2016-03-25 - Good Morning Misery
| Title: Good Morning Misery | |
|---|---|
| Summary: It is a terribly early hour of the morning, and Westar is a horrible executive. | |
| Who: Westar, Cure Passion, Lera Camry, |La Sirene du Nord, Fuu Hououji, Cure Fortune | |
| Where: Tama Outer City | |
| OOC - IC Date: 2016-03-25 - Oct 10, 2014 | |
<Pose Tracker> Westar [Infinity Institute (12)] has posed.
There are times that sit on boundaries. Dusk and dawn, noon and midnight - times that are when the feeling of the day changes. Temporal thresholds, perhaps. This hour isn't quite one of them, but it still sits in a grey area.
It is -early-. Or late, perhaps, viewed through a different lens. But this is an hour when trains do not run, birds do not sing, and the city is as silent as it could be. It is early, in that no one is starting their day just yet - students slumber, workers rest their heads, and even the most ambitious bakers are rolling over and waiting a little longer before getting started. It is late, in that even the most vibrant of night lives have drawn to a close, when enthusiasm and alcohol can no longer stand vigilant against the call of sleep.
Somewhere between four and five AM, Tokyo rests as much as it ever does. To be awake now is to sacrifice any hope of sleeping soundly again before school and work let out their calls - this is the hour when even songbirds rest.
And then, in the heart of residential districts...a yawn. "Make up for Eas's share of Misery Energy? Fine. Nakewameke..." Another yawn, and a slurp. "...obey my command!"
There it is. That terrible noise - all of them, and yet particular noises find their marks with an accuracy only dark magic can grant. The beeping, the buzzing, the chipper little tunes - the sound of an alarm clock, at three times the volume, loud as can be. A blaring that does not cease, even when snooze buttons are frantically mashed or smashed. There are cries of despair and misery from every corner as everyone, young and old, gets an incredibly rude awakening.
And it just won't stop. Bleary eyes might spot it - a black alarm clock, golden numbers blazing the absurd hour for one and all to see, grown to mammoth proportions with mighty metal limbs to support it. A Nakewameke, causing misery without having to smash so much as a lamp. Just standing proud and tall, waking up -everyone-.
And nearby, on a rooftop, stands its commander. Westar, denizen of Labyrinth, faithful servant of Mobius, and holding a cup of coffee large enough to engulf the average mascot.
"GOOOOOOOD MORNING TOKYO!"
COMBAT: Westar transforms into Nakewameke!
COMBAT: Westar has fully healed himself. He is now ready to take on 5 opponents!
COMBAT: Westar has used Cry More! Wail More! on Nori Ankou.
COMBAT: Westar has used Cry More! Wail More! on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Westar has used Cry More! Wail More! on Iona Hikawa.
COMBAT: Westar has used Cry More! Wail More! on Lera Camry.
COMBAT: Westar has used Cry More! Wail More! on Setsuna Higashi.
COMBAT: Westar has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Lera Camry perfectly dodges Westar's Cry More! Wail More!, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Critical Dodge!
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji fails to dodge Westar's Cry More! Wail More!, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Cripple, Diversion, and Exhausted applied to Fuu Hououji!
COMBAT: Setsuna Higashi narrowly braces Westar's Cry More! Wail More!, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Cripple and Exhausted applied to Setsuna Higashi!
COMBAT: Nori Ankou narrowly braces Westar's Cry More! Wail More!, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Nori Ankou's Block ability activates! Nori Ankou's Parry ability activates! Cripple, Diversion, and Exhausted applied to Nori Ankou!
COMBAT: Iona Hikawa narrowly braces Westar's Cry More! Wail More!, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Iona Hikawa's Block ability activates! Iona Hikawa's Parry ability activates! Cripple and Exhausted applied to Iona Hikawa!
COIN FLIP: Iona Hikawa flips a coin. It lands on tails!
<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
Lera's alarm clock is going off -- buzzing incessantly. The Midchildan is unflappable, though, and she rolls over in her bed. She doesn't even blink at it; she doesn't even wake up. She knows how much time she has. She scarcely even notices when she reaches her hand out, presses the "Sleep" button, and nothing happens.
She remains still for a moment. Then, slowly, one amber eye opens up. "What's going on?"
'GOOOOOOOD MORNING TOKYO!'
<I want to hit him. Lera. We need to hit him. I require my standard eight hour recharge period!> Soaring Sky snaps.
"Y-You actually don't, y'know?"
It is a short while later that a streak of red-orange cuts across the dawn sky. At the head of it is the fabulous mage-adventurer, Lera Camry; she lands, green coat fluttering after her, and she looks -- impossibly -- refreshed and awake. "Westie!" she snaps up at his rooftop. "This is not cool, y'know! Th-this is gonna wake everyone up! This--"
<--is unforgivable!> Soaring Sky interrupts. <I was in the middle of a wonderful recharge process which you so rudely interrupted! I gather these Earth humans require similar and I'm sure that's very fascinating! But let us focus on the problem at hand: YOU INTERRUPTED MY RECHARGE PROCESS!>
Lera turns her head, looks down at Sky, and makes a face. "...Sky," she grumbles. "That's... no!"
Then, she looks back at the Nakewameke, and points her sword directly for it. There is a shimmer up the length of the blade -- and a bolt of golden light, tinged red and orange at the edges -- fires up for the Nakewameke.
COMBAT: Lera Camry transforms into Barrier Jacket Perihelion!
COMBAT: Lera Camry has used Aurora Bolt on Westar.
COMBAT: Lera Camry has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Westar narrowly braces Lera Camry's Aurora Bolt, taking 8 Fatigue damage!
<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Higashi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
"Wh..." Setsuna stirs, rolling over in her bed and trying to cover her head with her pillow. She reaches out, vaguely, with one hand, fumbling around to try to find her phone. "Don't..."
It drops onto the ground.
Blearily, she stretches out, trying to find it beside the bed, wincing. She throws the blanket over her head, too.
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP.
"Whyy..."
THUD.
Setsuna reaches a little too far, and tumbles hard onto her floor. "What... Owwww..."
She finally opens her eyes, and then picks up her phone, opening up to see... there's... it's not turning off. "....Love, turn off your alarm!!" she calls from the next room over. "It's so early!"
But it doesn't turn off. Nobody turns it off. BEEP BEEP BEEP...
Setsuna often doesn't sleep great on the /best/ of nights, and now--...now...
She stands up, rubbing her arm from where she bashed it falling, and looks up the window glumly. ...That's when she sees--
'GOOD MORNING TOKYO!'
"..."
Setsuna's left eye twitches. "...Westar."
NOT LONG AFTER:
A flash of crimson light hops from one building to the next, landing down on the ground in short order not far from Lera.
"His name is /Westar/," she grumbles, and Cure Passion's brilliant red eyes are ringed with obvious fatigue. ...They're red-rimmed. There are bags under her eyes. Somehow, even her glorious pink hair is ruffled.
"WESTAR!" Cure Passion calls. ...It doesn't, for a moment, particularly /sound/ like Cure Passion. It sounds like...
Well, it sounds like what usually happened if Westar's alarm managed to wake Setsuna Higashi up.
"It's... five o'clock..."
She looks up at the Nakewameke, and then at him, eye still twitching, "IN THE MORNING!"
COMBAT: Setsuna Higashi transforms into Cure Passion!
COMBAT: Cure Passion has used Impassioned Feeling on Westar.
COMBAT: Cure Passion has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
3:30 AM
Nori Ankou, who had slept after class and then gone for a run, lays back down in her civilian guise, comfortable in the carefully cultivated fortress of softness and pale fabrics within which she could pass days, weeks, perhaps months. Her phone and Batiste's (in matching otterboxes) are charging on the nightstand. The moon is gentle. Everything is as nice as it can be in this world.
And she sleeps.
But before she can drift into the wonderful realm of dreams...
4:XX AM
BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ
Batiste whines piteously and hides his face in his paws. Nori Ankou's eyes snap open. After some fiddling, it simply doesn't STOP.
After thirty seconds of fiddling, Nori Ankou grasps the decorative little lantern she often keeps on a shelf. It gleams darkly. The scent of the sea rises --
NOW
La Sirene has learned how to drizzle unlight, like the oil on the old wheels of trains, around her, and conceal her passage. As such she might seem to just /appear/ out of nowhere on one of the nearby roofs, though it's really more that the light around her had been distorted for some time. Her eyes have managed somehow to be even paler and darker-ringed than is usually the case.
"Nakewameke... Well," la Sirene du Nord says. Her eyes close for a moment.
"Let's get to it," she says, as they open again, somehow even more shaded.
That's when the shimmering unblack rays of that reversed light streak out of la Sirene's Pharos, even as she vaults with overenthusiastic energy from roof top to roof top, aiming to sweep and skirt and glance and perhaps find out just where the Nakewameke likes it least.
She seems to be out of pithy things to say... /for now/
COMBAT: Nori Ankou transforms into La Sirene du Nord!
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has used Pieces of the Perfect Black on Westar.
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Westar fails to dodge Cure Passion's Impassioned Feeling, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Westar is Taunted! Exhausted and Stagger applied to Westar!
COMBAT: Westar fails to brace La Sirene du Nord's Pieces of the Perfect Black, taking 24 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Blind applied to Westar!
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.
Normally, Fuu Hououji is capable of rolling out of bed and greeting the day with her nigh-perpetual smile like nothing was wrong. However, the first problem is that she had a project to put the finishing touches on before handing it in today, and she pushed her bedtime later than normal because of course she didn't think there would be time to polish it off in the morning. What if she overslept? (Not that she usually does, but still ...)
The *second* problem is the nature of what wakes her up. She's dimly aware, even as she reaches out of her blankets, that this doesn't sound like her normal alarm clock. It's also coming from the wrong direction; her alarm clock is on the nightstand to the left of her bed, and this incalculable cacophony is coming from her right - or was, while she was lying on her back.
By the time she levers one eyelid open to look at why her clock's snooze button isn't working, Fuu is further awake than even she would claim any right to be at this hour ... and she sees exactly what hour that *is*.
Still groggy (from insufficient sleep as well as whatever effects the Nakewameke's clamor is having), she nonetheless gets dressed properly for the day ahead, gathers her bag for school, sneaks down to the front door, puts her shoes on, and steps outside, latching the gate behind her. Only then -
"Belief becomes power ... Winds -" A poorly-timed yawn interrupts her transformation call before she finishes, "Guide me!!"
- does she transform, finally, into the Magic Knight of Wind. And only then does she realize that she should probably have left some kind of message so her family wouldn't wonder if she was abducted in the middle of the night ... well, she can text her mother later with an apology. That should give her time to figure out a properly suitable excuse, as well.
At least FINDING the monster won't be any trouble, but the Wind Knight is in no shape to take the traditional Rooftop Express in pursuit of the calamitous clamor. So some of their neighbors might catch sight of a strangely-dressed teenager making her way along the sidewalks in something of a hurry.
She's one of the slower magical girls to arrive, as a result - and she's certainly one of the quieter ones this morning. But sleep deprivation doesn't stop her from raising her bow, drawing back an arrow ...
And trying to hit whatever passes for the Nakewameke's snooze button with that arrow. Or maybe the speaker.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji transforms into Magic Knight!
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Trick Arrow Shot on Westar.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Westar narrowly braces Fuu Hououji's Trick Arrow Shot, taking 2 Fatigue damage!
<Pose Tracker> Iona Hikawa [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
The sounds of alarm clocks wake up even Iona Hikawa, she of the strict regimented sleep cycle. While she's usually awake and ready to go the moment she wakes up on time, disrupting her routine does not sit well with her. And so it is that a bleary-eyed Hikawa opens her eyes to the very, very loud noises. She grumbles as she rustles her arms around, trying to find the alarm clock. When she finds it, she hits the sleep button... and it still continues. So she continues to hit the button. When the sound continues, she finally sits herself up, trying to figure out how to wake up fully and clear the alarm.
When the alarms continued, even past a minute or two, she yells down to her sister. "Maria! Turn off your alarm! It's really loud!"
Unfortunately for Iona, there's no response, and it takes the bleary Cure a few moments to realize that her sister isn't around anymore.
It's about this point that Glassan stirs from her little bed, sitting up and looking around. "Iona, what's that noise?"
"It's my alarm clock... and my sister's alarm clock... and my grandfather's." Fairy and Cure look at one another for a few moments, and then look outside. Iona sweeps the curtains aside to look outside, and while Westar and his alarm-clocky antics weren't visible from where Iona lives, there's a /lot/ of sounds coming from a /lot/ of alarm clocks.
Glassan looks at Iona again, and sighs tiredly. "You better transform."
Iona lets out a similar tired sigh. "Right."
One transformation with cheerful music later, and Cure Fortune comes streaking out of the skies to give the Nakewameke the most /ferocious/ drop kick. Regardless if she hits or the monster manages to avert her kick, she leaps away from it to get some distance, and slowly draws a star with one arm. "The star of hope that glitters in the night--" Cure Fortune yawns. "sky. Cure Fortune!"
Glassan follows behind moments later, yelling to Fortune. "Beat him up, Cure Fortune!"
COMBAT: Iona Hikawa transforms into Cure Fortune!
COMBAT: Cure Fortune has used Fortune Star Kick on Westar.
COMBAT: Cure Fortune has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Westar fails to brace Cure Fortune's Fortune Star Kick, taking 20 Fatigue damage! Cure Fortune is Psyched!
<Pose Tracker> Westar [Infinity Institute (12)] has posed.
The skies are dark. On the distant horizon to the east, perhaps there's a hint of light - but a hint, and nothing more. It is early, and no one wants to be doing anything.
But there's an awful lot of yelling. The Nakewameke doesn't even need to move much - and it actually seems sluggish, itself - to cause people outrage and misery. Across the district, people are waking up unexpectedly, and while there isn't a whole lot of sorrow there's a great deal of misery. Surrounded by shouts of anger, Westar yawns and takes another slug of coffee.
...it takes a moment before he realizes some of those shouts are aimed at him.
"Wha...you!" He points down at Lera from his rooftop. "That's the point! This is a misery I know well, and- hang on. Your devices sleep? Bardiche never mentioned that..."
And then there is a shout of absolute rage, and Westar goes pale - the coffee falling from his grip to splatter somewhere below. "E-Eas! It, uh..." He turns, and sees Eas...no, Passion, in a rage. ...and then frowns, hand twitching around the cup it no longer holds. "...h-hey! Eas! It absolutely is - and all this is your fault!....you never turned off your alarm clock when you left, and it wakes me up every single day off!"
The Nakewameke, meanwhile, continues blaring its reveille for one and all to hear. It's slow and bulky today, and heavy metal deflects both Lera's bolt and Fuu's sleep-deprived arrow. That takes two hands, though - and so la Sirene's darkened blasts find their mark, obscuring those flashing numbers with something akin to ink. "M-MORNING RES-"
And then Cure Fortune descends from above to kick it in the snooze button. Blissfully, if briefly, everything is returned to blessed silence.
"....WAKE UUUUP!" It didn't snooze long - and while the beeping hasn't built to the same volume again, it's starting to move. One hand reaches out to grab Cure Fortune on the rebound, and another reaches for the roof-hopping Sirene. It also moves forward, heavy metal foot descending upon Lera's general position...
And though the numbers are obscured, it turns to face Fuu and Passion, alarm blaring all the louder.
COMBAT: Westar has used Hands Full Of Misery on Cure Fortune.
COMBAT: Westar has used Hands Full Of Misery on La Sirene du Nord.
COMBAT: Westar has used Sorrowful Stomp on Lera Camry.
COMBAT: Westar has used Incessant Alarm on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Westar has used Incessant Alarm on Cure Passion.
COMBAT: Westar has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Cure Passion narrowly dodges Westar's Incessant Alarm, taking 22 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Cure Passion's Fade ability activates! Stun applied to Cure Passion!
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord narrowly counters Westar's Hands Full Of Misery, taking 21 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord's counterattack, Les Mysteres, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Westar!
COMBAT: Cure Fortune fails to dodge Westar's Hands Full Of Misery, taking 51 Fatigue damage! Trap applied to Cure Fortune!
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji narrowly braces Westar's Incessant Alarm, taking 13 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Lera Camry perfectly counters Westar's Sorrowful Stomp, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter! Lera Camry's Reverse ability activates! Lera Camry's Tactician ability activates!
COMBAT: Lera Camry's counterattack, Sentinel Flash, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Westar!
<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
"Set--Passion!" Lera cries out, as the red Cure drops down. Others, too, arrive on the street. "Everyone! We've got to--"
<Stop this thing!> Sky interrupts again. <And it isn't sleep! It's a recharge cycle! I doubt Bardiche would see fit to mention to you!>
Lera's eyebrow twitches slightly. But, then she sees the huge foot come crashing down for her, and her eyes widen. She swings the sword up, and a cross-shaped burst of light flashes from it. The foot hits -- and then bounces backward, as Lera skids away quickly, taking a couple of deep breaths. "Don't blame it on her, Westie! She--that's ridiculous! Just go unplug the alarm, y'know!"
She swings her sword-device to one side. Light flashes along it, before Lera goes airborne for a moment. "C'mon, Cure Passion!" she yells. "Let's show this big ugly alarm clock who's boss!"
<DEVICE RESPECT KIIIIIIIIIIICK!> Soaring Sky bellows. Lera floats there, dumbfounded, until Sky adds: <Lera! Kick him! Hurry!>
"Th--that's not how it wooooorks!" Lera whines, before she accelerates -- and spins, launching a brutal kick at the Nakewameke's clock.
COMBAT: Lera Camry has used Sonic Kick on Westar.
COMBAT: Lera Camry has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> La Sirene du Nord [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
The sun may rise in the EAS, but that doesn't give him an excuse. There will be, it seems, no Morning Rescue for this creature.
La Sirene's bleary eyes turn. Yes, she thinks. Propane (wasn't it?) and those other girls. Cure Passion, Cure Fortune, and the Magic Knight... yes.
But with only minutes to spare - well, she finds that she's HANDED a major problem. "LES MYSTERES," La Sirene says, but - she's a little slow. From the lack of agility in her signature counterspell comes the dire fate of being HELD TIGHT. Her arms are pinned! Her Pharos is... not really usable now! She kicks and squirms even as she's squeezed!
"Curse you! You demon from the pit! I was asleep! My OTTER was asleep! He needs to sleep a LOT, because he is not like you and me!! You're going to injure his health and as the hall of mystery is my witness I won't forgive you!!" la Sirene hisses and spits as she struggles!
Then she sees Lera kick. She stops struggling during this.
And then la Sirene ooches around, pulling one arm out of her coat's sleeve in order to get some room to do so and administering a bunch of kicks up at the underside of the "hand" grasping onto her, aiming to crush it beneath the blows of her lovely, but definitely thick, heavy and ruggedly nautical boots! As she does, she pulls herself steadily lower, aiming to slip that grasp --
And fall to a rooftop! Hopefully a roof top. Maybe a road below. Who knows.
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has used Salute the Four Corners on Westar.
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.
This monster is quickly becoming one of the most offensive of its sort that the Wind Knight can recall doing battle with - and not just in counterpoint to, say, a defensively-oriented Nakewameke. On the other hand, the wall of sound which assails the green-clad Magic Knight seems to give her an idea; she shifts her bow to her right hand, aiming her left hand with its glove-jewel at the giant animate alarm clock, and shouts as loudly as she can over the ceaseless racket:
"WINDS OF ADMONISHMENT!!"
Sound has to travel through the air, after all; the whirlwind which manifests as a result of her spell-call is meant to trap an enemy within its currents, and possibly she's hoping it'll have the effect of muffling - if not muting - the blaring noise from the monster. On the plus side, she's starting to look more awake than she did when she got here.
... time will tell whether that's a plus for her personally, or for her allies, or only for the Nakewameke.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Winds of Admonishment on Westar.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Cure Passion [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Cure Passion is /livid/. ...Westar drops his coffee under her stare, and--
"And now you're LITTERING!" The pink-haired warrior pauses, though, frowning up at Westar's answer to her. "W-what? MY fault!? But you're--"
...Her...
That's... Well, /that/ part may actually be her fault.
"Just go--" Passion turns to Lera, who chimes in on her behalf. "Right! Whatever, so I forgot! That doesn't mean you should wake everyone /else/ up! ...Besides! You don't need sleep!"
Right. Show him who's--
Setsuna's lip twitches. "His name is /Westar/!" she insists, turning to frown at Lera. "Not Westie, /Westar/!"
But at that, the noise gets to her again, Passion covering her ears as she crouches against the pain. "Aaaah--"
"And you're insulting Sky! And you're hurting an otter! ...And I had nothing to do with your stupid monster!"
"And--Haaaaaaaah--!"
Cure Passion leaps upward, kicks off a building, and /charges/ almost faster than she can be seen at the Nakewameke, slipping past underneath and then ringing out with a vicious kick along the way.
COMBAT: Cure Passion has used Flash Feint on Westar.
COMBAT: Cure Passion has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Cure Fortune [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Cure Fortune, either because she's tired as all get out, or because she's legitimately not expecting it, gets suddenly grabbed by the giant hand of the awakened morning "Hey!" Fortune shouts, as she tries to pull her arms free. There's a part of Fortune who really wants eye laserbeams right about now. She glares at Westar, spilt coffee and all. If /she/ had eye lasers, oh he would be really sorry right now.
Eventually she does manage to pull an arm free, and uses it to punch the giant hand right next to where her other arm is pinned, trying to get that free. If she gets both arms free, oh the punches she could give Westar right now. Instead, she just lets her tiredness and crankiness out on the hand that's holding her.
COMBAT: Cure Fortune has used Fortune Flurry on Westar.
COMBAT: Cure Fortune has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Westar narrowly dodges Cure Passion's Flash Feint, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Cure Passion is Psyched!
COMBAT: Westar fails to brace La Sirene du Nord's Salute the Four Corners, taking 15 Fatigue damage! Bind Break! All of La Sirene du Nord's debuffs are cleared!
COMBAT: Westar narrowly braces Cure Fortune's Fortune Flurry, taking 9 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Westar narrowly dodges Lera Camry's Sonic Kick, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Lera Camry is Psyched!
COMBAT: Westar narrowly braces Fuu Hououji's Winds of Admonishment, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Fuu Hououji is Psyched! Trap applied to Westar!
<Pose Tracker> Westar [Infinity Institute (12)] has posed.
The Nakewameke's first assault is a brutal wake-up call - but is met with alert opposition. There's a terrible noise - but after a few moments, Fuu's wind manages to blunt the worst of it. There's grasping arms, one of which smashes through a shadowy mystery only to lose its grip moments later.
Fortune's imprisonment is a bit more secure - but this leaves her in prime position to do some pummelling, the clock-monster letting out a groan as she hammers its arm. The stomp is the worst move made, that step forward actually rebounding - and then Lera kicks, and Passion kicks harder, and la Sirene gets in a few solid hits.
It looks to Westar for commands. Westar...is busy arguing with just about everyone.
"Recharge cycle, sleep, same thing! Labyrinth calls it a rest period, but we're on Earth - so it's sleep!" He points at Lera's device, then shifts attention to her. "What!? Now who's being ridiculous! I can't - Hey! Respect my Nakewameke too, dangit!"
La Sirene, once free, gets a dose of yelling as well. "Otters are just swimming ferrets, and I'll gladly wake those things up!" He has to raise his voice to reach above the wind - and folds his arms, glaring right back at Cure Fortune.
And Passion, of course, is livid. "Litter - That's your fault too! I need sleep just as much as you do - and you're not doing your share of gathering Misery Energy, so I have to get up early! This is on you!"
A bit childish, perhaps. The Nakewameke...shrugs, as only a giant alarm-clock-robot can, and starts blaring loudly again - squeezing Cure Fortune a little tighter, and stomping forward.
The noise level violations continue.
COMBAT: Westar has used Such Misfortune on Cure Fortune.
COMBAT: Westar has used Alarming Paces on Cure Passion.
COMBAT: Westar has used Alarming Paces on Lera Camry.
COMBAT: Westar has used Alarming Paces on La Sirene du Nord.
COMBAT: Westar has used Alarming Paces on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Westar has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Cure Passion fails to brace Westar's Alarming Paces, taking 21 Fatigue damage! Tangle applied to Cure Passion!
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji narrowly counters Westar's Alarming Paces, taking 10 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji's counterattack, Spinning Slash, partially gets through, doing 7 Fatigue damage to Westar!
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord fails to brace Westar's Alarming Paces, taking 20 Fatigue damage! Tangle applied to La Sirene du Nord!
COMBAT: Cure Fortune narrowly braces Westar's Such Misfortune, taking 6 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!
COMBAT: Lera Camry perfectly dodges Westar's Alarming Paces, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Dodge! Lera Camry's Fade ability activates! Lera Camry's Flash ability activates!
<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
"What? But--it's fine if I call him, Westie, y'know? He looks like a Westie!" Lera retorts to Setsuna, mid-kick. She bounces backward and shakes her head quickly, before she wrinkles her nose -- and then she grumbles at him. "Y-Your Nakewameke is plenty scary! It has to go, Westie!"
She may be stubborn. Despite her prowess and luck in this battle thus far, Lera Camry is no mornings person.
"You've upset Sky, you're making La Sirene du Nord upset, you've gotten her /otter/ angry, and you're--you're making me have an argument with my girlfriend!" she snaps back. Her cheeks redden, before she flies in quickly, doing a tight spin. She leaves a trail of light after her. <Yes! And whatever you call it... you interrupted it! UNACCEPTABLE!>
She spins in midair, sword gripped in two hands. Plasma fire ignites up the side of the blade, crackling and wavering. <Inferno Slasher!> Sky cries out, as she slashes hard at the digital display of the alarm clock -- and an explosive blast of flame shoots off just as she strikes.
COMBAT: Lera Camry has used Inferno Slasher on Westar.
COMBAT: Lera Camry has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Westar fails to brace Lera Camry's Inferno Slasher, taking 38 Fatigue damage! Lera Camry is Psyched!
<Pose Tracker> Cure Passion [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"Tarte is not a /ferret/!" Passion calls back, offended on her tiny friend's behalf. "He's a fairy! An adorable fairy!"
Passion ducks again under the Nakewameke's arm, amidst... Well, amidst arguing. That's what she's really doing here. She is tired, it /shows/ how tired she is, and she is cranky. And--
"His name is not WESTIE!" Passion argues back, frowning as she hops to get herself into a better position to find her next strike. "It's Westar! He doesn't look like a Westie, he's the Executive from the western district! It's not fine!"
Not that she's done.
"Of course I'm not doing my share! I don't even HAVE a share!! And maybe you wouldn't need so much sleep if you weren't so loud all the time! Always clank, clank, CLANK right in the middle of everything!!"
She stumbles, covering her ears again, the hearts on her headband shining in what light there is as she does. It /hurts/.
"And--" Passion looks up, and sees Cure Fortune, gritting her teeth as she sees her sister Cure in such a position. "I won't let you keep doing this!" she shouts.
...It might lack the usual moral gravitas, given her shouting, but that doesn't matter. Passion flips upward and /kicks/ down as hard as she can, glaring at the Nakewameke the whole time.
"Let GO! And stop ringing already!"
COMBAT: Cure Passion has used Obey My Command on Westar.
COMBAT: Cure Passion has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.
Arguably it's just as well that the Wind Knight doesn't have to contend with Westar trying to argue with her; 'awake enough to defend herself' doesn't translate very well into 'awake enough to hold her own in a debate'. She is, however, alert enough to swap bow for sword when the Nakewameke approaches into melee range.
(One nice thing about weapons that materialize when needed and dematerialize when not required: you don't lose time rummaging around in your inventory for the right equipment at a crucial moment. Real-time action RPGs generally pause the action while you're poking around equipment screens for a *very good reason*, after all - and those that don't have their own reasons for it, by and large.)*
The sword finishes materializing just in time for the Wind Knight to retaliate properly when the Nakewameke smacks her; she slashes back at it - sort of trying to cut Cure Fortune free, but more concerned with damaging the monster (and not QUITE trusting her aim enough not to hurt the Pretty Cure). Then she steps back and to the side, trying to circle around and get behind the Nakewameke. If this monster is as much like a modern alarm clock as it seems, then ...
Well, she barely needs to LOOK for the speaker grill - walking in front of it brings a noticeably more intense sonic assault. At this rate, she's going to have *two* headaches by the time the fight is over: one from too little sleep, and a similar one from all the noise she has to endure in this fight. But she's not going to let a headache (or two of them) stop her from doing her best -
And her kiai as she tries to stab into and destroy the clock's speaker, or whatever passes for it, is more likely than not to be *completely* drowned out. Yay for inadvertant stealth?
Well, she wasn't exactly subtle about maneuvering for a backstab, either.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Are These Wires Important on Westar.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Cure Passion [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"Tarte is not a /ferret/!" Passion calls back, offended on her tiny friend's behalf. "He's a fairy! An adorable fairy!"
Passion ducks again under the Nakewameke's arm, amidst... Well, amidst arguing. That's what she's really doing here. She is tired, it /shows/ how tired she is, and she is cranky. And--
"His name is not WESTIE!" Passion argues back, frowning as she hops to get herself into a better position to find her next strike. "It's Westar! He doesn't look like a Westie, he's the Executive from the western district! It's not fine!"
Not that she's done.
"Of course I'm not doing my share! I don't even HAVE a share!! And maybe you wouldn't need so much sleep if you weren't so loud all the time! Always clank, clank, CLANK right in the middle of everything!!"
She stumbles, covering her ears again, the hearts on her headband shining in what light there is as she does. It /hurts/.
"And--" Passion looks up, and sees Cure Fortune, gritting her teeth as she sees her sister Cure in such a position. "I won't let you keep doing this!" she shouts.
...It might lack the usual moral gravitas, given her shouting, but that doesn't matter. Passion flips upward and /kicks/ down as hard as she can, glaring at the Nakewameke the whole time she tries to drive down at its wrist.
"Let GO! And stop ringing already! And--" She frowns at Lera, "We are not /fighting/!"
<Pose Tracker> La Sirene du Nord [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
"Don't blame others for your lack of wisdom and cruelty! I mean the cruelty you have," la Sirene echoes after Cure Passion chides Westar. "Not that you have a lack of it, doing such a wicked thing!!"
But then Westar adds insult to injury.
"J... just swimming ferrets...?!"
La Sirene's face blanches.
"JUST swimming ferrets? You foolish fool! Otters show us that no matter how hard we may feel confined by where we live, whether on stone or in sea, we have the power to change where we are. Otters show us that even in a hard-scrabble life full of sorrow there is always room for comfort, for play, for companionship, for a lazy dinner out or for a sign of true friendship!"
La Sirene topples through the air and lands on the edge of a nearby roof. Sliding her arm back into her coat sleeve, she declares with a narrowing of her sleep-deprived eyes, "When they sleep together at sea... Otters will hold each others' hands!! So they won't drift away!!"
"YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT OTTERS!!" La Sirene screams with curiously resonant force.
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has used Otter Facts 4 U on Westar.
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Cure Fortune [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Cure Fortune continues to linger in the fist, punching it back and forth as it pulls her around the battlefield. At least, that's until it squeezes Fortune pretty hard. She stops punching at this point, and tries to push the fingers apart, to try first of all to keep it from completely crushing her, but at the same time also try and create enough space for her to escape.
Her early-morning haze, thanks to getting grabbed and swung about, is starting to clear, and finally Fortune realizes there's more magical girls trying to fight the Nakewameke. In fact, she's pretty sure she's seen them all before. She watches the Magic Knight and the red-dressed Cure try to help her get free from the monster
She then turns away as she curls her hands together and brings it down on the wrist of the monster, to try and free her from its grasp.
COMBAT: Cure Fortune has used Hammer Time on Westar.
COMBAT: Cure Fortune has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Westar fails to dodge Cure Passion's Obey My Command, taking 11 Fatigue damage! Westar is Quipped!
COMBAT: Westar narrowly braces Fuu Hououji's Are These Wires Important, taking 4 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Westar narrowly braces La Sirene du Nord's Otter Facts 4 U, taking 8 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! La Sirene du Nord is Psyched!
COMBAT: Westar narrowly braces Cure Fortune's Hammer Time, taking 9 Fatigue damage!
<Pose Tracker> Westar [Infinity Institute (12)] has posed.
"Westie?! -Eas is right! It's Westaaaaaaar!" Westar lets out a big yawn, in the midst of this battle; without any coffee for himself, even he's feeling the hour. There's anger from Lera, and Soaring Sky, and just about everyone - and he lets out another yawn while the Nakewameke fights.
It's a straightforward rampage, and for the most part it carries forward regardless of anything in its way - that is, up until it takes another blazing strike to the Snooze Button, this time courtesy of Lera. Cure Fortune is free to hammer at the wrist again, and with Cure Passion's kick added in, the hand falls slack entirely. Fuu, meanwhile, is free to to a bit of precise stabbing for a few moments before the Nakewameke jolts awake once more. "NAKEWAMEKEEEE!"
...at least the alarm has stopped. It's still loud, but not ear-piercingly loud.
Westar, meanwhile, is being yelled at on two fronts. "I make noise during the day, and sleep at night! That's how it's supposed to work, except when SOME PEOPLE leave their alarm on when they apparently plan to leave forever! Clean up your room already! Your share and your room!" He turns, confronting Sirene's anger. "They're Mist - whatever! Earth animals are earth animals, and all that friendship doesn't matter back in Labyrinth!"
He pauses for a second, brow furrowed - and whirls back to Lera and Passion a moment. "And you two totally are arguing! Nakewameke - split them apart!"
It obliges - lunging forward at the pair of them. Lera, it tries to catch entirely; Passion, it tries to scoop up only long enough to hurl after the other Cure. It whirls around, storming toward Fuu and La Sirene - even without the noise, it's alarmingly fast...
COMBAT: Westar has used Hands Full Of Misery on Lera Camry.
COMBAT: Westar has used Passionate Throw on Cure Passion.
COMBAT: Westar has used Passionate Throw on Cure Fortune.
COMBAT: Westar has used Alarming Paces on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Westar has used Alarming Paces on La Sirene du Nord.
COMBAT: Westar has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji perfectly dodges Westar's Alarming Paces, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Dodge! Fuu Hououji's Fade ability activates! Fuu Hououji's Flash ability activates!
COMBAT: Lera Camry fails to dodge Westar's Hands Full Of Misery, taking 40 Fatigue damage! Trap applied to Lera Camry!
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord fails to brace Westar's Alarming Paces, taking 27 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!
COMBAT: Cure Passion narrowly dodges Westar's Passionate Throw, taking 12 Fatigue damage! Cure Passion's Fade ability activates! Stagger applied to Cure Passion!
COMBAT: Cure Fortune fails to dodge Westar's Passionate Throw, taking 23 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Stagger applied to Cure Fortune!
<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
"He is so a Westie! Just look at him, y'know!" Lera answers Setsuna, before her nose wrinkles. "A-And we're--" They are totally fighting, but she doesn't want to say that to Setsuna directly. "...He is totally a Westie!"
She is busy 'not' fighting to the extent that she is surprised at the Nakewameke's sudden approach and Westar's orders. Her eyes shoot wide open -- the hand catches onto Lera, snatching her out of the air. She yelps; the fingers begin to wrap tightly around her, starting to crush her, and she hisses softly. Her arms, at least, are lifted over its fingers.
She still has a grip on Soaring Sky. She looks sideways at Setsuna, and the frustration from a moment before is gone. She looks back at Westar and the Nakewameke, and something more instinctive takes over. "You... you can't keep us apart!"
She doesn't mean arguing.
"Passion!" she cries out. "You--you go in close! I'm gonna get that thing to you!"
<Let's do this! Both of you! For the sake of completed recharge cycles!>
"Th--that isn't why we're doing this!"
Lera is still gripped in the Nakewameke's hand. She doesn't care. She aims her sword at the Nakewameke with both hands; the blade splits up the middle, forks of lightning shooting between the split blade halves. A bright white glow gathers, while a trio of spinning control rings with runes inside them appear. The rings of light shimmer.
<Aurora Burst...>
Then, the beam fires. It explodes down the middle of the trio of rings, guided by them -- and then right for the side of the Nakewameke. The blast attempts to push it directly into Cure Passion's path!
"...RAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!"
COIN FLIP: Cure Fortune flips a coin. It lands on heads!
COMBAT: FINISHER! Lera Camry has started a combo targeting Westar!
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.
This time, the Wind Knight is fast enough on the uptake to leap away before the clock monster can trample her. She alights on a lamppost nearby without even realizing it, and after a moment's wobbling, reacquires her balance. "You do realize that if Eas-san has taken permanent leave of Labyrinth, there's nothing to stop you from turning off her alarm yourself, right?" she points out to Westar.
Apparently she's awake enough by now to try throwing logic at an inherently illogical argument.
She's also alert enough to hop back down to the ground, her skirts billowing a bit more than the movement should dictate - and not settling down; rather, the breeze picks up even further around her as her gaze focuses on the alarm clock Nakewameke. "And as for you, Nakewame-Tokei-san ... your duties end here!" The wind ruffling her clothes and hair picks up further as the Magic Knight of Wind draws her arms up and back ...
"EMERALD CYCLONE!!!"
And turns the full wrath of the tempest against the monster, holding back *only* just enough to spare her allies from unnecessary turbulence. It's possible she's still going to be cranky today, unless she manages to catch a bit more of a nap somewhere before classes start up.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Fuu Hououji has used Emerald Cyclone: Full on Westar.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Cure Passion [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"You stay out of this!" Passion snaps at Westar, looking away from where she was frowning Lera's way. "And stop calling me EAS!"
Passion could be learning a lot about otters right now. She could be seeing something in Cure Fortune, who she's tried to help before. And a little bit, that's true. ...But also...
"Clean it up yourself!" Passion snaps at Westar again. "You make noise with your stupid weights! And your stupid time in the middle of everything, and the stupid coffee you bring back and--"
"NO!"
Westar orders the Nakewameke to split them apart, and Passion's eyes go wide, her hart immediately gripped as if by that same hand. ...But then, she has her own problem in the same instant, hurled bodily at Cure Fortune, gripped hard enough that she only has time to try to shift out of the way of a tree that would otherwise be in her path.
She hears Lera's instructions.
"Right! ...I'm with you!"
Setsuna glances to Fortune, to make sure she's all right--and then narrows her eyes. She looks at Lera, sees her starting to move, and she takes a breath, trying to calm herself just enough...
"All right. ...She's counting on me. Let's..."
'RAAAAAAAAY!'
"Haaaaah--!" Cure Passion is in motion. She moves too quickly to be seen, now, a blur of red rushing towards the Nakewameke.
She emerges /behind/ it, faced away, crouched down with her arm up still behind her.
Only then will the impact of her too-quick flurry be felt.
"...You /won't/ keep us apart."
COMBAT: FINISHER! Cure Passion has joined the combo started by Lera Camry!
COMBAT: COMBO! FINISHER! Lera Camry and Cure Passion have used Combo: Passion Burst, composed of Aurora Burst Ray and Fresh Moment, on Westar.
COMBAT: Lera Camry has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Cure Passion has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Cure Fortune [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Finally, Cure Fortune is free! After ten thousand years! It's time to conquer--er, save the Earth! Or it seems like ten thousand years, anyway. Regardless, Cure Fortune immediately spreads her shirt wings and flies up into the air, to try and avoid such entanglements in the future. "Hey! If she doesn't live there anymore, and her alarm is bothering you, why don't you go inside and /turn it off/? I--"
She stops and looks at Westar, then to Cure Passion. Then she looks at Westar again. Why was a dark general living with a Pretty Cure? Cure Fortune's face scrunches up as she tries to conceptualize a situation that this made sense. Was she... kidnapped? Was /he/ kidnapped? Maybe they were friends before they learned they were destined to fight each other? Maybe... lovers? That may explain why the monster's jockey was so adamant that she was arguing with one of the other girls.
Cure Fortune grabs her head as she tries to make sense of all of this, but she just sighs and yells back up. "It's way too early in the morning to start arguing!" She spins the dial on her PreBrace. "Pretty Cure..." She sweeps an arm above her head, and many tiny sparkling stars appear around her. "Staar Streaam!" She swings her hand forward, sending all of these stars towards the giant alarm clock, hoping to fill it with relaxation and happiness.
And maybe with that happiness it will /stop making noise/.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Cure Fortune has used Pretty Cure Star Stream on Westar.
COMBAT: Cure Fortune has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Westar fails to brace Fuu Hououji's Finisher, Emerald Cyclone: Full, taking 53 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Westar narrowly braces Cure Fortune's Finisher, Pretty Cure Star Stream, taking 23 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Westar fails to brace Lera Camry and Cure Passion's Finisher, Combo: Passion Burst, taking 187 Fatigue damage! Westar is unable to keep fighting!
<Pose Tracker> Westar [Infinity Institute (12)] has posed.
Cure Fortune has an admittedly good idea - but one that seems to stymie Westar. "But - that's her room!" He folds his arms, but can't help but let out another yawn - perhaps worried by the look in her eye. Whatever she's thinking... He turns to face Fuu, blinking blearily. "But if it's not permanent, then Eas will want her room back!"
Westar logic.
Lera and Cure Passion, in spite of the Nakewameke's best efforts, are determined to stay together. Even with Lera captured, Soaring Sky begins to shine; even flung away, Cure Passion starts charging forward. The Nakewameke bellows - but at least does not blare that alarm - and prepares to solve one problem by throwing the other.
Then a cyclone rises up, binding it in place as the wind shreds away.
Then stars shine brilliantly, smashing the time display and driving it back step after step.
And then the couple strikes - blazing power smashing into the diamond, which shudders and fizzles - and a strike swift as lightning, making the whole monster go rigid.
"Fizzz...."
There's an eruption of smoke, billowing through the air...and when it clears, a simple alarm clock rests on the pavement. There's still the background noise of countless people grumbling about being up too early, but the monster itself is defeated at last.
And Westar...Westar stares blankly at the aftermath of his monster. At the heroines triumphant, at Lera and Passion united again, at the general atmosphere of people being very irate...and all he can do is yawn again.
"...fine. You win...today. I'm...going back to bed. But know this, Pretty Cure - and their allies!" He points - pauses - checks his phone. "...you've got school in something like two hours!"
"...wait. I've got school in two hours!" And Westar flees, in despair and panic.
<Pose Tracker> Cure Fortune [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Cure Fortune watches the monster fizzle and dissipate, breathing a sigh of relief as she slowly floats back down to the ground. She smiles, looking upon the battlefield, at the girl dispensing otter facts, and the Magic Wind Knight, and the Pretty Cure and that girl she knows.
Maybe one of these days Fortune will learn their names, but that day isn't today.
Westar talks about how they've only got two hours to get to school. She's not too surprised, only letting out a slight sigh. She turns to leave the battlefield, only to come face to face with Glassan, who looks like she's holding back... a sneeze? "Fortune, I feel the power of a good morning!" Cure Fortune can only just glare at the fairy, but there's a slight smile, as she rubs her partner's nose. The fairy sneezes, and out pops two cards from her purple ladybug backpack!
...One of which is an adorable set of footy pajamas, and the other is a matching night-time hat. Cure Fortune takes these cards, looks at them... then immediately shuffles past them on her way off the battlefield, mumbling something like "I need to get to practice."
Glassan takes this opportunity to address the other magical girls. "Well, ah, thank you all for saving the city, I'm sure Cure Fortune appreciates all of you, deep inside, and--"
"Come along." Cure Fortune grabs Glassan by her backpack and pulls her away as the Cure shambles away, her tiredness preventing her from flying away.
<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
Lera touches down on the ground -- the Nakewameke done away with -- and lets out a long breath, before she blinks her eyes a couple of times. She turns to look at Westar, then she opens her mouth. She doesn't say anything, until after he already is running away. She sighs, after that.
"Westie..."
She smiles awkwardly at Glassan; she glances at Fuu, too. Then she turns at Cure Passion, and starts to walk over to her. Her hand reaches up to the back of her head, scratching awkwardly as she does.
"Nice punch!" she says. "You, um, you did really well, y'know?"
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.
The Magic Knight of Wind walks back over to Lera and the remaining Pretty Cure, removing her glasses for a moment and - after feeling around in her skirt pockets - materializing a handkerchief out of her glove-jewel to clean the lenses. "Are you two all right?" she inquires. "I can cast a healing spell on us before we go our separate ways ... I'm not sure if we're all going to the same school or not?"
Well, it's half true - she's seen Lera around the Infinity campus often enough to know, at any rate. She only has a one-in-three chance of guessing the remaining Cure's scholastic setting of choice, though.
(Maybe worse, but the Sister Schools do seem like absolute magnets for magical girls ...)
<Pose Tracker> Cure Passion [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
That sound is all too familiar to Cure Passion, even if she's used to hearing it from another position. The Nakewameke dissipates...
"It's not temporary," Passion says, turning to look at Westar. "...I'm Pretty Cure, now."
But she can't quite be happy about the victory. Her anger, at least, is fading. ...Mostly into exhaustion, as her shoulders sink slightly while Westar runs away. Two... Hours..
"It's Westar," Passion says again, more quietly, glancing down at the ground.
She looks up again, putting on a smile despite herself, as Glassan looks at them. "I hope we can talk, sometime. Take care."
Then, slowly, she looks to Lera.
"...I guess I did, huh? We did it." She pauses, turning to look at Fuu.
"...No, thank you. I'll be all right. I appreciate your help."
She pauses, and then looks up at Lera again. ".../Westar/. Westar. You can say it."
<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
"I'm all right!" Lera says to Fuu, with a bright smile; it's not quite felt -- she feels a little tired, and this is certainly more than a brisk jog before she goes to school -- but she wants to be sure it comes across. "The Barrier Jacket took the worst of it. You're okay, too, um--" She almost calls her by name. "--uuum, Super... Wind Knight?"
<Splendid!> Soaring Sky sighs. <Please get me back home. I need to resume the recharge cycle. Honestly!>
Lera sighs. The Midchildan rolls her eyes, before she looks back at Setsuna. She nods down at her. They did do it! She hesitates, though, as she hears that. 'You can say it.' Lera's eyebrow raises at that.
"I /could/," she agrees. Her smile comes back and turns playful, this time. "But... y'know!"
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.
"Just 'Wind Knight,'" the Magic Knight of Wind says with a smile. "I suppose I should head to school and see if I can steal a bit of a nap before class time. Breakfast as well, possibly ..."
She takes a moment to rub her eyes before putting her glasses back on. "This was likely one of the worst monster attacks, just for its timing. Of course that was deliberate, though ..."
<Pose Tracker> Cure Passion [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"Sorry we interrupted you, Sky. You did really well, though!"
...Passion may be indulgent of Sky for some reason. She smiles again to Fuu, too, though she does wait to see if she's also all right. The truth for her is that she's mostly tired. "It is early. Good luck with your classes... Wind Knight?"
But... Lera hesitates. And then her eyebrow lifts. And then--
Passion doesn't smile, playful or otherwise. Instead, she frowns, and something in her eyes looks...
Hurt.
Passion shakes her head. "No. I /don't/ know. ...Fine. Whatever. I'm going home."
Cure Passion just turns around and starts walking.
<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
"No kidding," Lera says to Fuu. "It has some timing, y'know?"
She hesitates, when she looks back at Setsuna. She catches the hurt look in her eyes first and the smile vanishes from her face. She opens her mouth to say something else, but then she closes it and looks down at the ground. Soaring Sky goes conspicuously silent after that, as Cure Passion begins to walk away.
Lera stands there, staring down at the ground awkwardly for a moment, before she looks at Fuu. The smile on her face, this time, is very forced. "I, um, I better... get going. See you at school, y'know?"
She starts walking, and not coincidentally in the same direction as Passion did.
