] has posed:

MOMENTS AGO!
"This is hopeless... even at ground level..."
<SORRY SIR.>
"It's not your fault."

A little girl on the sidewalk addresses the most british and suave of voices, coming from her pocket. No one seems to care. It could just be some hands free cellphone, after all. Her blonde hair is long enough it probably hides an ear piece under those pigtails.

And then... something? What is...

"Bardiche, can you feel that, or...?"
<YES SIR.>
"It doesn't feel like a Jewel Seed. Should we...?"
<GET SET. BARRIER JA-->
"NOT IN PUBLIC NOT IN PUBLIC! L-Let's find... cover..."

NOW!

A black-caped blonde girl's feet tap quietly against the top of a lamp post, large black poleaxe in one hand. Fate sighs, looking at the sphere as it begins its ominous rampage and energy theft; and as magical girls flock in.

"Bardiche... it might hurt a lot of people."
<ENTITY MAY YIELD USEFUL OBJECT. ENGAGE, SIR?>
"I don't... know. Should we?"
<SCYTHE FORM.>
"... okay."

The poleaxe clicks and splits open, a bright yellow blade of mana forming from it. But the caped girl doesn't engage just yet. Maybe she wants to make sure this is worth it. Mother'll be angry if she wastes her time fighting something just for the sake of it.

Hisae Misumi [?] has posed:

Having been at Ohtori for music club and cross-sister school physical, Hisae Misumi has happily wandering the beautiful Ohtori Academy campus, when the sky darkens. She looks up, her grey eyes narrowing. One hand sliding into her purse at her side as she pulls out a pretty little perfume bottle.

One 'Henshin! Winter! Splash! later, Winterberry exits a shady area, running at a fast pace back towards where that ... landing was. Aiming to get up to a higher location than just the ground, she shifts her weight as she forms a large snowflake based television in front of her as snow gently falls, each of it something like a microscopic radar. "Hnnh..."

She mutters to herself, her eyes narrowed. "Winterberry, Analyze!"

<<COMBAT>> Hisae Misumi transforms into Winterberry!

<<COMBAT>> Hisae Misumi performs an analysis on Pink Moon Stick!

<<COMBAT>> Hisae Misumi has finished attacking.

Aimi Saionji [?] has posed:

Aimi Saionji was here, participating in one of the Sister School events, just having wrapped it up for herself for the day. She had changed back out of her judo uniform from earlier into a more normal outfit, a white top and dark golden skirt, with a matching light jacket, as it had been getting a bit on the cooler side. While she still thought that most of the Ohtori students were too haughty for their own good, she at least had met some that seemed like they could be friendly.

As she's leaving, though, strange happenings start going on, and she quickly heads over to see what's up. While Aimi isn't sure what exactly is going on, she doubts that it is anything good. Maybe its more of the same kind of beast from the other day? She can't let anything like that beast happen once again.

She took her perfume out, ready to henshin but stops herself, remembering that her friends told her that she might not want to do that so openly, in case she makes herself a target. Aimi looks over a bit, heading off with her to cover so that she could henshin properly. "Henshin! Vanilla! Splash!" She calls out.

One stock transformation later, Warm Vanilla Sugar is ready to go, though still a bit nervous about things. This is, after all, only her second time doing this. Fortunately she sees Winterberry near by, and rushes over to her. "Okay, so what kind of Dark Scent are we dealing with this time? Is it one? They can come in multiple forms, right? That would be bad actually... Wait! Why does it matter? Its just attacking anyways!" She turns to face the beast now, waiting to see what else it does, and unsure of what all she has access to as well herself.

<<COMBAT>> Aimi Saionji transforms into Warm Vanilla Sugar!

Junko Ishiki [?] has posed:

Junko Ishiki, while musically gifted, is not at band rehearsal. In fact, she's not even a member of the band. She was at some point, once upon a time-- she played the flute, and the piccolo for certain pieces that called for it-- but she was kicked out for playing way too loudly, and making too much noise. So Junko swore to never again put on an ill-fitting dress shirt and play pianissimo. Which is all well and good-- but it still fails to explain why she is here, on the Ohtori Academy campus, while band rehearsal is going on. She doesn't seem to have anywhere to be-- in fact, she's sprawled out on the stairs leading to the main academic building, her bag tossed haphazardly a few steps below her. Her PDA's in her lap, and her lyre's within reach.

Junko isn't here for band practice. She's here because she has nowhere else to be.

The head of the Togami Family hadn't called for her services since tuesday, and she had quit her most recent club (the forensics club, for those wondering) just last sunday. She reorganized her apartment. She taught herself a new song. The places she wants to be don't open for a few hours. Stretching her legs, Junko grumbles and swipes her fingers across her PDA's screen idly. She's bored. She clicks her tongue and scrunches her nose and tries to entertain herself-- really, she does. But let's face it. Entertaining Junko was the WORLD'S job, not hers.

And just then, in that moment, the world answers her desires (as the world is wont to do). It starts with the sky darkening and a sudden chill, eliciting another grumble from the shaggy-haired student as she moves to fold her legs beneath her. But a cursory glance skyward makes Junko stop mid-adjustment, one hand falling protectively over her PDA and her other reaching for her lyre. "Cripes--" she blurts, leaping to her feet and landing two steps down. She keeps low, shielding her eyes from the smörgåsbord of bright colours that lands not all too far in front of her. Squinting, she tucks her lyre into the crook of her elbow and slips her PDA into its carrier. She doesn't know what organization would attack Ohtori, but she has always been taught to attack first and ask questions later.

The Metamorphosis Sonata is hardly heard over the rumble of the ominous sphere, but light surrounds Junko all the same. Twirling in place, the girl reaches up to feed her ponytail through her crown-- and then the lights shoot off in all directions, a fireworks display of sorts to welcome Minsteru Teru to the fray.

"HEY," she calls, her voice carrying far and loud. Holding the Minsteru Harp in front of her, she grabs hold of the strings and closes one eye, pulling them back and aiming like someone might if they were shooting an arrow. And sure enough, as soon as she releases the strings, amongst the cacophany of noise, a barrage of magical sparrows shoots forth from her harp, chirping and tweeting and heading straight for the sphere. Teru hardly bats an eye at the damage done, be it to the landscaping or to the student body. She only cares about one thing:

"What business do ya have with the Togami Group?!" she calls to the creature, hopping down the last few steps and making her presence known.

<<COMBAT>> Junko Ishiki transforms into Minsteru Teru!

<<COMBAT>> Minsteru Teru has used Sparrow's Song on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Minsteru Teru has finished attacking.

Homura Akemi [?] has posed:

The Unknown Flying Object approaches Ohtori Academy. It is likely the sort of thing that, if they're able to see it, Extraterrestrial Intelligence afficianados will try to take shakey video camera footage of and post on their blogs or in their niche newspapers.

Homura Akemi isn't a part of any such club, or even any club at all. She has a task far more important to her than any of those adolescent games. It is a task that she will only leave behind at great need. If it's an enemy that will cause a disruption great enough that it will throw her future ability to perform her task into question then she will be there to lend her aid. Though ... today's foe is perhaps not the most obvious one.

Eri Shimanouchi is in motion. She first takes a moment to analyze the creature and then moves to rescue the eternally unfortunate Onion Prince. It is when she finally comes to a stop one way or another though that she notices another presence. It appears as suddenly as a bolt of lightning from the sky, but also as subtle as a whisper. The whisper of a young woman: "There is no point in fighting that thing." Homura Akemi states calmly. "You will not be able to defeat it. None of you will. You should withdraw, and allow the creature to leave on its own." The mysterious Puella Magi leans her head backwards so she can look up at the strange silvery sphere in the sky. Her eyes narrow a bit, and then those violet eyes turn to look at Eri.

<<What will you do, Eri Shimanouchi?>> Homura Akemi's voice resounds within Eri's head.

<<COMBAT>> Homura Akemi transforms into Puella Magi Homura!

Alexandra Noblesse [?] has posed:

As things go, it's not all that unusual to find Alexandra Noblesse on-campus at unusual hours. Student Council members are already somewhat unorthodox in their habits, and Alexandra tends towards the studious side of that lot anyway. Truth be told, though, the white-haired girl was just heading home - there ARE more important things to her than school business.

As it turns out, the lives of innocent human beings are a great deal more important to the French girl than what those human beings will be doing for school in the coming weeks. She pauses on her way towards the lawn, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up, as a nagging feeling tells her to stop and look up. In the time it takes her to lift her head, things go dark. "...Sérieusement?" She instinctively hops backwards, towards the buildings that she thinks of as a sanctuary, and then the ball literally drops. Into a smoking crater. On the lawn.

Things at Ohtori are often strange, but this... This is one of those things she's been taught about all her life, but didn't really encounter until very recently. This is bad, bad magic. When she sees a student fall, something flips in her stomach, and her eyes take on a pained look... for a fraction of a second. And then she tucks in her chin, and spins around. "Everyone that can run, get to cover in the buildings!" She starts running herself, but not away.

The middle school treasurer runs straight for the wounded student, but is outpaced by... someone she doesn't recognize, moving much faster than her. She slows, and then starts to notice everyone moving in to help out. She looks around, surprised, and notes her fellow council member, Miki. "...Kaoru-san?" Well, if she's not alone, maybe there's something she can do after all. She reaches up to her cross necklace, and slips it off off before wrapping the chain around her hand and charging in again.

As she focuses all of her will into the necklace, Alexandra's eyes seem to brighten and the chains start to glow, and just as she reaches a spot where she feels she might be able to hit the sphere, she brings her closed fist forward, slamming it toward the strange thing without any fear or hesitation. If she's not the only one fighting, maybe this won't end like the last time...

<<COMBAT>> Alexandra Noblesse has used Chain Revolver on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Alexandra Noblesse has finished attacking.

Kumi Chou [?] has posed:

For someone who hates her new school, Kumi seems to spend an awful lot of time there, even when she doesn't have to. Perhaps she dislikes home more. Perhaps she's trying to sneak in some extra practice for her club. Perhaps she's hunting, as Puella Magi are wont to do. Whatever the case, she's near enough to see a meteor or something come crashing towards the ground nearby, and she's curious enough to make her way that direction.

The sight greeting her at the landing is one that blows her mind for a few long moments, being one that had no idea so many Magical Girls existed, let alone they were all at her new school.

After the initial shock comes concern. Does she want to reveal herself to these new people so soon? She doesn't know who is friend or enemy just yet. She stays off to the side from the fighting, not jumping in like the hero most of the others are. For now, she'll watch. Though the soulgem around her finger changes to its true form, resting in her palm just in case.

<<COMBAT>> Kumi Chou performs an analysis on Pink Moon Stick!

<<COMBAT>> Kumi Chou has finished attacking.

Anthy Himemiya [?] has posed:

In a classroom, all alone, Anthy Himemiya sits at one of the desks as shadows cross over the sky and darken the air. With incredible concentration, she finishes drawing in the margins of her notebook, then sits up and flips it back. The little moving picture within moves her to giggles--giggles that coincide with the call for 'mooooooore...', giggles that echo in the empty room.

It is Sunday. There is absolutely no reason for her to be here. "My, is it already time?" she wonders, smiling, as she stands up. She does not look out the window. She instead gathers her things and leaves the room.

The classroom door is supposed to be locked on Sunday.

A few moments later, Anthy Himemiya is on the grounds, walking at a leisurely pace. "My, I hope it doesn't rain," she remarks to the air. "I'll need to take in the laundry as soon as I get home or Utena-sama won't have her gym clothes for tomorrow."

At her pace, she will arrive where the strange silver creature is in only another moment or two. Judging by the smile on her face, it would seem she has no idea what lies ahead of her.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick narrowly braces Sakura Kinomoto's Clever Distraction, taking 7 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Pink Moon Stick's Block ability activates! Pink Moon Stick's Parry ability activates! Exhausted, Stagger, and Tangle applied to Pink Moon Stick!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick narrowly dodges Minsteru Teru's Sparrow's Song, taking 14 Fatigue damage!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick narrowly braces Miki Kaoru's Swift Strike, taking 4 Fatigue damage! Pink Moon Stick's Block ability activates! Pink Moon Stick's Parry ability activates!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick narrowly braces Alexandra Noblesse's Chain Revolver, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Pink Moon Stick's Block ability activates! Pink Moon Stick's Parry ability activates! Exhausted and Stun applied to Pink Moon Stick!

Pink Moon Stick [A] has posed:

Puella Magi Eri quickly discovers from her analysis of this thing's magical signature that It isn't a Witch. It is otherwise unrecognizable, though, at least for a few more moments. The same is true of Winterberry; it's surely not someone whose essence has been extracted, leaving a youma behind.

In these mysterious moments, the Cardcaptor's chains lance out and wrap the sphere well and good, holding it steady for Miki to shish-kabob. He scores a glorious touche, but in so doing discovers that the sphere's surface gives like jelly; unless he's amazingly fast, he's likely to be encased up to the elbow! Alexandra, without a sword to play buffer, might feel like she's getting sucked in all the way up to the shoulder! It's a sticky, exhausting feeling, though not one that can't be overcome with judicious yanking, especially by those with supernatural strength.

But it's still an uncomfortable place to be, as the mysterious mass shifts and roils, sloshing about until it assumes a more recognizable form.

Well, sort of.

THE SMELLY ROSE WITCH, announces the bottom of the super-sized Clow Card, before its portrait rises out, leaving no trace of a physical card behind. It smells dreadfully like a Dark Scent; it feels rather extra-dimensional, in a way that's difficult to easily describe other than 'maybe half a reality over, in a reality where it's normal to be a gigantic, seemingly infinite bouquet of blue roses. Each one has a face. Each face has a different expression. All of their stems, together, form a single, gigantic stompy smelly and very human foot at the bottom.

The sparrows wind up flying directly under that foot as it launches into the air, trailing a greenish-yellow cloud of stench behind it.

Leaping (and possibly dragging Miki and/or Alexandra, caught between a toenail and a smelly place with it), it starts bringing down the house. Or at least, bringing itself down to squash anyone and everyone in sight, in a series of rapid ups and downs. STOMPYSTOMPYSTOMPYSTOMPYSTOMP.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Monty Python's Flying Roses on Eri Shimanouchi.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Monty Python's Flying Roses on Sakura Kinomoto.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Monty Python's Flying Roses on Syaoran Li.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Monty Python's Flying Roses on Miki Kaoru.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Monty Python's Flying Roses on Sora Godai.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Monty Python's Flying Roses on Fate Testarossa.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Monty Python's Flying Roses on Winterberry.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Monty Python's Flying Roses on Aimi Saionji.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Monty Python's Flying Roses on Minsteru Teru.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Monty Python's Flying Roses on Homura Akemi.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Monty Python's Flying Roses on Kumi Chou.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Monty Python's Flying Roses on Alexandra Noblesse.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Monty Python's Flying Roses on Anthy Himemiya.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has finished attacking.

<<COMBAT>> Sora Godai fails to dodge Pink Moon Stick's Monty Python's Flying Roses, taking 26 Fatigue damage!

<<COMBAT>> Sakura Kinomoto narrowly dodges Pink Moon Stick's Monty Python's Flying Roses, taking 19 Fatigue damage! Sakura Kinomoto's Fade ability activates! Sakura Kinomoto's Flash ability activates!

<<COMBAT>> Winterberry narrowly dodges Pink Moon Stick's Monty Python's Flying Roses, taking 14 Fatigue damage! Winterberry's Fade ability activates! Winterberry's Flash ability activates!

<<COMBAT>> Homura Akemi perfectly dodges Pink Moon Stick's Monty Python's Flying Roses, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Dodge! Homura Akemi's Fade ability activates! Homura Akemi's Flash ability activates!

<<COMBAT>> Fate Testarossa fails to counter Pink Moon Stick's Monty Python's Flying Roses, taking 35 Fatigue damage!

<<COMBAT>> Fate Testarossa's counterattack, Defenser, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Pink Moon Stick!

<<COMBAT>> Eri Shimanouchi narrowly braces Pink Moon Stick's Monty Python's Flying Roses, taking 16 Fatigue damage! Eri Shimanouchi's Block ability activates! Eri Shimanouchi's Parry ability activates!

<<COMBAT>> Minsteru Teru fails to counter Pink Moon Stick's Monty Python's Flying Roses, taking 30 Fatigue damage!

<<COMBAT>> Minsteru Teru's counterattack, Treble Cleave, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Pink Moon Stick!

<<COMBAT>> Aimi Saionji fails to dodge Pink Moon Stick's Monty Python's Flying Roses, taking 34 Fatigue damage!

<<COMBAT>> Syaoran Li fails to brace Pink Moon Stick's Monty Python's Flying Roses, taking 34 Fatigue damage!

<<COMBAT>> Alexandra Noblesse fails to brace Pink Moon Stick's Monty Python's Flying Roses, taking 37 Fatigue damage!

<<COMBAT>> Miki Kaoru narrowly dodges Pink Moon Stick's Monty Python's Flying Roses, taking 23 Fatigue damage!

<<COMBAT>> Anthy Himemiya accepts Pink Moon Stick's Monty Python's Flying Roses, taking 28 Fatigue damage!

<<COMBAT>> Kumi Chou narrowly braces Pink Moon Stick's Monty Python's Flying Roses, taking 14 Fatigue damage! Kumi Chou's Block ability activates! Kumi Chou's Parry ability activates!

Sakura Kinomoto [?] has posed:

The young Cardcaptor lets out a startled 'Hoe!' as a giant bouquet of roses tries to smack her in the face. She manages to dip and dive out of the way of the attack for the most part, although she does end up with a face full of smelly petals. She flails for a few moments to get them out of her face and then finally seems to take in the scene proper. This is her first time seeing other magical girls in action, and there are so many of them! She has to help! She directs Windy's energies again, this time using it to push exercise equipment around, putting hurdles and other obstacles in the way of the monster, hopefully restricting its movements.

<<COMBAT>> Sakura Kinomoto has used Innovative Setup on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Sakura Kinomoto has finished attacking.

Syaoran Li [?] has posed:

"Who..." Syaoran sputters, staring at the Cardcaptor. "What..."

>:O

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THE CLOW CARDS?!?" he screams, his free hand pulling at his hair, eyes wide and wild. "They're...you're just a little kid!"

What irony exists in the statement does not strike the young magus (who is looking like his entire world is crumbling to pieces around him), as he is suddenly scrambling to avoid being squashed by a giant... rose... face... thing. Syaoran scampers off the rooftop, touches down and--

* 100 *

"Gh--"

* 200 *

"GAH!" he screams, leaping up out of harm's way, cloak flaring behind him as he goes. An angry expression slides onto his face as he pulls a long paper slip from his pocket. "OY!" he shouts. "Clow girl! Get over here! I, a magi, one of the Wise, command thee!" Syaoran touches down atop a nearby building and slams paper charm into magical sword. "Kasshin! he calls. "SHOURAI!"

Magic Association tactical doctrine on giant plant monsters is to kill it with fire. (This is Magic Association tactical doctrine on most things.)

<<COMBAT>> Syaoran Li has used Invitation of the Fire God on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Syaoran Li has finished attacking.

Fate Testarossa [?] has posed:

"It just..."
<DEFENSER.>

Faster than Fate can react, Bardiche deploys the auto-protecting, a bright yellow circle of light that attempts to shield Fate. Attempts is the keyword here. It doesn't go so well.

The massive foot crushes through the circle like it's made of glass, and while Fate leaps off her perch, she still gets kicked halfway across town, or just about. She crashes into something that's not a cushion at all, saved by her Barrier Jacket from being flattened outright.

The bright yellow scythe blade prevents her from hiding in the dust cloud, though; Fate emerges, having decided that while it might not be worth the fight, this thing kicked her, so she's going to give the heroes a hand. However useless she might turn out to be. She flies straight in, passing by Winterberry like a golden lightning bolt.

She'd say hi but she still kinda.
Feels bad about last time.
Like, a lot.

<SCYTHE SLASH.>
On cue, the scythe's blade becomes much brighter, as Fate rushes in to try and cut the rose-monster up. Just because she's out to hunt terrible artifacts doesn't mean she wants to watch tons of lives being put in danger.

If this were an ally, it'd be different.
She's glad she's pretty sure it's not.

<<COMBAT>> Fate Testarossa has used Scythe Slash on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Fate Testarossa has finished attacking.

Miki Kaoru [?] has posed:

"Thank you, Miss!" Miki isn't sure what else to say to Sakura for using that wind magic on the orb, letting him get a strike in. When he does, however, he finds the thing...enveloping him.

He turns faintly bluish-green in the cheeks and quickly withdraws his arm. At least there's nothing left on it, but did that ever feel unpleasant! "Egh...what IS this..."

It's when the orb transforms into a rose-studded monster that he staggers back and stares. It's...it's one of THOSE Things. The things he's seen around the campus, like odd, horrifying ghosts, always accompanied by depressed students. Those things that just are not RIGHT. He ducks and dashes, rolling away from the foot of the rose-monster, staring up at it in horror. Miki likes things he can understand. He CANNOT UNDERSTAND THIS.

That's when he looks over and sees that Himemiya is there, and the monster is attacking her, too. "Himemiya...!" That's right! She's depending on him! He springs back to his feet, calming himself with deep breaths. Yes, that's right. He has to time it. Just has to pick the right moment.

When he's sure he has that right moment, he dashes back in, striking at the Rose Witch's foot with his blade.

<<COMBAT>> Miki Kaoru has used Metronome Strike on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Miki Kaoru has finished attacking.

Anthy Himemiya [?] has posed:

Anthy rounds the corner, seeming oblivious to the unpleasant sounds and thumping and shouts, just in time for the Smelly Rose Witch to start stomping around, potentially pulling any number of young people with it. She gets several steps in before she freezes, staring up at the creature with its many rose faces and its large foot, just before it lands with an immense SLAM immediately next to her.

If it'd gotten a direct hit, it might have crushed her to death; as it is, it sends her flying and landing with crack on the ground. The impact of just having been next to it was enough to hurt her, and that's without a terrible landing. Anthy screams as she lands, then twitches and struggles where she's landed. Her possessions are sprawled even further away, by several feet, scattered by her harsh landing. She seems to be favoring her right foot, and when she looks back up at the strange creature, it is with apparent fear.

She hears her name, and turns to see the blue-haired young man. "Miki-san!" she calls, struggling up with one hand on the ground, other hand clutched to her chest, legs sprawled out beneath her.

<<COMBAT>> Anthy Himemiya has finished attacking.

Winterberry [?] has posed:

"Vanilla-kun, watch out-- this isn't an ordinary Scent, not the ones I've ever heard about, dealt with myself, or read at the library!" What library does Winterberry visit? The one that requires a lot of rope and some assistance from the Survival Club, aka Infinity Institute.

Then she looks up, right as a giant foot lands on her. She gives a low 'uwhhh' noise, looking dazed as she stares back into the sky. "Hnh... well, that was painful." She says, dryly, struggling back up to her feet. Once there, she lifts up one hand then holds it out, a snowball of magical energy swirling into it. "Winterberry..."

"SNOWBALL FIGHT!"

<<COMBAT>> Winterberry has used Snowball Fight!! on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Winterberry has finished attacking.

Eri Shimanouchi [?] has posed:

The Onion Prince was safe, out of range of /that/ thing. She props him up underneath one of the meticulously pruned trees on the Ohtori campus, a fair distance away, which is when she hears.. a whisper.

It was as sudden as a lightning bolt. In the wake of that, it might as well have been a roiling thunderclap, given her reaction. She freezes suddenly, turning to regard the raven haired girl with a cool gaze that tried to bely her obvious anxiety. She recognized her from the dancing class the other day, also as the girl who had returned to school recently from an admission in the hospital for a cardiac condition.

She took a deep breath, and actually listened, taking in each and every word, allowing them to bounce around within her skull. She was about to respond, when Homura's next statement began to rattle around within her skull. It was an unfamiliar sensation, one that only Kyubey had done, and only briefly. And this caused her to pale, notably. She knew her name. But how? Eri made no assumptions on the means by which she learned her name, she instead takes a deep, steadying breath, her facade of cool composure broken by the girl's knowledge of her identity. She doesn't respond with the surface thoughts inside her head, instead she states to the raven-haired girl in an anxious tone. "Akemi-san. I do not know how you know that it cannot be defeated, but you appear to know a great deal more than I. And I have no information that would allow me to contradict you. I am.. new at this. But even if I cannot defeat it, I must still attempt to safeguard the civilians, until it departs."

She lifts her chin, staring at her through the eyeholes of the domino mask, "Many will be fighting the creature. They will distract it away from them. I will support them and attempt to evacuate its victims. Will you help me, Akemi-san?"

But then the Smelly Rose Witch reveals itself, and with its extra-dimensional power begins to spin up, floating up above, until the faces form a giant human foot. This human foot stomps their way, and Eri shouts at Homura, "LOOK OUT!"

But then the horror of the sight of what it is, perturbs her just enough that she doesn't try to dodge, she just tries to contemplate.. what this is. A possessed plant? A demon with a plant motif? Or.. are they actually plants animated by darkness? She could not even fathom what it was! It was only at the last second that she crosses her arms, bracing herself as the giant foot comes down, and pile drives her into the ground. A cloud of dirt flies beneath each of her feet, and her knees buckle, as she lets out a shriek of pain.

Driven down to one knee, wisps of green energy dance and sparkle across her wrists, as she looks up at the creature, now above her. She states through a pained voice, "I may not be able to defeat it, Akemi-san..." A small green shoot emerges from the ground, "...but my friend..." It begins to grow with alarming rapidity, stalk, then shoots, then a large curved head. "...can possibly restrain it..."

Its growth completes all of a sudden, becoming a gigantic Venus fly trap, animated with a gnashing fanged maw as it lurches forward, trying to grasp the Rose Witch's boot within it. "GO SEYMOUR!" Yes, apparently Eri Shimanouchi was a fan of cult classic American movies. Especially those related to plants!

And then already she's off, attempting to keep her distance from it, a thorned vine within her hand, extending as she bounds backwards, she attempts to survey to see if any other civilians were in danger, then checking to see where exactly Homura had gone off to.

<<COMBAT>> Eri Shimanouchi has used Little Trap of Horrors on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Eri Shimanouchi has finished attacking.

Aimi Saionji [?] has posed:

The silver ball of... something... seems to take offense to the gathering of magical girls, bounding and stomping down on all of those that it could. Vanilla tries to get out of the way before it lands on her, but she's not quite fast enough, the ball slamming into her in a rather painful way. If it wasn't for the fact that she was already transformed, she might not have been lucky enough to survive. As it is, she's... well she's in more pain than Winterberry is.

"Ugh... okay... can't let that happen again..." She mutters, standing up and straigtening out as best she could, after what happened. She began to gather what energies she could for now, thinking back to what she had done before, and what knowledge she might have. "Vanilla Blast!" She finally calls out, launching a small golden ball of magic at the silver ball of pain and death. "Ugh... really... that hurt a lot..."

<<COMBAT>> Aimi Saionji has used Vanilla Blast on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Aimi Saionji has finished attacking.

Sora Godai [?] has posed:

Sora's hunt takes a decisive turn for the worst when instead of finding the enemy, it is the enemy that finds her. Or rather, one of its roses does. The Magical Girl doesn't even realize there's a projectile shooting her way before it catches her between her shoulder blades.

"Ahh--!"

This light cry of surprise is all that precedes Light Maiden Hope sprawling on her stomach atop one of the rooftops, the wind knocked out of her.

And then the enemy makes itself painfully known to everyone as it begins wrecking the school grounds.

Lifting her head, Sora peers at the monster through her half-broken kitsune mask. In one swift motion, too fast to be properly registered by the naked eye, she makes her move - disappearing from her landing place and reappearing at the edge of the roof, kneeling and staring at the aggressor... but not just.

Light Maiden Hope isn't the only one at the scene, evidently. There were other forces at play, opposing the unknown enemy. She does not recognize any of them. Not Homura, whom she had met in countless other timelines, nor Minsteru Teru, who happened to attend the same class as Daichi. The only one who registers even the slightest bit of recognition from Sora is... Anthy.

A flash of a long-lost memory sparks inside Sora's head. A scene from a time long forgotten, of Light Maidens coming together to fight a common enemy, and of protecting the poor Japanese peasants. Anthy was definitely... definitely like a poor Japanese peasant.

Spreading her arms in a flourish, Light Maiden Hope whips her wide sleeves around her. A flock of butterflies composed of dark vapor emerges from the folds of the iridescent cloth as it flows through the air. They swarm towards the monster, leaving a smokey trail behind them, composed of darkness and shadow. They intend to rush the enemy and smother it with their bodies... while Light Maiden Hope leaps down to the ground below, going for Anthy.

A single heartbeat is all it takes the girl before she appears at Himemiya's side as if out of thin air, offering her a hand. "Are you well, miss?"

<<COMBAT>> Sora Godai has used In The Twilight Rain These Brilliant Golden Butterflies on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Sora Godai has finished attacking.

Minsteru Teru [?] has posed:

Minsteru Teru never gets her answer. Instead, the ominous pinball transforms into something... ridiculous. Ridiculous and potentially terrifying, if Junko didn't have the honour of standing for the whole of the Togami Group. When she doesn't get her answer, and instead sees the /thing/ transform in front of her eyes, she hardly bats an eye. "I /SAID/," she calls again, raising her voice to challenge the ruckus that's being raised on all sides.

But she never gets to finish that thought, because before she knows it the large foot is very nearly on top of her. She whips up a Treble Cleave in a frenzy, not quite sure what good it will do-- in fact, it doesn't do much good at all. The foot-thing shatters through the defense as if it's no more than tissue paper, and Teru is caught off guard. With a yelp she's sent flying back, the stairs cracking beneath her and her bag caught in the rubble. It's not like Teru can see this, though. No, she's too busy soaring through the air before she tumbles along the ground, bouncing a few times before coming to a stop not far from the creature's original impact.

Teru's nostrils flare as she pulls out large clumps of grass with her fists, growling and getting back on her feet. Digging her face into her arm in an attempt to get a breath without taking in the putrid stench that accompanies the Smelly Rose Witch. And then she whips her head back towards the creature, fingers working of their own accord as she repeats the last attack once more. That was a fluke, she decides. It wasn't a sign of inferiority, or anything like that.

'If at first you don't succeed,' she decided, whipping up a selection of physical notes as projectiles. 'Try, try again!'

Taking all of the projectiles in her hand, she sprays them in the foot's direction. She isn't about to be beaten by a company that attacked with feet and flowers.

<<COMBAT>> Minsteru Teru has used Treble Cleave on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Minsteru Teru has finished attacking.

Alexandra Noblesse [?] has posed:

There is nothing quite like the feel of hitting something with all your might, only to have it give with litttle more resistance than Jello and suck your arm in. Alexandra is experiencing this wonderful feeling firsthand. She gets lifted up all the way with the... ... is she in a toenail now? Well, she contemplates as she manages to pull her arm out of the toenail and start falling into the area that will soon be stomped to death. All things considered, this isn't nearly as strange as the--

GROUND! ...Ow.

Now Alexandra is experiencing a completely different sensation. Perhaps pushing her way free of the thing wasn't....

GROUND! ...Ow again.

...The most effective way of...

GROUND! ...Ugh.

...Dealing with...

GROUND! ... Ungh...

...A giant foot. Rose? Thing.

As it is, Alexandra has been hit harder before... Well. She tells herself she has, so that she can pull herself out of the lawn. She manages to get up, and then fall over onto her back, staring up at the sky for a moment. "...Je pense..." <...I think...> A deep breath. "...Je suis blessé." <...I am injured.> ... Probably a good call.

After a moment longer, she rolls over again, getting up onto her knees, and looking around at everyone else, still going strong and attacking. Well... she's not going to die today, so... She manages to shakily stand up, the cross necklace in her hand still glowing hot, and probably burning her hand a bit. She doesn't notice. "...This is a strange day." Now that the French has been knocked out of her, she gets back up, and takes a deep breath. "One more... it'll be fun..." No it won't.

With trembling legs, Alexandra tries to charge in again. What's she even aiming for? The foot. The big. Stupid. Foot. If it disappears before she can tag that thing with a right cross, she's going to be very very upset. Also possibly unconscious. But definitely upset.

<<COMBAT>> Alexandra Noblesse has used Southern Cross on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Alexandra Noblesse has finished attacking.

Homura Akemi [?] has posed:

Just as the strange sphere begins its transformation, Homura's gaze returns to the sky. Silvery sphere becomes an infinite bouquet of roses. Each rose has a face, with a different expression. And those infinite stems twist together to form a very human foot that smells as if it is terribly in need of some odor eating inserts for its shoes. The Puella Magi wrinkles her nose just faintly. "... such a horrible stench this time." Homura even goes so far as to raise her hand to her face and cover her nose. It has to be pretty ripe in order to bring out such a reaction from someone as stoic as Homura Akemi.

The other Puella Magi then begins to speak to her. Eri is new to the job and it seems she has a healthy respect for more skilled Puella Magi than herself. This is good. Were it someone like Mami Tomoe then it's likely that Homura's advice would be met with suspicion. "I understand." Homura responds to Eri's assertion that she will try to evacuate the civilians. "Distractions are fine, but try not to hit it directly with your powers. It is..."

'LOOK OUT!'

Homura grits her teeth briefly before she vanishes from view. The creature's foot comes smashing down atop of where she was last seen mere instants later! At least it seems Eri's warning did some good?

Some distance away Homura has reappeared. She looks back to where Eri is fighting and watches as she MAKES HER MONSTER ... well, fly trap grow in order to attack the unidentified monster. Homura's eyes narrow slightly before she vanishes from sight again.

When she next appears she is just taking a step up beside Miki. "Miki Kaoru." Homura states plainly. Unfortunately the cool effect of her sudden appearance is ruined slightly by how she has her hand held over her nose. Even she cannot block out the terrible stench. "I don't have time to explain. The others here are unlikely to listen to me, but you are a member of the student council. You need to tell everyone to withdraw, and evacuate the innocents in the area." Her eyes immediately glance over to where Anthy Himemiya.

"That is the only way."

Kumi Chou [?] has posed:

Well, Kumi wanted to stay out of this. She really really intended to. But the weird foot thing just had to strike at her from her clever hiding spot that was completely out in the open and exposed. She lifted her soul gem, calling up a cocoon of orange soul energy to block the brunt of the blow, only barely calling it up in time. It knocks her back a few feet before she looses her footing, taking a beating before she rolls back into a standing position. By the time she's standing, she's gone full Henshin, not having time or desire to make a flashy show of it.

She takes a moment to regain her composure before making a flying leap into the fray, orange wings emanating from her soul gem and carrying her higher than any normal person could jump. An axe, head shaped like a butterfly, materializes in her hands as she reaches the apex, using the momentum of her fall to add force to the strike she aims at the "Witch" that is probably not a Witch.

<<COMBAT>> Kumi Chou transforms into Puella Magi Kumi!

<<COMBAT>> Kumi Chou has used Flight of the Monarch on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Kumi Chou has finished attacking.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick narrowly dodges Sakura Kinomoto's Innovative Setup, taking 3 Fatigue damage! Blind and Stun applied to Pink Moon Stick!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick fails to brace Syaoran Li's Invitation of the Fire God, taking 30 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Cripple applied to Pink Moon Stick!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick narrowly braces Fate Testarossa's Scythe Slash, taking 3 Fatigue damage! Pink Moon Stick's Block ability activates! Pink Moon Stick's Parry ability activates!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick fails to dodge Miki Kaoru's Metronome Strike, taking 15 Fatigue damage!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick fails to brace Winterberry's Snowball Fight!!, taking 6 Fatigue damage!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick fails to dodge Eri Shimanouchi's Little Trap of Horrors, taking 22 Fatigue damage! Tangle applied to Pink Moon Stick!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick fails to dodge Aimi Saionji's Vanilla Blast, taking 13 Fatigue damage!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick fails to brace Minsteru Teru's Treble Cleave, taking 7 Fatigue damage!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick fails to brace Sora Godai's In The Twilight Rain These Brilliant Golden Butterflies, taking 8 Fatigue damage! Pink Moon Stick is Quipped! Blind and Tangle applied to Pink Moon Stick!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick fails to dodge Kumi Chou's Flight of the Monarch, taking 8 Fatigue damage! Kumi Chou is Psyched! Stun applied to Pink Moon Stick!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick fails to brace Alexandra Noblesse's Southern Cross, taking 32 Fatigue damage!

Pink Moon Stick [A] has posed:

Sakura's gambit pays off, sort of, as The Smelly Rose Witch stomps down, hard, only there are javelins and some track barriers in the way; the former pierce and the latter shatter, and either way it winds up with a thoroughly owwied giant toe.

This slows it considerably -- it's hard to stomp around when your toe is full of exercise equipment thorns!! And so young Master Li's fire takes it straight in the toe as well. On the up side, it is sizzly, blackening the big toenail entirely, causing it to shatter into giggling dust that flees the scene with chuckled apologies. On the down side, that wasn't the flowers, which wail like babes, laugh like madmen, and scream with the pleasure of the easily entertained.

One of them opens their blue rosebud mouth to accept Fate's mana blade; there's a plasma smell in the air thereafter, and only charred petals left of that bloom's greatness, but the blade itself seems subtly less intense than before. It destroyed a foe, but not without being a little bit consumed in the process.

Miki's timing is perfect as ever; distracted by the loss of a rosehead, The Smelly Rose Witch's achilles heel is exposed, and with a snicker-snack, seemingly severed! A gout of silver material sprays, and then, rather disgustingly, is sucked back into the body with a slurping soup sound.

Several eyes fix directly on Anthy, rather hungrily, but they are abruptly beaned directly with snowballs! They shriek with discomfort, white snow gathering on petals rather delicately, only to be shaken off as the gigantic foot bounds into the air again.

The Onion Prince would surely thank Puella Magi Eri for her consideration, were he conscious enough to do so. The strange creature, however, has no thanks whatsoever for those gigantic ganshing Venus Fly Trap Teeth, which pluck it straight out of the air and nom it relentlessly.

This causes a relative increase in the number of laughing buds, rather than crying ones, oddly enough.

Warm Vanilla Sugar's blast impacts squarely into the center of that laughter, which redoubles, cackling with glee even as more petals fall to the ground. Combined with the shadowy butterflies of the Light Maiden Hope, and the sparkling physical notes of Ministeru Teru, it's a veritable petal shower, and comedy fest, all in one.

The momentum is really building now, attack after attack slamming into the beast! Alexandra slams into the beast and this time actually finds purchase, while Puella Magi Kumi, from the other side, delivers a tremendous slash of the axe.

So much energy has come together to protect Ohtori Academy and its students! It is truly a stirring sight.

A moment later, much of that energy seems to release from the creature in beams of rose-scented blue light, beams that come from every conceivable direction, in that the petals are firing them and there are petals all over the ground...

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Energy Redistribution on Sakura Kinomoto.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Energy Redistribution on Fate Testarossa.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Energy Redistribution on Miki Kaoru.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Energy Redistribution on Winterberry.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Energy Redistribution on Eri Shimanouchi.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Energy Redistribution on Aimi Saionji.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Energy Redistribution on Sora Godai.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Energy Redistribution on Minsteru Teru.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has finished attacking.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Energy Redistribution on Syaoran Li.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Energy Redistribution on Homura Akemi.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Energy Redistribution on Anthy Himemiya.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Energy Redistribution on Alexandra Noblesse.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Energy Redistribution on Kumi Chou.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has finished attacking.

<<COMBAT>> Syaoran Li fails to counter Pink Moon Stick's Energy Redistribution, taking 21 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Stagger and Stun applied to Syaoran Li!

<<COMBAT>> Syaoran Li's counterattack, Wind Flower Invocation, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Pink Moon Stick!

<<COMBAT>> Anthy Himemiya accepts Pink Moon Stick's Energy Redistribution, taking 20 Fatigue damage! Stagger and Stun applied to Anthy Himemiya!

<<COMBAT>> Fate Testarossa narrowly dodges Pink Moon Stick's Energy Redistribution, taking 14 Fatigue damage! Fate Testarossa's Fade ability activates! Fate Testarossa's Flash ability activates! Stagger applied to Fate Testarossa!

<<COMBAT>> Homura Akemi perfectly counters Pink Moon Stick's Energy Redistribution, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter!

<<COMBAT>> Homura Akemi's counterattack, Flashstep, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Pink Moon Stick!

<<COMBAT>> Sakura Kinomoto narrowly counters Pink Moon Stick's Energy Redistribution, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Stagger and Stun applied to Sakura Kinomoto!

<<COMBAT>> Sakura Kinomoto's counterattack, Throw a Horse at it!, partially gets through, doing 4 Fatigue damage to Pink Moon Stick!

<<COMBAT>> Winterberry narrowly dodges Pink Moon Stick's Energy Redistribution, taking 11 Fatigue damage! Winterberry's Fade ability activates! Winterberry's Flash ability activates! Stagger and Stun applied to Winterberry!

<<COMBAT>> Alexandra Noblesse fails to dodge Pink Moon Stick's Energy Redistribution, taking 17 Fatigue damage! Stagger and Stun applied to Alexandra Noblesse!

<<COMBAT>> Aimi Saionji narrowly counters Pink Moon Stick's Energy Redistribution, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Aimi Saionji's Reverse ability activates! Aimi Saionji's Tactician ability activates! Stun applied to Aimi Saionji!

<<COMBAT>> Aimi Saionji's counterattack, Counterburst, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Pink Moon Stick!

<<COMBAT>> Sora Godai fails to brace Pink Moon Stick's Energy Redistribution, taking 22 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!

<<COMBAT>> Kumi Chou fails to brace Pink Moon Stick's Energy Redistribution, taking 21 Fatigue damage!

<<COMBAT>> Miki Kaoru narrowly counters Pink Moon Stick's Energy Redistribution, taking 10 Fatigue damage! Stun applied to Miki Kaoru!

<<COMBAT>> Miki Kaoru's counterattack, Attaque Au Fer, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Pink Moon Stick!

<<COMBAT>> Minsteru Teru fails to brace Pink Moon Stick's Energy Redistribution, taking 17 Fatigue damage! Stagger and Stun applied to Minsteru Teru!

<<COMBAT>> Eri Shimanouchi fails to dodge Pink Moon Stick's Energy Redistribution, taking 24 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!

Sakura Kinomoto [?] has posed:

Sakura's efforts seem to have garnered her some attention! Miki gets a smile and a wave from the young girl. "I hope that helps!" As for Syaoran's imperious demand, Sakura seems perhaps a mite unclear on it. "I'm sorry? I can't really come down now! I'm fighting a monster!" How did he know about the Clow Cards, though? She'll have to ask him when this is all over. Hopefully he won't keep calling her 'Clow Girl,' though.

And then there's a sudden light show! Sakura's hands fly to her face and, without thinking too much about it, she commands Windy to grab some more PE equipment and interpose it between herself and the attack. Thise more or less seems to work, a few hurdles taking the brunt of the beam for her, but one gymnastics horse slips free of the gust and goes flying... into the monster. Lucky hit!

But what now? This thing is big and scary and doesn't seem to be slowing down. "Yosh!" She focuses, refusing to allow a meanie like this to make her upset. "Windy, one more time!" This time the wind-sprite is briefly visible, a winged figure flying in circles around the monster. A stronger gust circles around and flies in, and the astute may notice that in addition to attacking it's also... cleaning up the broken equipment?

<<COMBAT>> Sakura Kinomoto has used Showing Off on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Sakura Kinomoto has finished attacking.

Syaoran Li [?] has posed:

Lasers - his only weakness.

Syaoran Li tries to bring a defensive spell to bear, but the pounding his magical barrier as taken - to say nothing of the shock of seeing his inheritance stolen by some foolish little magical girl - means he is slow on the draw. Blue light batters the young man, the scent of roses overwhelming him. Syaoran grounds his sword and grips the hilt tightly, glaring as the little twit keeps on doing things EVEN THOUGH HE IS TELLING HER TO DO OTHER THINGS.

>:|

The magus pushes himself back up to his feet, drawing another paper charm in shaking fingers. He manages to spare some energy to keep shouting at Sakura, though. "If you're going to use the Clow cards, use them intelligently!" Syaoran bellows. "Windy isn't going to hurt it by itself! Combine it with Firey!" he suggests. "Or use Big and throw it out of here!"

Meanwhile, he shoots lightning at the rose thing. But really, most of his attention is on THE INTERLOPER.

<<COMBAT>> Syaoran Li has used Coming of the Thunder Emperor on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Syaoran Li has finished attacking.

Anthy Himemiya [?] has posed:

*Like*... a poor Japanese peasant. Yes. Yes, let's say that.

In a flourish of whipping, shining cloth, the Light Maiden leaps down and lands next to the fallen Ohtori student. Anthy looks up at her with wide eyes, trembling behind her glasses, traveling up that outstretched hand to the unfamiliar girl's face. "Y... yes. Thank you very much," she murmurs, accepting her hand and carefully making her way to her feet, still favoring her right foot. "Um... Who are you?"

Sudden movement drags her attention away, though, and her gaze stops on Miki and Homura not too far away as Homura advises Miki to lead the students away. "Um!" she calls, letting her voice carry over to the two. "Miki-san, perhaps it would be best if we did as she said," Anthy says worriedly to Miki, glancing quickly between him, Homura, and Sora. When her green eyes rest on Homura, she adds, with every semblance of slightly frightened earnestness, "I'm sure you want to save someone this time, too, Akemi-san."

That monster's hungry eyes fix on her then, and Anthy flinches, perhaps feeling the pressure of their stare. The bombardment of snowballs saves her for the moment, but it isn't long before the rose petals scattered everywhere, thick with their floral scent, fire blue lasers every which way. Several strike Anthy from behind, and she cries out again in anguish, foot buckling and folding beneath her and sending her to fall to the ground once again.

<<COMBAT>> Anthy Himemiya has finished attacking.

Aimi Saionji [?] has posed:

Warm Vanilla Sugar reacts on instinct here, gathering a burst of vanilla scented magic to fire off at the beams of energy coming at her. The burst strikes the beam, and while it doesn't get through, it does manage to weaken the beam. It still hurts though when it connects with Vanilla, causing her to skid back just some as she had tried to stand her ground.

She shakes her head, looking up at the monster. She can't tell, but Vanilla thinks that they are doing... something to it. "Winter-chan, I'm going in..." she says before rushing in. She can't just stand back and continue to throw magical blasts at this thing. Its not what she knows right now in full. There is, however, something else she's got, and that's her training.

Now normally using the striking techniques taught in judo is frowned upon. In competitions. Furthermore, Aimi isn't exactly one to use such things as well. She's never had to go on the offensive, save for when practicing katas and in demonstrations. And yet this isn't anything of the sort. She has to do something here other than stand back.

And so Warm Vanilla Sugar rushes in as fast as she can make herself go at the silver ball, before launching herself up and attempting to throw a roundhouse kick at the monster. She hopes it'll do something now.

<<COMBAT>> Aimi Saionji has used Naname-geri on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Aimi Saionji has finished attacking.

Miki Kaoru [?] has posed:

Miki turns around to see Homura Akemi...just THERE. When did she get there? How fast did she move? He too has to cover his mouth in order to breathe properly. It's her words that alarm him almost as much as her sudden appearance, however.

"Wait! Do you know what this is, then? I'm sorry, but I can't order people to abandon Ohtori without knowing what the threat is! We've almost got it down, I think..." At least he seems to be taking her seriously. In fact, he tries to take note of just who this girl is, and if he can remember seeing her on campus. If she knows something...

He looks to Himemiya, as well. "Himemiya! You need to hide! Seek shelter!" Those who can apparently defend themselves with magic hardly count as civilians in this case, but poor Anthy is defenseless, and Miki can't bear to see her hurt.

"Anthy! I'll protect you!" He shouts this fateful phrase just as a massive storm of LASERS are fired from ROSES. It takes his rapid fencing reflexes (enhanced by the Rose Signet) to keep him from being pummeled completely, but an attempt to sideswipe one of the roses in return is a complete failure as he stumbles. He has to stop and catch his breath, looking again at Homura and then Anthy before dashing at the rose monster. He feints to the left before swinging from below, more of a trick attack than anything else.

<<COMBAT>> Miki Kaoru has used Changement de Rhythme on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Miki Kaoru has finished attacking.

Minsteru Teru [?] has posed:

It's Homura's words that catch Teru's attention, causing her to whip her head in the puella magi's direction as she crosses her arms in front of her, bracing herself against the imminent blow. Before she can say anything to the younger girl, the attack hits her-- and quite hard, at that. She grits her teeth and hisses, her muscles protesting at the strange and otherworldly strain that the attack put her through. She cusses loudly, then a few more times under her breath. Whoever had sent this thing was two things for sure-- twisted, and brilliant. (But not as brilliant as the Togami Group, she quickly amends.)

It's time to put some more distance between them, she decides. Strumming her lyre and conjuring a ball of solid energy, Teru leaps up as she fires the ball at the beast, the knockback sending her soaring in the direction of the two puellae magi. Teru isn't familiar with either of them-- but that has never stopped her from voicing her opinion before. She overshoots it a little, kicking up some dirt with her heels as she skids to a halt a bit beyond the both of them. But she shakes out her legs and practically prances up to the two underclassmen.

"What are ya, nuts?" she asks, her tone loud and harsh and condescending in Homura's direction. "This thing ain't just gonna go away, y'know! 'Withdraw'? Gimme a break. Do somethin' useful!" Her hands are on her hips as she stares down her nose at both Homura and Eri. "C'mon, the both of ya! Chop chop!"

"We'll save them, Himemiya," Miki added with a nod.

<<COMBAT>> Minsteru Teru has used Parting Paean on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Minsteru Teru has finished attacking.

Winterberry [?] has posed:

WITCH: 1
Winterberry: 1

THe smell of roses is almost horrible and displeases Winterberry, who has often, often, dealt with weird smelling stuff in her life so far. Physical contact wise, it is also not such a great thing, as she takes a rolling hit again, leaving her feeling, well, stept on.

"Ah, Vanilla-" She yells, but then stops. There's no point to it, she supposes, closing her eyes. Then Winterberry takes a pose, the snow wrapping around her comfortingly as she starts singing, her voice echoing through the area. It is not a good song.

The big line seems to be something like 'and your father smelt of elderberries'.

<<COMBAT>> Winterberry has used Song of Ice on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Winterberry has finished attacking.

Eri Shimanouchi [?] has posed:

It was only after the adrenaline of the situation began to wear off, after she had reacted, that it began to hit her. What had Homura stated before she shouted out the warning? Something about a horrible stench, this time. That was her stating that she'd fought it before, which explained her knowledge. And then she stated.. Oh no. She'd told her not to strike it with her powers.

While she didn't know the reasoning /why/ she shouldn't strike it with her powers she trusted in her greater experience, and in a brief moment she calls out to her creation, "Seymour! Fall back, you've done your duty!" The giant fly trap shrinks just as rapidly as it grew originally. Noting that the number of laughing faces had increased as a result of her attack, she speculates inwardly what that could possibly mean. Maybe it had something to do with it being another plant.

Searching the crowd for Homura, she falls back a bit closer to her. "Akemi-senpai." The smooth change in honorific just seems natural to her, "My apologies, I did not comprehend your warning in time. I will attempt to keep my distance and support the others rather than attacking."

And its then that the energy is redirected, right at her back. She looks over her shoulder, and attempts to spring in the way, but the beam of rose-scented blue light hits her head on the back. She's bowled over completely, head over heels, with a wisp of burning smoke trailing off her back. She grits her teeth, holding in a scream for a moment, before it releases from her anyhow in a heart-rending shriek.

Pounding her fist upon the ground, she tries to compose herself, before concentrating. As she concentrates, the solar energy from all the nearby plants begin to flow into her. While it doesn't do anything for her wounds, it does make bearing them.. slightly easier. Her voice is extraordinarily hoarse and shaken as she states Homura's way, "W-What do you recommend at this j-juncture, to evacuate the area, Akemi-senpai?"

<<COMBAT>> Eri Shimanouchi has used Solar Potenza on Eri Shimanouchi.

<<COMBAT>> Eri Shimanouchi has finished attacking.

<<COMBAT>> Eri Shimanouchi accepts Eri Shimanouchi's Solar Potenza, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Empower and Withstand applied to Eri Shimanouchi!

Fate Testarossa [?] has posed:

<MANA LOSS DETECTED.>
"Bardiche?"
<ANOMALY REPORTING AS WELL, SIR.>

Whether Bardiche was talking about the energy buildup, or something else entirely, it becomes fairly unimportant to Fate when the scented blue beams fire in every direction. She swerves to the side, floating in the air, the beam catching her left side, barely, and blowing a large chunk out of her cape. It may seem like just clothing damage but the Barrier Jacket's integrity is very important. Even losing "just the cape" is a hit on her armor, and not a minor one.

"We... we need to hit it hard."
<GLAIVE FORM.>

The scythe blade disappears, rather than being sustained in its weakened form. The axe blade angles upward, and sprouts three long fins of golden mana, like a spear with three thrusters. Fate idly spins the weapon once, and points it at the Rose Witch, as a build up of mana forms in front of her. Big ball of light, alive with purple lightning.

<THUNDER SMASHER.>
"We don't have time to charge it all the way, so... THUNDER SMASHEEEEER!" Fate swings Bardiche, breaking into the built-up mana. The predictable result is that Fate shoots a very large yellow laser at the unspeakable horror.

She's starting to look distracted by how much talking is going on, down on the ground. All those people, what are they planning? They know things, but she's... not sure she likes the idea of just flying down to talk to them. Most of them are... eventual enemies, if her experience so far is anything to go by.

<<COMBAT>> Fate Testarossa has used Thunder Smasher on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Fate Testarossa has finished attacking.

Alexandra Noblesse [?] has posed:

There's something intensely satisfying about /not/ sinking up to your shoulder in whatever you punch, and it's even more satisfying when you're angry, and were pretty sure the thing was going to dissolve into rose petals anyway. She slams the fist holding her cross necklace into the foot, causing a genuine, authentic, accept-no-imitations lens flare as the magical energy that had been building up in the chains of her necklace neatly drives itself INTO the giant foot.

"Ah, that is so much better... That's how that was supposed to go the first..." She pauses, noticing for the first time the rose petals crunching under her feet. "...time...?" Why are the rose petals glow-

SKY. ... Wait, sky? Sky isn't so bad, at least it's not as hard as the...

GROUND. Oh ow.

"...Eeeeet nous sommes ici ... ...Nouveau."<...Aaaaand here we are... ... Again.> Alexandra starts trying to get back up, somehow feeling like maybe, just maybe, she can stand. She's wrong. Actually, she falls onto her face, then gets back up, then falls onto her side, rolls over and gets back up, then trips, falls onto her knees, then onto her face, then rolls onto her side, then falls onto her back. So she's... you know... really wrong.

The student treasurer idly reaches a hand up into the air, and then just slams it down into some of the rose petals next to her. Violently. Take that. "...I bet Mom was never reduced to punching rose petals."

<<COMBAT>> Alexandra Noblesse has used Don't get up on my account. on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Alexandra Noblesse has finished attacking.

Sora Godai [?] has posed:

This time Sora can tell something is about to go awry. The smell was something she could handle (take /that/, Stoic Homura). The petals, too, she could live with. But the laughter? Something about it puts Light Maiden Hope on edge. Not only that, but as the disconcerting soundwaves heighten, so do the hairs on the back of Sora's neck stand on end.

For someone who didn't remember how to laugh, that particular sound felt even more alien than it already was, emanating from the monster.

Helping Anthy to her feet, Light Maiden Hope has only enough time to give the dull observation of "You are hurt," before her head jerks sharply at the beast. A split-second later: lasers.

Sora already has her folding fans out, having conjured them as if by magic. Their metal bodies glint in the light, and Sora does her best to meet every beam of energy shooting her way to deflect them. This act, feverishly whipping her arms every which way to defend herself from the onslaught of lasers, clearly puts a great amount of exertion on the girl. Her eyes are narrowed, and her lips are bared, revealing her grit teeth.

Next to her Anthy is struck.

Unacceptable.

Sora flicks her wrist, and the next moment one of the folding fans goes sailing through the air, swinging at the absurd monster before Sora pulls her arm back, tugging on the ribbon extending from her sleeve to said fan. The weapon returns to Light Maiden Hope's grasp before being thrown again, this time followed by its brethren. Over and over, Sora makes to slice at the unknown enemy with her metal fans from a distance, foregoing her own protection for the sake of protecting the innocents(?!).

<<COMBAT>> Sora Godai has used Majestic Folding Fan Blade Work Technique on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Sora Godai has finished attacking.

Kumi Chou [?] has posed:

Kumi smirked in satisfaction as her blow hit its mark, though perhaps not as hard as she would have liked... she looked pretty badass at least, and that had to be worth something. She looks almost smug when she attempts to pull her axe out of her foe to strike again. The smug look is gone when she finds that it's stuck. Then, there are the lasers. Lasers she tries to block with an axe that's currently stuck in her foe.

It goes about as well as one would think.

Kumi ends up blown away by the blast, rising to her feet as quickly as she can as another axe falls to the ground beside her, ready for her to take for her return strike.

"Take this!" she shouts as she charges in, bringing the axe down with both hands this time.

The other Magical Girls don't seem to be a concern for her at this point. It's between her... and the foot.

<<COMBAT>> Kumi Chou has used Monarch Strike on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Kumi Chou has finished attacking.

Homura Akemi [?] has posed:

'We've almost got it down, I think...'

You only have the privilege of thinking that way because you know nothing.

"Listen to me." The Puella Magi's tone remains neutral, but there is a hint of ... desperation? It's very faint. Her gaze returns to regard Miki coolly as she speaks, "Fighting it won't do any good. You have to wait until..."

'I'm sure you want to save someone this time, too, Akemi-san.'

She wasn't anticipating that. The words from the mouth of Anthy Himemiya slices through the layers of protection Homura had built over herself like a finely honed blade. In an instant she turns to face the mysterious Rose Bride as she stands beside Sora, who had just helped her up. At that instant the Puella Magi's face is delightfully shocked. An expression all the more precious for its rarity. And rare it is indeed for within the next few moments it goes away, being replaced once more with that cold and unemotional mask that she often hides behind.

What was that about? Homura wants to know. Perhaps it was nothing. Perhaps it was just a fluke. Still, she will be keeping a closer eye on Anthy Himemiya.

Eri arrives, bowled over as she is by a beam of rose-scented blue light. Another beam was meant for Homura, and it does a fine job of slicing through the air she once inhabited and decorating it with rose petals. Meanwhile Homura herself stands just a few feet from where she was before. She looks down at Eri, and then offers a hand to help her fellow Puella Magi to her feet. "Unfortunately I don't think we'll be able to convince the others." Homura admits. "They will have to learn from their own mistakes."

The mysterious Puella Magi turns her gaze across the battlefield to look and see if there are any more 'Innocents', non-combatants, still on the field. "My advice for you would be to withdraw. However, if you are not satisfied with that, you can try to evacuate the remaining Innocents in the area."

<<COMBAT>> Homura Akemi has used Calm Reassurance on Eri Shimanouchi.

<<COMBAT>> Homura Akemi has finished attacking.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick fails to dodge Sakura Kinomoto's Showing Off, taking 21 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Sakura Kinomoto is Psyched!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick narrowly counters Syaoran Li's Coming of the Thunder Emperor, taking 5 Fatigue damage! Stun applied to Pink Moon Stick!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick's counterattack, Absorption, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Syaoran Li!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick fails to brace Aimi Saionji's Naname-geri, taking 19 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick perfectly counters Minsteru Teru's Parting Paean, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter! Bind Break! All of Minsteru Teru's debuffs are cleared!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick's counterattack, Absorption, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Minsteru Teru!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick narrowly dodges Winterberry's Song of Ice, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Pink Moon Stick is Quipped!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick fails to brace Miki Kaoru's Changement de Rhythme, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Stagger, Stun, and Trap applied to Pink Moon Stick!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick narrowly counters Fate Testarossa's Thunder Smasher, taking 25 Fatigue damage!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick's counterattack, Absorption, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Fate Testarossa!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick fails to brace Sora Godai's Majestic Folding Fan Blade Work Technique, taking 26 Fatigue damage!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick fails to dodge Kumi Chou's Monarch Strike, taking 21 Fatigue damage! Cripple applied to Pink Moon Stick!

Pink Moon Stick [A] has posed:

The gymnastics horse is crushed between two toes, but not before causing a bruise to rise. The Smelly Rose Witch seems to recognize its not-really-a-comrade Windy, but despite its efforts to escape, cannot seem to get away from the tearing, thrashing winds. At least the ground is being swept relatively clean, making it a safer battlefield for all.

It seems to be dropping its pretense a little bit; all the roses are laughing now, laughing as they veritably inhale Syaoran Li's lightning like they're at an all-you-can-eat ion buffet. They spit some of it out with surprise as Warm Vanilla Sugar kicks them in their many faces, though. Still, they're quick enough to gobble down Minsteru Teru's energy ball.

Is it just everyone, or is the rosebush getting bigger?

No matter how much stronger, faster, or better than before It was, It can't outgrow Winterberry's song, which makes It wilt a little, some of that laughter transforming to tears. Miki slashes at It further, drawing more of that silvery 'blood' that coagulates firmly back into the mass.

Eri's amassing of photonic energy seems to draw Its attention, and It starts lumbering that direction, only to be distracted by Fate instead. It takes the Thunder Smasher full to the face, which bowls It right off Its foot! That foot seems far larger than before, however, even as yellow lightning crackles between its toes and across its sole.

Alexandra punches some petals, and the idea that The Smelly Rose Witch is an unworthy opponent seems to be a significant blow to Its ego. Its toes twitch unhappily, but not nearly as much so as when those fans start dissolving into its flesh, one after the other.

The axe blade of Kumi's, too, opens up another monstrous, rapidly healing silvery wound.

Rather than try to right itself -- not an easy task when you're a huge blue rosebush with one foot -- it simply starts to rock, then roll, seeking to catch anyone too slow to get out of its path in bloodsucking, terrible thorns.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Every Rose Has Its Thorns on Kumi Chou.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Every Rose Has Its Thorns on Sora Godai.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Every Rose Has Its Thorns on Alexandra Noblesse.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Every Rose Has Its Thorns on Fate Testarossa.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Every Rose Has Its Thorns on Eri Shimanouchi.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Every Rose Has Its Thorns on Miki Kaoru.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Every Rose Has Its Thorns on Winterberry.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Every Rose Has Its Thorns on Minsteru Teru.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Every Rose Has Its Thorns on Aimi Saionji.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Every Rose Has Its Thorns on Anthy Himemiya.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Every Rose Has Its Thorns on Syaoran Li.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Every Rose Has Its Thorns on Sakura Kinomoto.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Every Rose Has Its Thorns on Homura Akemi.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has finished attacking.

<<COMBAT>> Syaoran Li narrowly counters Pink Moon Stick's Every Rose Has Its Thorns, taking 7 Fatigue damage! Pink Moon Stick is Psyched! Syaoran Li's Reverse ability activates! Syaoran Li's Tactician ability activates! Trap applied to Syaoran Li!

<<COMBAT>> Syaoran Li's counterattack, Getting Beat Up By A Little Kid, partially gets through, doing 2 Fatigue damage to Pink Moon Stick!

<<COMBAT>> Homura Akemi perfectly dodges Pink Moon Stick's Every Rose Has Its Thorns, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Dodge! Homura Akemi's Fade ability activates! Homura Akemi's Flash ability activates!

<<COMBAT>> Sakura Kinomoto narrowly dodges Pink Moon Stick's Every Rose Has Its Thorns, taking 8 Fatigue damage! Sakura Kinomoto's Fade ability activates! Sakura Kinomoto's Flash ability activates! Trap applied to Sakura Kinomoto!

<<COMBAT>> Eri Shimanouchi accepts Homura Akemi's Calm Reassurance, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Eri Shimanouchi is Cheered!

<<COMBAT>> Minsteru Teru narrowly dodges Pink Moon Stick's Every Rose Has Its Thorns, taking 2 Fatigue damage! Trap applied to Minsteru Teru!

<<COMBAT>> Eri Shimanouchi narrowly braces Pink Moon Stick's Every Rose Has Its Thorns, taking 5 Fatigue damage! Eri Shimanouchi's Block ability activates! Eri Shimanouchi's Parry ability activates!

<<COMBAT>> Sora Godai fails to dodge Pink Moon Stick's Every Rose Has Its Thorns, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Trap applied to Sora Godai!

<<COMBAT>> Aimi Saionji fails to dodge Pink Moon Stick's Every Rose Has Its Thorns, taking 10 Fatigue damage! Trap applied to Aimi Saionji!

<<COMBAT>> Kumi Chou narrowly counters Pink Moon Stick's Every Rose Has Its Thorns, taking 8 Fatigue damage! Kumi Chou's Reverse ability activates! Trap applied to Kumi Chou!

<<COMBAT>> Kumi Chou's counterattack, Cocoon Feign, partially gets through, doing 6 Fatigue damage to Pink Moon Stick!

<<COMBAT>> Miki Kaoru fails to dodge Pink Moon Stick's Every Rose Has Its Thorns, taking 12 Fatigue damage!

<<COMBAT>> Miki Kaoru tries to cover Anthy Himemiya for Pink Moon Stick's attack, Every Rose Has Its Thorns, but cannot get there in time!

<<COMBAT>> Anthy Himemiya accepts Pink Moon Stick's Every Rose Has Its Thorns, taking 10 Fatigue damage! Trap applied to Anthy Himemiya!

<<COMBAT>> Alexandra Noblesse fails to brace Pink Moon Stick's Every Rose Has Its Thorns, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Trap applied to Alexandra Noblesse!

<<COMBAT>> Winterberry fails to brace Pink Moon Stick's Every Rose Has Its Thorns, taking 11 Fatigue damage! Trap applied to Winterberry!

<<COMBAT>> Fate Testarossa perfectly counters Pink Moon Stick's Every Rose Has Its Thorns, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter!

<<COMBAT>> Fate Testarossa's counterattack, Thunder Arm, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Pink Moon Stick!

Sakura Kinomoto [?] has posed:

"What? Firey? Big? Are those also cards? I don't have them! I only just sta-HOE!" Big thorns! Big scary thorns! Sakura flies desperately out of the way, managing to avoid the worst of it. "Please don't distract me! I think I've got this!" She holds one hand high in the air with Windy's card in it. "Breeze, blow and toss! Gale, fly to my aid! WINDY, COME FORTH!" The winds that had been pervasive throughout this battle build and boil in intensity around her, creating a swirling vortext that builds in intensity for a few seconds before hurling itself at the rose-monster, attempting to scatter every leaf, thorn, stem and petal in all directions.

<<COMBAT>> FINISHER! Sakura Kinomoto has used Overwhelming Power on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Sakura Kinomoto has finished attacking.

Aimi Saionji [?] has posed:

Warm Vanilla Sugar once more tries to dodge out of the way from the evil rose beast thing's rolling. She... is less than successful, noy only getting rolled over but as well as getting rather painful thorns stuck in her legs. Vanilla tries to remain calm. She is a newbie. She is learning. She is in quite a bit of pain. Vanilla doubts that her parents ever thought she would end up in a situation like this.

She stands up, focusing on the beast as it rolls around. "You know... I think I don't like you."

Vanilla's not going to let this thing get the better of her. Not going to let it beat her down and defeat her. She won't allow it. Not now, not ever. She gathered up her strength, ignoring all the weakness and pain that she has been taking now. She focuses everything. "You won't stop me... not when I have my friends... my allies... I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU WIN!" Vanilla then launches herself forward once more at the rose bush of death, just going to throw a magically infused punch at it, putting all she could for now into it.

<<COMBAT>> Aimi Saionji has used Can't Keep Her Down on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Aimi Saionji has finished attacking.

Winterberry [?] has posed:

It seems to have taken exception to the 'elderberries' comment.

Winterberry considers the situation they all seem to be in. She grits her teeth, and then nods consideringly. Riiiight, everyone needs time to throw together some big attacks. Winterberry can do that.

She twirls her hands together, gathering some very heavily scented winterberry energy. She then charges forward, aiming to go the distance and cut some of it- "Winter is coming! ICY BLAST!"

There is a very bad blizzard and ice storm in the form of a very large energy ball, aiming to freeze the angry opponent!

<<COMBAT>> Winterberry has used Icy Blast on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Winterberry has finished attacking.

Fate Testarossa [?] has posed:

<SIR. CALL DEFENSER.>
"No, you'll be damaged, and it'll absorb more magic. I..."

It's rolling! It could cause a lot of collateral here. Someone has to stop it. C'mon, someone stop it. Aww crap.
Part of Fate thinks "this isn't my problem".
The other can't stand this destruction.

The dark magical girl blurs, travelling across the battleground like a lightning bolt. She plops down right in front of the Smelly Rose Witch, lifting her free hand up as lightning crackles into existence, gathering in her arm. It forms a massive shield of yellow light, which the Witch slams into; and it can't break through, at least not YET. Fate struggles to maintain the shield, enough that she falls to one knee.

"B-Bardiche... NOW!"

<LIGHTNING BIND.>

More lightning appears, and it attempts to form massive shackles of yellow light around the monster, all the while it probably continues to rage against the Thunder Arm spell. The black-caped blonde won't last much longer, but she figures this is the best way to help. And more importantly, to be close enough to the Witch so she can spot a prize, if there's going to be one.

<<COMBAT>> Fate Testarossa has used Lightning Bind on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Fate Testarossa has finished attacking.

Syaoran Li [?] has posed:

"Don't have...THEY'RE ALL SUPPOSED TO BE IN THE BOX! DID YOU TRADE THEM FOR POKEMON CARDS OR WHAT?"

>:|

Syaoran Li 's shoulers droop as he watches the Cardcaptor continue flapping around on her magical...pink...staff.

>:|

"My inheritance has been stolen...by an idiot," he sighs. "Look, just stop it with the wind, it's not going to---"

>:|

"---do---"

>:O

Oh my god, Syaoran thinks as he stares at the massive vortex of wind energy the little girl has generated. That much power is...is on par with his own. And she's just...just started...what?

It is almost a relief when he nearly gets murdered by a rolling ball of thorns; the spikes poke drain more mana from his barrier, and he knocks a few away with sharp palm strikes. The magus hops backward, cloak
fluttering, his eventual course taking him unknowingly close to where Anthy is cowering. Syaoran draws in a breath, focusing his energy, white light gathering within the blade of his great-grandfather, the man known to history as China's First Sword. The magus emits a low, determined shout and slashes forward, sending a curved, sharp blade of energy whipping at the roiling ball. He does it again, sending another energy blade forward, then again and again and again.

The sword, Anthy will note, looks an awful lot like Seifuku Kamen's. Which is weird, because this kid isn't wearing a seifuku.

<<COMBAT>> Syaoran Li has used Link Is At Full Health on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Syaoran Li has finished attacking.

Minsteru Teru [?] has posed:

Expertly sidestepping, Teru sneers at the monster over her shoulder. "I WAS TALKING," she yells in the foot's direction, spittle flying from her mouth in her rage. She peels away from the two puellae magi-- she will deal with them later, she decides. But if Teru knows one thing, it's that SHE is the one true competent one here. What did it matter if two underclassmen join in? If this thing's going to go down, it's going to be her who brings it down.

Conjuring her projectiles once more, she makes sure to aim carefully and fling them with extreme prejudice.

<<COMBAT>> Minsteru Teru has used Treble Cleave on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Minsteru Teru has finished attacking.

Eri Shimanouchi [?] has posed:

Eri isn't too proud to take her hand. She grasps it, her hand tremulous, her demeanor shaken. She wasn't used to the pain, even if it felt like it still hurt less than it ought to have. However, Homura's calming presence seems to cause some of her anxiety to flee from her, and she even manages a wan smile. "I can't just withdraw. But I won't attack it directly, either... I'll see where my efforts can be of most use."

The creature lumbers her way as she glows brighter with solar energy and she observes it calmly, "Maybe..."

Very much like a plant. "...I could draw it away, if the others would stop attacking, but I very much doubt they will... Akemi-senpai... if magical attacks won't serve. You appear to be faster than I. Would you be able to retrieve a bag of Bromacil from the shed by the garden? It may not defeat it, but it might drive it away. It is a potent plantkiller."

The thorns come her way, and this time she swings her whip around in a circle, seeking to intercept it as it rolls her way. It drives into her, but she manages to keep it from doing too much damage, its thorns tracing a line against her arms.

And then she begins to run away a short distance. Taking a deep breath, and she begins to wave her arms wildly in the air, attempting to distract the creature away from the battle. Lead it away from the campus. "HEY YOU! YEAH YOU! YOU SHOULD FEEL ASHAMED OF YOURSELF! YOU ARE GIVING ROSES A BAD NAME!" ...Okay Eri Shimanouchi is apparently terrible at insults and taunting, really terrible. Like, /really/ terrible. But she tries her hardest to distract it away.

<<COMBAT>> Eri Shimanouchi has used Bad Roses, BAD! on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Eri Shimanouchi has finished attacking.

Miki Kaoru [?] has posed:

"Wait! We can't what? Unless what?!" Miki only now hears Homura's cryptic partial-warning, but by the time he's able to react, she's gone. Who was she? Why did she know so much about this thing? Did she know Himemiya...!?

As the monster rolls towards the others, he can just imagine it flattening the poor Rose Bride. "Himemiya-san...!" He runs to try to save her, rolled by spikes and thorns along the way and groaning in pain. He can see her in his sights...but the pain is temporarily too much, and he stumbles, exhausted.

"...Himemiya. I'm sorry...!"

He turns to the monster, glaring. It's true, he may have failed her, but he is still a Student Council member. True that he knows nothing about what he faces, but that just means it's his job to find out more. The presence of that monster, in the meantime, cannot be tolerated.

The signet on his ring flashes in the dim light as he runs at full speed at the monster, attempting a piercing strike through the layers of spines, hoping the sword connects with whatever is inside of the monster. It is a powerful, swift strike, fueled by...shame, really.

<<COMBAT>> Miki Kaoru has used Failure Prince Piercing Slash on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Miki Kaoru has finished attacking.

Sora Godai [?] has posed:

Sora prepares to press her offense when the monster beats her to it.

The girl's narrowed eyes widen ever so slightly and she tries to get out of the way of what was basically a huge ball of thorns intent on sucking her dry. And she should have been able to. She was a Light Maiden. She should have strived to be as fast as light itself.

Not only that but she was Light Maiden /Hope/, the strongest of Light Maidens!

But then why? Why..? When the huge ball came rolling her way and Sora tried to escape it... why did it fail?

The thorns rip into her flesh, leaving ugly gashes in her dark robes. The cloth grows ever-darker as blood seeps through, and for a moment Light Maiden Hope loses her bearings. Everywhere she looks, all she sees are vines closing in on her from all directions. And in the back of her head the seed of despair strikes root. 'Why couldn't she dodge? Why couldn't she protect Anthy? Why couldn't she stop the monster?'

It was just like that time... back when Light Maiden Hope originally fell...

"Come to me," Sora whispers, wrapping her arms around herself, seeking protection and comfort. "Help me."

At the corners of everyone's peripheral vision, a spirit of shadow and smoke forms. Bounding on all fours, the manifestation of a Kitsune charges at the thorns, snapping its jaws and swiping at the vines with sharp claws.

Its mistress needed help.

<<COMBAT>> Sora Godai has used In Winter Solitude A Kitsune's Heart Brings Laughter on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Sora Godai has finished attacking.

Kumi Chou [?] has posed:

This was unexpected.

A giant ball of thorns was headed straight for her. There was only one thing to be done. Kumi feigned her injuries worse than they were, hoping the youma would be unable to follow her when she made her move. And then, just before a thorn or five struck her, she flew (not literally, mostly) out of the way, spinning around to bring her axe into her foe in a counter-attack. Of course, the decision to attack a tornado of thorns was a little ill-advised, and she takes a thorn to the side as she makes her hit, taking about as much as she gave.

And it's at this point she notices the wounds rapidly healing. She furrows her brow, conjuring a strange, sparkling grey powder which she throws towards the wound, hoping to both disable and prevent the regeneration.

Only one thing is certain, however. She's not very good at teamwork.

<<COMBAT>> Kumi Chou has used Moth Dust on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Kumi Chou has finished attacking.

Anthy Himemiya [?] has posed:

The smell meanwhile just doesn't even phase Anthy. Honestly, given how much time she spends around roses, she probably doesn't even notice it. Falling back from where she sent her killer fly-trap against the rose witch, Eri addresses Homura, and Anthy finds her gaze falling on her. She tilts her head, gaze fixing on her mask. "Are you...?" she begins to wonder, save that Homura gives her an utterly shocked look. Anthy rewards her with a slightly puzzled smile. "Is... something the matter? You helped save that egg the last time, too, didn't you...?"

And yet, her green eyes linger on her just a little too long.

Miki declares his intentions to protect Anthy, but doesn't pay attention to her suggestion that they listen to Homura, and the purple-haired girl gives him a smile. One exactly like the one she gave Homura, in fact. "Thanks much," she replies, watching him go. Sora, meanwhile, makes the observation that Anthy is hurt, and when she continues to be hurt by lasers, takes it as reason to fight that much harder. The dark-skinned girl watches her for a moment, sweat beading on her face. She struggles to rise...

...and then the thorned vines whorl out into everyone gathered. Anthy can see Miki trying to run to protect her, but he's not fast enough; nor is Sora able to, and the Rose Bride is left to her fate. The thorned vines roil at her feet and rise up, dragging her with them, thorns digging into her skin and drawing blood. She screams again, and when she's pulled upright, her head lolls down.

Her glasses slip, and then fall.

When Anthy lifts her head, her emerald eyes stare out hazily, the deep pupils empty. Even when she slowly turns her head towards Syaoran as he lands nearby to land on that sword, her breath is too labored for her to speak.

"Ute...na...sama..." she whispers, head lolling down again.

<<COMBAT>> Anthy Himemiya has finished attacking.

Alexandra Noblesse [?] has posed:

As it turns out, rose petals are not especially good at dodging a hand, no matter how indifferently it is slammed down into them. Alexandra chuckles a little bit to herself, then shakes her head at her own self-satisfaction. Weren't there people out there getting hurt while she was laying down? That's just...

"Unacceptable." The young Noblesse slowly manages to stand to her feet again, struggling, but she's up! This is great! Everything's going to be fine! See? Because she can stand!

"...Rose...bush..." Alexandra only just barely got up in time to see a giant rosebush rolling towards her, thorns and all. She could probably hit it... sure, she probably should've punched it... but the thought really doesn't occur to her. Her thought process isn't really in that coherent of a state, to be honest. She holds up an arm to block it, a poor choice of defense against a rose bush... and then shouts out in pain before biting down on her lip and silencing herself. Unsurprisingly, her 'hold up your arm and brace yourself' technique was ineffective. On the bright side, she's still standing.

"Huh. Look at that." She glances down at her right hand, where the chains of her necklace haven't lost their light. "...Thanks, mom." She glances over to the witch again, uncertain of what to do, but knowing this is probably her last shot. "...but I don't plan on seeing you just yet."

Alexandra turns, and does exactly what she's been doing this whole fight... Running in and hitting things as hard as she can. There's a lot of chaos going on everywhere. Lightning, axe slashes, magic she doesn't even recognize... Oh, look, there's a tornado over there. On any other day that might seem strange. Today, though, Alexandra is running in to cross-punch a giant foot with a hand wrapped in a necklace given to her by her mother. The tornado is acceptable.

<<COMBAT>> Alexandra Noblesse has used "On any other day..." on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Alexandra Noblesse has finished attacking.

Homura Akemi [?] has posed:

After helping Eri to stand up Homura listens quietly to her words. Homura's eyes narrow a bit. Of course this is the downside to unseasoned Puella Magi. She wonders, dully, if Eri will abandon her internal sense of justice first ... or if she'll let it kill her.

Perhaps she already knows the answer.

"It won't do any good." Homura states plainly when it is suggested that she go grab the Bromacil. She then pauses, "But I will let you try." Homura states plainly.

'You helped save that egg the last time, too, didn't you...?' Of course. That must be what Anthy was talking about. Still Homura can't help but feel a bit uneasy about Anthy Himemiya. There's something in her behavior that seems to suggest she's not the same as the rest.

The giant blue rose ball (with a foot) decides that its best course of action is to do what balls do best and try to roll over everyone. Thankfully for Homura such an obvious attack is easy to predict, and avoid. While Eri is left behind to try and endure the attack the best she can, once again Homura simply ... is not there when it hits. Instead she has arrived half a battlefield away, stepping out from behind Kumi after she has recovered from the Unknown Creature's attack.

"This creature is not a Witch." Homura tells her fellow Puella Magi. "It will not yield a Grief Seed, even if it were possible to defeat it here." She turns her head so she can gaze over her shoulder at Kumi. "Most of the others don't have to worry about preserving their powers, so they will expend it needlessly and to no effect."

<<Will you heed my words, Kumi Chou?>> Homura's words resound in Kumi's head. <<Withdraw. The creature will leave on its own in time, as long as we deprive it of the energy it seeks.>>

Meanwhile at around this time Eri will likely notice there's a bag of Bromacil by her feet. Homura Akemi: Freaky fast deliveries.

<<COMBAT>> Homura Akemi has used Calm Reassurance on Kumi Chou.

<<COMBAT>> Homura Akemi has finished attacking.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick fails to brace Sakura Kinomoto's Finisher, Combo: Overwhelming Power, taking 60 Fatigue damage!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick narrowly braces Aimi Saionji's Can't Keep Her Down, taking 18 Fatigue damage! Aimi Saionji is Psyched! Pink Moon Stick's Block ability activates! Pink Moon Stick's Parry ability activates!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick perfectly counters Winterberry's Icy Blast, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Critical Counter!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick's counterattack, Absorption, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Winterberry!

<<COMBAT>> Kumi Chou accepts Homura Akemi's Calm Reassurance, taking 0 Fatigue damage!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick fails to dodge Fate Testarossa's Lightning Bind, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Fate Testarossa is Psyched! Stun and Trap applied to Pink Moon Stick!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick fails to brace Syaoran Li's Link Is At Full Health, taking 12 Fatigue damage!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick narrowly braces Minsteru Teru's Treble Cleave, taking 4 Fatigue damage! Pink Moon Stick's Block ability activates! Pink Moon Stick's Parry ability activates!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick narrowly dodges Eri Shimanouchi's Bad Roses, BAD!, taking 0 Fatigue damage!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick fails to brace Miki Kaoru's Failure Prince Piercing Slash, taking 20 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick perfectly counters Sora Godai's In Winter Solitude A Kitsune's Heart Brings Laughter, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick's counterattack, Absorption, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Sora Godai!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick fails to dodge Kumi Chou's Moth Dust, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Blind and Stun applied to Pink Moon Stick!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick fails to brace Alexandra Noblesse's "On any other day...", taking 19 Fatigue damage!

Pink Moon Stick [A] has posed:

Windy easily knocks The Smelly Rose Witch up into the air, leaving It quite vulnerable to further attacks even as it separates roses from stems, blue petals disintegrating into silver vapor which rains onto the ground below.

Warm Vanilla Sugar's attack connects squarely, though, plowing past the thorns to impact with something that feels rather gelatinous and gross. It's a stinging feeling, the magic being ripped out of her punch and into... whatever it is, but as the veritable hurricane is still chucking everything about, the moment doesn't last long before she's flung away.

This time, rather than effective snowballs, that huge icy blast seems to just dissolve on impact, making the roses bluer and better than ever. It's distracted in that moment, though, and doesn't seem prepared to suck down the Lightning Bind just yet. Still, Fate's wise trap seems to be arcing more into than around the creature -- how long will it last?

Long enough for Syaoran /and/ Miki to skewer it with their swords, apparently, and for Alexandra to smack it with a holy symbol for good measure.

Long enough, too, for Minsteru Teru's treble notes to cleave into it rather than simply being absorbed.

Long enough for Eri to make some of the few remaining rosefaces goggle a little at her insults.

But by the time Sora is frantically calling for help, that help is too late; with every rip and tear of her shadowy friend's claws, it is sucked into the very thorns it's trying to disperse. They seem to wither a bit beneath Kumi's powder, though, giving her the moment she may have been trying to create.

By the time the gale has died down, Windy's power exhausted for now, the so-called The Smelly Rose Witch no longer looks much like a smelly rose witch Clow Card. No, indeed. Now it looks like a sphere again, but no longer an entirely silvery one. All manner of colors coruscate prismatically upon its surface.

Familiar colors, every one.

"MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORE!!" it bellows from no obvious mouth, before seeming to suck energy straight out of the brave Sakura Kinomoto (who caught its eye with that enormous attack), turning white-hot with either the transfer or the anticipation of same.

No small amount of that white light arcs to other targets, as well. Energy does need to be redistributed, and it can be a messy process.

Afterwards, though, it seems momentarily quiescient, even... vulnerable? Certainly, it's holding more still than it has in some time.

<<COMBAT>> FINISHER! Pink Moon Stick has used Ultimate Consumption on Sakura Kinomoto.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Energy Redistribution on Homura Akemi.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Energy Redistribution on Alexandra Noblesse.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Energy Redistribution on Anthy Himemiya.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Energy Redistribution on Kumi Chou.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Energy Redistribution on Sora Godai.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Energy Redistribution on Miki Kaoru.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has finished attacking.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Energy Redistribution on Eri Shimanouchi.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Energy Redistribution on Minsteru Teru.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Energy Redistribution on Syaoran Li.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Energy Redistribution on Fate Testarossa.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Energy Redistribution on Winterberry.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has used Energy Redistribution on Aimi Saionji.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick has finished attacking.

<<COMBAT>> Sora Godai fails to dodge Pink Moon Stick's Energy Redistribution, taking 19 Fatigue damage! Stagger applied to Sora Godai!

<<COMBAT>> Homura Akemi perfectly counters Pink Moon Stick's Energy Redistribution, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter!

<<COMBAT>> Homura Akemi's counterattack, Flashstep, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Pink Moon Stick!

<<COMBAT>> Syaoran Li fails to dodge Pink Moon Stick's Energy Redistribution, taking 19 Fatigue damage! Stagger and Stun applied to Syaoran Li!

<<COMBAT>> Aimi Saionji narrowly braces Pink Moon Stick's Energy Redistribution, taking 14 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Stagger and Stun applied to Aimi Saionji!

<<COMBAT>> Miki Kaoru narrowly dodges Pink Moon Stick's Energy Redistribution, taking 15 Fatigue damage! Stun applied to Miki Kaoru!

<<COMBAT>> Fate Testarossa fails to dodge Pink Moon Stick's Energy Redistribution, taking 18 Fatigue damage! Stagger and Stun applied to Fate Testarossa!

<<COMBAT>> Eri Shimanouchi narrowly counters Pink Moon Stick's Energy Redistribution, taking 14 Fatigue damage! Eri Shimanouchi's Reverse ability activates! Stagger and Stun applied to Eri Shimanouchi!

<<COMBAT>> Eri Shimanouchi's counterattack, Plant Killer ;_;, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Pink Moon Stick!

<<COMBAT>> Winterberry fails to dodge Pink Moon Stick's Energy Redistribution, taking 21 Fatigue damage! Stagger and Stun applied to Winterberry!

<<COMBAT>> Sakura Kinomoto perfectly dodges Pink Moon Stick's Finisher, Ultimate Consumption, taking 0 Mana damage! Critical Dodge! Sakura Kinomoto's Fade ability activates! Sakura Kinomoto's Flash ability activates!

<<COMBAT>> Alexandra Noblesse fails to dodge Pink Moon Stick's Energy Redistribution, taking 24 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!

<<COMBAT>> Minsteru Teru fails to brace Pink Moon Stick's Energy Redistribution, taking 20 Fatigue damage! Stagger and Stun applied to Minsteru Teru!

<<COMBAT>> Miki Kaoru covers Anthy Himemiya for Pink Moon Stick's attack, Energy Redistribution, taking it upon themselves instead!

<<COMBAT>> Miki Kaoru fails to dodge Pink Moon Stick's Energy Redistribution, taking 25 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Stagger and Stun applied to Miki Kaoru!

<<COMBAT>> Kumi Chou fails to brace Pink Moon Stick's Energy Redistribution, taking 26 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Stagger and Stun applied to Kumi Chou!

Eri Shimanouchi [?] has posed:

Eri Shimanouchi just listens to Homura stating that it won't do any good. So far she has been right. But then the bag of Bromacil appears at her feet. The mixed signals gives a strange sort of confusion to Eri Shimanouchi, and she literally has no idea what to think about that.

Eri pauses, her brow actually furrowing before she finally replies to her statement, "I know it won't yield a grief seed, Akemi-senpai. But I can't just stand by and do /nothing/, even if I value your advice. I.. I have to try..."

Picking up the bag, she rushes forward, and then jumps high into the air, actually performing a flip. The energy beam attack strikes her right as she rips open the bag and dumps the entirety of the contents on top of it, or at least as much as she can manage midflight(Which is probably less than she hoped). For some reason she /really/ hated the idea of doing this to roses but.. these were really evil roses. She died a little inside, anyhow as the bag of plant killer wafts all around the creature.

As she hits the ground, she doesn't do so perfectly, instead falling to her side and skidding for a while, she writhed internally as she she felt the extent of her injuries, gritting her teeth and holding her abdomen and just trying to hold it all in.

<<COMBAT>> Eri Shimanouchi has used Plant Killer ;_; on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Eri Shimanouchi has finished attacking.

Sakura Kinomoto [?] has posed:

Sakura Kinomoto is apparently getting the hang on flying, because she recovers quickly enough from her dismay that it's still standing to dip and spin out of the way of its glaring counter-attack. And Windy is clearly running on empty as well, too! "Windy, stay with me please! We have to help these people." The wind-sprite responds with another effort to push the beast over but it's clear that her last attempt took a lot out of her.

<<COMBAT>> Sakura Kinomoto has used Clever Distraction on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Sakura Kinomoto has finished attacking.

Minsteru Teru [?] has posed:

That hurt.

Teru's knees buckle and give out as she weathers the blow. Her muscles are screaming and aching in protest as she wobbles back to her feet. She gnashes her teeth together, gritting them as tears prick in her eyes. This... is one fancy piece of equipment. She'll give it that much.

But the Head of the Togami Family was depending on her. And what has she been taught to do when trapped in a corner?

Act like there's no corner at all.

"That the... best you got?" she growls, more for herself than for the monster to hear. Shaking and trembling enough to betray how battered she is, she pulls back, stretches as if she's hardly hurt at all... and practices her scales and her arpeggios.

<<COMBAT>> Minsteru Teru has used Arpeggio on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Minsteru Teru has finished attacking.

Aimi Saionji [?] has posed:

Warm Vanilla Sugar flips in the air from being flung, thanks to the magical powers of being a magical girl, going to land safely on the ground as she looks at the beast. "More?" She says softly, taking in everything that she's seen, and what she has felt. She braces herself as the beam of energy strikes out at her, just barely bracing herself as attack strikes her. It hurts, and she winces, feeling the wear of the battle starting to take its toll on her. And the beast itself is just taking everything they've got at it...

"Wait... more..." Vanilla says, looking back up at the beast. "More... energy?" While she wasn't totally sure, but it was starting to make sense. It didn't seem like a Dark Scent till they attacked it, and the rest... what is this beast?

Vanilla rushes over to Winterberry, panting a bit and hoping that she was okay. She smiles, seeing that her friend and ally was, at the least still kicking herself, giving her a warm, reassuring hug. "Thank god you're still alive... okay, I think we can do this now then. The two of us will have to do this together." Vanilla says. She closes her eyes, tapping into her power and letting out a small wave of golden, vanilla scented energy out to wash over her and Winterberry. It doesn't heal, but it should do something about the nasty aftereffects that the battle has been leaving on the two.

"Okay... now we just need to convince people to stop trying to defeat this thing. I think we're just making it stronger." Vanilla finally says. "I struck it with magic and... while it might have hurt it, it also felt like it drained the magic into itself."

<<COMBAT>> Aimi Saionji has used Vanilla Cleansing Wave on Winterberry.

<<COMBAT>> Aimi Saionji has used Vanilla Cleansing Wave on Aimi Saionji.

<<COMBAT>> Aimi Saionji has finished attacking.

<<COMBAT>> Aimi Saionji accepts Aimi Saionji's Vanilla Cleansing Wave, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Cleanse! All of Aimi Saionji's debuffs are cleared!

Miki Kaoru [?] has posed:

It has a MOUTH.

This time, Miki's close enough to Anthy to help shield her against the onslaught of laser fire, though it certainly doesn't do HIM much good. He's left deeply weakened and exhausted, kneeling to try to catch his breath, and turns around to see the young boy with the sword. Miki doesn't know his name, but that's Syaoran Li.

"Excuse me! Could you cover me for a moment? I'm going to help Himemiya..." He indicates towards where Himemiya is trapped in thorns, working with his sword to try to cut her out. He has enough energy at least to do that.

"Himemiya, are you alright...?" He hadn't heard her call out Utena's name, after all. Perhaps that would have dampened his resolve if he had.

Miki understands timing. As a musician, he has to. He watches the monster, snapping his fingers at just the right moment as if he had his stopwatch in hand. "Okay!" He looks to Li. "Let's hit it now!"

He dashes forward with his sword with grace he shouldn't have at his physical state, looking noble and-well, princely, even if he isn't the true Prince. This is the sure, swift strike, one with the elegance and sharpness of the blue rose, the strike he would use to finish off the duel...

And indeed, he does try to knock some of the roses off of the monster in the process.

<<COMBAT>> Miki Kaoru has started a combo targeting Pink Moon Stick!

Sora Godai [?] has posed:

Her Kitsune friend failing in its mission, Sora is left alone, trapped in her prison of vines. For being designated as Hope, in that moment the girl felt anything but.

She was supposed to be better than this.

She was supposed to defend everyone.

There was a time that she /did/.

Now everything is different. She was different, the world was different, even her powers were different. She was weak. Or perhaps she had been weak all along? She /had/ fallen once before, after all.

These thoughts, and more, flash through the girl's head and almost leave her teetering at the edge of despair.

Almost - because Sora is not one to succumb to such emotional reactions. Not anymore. She /has/ changed. And instead... Sora just feels discontent.

She opens her eyes and gives the monster an icy glare.

"I tire of you," she states in her soft, calm voice, now imbued with a steely edge.

<<COMBAT>> Sora Godai has used Join Me In The Abyss Of Loneliness on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Sora Godai has finished attacking.

Syaoran Li [?] has posed:

Syaoran Li grits his teeth, the tip of his sword drooping slightly toward the ground, fatigue transforming his limbs into lead weights. He swallows against a dry throat, trying to--

The red blossom bends
and drips its dew to the ground
Like a tear, it falls

The young boy whirls, eyes widening as he sees Anthy Himemiya strung up like some sort of Passion of the Silver Rose Christ, and for the first time since he saw her, the Cardcaptor is entirely outside of his mind. He takes a step forward...but Miki Kaoru is also moving to assist, and his blade seems sharp enough to free her. Whereas Syaoran Li needs to stop thinking like a swordsman, and start acting like a magus. "All right!" he snaps at Miki, turning back toward the monster. "I'll keep it off you."

The sword of Jinglin Li is driven into the soil of Ohtori Academy, and Syaoran leaps up onto the pommel, balancing lightly on one foot. The young man reaches into the pockets where he keeps the charms that fuel his magic, drawing forth...four in each hand, the paper slips gripped between each of his fingers, flapping lightly in the wake of the breeze summoned by the Cardcaptor. He hopes she is watching, he thinks as the power of his bloodline roars down from the generations, manifesting as an inner light. He crosses his arms in front of his body. The monstrosity's energy drain pulls some of the power away from him, but the young man simply draws forth more in its place.

He is Syaoran Li, blood heir to Clow Reed. And he will be damned if he lets this thing win.

"Kasshin, shourai!" the magus whispers, and the charms in his left hand catch aflame. "Fons omnis potentia," the young man intones in resonant Latin. "Ignis ardens clara vermiculus!" Fire roars into being, flowing in from the aether and gathering arounf Syaoran's left hand, their intensity growing by the second. "Et congregate intra manu mea inferno erumpat!" he calls, snapping the hand across his body, back toward his left. He grits his teeth and gathers his will. Now comes the hard part. "Fuuka, shourai!" he shouts, struggling to be heard over the roaring inferno, and the twisting wind now building around his right hand. "Vento flante trans aeterno, congregem intra manu mea! Et fac..." Syaoran shudders, his vision going grey for an instant as the energy drain nearly claims his consciousness; he forces a vision of Anthy, bleeding, hanging from the thorns, and righteous indignation sends a surge of mana blazing through him. "Et factus est fortitudo mea!" he screams, thrusting his right hand out right, sucking in desperate, choking breaths.

The magus stands there for a second or two, a miniature sun in one hand, a hurricane in the other. Then he sucks in a breath and snaps both arms forward, sending a roaring stream of flame at the monstrosity, a flame that is fed and strengthened by gale-force winds until it becomes an all-consuming wildfire.

"TEMPESTATIS...GEHENNAM!"

<<COMBAT>> Syaoran Li has joined the combo started by Miki Kaoru!

Winterberry [?] has posed:

Winterberry looks up. "Uwaaah, roses are some of the worst things everrrr!" She calls out. "I mean, when they're nasty and old and smelly. I prefer the new rose smell." The ... thing... seems to take offense to this, and she looks away at the wrong point, looking back just in time to try to dodge, but seems unable too, falling back on her rear as she tries to weather the attack, which doesn't entirely seem to...

Work. Vanilla offers a hug and welcoming energy, and Winterberry nods. "Even if they're purifying attacks, it's just going to ... leech it away, or something?" She offers, frowning slightly. "Something's not right here!"

That's an understatement, Winterberry. She lifts her hands and throws them up, then brings them back down in a swift motion, causing the area to start going to go dark. "Winter's scorn, take the light..." She mutters, almost unhappily.

<<COMBAT>> Winterberry accepts Aimi Saionji's Vanilla Cleansing Wave, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Cleanse! All of Winterberry's debuffs are cleared!

<<COMBAT>> Winterberry has used Winter's Scorn on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Winterberry has finished attacking.

Fate Testarossa [?] has posed:

Knocked up and away, that gives Fate enough time to break the Thunder Arm and strafe away. Not enough to avoid the sudden surge of energy, though, which blows the rest of her cape right off, and burns through some of her Barrier Jacket otherwise, mostly the skirt and thigh-highs. Fate's not looking too good right now, but considering how close she got, she should consider herself lucky.

"Bardiche, take over for me. I need to..."

<YES SIR. DON'T WORRY SIR. PHOTON LANCER.>

Bright yellow orbs of light appear around Fate, firing in succession at the Smelly Rose !Witch. They're not very powerful, or fast, or even accurate, but hopefully they're the cover Fate wanted from her Device.

"Arcus Cultus Aegeas..."

A massive, bright yellow magical circle appears underneath the blonde then, spinning slowly. Runes and letters form slowly, filling it up. It seems to be building up a not insignificant amount of magic, but that's using up a lot of Fate's concentration. If she gets it done fast enough she'll be able to dodge, though. Probably. Hopefully. Or else she just made herself a big, visible, obvious target.

<BY THE WAY, SIR.>
"Bad time!"
<IT IS ABSORBING MAGIC, SIR. A BOMBARDMENT IS-->
"It doesn't matter how strong they are. I remember Linith's teachings. Even if it can absorb magic... a strong penetrating hit can get through."
<... YES SIR.>
Did Bardiche actually sound... unsure?

<<COMBAT>> Fate Testarossa has used Arcus Cultus Aegeas on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Fate Testarossa has finished attacking.

Kumi Chou [?] has posed:

Kumi would be confused on any other day, but she looks back to Homura with a frown, "I thought as much... the energy is different." Of course, that wasn't the best decision. A beam of energy from the sphere flies towards her, hitting her squarely and knocking her off her feet.

She staggers back to her feet, looking worse for the wear, "Maybe so, Stranger-chan. But I cannot give up, I cannot be a coward, for I have someone to fight for." Her body slumps a little as her axe practically doubles in size with a flash of orange energy.

"I will heed your words, though, and attack it with my axe, not energy... and if that fails, I will withdraw. I can't die yet, after all."

She sees the others gearing up for powerful attacks. Winning apparently matters more to her than winning alone. Once more, a pair of orange wings spreads from her soul gem. They are doubly large as before, threaded with shimmering blackness that might seem a bad sign to other Puella Magi watching, but that adds the appearance of a Monarch Butterfly's wings. A flap of these magical wings, and she's in the air. Another flap, hefting the axe behind her. She lifts it around for a strike, and she lets herself fall.

Another flap on the downward swing, adding all her power and remaining strength into her final strike, letting out a defiant scream, "DIE!"

<<COMBAT>> Kumi Chou has joined the combo started by Miki Kaoru!

Alexandra Noblesse [?] has posed:

Driving her fist into the faux-foot once more, Alexandra is 'rewarded' with the sight of the creature's footy-facade being torn away by combined effort of everyone's attacs, leaving just a prismatic sphere of who-knows-what in its place. Well. She did her part. She's kind of surprised she didn't get hit on the way in, though. The lawn is a burnt mess, and there was a tornado and lightning and all sorts of things that she should probaby not have even gotten close to.

She hasn't really been able to hear what all's been being said over the foot stomping, the rose lasers, and the tornados... was there more than one? There was one at least. She has no idea that Anthy is even here, she has no idea that the current wisdom being circulated is that they should withdraw. If she hadn't seen Miki earlier, she wouldn't even know that he was here either. This isn't usually what her fights are like. This is too chaotic.

So when the now-prismatic sphere groans for "Moooooooooooore", Alex just shrugs, and starts marching in towards it. A scary white glow erupts out from it, slamming towards her with almost as much force as that foot from before. The girl tries to step to one side, but is too slow, and is hit. She should be in the sky. She should be on the ground. She should be out-cold. But she's not. She's still marching toward it, sighing as the beam ebbs and reveals a haggard, cut up, bruised, bleeding, and perfectly mortal-looking girl that didn't fall.

It hit her.

It hurt her.

It didn't stop her.

Sadly, the light in her necklace's chain is fading. She's too tired for this. "...Alright. You wanted it. Here." She makes it up to the sphere, wobbling, on the edge of passing out, and lifts up her other hand, the one on the arm that still seems to work properly. She rears it back and...

She slaps the thing. That's all. "Have some more."

<<COMBAT>> Alexandra Noblesse has joined the combo started by Miki Kaoru!

Homura Akemi [?] has posed:

And lo, Eri Shimanouchi dumped an entire bag of Bromacil over the horrible mutating silver sphere/rose thing! And ... well it's unlikely to be very effective. The fact of the matter is that even if it appears to be a plant, or a Witch, or a giant smelly foot ... it's none of those things.

Still, it was only a small energy expenditure on her part and it kept Eri from doing something more foolish. What is more foolish than trying to dump a bag of plant killer or some sort of eldritch abomination?

Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

Everyone at this point truly is giving their all. Many of those on the battlefield are suffering from wounds or exhaustion. Homura, in contrast, seems to be experiencing neither. Though she has expended some of her magical power to avoid attacks she hasn't even broken a sweat. Quite impressive for a girl who had just spent six months in the hospital due to a heart condition, isn't it?

However, out of all of those here she is perhaps the one that is closest to failure. Her attempts to prevent others from expending their powers against the creature. Even her warning to Kumi Chou goes unheeded.

Homura's eyes narrow slightly as she suggests she'll attack the creature with her axe instead of with her magic. As the girl rushes forward to strike the creature, Homura stands in the same place. Well almost the same place: She did quickly shift to one side to avoid the white energy that arced toward her.

"And what do you think you've formed your weapon out of?" Homura asks aloud, but too late to prevent Kumi's assault. Instead she casts her gaze over the battlefield. Relieved, at least, that a certain someone hasn't surprised her by showing up unannounced. And hoping that for now, wherever she is, she's safe and secure.

<<COMBAT>> Homura Akemi has finished attacking.

<<COMBAT>> COMBO! FINISHER! Miki Kaoru, Kumi Chou, Syaoran Li, and Alexandra Noblesse have used Spira Mirabilis, Swallowtail's Wing, Invitation of the Fire God, and Just As Requested on Pink Moon Stick.

<<COMBAT>> Miki Kaoru has finished attacking.

<<COMBAT>> Kumi Chou has finished attacking.

<<COMBAT>> Syaoran Li has finished attacking.

<<COMBAT>> Alexandra Noblesse has finished attacking.

Anthy Himemiya [?] has posed:

Surely that's it, Homura Akemi. But can you afford to leave it at that, considering how many times you've failed...?

This time, Miki reaches her in time, and Anthy lifts her head again to see the blue-haired younger boy use his own body to protect her, in the end falling to his knees in front of her. Something in her eyes flickers, and they slowly widen. "Miki-san..." she murmurs, sliding down as he slices the vines away to free her. "Yes, I am now. Thank you very much..."

She looks up and over at Li as the brown-haired young boy, who had also moved to try to rescue her--who might have followed through had Miki not beaten him to the punch. If nothing else, Syaoran is willing to cooperate with Miki, and once again, Anthy's gaze drops to the sword that he wields as he uses it as a perch. She drops down then onto her knees, freed from her prison, and she drops to her hands. Immediately her hands search out for her glasses, and despite how disheveled she looks, she does seem a bit more together once she slips them back on.

And she watches Miki's back as he moves, as a duelist, to knock off those roses, leading the way to try to cut the Rose Witch down to pieces, along with Syaoran's fire, Kumi's butterflies and Alexandra's slap.

Anthy's eyes twitch again, and she holds a hand to her wounds, a slight grimace of pain marring her features.

<<COMBAT>> Anthy Himemiya has finished attacking.

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick fails to dodge Eri Shimanouchi's Plant Killer ;_;, taking 32 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Exhausted applied to Pink Moon Stick!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick narrowly braces Sakura Kinomoto's Clever Distraction, taking 2 Fatigue damage! Pink Moon Stick's Block ability activates! Pink Moon Stick's Parry ability activates! Diversion and Exhausted applied to Pink Moon Stick!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick narrowly dodges Minsteru Teru's Arpeggio, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Cripple applied to Pink Moon Stick!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick fails to dodge Sora Godai's Join Me In The Abyss Of Loneliness, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Pink Moon Stick is Quipped!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick fails to dodge Winterberry's Winter's Scorn, taking 19 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Blind applied to Pink Moon Stick!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick fails to dodge Fate Testarossa's Arcus Cultus Aegeas, taking 12 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Fate Testarossa is Psyched!

<<COMBAT>> Pink Moon Stick fails to brace Miki Kaoru, Kumi Chou, Syaoran Li, and Alexandra Noblesse's Finisher, Combo: Spira Mirabilis, taking 195 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Pink Moon Stick is unable to keep fighting!

Pink Moon Stick [A] has posed:

It's impressive that the plant killer does as much as it does to the sphere, really, considering that it's no longer (and probably never was) a plant. Still, it kind of shudders in place from the impact of the powder. Sakura has somewhat less luck huffing and puffing and blowing the house down, though; hovering in the air, the ominous silver being seems inured to such movement.

It can move on its own, though, and does, avoiding the worst of Minsteru Teru's notes -- though not all of them. It cannot seem to avoid the depths of Sora Godai's despair, though, the Light Maiden wielding something entirely counter to Hope with far more effectiveness than any magic.

Still, Winterberry manages to score a blow across the silver expanse with her icy beam; some of it seems to absorb, but more of it knocks it back.

Knocks it back so that it can simultaneously be struck by four others, who are ready -- all too ready -- to see this battle end.

Alexandra slams into it with the last of her energy, while Puella Magi Kumi comes in from the other side; in a blink of an eye, she seems to have sliced it entirely in twain, emerging on the other side untouched. Li's firestorm descends upon it, then, engulfing it entirely. And through the subsequent steam plunges Miki, heedless, bold, dashing. There are no roses left on its form to be cut, but nonetheless, he pierces it through to the heart.

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSS."

Well, that's not entirely healthy.

The silver sphere boils and roils again -- Anthy is freed, as there is nothing left of it to be grabbing on to anyone or anything, the false thorns drawn into its body -- and then hovers higher off the ground. Higher still, it flares a blinding, metallic light.

And when the spots clear from everyone's eyes, it is gone.

But on the autumn breeze, carried ever so faintly, is a final, hungry moan.

"mooooore...."

Fate Testarossa [?] has posed:

Big, massive build up of mana...
Glowing magical circle spinning under her feet.

And by the time she has anything worth throwing, the monster lets off a blinding flash, and is gone. Fate frowns, eyes sinking to the ground. It suddenly hits her, now that lives aren't in danger anymore.

She just wasted a lot of time, magic and energy doing something that is of absolutely no benefit whatsoever to her mother. Zero. In fact, the recovery period from this, brief as it'll be, is a NEGATIVE contribution to her goal.

She... she is a horrible daughter.

The girl lifts Bardiche, suddenly pointing the tip at Winterberry. The spear-mode Device remains competely silent, as the black blade with glowing yellow fins resonates with the magical circle under her.

She just doesn't know what to expect right now.
It shows in her eyes.

Sora Godai [?] has posed:

And when it's all over, Light Maiden Hope is gone. Where her physical body once was, is now Daichi Daigo's, in exactly the same position. His mouth moves, finally getting to finish the words he attempted saying when he first shot up in bed.

"--DON'T CHANGE-- wuh," the young man blinks in the sunlight, finding himself someplace that is most definitely NOT his dorm room.

A stinging sensation dancing across his body alerts Daichi to the fact that he is covered in scratches and puncture wounds, blood staining his torn clothes. The male student stares down at himself in shock before covering his face with his hands.

"Sora," his muffled voice is heard. "What did you do to me? And what's up with that godDAMNED SMELL?!"

"Oh," Sora says, her ghostly form standing next to Daichi. "You don't want to know."

<<COMBAT>> Sora Godai transforms into Daichi Daigo!

Aimi Saionji [?] has posed:

Vanilla is prepared to try and stop everything, thinking what she has been. And then... the beast is sated for now and runs away.

"That... can't be good..." She says. Vanilla looks over at Winterberry, a bit concerned. "I..." She starts to say before shaking her head. "I think I might actually need to go rest... this was much rougher than last time." Vanilla just sighs and ends up leaning against and on Winterberry a bit. "Senpai... do you know where I can rest up with out going home and worrying my parents about looking beat up?"

Eri Shimanouchi [?] has posed:

It takes Eri a long time to get up from her current position, just in time to watch the massive explosion of magical energy striking it over and over.

She doesn't even believe that her plant killer gambit worked at all, so she looks chagrined, mildly embarassed that she was so ineffective. It might have stung less had not someone actually told her that she'd be exactly that. And then the creature simply leaves, just as Homura predicted. Once she rises up, she limps over Homura's way.

Once she gets close, she bows her head and she states in a grateful tone of voice, "Thank you for your aid, Akemi-senpai. It was, appreciated. I'm.." The words die within her throat "...you were correct." There is a very short pause, before she gets the courage to state, "May I contact you so that we might speak again in the future? I.. am extremely new at this."

She continues to glow yellow with solar energy, and some of her wounds gradually begin to close. She appears to be, focusing very hard on this.

Sakura Kinomoto [?] has posed:

Sakura Kinomoto seems relieved when the monster vanishes and, exhausted, looks for a nice place to land, which puts her somewhere near Syaoran. She bows. "I'm Sakura Kinomoto. It's nice to meet you! How do you know about the Clow Cards?" She's really straight forward in some ways.

Kumi Chou [?] has posed:

Kumi pants heavily, though she's got a grin a mile wide as she drags her axe behind her, walking towards Homura.

"Not as weak as I look, ne, Stranger-chan?" She leans on the pommel of the axe, the head resting on the ground as she tries to catch her breath.

A moment or two further of catching her breath, and she stands up straighter, transforming back to her school uniform. The uniform is strangely undamaged, apparently protected by magical girl magic. She glances over at Eri as she arrives, letting her soulstone reform back into a ring and almost acting as if trying to hide it. Little late for that, maybe.

<<COMBAT>> Kumi Chou transforms into Kumi Chou!

Winterberry [?] has posed:

The thing disappears.

Winterberry looks after it. Something isn't right here, and she's going to try to figure out what in the world is going on here. However, that is not the point. She looks at Fate as the Bardiche is raised, and she opens her mouth, but Vanilla speaks up, and she shakes her head at Fate. "I'm not going to fight you." She informs Fate.

Then, to Vanilla: "You can come home with me, it'll be okay. My mother and father won't mind; we can just say you took a few tumbles during the physical events earlier today." She gently offers her a hand. "Come on, Vanilla-chan."

Aimi Saionji [?] has posed:

Vanilla smiles, heedless of the dramatic tension and such between Winterberry and Fate. The battle's over, so her attention of things like that does dwindle a bit. "Cool! Thanks Winter-chan-sempai!" She says, taking Winterberry's hand and letting her lead the way to her home.

Miki Kaoru [?] has posed:

Miki stumbles after his dash, landing on his knees again for a moment. The extra boost of strength given to him by the Rose Signet has dissipated, and he feels like he's been hit by a truck. Still, he'll recover after a good rest, he imagines.

How is he going to explain being so worn out to Kozue? He'll have to come up with a convincing story. Can't let her in on all of this.

He turns around to check on Anthy and Li. "Ah, are you both alright? Thank you, I don't think I caught your name," he adds to Li. "You as well," he adds to Sakura, who seems like a nice girl.

He goes to check on Anthy, but instead just sort of blushes when he looks at her. "I'm...glad you're safe. Himemiya, this area is a bit dangerous..."

Which reminds him, that one dark-haired girl. He makes a note to try to speak with her later, if he can figure out her name. She went to Ohtori, didn't she?

And there's another problem weighing on him. He's dealing with things he doesn't understand. But there are people who might know. People who have an information network. People he really doesn't like to deal with. But if it's for the good of the school...

He stares down at his ring for a moment, and then shakes his head. "Still, I wonder what that was...?"

<<COMBAT>> Miki Kaoru transforms into Miki Kaoru!

Alexandra Noblesse [?] has posed:

With her last breath of the fight, Alexandra's slap makes contact with the giant, weird, prismatic sphere. She feels satisfied knowing that before it blasted her into unconsciousness, she got to be a smartass at it, even if that's not how she normally acts when people can see. It still felt good.

But then, suddenly, the sphere splits cleanly down the middle, and she is decidedly not attacked. "Quoi?..." Alex wonders how she could possibly have split the thing with a slap, until she notices someone familiar-but-not-familiar seems to have done that bit with some sort of presumably magic axe. She's about to say something incredibly insightful or brilliant, such as 'Oh', or perhaps even 'Ah'... but then a pillar of fire rains down on the thing, and she takes a step back. She blinks then, as she sees a storm of sword strikes tear into what's left of the thing, and stands still before the slashes. They're from Miki Kaoru - he won't hit her.

"Oh la la~" The French girl's white twintails just sort of sway in the breeze from all the other attacks, and her eyes lid for a moment as she tries to catch her breath. Staring at Miki from the other side, Alexandra watches him stumble, lland on his knees, and then get back up and go to check on ... Anthy Himemiya? Well, that's... unexpected.

Alex moves to go after him, to check on Anthy as well, but... she doesn't seem to have the strength left to even move another step right now. Honestly, she's surprised she's still standing.

"...Maybe Papa was right about going to school on Sundays after all." ... That's what she took away from this?

Syaoran Li [?] has posed:

Syaoran Li stands for another ten or so seconds after the monster is gone, fingers twitching, his chest rising and falling as he watches for signs, both in the physical world and the spiritual, that the monster is still alive. But aside from that one, last whisper...it appears to be gone.

And so his knees give out and he falls backward, landing on his back, the last of his magical barrier asborbing the impact. He just lies there and breathes for a long while, wincing as faint pains shoot through his body. He has...never thrown a shot like that before in his life. But it seems it was up to the task. Now, he thinks wearily, he just needs to make sure that---

^_^

>:|

This cannot be happening, the young man thinks, a dawning look of horror on his face as he stares at Sakura. Slowly, his hand shaking, he draws down the goggles he is wearing, revealing...a face she has seen before. That belongs to the transfer student who is sitting behind her in class as of this week. He opens his mouth to---

<miki> lol hey guyz

Oh god, she's just going to give out her name. The goggles snap back up, and Syaoran jumps to his feet at a healthy fraction of the speed of sheer terror. "SEIFUKU KAMEN!" he blurts out in a too-loud voice, trusting in cloak, goggles and a healthy dose of recognition inhibition to encourage Miki to never ever ask who this is ever ever again. He also tries to jump in before Sakura can introduce herself and RUIN EVERYTHING MORE THAN SHE HAS BY STEALING HIS STUFF. "And this is...ah..." he sputters, looking at Sakura as he desperately tries to think of a convincing lie. "My..."

>:|

"...sidekick...

"...Clow Girl."

Fate Testarossa [?] has posed:

She won't...?
Well, that and... yeah alright Fate couldn't bring herself to shoot at Winterberry when she has a friend practically hugging her. She'd just feel. So absolutely awful.

<SIR.>
"Y-Yeah. Okay."

Whether she's speaking to Bardiche or the other magical girl isn't clear, but the blonde allows herself to float off the ground. Unless someone wants to stop her she's going to disappear into the clouds, run a few scans with Bardiche to try and figure out where that thing's gone, and when that inevitably goes absolutely nowhere, she's going to crash in her apartment, curl up in a ball on her bed and... figure out what to do next.

Sakura Kinomoto [?] has posed:

Sakura Kinomoto looks worriedly at Anthy, but seems to think that Miki has it under control: he looks like a serious young man, after all! She gives him a little bow. "I'm happy to hel- don't call me Clow Girl! I just wanted to ask you some questions! Mouuu!" It's been a long day and under the circumstances Sakura can think of nothing better to do than to give "SEIFUKU KAMEN" a great big kick in the shins before stomping off! Stomp stomp stomp! Angry little magical girl goes this way!

<<COMBAT>> Syaoran Li transforms into Syaoran Li!

Homura Akemi [?] has posed:

Make no mistake, Anthy: Homura doesn't believe in taking chances. She may not be able to keep track of all the variables all the time, but she will try. Anyone who is a potential threat to that One Thing She Must Protect will be evaluated. Particularly if that person has recently been spending time with that One Thing.

'...you were correct.' Eri Shimanouchi approaches Homura from one side. Violet colored eyes turn to regard the other Puella Magi with their intense gaze. She replies in soft tones, "You're welcome. Thank you for listening to me." It ... sounds sincere. Then when there is a request to contact her so that they might speak again in the future, Homura responds within Eri's mind. *I will seek you out in the future.*

Don't call me. I'll call you. Or rather, appear suddenly in your garden shed most likely.

'Not as weak as I look, ne, Stranger-chan?' Kumi Chou provides a good contrast to Eri. One Puella Magi heeds her warnings. The other does not. Homura's eyes narrow slightly as she turns her gaze from Eri to Kumi. "You don't yet understand the mistake you've made here today." Was that ... a threat? It certainly sounds threatening. "Hopefully, you never will."

With that Homura reaches back to flip her hair with a dramatic flourish while turning away from both Kumi and Eri. She glances across the battlefield once more. Her eyes locate Miki and Anthy, as well as Syaoran ... excuse me, SEIFUKU KAMEN and Sakura. Her eyes presumably fall upon Daichi as well, injured as he is. However she makes no attempt to help him. Someone else will surely put forth the effort, and she has spent too much time here as it is.

Yes... time. No matter what, she always seems to need more time.

With a faint mechanical click the buckler on her arm turns. Its two purple 'eyes' open. Then, within an instant, she is gone.

Anthy Himemiya [?] has posed:

"Yes... I should hurry home to Utena-sama," Anthy agrees with Miki, before her expression gentles. "If you hadn't been here, I don't know what would have become of me, Miki-san." A sweet smile crosses her lips, and she tilts her head with a melodic, "Thank you!"

It might be just like a certain chord that he's been searching for. That moment passes as she opens her eyes and turns a worried look towards Alexandra. They only have time for their eyes to meet though before Syaoran is announcing himself and his sidekick VERY LOUDLY. The Rose Bride stares at him, then bursts into a quiet giggle.

"Oh my, it's Seifuku Kamen-san! I'm so glad you've arrived to save the day again!" Anthy chirps, apparently much more heartened as the mysterious superhero (/totally mysterious/) who saved her before finally names himself. "Thank you very much for protecting me again! My, and you have such a talented assistant~" She beams a smile over at Sakura... and then tilts her head. "Oh, my... Don't I know you, too? We met just recently in the park... My, my, you two get along so well!" she concludes with airy cheer as Sakura kicks Li in the shins and stomps away.

Well, at least Anthy seems to be doing all right now. Just before Homura vanishes, she lifts her arm and waves goodbye, and then turns her attention to Alexandra. "Oh my... Noblesse-san, are you all right? It was very brave of you to help everyone fight that awful, frightening monster... Miki-san, perhaps you should help her back?" She gives him a reassuring, if exhausted smile. "I'll be fine once I call Utena-sama."

Hisae Misumi [?] has posed:

On the way out, Winterberry stops by Daichi. "It's 'feet'." She informs him helpfully. She, at least, smells nicely of winterberry.

Anthy Himemiya [?] has posed:

Then there's a long pause as the mysterious woman who came to Anthy's aid and offered her a hand dismisses her transformation and... turns into a boy. A boy that Anthy recognizes, given that he tried to demand from her her rose jam not so long ago. She doesn't say anything, but she doesn't have to; that blank, unceasing stare says everything for her.

Daichi Daigo [?] has posed:

Daichi turns to glare at Hisae -- because who the hell asked /her/?! -- but he freezes mid-way, pinned by Anthy's stare.

And they say those two are still staring at one another to this very day...

Aimi Saionji [?] has posed:

Vanilla looks at Daichi, confused a bit by this guy, but there is one thing that comes to mind.

She gives him a quick hug because she just felt like he could use it. At least she smells of vanilla as it is. She won't let the hug linger too long before heading back off with Winterberry.

Miki Kaoru [?] has posed:

A chord plays in Miki's head.

He turns bright red, and briefly loses his ability to form sentences. "Nothing it's...I mean it was not a thing...noth...it was nothing," he manages finally. That took a bit of effort.

He stares for a moment at Li-SEFUKI KAMEN. "Seifuku...Kamen-san. Well, pleased to meet you, and...Clow Girl?" He just watches Sakura marching off, blinking. He doesn't realize Homura is looking at him, unfortunately. He'll have to hope he can run into the black-haired girl another time...

He follows Anthy and realizes one of his students is hurt! An upperclassman, no less! Thanks to Recognition Inhibition, he's sure this young man wasn't present for the monster fight. "Oh! Are you alright, Sempai?" He offers Daichi a hand up. "Do you need an escort to the nurse's office? That goes for anyone else..."

The Student Council uniform /glimmers./

Syaoran Li [?] has posed:

Syaora---Seifuku Kamen's magical barrier is down, his mana nearly depleted, and Sakura's foot clonks him right in the shin. "GAH!" he yelps, falling over, clutching the hilt of his sword to keep from falling arse over teakettle. The young man looks between Miki, the giggling Anthy, and then the departing Sakura, his face returning to its trademark glare.

>:|

He gives Miki a look of 'oh my god, women' and begins hobbling after Clow Girl. "Wait!" he calls out as he uses his sword like a crutch. "OY!"

Hisae Misumi [?] has posed:

"/Vanilla/!" Winterberry says, surprised as she just ups and hugs Daichi.

Eri Shimanouchi [?] has posed:

"You're welcome." She adjusts the domino mask, feeling suddenly self-conscious, vulnerable at the fact that someone knows her identity. She seems shocked when everyone around her was giving their own names out so freely. Well except for SEIFUKU KAMEN, who used a superhero alias.. or so she hoped. He catches a glance just his sidekick CLOW GIRL kicks him in the shins, to which Eri states in a dry tone, "Is she really your side kick?" Homura speaks into her mind, and she looks a little uncomfortable about that, cringing, but she gets the message loud and clear. Homura will seek her out, not the other way around.

To Kumi's arrival she regards her very closely, and even though her conversation with Homura almost certainly spells it out, she asks outright, "Um. Hello, I don't know if we've met before. Are you another Puella Magi?" Her tone suddenly sounds quite shy, subconscious out of battle, almost as if she's afraid of what others might think of her performance.

Aimi Saionji [?] has posed:

"What?" Vanilla asks. Sweet Pea, if she were here, would know exactly the feeling of what just happened. "He just looked like he could have used a hug. And maybe less stinky feet."

Alexandra Noblesse [?] has posed:

Alexandra just wobbles a bit, standing still as she watches people interact. If Anthy can laugh and speak, she's probably ok. That's good. Miki Kaoru seems alright as well. That's good. In fact, aside from that poor young man that dropped at the very beginning of the sphere's arrival, Alexandra doesn't see anyone that's unconscious. That's great! Fortunately, Miki seems to be handling their student council duty of taking care of the student body. He's so reliable.

"..." She looks up at the sky, craning her head, and sighs. She quietly takes her cell phone out with trembling hands, and shoots off a (probably typo-filled) text. Someone will be here to help her soon. Until then... she'll just stand. Standing is fine.

Anthy Himemiya [?] has posed:

Daichi catches and counter-fixes Anthy's stare like a deer caught in headlights. Anthy stares back, without blinking. Then, as Miki approaches him asking after his head, she shuts her eyes and smiles at him. And then, holding that expression, she ticks her face about five degrees to the left.

A moment later, she wobbles to her feet and painfully staggers over to her discarded possessions, forgotten until now. Sinking to her knees, she gathers them up and withdraws her cell phone to give Utena a call. The pink-haired transfer student will be here in a flash, but for now, Anthy simply breathes out a sigh and waits.

Kumi Chou [?] has posed:

Kumi does not seem thrilled at Homura's words, or her exit. "What's her problem?" she murmurs, mostly to herself.

Then, Eri speaks to her. She's probably seen her in class before, but the mask makes things less obvious. A little. Kumi gives her an appraising look, almost defensively, as if weighing the odds of needing to fight again so soon.

"I suppose I am. Kumi Chou, recent transfer student, member of the kendo team. And you are, Green-san?" Her own tone is far more proper, almost business-like, when she's out of her outfit. She sounded veritably insane during the fight.

Daichi Daigo [?] has posed:

At any other time, Daichi would have rudely and violently rebuffed Miki's offered hand... but at that moment it presented Daichi with a reason to tear his eyes away from Anthy and focus on something else.

"Tch!" He spits, accepting Miki's grace in a rare show of ~teamwork~.

"Screw the nurse," he says a moment later in a gruff voice. Ahh, some things don't change after all.

Suddenly hug.

"THE FUCK," Daichi explodes, recoiling from the weird girl. Not only did the gesture exceed Daichi's comfort zone, but his injuries were freaking /stinging/, man. "THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?! Stay away from me you /freak/. Go hug someone your own size! Jesus christ what the crap, you knucklehead, you-- you-- dunderhead!!"

And he rants and raves, and Sora just... sighs, looking at all the mortals who couldn't see her. Such as Aimi, and Hisae, and Miki, and Anthy, and--

...Sora's brow twitches ever so slightly. She keeps her gaze on Anthy before slowly turning around to glance behind her. Then back to Anthy.

"Daichi..." she tries to say, but Daichi doesn't respond. He's still venting his mouth off at having been hugged by a complete stranger.

Syaoran Li [?] has posed:

As Sakura storms out of sight, Syaoran suddenly realizes that he has flunk...allies he can call to his side to help track her down. He reaches into a pocket and pulls out a cellular phone, flipping it open and peering at it.

Okay. Okay. He knows you're supposed to be able to send messages to people, and he has the numbers, but...frowning, Syaoran selects 'Fujisaki Nadeshiko' and 'Hinamori Amu' and begins typing out a message asking them to stop the brown-haired girl running away with his legacy.

555555555555555555555555555555555555555

"How is this...I don't even..."

46453325363535422373

Seifuku Kamen's voice echoes back, from the distance:

"HOW DO I MAKE IT DO WORDS AND NOT NUMBERS! arrrrrgh"

Hisae Misumi [?] has posed:

Winterberry turns her gaze on Daichi as he starts going off, her voice soft and frosty as she retorts.

"Such language coming from a senpai." She notes. "That's terribly inappropriate, what if there were younger kohais in the area? As it is, I must apologize gravely to Vanilla-chan's family for allowing her to be in such an area." She then offers a deep bow. "Allow me to apologize for Vanilla-chan's impulsivity."

Eri Shimanouchi [?] has posed:

Eri Shimanouchi hasn't transformed back, nor has she decided on an alias as of yet. Her hair style is a little different, she isn't wearing her glasses and she vaguely recognizes Kumi from being in her class even if her name escapes her... well until Kumi speaks to her again. She's still glowing yellow, its almost like she's soaking in the ambient solar energy from the area, as her wounds still continue to close.

She looks torn on how to answer her question, "Well um.. I don't really want to give out my name so freely yet. I have people whom I care about that I don't want to be troubled because of my.. choice. It is a distinct pleasure to meet you, Chou-san." And after giving it further thought she states, "You can um, call me Puella Gardener I suppose.." She reddens slightly at the cheeks, "...for now. Just to call me something. Soldier Angel dubbed me that, and so I made it my..." Chagrined look, with closed eyes, her voice audibly quieting, "...my twitter handle. I would very much like to get to speak with you further in the future."

Aimi Saionji [?] has posed:

Warm Vanilla Sugar just looks at Winterberry for a bit. "I don't think it'll be that big an issue with them. I mean, I know better than to use that language already. There's too much good in the world to be undermined by such things. I mean, he'll stop eventually. Though yeah, he should know better."

Kumi Chou [?] has posed:

Kumi furrows her brows at 'Puella Gardener', looking unconvinced. "Are Witches going to hunt down your family? I gave you mine." She sighs, giving a little shrug, "We can talk again if you like. I go to school here, so you know where to find me."

There's a pause for a moment or two before she offers, "I've been at this a few years now, though, so don't try fighting me for my Grief Seeds." It's a lie, of course, but she manages it pretty straight-faced. Hopefully Gardener-san won't notice.

Eri Shimanouchi [?] has posed:

Eri sighs, and states in a remorseful tone. "My apologies, I just don't feel comfortable giving it out yet, especially publically." A measured pause at the question, "Witches? I don't think so.. but there are more than just witches in this world, as I am coming to find out."

"I would very much like that, I will.. seek you out." There is a short pause, as Kumi relates the warning about her being far more experienced and having many grief seeds, "I.. did not believe that was actually done. I thought it was a rumor, but I suppose not. I promise that I won't do battle with anyone for their grief seeds. I consider it to be a contemptible practice. I believe we should be working together to do our respective duties, rather than fighting each other. But now you see why I.. hold such information in check. Think about it, what better way to force my hand in such a contest than to threaten my family?" She shakes her head. "I'll... seek you out soon, maybe I'll feel more comfortable giving that out in a private setting, after all, like you said, you did trust me. I would prefer that none of us be at odds with each other."