2014-10-12 - Crowded Thoughts

Traffic Jam
Summary: Even as graduation draws near, a Juuban student riding the Yamanote train line lingers on the recent and painful memory of her lifelong friend appearing to break their most important promise. A Dark Scent is drawn to this memory, quickly gaining the power to seek out similar thoughts among those trapped on the train! Several of Tokyo's defenders oppose the shadowy constrictor, with some boldly turning the tables on the monster!
Who: Sakura Akagi, Madobe Kuroi, Hisae Musumi, Erika Inagawa, Kinzo Hiroyuki, Fuu Hououji, Ikiko Hisakata, Aimi Saionji
Where: A train on Tokyo's Yamanote Line.
OOC - IC Date: <12 October 2014 – 26 March 2014>

<Pose Tracker> Runealy Waldia [Ohtori Academy (7)] has posed.

Tokyo's trains are pretty crowded. They're not always packed to absolute capacity, but there are still many people sitting or standing in idle contemplation while riding a Yamanote Line route. A snake of wispy black form with red eyes slithers between feet, attracted to the crowd this early evening due to those thoughts. Some think about what they're going to do once at their destination, or the distant future. Those aren't what it's immediately interested in. Its true goal is Rie Ikehara (attending Juuban high), who so strongly reflects on wrongs inflicted on her mere days ago so intensely that she barely even considers her upcoming graduation.

She recalls her ('former', in her mind) friend since childhood screaming near the school lockers, followed by the sound of glass shattering. When Rie looked, her friend stood near all sorts of debris... but it was the tiny glass shards that really stood out. Those had to be what was left of their 'friendship figurines'. Shaped like two girls, shining as brilliantly today as they did when purchased years ago, each friend kept the other's figure. They decided these tokens symbolized their plans to care for each other, graduate together, and get through both good and bad times. Rie's friend tried to insist the glass on the floor wasn't what it looked like, but Rie couldn't imagine what else it might be and stormed off.

Still hurt by her friend's betrayal, Rie is an inviting target to the snake coiling its way up a handhold and getting near her face. She starts to cry out, but this is quickly cut off as a black-purple mist drifting from her forehead and into its mouth. The mist soon adds matching rings of sinister color to its body, and the snake - now clearly revealed to be a Dark Scent - begins to grow. Even as Rie falls limp and dazed (not unconscious, but the world is an incoherent blur to her now) in her seat, the serpent expands to nearly twenty feet long and headbutts through a window to wrap around the top of the train car. A second strike brings its head back in through another window, and it begins to advance on other passengers.

While few of them can truly comprehend what they're facing, they do what any reasonable person would in this situation: They shout in fright, then scatter as best they can!

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia transforms into Youma Form Constricting Dark Scent!

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia has fully healed herself. She is now ready to take on 7 opponents!

<Pose Tracker> Japanese Cherry Blossom [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.

"Henshin! Cherry Blossom! Splash!"

There are sparkles and flying flowers, flashing, glitter, ribbons, white and gold... Sleeves, shoes, earrings... the sweet scent of springtime, which is about to settle over Tokyo...

Japanese Cherry Blossom appears on the top of the fast-moving train. She looks left, and right, then tilts her head sniffing the air for the smell of the noxious beast that she has been told is present.

The teller of course, was Mist, who is flapping along behind her, currently silver in color. "I... Blossom-sama I know it was around here somewhere..." He flies down and looks into the train, then lets out a little yelp! "Inside!"

"Ah!" Cherry Blossom leaps to a space between traincars, looking in and seeing the evil form as it constricts around a victim. The walls of the train make it hard for her to smell it...

Until she kicks open the door, and the wave of scent hits her at once. "It's a Dark Scent all right! You there-- feeding on the memories of commuters is unacceptable! We, the Perfume Warriors, are here to stop you!"

Because of course she called everyone else, too...

COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom has used For Sweet Memories on Runealy Waldia.

COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom has finished attacking.

COMBAT: Hisae Musumi transforms into Winterberry!

<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.

Spring break at last, and not a day too soon from Fuu Hououji's perspective. She's been saving up her allowance in anticipation of a good chance to hit Akihabara's game stores again, and - with a small false start or two - managed to nab a couple of good finds. Not new games, but old ones that she'd missed picking up back when they came out, and which looked interesting ... her DS may be getting some use before school starts again, although it's seen enough activity to keep the battery from dying.

She's studying the back of the case for Custom Beat Battle Draglade when the sound of breaking glass catches her attention - and then everybody is trying to flee the train through a limited number of doors. Everybody except for Fuu, that is; she's dropping the game back into her shopping bag and digging her glove-jewel out of her jacket pocket. "Monsters never seem to understand just how impolite they're being, do they?" she remarks lightly. The good thing about that rudeness, though, is that nobody's sticking around to watch who isn't already likely to be in the know.

"Belief becomes power ... winds, guide me!"

The usual green-tinted whirlwind wraps around her, leaving her in the armored version of her color-shifted school uniform which serves as her Magic Knight armor. She hears Japanese Cherry Blossom-san calling out even before she can set foot on the platform; her bow and quiver materialize, and the Magic Knight of Wind nocks an arrow to the string, drawing back, and loosing at what looks akin to the monster's head. "Your timing is excellent, Japanese Cherry Blossom-san!" the Wind Knight calls out. "Were you transferring at this station, by chance?"

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji transforms into Magic Knight!

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia perfectly counters Japanese Cherry Blossom's For Sweet Memories, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter! Runealy Waldia's Reverse ability activates! Runealy Waldia's Tactician ability activates!

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia's counterattack, Ring Shot, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Japanese Cherry Blossom!

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Basic Archery on Runealy Waldia.

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia fails to brace Fuu Hououji's Basic Archery, taking 8 Fatigue damage!

<Pose Tracker> Ikiko Hisakata [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

Ikiko walks along with a pack of strays, enjoying the first day of Spring Break. Being able to spend time walking with her canine friends is a nice change from her usual school routine.

As she walks with the pack, a train comes along on the Yamanote Line... with a monstrous snake coiling on it?!? "Get to safety!" she tells the strays in caninespeak. "I'll be fine." The dogs scatter, running away from the approaching train and its monstrous passenger.

"Lycan Locket!' she calls out, and in a glow of silver she turns into Cute Wolf Tsukiko. Her transformation finishes as the train comes by, and she leaps onto the train, landing near the snake. "Here, let me punch your ticket!" she shouts over the noise of the rushing wind, her teeth lengthening into fangs as she tries to sink them into the snake's hide.

COMBAT: Ikiko Hisakata transforms into Cute Wolf Tsukiko!

COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has used Silver Fangs on Runealy Waldia.

COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Warm Vanilla Sugar [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.

"Henshin! Warm Vanilla! Splash!"

Warm Vanilla Sugar isn't far behind Cherry Blossom, following after her and Mist, as they land on the train. It wasn't as hard as it seemed, thanks to magic, but she did her best to keep from falling over. Its a tricky thing to do some though.

"Inside? Going to be hard to fight it..." She says softly.

She sets herself up inside the train car, looking over at the Dark Scent, part of her glad that it is something that she knows and could potentially deal with. After last time she battled, she was kind of needing to have something she was familiar with.

She lets Cherry Blossom do the speech for now, preparing her own barrage of attacks for now, smiling over at Fuu. "Actually, we were hunting this down." She says with a bit of a laugh. Such is the world fo magical girls.

Warm Vanilla Sugar is careful with her attack here as it is, given that she only has so much space to work with, hurling the magical orbs at the Dark Scent, hoping that enough connect to help keep it in place and from moving around too much. And that she doesn't end up causing too much damage to the train itself as it is.

COMBAT: Warm Vanilla Sugar has used Vanilla Sugar Barrage on Runealy Waldia.

COMBAT: Warm Vanilla Sugar has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Dark Amber [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed. Kinzo Hiroyuki was looking into the classifieds section of the newspaper on the train. He looks dressed snazzily. He's looking for a job over the summer. Something nice, simple and technologically aligned. When he puts the newspaper down and blinks. "What's that smell?" he asks.

"I don't smell anything odd?" says the person next to him. "It smells like....."

Not soon after, Kinzo exits through a door into the next car.

Into that car enters Dark Amber, in a weird sudden transformation as he looks around with a short frown. He walks forward sees that in fact, Cherry Blossom--and some others are also in the area. Or coming into the area. Or were already on the train.

"Cherry Blossom, don't let this thing use memories against the innocent people here!" he calls out. "Also. I am here! I'll help!" he says with a smile at the end.

(GM's Note: Adjusting health to account for someone joining a few minutes late.)

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

COMBAT: Dark Amber has used Steel Your Memories on Japanese Cherry Blossom.

COMBAT: Dark Amber has finished attacking.

COMBAT: Warm Vanilla Sugar has fully healed herself.

COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has fully healed herself.

COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom accepts Dark Amber's Steel Your Memories, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Japanese Cherry Blossom is Cheered! Withstand applied to Japanese Cherry Blossom!

COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has used Silver Fangs on Runealy Waldia.

COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has finished attacking.

COMBAT: Warm Vanilla Sugar has used Vanilla Sugar Barrage on Runealy Waldia.

COMBAT: Warm Vanilla Sugar has finished attacking.

COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom has used For Sweet Memories on Runealy Waldia.

COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom has finished attacking.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia perfectly counters Japanese Cherry Blossom's For Sweet Memories, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter! Runealy Waldia's Reverse ability activates! Runealy Waldia's Tactician ability activates!

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia's counterattack, Ring Shot, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Japanese Cherry Blossom!

<Pose Tracker> Hisae Musumi [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

No snakes on my train!

Hisae Musumi is sitting a few train cars back from the starting incident, but the smell of it, and then the noise as everything goes to heck, is quite enough to drag the Perfume Splash Warrior to her feet, and then back to a quiet area. She digs through her bag as she goes, pulling out her perfume as she lands somewhere quiet.

"Henshin! Winterberry! Splash!"

One sparkly henshin later, Winterberry dashes down the roof, heels clicking away. She then ducks down, head upside down in the near window. "Hello!" She says, in greeting, as a simple ice dagger flashes from her hand straight towards the dark scent.

COMBAT: Hisae Musumi has used Ice Dagger on Runealy Waldia.

COMBAT: Hisae Musumi has finished attacking.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia fails to counter Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Silver Fangs, taking 14 Fatigue damage! Cripple applied to Runealy Waldia!

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia's counterattack, Body Strike, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Cute Wolf Tsukiko!

<Pose Tracker> Forever Sunshine [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.

The scent of a train can bring out memories too, even if those fragrances aren't the sort you want to dab on your neck for a night out.

Forever Sunshine had transformed and run out to join Mist and Cherry Blossom in pursuing this Dark Scent, as is her proper duty. The wind of the train's passage tugs at the ribbons that tie up her hair buns, but her hair, for the most part, stays where it belongs.

Her nose twitches, almost rabbitlike. But Cherry Blossom's in the lead -

There it is!

Hanging by her feet, Forever Sunshine folds her arms, frowning in at the Dark Scent. "Snakes like you shouldn't be slithering through the days of spring. You should be waiting for summer to warm up - and you certainly don't belong on a train! You're gonna confuse everyone!" Landing, she frowns - people are still rushing...

That means she can't just jump kick through everyone! Of course, other people are moving in, like the Cute Wolf, the Wind Knight - "I'll just use this trick to help people out!"

Forever Sunshine raises up her sundial, a flicker of sweet magic rising and casting a timely shadow... and glittering red-violet bubbles wash over several others. In particular, Winterberry, Warm Vanilla, and the (Cute) Wolf - it's a three-W fiesta! It also washes over some of the people trying to flee, who are probably terrified, but now fleeing MUCH FASTER.

"Hm," Forever Sunshine says, seeing people scuttle off at Warp 4. "Too much...?"

COMBAT: Forever Sunshine has used Sunrise Shimmer on Cute Wolf Tsukiko.

COMBAT: Forever Sunshine has used Sunrise Shimmer on Winterberry.

COMBAT: Forever Sunshine has used Sunrise Shimmer on Warm Vanilla Sugar.

COMBAT: Forever Sunshine has finished attacking.

COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko accepts Forever Sunshine's Sunrise Shimmer, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Empower applied to Cute Wolf Tsukiko!

COMBAT: Winterberry accepts Forever Sunshine's Sunrise Shimmer, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Empower applied to Winterberry!

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia narrowly counters Warm Vanilla Sugar's Vanilla Sugar Barrage, taking 10 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Runealy Waldia's Reverse ability activates! Runealy Waldia's Tactician ability activates! Tangle applied to Runealy Waldia!

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia's counterattack, Dark Ring Scatter, partially gets through, doing 9 Fatigue damage to Warm Vanilla Sugar! Critical Counterhit!

COMBAT: Warm Vanilla Sugar accepts Forever Sunshine's Sunrise Shimmer, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Empower applied to Warm Vanilla Sugar!

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia fails to dodge Winterberry's Ice Dagger, taking 18 Fatigue damage!

<Pose Tracker> Madobe Kuroi [Juuban Public School (7)] has posed. Madobe is sick of these mfing scents on this mfing train. Actually, she's not samuel l jackson but she does think of the line whenever trains or planes comes up and one syllable words have to be dealt with on them.

"Henshin! Sweet Pea! Splash!"

It's a train in Japan though so in practice she spends most of the time just pushing through passengers that are trying to push past her. "Hello, excuse me, coming through, I'm a perfume warrior but--ahhh, I hate crowds!" She wails notably. It doesn't quite hit Sailor Moon levels but it's noticeable.

She looks towards the snake and says, "Hold on! Hold on right there!"

She draws both her pistols. "Taste flower power, creep!"

Wow, Madobe thinks, that actually sounded cool probably? She looks around to see if anybody else thought that soundd cool or not.

COMBAT: Madobe Kuroi has used Flower Shot on Runealy Waldia.

COMBAT: Madobe Kuroi has finished attacking.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia narrowly braces Madobe Kuroi's Flower Shot, taking 2 Fatigue damage! Runealy Waldia's Block ability activates! Runealy Waldia's Parry ability activates! Diversion applied to Runealy Waldia!

<Pose Tracker> Runealy Waldia [Ohtori Academy (7)] has posed.

As the crowds scatter to hide, get to corners, or even try escaping to other cars outright, they leave much of the aisle open to confront this monster; it quickly loses interest in tracking down other prey, or holding on to much of anyone. Not when Japanese Cherry Blossom is here, shouting for its attention; one of the rings on its body glows, unleashing a small energy blast of the same shape her way as a sign that it's taking her seriously but isn't outright daunted by her speech. The foul ring flies through the air...

...and Wind Knight Fuu's arrow pierces right through that ring, finding purchase in the Dark Scent's shadow-scaled form! Atop the train car, the beast is aware Tsukiko is approaching but can't see her at the moment; it blindly lashes out with a tail swipe, but strikes nothing and instead finds its hide pierced by fangs... a deep hiss might be her best acknowledgment that it felt that!

Warm Vanilla Sugar's volley is met with a dark-ring shower in return, the Dark Scent turning out to be glad to trade shots with her even as her blasts batter it into twitching and recoiling from the blows it's taking. The snake-monster isn't immediately sure what to make of Forever Sunshine's speech and forcefield, though its eyes flicker darker red for just a second in acknowledgement of the threat she poses to it.

Winterberry's chill dagger flies, and the snake tries to bridge its form out of the way... to no avail; a deep hit releases a bit of dark mist! Sweet Pea's self-called 'flower power' firepower pings against its form, causing tiny ripples... but their real benefit is that they're constantly pressuring the Dark Scent; it's having trouble forming even its simple primal thoughts and figuring out who, exactly, it wants to attack.

Eventually this crosses the line into frustration, and with a furiously sharp hiss the rings on its body glow anew. Those within and atop the train will find this gives rise to a wide scattering barrage of its own, sickly black-purple rings firing every which way! Tsukiko however is targeted with a different tactic, as it tries to lift part of its massive form and bash that down upon her, while Fuu finds the beast's head rushing her way with shadow-mist 'fangs' trying to make chilling contact with her!

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia has used Dark Ring Scatter on Madobe Kuroi.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia has used Dark Ring Scatter on Forever Sunshine.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia has used Dark Ring Scatter on Winterberry.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia has used Dark Ring Scatter on Dark Amber.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia has used Dark Ring Scatter on Warm Vanilla Sugar.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia has used Dark Ring Scatter on Japanese Cherry Blossom.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia has used Body Strike on Cute Wolf Tsukiko.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia has used Shadow Fang on Fuu Hououji.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia has finished attacking.

COMBAT: Warm Vanilla Sugar narrowly braces Runealy Waldia's Dark Ring Scatter, taking 8 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!

COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko perfectly counters Runealy Waldia's Body Strike, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter!

COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko's counterattack, High-Speed Kick, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Runealy Waldia!

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji narrowly dodges Runealy Waldia's Shadow Fang, taking 16 Fatigue damage! Fuu Hououji's Fade ability activates! Fuu Hououji's Flash ability activates!

COMBAT: Winterberry fails to dodge Runealy Waldia's Dark Ring Scatter, taking 20 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Stagger applied to Winterberry!

COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom narrowly braces Runealy Waldia's Dark Ring Scatter, taking 8 Fatigue damage! Japanese Cherry Blossom's Block ability activates! Stagger applied to Japanese Cherry Blossom!

COMBAT: Dark Amber perfectly dodges Runealy Waldia's Dark Ring Scatter, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Dodge! Dark Amber's Fade ability activates! Dark Amber's Flash ability activates!

COMBAT: Forever Sunshine fails to dodge Runealy Waldia's Dark Ring Scatter, taking 17 Fatigue damage! Stagger applied to Forever Sunshine!

COMBAT: Madobe Kuroi perfectly counters Runealy Waldia's Dark Ring Scatter, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter!

COMBAT: Madobe Kuroi's counterattack, Sweet Pea Shooters, bursts all the way through, doing 16 Fatigue damage to Runealy Waldia! Trap applied to Runealy Waldia!

<Pose Tracker> Warm Vanilla Sugar [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.

Warm Vanilla Sugar braced herself against the dark ring shower, the attack battering against her arms as she tries to cover her face up with them and to avoid any nasty blows.

"What's your problem? What's going on that caused this Dark Scent to form like this to begin with?" Warm Vanilla asks, glancing around. She was trying to find who might have been affected by the youma, the extra "speed" from Forever Sunshine helping out just a bit.

She shakes her head and tries to focus. She's been out of it lately, and she's not sure why, but she can get through it, especially with her friends here.

"We can do this. This is just a mindless Dark Scent. Its just roaming around on its own, just feeding off of memories, but we can beat it easily, and not let it continue to do as it wants! Its because we are all here, together as one! Forever we fight as one! Our hearts and power combine to shine our light brightly on all forms of darkness that threaten our world!"

Certainly not one of her better speeches, and one that does end sooner than others, but its still filled with the same strength of will and warmth that Warm Vanilla Sugar is known for, its power going forth to help empower her friends and encourage them to greater heights of strength!

COMBAT: Warm Vanilla Sugar has used Warm Encouraging Love on Winterberry.

COMBAT: Warm Vanilla Sugar has used Warm Encouraging Love on Dark Amber.

COMBAT: Warm Vanilla Sugar has used Warm Encouraging Love on Madobe Kuroi.

COMBAT: Warm Vanilla Sugar has finished attacking.

COMBAT: Madobe Kuroi accepts Warm Vanilla Sugar's Warm Encouraging Love, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Madobe Kuroi is Cheered!

COMBAT: Dark Amber accepts Warm Vanilla Sugar's Warm Encouraging Love, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Dark Amber is Cheered!

COMBAT: Winterberry accepts Warm Vanilla Sugar's Warm Encouraging Love, taking 0 Fatigue damage!

<Pose Tracker> Japanese Cherry Blossom [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.

Japanese Cherry Blossom is confident immediately after Dark Amber's encouraging words.

But, the quarters are a bit close! She holds out her hands as the dark ring shoots for her, blocking at least some of its damage. "That's right!" She smiles over at Vanilla Sugar. "We're here, our friends are here, this thing... really picked the wrong day to mess with us! It doesn't stand a chance! Let's give this one our all!"

She starts assessing the situation. "...Now, the quarters are... a little tight, but... if we use our mists, it won't harm the passengers. Unless anyone is allergic to perfume I guess. Forever Sunshine, you should get in close like you always do, and I'll back you up from the outside, too! Winterberry, I think what you're doing is working! Can you team up with Vanilla and work together while you keep a distance?"

She claps her hands. "Let's help everyone!"

COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom has used Team Tactics on Warm Vanilla Sugar.

COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom has used Team Tactics on Winterberry.

COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom has used Team Tactics on Forever Sunshine.

COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom has finished attacking.

COMBAT: Warm Vanilla Sugar accepts Japanese Cherry Blossom's Team Tactics, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Warm Vanilla Sugar is Cheered!

COMBAT: Forever Sunshine accepts Japanese Cherry Blossom's Team Tactics, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Forever Sunshine is Cheered!

<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.

The Dark Scent's attempt to rush down and chomp the Wind Knight in half sends the green-clad girl scurrying back inside the train just before the doors close - and then the train is in motion again, jostling Fuu before she can fully take in the situation within said car. On the plus side, this seems to be the center of the action.

On the minus side ... this is the center of the action, with far fewer opportunities to dodge - and not much room to swing a sword, if it comes to melee. The Magic Knight of Wind just tries to keep as far back from the monster as she can, and will have to continue hoping for the best. On that note, though, it seems some of the Perfume Warriors are already limping or otherwise off-kilter. She can at least help out with that, can't she?"

"Winds of Healing!" the Magic Knight calls, gesturing towards Winterberry, Forever Sunshine, and Japanese Cherry Blossom; in response to her call, gentle breezes wrap around the three magical girls, soothing their injuries and helping them continue fighting at something resembling their best. "I'll do everything I can to assist, as usual!" she adds in response to JCB's encouragement. "My wind magic and your perfume powers have worked well in tandem before!"

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Winds of Healing on Japanese Cherry Blossom.

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Winds of Healing on Forever Sunshine.

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Winds of Healing on Winterberry.

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking.

COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom accepts Fuu Hououji's Winds of Healing, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Cleanse! All of Japanese Cherry Blossom's debuffs are cleared!

COMBAT: Forever Sunshine accepts Fuu Hououji's Winds of Healing, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Cleanse! All of Forever Sunshine's debuffs are cleared!

<Pose Tracker> Madobe Kuroi [Juuban Public School (7)] has posed. Sweet Pea bounds away from the purple rings firing off MORE flowers into the beast as she starts to touch down. Her power isn't really very great, but by god--she can be annoying. JUST LIKE THE INTERNET WHICH SHE MUST PROTECT. She has dark rings under her eyes from fighting trolls all night that haven't even gone away in her super special scent princess form.

She unfortunately is out of action one liners but Vanilla Sugar's WUV is letting her ride the morale high anyway. Plus she didn't get eviscerated by the snake monster. That's awesome too.

She opens up with another quick pair of shots from her sweet pea shooters. She doesn't want to run out of steam before the fight's even really started.

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

"Oh--"

Winterberry briefly disappears from visible sight, although she can still be heard, yelping slightly every couple of minutes as the various rings start firing towards her and contact, stinging and sending a bad smell in her nose that sends her reeling. "Ngh! That's nasty." Winterberry notes, rubbing her face.

The gentle breeze and warm scents of her friends and allies emboldens her, and she drops back into the train again, this time sitting cautiously on the window she's using to move around deftly.

"Okay, that hurt!" That's an understatement, winter witch. She lifts her hands, a small glowing blue globe forming in her hands. "Blast it!"

COMBAT: Madobe Kuroi has used Sweet Pea Strike on Runealy Waldia.

COMBAT: Madobe Kuroi has finished attacking.

COMBAT: Winterberry accepts Fuu Hououji's Winds of Healing, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Cleanse! All of Winterberry's debuffs are cleared!

COMBAT: Winterberry accepts Japanese Cherry Blossom's Team Tactics, taking 0 Fatigue damage!

COMBAT: Winterberry has used Icy Blast on Runealy Waldia.

COMBAT: Winterberry has finished attacking.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia perfectly counters Madobe Kuroi's Sweet Pea Strike, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Critical Counter! Runealy Waldia's Reverse ability activates! Runealy Waldia's Tactician ability activates!

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia's counterattack, Constrict Ring, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Madobe Kuroi!

<Pose Tracker> Cute Wolf Tsukiko [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

Tsukiko might not have quite the affinity for scent that the Perfume Warriors do, but her wolf-blooded nose is still better than an average human's. The sight of familiar faces and the invigorating smell of supportive magic bring a smile to her face, and with a sweeping kick she delays the Dark Scent's crushing kick for a few moments, giving her enough time to easily leap clear.

While she can't reliably see into the train unless she hangs onto the side of the car, she can at least hear the voices of the others, coming from the far side of the train car. Running forward, the wolfgirl leaps, bouncing off of the top of something (hopefully the snake) and landing closer to where the voices are coming from. "Everyone doing alright in there?" she calls to the others, while keeping an eye on the Dark Scent.

COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has used Overrun Bounce on Runealy Waldia.

COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has finished attacking.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia narrowly braces Winterberry's Icy Blast, taking 8 Fatigue damage! Runealy Waldia's Block ability activates! Runealy Waldia's Parry ability activates! Diversion and Stagger applied to Runealy Waldia!

<Pose Tracker> Dark Amber [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed. Dark Amber thinks on this for a moment. Mists?....

He looks down at his two wrist blades in the tight train quaters, and back up at the Dark Scent with a severe frown.

He extends his right blade out as he swings out a chain, catching onto the side of the car for a moment, leaving a large streak in it's wake.

The chain unlatches and moves to strike against the dark scent and try to pin it down as it swings through the air- he smiles at Warm Vanilla Sugar's words. "It may just be mindless, but it's still a danger." he says as he hrmphs! "At least

He calls out. "We're fine, Tsukiko!" he calls out.

"Mostly."

(GM's Note: The omitted/cut-off dialogue above is also the case in my original log. Not sure where it went.)

COMBAT: Dark Amber has used Binding Amber Chain on Runealy Waldia.

COMBAT: Dark Amber has finished attacking.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia perfectly counters Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Overrun Bounce, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter! Runealy Waldia's Reverse ability activates! Runealy Waldia's Tactician ability activates!

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia's counterattack, Snake Wrap, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Cute Wolf Tsukiko!

<Pose Tracker> Forever Sunshine [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.

You know who is Samuel L. Jackson? Erika's grandfather.

The Dark Scent's rippling ring washes over Forever Sunshine, staggering her and making her hiss in irritation, discomfort, and sheer scent-inspired yuck. "Ugh-- Even if it's mindless, it's pretty strong!"

Japanese Cherry Blossom provides guidance, and Forever Sunshine nods once, crouching down as she looks for an opening. And then Fuu sends those healing winds over her, stirring her ribbons just a bit -

She shines her light onto her sundial again. Just a bit. The glow surrounds her, shimmering and glowing...

Like a streak or flare, Forever Sunshine smashes forwards, aiming a sweeping kick at the underside of the Dark Scent. She rebounds off the side of the car, saying in a squeaking accelerated voice, "HahaHA! Can'tcatchME, snakeywakey!"

COMBAT: Forever Sunshine has used Sunset Rushdown on Runealy Waldia.

COMBAT: Forever Sunshine has finished attacking.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia fails to brace Dark Amber's Binding Amber Chain, taking 11 Fatigue damage! Dark Amber is Psyched! Exhausted and Tangle applied to Runealy Waldia!

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia narrowly counters Forever Sunshine's Sunset Rushdown, taking 7 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Forever Sunshine is Psyched! Runealy Waldia's Reverse ability activates! Runealy Waldia's Tactician ability activates!

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia's counterattack, Body Strike, partially gets through, doing 8 Fatigue damage to Forever Sunshine!

(GM's Note: Left out an attack this round, and did some boss adjustments, as a player thought they were having hardware trouble RL. Thankfully it proved to not be the case and they rejoined shortly thereafter!)  

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia has adjusted her boss levels. She is now ready to take on 7 opponents!

<Pose Tracker> Runealy Waldia [Ohtori Academy (7)] has posed.

Those few still in the train car have no ready answer for Warm Vanilla Sugar; some don't hear her in all this commotion, others only respond with frightened screams. Rie lies dazed in her seat, too incoherent to have even the faintest idea that someone might be asking her what's going on. The Dark Scent she gave rise to also doesn't care for Vanilla's questions, nor for her encouraging her friends; a long and low hiss is its criticism of all this, one renewed as the Wind Knight helps her peers.

Perhaps it should mind its tongue, as Sweet Pea blasts back at it. She starts to get the upper hand in this battle of quantity, shots pelting all over its dark scales! A renewed effort on its part brings their exchange to a stalemate for now, but that situation likely won't last as it's forced to coil parts of its body to defend itself from Winterberry's chill sphere.

The Dark Scent has surprising body control; even as one part coils to defend, another part atop the train car tries to wrap around Tsukiko. It's going on every cue but visual, unable to see her up there, and thus basically guessing on where to strike. This same random motion makes a decent defense for now, even as it fails to find its mark. Yet it's not the only one trying segmented attacks, as Dark Amber's chain swings around and crushes part of it against the train in a way it can't directly control... there will be no immediate bridging or twisting from its 'mid-section' for now, though the massive monster does begin tugging against the chain in an effort to break free.

Forever Sunshine bounds toward it, foot finding purchase with a distinct and satisfying 'thwack' against its thick form. Fangs briefly dissipated from having lashed out at Fuu, all it can immediately do to retaliate is try to headbutt the Perfume Warrior!

Yet the darkness reforms in its mouth shortly after, and it begins thrashing out to try to 'bite' several people. Dark Amber first and foremost, followed by Winterberry and Madobe. Its head keeps darting around, moving not to strike at Warm Vanilla but to go past her, then try to coil around to wrap her up.

Cherry Blossom will find a larger ring launched from a pulsing glow on the snake, one that tries to go over her and then descend, to constrict down on her with dark energy! The rest of the area is filled with another wide scatter of dark-rings, as it makes a more indiscriminate attempt to strike Tsukiko as well as hoping to catch Fuu and Forever Sunshine in a similar barrage.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia has used Shadow Fang on Madobe Kuroi.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia has used Shadow Fang on Dark Amber.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia has used Dark Ring Scatter on Cute Wolf Tsukiko.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia has used Dark Ring Scatter on Fuu Hououji.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia has used Dark Ring Scatter on Forever Sunshine.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia has used Constrict Ring on Japanese Cherry Blossom.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia has used Snake Wrap on Warm Vanilla Sugar.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia has finished attacking.

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji narrowly braces Runealy Waldia's Dark Ring Scatter, taking 8 Fatigue damage!

COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko narrowly braces Runealy Waldia's Dark Ring Scatter, taking 3 Fatigue damage! Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Block ability activates! Stagger applied to Cute Wolf Tsukiko!

COMBAT: Dark Amber narrowly braces Runealy Waldia's Shadow Fang, taking 11 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!

COMBAT: Forever Sunshine narrowly braces Runealy Waldia's Dark Ring Scatter, taking 2 Fatigue damage! Stagger applied to Forever Sunshine!

COMBAT: Warm Vanilla Sugar perfectly dodges Runealy Waldia's Snake Wrap, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Dodge! Warm Vanilla Sugar's Flash ability activates!

COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom fails to dodge Runealy Waldia's Constrict Ring, taking 14 Fatigue damage! Trap applied to Japanese Cherry Blossom!

<Pose Tracker> Japanese Cherry Blossom [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.

"Thank you!" says Japanese Cherry Blossom to Fuu. The winds surround her, and she has to admit, there's a nice synergy between the clean healing air and the sweet perfume smell that makes everything feel even better, and more alive.

But she has to be careful, because the Dark Scent is still attacking! She tries to leap out of the way of the ring coming for her, but it latches onto her shoulders and pins her arms. She screams.... pulling against the constricting ring as it keeps her temporarily pinned down. "I... have to get free, ... AH!" She has an idea that's a bit awkward, but turns out, as she runs toward the Dark Scent and attacks it with JUST her feet, flipping over herself while her arms are still locked down. As she lands from the flip, she bursts out again with a surge of strength.

COMBAT: Madobe Kuroi fails to dodge Runealy Waldia's Shadow Fang, taking 22 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!

COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom has used Cherry Flip Kick on Runealy Waldia.

COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom has finished attacking.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia narrowly counters Japanese Cherry Blossom's Cherry Flip Kick, taking 6 Fatigue damage! Japanese Cherry Blossom is Psyched! Runealy Waldia's Reverse ability activates! Runealy Waldia's Tactician ability activates!

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia's counterattack, Hide Bash, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Japanese Cherry Blossom!

<Pose Tracker> Warm Vanilla Sugar [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.

Warm Vanilla Sugar nods over at Cherry Blossom, feeling the strenght of her convictions and understanding the plan. Keep the support in the back, let the melee do the punching obviously, and hope that they can take it down before too much and too many bad things happen.

But it seems the Dark Scent has other plans, attacking everyone on its way over towards her. It tries to wrap itself around her, to keep it coiled up. She reacts quickly and is bouncing out of the attempt to hug her by the Dark Scent as it was.

This upsets Warm Vanilla Sugar some.

"Hey! That's not how you do that! That's not how you hug someone! You can't do it with any intent to harm or kill them. That ruins everything! A hug is warm, comforting, a symbol of friendship and happiness and comfort and everything that is good in the world and you're trying to corrupt it with your evil ways and I cannot allow that at all!"

And thusly, Warm Vanilla Sugar promptly goes against the strategy Cherry Blossom so helpfully suggested... and rushes up to the snake youma. And she attempts to hug the beast.

"This," She says. "Is what a hug is all about. Pure and peaceful and warm..." The fact that its a hug being given by a magical girl and therefor might be a bit more painful to evil youma does kind of slip Warm Vanilla's mind.

COMBAT: Warm Vanilla Sugar has used Golden Vanilla Hug on Runealy Waldia.

COMBAT: Warm Vanilla Sugar has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Madobe Kuroi [Juuban Public School (7)] has posed. Sweet Pea didn't know that?? Is that true??

She isn't so lucky in the second exchange. In fact, it's kind of the opposite effect. She throws herself to the side but still gets sliced across her lower leg. "Ahhh!!!" She says, eyes wide as she sees that she's been hit! And worse, by a snake. "Quick quick..." She takes out her perfume bottle and sprays the wound like hse would use disinfectant. She hadn't tried that before but, well, she figures it'd work. "M..much better." She laughs nervously.

She takes in a deep breath and brings both pistols forward, firing another steady stream for the snake-beast.

COMBAT: Madobe Kuroi has used Madobe Magic on Runealy Waldia.

COMBAT: Madobe Kuroi has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Cute Wolf Tsukiko [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

Tsukiko hunkers down as the energy volleys around her. While the rings do sting a bit and push her somewhat off-balance, it does give her half a moment to catch her breath. "So it has to attack blindly in order to hit me, huh?" she whispers to herself, an idea coming to mind.

Moving forward on hands and feet in an effort to make as little noise as possible, she closes in on the snake. The kick that she delivers is somewhat telegraphed as she tries aiming between the scales, but does that matter when the snake can't see the wind-up?

COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has used Slam Kick on Runealy Waldia.

COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has finished attacking.

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

Winterberry ducks. There's no other way to put it - she just simply moves out of the way, her dress rustling in the wind as she moves backwards. She slides the, drawing her foot around in a smooth circle around her, hands clapping together. "Tsh. I don't like snakes." She admits quietly, mostly to herself. She draws her hands apart then, forming a sharp and knife-like icicle in her hands. She then twists them, and it drops, and she catches it neatly.

She then moves, darting forwards and to the side as she throws the icicle with as much accuracy as she can manage.

COMBAT: Winterberry has used Icicle on Runealy Waldia. COMBAT: Winterberry has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Forever Sunshine [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.

It is super true.

More rings ripple downwards against Forever Sunshine, even as she lands on a seat - and is whacked against a window. "Gwuuuh!" she squeals in high pitched dismay. Then, "Cherry! SweetPea!" Both in tones of worry, the latter maybe a little more so--

Warm Vanilla is going in for the hug.

Forever Sunshine thinks to herself: Maybe we have to mix it up!

That 'speed up bubble' of hers dissipates as she draws her magic back inwards, sucking in a deep breath and then throwing her hands out in a flourish towards the Dark Scent. What comes out is probably an attempt to mimick some of Sakura's flower petal maneuvers. However, unlike Sakura, she does not manage to make sempai overdo it:

She DOES send a whipping wind of citrus-scented warmth at the Dark Scent, though. "Hyah!!"

COMBAT: Forever Sunshine has used Tangerine Storm on Runealy Waldia.

COMBAT: Forever Sunshine has finished attacking.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia narrowly braces Warm Vanilla Sugar's Golden Vanilla Hug, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Runealy Waldia's Block ability activates! Runealy Waldia's Parry ability activates!

<Pose Tracker> Dark Amber [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed. Dark Amber sort of jumps backwards and throws chains in the way of the beast as he backs upwards and frowns a bit. "Hey watch out--everyone!" he says as they all run /towards/ the beast-- and Warm Vanilla Sugar tries to hug it. That-- that has to kill it somehow, he thinks. Everyone's getting up close and person. Maybe he outta too--- but before that he looks over to Sweet Pea- and smiles. "You're doing well, Sweet Pea. Just keep it up a little longer!" he calls out as he gives a jump forward and attempts to slice into the scent with a blade- throwing himself at a high, blurring speed in the process.

"This thing's gotta break soon...." he murmurs.

COMBAT: Dark Amber has used Amber Slicer on Runealy Waldia.

COMBAT: Dark Amber has finished attacking.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia fails to counter Madobe Kuroi's Madobe Magic, taking 10 Fatigue damage! Runealy Waldia is Quipped!

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia's counterattack, Ring Shot, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Madobe Kuroi!

<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.

No real room to dodge; the Magic Knight of Wind makes the best of it, making herself as small a target as she can and using one of the handhold-posts for a measure of cover. She still gets hit by a few of the flying rings, but it could have been far worse.

She pulls out another arrow, bracing herself against the wall as well as she can in an attempt to stabilize her aim against the train's occasional jostling from imperfections in the rails. It's not rail-turbulence that tousles her hair or her skirt, though …

"Gale Arrow!"

As she releases the drawn arrow, her wind magic surges forward, wrapping around the arrow to stabilize and accelerate its flight - and the Gale Arrow zips towards the Dark Scent, threading between (and mostly over) her allies as if it was wire-guided. Even if the monster dodges, the Wind Knight was aiming high enough that it shouldn't endanger much more than some of those hanging advertisements …

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Gale Arrow on Runealy Waldia.

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia fails to counter Winterberry's Icicle, taking 30 Fatigue damage!

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia's counterattack, Constrict Ring, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Winterberry!

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia fails to dodge Dark Amber's Amber Slicer, taking 10 Fatigue damage! Dark Amber is Psyched!

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia fails to dodge Fuu Hououji's Gale Arrow, taking 23 Fatigue damage! Fuu Hououji is Psyched!

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia fails to brace Forever Sunshine's Tangerine Storm, taking 30 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Trap applied to Runealy Waldia!

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia fails to dodge Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Slam Kick, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!

<Pose Tracker> Runealy Waldia [Ohtori Academy (7)] has posed.

Still bound for the moment, the Dark Scent's attempts to whip part of itself against Cherry Blossom's diving kick meet with only modest success. Meeting her halfway gives her less room to build momentum, so the strike is clean but not as deeply felt as it could have been... but it fails to really do more than that, not at all injuring her as the beast had hoped.

It has no idea that it has tried to co-opt something Vanilla seems to cherish, but it quickly finds out about this when the tables are turned by her hug! Her heart pouring into the gesture makes it more anathema to the monster than any directly crushing strength on her part might have, and it begins twisting and thrashing in a furious attempt to break free!

This causes its attempts to continue trading shots with Sweet Pea to go very poorly; it's distracted, and its shot outright goes wide while flower-blasts continue to ping against it... and this time the barrage is rewarded with tiny sprays of dark mist with each hit, a foul counterpart to what she just used to help herself. The momentum just keeps building, as these blasts cause it to lash out wildly with another binding ring sent at Winterberry, but the sweet scent causes it to dissipate in mid-air and its body to ripple and waver, threatening to lose form before normalizing!

This moment of sharp pain distracts it as Dark Amber hurtles by and slices a distinct line through part of its scales! It's a gap that Fuu can exploit, and her magic arrow pierces through a low part of its body... stopping just short of pinning that to one of the advertisements in the train car.

Tsukiko's stealth tactics pay off, as the snake's body tenses in the direction it last had some kind of clue she was in. This ends up being very old information, and it's startled when a foot pounds hard on it from another angle entirely!

Frustration and bewilderment mounting, its head retreats through the window it came from in order to go onto the roof and figure out where one of its more persistent attackers really is. A sharp 'hrah!' hiss heralds its attempt to bite down on Tsukiko with dark-energy fangs, while its tail swings back inside the train car to whip-club at Sweet Pea, Forever Sunshine, Winterberry, and Fuu! With Vanilla anchored to it, the Dark Scent tries to discourage this by lighting its ring-scales up again... another barrage of evil energy is sent showering through the train car!

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia has used Shadow Fang on Cute Wolf Tsukiko.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia has used Dark Ring Scatter on Japanese Cherry Blossom.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia has used Dark Ring Scatter on Warm Vanilla Sugar.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia has used Dark Ring Scatter on Dark Amber.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia has used Body Strike on Fuu Hououji.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia has used Body Strike on Madobe Kuroi.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia has used Hide Bash on Winterberry.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia has used Hide Bash on Forever Sunshine.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia has finished attacking.

COMBAT: Dark Amber fails to dodge Runealy Waldia's Dark Ring Scatter, taking 13 Fatigue damage! Stagger applied to Dark Amber!

COMBAT: Madobe Kuroi narrowly dodges Runealy Waldia's Body Strike, taking 4 Fatigue damage! Madobe Kuroi's Flash ability activates!

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji narrowly dodges Runealy Waldia's Body Strike, taking 8 Fatigue damage! Fuu Hououji's Fade ability activates! Fuu Hououji's Flash ability activates!

COMBAT: Winterberry narrowly dodges Runealy Waldia's Hide Bash, taking 3 Fatigue damage! Winterberry's Fade ability activates! Winterberry's Flash ability activates!

COMBAT: Warm Vanilla Sugar perfectly counters Runealy Waldia's Dark Ring Scatter, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter! Warm Vanilla Sugar's Reverse ability activates! Warm Vanilla Sugar's Tactician ability activates!

COMBAT: Warm Vanilla Sugar's counterattack, Vanilla Strike, bursts all the way through, doing 7 Fatigue damage to Runealy Waldia!

COMBAT: Forever Sunshine narrowly dodges Runealy Waldia's Hide Bash, taking 6 Fatigue damage! Forever Sunshine's Fade ability activates! Forever Sunshine's Flash ability activates!

COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom fails to counter Runealy Waldia's Dark Ring Scatter, taking 15 Fatigue damage! Stagger applied to Japanese Cherry Blossom!

COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom's counterattack, Petal Blast, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Runealy Waldia!

COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko fails to dodge Runealy Waldia's Shadow Fang, taking 18 Fatigue damage!

<Pose Tracker> Warm Vanilla Sugar [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.

Warm Vanilla Sugar lets go quickly, flinging a quick ball of magic at the Youma when it tries to blast her with the rings. It disrupts the rings forming when it hits, protecting her at the very least as she lands, facing the youma once again.

"That is what a hug is all about. The warmth, the love, the peace, the comfort, all of it is the what a hug represents, and that is why you will never be able to properly hug anyone because you currently lack the ability to give any of that, but it can come just relax and remember and return to what you once were and you will find that love and peace will follow soon after and you will find that your life is so much better and filled with so many more friends and people and everything that is wonderful and nice and you will be so much happier I just know it and you won't be so angry all the time and you could be friends with Mist who can be a bit of a naughty pixie-dragon at times but that's okay because we still love and cherish him except when he eats the last of the riceballs without asking at which point he becomes a naughty pixie-dragon for good and has to work hard to regain our trust becuase good pixie-dragons don't do such things like that you understand what I'm saying Mist because I hope so otherwise you won't ever learn at all!"

Okay, so Warm Vanilla's speech took an odd turn and targeting, but hopefully the youma still ends up reacting to that which was aimed at it. All those powerful magical words and all.

COMBAT: Warm Vanilla Sugar has used Loving Words of Power on Runealy Waldia.

COMBAT: Warm Vanilla Sugar has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Japanese Cherry Blossom [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.

Japanese Cherry Blossom is freed, so she tries to counter-attack... but she's still a bit too slowed down! She raises her hand to create a wave of petals, but the darkness overwhelms them!

Still, in spite of this... she has hope. She has her friends. And she has her magical locket.

She reaches up to her neck, putting her hand on it. It gives her one more burst of courage in the evil scent and against the dark creature...

The train movement rattles through her feet. She nearly trips, but she stands her ground. "This is a big creature. It's going to take a big solution to solve this problem."

"You with me, team?" Right now, she looks at Dark Amber and Forever Sunshine in particular, but mostly because her kick attack forced her to close into melee with the beast. She's frightfully close! And yet she's not afraid...

She flips open the locket. A wave of glitter begins to build out of it, sparkling like tiny diamonds in the air in front of her. It has her distinct scent present within it.

"Everyone, when you get ready, combine!"

"Japanese Cherry Blossom..."

She closes her eyes. "Fragrance Fusion."

The bit of diamond glitter in front of her starts to glow with pink and gold, still streaming out....

COMBAT: FINISHER! Japanese Cherry Blossom has started a combo targeting Runealy Waldia!

<Pose Tracker> Cute Wolf Tsukiko [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

Still a bit off-balance from the energy rings and in an awkward pose from delivering her sneaky kick, Tsukiko is a sitting duck to the Dark Scent's energy fangs. "Ow ow ow ow ow!" she yelps, squirming free from the harsh bite and getting some distance.

On the plus side, the snake's head is up here. "Paying attention to me, huh?" she grins, wincing through the pain. She dances and darts at the snake's head, trying to keep its attention on her, and not on the attacks the others are undoubtedly launching while this is going on.

COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has used Herd the Quarry on Runealy Waldia.

COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has finished attacking.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia fails to counter Warm Vanilla Sugar's Loving Words of Power, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Blind, Cripple, and Stun applied to Runealy Waldia!

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia's counterattack, Ring Shot, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Warm Vanilla Sugar!

<Pose Tracker> Japanese Cherry Blossom [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.

Mist, meanwhile, ducks behind a chair at Vanilla's sudden tirade. Gosh, that did seem a bit odd... but, he can be good... when it's less scary!

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia perfectly counters Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Herd the Quarry, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter! Runealy Waldia's Reverse ability activates! Runealy Waldia's Tactician ability activates!

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia's counterattack, Snake Wrap, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Cute Wolf Tsukiko!

<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.

There still isn't much room to dodge, but given that the Dark Scent is flailing around and just trying to crush her, the Wind Knight doesn't need *much* room - just enough to try and interpose something more solid and less yielding than her own body. Like one of those posts.

It could have worked better, but it works well enough; what would have been a full-on serpentine bodyslam winds up jostling her off her feet but not actually sending her flying against the wall (or a window) of the train car. She shakes her head briefly to clear it, then brings her arms up. "I'll try to buy yo all some time!" she calls out to the Perfume Warriors, followed by her spell call: "Winds of Admonishment!!"

She doesn't use this spell in close quarters much, so she has to control just how the whirlwind manifests: not a single tornado, but a set of smaller, tightly-manipulated currents of wind, trying to anchor the Dark Scent at specific points so that it can't thrash around as much. The spell takes most of her concentration, to the point that her bow and quiver vanish outright ...

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Winds of Admonishment on Runealy Waldia.

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia narrowly counters Fuu Hououji's Winds of Admonishment, taking 13 Fatigue damage! Fuu Hououji is Psyched! Runealy Waldia's Reverse ability activates! Runealy Waldia's Tactician ability activates! Trap applied to Runealy Waldia!

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia's counterattack, Constrict Ring, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Fuu Hououji!

<Pose Tracker> Dark Amber [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed. Dark Amber gets stuck across his chest, which causes him to come to a rest somewhere nearby, as he grabs his chest with a frown and closes his eyes. "Heh. This thing is toughter than it looks today." he says as he opens his eyes a bit. He looks over to Japanese Cherry Blossom and smile with a nod. "I'm here....!" he says as he throws his arm down and dashes forward to Blossom's side.

He raises his hand high and summons up as much energy---and power-- and hope as he can as he calls out--

"Fragrance Fusion...!"

He looks between Cherry Blossoma and Forever Sunshine for a moment with a reassuring, perhaps smug, smile.

COMBAT: FINISHER! Dark Amber has joined the combo started by Japanese Cherry Blossom!

<Pose Tracker> Forever Sunshine [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.

The Dark Scent's Dark Tail slams into the passenger compartment, thrashing around and giving Forever Sunshine a Dark Bruise on her Moderately Tan Leg, making her yelp in surprise.

The blow was HARD, she thinks, staggering and catching herself on a handgrasp in the upper rails. If she hadn't been transformed, if memory and fragrance weren't keeping her together, that would've busted her leg!

She looks over to Japanese Cherry Blossom. "I'm with you," she says, as she draws out the glitter. The sparkles. The diamond mist...

Forever Sunshine's eyes half close. She sucks in a deep breath, clearing her mind and focusing on that sensation, letting the memories that always come of summertime candy and sweet sunlight draw up inside of her. Her right hand raises upwards as she strides confidently to her friend's side--

"Fragrance Fusion...!"

COMBAT: FINISHER! Forever Sunshine has joined the combo started by Japanese Cherry Blossom!

<Pose Tracker> Japanese Cherry Blossom [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.

"Diamond... Shimmer MIST!"

No, not the little dragon, though that is the final word of the attack shouted by Cherry Blossom...

As the glitter surges with three scents forward... in a sparkling diamond rush that surrounds the Dark Scent!

(GM's Note: Some attack juggling happened here to sort something out; don't mind any extraneous combat actions you see.)

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

"Snake, it's a snaaaake!"

Winterberry, please stay off the internet.

The attack comes from the whip of its' tail, and Winterberry jumps. She mostly clears it, but it nips her left foot, sending her off-kilter and landing on the floor with a 'thuwmp'. She shakes her head, standing up wearily. "Okay, fine. We're gonna do this the hard way then."

Then Winterberry jumps at it, arms opened wide.

COMBAT: Winterberry has used This Is How I Hug Amber on Runealy Waldia.

COMBAT: Winterberry has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Madobe Kuroi [Juuban Public School (7)] has posed. Sweet Pea says, "Aha!" as her latest gun shot tries to make purchase. She even manages to hop over the tail as it whaps at her, but naturally bonks her head against the compartment ceiling and she lands on her backside painfully. She cringes deeply before smacking herself upside the face a couple times to try and get her focus back into ... ... focus?

She listens to WArm Vanilla Sugar's speech about hugs and warmth and pixies? She loses the thread before it's even halfway over.

COMBAT: Madobe Kuroi has used Breather on Runealy Waldia.

COMBAT: Madobe Kuroi has finished attacking.

COMBAT: FINISHER! Japanese Cherry Blossom has started a combo targeting Runealy Waldia!

COMBAT: FINISHER! Forever Sunshine has joined the combo started by Japanese Cherry Blossom!

COMBAT: FINISHER! Dark Amber has joined the combo started by Japanese Cherry Blossom!

COMBAT: COMBO! FINISHER! Japanese Cherry Blossom, Forever Sunshine, and Dark Amber have used Fragrance Fusion Diamond Shimmer Mist on Runealy Waldia.

COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom has finished attacking.

COMBAT: Forever Sunshine has finished attacking.

COMBAT: Dark Amber has finished attacking.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia fails to counter Madobe Kuroi's Breather, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia's counterattack, Hide Bash, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Madobe Kuroi!

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia narrowly dodges Winterberry's This Is How I Hug Amber, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Runealy Waldia's Fade ability activates! Runealy Waldia's Flash ability activates!

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia fails to brace Japanese Cherry Blossom, Forever Sunshine, and Dark Amber's Finisher, Combo: Fragrance Fusion Diamond Shimmer Mist, taking 460 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Runealy Waldia is unable to keep fighting!

<Pose Tracker> Runealy Waldia [Ohtori Academy (7)] has posed.

While the Dark Scent isn't able to truly comprehend what Warm Vanilla Sugar is talking about, it does get the feeling that... something is important about this, even as it responds with a mix of confused noise and a sharply disapproving hiss! The noise spawns another shadow-ring, but this monster is so baffled that the shot dissipates in mid-air.

Atop the train car, the snake continues to 'fence' with Tsukiko as its head darts about, weaving and feinting in hopes of finding some kind of advantage. It is most certainly paying attention to her now! Her latest lunge is met with one in kind, but all the Dark Scent manages to do is harmlessly deflect her for now. Its a virtual stalemate in terms of strikes landed, but Tsukiko appears to be distracting it as intended.

The Wind Knight's tiny spreads of air might not be so intense on their own, but they add up quickly. It tries to blast through them with another wider, binding ring... but this is only partially successful, destroying a few of the currents but most find their mark and buffet the monster against the train interior!

Winterberry vaulting at it for an embrace is no longer a surprise, but is instead seen as a direct threat. It twists what it can of its body away, trying to slip free from any grasp she might be attempting even while what little of its body isn't trapped tries to whip against Sweet Pea!

Then... many of the Perfume Warriors directly band together. Sakura's glitter gathers and shines, Dark Amber's energy manifests, Forever Sunshine unites her efforts with theirs, and it all descends upon the monster in a brilliant display! It writhes and screeches, bashing against the train surfaces it's held to and rocking - but not derailing - the vehicle in a desperate attempt to get away!

It does not. Ravaged by this assault, its offense is now blindly desperate and aimless. Its threat has been greatly diminished, its sinister form flickering wildly and threatening to lose cohesion. The Dark Scent tries to pull what little remains of its concentration together, straining to keep itself intact...

<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.

The Magic Knight of Wind has to wonder if her own binding spell is part of what's holding the remains of the Dark Scent together ... but there isn't much of it left.

So she releases the Winds of Admonishment, and the binding zephyrs dissipate. "Finishing it off is all yours, ladies!" she calls out - just in case there's anything left *to* finish off ... the Fragrance Fusion really looks like it ripped the Dark Scent apart beyond its ability to recover.

But she's learned not to take any monster's resilience (or seeming lack thereof) for granted, either.

<Pose Tracker> Warm Vanilla Sugar [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.

"Oh no you don't!" Warm Vanilla Sugar says, glancing over at Sweet Pea and Winterberry. She nods at them and starts to take the role that Cherry Blossom tends to and focuses on gathering up the Fragrence Magics from her allies when they offer them up.

Slowly and calmly she focused, gathering up her own golden magic, the vanilla scented sparkling form spirling up around her and gathering up into a ball above her now, trying to mentally picture and think about how Cherry Blossom does it.

"Warm Vanilla Sugar..." She starts off.

"Fragrance Fusion..." She continues then, ready to accept and gather up the magics when they're offered up.

COMBAT: FINISHER! Warm Vanilla Sugar has started a combo targeting Runealy Waldia!

<Pose Tracker> Madobe Kuroi [Juuban Public School (7)] has posed. Sweet Pea snaps out of her trance now that Vanilla Sugar isn't saying something about hugs and--no! NO! stop it madobe, you'll start to zone out again! She steadies herself up, rubbing at her head. She's feeling better.

"Alright! Lets finish it off!" She says, trying to shake sugarry feelings out of her head so she can focus on what's important: Extreme Scent Violence.

"Sweet Pea..." She begins... "Fragrance Fusion...!" She adds. Her scent starting to, yes!, combine with sugar's.

Just...just don't zone out again @_@.

COMBAT: FINISHER! Madobe Kuroi has joined the combo started by Warm Vanilla Sugar!

<Pose Tracker> Cute Wolf Tsukiko [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

With the Dark Scent's focus now on maintaining coherency, Tsukiko takes a moment to catch her breath. She concentrates on her wolven instincts, drawing some inspiration from there.

Taking a deep breath, she howls, her voice wordlessly carrying the image of the joy of travelling to meet a friend, of the loveliness of watching the scenery go by, of the dedications that friends have for each other. It's as calming as a lullaby to magical girls and any civilian who happens to overhear it... but it's utter pain to ears of darkness.

COMBAT: FINISHER! Cute Wolf Tsukiko has used Soulful Howl on Runealy Waldia.

COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has finished attacking.

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

"Let's do this!"

Winterberry takes a firm stance nearby Vanilla and Sweet Pea, folding her hands together. "Winterberry... Fragrance Fusion...!"

There are way too many smells going on and it is *amazing*. It smells way better even with the weird combined groups of everything.

COMBAT: FINISHER! Winterberry has joined the combo started by Warm Vanilla Sugar!

<Pose Tracker> Warm Vanilla Sugar [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.

"Golden Sugar Scrub!" Warm Vanilla Sugar finishes off, combining the scents together. Its only about half as powerful as it could be, but its still a rather potent finishing blow.

And as soon as the magics were ready, she launches the powerful blast off at the Dark Scent to finish it off for good this time.

COMBAT: COMBO! FINISHER! Warm Vanilla Sugar, Madobe Kuroi, and Winterberry have used Fragrance Fusion Golden Sugar Scrub on Runealy Waldia.

COMBAT: Warm Vanilla Sugar has finished attacking.

COMBAT: Madobe Kuroi has finished attacking.

COMBAT: Winterberry has finished attacking.

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia accepts Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Finisher, Soulful Howl, taking 86 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Runealy Waldia is unable to keep fighting!

COMBAT: Runealy Waldia accepts Warm Vanilla Sugar, Madobe Kuroi, and Winterberry's Finisher, Combo: Fragrance Fusion Golden Sugar Scrub, taking 378 Fatigue damage! Runealy Waldia is unable to keep fighting!

<Pose Tracker> Runealy Waldia [Ohtori Academy (7)] has posed.

As the Dark Scent struggles to keep itself together, friends come together once more in the hopes of ensuring it does not. Sweet scents unite with a howl conveying so many wonderful things, and all of it tears through the monster's very essence. Its cries intensify, form rippling... and this time, it cannot find a way to withstand the assault or maintain any form!

The Dark Scent makes one final unearthly hiss, then light shines through the train. When it fades, the monster is spread out to nothing but wide purple-black mist... which is beginning to change to other hues; it was the memory made tangible, and no longer in the clutches of a monster it can now begin to return to what it should be. And return to whom it is rightfully a part of, the stunned student who has been able to comprehend the tiniest bits of what has been going on.

Some of the memory-mist dissolves, but most of it flows back into Rie. Her mind is flooded by the return of a recent, painful memory and the student's head recoils in shock; having to suddenly remember her friend's betrayal hurts. Yet it jars another thought in her mind. "Did I miss something?" She's talking to herself, one hand clutched to her forehead as a hazy mind struggles to stay coherent. Even through fuzzy vision, a look at the broken windows gives her a new perspective on that memory. A weak voice realizes aloud: "Maybe that wasn't what I thought it was?" Rie tries to reach for her phone in hopes of texting her friend... but doesn't have the strength for it and slumps unconscious in her seat.

Yet Rie's demeanor is much more peaceful now, her breathing regular and stable. The message can wait for her to get a good night's rest, as there are still a few days before graduation is final. Once she awakens, she can get in touch with her life-long friend and sort this out with a clear head; perhaps their plans to graduate (and celebrate!) together are still intact.

Sometimes, all it takes to fix a bad situation is looking at it from another angle. In protecting the city today, Tokyo's defenders have made that possible.

<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.

The Magic Knight of Wind tilts her head slightly at the unconscious girl, considering briefly ... then raises her left hand a bit and murmurs, barely above a whisper, "Winds of Healing …"

It's barely enough of a breeze to stir Rie's hair - certainly it's not even enough to revive her from her impromptu nap - but it'll help her recover from any physical effects that accompanied her trauma. Then the Wind Knight looks to the other magical girls, "Is anyone hurt that needs some help recovering?"

<Pose Tracker> Japanese Cherry Blossom [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.

Japanese Cherry Blossom slumps a little, settling onto her feet as all the mist, and shimmer, and scrub and scents clear and so does the Dark Scent and all of its evil. People seem to be coming back around.

"I... guess that means we should go now, right?" asks Mist, peering over the back of a seat.

Cherry Blossom grabs him suddenly. "....Right! Everything will be fine now... just, a bumpy ride on the train today!"

<Pose Tracker> Warm Vanilla Sugar [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.

Warm Vanilla Sugar nods. "Come on, lets get going," She sayd, smiling and moving to head out. "I'm doing fine though, so nothing too bad here for me. Not really fatigued much."

<Pose Tracker> Cute Wolf Tsukiko [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

Tsukiko carefully leans over the edge of the roof and peeks through a window. "Unless there was something extra-nasty in that thing's bite, I should be okay with some rest," she replies to Fuu, then looks around at the others. "Everyone okay in here?"

<Pose Tracker> Dark Amber [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed. Dark Amber sort of lets his cape settle around him and takes a deep breath, smiling. "It's over. That thing was... kind of strong. I'm not really smelling Dahlia or Red or anything-- so I guess it was just wild." he says with a frown. He smirks at Mist and Cherry Blossom. "I have a newspaper to return too." he says.

He turns and looks over to Winterberry and smiles. "Want to join me on the way home?" he asks. "I was on the train to begin with so---" he clears his throat.

"Or does your mom think otherwise?"

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

"It sounds weird discussing my mom when we're, you know." Winterberry drops her hand down her side, gesturing up and down her dress.

"But sure, Amber-kun, I'd like that. Just like old times, where I had to chase you around the city to get you to open up." She jokes.

<Pose Tracker> Dark Amber [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed. Dark Amber smirks and merely turns around and begins back to his car. He kind of shifts back to Kinzo in between cars. Weird.

<Pose Tracker> Forever Sunshine [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.

"That's kind of worrisome," Forever Sunshine says, "thinking they're just wandering around... do you think they lost control of 'em or something?" Then she looks curiously over at Winterberry talking to Kinzo.

To Fuu she says, "I'm good - though I'm gonna get a meat bun soon, I think!"

<Pose Tracker> Cute Wolf Tsukiko [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

Tsukiko nods as the others relax and disburse. "Take care, everyone! I'll see you around!" she smiles to those left in the car. Rising to a crouching stance on the roof, the wolfgirl looks around, then tenses and leaps. Those with a quick eye might see her land in a tree as the train goes around a curve; a few moments later, there's a silvery glow descending to ground level, and Ikiko walks off, getting her bearing before heading for home.

(Scene ends. A rumor post titled 'Brief Train Disruption' was made based on this, and is reproduced below.)

Part of the Yamanote Line, one of the major train lines in Tokyo, was disrupted for a few hours on early Wednesday evening. This was unfortunate timing since Spring Break is here, but the incident turned out to be an alarming inconvenience rather than an outright disaster. Passengers claim the train lurched as if it had been struck by something, and while everyone agrees it thankfully stayed on the tracks to safely arrive at its destination (with no serious injuries), every other detail is subject to rumor and speculation.

A few claim that several 'cosplayers' began causing trouble after the train car shook, but several people talking to friends and family (as well as anyone who cares to listen over social media) dispute that. They say those same school-age passengers impressively managed to stay 'in character' as the train was rocked, speaking loudly and dramatically to guide passengers to safety; the general consensus is that they turned a brief scare into an encouraging and memorable event.

This still leaves the question of what caused the train to be rocked in the first place, but security camera footage was inexplicably blurry. Transit authorities replaced the cameras and briefly halted service while the rail line was inspected for faults, but no problems were found. Thus aside from a few hours of re-routing and delays, things quickly returned to business as usual.