2014-11-01 - Feng Shui 6

Title: Feng Shui 6
Summary: Library Island is no ordinary place, run by no ordinary people, and it has truly extraordinary measures to protect itself. When a threat appears that it cannot handle alone, the library itself calls for aid...
Who: Prism Keeper Red, Prism Keeper Orange, Fuu Hououji, Scarlet Rune Maiden, Mesozoic Maiden Lucy, Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, Amulet Spade, Mai Tokiha, Lingshen Chao GM: Juri Arisugawa
Where: Library Island
OOC - IC Date: 4 April 2014 - 11/01/2014

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

Deep underneath another island, two caskets await their occupants, who in turn stand before them, gazing at each other, nonplussed.

"You want /us/ to get into /those/?" scoffs one, the many spikes of his blue hair puffing up above his purple headband like a cockatoo's crest.

"This is beneath the dignity of the Student Council," sneers the other, running a strong-fingered hand through his luxurious, envious green hair.

The good doctor looks at them both, his glasses opaque with reflected light.

"If you cannot go where Arisugawa and Greer have boldly gone bef--"

The sound of the lids slamming shut cuts him off, and he smiles. Tapping his tablet with his stylus, he murmurs to his assistant, "Begin the process. Make sure to monitor the connection closely. Is the strike team in position?"

<< Yes, sir. >>

He nearly jumps out of his skin as another woman's voice, not the one on the comms, barks from behind him. "Begin the operation."

"...yes, ma'am."

---

Something is not right; something is off balance; something is askew; something is awry. It's that feeling again, the same one as some girls felt once before, a pregnant silence, a tension as fine and sharp as piano wire, a note of disaster waiting to be sounded into the night.

This time, however, it is daytime, not the middle of the night.

And this time, it doesn't draw girls towards its source like a lodestone. It might have -- if it had had time.

But instead this effect is pre-empted by another. Those awake to the peril, those who have cast off their innocence to fight for the hearts of everyone -- they feel a calling, down to the marrow of their bones.

Help me, it says. Come to me. Come... now.

And in a whirlwind that springs from nowhere and vanishes as quickly as it came, one that smells like old books and older, forgotten things, girls find themselves abruptly in a...

...library.

A library where the shelves are as old as time, the floors stone, the ceilings nothing but darkness above. Distantly, great wings beat overhead. Nearby: stacks and stacks of books, books in all languages and none, defying Babel's edict with their impossible comprehensibility.

'Help me,' the runes read, spread across nearby spines. 'Find me.'

Other girls may have already been here, Library Island Exploration Club members on an expedition, or the both truly studious and extremely foolish who might spend a day on spring break looking for a particularly rare member of the collection this far down into the depths.

It is very far.

Unrecognizably far, even, but what other place could this be, with its combination of books, chaos, and mystery?

There is one thing lacking from the typical Deep Library Island experience, for those who are familiar with it, but it takes a moment to make itself obvious in its absence.

Hostility.

No books are toppling onto hapless visitors -- no Indiana Jones-esque boulders are rumbling down the aisles -- no darts springing out of traps for the unwary.

It is as quiet as the grave.

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

Broad daylight shines on Tokyo, and Mai Tokiha has a shopping list. There's only a few days left until the new semester starts, and she has things to get. Schoolbooks, pens, a spare skirt, Mikoto's uniform...things to do, and only so much time to do it in. The morning was taken up with the breakfast crowd at work, lunch was a nice affair - but she's got plenty to do. She stopped by home to change back into her Ohtori uniform - having had clashes with shopkeepers in the past over whether she's really allowed to get the signature jacket, this seems to be the best source of proof.

All musings on errands and past clashes, however, are cut short by a strangely familiar feeling. A spark of indescribable dread, rooted in the mark on her chest - that strange suspicion felt once before. Mai tenses immediately - ducking into an alley to try to get her bearings. Where's the crisis? Where does she need to be to help?

'Help me,' something says. And then the alley is gone, and the library is hear. Countless shelves, the beating of wings, endless rows of dry paper books - for a moment, Mai is confused and overwhelmed.

In the next moment, she thinks to call her Element to her - stepping away from the shelves as fire flickers briefly to become rings of jade and gold. They hover around wrists and ankles, but do not spin; Mai's concern is that this might be even more inflammable than the world tree.

And in the moment after that, Mai breaks the silence in irritation. "'Now'? Seriously? You couldn't give a little warning, or at least ask?!" Irritation vented, she makes her way from her point of appearance - searching the near-silent library for signs of life, and alternately trying to spy the source of those loud wingbeats overhead. Seriously, though - her supernatural burden interrupting her plans for the day is one thing, but this is completely ridiculous!

COMBAT: Mai Tokiha transforms into Mai-HiME!

<Pose Tracker> Reiko Touyama [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

"Come On Meeeeeeei." Reiko complains. "I know this is terrible---but, if we can study juuuuust a little bit more before school starts--- we can get you to ace that entrance exam to Infinity this year. It'll be awesome!" she says with wide eyes. She's of course, taken Mei to the mecca of all Libraries in the area, Library Island. There will be all sorts of books there.

Reiko skips through the stacks on the pedestrian level of the library, the everyday face that normal everyday people see! She's picking out some books from the stacks until she has a pile of about five. Mei should be following her. She'll make sure of this and make a fuss if she isn't! She's walking back towards a table when--- she feels kind of really weird. And strange. She huhs at a really bizzare feeling. Like tingling. "Mei---I. that feels really weird. Do you feel that too?".

She looks down at her books, in fact, to see that the writing along the side has changed and this causes her to jump, and eeek! Outloud and the books fly into the air around her. Books rain down around her from her arms. "Ah!" she says, as she needs to adjust her glasses. "Oh--dear." she frowns. She holds up the book and scratches her head and mouths the words.

"Does...someone need help...." she murmurs a bit. She looks to Mei worriedly, Mei will know what to do. Mei always knows what to do at a time like this.

<Pose Tracker> Amu Hinamori [Ohtori Academy (6)] has posed.

It seemed like just a normal day. Dressed in casual pink and black with a cheerful heart surrounded by bones on her shirt, Amu walks down the street with purpose. Today was the day she was tasked with picking up some welcome-back supplies for the Guardians' new year. Her last year in elementary! It was so exciting! Not that she showed it. Amu still had to play it cool!

Which is the opposite of what happens when she suddenly hears a disembodied voice. "What where?" The pink-haired girl turns her head this way and that, turns to look... and finds herself somewhere else entirely.

And, as she was mid-step, Amu finds herself walking face-first right into a stack of books, which topples over on top of her. "Wa!" She struggles for a moment, flailing a bit as she tries to dig her way out of the bookpile. "I'm okay... I think! ...now where am I?"

<Pose Tracker> Lucy Iwai [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Even a girl like Lucy has lazy days, and she's been spending the day holed up in her dorm room, catching reruns of Paranormal Super Sleuths with one eye, and browsing Google Maps with another, to virtually survey the area surrounding Tokyo for some dark, personal purpose. As she does so, Didi is clinging to the top of her head like a dinosaur hat, because this is the sort of thing he does sometimes.

He barely holds on when Lucy whips her head around towards the window and gazes towards Library Island.

"Woah, woah, woah, what is it, Lucy?" "I don't know... Someone needs help!"

She barely has time to put her shoes on before she find herself abruptly teleported inside the...

...library?

Lucy has been here many times before, but she's certainly not prepared for this. She doesn't have the equipment she'd normally bring down here. She's still in her pajamas, in fact!

She hears wing beats, and that call for help she'd heard is now manifesting itself across the very books. Who could that be? Who'd have the power...? And beyond that, as she's quickly realizing... It's quiet. Too quiet, as the cliché goes. This only pushes her to hurry ahead, tiny dinosaur in tow.

"Do you need help?" she shouts, "I'm with the Library Island Exploration Club!" It's meant to sound reassuring, but anyone who'll catch sight of her will find her far from dressed for the occasion.

<Pose Tracker> Akemi Tsukiyama [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

Far back in the forests of the Nishitama Park District, Akemi clasps a hand to her chest. She feels it- a call to arms, a sort of need to be someplace, somewhere. A need. "Is it the spirits?" she asks the air, where a being shaped akin to a translucent jellyfish unfurls, undisturbed by whatever calls out towards Akemi's heart.

No, it's not that. It's over there. Where? Here. In this library. "Wh-?" Akemi nearly crashes into an ancient shelf in her bid to balance herself. The winds that teleport her instantly to this island are not much of a warning.

Guma, as usual, seems to take this without a shred of surprise. ("We're in an unfamiliar place. It would be best to transform.")

Akemi holds onto her chest, taking a precious moment to open her mouth and breathe as she looks at the runes inscribed on the books themselves. "... No. I wanna look first. Maybe this is something I can handle." Those who come across Akemi in this state will see her seemingly talking to herself, though, with how instantaneous the teleportation was for some of the girls here, there's more than one person talking to the open air of the library.

Hearing a pile of books collapse in on itself, Akemi abandons the writing for now in lieu of Amu, who is currently in the process of getting out. Carefully placing the books to the side (because these books might be something Magical), Akemi frowns. "You okay?" Her gaze then directs itself towards a familiar voice that calls, just then. Is that...? "Iwai-san?"

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

At the moment of the summoning, Fuu Hououji is thinking about books.

Not the question of which light novels she might pick up on her next trip to the bookstore, or the somewhat more weighty matter of what textbooks she'll need to procure for the coming term. She's deeply engaged in RPG Maker at the moment, laying out a library-themed dungeon with a couple of puzzles spread across the map ... and a dungeon-wide interdiction which prevents fire-element spells or skills from being used despite how many enemies would normally be weak to fire.

At first, she thinks the 'help me' plea in her head is a product *of* her head, getting 'into character' as an NPC whom the players are supposed to be rescuing - but the rush of wind that sweeps her away from her room and into the depths of the library snaps her out of that. It actually reminds her of her own transformation into a Magic Knight ...

Good thing her glove-jewel is in her pocket as usual. One party ambushed by Alcyone was one too many for Fuu to overlook the necessity of being prepared anytime, anywhere, no matter what. She looks around quickly to get her bearings, pulling the glove onto her left hand where it belongs. "Belief becomes power ... winds, guide me!" she intones, and a second whirlwind manifests around her; when this one fades, her home clothes have been replaced by the green uniform and largely-white armor of the Magic Knight of Wind.

So. Runes which she can actually understand marking the spines of books on the shelves about her; voices which she can understand, and at least in Lucy's case, recognize ... and the sound of books tumbling somewhere. It's not a part of Library Island that she *recognizes*, though - this could well be deeper than she's ventured with the club, in which case life is going to get very interesting when we have to make our way out of here. For now, the Wind Knight heads towards where Amu got slightly buried, quickening her pace as she spots the pile of books. "If you meant more specifically than 'under a number of books,' I'm not certain - this might be Infinity's Library Island, but I haven't been in this part of it before ... are you sure you aren't hurt?" she asks, starting to help Amu extricate herself from her literary entrapment.

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji transforms into Magic Knight!

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

The Wind Knight also smiles and nods thanks to Akemi, although she doesn't recognize the Juuban high-schooler. Two people will make it easier to 'rescue' Amu than one working alone.

<Pose Tracker> Mei Akatsuki [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

"But...but--" Mei protests as she is led around the library by her best friend. "Reiko-chan, it's spring break! There's so much else we could be doing. Why would you want to spend all day tucked away in a stuffy place like this?" Really now, breaks were the one time she could binge on manga and tv without feeling guilty for ignoring schoolwork. And now, if she didn't focus on her studies, she would be ignoring responsibility *and* friends. The former she can deal with. The latter? Not so much.

The newly minted fifth grader gives a big sigh as she eyes the spines of the textbooks in her arms. She knows it's a bad idea to judge a book by its cover, but all these look waaaay beyond her level of comprehension. Of course, Reiko likely has no problem with them -- she's always been super-smart. It's honestly a bit of a miracle that she hadn't already transfered to Infinity.

Oh, well. Mei is more than happy to keep her awesome friend with her at Juuban.

When she shifts to get a better hold on the stack, however, a feeling washes over her: one of dread, anxiety, wrongness far beyond that of spending a spring day locked away in a library. The redhead gasps quietly, turning to look over at Reiko. "Yeah, I feel it. I think something bad's about to--"

And then they're whisked away in a flurry of magic, to another, decidedly less mundane library. If something needs help on Library Island, well, the Prism Keepers are on their way to help.

<Pose Tracker> Lingshen Chao [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Lingshen Chao is, for her own somewhat complicated reasons, not always on the ICE list for the spirits of ancient glory that occasionally cry out to be rescued.

One of them of course is that she is totally normal and not at all a mysterious mystical battlesuited martial artist who occasionally lightning punches people. The other is that right now she's /already here/, dressed in a floor-length hood and cloak with the hood down so her identity is fairly obvious. It's...It's cold, OK? (It's not really that cold.)

She is alone, or at least 'alone', because her companions are about but somewhere else. But with the commotion of people showing up confused and dazed, she can't help but crane her neck around a corner, tucking a book into her cloak and blinking owlishly at the mass of folk.

She holds up a hand and waves, confused. "Wow. Was there a big pit trap, or something?"

<Pose Tracker> Maron Kusakabe [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

One person already down in the library is Maron Kusakabe. Though still a fairly new member of Infinity's Library Exploration Club, she's been on several of its expeditions as a guest during the previous school year. She knows how these things usually go, and is well-prepared for whatever may happen down here. Or so she thinks. It doesn't really matter today, it's not like she's planning to go down very far. Just a quick look around on her own, trying to find evidence of what makes the library tick... or traces of the pranksters who made a fool of her last time. Oh no, she hasn't forgotten about that. She'll have her revenge yet.

Besides, she isn't /completely/ on he own. She brought her angelic partner, Finn Fish. It took some doing to convince the duty-minded angel-in-training that this would be a worthwhile venture, but at least Maron didn't have to make up an excuse. She really does believe there's something about the library that's worth giving a once-over by someone who can detect demonic activity. And it's not like bringing Finn along'll arouse suspicion, given that almost nobody else can see or hear her.

However, fate has other things in store. Maron has barely rounded her first corner down in the library, when she abruptly freezes. Was that... someone calling for help? She'd like to dismiss it as a prank, rush over to catch them in the act this time... but that didn't seem to come from up ahead. It's almost as if... it came from within her.

"Maron!" Finn's alarmed voice snaps her back to reality. Assuming that this is indeed reality, since her surroundings have changed entirely. It still looks like the library, but... somewhere else. Turning back, she no longer sees the corner she just rounded at all, let alone the stairs she came down just a minute ago. Instead, what she sees all around her is the request for help, repeated again and again. She has a bad feeling about this. And she's not about to take any chances. "Finn," is all she has to say for the chibi-angel to understand.

Shortly after, it isn't Maron Kusakabe, but the infamous phantom thief Kaitou Jeanne traversing the library, proceeding with caution only until hearing a familiar voice calling loudly in the distance. Lucy... is Lucy down here, too? With that, she breaks into a run in the general direction of her friend's voice. If anything were to happen...!

COMBAT: Maron Kusakabe transforms into Kaitou Jeanne!

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

Battle is joined with an abruptness matched only by its ferocity.

A katana seemingly forged of shadow itself sweeps down the nearest aisle, with all the speed and sharpness of a temper unleashed.

It is shot by a sharp crossbow bolt out of a nearby copy of Of Mice And Men. TING! Then another from another nearby trap between two shelves, and another still comes straight up from a previously invisible slot in the floor. TING TING! Briefly it's pinned to the side of a shelf.

It strains itself free, and comes sweeping towards the girls.

At the same moment, the sound of a motorcycle, an unleashed mechanical roar of hatred and victory, echoes through the stacks -- and then the vehicle itself comes screaming around the corner, attempting to run the group down from the opposite direction.

Behind it, a gigantic boulder rumbles with impossibly accelerating speed, clearly trying to smash it into smithereens. But at this rate it will also roll right over the group...!

COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa transforms into Iron Men!
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has fully healed herself. She is now ready to take on 8 opponents!
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Hidari Kote Slash on Akemi Tsukiyama.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Hidari Kote Slash on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Hidari Kote Slash on Kaitou Jeanne.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Hidari Kote Slash on Mai Tokiha.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Spinout on Reiko Touyama.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Spinout on Amu Hinamori.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Spinout on Lucy Iwai.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Spinout on Mei Akatsuki.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki has fully healed herself.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Spinout on Mei Akatsuki.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji fails to dodge Juri Arisugawa's Hidari Kote Slash, taking 11 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Juri Arisugawa is Psyched!  Blind and Cripple applied to Fuu Hououji!  
COMBAT: Mai Tokiha narrowly dodges Juri Arisugawa's Hidari Kote Slash, taking 7 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Blind applied to Mai Tokiha!  
COMBAT: Akemi Tsukiyama has fully healed herself.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Hidari Kote Slash on Akemi Tsukiyama.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Kaitou Jeanne perfectly dodges Juri Arisugawa's Hidari Kote Slash, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Dodge!  Kaitou Jeanne's Fade ability activates!  Kaitou Jeanne's Flash ability activates!  
COMBAT: Kaitou Jeanne covers Lucy Iwai for Juri Arisugawa's attack, Spinout, taking it upon themselves instead!
COMBAT: Kaitou Jeanne perfectly counters Juri Arisugawa's Spinout, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Counter!  
COMBAT: Kaitou Jeanne's counterattack, Holy Barrier, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Juri Arisugawa!  
COMBAT: Reiko Touyama narrowly dodges Juri Arisugawa's Spinout, taking 8 Fatigue damage!  Juri Arisugawa is Psyched!  Stagger and Stun applied to Reiko Touyama!  
COMBAT: Mai Tokiha covers Amu Hinamori for Juri Arisugawa's attack, Spinout, taking it upon themselves instead!
COMBAT: Reiko Touyama tries to cover Mei Akatsuki for Juri Arisugawa's attack, Spinout, but cannot get there in time!
COMBAT: Mai Tokiha narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Spinout, taking 4 Fatigue damage!  Mai Tokiha's Block ability activates!  
COMBAT: Mai Tokiha covers Akemi Tsukiyama for Juri Arisugawa's attack, Hidari Kote Slash, taking it upon themselves instead!
COMBAT: Mai Tokiha fails to brace Juri Arisugawa's Hidari Kote Slash, taking 8 Fatigue damage!  Blind and Cripple applied to Mai Tokiha!  
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki narrowly dodges Juri Arisugawa's Spinout, taking 2 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Stagger and Stun applied to Mei Akatsuki!  

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

It doesn't take Mai long to find others - still a bit frustrated by the situation, but searching for anything more than eerily silent tomes. Hallways formed by shelving, labyrinthine in nature, make it hard to see exactly who's involved. The voices, however - the voices carry enough. Some she can recognize - friends or allies she's run into before - while others are largely unknown.

The blade of shadow coming out of nowhere nearly ends her search - only a panicked leap, enhanced by her element, lets her avoid being skewered. That first slash still clips her, though - sending her tumbling towards the entrapped Amu, along with the assisting Fuu and Akemi.

And there's a motorcycle bearing down on them, with an accompanying rock. There's no time to think about it - action before thought. With a cringe and a blaze of flame, Mai rockets to stand before the three, bringing up a blazing crimson barrier - not her strongest, but enough to allow bike and boulder to ramp over them. The blade's return, unfortunately, off-handedly smashes the wall to shards on its way past - Mai is flung into a bookshelf with a thump.

"Ugh...Oh! F- I mean, Magic Knight - I hope you've got some clue what's going on, because I don't." She glances to Akemi - a girl her age, at least - and then to the young-looking Amu. "...this looks like it might be dangerous. I'll try to grab those things' attention - try to find the exit if you can." A brief attempt at a smile.

And then Mai's attention turns to the shadowy katana, dodging bolts as it weaves around. "...this is kind of like the World Tree - all we need is those mysterious girls. For all I know, they're already trying to fix things down here..." There's one trick she's learned for creating light with a minimum of scorching heat - and so she charges the sword, unleashing a bright crimson flare as she closes in. These things need to see, hopefully...

COMBAT: Mai Tokiha has used Devoted Scintillation on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Mai Tokiha has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Reiko Touyama [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

SUDDENLY, they are in an even stranger looking library, and the books around the ground are gone she dropped when she goes to pick them up. What's going on!? And then some sort of -- motorcyclleeeee...

She dives out of the way of this, while she calls out. "Mei---watchout!" she calls out. She tried to kind of dive over Mei to shove her along with her, out of the way but this didn't quite work.

She looks at the world upside down as she sits- feet upwards against a messy pile of books she knocks loose from a shelf. She ughs. She gets back up. "Mei-- we better. Transform." she says. But really, this is a given.

She materalizes her Chroma Crystal and, with a convient pile of books she's half buried in--- "Chroma Prism Orange! Transform!"

There's a brilliant orange light, and she transforms relativily quickly. She frowns. "Hey...uhm! Bikes aren't allowed in libraries!" she insists, fluttering after the shadowy biker. "You're going to mess up all the boo----"

Did that book launch a crossbow? What!?

She shakes her head and follows up the summoning of koi- that hurriedly swim after that motorcyclist.

They swim around the boulder that seems to be following him that raced by her earlier. How did she miss that!? That was lucky. She'd had been squished flat.

COMBAT: Reiko Touyama transforms into Prism Keeper Orange!
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has used Orange Blast on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Amu Hinamori [Ohtori Academy (6)] has posed.

"I'm fine! Really!" Amu doesn't turn down any help to get back to her feet, though. Reaching a hand up, she pats some dust off her shirt. Pastel pink and black really makes dust stand out, ugh! "Thanks, I--" And then Amu finally looks up to see who helped her. Upperclassmen. "Ah, well." Time to play it cool. Her expression becomes a bit more straight-faced, and she casually flips a lock of hair away from her face. "I didn't really need help, but... thanks."

"Teeheehee," comes a soft giggle from somewhere in Amu's hair, and she extends her hairflip to smack the back of her head. "Mmph!"

"Eheheh. I'm just fine. But how did I get here? And just where is here, anyway?" Amy glances around, but then a voice calls from... somewhere? "Amu-chan, look out!" The girl looks up just as a motorcycle flies out of nowhere and... a Mysterious Waitress comes to her aid! "I'm okay! I can... yeah."

Amu takes a few steps away, rounds a corner, then reaches to her hair and pokes it. "Miki. You're up." The blue chara floats out and hovers in front of Amu. Taking a breath, the girl forms her thumbs and index fingers into a diamond shape in front of her chest. "My own heart... Un--" Snap! goes the fingers. "Lock!" Snap again, and Amu is surrounded by a blue glow. The Chara in front of her is encased in an egg, which Amu pulls to her chest. When the light fades, she's left in a ruffled shirt with detached sleeves, shorts, stockings and a beret. "Chara-Transformation: Amulet Spade!"

Sudden music change! Amulet Spade darts back out into the aisle between stacks of books and holds out her hand. "Don't worry, Mysterious Waitress I Have Never Met! Just hold tight!" An enormous paintbrush appears in her hands, and she twirls it expertly before sending a splash of rainbow paint at the strange phantom motorcylce and swords accosting Mai. "Colorful Canvas!"

COMBAT: Amu Hinamori transforms into Amulet Spade!
COMBAT: Amu Hinamori has used Colorful Canvas Sticky Paint on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Amu Hinamori has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly dodges Amu Hinamori's Colorful Canvas Sticky Paint, taking 6 Fatigue damage!  Juri Arisugawa's Fade ability activates!  Juri Arisugawa's Flash ability activates!  Tangle applied to Juri Arisugawa!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Mai Tokiha's Devoted Scintillation, taking 8 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Blind and Cripple applied to Juri Arisugawa!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa perfectly dodges Prism Keeper Orange's Orange Blast, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Critical Dodge!  Juri Arisugawa's Fade ability activates!  Juri Arisugawa's Flash ability activates!  

<Pose Tracker> Lucy Iwai [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Lucy has quickly joined a small group looking about as confused as she is. Fuu in her Magic Knight guise (should Lucy follow suit, she wonders?), Akemi, who she's just met, as well as a younger girl who seems familiar, though Lucy can't tell from where.

Then the library's familiar traps spring to life to (is she going crazy?) seemingly defend them, and a crossbow bolt whizzes by, taking a tiny bit of her green hair with it. "Ah! Be careful--!" Library Island traps she can handle, she has before, but invaders, now, this calls for a transformat-- -- --...

Lucy's eyes go wide as she realizes that she doesn't have her basball bat slash magic club on her. Her instincts are telling her to leap out of the way, then, but with that mad motorcyclist and giant rolling ball headed straight for the group, another, less rational part of her takes over. She extends her hands, forming a human shield that would in all likelihood be as effective as a piece of paper trying to stop a storm...

...and then more heroines leap into the fray, and Lucy's heart skips a beat as her own savior is (close to) literally the one she'd least expect. "Kaitou Jeanne?!" she shouts, eyes opened wide. That phantom thief keeps throwing her for a loop, doesn't she?

"I didn't need your help!" she calls out rather uncharacteristically, looking obviously flustered. She's grateful, of course, but... right now, confusion is winning over her. Only then does Didi slip in, amidst said confusion. Those close to Lucy might be too busy to notice the talking dinosaur... or they might not.

"Lucy! I grabbed this earlier!" and with a swing, he hurls the club in her direction. Thinking fast, Lucy catches it, and ducks right around the corner, not wasting one second...

...and the one that comes out is Mesozoic Maiden Lucy, still bathed in green light from her transformation. "Strong as the tyrano! Clever as the raptor! Nimble as the dactyl! I am Mesozoic Maiden Lucy!" she calls out, "And I won't let you make a mess of our precious library!"

Nimbly, she leap atop a set of (luckily) empty shelves, which she, one by one, kicks down before leaping onto another, right in front of the malevolent motorcyclist. She's not going on the offensive just yet, but hopefully she can slow him down as he's forced to navigate her obstacle course...!

COMBAT: Lucy Iwai transforms into Mesozoic Maiden Lucy!
COMBAT: Mesozoic Maiden Lucy has used Triassic Trick on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Mesozoic Maiden Lucy has finished attacking.

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

The Magic Knight of Wind is sufficiently focused on helping Amu get out from under the books that the roar of the motorcycle's engine is her first actual warning that danger is close at hand. And by that point, the independently mobile katana is already too close - as the Wind Knight starts to turn, the blade's edge meets her forehead. Reflexes are all that keep the cut from being deeper and more dangerous than that - the Wind Knight flings herself away, slamming into the bookcase opposite, blood dripping from a nasty cut. She's vaguely aware of the fire-user coming to Amu's defense; she's slightly more aware that the flying katana is only part of the threat, and she sees somebody getting bowled over by the motorcycle ...

The Wind Knight shakes her head slightly, gritting her teeth. *She* can't fight like this, no matter who or what the group is up against ... and she brings her left hand up, the green gem of her glove glinting as the light strikes it.

"Winds of Healing!" she calls, and a gentle, soothing breeze gusts about the group, its healing power focusing in on the Wind Knight herself, Mai, and Reiko - although Reiko immediately hides under a pile of books. Which is, all things considered, probably not such a bad idea for a non-magical girl.

The Wind Knight gets back to her feet, relieved that the healing spell ALSO seems to have cleaned up her glasses.

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Winds of Healing on Mai Tokiha.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Winds of Healing on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Winds of Healing on Prism Keeper Orange.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji accepts Fuu Hououji's Winds of Healing, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Cleanse! All of Fuu Hououji's debuffs are cleared!  
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange accepts Fuu Hououji's Winds of Healing, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Cleanse! All of Prism Keeper Orange's debuffs are cleared!  
COMBAT: Mai Tokiha accepts Fuu Hououji's Winds of Healing, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Cleanse! All of Mai Tokiha's debuffs are cleared!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Mesozoic Maiden Lucy's Triassic Trick, taking 14 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Mesozoic Maiden Lucy is Psyched!  Stagger applied to Juri Arisugawa!  
COMBAT: Akemi Tsukiyama transforms into Scarlet Rune Maiden!

<Pose Tracker> Kaitou Jeanne [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

Maron's fears prove well-founded. She hasn't even reached her destination yet before she's suddenly attacked by a dark katana out of nowhere. But reaction speed and agility are her strong suits, doubly so when transformed. And many times moreso when she now knows for certain that her friend is in terrible danger. Every second counts, she can't afford to be stopped or even slowed down by anything right now. Thus, Kaitou Jeanne somersaults right over the incoming blade, and continues running after hitting the ground, never slowing down. It was pure impulse, but one could easily believe it was consciously planned that way.

Inwardly, Maron doesn't fear nearly as determined and focused as the expression on Jeanne's face. She's terrified of what might happen - not to her, but to Lucy. She can't keep all the fun they've had together from flashing through her mind, as if it was some kind of near-death experience. And as far as she knows, Lucy might very well be near death. You never realize quite how much you value something as when you feel you're about to lose it.

After what seemed like ages but was actually mere seconds, Jeanne rounds one of the many bookcases in her way to find Lucy on the other side. Lucy, as well as what looks like a motorcycle heading directly for her. Again, she doesn't think about what she's doing. All that matters is stopping the motorcycle before it hits Lucy. And so she jumps directly in front of it.

This is going to end badly for her. She's not the most physically strong magical girl out there. Stopping a speeding motorcycle head-on is impossible for her. She knows that, but she's telling herself otherwise. She /will/ stop it. She /will/ protect her friend. No matter what, she won't let it get past her to possibly hit Lucy.

And so, her heart answers to the strength of her wish. A translucent dome forms around her, a shield of light that proves completely impenetrable, the incoming vehicle bouncing off in another direction upon striking it. It surprises Jeanne herself. She had no idea she could do that. It just sort of... happened. The moment's pause it gives her doesn't last long. More importantly, she looks over her shoulder, giving Lucy a look of concern. "Are you alright?" It might have been smarter to keep paying attention to what's happening in front of her, but... that had to come first.

The rebuff that follows from Lucy kind of stings, but... well, it does kind of figure. She's an infamous thief, after all... who'd want to be helped by her? She inwardly sighs when Lucy ducks out of sight, and turns her attention back to the motorcycle... only to see that /other/ Lucy appear. Rather than put two and two together, all she can think is 'Ugh, why now?' There's no time to get into another fight with /her/!

Even so, while Jeanne appears to be hesitating at the moment, it should be clear to Lucy what Jeanne was displaying just now.

COMBAT: Kaitou Jeanne has used Genuine Concern on Mesozoic Maiden Lucy.
COMBAT: Kaitou Jeanne has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Mesozoic Maiden Lucy accepts Kaitou Jeanne's Genuine Concern, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Mesozoic Maiden Lucy is Cheered!  

<Pose Tracker> Scarlet Rune Maiden [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

Akemi barely has time to notice the Wind Knight and thank her for her help when the very library that called to them for help seems to be attacking them now? Guma was right- she should have transformed when she had the chance!

Flinching back in her kneeling position besides Amu, Akemi looks up to notice Mai, heroically attempting to cover them both. "A-ah..." Her eyes are wide at the sight of Mai Tokiha's rescue, reminded, in that spilt second, of the time she had been spared by the actions of a similar magical girl all those years ago. But that was then, when she was young and hadn't reached out for a destiny of her own choosing.

She can fight alongside them all as an equal, now. Or, well, sort of. Guma steps in for her.

("Now's our chance! Don't let her sacrifice be for nothing!")

Catching Mai's attempt at a smile, Akemi nods solidly back. "Be careful!" Clambering up to her feet from her kneeling position beside Amu, Akemi waits for the elementary schooler to move before she moves as well, ducking behind a convenient bookshelf out of sight in order to transform.

Out from behind a flurry of books and pages leaps the Scarlet Rune Maiden, red kimono silk trailing behind her as she lands. "Lotus seal, bloom!" she commands with an urgent beckoning of her right hand, willing the ribbons of red energy from the tattoo glowing on her back. "Protect the allies of the Balance from their enemies!" Fuu, Mai, and the rejoining Amu all receive a flicker of red light that transforms into a translucent temporary shield.

("Thank you.") Akemi's voice, now encased in the Maiden's head, speaks out in gratitiude. ("... Please don't tell me 'I told you so', either!")

COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden has used Lotus Shield on Amu Hinamori.
COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden has used Lotus Shield on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden has used Lotus Shield on Mai Tokiha.
COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Amu Hinamori accepts Scarlet Rune Maiden's Lotus Shield, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Withstand applied to Amu Hinamori!  
COMBAT: Mai Tokiha accepts Scarlet Rune Maiden's Lotus Shield, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Withstand applied to Mai Tokiha!  

<Pose Tracker> Lingshen Chao [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Chao keeps a little ways back, due to being kind of a shady character honestly, but in the confusion, nobody's particularly paying her much mind, so that's helpful for her at least.

But then things go...wrong. The katana of darkness slamming down from the fore is one thing. "Attacker?" she mutters, dropping into a ready stance. Without transforming, it won't be worth much, but fight-readiness is fight-readiness.

But it still means she's got to figure out the motorcycle and the boulder! "Aiya!" she squawks, because she's not fully expecting that. She tosses herself to one side, clearing the bicycle apparently, but the boulder...

Her reaction is quick and decisive; she sweeps around a corner, letting the boulder roll on past.

Down that alley, Chao hisses into her wrist, "Hakase! I need it right now!"

But what comes back isn't a chipper all-green, but the quiet snoring of a girl whose caffeine finally ran out.

"Ah, nuts," Chao mutters.

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji accepts Scarlet Rune Maiden's Lotus Shield, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Withstand applied to Fuu Hououji!  

<Pose Tracker> Mei Akatsuki [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

Mei barely has time to look around when the aura of magic fades, but right away, she can tell they were taken to...another library. The smell of books is what tips her off at first, followed by the immense, oppressive silence that always rubbed her the wrong way when she sat down to read lively stories of action and adventure. She's a girl that likes to (loudly) share her feelings and stories with the world. Being told to sit down and be quiet was always the most surefire way to kill her interest in something.

Not that that will be a problem today, it seems, because the echoing room is filled with the sound of roaring motorcycle wheels before long, and the girl pivots around to see a shadowy hotrod speeding towards her and Reiko.

She doesn't have time to heed her friend's warning, but the attempt at saving her turns out to be less than necessary, for she listens to her instincts and *zooms* out of the way, squealing and squawking and falling down on the ground as she does so. Graceless? Yes. Successful? Also yes.

Her ears are ringing really badly now, though.

"Yup. That's our cue, Reiko-chan," Mei says, pushing herself to her knees. "Let's show these...things not to attack this...place." She's not 100% sure what is going on, but she hears the sounds of others fighting already, and it's the duty of a magical girl to help whenever she is called upon! Even when it oh-so-tragically interrupts her studying!

"Chroma Prism Red! Transform!"

In a flash of crimson, Prism Keeper Red bursts forth from the shadows alongside her friend and partner, glaring at the motorcycle that nearly mowed the both of them down. "When I can't even whisper to my friend in a library without being yelled at, it is totally unfair for you -- a motorcycle -- to barge in here and make so much noise!" she shouts, throwing out one finger accusingly before spinning on one heel, a few red sparks flying outwards for effect.

"Roses are red! Violets are blue! I'm not a librarian, but I'll still punish you!"

COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki transforms into Prism Keeper Red!
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red has used Red-Letter Day on Prism Keeper Red.
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red has used Red-Letter Day on Prism Keeper Orange.
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red accepts Prism Keeper Red's Red-Letter Day, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Empower applied to Prism Keeper Red!  
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange accepts Prism Keeper Red's Red-Letter Day, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Empower applied to Prism Keeper Orange!  

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

Now this is starting to feel like a proper Library Island trip.

That feeling of wrongness, of something terribly /off/, has not abated; if anything, it intensifies, a spider of worry that crawls down the spine. There are more immediate worries in play, however. Mai's blast of mostly light sends the sword careening towards Amu's wave of paint, which it skims across, then sticks to. It tears free to send a scoring hit across one of the shelves, slicing about six books right in half.

The motorcycle charges straight through Prism Keeper Orange's koi, but has a lot less luck with the Mezosoic Maiden's bookshelves, which crash down upon it. With a furious wheelie, it sends them away in splinters, but that takes time that might otherwise be available for more directed destruction.

---

"Turn up the dials. Let's see what these kids can do."

"Yes, sir."

Electricity hums through the labs, through the metal caskets, the rising purr of an unleashed tiger.

---

Out of the shadows of the library pour another half-dozen shadow swords, and three motorcycles. The katanas dart this way and that, slicing mercilessly across books which attempt to defend themselves through various impossible means. Some actually take flight on wings of hardback cover, getting out of the way one moment only to bombard the battlefield with tiny missiles of impossibly sharp paper the next. Other shelves, as though taking a cue from the Mezosoic Maiden's tactics, slam themselves into the motorcycles' paths. Their route is increasingly circuitous, like rats navigating a changing maze.

But then they start popping wheelies and driving on top of some of the shelves, and things get really interesting. They seem to have some kind of booster on the back -- of the many impossibilities of the moment, the elaborate nature of these machines may be the most impressive. Even if they weren't made out of darkness itself, they would still be extremely weird.

They decide to demonstrate their weirdness by attempting to leave tire tracks on the faces of the Prism Keepers and Amu, while Jeanne's distraction is rewarded with an attempted bisection on the part of two katanas, Mai finds herself dueling another sword that's coming straight for her head, Lucy her feet, and Fuu right down the midsection. Loose papers fly out in warning, their rustling providing extra incentive to notice what's coming for the girls so they can get out of the way.

It's like the library is alive.

'You must seek... and find'

The runes on the books, displaying this message over and over, is another heavy point in favor of that argument. At the end of this area, stone walls open up into a ten-foot-wide, indeterminately long hallway. The howl of another dozen shadow engines is another strong incentive to, perhaps, depart this particular zone.

COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Spinout on Mytho.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used The Open Road on Amu Hinamori.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used The Open Road on Prism Keeper Orange.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used The Open Road on Prism Keeper Red.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Tsuki Rising on Kaitou Jeanne.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Not All Men (Some Are Migi Kote) on Mai Tokiha.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Do the Do on Mesozoic Maiden Lucy.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Tsuki Rising on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Mytho accepts Juri Arisugawa's Spinout, taking 9 Fatigue damage!  Stagger and Stun applied to Mytho!  
COMBAT: Amu Hinamori narrowly counters Juri Arisugawa's The Open Road, taking 7 Fatigue damage!  Amu Hinamori's Tactician ability activates!  
COMBAT: Amu Hinamori's counterattack, Giant Paintbrush, partially gets through, doing 12 Fatigue damage to Juri Arisugawa!  

<OOC> Juri Arisugawa says, "Now for the explanation, for those of you who didn't get to make Feng Shui 1. :) Each round of combat represents the attack of a wave of enemies! Observers of +pot may have noticed that for +heal/boss 9, my Fatigue is absurdly low -- that's because I healed down. Once I'm KOed, that represents the full destruction of the first wave, and I will reset for the next, larger wave, and on and on."

<OOC> Juri Arisugawa says, "Tonight Mytho is playing the role of 'Library Island' -- the more damaged he gets, the worse things will be. Fortunately, if you can down the entire wave in one round, which you will typically be able to do, there won't be an attack on him."

<OOC> Juri Arisugawa says, "This round, since you failed to down the first wave and the second wave has arrived, when I get KOed (which will probably happen pretty quickly, I don't have much left) I will immediately, mid-your-round-of-poses, set up for the second wave, so don't be startled when that happens."

<OOC> Juri Arisugawa says, "You're quite capable of catching up and finishing both of the first two waves this round, so have at!"

COMBAT: Mai Tokiha fails to counter Juri Arisugawa's Not All Men (Some Are Migi Kote), taking 19 Fatigue damage!  Diversion applied to Mai Tokiha!  
COMBAT: Mai Tokiha's counterattack, Sanctum Blaze, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Juri Arisugawa!  
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange narrowly counters Juri Arisugawa's The Open Road, taking 19 Fatigue damage!  
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange's counterattack, Orangella Obfuscation, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Juri Arisugawa!  
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Tsuki Rising, taking 15 Fatigue damage!  
COMBAT: Kaitou Jeanne narrowly dodges Juri Arisugawa's Tsuki Rising, taking 29 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Kaitou Jeanne's Fade ability activates!  Kaitou Jeanne's Flash ability activates!  
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red fails to counter Juri Arisugawa's The Open Road, taking 36 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red's counterattack, Red Comet, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Juri Arisugawa!  
COMBAT: Mesozoic Maiden Lucy fails to brace Juri Arisugawa's Do the Do, taking 23 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Trap applied to Mesozoic Maiden Lucy!  

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

It's a little hard to go looking for anything when you have a sword getting in your face, as the Wind Knight is contending with. Her own sword materializes in a streak of light from her glove-jewel, though, and she brings it up to parry the blade, wincing as the autonomous katana pushes her back. "Anyone have an idea of what we're up against?" she calls out, watching her 'enemy's' movements -

And then she takes one step forward, pivoting, and switches her blade's position from vertical to horizontal as she spins around and advances. She's trying to catch the katana that was attacking her when *it* is vertical, and smash through the blade with her Escudo sword, ideally as close to the hilt as possible.

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Spinning Slash on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Amu Hinamori [Ohtori Academy (6)] has posed.

"Wh--" Amulet Spade takes a step back, eyes wide. "You just cut those books! You're real swords!" For a brief moment, there's a look of fear in her eyes.

That fear is soon replaced with anger, though. "This is a library!" She pauses and glances around. "Of... sorts. I think? Anyway, you can't go cutting books apart! That's just not right! Think of all the kids who won't get to read those books now..."

When more motorcycles appear, Amu holds her ground. Even in the face of a tire to the...face, Amulet Spade holds steady... and then swings her brush up, jabbing the butt end toward the spokes of the front wheel. "Hou!" With noticeable effort, she twists and redirects the path of the bike away from her face and, hopefully, away from the books as well... and tries to put it flat on its side on the ground. "Stop that! No motorcycles are allowed in the library either!"

The glowing runes around her give her pause, but she glances aside toward the Rune Maiden with a grateful smile. "It's okay, just... uh... thanks. I'm going to try to see what's going on here. There has to be some sense of order!" Narrowing her eyes, Amulet Spade brings both hands up in front of herself. One eye closes, and her tongue pokes out in concentration as she tries to tell just what's going on, as if framing a painting. "....Miss-Waitress-I-Don't-Know-What-To-Call-You! Be careful of those swords! And um... don't move to the right!" It's not advice to dodge. It's to keep Mai out of the frame.

COMBAT: Amu Hinamori has used Keen Artist's Eye on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Amu Hinamori has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly dodges Fuu Hououji's Spinning Slash, taking 5 Fatigue damage!  Juri Arisugawa's Fade ability activates!  Juri Arisugawa's Flash ability activates!  

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

Refreshing winds fan the flames, and Mai spares Fuu a grateful nod. She's thrown off, however, when Amu addresses her as 'Mysterious Waitress' - and she turns to address this. "That you've never - you know, that sounds all kinds of suspicious. Just call me- " She hesitates for a moment, then gives in to Nagi's eternal taunt. "Mai-HiME. Anyway, keep an eye out. If this is anything like what happened at the tree..."

As the red light settles around her, things get worse. More swords, more motorcycles, more chaos. "Be careful - I'm not sure what actually stopped these things last time, but there's going to be a lot of-" Any more advice she could give is cut off by a lunging sword - she starts summoning a firewall to consume it, but winds up blindsided by a side strike rather than the overhead one she was expecting. The flames shatter, and Mai herself is batted brutally down the hall of bookshelves. At least the books themselves serve as a cushion.

And at least she didn't dodge to the right.

The papers are dancing, flashing their plea - and the roar of engines gives that much more incentive. Climbing up from her impact, she looks at the rampaging motorcycles, considers them a moment - and summons flames. She'll apologize to her book-minded friends later - for now, fluttering papers plus lashes of flame should make for a suitable fiery cage for some of the attackers.

Hopefully, that will buy enough time for her to join the others at that hallway. She hopes. And hopefully, those civilians got out all right...

COMBAT: Mai Tokiha has used Infernal Embrace on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Mai Tokiha has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Amu Hinamori's Keen Artist's Eye, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Amu Hinamori is Psyched!  Analysis performed by Amu Hinamori!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to dodge Mai Tokiha's Infernal Embrace, taking 21 Fatigue damage!  Juri Arisugawa is unable to keep fighting!  Diversion and Trap applied to Juri Arisugawa!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has fully healed herself. She is now ready to take on 8 opponents!

<Pose Tracker> Prism Keeper Orange [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

Suddenly, there are motorcycles. More Motorcycles. Where are all these motorcycles coming from!? Are they just...evil? Are Motorcycles naturally evil!? Regardless, one just kind of blazes through her magical koi, and they attempt to come down on her face. Since Prism Keeper Orange likes her face, she throws up a barrier, which takes the form of an orb of bright, orange, magical, vibrant koi.

Then that gets run over and she gets pushed to the ground with an ompohhhhhh! Yeah this is wholly unpleasent. Things seems to be happening. Papers get flung into the air.. and now there's that passage opening up over that way! She feels. Drawn over there. It tingles.

Apparently, other people have te same idea.

She throws a beam of bright, vibrant orange color energy at one of the motorcycles as she flutters towards that passage on her wings.

"This is horrible!" she exclaims.

She calls out. "Where are you!?" she calls out to the constant call for 'help'.

COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has used Orange Rush! on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to dodge Prism Keeper Orange's Orange Rush!, taking 20 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Exhausted applied to Juri Arisugawa!  

<Pose Tracker> Mesozoic Maiden Lucy [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Even as Lucy tries to focus on the fight, sending crashing down obstacles in the motorcycle's way, the look on Kaitou Jeanne's face keeps flashing back to her, one she can't reconcile with the way she'd seen the no-good thief up until now.

Lucy can't help but feel like she should apologize for her reaction. She's been dishonest with herself, hasn't she? She's misunderstood that phantom thief, and she's known it for a long time, but her pride wouldn't let her admit it. Of course, she can't very well do so /now/, especially not as the Mesozoic Maiden, but she resolves to do so, whenever she can.

She's clever. She'll find a way.

The idea lifts her spirits in an unexpected way, and with this feeling coupled with a rush of adrenaline, she dives down the shelves in order to confront the two shadow objects more directly. Even without her help, the shelves keep crashing down. As improbable as it seems, she notices, Library Island is fighting back! ...Did it also call them here, too?

There are more swords, more motorcycles, but she knows the group, however ragtag it might be, can stop them. She doesn't need to seek out one of them, as one of the swords goes for her feet. She's no fencer, and her attempt to deflect it with her club is too slow. The tattooed skin on her bare legs and feet may be hard as stone, but metal is sharper-- and while the damage they leave pales in comparison to what a comparable attack would leave on most people, Lucy has to wince as they leave faint cuts that make it much more painful for the normally nimble girl to run about.

She endures the pain as she footworks away from the blade, which is promptly melted down by a wave of flames from Mai. "Thank you!" Lucy waves her free hand to her, and only then notices the message from the library itself. Others are already heading down that hallway, and doing so seems like the best thing to do.

"Hold on," she tells to no one in particular, "we're coming!" And, wincing with every step, she takes off, swinging her club wildly at whichever blades are unfortunate enough to find themselves in her way. Steel may be stronger than stone, but they're made of darkness, and the light within Lucy's weapon will always overpower it!

COMBAT: Mesozoic Maiden Lucy has used Cretaceous Clobber on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Mesozoic Maiden Lucy has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to dodge Mesozoic Maiden Lucy's Cretaceous Clobber, taking 27 Fatigue damage!  

<Pose Tracker> Scarlet Rune Maiden [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

"I have no clue what we're up against," states Guma calmly to Fuu, and then to Amu, "Whether there are sides, for instance, or which side we're on, or which side we should be on. But, I feel, if we are all guests here, we should perhaps be on the side of the library itself."

It's a living library. As Akemi tries to question this logic, Guma, who is in control of the Scarlet Rune Maiden, simply assumes it's there under the same logic that magical girls and boys, deliciously sweet berries, and cable TV fall under: of course they exist. Just go with it and only be annoyed when it doesn't quite fit inside the narrative you have going.

Amu's order will come along eventually. Guma will just use what powers she has to keep these... shadow creatures at bay. Even if she can't exactly sense a sort of evil that needs to be purified, Guma's logic states that light must render darkness helpless before it. "I'll cover everyone I can," she says to Lucy. "I'll ensure these shadows bend before my light!"

"I came as bid, and consider you enemies, as you have attacked innocent civilians mercilessly in a place of learning." Summoning the holy power of the lotus rune tattoo that glows on her back, the Scarlet Rune Maiden points to the direction opposite from the entryway to the next area, targeting whatever monstrous vehicles or katanas may be left. "O enemies of the balance between Nature and Man, repent now, or face the consequences of your actions at the hands of the Scarlet Rune Maiden!"

COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden has used Scarlet Banishment on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to dodge Scarlet Rune Maiden's Scarlet Banishment, taking 42 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Juri Arisugawa is unable to keep fighting!  Scarlet Rune Maiden is Psyched!  

<OOC> Juri Arisugawa says, "That's it for this wave, I recommend anyone left throw non-offense"

<OOC> Juri Arisugawa says, "Or regen some mana with a PL 0"

<Pose Tracker> Kaitou Jeanne [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

Distractions are a bad thing when surrounded by swords made out of darkness. At the very least, Jeanne notices one of them coming for her in time. Unfortunately, only after jumping back to avoid that one does she notice that there's another one that she's heading straight towards now. An unplanned mid-air dodge goes completely awry, scraping past the sword sharp edge on the way to the ground, which she hits at an entirely wrong angle to be able to still keep her balance. That adds a painful fall to the stinging sensation the sword left on her right arm. It's... rather as if she just brushed up against an actual blade. That answers the question of just how dangerous these shadows are.

Finally properly preparing for a fight, she leaps back to her feet and summons her trusty ribbon to her side, pulling it taut in front of her. "That hurt, you..." She abandons her insult in the making, realizing that she's probably not talking to anything that can hear her. She instead retailors her remark to an encouragement directed at herself: "I'm not losing to some stupid... demonic swords!" For lack of a better term. These don't feel like actual demons.

At the same time, she takes notice of what her surroundings appear to be doing. That's weird. Isn't it the library doing this? So why is something apparently... trying to help? It's odd. Normally she isn't very inclined to following instructions, especially from things that she doesn't even know the nature of. But something tells her that these runes are on the level. What happened earlier, the way she felt when she heard someone call for help, and the runes repeating that plea... it just felt too genuine. She shouldn't ignore it. She can't ignore it.

Lucy is out of danger now, right? She can only hope. Best thing to do now is distract the shadows' attention in passing. But that's something she's good at. The mere thought already brings a confident grin back to her face.

In the next instance, the library is suddenly filled with smoke, Kaitou Jeanne leaving a trail of smoke bombs behind her as she brings up the rear of the party heading down the hallway. Not bothering to explain what a phantom thief is doing here (they can probably think of a few possibilities), Jeanne instead suggests to the other magical girls in general, "Hurry on ahead, I don't think this'll slow down things without eyes for very long!"

COMBAT: Kaitou Jeanne has used Smoke Bomb on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Kaitou Jeanne has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly braces Kaitou Jeanne's Smoke Bomb, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Juri Arisugawa is unable to keep fighting!  Juri Arisugawa's Block ability activates!  Blind and Cripple applied to Juri Arisugawa!  

<Pose Tracker> Prism Keeper Red [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

"Oh, so you decided to bring your friends, did you?" Red mocks from a safe distance as the three shadow motorcycles materialize. Whatever. She's not scared. She's *got* this. "Well, I have friends too, and we're gonna show you who's boss today!"

When their engines begin to rumble, when they start shooting towards her, Orange, and another magical girl she has yet to meet, the Prism Keeper summons her shield of red magic, and instead of darting away like she did before, she charges directly at the central motorcycle, confident that she is protected from harm.

Until the infernal machine collides with her, shatters the hardened orb around her with little effort, and plows over her completely.

That hurts the confidence somewhat. As well as her face.

"That...was not the smartest thing I've ever done," the girl groans, lying face-up on the ground, taking a second to catch her breath. "Be careful, Orange. These shadow things aren't playing around." Papers and book spines light up with runes around her, but before she can make out what they're saying, the echoing of a dozen more engines injects adrenaline straight into her heart, and she leaps into the air, relying on her wings more than her muscle to get up off the ground.

Luckily, it appears all the magical girls have an escape route, and it's likely some of them are trying to figure out just what is going on in the library. So it's up to her, who is a bit less keen, to keep the swords and motorcycles from doing them harm.

"This way, everyone! We might be in trouble soon!" she yells, gesturing over to the newly opened hallway. "I'll try and keep these guys off you!"

Red summons her Chroma Wand, ready to fire at the approaching wave -- only to find that it does not come. Blink. Blink.

Hey, these magical girls aren't too shabby at beating up bad guys!

COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has fully healed herself. She is now ready to take on 8 opponents!

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

<SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5aZJBLAu1E

The Magic Knight of Wind's strike is true but the katana is just too quick, and her blade catches on the shadow's tip rather than up by the hilt. It doesn't shatter, but it is held conveniently in place by this blade lock, and Fuu's strength in maintaining it, for Lucy's club to come down on it, and then a few more, just for good measure. They dissolve into puffs of shadow.

Meanwhile, Amulet Spade does indeed take out a motorcycle with that skid; it slams into a second one and they both explode into more darkness, a fate shared by a third caught by Mai's embrace of flame. The last is destroyed utterly by Prism Keeper Orange's light. Before it goes, Amu gets the impression, from her snapshot, that it was the force of the beam, and not its radiance, that dissolved it.

The rest of the swords, meanwhile, are handled by the joint strike force of Lucy's efforts and that of the Scarlet Rune Maiden, whose red seals envelop the blades, and, twisting, dispel them. Thanks to this, and the coverage of Kaitou Jeanne's smoke bomb, it seems that no further damage is inflicted upon the stacks in this moment.

Those who fall back to the hallway discover that it is apparently endless, in both length and height; there is still no ceiling, only darkness high above, as though this is an alley between two infinite skyscrapers. After a few moments of running, it is not unreasonable to wonder if there's a treadmill underneath, endlessly grinding stone on stone.

And then the katanas come.

They come from above, whistling through the air in a shower of shadowy steel.

They are as countable as raindrops.

They aim for everyone's heads.

COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used It's Raining Men, Hallelujah on Prism Keeper Red.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used It's Raining Men, Hallelujah on Kaitou Jeanne.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used It's Raining Men, Hallelujah on Scarlet Rune Maiden.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used It's Raining Men, Hallelujah on Mesozoic Maiden Lucy.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used It's Raining Men, Hallelujah on Prism Keeper Orange.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used It's Raining Men, Hallelujah on Mai Tokiha.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used It's Raining Men, Hallelujah on Amu Hinamori.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used It's Raining Men, Hallelujah on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Mai Tokiha narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's It's Raining Men, Hallelujah, taking 8 Fatigue damage!  Mai Tokiha's Block ability activates!  
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's It's Raining Men, Hallelujah, taking 7 Fatigue damage!  Prism Keeper Orange's Block ability activates!  Prism Keeper Orange's Parry ability activates!  
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red perfectly dodges Juri Arisugawa's It's Raining Men, Hallelujah, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Dodge!  
COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's It's Raining Men, Hallelujah, taking 14 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Scarlet Rune Maiden's Parry ability activates!  
COMBAT: Amu Hinamori fails to dodge Juri Arisugawa's It's Raining Men, Hallelujah, taking 21 Fatigue damage!  
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red has used Red-Letter Day on Scarlet Rune Maiden.
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Kaitou Jeanne narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's It's Raining Men, Hallelujah, taking 11 Fatigue damage!  Kaitou Jeanne's Parry ability activates!  
COMBAT: Mesozoic Maiden Lucy narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's It's Raining Men, Hallelujah, taking 10 Fatigue damage!  
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji narrowly dodges Juri Arisugawa's It's Raining Men, Hallelujah, taking 15 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Fuu Hououji's Fade ability activates!  Fuu Hououji's Flash ability activates!  

<Pose Tracker> Amu Hinamori [Ohtori Academy (6)] has posed.

"Mai-HiME. Right!" Amulet Spade tilts her head slightly. "Dance princess? Though that sounded a little weird...eep!" As those swords come from above, she tries to dive for cover. She's... marginally successful.

Marginal in that she doesn't get her skull split open, but the blade does manage to strike her with enough force to send her tumbling into another stack of books, which falls over onto her.

Buried. Again. Only not really, because that was totally Amu Hinamori, cool and spicy elementary schooler the first time, and this is definitely Amulet Spade, artistic blue of all things art. "That's it!" Amulet Spade stands up, looking quite dusty and dirty, but still in one piece. "I wish Nadeshiko were here. She knows more about swords and stuff than I do. Or Kairi! But...." Amulet Spade resummons her paintbrush and slams its butt end against the floor, which in turn sprays a splash of bright paint toward the nearest swords.

"I thought I told you, no swords in the library! I don't care what your reason is. Libraries are a place of peace and study, not pieces and sword...y!" Yeah. That sounded cool, right? Well, she keeps her confident expression up, so it must have been cool. "Everyone, I'm not sure what's up with these swords and stuff, but they're not... dark, despite being all... you know, dark! I think it'll be okay if we hit them to break them apart before they get to the books!" Pause. "Or us!"

COMBAT: Amu Hinamori has used A Splash Of Color on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Amu Hinamori has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Mesozoic Maiden Lucy [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Lucy nods appreciatively when a Maiden of a different sort responds to her. She's never seen this magical girl before, but it's always nice to meet new allies... For /some/ reason, this reminds her to, after this, call Akemi to see if she and that other girl made it out all right.

Lucy runs and runs on her wounded feet, managing to keep pace but briefly considering giving away her title in exchange for some medicinal herbs right about now. The hallways just seems to never end, and it doesn't even seem to be just her, either. /Where/ are they headed, exactly?

A storm of swords then erupts right above them, and despite the library setting this has nothing to do with a certain best-selling series. This time they're aimed for their heads rather than feet, which ironically enough means Lucy is better at batting them away, being more familiar with enemies who attack in that direction. Sparks fly, which then allows her to counterattack.

She spins on her heel, enduring the pain to perform a maneuver more graceful than her usual, as the sparks still flying, as they get near the Maiden's club or her free hand, suddenly erupt into roaring balls of flame, forming a loose ring around her.

The brief lull this affords her lets her hear Amulet Clover's advice clearly. "Ah! I understand. Brute force it shall be, then!" As opposed to holy, purifying flames, which are a grade above the regular flames she's using right now.

COMBAT: Mesozoic Maiden Lucy has used Blast from the Past on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Mesozoic Maiden Lucy has finished attacking.

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

Nobody makes sword-proof umbrellas in this day and age, and the Wind Knight wasn't expecting rain of any sort to be an issue. She does her best to dodge the rain of blades anyway, using her own sword to try and keep the worst of the assault from hitting her. But the fact that they're coming from ABOVE opens her options up in one vital respect ...

"Storm-Dance of the Kamaitachi!!"

The Wind Knight was spinning around enough in her attempt to dodge the rain of katana that she's still somewhat wobbly afterwards - but that doesn't matter so much to the spell she unleashes, sending the conjured tornado straight upwards. The books on the top shelves will probably get blown around some, but this is mostly aimed to stop the swords from continuing to plummet. "I'm glad I'm not dealing with this alone," the green-clad Magic Knight comments as she's directing her spell - and she spares a thankful glance to the Scarlet Rune Maiden, whose magic from earlier is still supporting her. "Everyone, let's keep it up!"

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Storm-Dance of Kamaitachi on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Prism Keeper Orange [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

Prism Keeper Orange looks to Amu confusedly. They're dark but not dark!? But they're dark! Or does she mean... like evil but not /evil/ or--- this magical stuff is so confusing. She looks back to Mei as she frowns and nods. "Right---These things are terrible, Red." she says a little concernedly.

She looks overhead and it raining /swords/ suddenly.

She begins to cover her head and jump out of the way of a few sweeping katanas.

She summons up as much strength as she can, as she summons up a vibrant school of koi, then makes them disperse! Trying to crash into the various swords before they can reassert themselves. She looks a little unsure though tonight. No one seems to know what is quite going on her tonight...but if someone needs help...

Well, she's going to do her best not to faint until it's given!

COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has used School of Pain on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has finished attacking.

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

There's only so much Mai could do alone, here - at least, not without replacing one problem with a potentially bigger one. Fortunately, she's not alone - while there's only a handful she recognizes, there's a group of like-minded people ready to help defend this library.

Wherever it is.

The endless corridor is where Mai finally rejoins the others. "Okay, I don't know where we are, but...you're all hearing that voice too, right? There's got to be something else here - something that needs our help. It's the same feeling I had at the world tree - some kind of shadows trying to put out a light, or..." She shakes her head. "There weren't exactly answers at the time. The point is -"

The point is being made - that the attacks will continue until morale breaks. Swords rain down, glimmering blackness to pierce everyone and everything. Cutting off her comment in favour of a panicked yelp, Mai throws her hands up over her head. Flashes of flame dance around her bracelets as blades clash against them - the storm is mercifully brief, and endurable.

"...never mind. And for the record, I didn't exactly get to pick that name, myself. ...and really, you're complaining about the swords in the library, when I've got..." Mai winces, and shakes her head. The katanas are a menace - but maybe she can do something to help there. Painfully aware of the nearby bookshelves - and still recovering from the solid hits she's already taken - Mai conserves her strength for a moment. Tentative tendrils of flame, licking at the edges of the swarm of swords, seeking to herd them together.

Keep everything in one place, and hit it all at once. Right?

COMBAT: Mai Tokiha has used Binding Sparks on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Mai Tokiha has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa perfectly dodges Amu Hinamori's A Splash Of Color, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Dodge!  Juri Arisugawa's Fade ability activates!  Juri Arisugawa's Flash ability activates!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly braces Mesozoic Maiden Lucy's Blast from the Past, taking 6 Fatigue damage!  Juri Arisugawa's Block ability activates!  Exhausted applied to Juri Arisugawa!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly dodges Fuu Hououji's Storm-Dance of Kamaitachi, taking 20 Fatigue damage!  Juri Arisugawa's Fade ability activates!  Juri Arisugawa's Flash ability activates!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly braces Prism Keeper Orange's School of Pain, taking 5 Fatigue damage!  Prism Keeper Orange is Psyched!  Juri Arisugawa's Block ability activates!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly dodges Mai Tokiha's Binding Sparks, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Juri Arisugawa's Fade ability activates!  Juri Arisugawa's Flash ability activates!  Tangle applied to Juri Arisugawa!  

<Pose Tracker> Kaitou Jeanne [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

Jeanne recognizes some of the other magical girls she's found herself among. Mai, of course, she remembers very well. She couldn't possibly forget about the snowstorm incident. Amu looks kind of familiar too, though the outfit is new and she can't quite place it as a result. She's seen Fuu around plenty of times, but never sought direct interaction.

She isn't about to start now, regarding any of them. This isn't the time for it, and besides, she's got that image of a loner phantom thief to uphold. Which she clearly wasn't too concerned about when she jumped in front of Lucy, but that won't keep her from putting that mask back on now.

Also... there's a sudden sword rain to worry about, that seems like a smart thing to devote one's attention to. Gritting her teeth, Jeanne raises an arm above her head as she continues running. That may not seem like it would make much difference, but the swords that strike her arm make a sound as if striking a solid surface, instead of passing through with the easy one might expect. There's no magic involved here, it's a very simple trick, which the phantom thief gives away a moment later. After the sword rain ends, she removes from her sleeve an ordinary wooden board, briefly inspecting the sorry state it's in after the bombardment before tossing it over her shoulder. It served its purpose well, but it won't protect her a second time.

Which leaves as the best option to intercept before they get another chance. Jeanne turns on a dime, spinning completely around, and springing back in the other direction. Any swords that were directly behind her are promptly treated to a display of rapid swings from her weapon in mid-jump. It may look like a gymnastics ribbon, but it wouldn't have made for a very good gymnastics routine. After all, the point of those is that you can actually see how the ribbon moves. This movement was so fast, an audience would find it difficult to keep following. Which is just as well, because the audience it was meant for is supposed to be getting sliced into pieces.

Afterwards, it's another rapid spin, and Jeanne resumes running down the corridor, complaining aloud, "This better end soon, or I'm never listening to voices in my head again!"

COMBAT: Kaitou Jeanne has used Ribbon Whiplash on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Kaitou Jeanne has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly braces Kaitou Jeanne's Ribbon Whiplash, taking 10 Fatigue damage!  Kaitou Jeanne is Psyched!  Juri Arisugawa's Block ability activates!  Tangle applied to Juri Arisugawa!  

<Pose Tracker> Scarlet Rune Maiden [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

Darting in after the other magical girls, Guma relentlessly moves onward, her sandals hitting the ground. So focused is she on finding the source of the library's distress that Guma doesn't seem to realize, at first, that they could very well be going in circles. Or a straight line.

("It's like we're going nowhere- are we really finding what we're supposed to find out here?") Akemi can't do much more than look through the Scarlet Rune Maiden's eyes, experiencing as she does yet be one part removed from it all. This provides one advantage, as Akemi notices the falling steel shower a blessed moment before Guma does. ("Look out! Above!")

"Of all things, really? More of them?" Guma's lips twist in annoyance as she skids not too gracefully to a stop, bracing with the power of the lotus shield manifesting a centimeter beyond her upraised arms against the dark sharpness of the blade above her. "Ngh!"

That is utterly not that elementary school student getting caught again in a pile of books over there, of course, but a fellow ally. A fellow ally giving some pointers. "Good to know that they'll break without having to purify them." Looking towards the rejoining Mai, Guma manages a smile towards Mai. "Indeed. Someone or something needs our help out there. But you think it's similar to other situations like this?"

If only she had more time to think. There is something nagging her, now, but what's the common thread binding any of the events together? "We'll just have to work together as long as it takes," Guma says, as Jeanne and Mai's combined efforts bind and entangle the swords. It's a good opportunity to take these things out once and for all.

Summoning the red energy from the lotus rune to her right hand, Guma plunges her fist against the ground, sending a spike of earth shooting upwards against most of the katanas, hopefully shattering them to bits.

COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden accepts Prism Keeper Red's Red-Letter Day, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Empower applied to Scarlet Rune Maiden!  
COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden has used Earth Spike on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to dodge Scarlet Rune Maiden's Earth Spike, taking 39 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  

<Pose Tracker> Prism Keeper Red [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

When she's absolutely sure that no more shadow motorcycles are going to chase after the group, Prism Keeper Red kicks off and into the air once again, deciding that she can be of more use from above, where she is fast enough to keep up with everybody. After a few minutes of furious flying, however, she begins to notice something is wrong. Very wrong.

This hallway isn't going anywhere. Both upward and forward, it seems to stretch on forever.

Oh, and there are swords falling now. That's bad, too.

"Be careful, everyone!" she calls out, ducking and weaving as best she can between the deadly rain of blades. Those weeks of practice with her wings are paying off now: she comes out of that particular encounter with nary a scratch. From the noise beneath her, she doesn't think her friends are as lucky. The Prism Keeper lands next to her partner just in time to hear her condemnation of the shadows that have been plaguing them so far.

"Yeah, they're definitely terrible," she agrees heartily, spreading her hands apart wide. "So we'll have to make them sorry they ever attacked this library!" As the power of roses and vines pools around her hands, Red looks around at the enchanted hallway. "This very, very weird library."

When enough vines of roses, razor thorns and all, has grown around her, she commands them to shoot upward and break the falling swords, protecting all those below under a canopy of red flowers.

COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red has used Rose Garden Wrath on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly dodges Prism Keeper Red's Rose Garden Wrath, taking 26 Fatigue damage!  Juri Arisugawa is unable to keep fighting!  Prism Keeper Red is Psyched!  Juri Arisugawa's Fade ability activates!  Juri Arisugawa's Flash ability activates!  Tangle applied to Juri Arisugawa!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has fully healed herself. She is now ready to take on 8 opponents!

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

<SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cfRjmZX7_U

The storm of swords is endured without generating a feast for crows. Whether there is also going to be a dance with dragons tonight remains to be seen, but this is certainly a clash of kings.

Or at least, kingly strikes -- swords fly out of the way of Amulet Spade's paint, straight into Lucy's balls of flame; others are swept up by Fuu's tornado, then battered into oblivion by orange koi. Still more are herded into place by Mai's tendrils of flame, then torn apart by Jeanne's fiercely whipping ribbon. The Scarlet Rune Maiden's spike of earth shatters yet more, and limits the space in which they can fly; Prism Keeper Red's vines climb around it, puncturing the last of them. Only shadows remain...

...and there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

Almost as though the rug had been pulled out from under everyone -- only there is no rug, just a marble library floor -- the hallway ends in a potential tumble, arrestingly sudden. The vision laid out before the girls is a familiar place to the Library Island Exploration Club, and potentially recognizable by other girls who know their way around other libraries.

It is the filing system. Stacks and stacks and stacks of cabinets, wood and metal and stone, each with drawers, each with cards. Google searching is an unknown here.

A truly incalculable amount of knowledge will be lost forever if this stuff is seriously harmed -- all the knowledge in the world, the largest collection, is useless if nobody knows where to find anything within it.

Perhaps for that reason, this is where Mai's expected girls appear. A ring of particularly little maidens, perhaps seven or eight years old, holding hands, eyes closed. Each is dressed in more diaphonous lace and ruffles than the last. Pink light pours off of them, blinding in its intensity -- it is extremely difficult to look at them directly.

It is instinctively obvious that this is where the source of the wrongness is at its pinnacle.

One of them, who wears a twinkling tiara, snaps her vibrant blue eyes open and glares at a shadowcycle as it bears down on them with a roar. Others are descending on them from all directions. She does not stop concentrating.

For in the game of thrones, you win or you die.

COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Tumble Tangle on Prism Keeper Red.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Tumble Tangle on Scarlet Rune Maiden.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Tumble Tangle on Kaitou Jeanne.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Tumble Tangle on Mai Tokiha.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Tumble Tangle on Prism Keeper Orange.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Tumble Tangle on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Tumble Tangle on Mesozoic Maiden Lucy.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Tumble Tangle on Amu Hinamori.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Mai Tokiha narrowly dodges Juri Arisugawa's Tumble Tangle, taking 4 Fatigue damage!  
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Tumble Tangle, taking 3 Fatigue damage!  Tangle applied to Prism Keeper Red!  
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji narrowly counters Juri Arisugawa's Tumble Tangle, taking 7 Fatigue damage!  Tangle applied to Fuu Hououji!  
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji's counterattack, Spinning Slash, partially gets through, doing 4 Fatigue damage to Juri Arisugawa!  
COMBAT: Kaitou Jeanne narrowly dodges Juri Arisugawa's Tumble Tangle, taking 4 Fatigue damage!  Kaitou Jeanne's Fade ability activates!  Kaitou Jeanne's Flash ability activates!  
COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden narrowly dodges Juri Arisugawa's Tumble Tangle, taking 7 Fatigue damage!  Tangle applied to Scarlet Rune Maiden!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Swordbike on Prism Keeper Red.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Bikesword on Mai Tokiha.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Swordbike on Scarlet Rune Maiden.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Mesozoic Maiden Lucy narrowly dodges Juri Arisugawa's Tumble Tangle, taking 10 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Mesozoic Maiden Lucy's Fade ability activates!  Mesozoic Maiden Lucy's Flash ability activates!  Tangle applied to Mesozoic Maiden Lucy!  
COMBAT: Amu Hinamori narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Tumble Tangle, taking 3 Fatigue damage!  Tangle applied to Amu Hinamori!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Bikesword on Amu Hinamori.
COMBAT: Juri has not concluded their actions. Reactions are not yet available.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Swordbike on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Mai Tokiha narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Bikesword, taking 31 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Mai Tokiha's Block ability activates!  
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red fails to dodge Juri Arisugawa's Swordbike, taking 37 Fatigue damage!  
COMBAT: Amu Hinamori fails to counter Juri Arisugawa's Bikesword, taking 70 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Amu Hinamori is unable to keep fighting!  
COMBAT: Amu Hinamori's counterattack, Giant Paintbrush, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Juri Arisugawa!  
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange fails to dodge Juri Arisugawa's Tumble Tangle, taking 11 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Tangle applied to Prism Keeper Orange!  
COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Swordbike, taking 19 Fatigue damage!  Scarlet Rune Maiden's Parry ability activates!  
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji fails to counter Juri Arisugawa's Swordbike, taking 50 Fatigue damage!  
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji's counterattack, Sword Strike, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Juri Arisugawa!  

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

The Scarlet Rune Maiden catches Mai's attention for a moment - even as the HiME lets out a whistle at the abrupt terraforming. "Other situations...there's been all sorts of monsters, but I only remember something like this happening the once, at the World Tree. But - you're right. Together, hopefully we can hold the line..." She glances over to Jeanne. "Though honestly, actually hearing a voice is a new one. Any other thoughts-"

There's an abrupt lack of floor - and having descended to walk with the others, Mai winds up tumbling with the rest. She manages to push off the slope before hitting the bottom, trusting in her Element to keep her aloft for the time being. It's at an odd angle that she first beholds the heart of the library - the countless filing cabinets, the shining light, the mysterious maidens.

And there's the roar of the shadowcycles. "Look out!" Mai comes screaming in - perhaps pointlessly, the tiara-wearing girl can clearly see the bike - and with all the speed she can muster, hurls herself in the space between the girls and the bikes. A flickering crimson barrier appears to take the vehicular violence - but it shudders and begins to crack from the wheel spinning against it.

Even in this peril, Mai glances behind her, to where the light's shining and something important is happening. "This is like with the tree, right? Just - do your best, and I'll try to keep you safe, whoever you are." They're all doing their best...so Mai will do hers to protect them.

The bike, surging with fury, breaks through the barrier - and is answered immediately with a point-blank torrent of flame.

COMBAT: Mai Tokiha has used Vehement Ignition on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Mai Tokiha has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Amu Hinamori [Ohtori Academy (6)] has posed.

"That's different! You're not destroying the books!" Just because Mai is using fire doesn't mean she's doing a bad thing. "A library is an important place for a school. This... this is a school library, right?"

And then Amulet Spade is hit with a strange sense of dizziness as suddenly she's... elsewhere. Good thing she has that giant paintbrush to lean on, or she might have fallen over! "Now where is this place? Oh, hey.. I think I remember mom talking about those things. Card something-or-other, right? There sure are a lot of--akcslgkjrgp!" Whatever Amulet Spade was about to say is lost to the stacks, as a dark motorcycle just runs her over and sends her tumbling. Again. Tumbling is supposed to be Heart's department, not Spade's!

And, as Amulet Spade gets back to her feet, her eyes suddenly widen. The paintbrush is brought up to try to block another incoming motorcycle, and it does the job admirably! ...for about half a second. Then it bends... and shatters into a cloud of sparkles, and the larger motorcycle slams into Amulet Spade, knocking her back into a cabinet hard enough to dent it in. "Nnnn..." She tries to get up, but... just slumps, breathing heavily. "S...sorry. I don't think... I can..." She's somewhat okay, but defintely hurt... and she'll need some time to get her breath back before standing up. Though the crater of a cabinet is safe enough from roaming motorcycles and slashing swords, at least.

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

Library Island is hard enough to find books in already as it is; letting the hostile forces tear down the card catalog would be truly impossible to repair - and even if they AREN'T in Library Island, that's still an extremely huge filing system, and still wouldn't be something that can be fixed.

With those thoughts foremost in her mind, the Magic Knight of Wind pulls herself back out of the heap, that people landed in, already bringing her sword to bear against enemies who are ... a little slower in arriving than she thought they'd be. But the shadowcycles turn up shortly thereafter, and the Wind Knight takes one head-on.

Literally. It outmasses her, apparently, by quite a lot - and the Magic Knight is sent flying back against one of the cabinets with a *CRACK* that might be wood, metal, mystic armor, and/or bone giving way. Her glasses are noticeably askew - but somehow they don't actually go flying off of her face, which is about the only GOOD thing about what just happened to her.

The other beneficial outcome is that the Wind Knight can, if barely, keep herself propped up against the cabinet she's leaning against; she blinks a few times, but her vision isn't clearing even after she straightens her glasses. Concussion, maybe. She certainly wouldn't be staying upright at the moment without a nice solid surface against her back. She doesn't need her sword even for a crutch at the moment; it vanishes, and she focuses as much of her will as she can.

"Winds of Admonishment!"

Another tornado forms at her bidding, and she sends the Winds of Admonishment howling towards the shadowbikes, trying to capture as many of the conjured machines as she can. She doesn't have the strength to go into head-on combat at this point, but she can try to tie the things up so her allies can do the real damage more easily ...

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Winds of Admonishment on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Prism Keeper Orange [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

Prism Keeper Orange is not enjoying all this moving, shifting, dropping, teleporting around tonight. She tumbles about and falls on her tush. She's already not feeling great, and it shows when she stands up and wavers a bit. She frowns hard as Red goes and puts herself in harms way again. She feels really bad about that now of course.

She raises her hand swkyward and sends a wave of orange , sparkly energy into the ear, as these shadowdy dark constructs seem content to impose on----

This ring of girls. She can't quite look at them directly. It's bright and strong and radiant. But whatever they're doing-- it has to be important and helpful to whatever's going on. Afterall. Those things seem to be going after them!

COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has used Orange Blast on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly braces Mai Tokiha's Vehement Ignition, taking 17 Fatigue damage!  Juri Arisugawa's Block ability activates!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa perfectly dodges Fuu Hououji's Winds of Admonishment, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Dodge!  Juri Arisugawa's Fade ability activates!  Juri Arisugawa's Flash ability activates!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly braces Prism Keeper Orange's Orange Blast, taking 4 Fatigue damage!  Prism Keeper Orange is Psyched!  Juri Arisugawa's Block ability activates!  

<Pose Tracker> Mesozoic Maiden Lucy [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Mai's comment on not knowing where she is reminds Lucy that the way they were brought here means not all of them would be as familiar with the place as she is (which is really not that much, all things considered!) "This is Library Island," she explains, "near Infinity Institute! We're deep below the lake, now..." Perhaps deeper than she'd even been before.

The rest of what she says is informative, however. This isn't the first time something like this happens? Of course, not that she needed much more incentive to protect this place, no matter how many times it's tried to kill her.

And then there's light at the end of the tunnel-- rather too abruptly for Lucy, whose momentum works against her, and sends her falling and rolling down right into an oversized filing cabinet. She painfully pulls herself back up, spurred on by the roar of engines, but she doesn't make it in time to intercept them and defend those girls Mai spoke of. So they're the ones who called for help. Who are they? Does it really matter?

A few of them do manage to make it in time, however, and they almost all end up badly hurt, one of them even down for the count. "NO!" At least their bravery wasn't for nothing, as the bikes are stopped... But more are coming.

As quickly as she can, she climbs up the most absurdly tall cabinet she can find, she's positively swinging herself up, what with her legs being unreliable today, and soon she's up there... and she jumps off.

Despite the relatively short fall, the Mesozoic Maiden, her mighty club raised, is soon engulfed by flames remniscent of atmospheric entry. "EXTINCTIOOOOOON..." This is where being clever as the raptor comes in handy. Normally, this attack leaves a wide crater, but Lucy took a moment to pick her landing spot and angle /just so/ in order to blow away as many bikes as possible, while leaving the cabinets themselves intact.

"IMPACT!"

And with a tremendous swing of her club, comes the enormous crater. Of course, some of the cards from the filing system might get scattered by the dust this kicks up, but logistical nightmares are, at least, absolutely nothing new to this particular library.

COMBAT: FINISHER! Mesozoic Maiden Lucy has used Extinction Impact on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Mesozoic Maiden Lucy has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Scarlet Rune Maiden [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

"Yes, the voice is a new element. Maybe it's a sign of things to come?" A strengthening of a will or wills, a call to arms that wasn't able to be registered before... something. Or maybe that's just the library itself that made the call. The thought of the World Tree being in danger does make Guma wince, nearly missing the HiMe's whistle of appreciation.

Entering the filing area, it's now the Scarlet Rune Maiden's turn to be amazed, even if she tries her best to hide it under a veneer of cool distance. "... Interesting." Guma's amber eyes regard the scene laid out before them all.

("These glowing people must be like librarians in a non-magical library. It'd be impossible to find anything without these girls,") Akemi says, equally amazed. ("Maybe they were the ones who sent out the message.")

"It doesn't matter if they sent the message or not," Guma says, apparently to the magical girls gathered. "They need our help so they can do their jobs without stopping!"

Following Mai's example, the Scarlet Rune Maiden engages her own swordbike, the lotus seal burning bright along her skin as its ability to project its shield against the might of the shadowcycle. "Gh....!" She'll buy them all time she can muster! As her own shield begins to crack, Guma raises a foot, charged with rune energy, and, at the last available moment, throws her foot into the bike with as much force as she can spare.

COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden has used Scarlet Dagger Kick on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Kaitou Jeanne [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

Though Jeanne doesn't contribute to the conversation of how similar this is to other things, she does listen in on it. This is news to her. So this might be part of something bigger then, interesting. She finally starts to say something after Mai speaks, only getting as far as, "Oh, don't get me started about--"

And then everybody goes down around her. Even she doesn't know if she could have regained her balance in time if it wasn't for the others dragging her down with them, but that's what she's going to choose to believe. A great phantom thief doesn't clumsily trip, after all. At the very least she recovers admirably, only stumbling rather than full-on tumbling.

What takes her aback moreso is the sight in front of her. Whatever she might have been expecting to find here, it sure wasn't a group of little girls, doing... whatever it is they're doing. Though she needs to use a hand to shield her eyes a bit, she stubbornly tries to focus on them anyway. There's just... something about it that makes it hard to look away.

It's easier to look away once she realizes the bikes are back, and heading for the girls, prompting her to quickly head towards the girls and get directly it front of them from at least one direction. Something tells her telling them to get away won't have any result, so she settles for, "Whatever you're doing, hurry! We'll hold them off!"

Fortunately the other girls are on the ball to intercept the first wave, giving her time to set up something of her own. Perhaps this isn't the best time to try out something that she thought up only recently, especially when it was meant to stop speeding people rather than speeding motorcycles, but... her first impulses aren't always the most logical.

The recipe is simple. You take not one, but two Rebound Balls. You attach them to both ends of a piece of rope. Then you swing it around, and throw it at one of the motorcycles, hoping to send it spinning out and into a few others. It shouldn't be too difficult to guess what she's going to call this.

COMBAT: Kaitou Jeanne has used Rebound Bola on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Kaitou Jeanne has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Prism Keeper Red [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

One moment, Red can be twisting and turning in the sky, deftly dodging falling blades. The next, she can be innocently running along -- only to fall flat on her face. And that is exactly what happens when the seemingly endless hallways finally reaches a light at the end of the tunnel. The young Prism Keeper smiles, skips forward, and falls forward unceremoniously into the great filing room of Library Island.

She hopes that signature magical girl grace will come along in time.

Her annoyance turns to abject terror, however, when she spies those girls from so many weeks ago, back when she fought at the World Tree to protect them. Those girls that are just a few years younger than her and Reiko-chan, and yet seem so otherworldly, so innocent. Yet again they find themselves in danger, this time from shadow motorcycles instead of bizarre, cloaked men.

Whatever the threat, Red knows that they must be protected. And so she draws the attention of one cycle away as best she can -- being an extremely vibrant color and all. She seems to succeed in this, luring the rumbling metal monster away from their original target, but like before, she cannot handle the full force that gets turned on her as consequence.

She's run over. Again. A lot worse this time, only barely managing to follow up with a blast of color from her wand. Desperate to see the fight to the end despite the aching and groaning of her tired body, Red stands up and sees that, compared to another magical girl, she got off quite lucky.

That girl with the paintbrush...Orange had been talking with her earlier, hadn't she? She was the one who identified these shadows as *bad*, but not *evil* bad; it's a distinction she doesn't quite understand yet, but it must be important. Even more important is her safety, though, and even in her weakened state, that is something she can protect.

Hopefully.

Wings buzzing furiously, the girl flies over to Amulet Spade, shooting her a weary smile when she lands.

"Don't worry. Everything's going to be okay."

COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red has used Paint It Red on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa perfectly dodges Scarlet Rune Maiden's Scarlet Dagger Kick, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Dodge!  Juri Arisugawa's Fade ability activates!  Juri Arisugawa's Flash ability activates!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Prism Keeper Red's Paint It Red, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Diversion applied to Juri Arisugawa!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly dodges Kaitou Jeanne's Rebound Bola, taking 19 Fatigue damage!  Juri Arisugawa's Fade ability activates!  Juri Arisugawa's Flash ability activates!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Mesozoic Maiden Lucy's Finisher, Extinction Impact, taking 112 Fatigue damage!  Juri Arisugawa is unable to keep fighting!  

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

<SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZlgCXGXV48

The magical girls throw themselves in harm's way to protect their bretheren without a second thought. Faced with the power of these fiercely devoted, compassionate hearts, the shadowcycles cannot but crumble, incinerated by Mai's blast, blown by the Magic Knight's wind into Prism Keeper Orange's wave, swerving from the Rune Maiden's kick and Prism Keeper Red's blast into Jeanne's rebound balls. Those that remain are overwhelmed by the crater of Lucy's impact, discorporating into swirling clouds of darkness along with the rest of their bretheren.

---

"APPRIVOISER!"

The scream causes one of the two coffins to crackle with energy -- the X-Men symbol, for lack of a better descriptor, glowing in gold on its surface.

"--what?"

"Doctor, he's..."

Dials start going crazy. Sensors are bursting. Glass tinkles.

"How did he get his mask in there?! No, that doesn't matter, why would this--"

"I WON'T BE LEFT BEHIND! NOT BY YOU!"

The second coffin begins to glow with a sickly green light. The faintest smell of roses, sickly sweet, perfumes the air.

The Doctor and assistant's boss watches the proceedings intently. "It's impossible that Tetrioht can truly manifest out on Library Island, but... he's not in an Electric Bier. His power is being channeled not through his Cybody but through..."

The automatic sprinklers on the ceiling turn on, ruining the rest of her mysterious musing.

---

The little girls seem to barely notice that they've been rescued, so intent are they on their mission. Now that everyone's up relatively close, they can see that in the heart of the ring is some kind of weird monster, sinking into the floor with agonizing slowness. Being -- pushed -- down, and safely away. It looks like a flea does under a microscope, which is horrific enough; merge that with bright red runes and the basic image is accurate.

Except for their leader, the one with the tiara, who gives Mai a very slight, very sad smile.

Then her eyes close as well, and the monster -- the Orphan -- accelerates downwards and away. There's no time to watch the proceedings, though...

...because something lands right in Lucy's shiny new crater. Something tall. Really tall. /Ridiculously/ tall. It is slender for its size, and seems only barely present -- constantly flickering in and out, in place, as though it's being projected by an old TV.

A moment later, a gigantic but otherwise familiar shadow katana manifests in its hands. It raises it to the sky, somehow clashing sparks against the invisibly high ceiling overhead...

...then sweeps it down in an attack so fierce it might end everyone, then and there.

COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has fully healed herself. She is now ready to take on 8 opponents!
COMBAT: FINISHER! Juri Arisugawa has used Tetrioht's Shadow on Mesozoic Maiden Lucy.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Aftershock on Kaitou Jeanne.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Aftershock on Scarlet Rune Maiden.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Aftershock on Prism Keeper Orange.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Aftershock on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Aftershock on Mai Tokiha.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Mesozoic Maiden Lucy fails to dodge Juri Arisugawa's Finisher, Tetrioht's Shadow, taking 105 Fatigue damage!  Mesozoic Maiden Lucy is unable to keep fighting!  
COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Aftershock, taking 10 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Scarlet Rune Maiden's Parry ability activates!  
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji perfectly dodges Juri Arisugawa's Aftershock, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Dodge!  Fuu Hououji's Fade ability activates!  Fuu Hououji's Flash ability activates!  
COMBAT: Kaitou Jeanne narrowly dodges Juri Arisugawa's Aftershock, taking 4 Fatigue damage!  Kaitou Jeanne's Fade ability activates!  Kaitou Jeanne's Flash ability activates!  
COMBAT: Mai Tokiha narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Aftershock, taking 9 Fatigue damage!  Mai Tokiha's Block ability activates!  
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Aftershock, taking 11 Fatigue damage!  Prism Keeper Orange's Block ability activates!  Prism Keeper Orange's Parry ability activates!  

<Pose Tracker> Mesozoic Maiden Lucy [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Lucy has exhausted her magic power to phenomenal effect, and for a moment, she's ready to sigh in relief. Have they finally won? But then, her eyes grow wide, and--

The Mesozoic Maiden is blown clear across the room by the sheer impact of the giant's landing. She hits yet another cabinet, which threatens to topple over but luckily doesn't, but once she finishes skidding down to the floor, she remains propped up against it, unconscious.

The rest is up to her friends.

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

That SHOULD have been the end of it, Fuu thought - but no, somebody just played one more card from the opposing end of the table. And she doesn't have the energy or focus to go to any great lengths in continuing to fight ... really, she needs to cast a sustained Winds of Healing on herself, go back home the same way she came here, and sleep until she's called for supper.

The strength chooses that moment to retreat from her legs, and the Magic Knight of Wind slides down to a sitting position, still leaning against the card catalogue. Somehow, that movement - a couple of feet vertically - takes her out of harm's way from the shockwave of the sword's violent passage through the air around them. "You really are persistent, aren't you, shadow-san?" she murmurs, her tone relatively mild albeit a little muddy.

She has her doubts that another Winds of Admonishment will be any more effective on the giant than it was on the motorccles, and it's a bit too big to even get blown around conveniently ... and just that doubt is likely to cripple another Winds of Admonishment. Having magic that stems directly from the force of your will has occasional disadvantages. But her most powerful spell takes a lot of focus, maybe more than she can muster ... and her other attacks, even the attack spells, require that she have a weapon in hand for best effectiveness

The Wind Knight takes a few deep breaths, sifting through her options and coming up with a single answer. She'll have to do the best she can with what she can bring to bear, and she raises her left arm, fingers spread, palm facing the giant knight. "Emerald Cyclone!!"

Her arm falls - and the winds rise, a gale-force wind tearing away from the Magic Knight and up towards the titanic figure ...

The Wind Knight's last thought before her consciousness fades is that enemies the size of giant robots really are annoying, when you don't have a giant robot of your own.

COMBAT: FINISHER! Fuu Hououji has used Emerald Cyclone: Focused on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking.

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

It takes a moment for Mai to pick up on Amulet Spade's absence - she casts her gaze around for a long moment before spotting her and the girl in red. How much longer can the group hold out, here? How much longer do the girls here need to do whatever they're-

The nature of the girls' mission is...at once clarified and obfuscated. "Hang on - that's an Orphan?" She's uncertain of herself - but something about the monster had that hint of familiarity. "How did one of those get-"

The question must be abandoned swiftly. For one, the Orphan in question seems to have been...sealed away, or something? It's no longer available for dealing with. For another - the shadows' game seems to have reached its climax. Towering high above all of them, slender and nearly insect-like...but humanoid, certainly. And wielding a grander version of that same terrible sword - the first blow nearly takes Mai out of commission from the shockwave alone. "Lucy!" She can barely see the state the Mesozoic Maiden is in, her legs shaking as she tries to keep from just collapsing.

From the looks of things...everyone is in a similar state. Worn down, battered, standing on convictions and hopes alone...in her heart, Mai can only hope that they can finish this. For her part - she's struggled to find time, for all her promises, and hasn't had the conversation she wanted to. So it's with no small desperation that she mutters an oath, a plea, to something in her own heart. "For everyone's sakes here - to keep friends safe, to protect this place...help me."

Mai flings her arms out to either side - at first, it might seem like she's protecting those behind her. But the rings she wields tell a different story - bursting into flame, spinning to a fever pitch, burning with all her determination and passion. With shaking conviction - but looking up to stare the sword-wielding shadow in the face - Mai utters a name like an oath, and brings her hands together. "Kagu...tsuchi."

There's a faint screech from Mai's growing inferno - and at her command comes a shining force. Not the full power of her Child, perhaps - but echoing with enough of its ire. What does that dragon want, here - to be free, to fight, to destroy? The Child's motive is to remain unknown for another day, but the HiME's flames are lent strength all the same. Mai's only hope is that the shadow takes the brunt of the burning destruction...

COMBAT: FINISHER! Mai Tokiha has used Ardent Light on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Mai Tokiha has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Fuu Hououji's Finisher, Emerald Cyclone: Focused, taking 34 Fatigue damage!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Mai Tokiha's Finisher, Ardent Light, taking 116 Fatigue damage!  

<Pose Tracker> Kaitou Jeanne [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

Having seen, or at the least inferred what the girls might be doing, Jeanne is all too happy to redouble her efforts. That is one nasty-looking bug, it would sure be nice to not have to deal with that thing. Luckily, despite difficulty, it appears they're succeeding at keeping their assailants at bay. She hates to have to compliment Club Girl (so she won't), but that was a nice move, mopping up everything that remained all at once.

Only for something else to make its appearance, instantly knocking Lucy out of the fight. ...she's probably alright. She's taken some serious hits like that before, there's no way that'll do her in. She's too hard-headed, in every sense of the word.

The Kaitou can't worry about it for long, either way. When that huge blade comes crashing down, she has to not be anywhere near it. Diving aside, she rolls across the ground briefly before coming up to one knee, briefly taking stock of the thing she's looking at. "So... you're the boss then, are you?" Then all they have to do is beat it, and they win. That's how it is in videogames, she knows this now.

But they have to be quick about it. Can't let that sword swing again. So it's time to hope that this will work as well as it usually does on dark monsters like this. Raising the Petit Claire skywards, she summons forth one of her very innocent-looking pins in a burst of light by speaking the words, "In the name of God!"

She hesitates a moment when taking the pin between her fingers, to stare at what's happening with Mai. That's... more than a little impressive. But no, she has no time for this, she needs to contibute her part while she has the chance! "You, a shadow born from darkness... I'll scatter you here!" She sends the pin flying for the center of the giant's chest, as approximate as she can make it out while it's engulfed in flames.

"CHECKMATE!"

COMBAT: FINISHER! Kaitou Jeanne has used Checkmate! on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Kaitou Jeanne has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Kaitou Jeanne has cancelled their attack on Juri Arisugawa. If there are more attacks that need to be +cancelled, please hold all +attacks until the process is complete.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Kaitou Jeanne has used In The Name Of God! on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Kaitou Jeanne has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Kaitou Jeanne's Finisher, In The Name Of God!, taking 98 Fatigue damage!  

<Pose Tracker> Scarlet Rune Maiden [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

"What is that...?" Guma doesn't even try to hide her astonishment at what lies within the circle that the young librarians(?) are surrounding. "Is it... akin to those same creatures who attacked at Hikawa Shrine recently?" It's a wild guess based what little she knows of the newer creatures and demons that threaten the city's peace; Guma wouldn't be surprised in the least if there was something else out there, at least to explain the presence of this flea-like creature.

An Orphan, the HiME says. What is an Orphan?

It's a question that will best go unanswered, as something suddenly lands in the crater nearby. "Watch out, it's manifesting a sword!" Guma can only act to protect herself, projecting a flickering shield to guard against the impact of the shadow man's blade. Watching Lucy take the brunt of the attack, Guma nips her tongue to keep from crying out in concern.

Rest well. She and the rest will take over from here.

("Let's do this while we still can, Guma.")

"Let's charge ahead while we still can stand!" Guma yells. "If it bites, we'll bite back that much harder!"

If anyone was near enough to touch past the wild long hair of the Scarlet Rune Maiden and onto the part of her back not obscured by clothing, they'd find it hot to the touch, burning and pulsing with holy energy. It's not to the point where it could break, as too many centuries have passed for the seal to be broken so easily, but should this one last ditch effort not work, the Scarlet Rune Maiden will probably end up like her fellow maiden, lying slumped to the floor.

Holding out a finger to begin tracing a circle in front of her, the Scarlet Rune Maiden draws quickly, by rote, drawing out a glowing replica of the tattoo pulsing on her back. "Scarlet Lotus seal, seal of ages past, I call upon your radiance. Shine your rays on those that dwell beyond redemption, and restore hope to the Balance between Nature and Man!" Others are preparing their own attacks; the Rune Maiden can see and feel their power. Drawing the last of the seal, the Scarlet Rune Maiden releases the attack, casting it forward to crash against the shadow humanoid.

COMBAT: FINISHER! Scarlet Rune Maiden has used Scarlet Lotus Seal on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Scarlet Rune Maiden's Finisher, Scarlet Lotus Seal, taking 91 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Juri Arisugawa is unable to keep fighting!  
COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden is unable to keep fighting!

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

It would be wrong to call what destroys this shadow a cacophanous fury, because it isn't fury, precisely, that drives most of the energy thundering its way. It is the will to protect that sends a gale-force wind up at the titan, knocking it open; an oath of passion that sends a furious flame into that opening; a single pin strikes true, backed by the purest of faith, an incarnate act of god; a seal of duty that slams into its chest, muting out the symbol that glows there, overwriting its tender radiance with crimson.

It shatters in two distinct pieces, the mammoth humanoid and the sword, and shards of shadow rain down on the library. They ooze into whatever surfaces they touch moments thereafter, not dissimilarly to how that flea thing vanished into the floor.

The pink light in the middle of the room is truly blinding now, the girls around it... sinking to their knees, exhausted.

The utterly blue eyes of their leader, however, blinks at Mai, then looks past her, to the Scarlet Rune Maiden.

"Good guess," she says softly, before the sound of massive wingbeats is revealed to be the once-muted blades of a chopper, which sinks low enough to allow helmeted, armored men on ziplines to fall, each grab a girl, and retreat. It happens too quickly to react to, especially in an exhausted state; it doesn't help that at that moment the pink light explodes.

When the eyestars fade, all that's left is the smouldering wreck of some kind of electronic device. Its shattered lens is a familiar rose color. And the glitter on the floor is just... glitter, not magic sparkles.

What on earth is going on here?

<Pose Tracker> Mesozoic Maiden Lucy [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Didi the Dinosaur, equipped with a torch and Indiana Jones hat, is wandering the quiet hallways of Library Island.

"Heeeeeeey, where's everybody? Lucy? I don't know where the exit it!" He sighs. "Oh, come on."

He hears a rumbling sound behind him, turns around, and starts running.