2016-07-20 - Belief Becomes Power 1

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Title: Belief Becomes Power 1
Summary:

Aware that the Magic Knight of Wind Fuu, is indisposed due to trauma, Alcyone decides to isolate Hikaru by kidnapping the Magic Knight of Water, Umi, along with whatever other hostages she can get off the floor of her fencing tournament.

Who:

Hikaru Shidou, Fuu Hououji, Garnet, Jad Werke, Eri Shimanouchi, La Sirene du Nord
GM: Honoka Yukishiro

Where:

Ajinomoto Stadium

OOC - IC Date:

07/20/2016 - 7 November 2014 


<Pose Tracker> Honoka Yukishiro [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

<SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7-s0ZUt0Es

The 2014 Tokyo City-Wide Middle School Preliminaries are the first and therefore largest round of the metropolis' middle school Fencing championship. It isn't nationals -- or even regionals -- but Tokyo's gigantic and competition is still plenty fierce to be named the best blade in the city, especially since this particular event is co-ed.

As such, the matches are being held in Ajinomoto Stadium, with a false floor rolled over the lawn for purposes just like these. There are dozens of fencing matches all going on at once; the squeak of shoes, the clink of foils, the electronic buzz of touches, all of these sounds compete for space in the air, and all of them lose to the gasps and grunts of the athletes, and the cheers and whoops of the crowd.

The stadium seats aren't filled by any means; this just isn't an important enough event. But that leaves lots of room for students to spread out big flags, and there's plenty of convivial crowding beneath certain pennants. For their part, the Sister Schools have decided to all support each other at this stage of the tournament; it's statistically unlikely that they'll be facing each other any time soon. Juuban's Cheerleading Club is out in force, along with enthusiastic supporters. Further encouragement towards school spirit is present in the form of elaborate snacks, mostly whimsically designed cupcakes -- donated by the Cooking Clubs, and heavily advertised in advance at all three schools.

The Infinity and Ohtori Fencing Teams have adjacent tables, though the bulk of their members are out in matches. Since this is the Middle School tournament, their high school senpai are the ones on the sidelines with water, towels, and encouragement. It looks like a good time being had by all.

Ohtori is doing particularly well out there on the floor, to the surprise of no one; the illustrious Academy wins the local tournament almost every year. Last year's middle-school champion, Miki Kaoru, is aquitting himself well, devastating his opponents one after the next. People are particularly hangdog when they see they have to face him; rumor had it that he'd quit the sport after an injury had permanently sidelined him, but he seems as healthy, happy and successful as can be.

A few fencing strips down, another Ohtori student, Umi Ryuuzaki, seems like a serious contender this year as well. Her eyes are deadly serious during matches, but her grin, in between victories, is sharp and bright, just like a real sword. Other schools shudder to think that the finals might wind up being two Ohtori students against each other. It's happened before.

But that's not even happening today. For now, it's the preliminaries, and a punishingly large round robin. After watering themselves -- Miki takes a sip, while Umi calmly pours a stream over her head and lets it soak into her long blue braid -- they go back out to meet their next opponents. Umi's is an amazon of a girl from Otugaku Middle School. She makes some comment -- inaudible from the stands -- and Umi's face twists with anger.

"Begin!" yells their referee, and then they spring at one another... 


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

Even with her recent trials and travails, there was no way Fuu Hououji was going to miss this competition - and even with her loyalty and support for Infinity's team, there was no way she wasn't going to cheer for Umi. This does lead to a rather discernible quiet, should Umi be paired off against an Infinity student, but otherwise, Fuu might as well be wearing an Ohtori uniform and cheering alongside Umi's classmates.

Still, Fuu's show of good cheer seems thin to those who watch her closely enough. She's managing to smile now and again, but her heart isn't *quite* showing in her support for the blue-haired Ohtori middle-schooler. She's in good enough shape despite a bad tumble at the track meet, and doesn't seem to be nursing any injuries - but ... there's still something. Or perhaps, it's not that something extra is there - but that something which should normally be there is missing.

"You can handle her, Umi-san! Don't lose your focus!" Fuu winces a little as her cheer takes just a bit longer than it took for the match to start after that scowl crossed Umi's face; it would be terribly ironic if, in encouraging Umi to focus, Fuu's cheering was what distracted her at a critical instant ... 


<Pose Tracker> Eri Shimanouchi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

An interest in fencing was only natural at Ohtori. After all it had such luminaries as Juri Arusugawa, and Miki Kaoru... and Juri Arusugawa. Especially after the demonstration she attended. She didn't exactly have time to join the club but it left an impression on her...

But as it stood, Eri is more than just a casual acquaintance to the former middle-school champion, and that's why she took time out of her busy schedule to come on down to the championship. She'd even made a sign, which was kind of pathetic in size compared to the others, but she'd spent some extra time drawing on the yellow poppies that lined every border.

Poppies weren't exactly a strange choice given the fields of them at Ohtori, and given that they meant 'success' in flower language... 'Do your best, Miki!' might at least show him some support.

Behind within the hand that held the sign though there was something, a glint, a steady pulse of light. And the girl holding it mulled over it, "Kyouko-chan is certainly taking good care of this place." Before that glint vanished as if it had never been there to begin with.

Eri turned her gaze back upon Miki who seemed to be doing well enough that he had it on lock, which meant that her gaze started to wander to another match. Towards...

Her classmate.

She didn't know Umi well, hadn't ever seen her fence before, but she knew she was someone to be admired. Her green eyes took her in as she soaked water into her braid... her opponent looks like she's got strength and skill to match, she watches that girl's lips move. Umi's expression twists with anger and... as it begins she whispers, "Destroy her, Ryuuzaki-san."

Even though she held that sign, her eyes weren't returning to Miki's match any time soon. 


<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

Nori Ankou has come out as well as part of the Ohtori fencing team. She has not done very remarkably, having scored a win while fresh and a loss when slightly less fresh. At the moment she has no match in session, and is, thus, seated with other members of the team, the padding off and a bottle of water in one hand, occasionally sipped from.

She looks a little pancaked, honestly, though some of this is her hair being inexpertly tied up for efficiency rather than appearance, today. Nori doesn't cheer, herself, though she does sit further upright when she sees Umi's face tighten up. She also frowns. That part's easier, at least. 


<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Shidou [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

"Is that really Umi-san?" Hikaru thinks to herself out loud. "I can't believe it!" She says to herself. Then she turns to Fuu-chan and smiles. "She'll do fine, I'm sure of it!" Despite that smile though, there's still concern for Fuu within Hikaru's mind. After what she's been through along with her friend, Hikaru feels very worried about Fuu. But she tries not to let that show for the time being.

Instead, Hikaru puts on a smile and cheers for Umi as best as she can. "You can do it Umi! We know you can!" She cheers. 


<Pose Tracker> Jad Werke [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

Really, it was something to do.

Jad certainly enjoyed competition, but fencing had never really been his thing. Martial arts was much more interesting, at least in his opinion, and the highly formalized lines, advances, and riposte of fencing looked more like a highly formalized dance than a solid foundation for fighting. Of course, his actual experience with fencing was basically zero, and thus his opinions were kept to himself, and instead he watches the matches from the crowd.

His device had been quiet of late, but that wasn't unusual - Schwartz tended to have a good bit of downtime while he worked on repairing some of the damage to his frame, which meant that he could have stretches of several days to a week where he wouldn't really hear any quips from his loyal device. It did make things a little lonely, however.

Not being a club member himself, there's not a lot he can do, although several times he's run off and come back with a fresh batch of towels or water. Trying to help out when the middle school team is a bit short handed. 


<Pose Tracker> Honoka Yukishiro [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

<SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7Jy4MBgO2A

Umi's expression shifts to grimly determined as the encouragement of her teammates and friends drifts into her ears. Fiercely, back and forth down the strip, she and her opponent trade strikes and parries.

And then the lights go out. There are predictable -- and reasonable -- screams, but through the auditory chaos comes a voice as piercing and cold as the high wind in a blizzard.

"Power of the winter storm, be born under the dark star's shine! ICY... TOMB!"

With that incantation, magic erupts within the arena. The temperature plunges twenty degrees. And as the backup generators flicker on, restoring light to the stadium, that light reflects off of the shining panes of a magnificently huge crystal of ice that has formed right on top of the entire competitive area. It's massively tall, several stories at least, and all those kids are trapped inside of it.

Alcyone, purple-clad sorceress, smirks, pleased at the evil she has wrought. Indeed, her pleasure bursts forth in a magnificently awful bit of laughter. She looks straight down at the crowd, malice making her beautiful face ugly, and hisses... "Run."

In general, said crowd takes her advice. With all haste.


COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro transforms into Alcyone!


COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has fully healed herself. She is now ready to take on 5 opponents! 


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

".... !!"

In the seconds that Alcyone's incantation took, Fuu felt the blood draining from her face, if not from the rest of her body; when the lights come back up, the archer from Infinity has gone stark white, her gaze already resting on the figure whom she knew would be there.

Alcyone.

Cephiran mage, specialist in ice magic, although surely versed in other magics as well - she was Guru Clef's student, after all - and one of the most dangerous foes to pursue the Magic Knights. She's attacked those close to Fuu before, friends and family and neighbors ...And this time, Fuu knows with a certainty as cold as Alcyone's magic that there is nothing she can do to fight her.

Next to that realization, the frequency with which the forces of evil have been singling out sporting events and other cheerful gatherings is little more than a dull echo of a familiar thought. All the aches and soreness that Phantom's sucker-punch left Fuu with seem to come back at once, never mind that they *shouldn't* - it's just a memory, and Fuu knows it, but the pain is all too easy to remember as she turns to flee. "Hikaru-san, be careful! That's a bigger spell than we've ever seen her cast before!!" 


<Pose Tracker> Jad Werke [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

The light going off is enough to make Jad raise an eyebrow - there's enough people here that any sort of panic could be a bad thing. People running out of here in a stampede could get people hurt.

But when someone starts speaking, incanting a spell, Jad leaps to his feet, and glances down. "Wake up Schwartz, looks like we've got trouble."

There is a grumble, a harrumph, and then the battered cross under his shirt flashes from the blue gem in the center. <I say - this is most improper. I was conducting some important work and->

The device stops, taking in the situation.

<Right, transform it is!>

There is a flash of light as a blue duster with a wave pattern wrapping across the bottom appears around Jad's shoulders, followed immediately by a pair of gauntlets and greeves on his hands and feet. A surge of water carries him across the room, and he generates several bursts of water which knock the doors to the auditorium open. He raises one hand to his mouth, and it is Schwartzritter's voice that rings out.

<Move to the exits in a quick and orderly manner! Hop to! Chop chop! No time to dawdle but keep an eye on the people ahead and behind of you and make sure no one gets hurt!>

Jad drops down, helping a few students to their feet and getting them out the door until most people have poured out of the room. And as the last students leave, Jad - without looking - points one armored finger back at Alcyone. "Definitely not cool, despite your little ice display!" he calls out. "If you wanted attention, there's better ways to get it!"


COMBAT: Jad Werke transforms into Barrier Jacket!


COMBAT: Jad Werke has used Doin' My Job on Jad Werke.
COMBAT: Jad Werke has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Jad Werke accepts Jad Werke's Doin' My Job, taking 0 Fatigue damage! 


<Pose Tracker> Eri Shimanouchi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

The back and forth exchange captured her focus as inwardly she roots for Umi but... the lights go out. The incantation causes her to reflexively take cover behind her seats, causing the sign to flutter away and once the generators flicker back on... she dares to take a glance.

The entire arena, frozen, with light dancing upon the crystals of light in a prismatic way is both magical, and horrifying. And yet she was calm in response to that sight. Eri slowly removes her glasses, folds them, and stuffs them into her purse. The glint returns to her hands, bright and verdure and magical in a way that brings a striking contrast between her and the Sorceress.

Bowing fractionally, she then tosses it up as she straightens, as it bursts into autumn leaves hues of red and yellow and brown, it changes her clothing one article at a time until a thorny length of vine snaps out of her hand and cracks onto the floor. The crowd may run, but she doesn't. Instead- "No. I think I'll stay."

Leaping from her place amidst the fleeing audience, she twists at the hip mid-air to add force to what comes next. With a flick of her wrist, the coiled loops snap outwards and straighten into a lash that's meant to strike a quick blow that's more stinging and numbing than anything, meant to knock the fight right out of her.

Given the threat someone who can /do/ something like that poses she wants to take take control of the pace of the battle early, before she unleashes a bigger spell. And maybe just maybe disrupt the concentration of what's holding that Icy Tomb together.

Landing a touch closer, she gives her a sharp look "Don't you know how rude it is to interrupt a competition like that? But hey, if you want a match, I'm happy to oblige."


COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi transforms into Puella Magi Eri!


COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi has used Natural Backlash on Honoka Yukishiro.
COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro narrowly braces Eri Shimanouchi's Natural Backlash, taking 5 Fatigue damage! Eri Shimanouchi is Psyched! Honoka Yukishiro's Block ability activates! Honoka Yukishiro's Parry ability activates! Cripple and Stun applied to Honoka Yukishiro! 


<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

"Oh no!" says Nori's gym bag, resting on an adjacent seat, as the lights go out.

INTERNAL VIEW: Batiste is reclining on a cushion with a bag of dried shrimps and the Brazen Pharos set next to him. He had been viewing events through an opaque and breathable mesh. (Nori's street clothes were in a separate compartment.)

This moment of relative levity does not last. The air chills, and ice forms. The group is encouraged to run, and Nori Ankou, surely enough, joins the exodus... taking that bag with her.

But she does not stay with the flow - diverging in fact into one of the restrooms of the place, now getting quite vacated - and when a cursory glance reveals that they have in fact found solitude, Nori Ankou stashes the bag in a high nook and draws out her lantern.

And soon enough, that bright-litten stadium has a vast shadow cast down upon it; febrile and not quite natural, though not unnatural either. A shadow that takes up a full quarter of the floor of the stadium for a moment before it turns towards Alcyone, a shadow that gleams strangely off that icy prison. A shadow cast --

From the mezzanine deck! With a single foot on the railing, la Sirene leans forwards, hands on her knee as she calls down, her voice penetrant as she does, "Winter isn't here yet. You shouldn't speed things along..." Despite this her eyes turn down to the tiny figures entombed in the ice -- will they be fine? She can hope, at least.


COMBAT: Nori Ankou transforms into La Sirene du Nord!


COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has used Brockenspectre on Honoka Yukishiro.
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro narrowly dodges La Sirene du Nord's Brockenspectre, taking 7 Fatigue damage! La Sirene du Nord is Psyched! Honoka Yukishiro's Fade ability activates! Honoka Yukishiro's Flash ability activates! Diversion applied to Honoka Yukishiro! 


<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Shidou [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Hikaru was finally starting to relax and enjoy herself when Alcyone made her appearance, and almost immediately, Hikaru's expression turned to one of terror and disbelief. She gritted her teeth, although it was more out of shock than the coldness that had just arrived. And then Fuu-chan was starting to flee, and almost immediately, the flashback occurred, of when she was taken out by that Phantom, how she'd been patched up along with Fuu, and how things were only getting worse from that point on. Tears begin to well up in Hikaru's eyes, but she shakes her head from side to side.

"Go, Fuu-chan! I'll be all right!" She runs out of the area and into a nearby restroom, where she draws out her glove-jewel and slips it on quickly while reciting the incanation of her own.

"Belief becomes power ... Flames guide me!"

After that, there's a light visible under the door of the restroom, before Hikaru comes out in her armor and no longer a school girl, but the Magic Knight of Fire. "I can do this, I will do this!" She says, believing that, even if she is without her allies, she can still help.

When she rushes back into the area, there's no stopping her! She leaps from the spectating area and into the competition area. "You made a fatal mistake freezing everyone else!" The Fire Knight yells as she conjures up a magical arrow-shaped projectile made of fire. "I'm going to melt you good! Fire Arrow!" She then shoots the fiery projectile at Alcyone.


COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou transforms into Magic Knight of Fire!


COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou has fully healed herself.
COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou has used Fire Arrow on Honoka Yukishiro.
COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro fails to brace Hikaru Shidou's Fire Arrow, taking 32 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has fully healed herself.
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has used Brockenspectre on Honoka Yukishiro.
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro fails to dodge La Sirene du Nord's Brockenspectre, taking 10 Fatigue damage! La Sirene du Nord is Psyched! 


<Pose Tracker> Honoka Yukishiro [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

Alcyone smiles savagely at Jad, before wiggling the fingers of her right hand at him. Tiny ice shards burst off of her fingernails, a machine gun barrage of piercing claws. "Oh my. My boy, I'm not here for /attention/."

Eri might be concerned by the fact that the sorceress makes no real effort to dodge the whip. Her lips twist in a soft snarl, but it didn't leave much of a mark. Her left hand's grip tightens around some sort of... crystal? Her right, meanwhile, continues its skating dance through the air, sending more of those shards the Puella Magi's way.

She wafts lightly to one side of La Sirene's shadow... which sends her squarely into the path of Hikaru's Fire Arrow. "/You/," she hisses, hatred making her eyes burn almost as brilliantly as the icy shield she conjured does. Hikaru does, indeed, melt it good, and then singe the tips of the magus' hair as the flaming projectile roars through. She responds with a blast of raw storm, wind and snow and ice emanating from her palm. "Good, I'm glad you're here," she chortles, though the tension underlying her levity is strong. "Where's the other one? ...Ah."

Seeing Fuu's departure, she conjures up a larger ice spike with a twirl of her fingers. "I guess there's no honor among knights," she yells. "How lovely to see that you won't lift a finger to save your friend!"

For what it's worth, Umi seems to be trying to save herself. It's difficult to see the specifics, but there are multiple explosions of light from underneath the two stories worth of ice on the arena floor (where Hikaru, and anyone else who's charging Alcyone, is now clambering up the domelike ice crystal). At least one and probably multiple magical girls are transforming down there and trying to blast, slice, or otherwise find their way out -- or to other civilians down there, who are helplessly entombed.

It will be a difficult task. The ice is painfully cold to the touch, raising burns on the exposed skin of anyone who moves. (The civilians, stuck as they are, appear to be safe within this parameter of the spell.) And there's just so much of it, and it's unnaturally tough. It sparkles like diamond, and largely behaves like it as well.

From above, there's more to see; one spark of light under the ice appears to be not so much an explosion as a sustained ignition. This deep purple magic is on the move, very, very slowly tracing along the crystal's perimeter.


COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has used Icy Claws on Jad Werke.


COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has used Icy Claws on Eri Shimanouchi.
COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has used Ice To Meet You on La Sirene du Nord.
COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has used Polar Vortex on Hikaru Shidou.
COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has used The Icewoman Cometh on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Jad Werke narrowly braces Honoka Yukishiro's Icy Claws, taking 4 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Jad Werke's Block ability activates! Jad Werke's Parry ability activates!
COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi perfectly dodges Honoka Yukishiro's Icy Claws, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Dodge! Eri Shimanouchi's Fade ability activates! Eri Shimanouchi's Flash ability activates!
COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou narrowly braces Honoka Yukishiro's Polar Vortex, taking 22 Fatigue damage! Hikaru Shidou's Block ability activates! Hikaru Shidou's Parry ability activates! Trap applied to Hikaru Shidou! 


<Pose Tracker> Jad Werke [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

"Then I can't say I really approve of how you spend your time, lady!" He has no idea who this is - something he needs to rectify, at some point. Really the number of possible enemies that can pop up is a little mind boggling. Jad turns his gaze to the huge crystal. But only for a moment, because as much as he might like it if she were going to ignore him... well, that's just not happening now, is it?

Alcyone unleashes her storm of ice shards - nothing large, but enough to be a concern if he were to take it head on. As the shards of ice crash down at Jad, he crosses his arms. The heavy shards slam into the armor of his gauntlets, and while a few manage to slam into the softer parts of his barrier jacket, the mage seems less than rattled by the attack.

"Schwartz, let's turn up the temperature in here a bit!" Jad calls out. His device flashes in acknowledgement, and two spheres of water appear floating above Jad's shoulders. Thrusting his hands forward, Jad touches his twists together, his hands held flat out in opposite directions. He slowly spreads them apart, each hand in front of one of the water orbs, and as he rotates them around in a wide circle in front of him the spheres of flowing water separate into a number of smaller orbs.

Generating water is often seen as something cold and chilling - something that saps the will from your foes or freezes them solid. Jad has always seen the potential for that application, but cold never really suited his temperament. Instead he leaps into the air, and channels heat into his attack. Each sphere of water bubbles and roils, providing a small space of warmth around him as he lands on the ice shell. It doesn't keep his toes from feeling numb, even through the protection of his greaves and barrier jacket, but it keeps his teeth from chattering embarrassingly at least. He raises both hands, and grins for a moment. "Never really liked the cold, and I don't think anyone here deserves to be in a meat locker!" he states, and then brings both hands down. "LET'S HEAT THIS UP! TSUNAMI BARRAGE!"

And the cascade of spheres begin crashing down into the ice dome, bursts of steam erupting out as he attempts to melt his way into the giant mass of ice. It's a battle of raw power - if he can overcome the freezing temperatures of Alcyone's spell and allow some of the people trapped inside to escape. Or if she is producing so much cold that his efforts are just making it worse!

"...tch..."

He can already tell this will be a somewhat protracted process, and he doesn't like whatever those lights are inside of this thing...


COMBAT: Jad Werke has used Tsunami Barrage on Honoka Yukishiro.


COMBAT: Jad Werke has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro narrowly braces Jad Werke's Tsunami Barrage, taking 3 Fatigue damage! Jad Werke is Psyched! Honoka Yukishiro's Block ability activates! Honoka Yukishiro's Parry ability activates!
COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou covers Fuu Hououji for Honoka Yukishiro's attack, The Icewoman Cometh, taking it upon themselves instead!
COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou fails to brace Honoka Yukishiro's The Icewoman Cometh, taking 28 Fatigue damage! Hikaru Shidou is Quipped! 


<Pose Tracker> La Sirene du Nord [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

La Sirene's eyes narrow as Hikaru draws attention away from her. Well, that's a positive to some extent, though there is a minor twinge from her already gently bruised ego. Only a minor one, though. Batiste leaps up along the back of her coat, onto her shoulder. "Oh!" he exclaims. "It's so cold..."

"The ice of the north isn't anything to me," La Sirene says, before she vaults from her high perch -- and towards the arena's new icy 'floor,' not so far from where she had been standing, landing and skidding forwards!

She immediately regrets this decision, although the biting cold can only affect her face and the one revealed hand which is clasping the strange brass of the Pharos's handle. (That seems, la Sirene thinks, to make it better. Or is that really the case?) La Sirene also is trying her level best to run uphill on slick ice-- though she is able to punctuate things with the upraised Pharos, more streaks of that refulgent darkness arcing outwards towards the central point of Alcyone.

Her eyes turn downwards-- and -- is that Arisugawa-sempai right beneath her, beneath all of the ice!?


COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord narrowly braces Honoka Yukishiro's Ice To Meet You, taking 0 Fatigue damage! La Sirene du Nord's Block ability activates! La Sirene du Nord's Parry ability activates! La Sirene du Nord is Taunted!


COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has used Pieces of the Perfect Black on Honoka Yukishiro.
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has finished attacking. 


<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Shidou [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

The coldness hits the Fire Knight hard, which seems almost inevitable since the cold of ice would freeze the flames. Still, she braces herself and plants her feet firmly in the ground, not letting anything move her that easily. "Can't give up now. They're depending on me!" As the Fire Knight begins to recover from her attack, the sting of the ice causes her to wince a little, and then something crosses her mind. "Fuu-chan!" She thinks to herself, realizing her friend is literally a sitting duck. "I can't leave her now!" The Fire Knight thinks aloud as she looks for her friend.

Upon sighting Fuu-chan, the Fire Knight rushes in quickly, getting in front of her ally in an instant and preparing herself for another freezing onslaught. "Get out of here, Fuu-chan! Hurry!" But before she can say anything else, another blast of cold weather hits her... and this one hits even harder. Yet, the Fire Knight remains undaunted.

"You're not defeating me that easily!" The Fire Knight yells, bringing out her sword as she attempts to go after Alcyone again, only this time getting more up close and personal as she goes in. "I'm going to make you pay!" She says, swinging her sword fiercely at the enemy.


COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro fails to dodge La Sirene du Nord's Pieces of the Perfect Black, taking 22 Fatigue damage! Blind applied to Honoka Yukishiro!


COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou has used Sword Slash on Honoka Yukishiro.
COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro perfectly braces Hikaru Shidou's Sword Slash, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Brace! Honoka Yukishiro's Block ability activates! Honoka Yukishiro's Parry ability activates! 


<Pose Tracker> Eri Shimanouchi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

Ice shards come at her. Ice shards are sent her way, and Eri bobs to the side, before ducking into a roll that brings her up instantly to her feet. Ice shards skate and skirt over her shoulder and snap across her skirt and leave little trails of rime but without any serious injury. In a way it felt similar to dodging silvery bolts...

A gloved hand brushes off the little flecks of ice, as she gives her a steely eyed gaze. "Oh I'm not worried about the people in there. It'll be uncomfortable for them but they'll live."

After all she knew Miki had magic all of his own and... given the bright flashes so did many others. And the ones that weren't magical well... "Because I'm going to wager the spell ends once you we defeat you."

This time, instead of a single snap, it's a storm of them, a flickering blur her thorned whip across the gap repeatedly. If she manages to wrap it around Alcyone. A limb or her torso perhaps she tries to dig her heels in and leverage it to tug her off her feet and tries to drive her across the stadium floor and into the side of the arena.

However if she can't manage she just continues a savage flurry of lashes that she doesn't intend to let up any time soon...


COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi has used Moidon's Grasp on Honoka Yukishiro.


COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro narrowly dodges Eri Shimanouchi's Moidon's Grasp, taking 12 Fatigue damage! Honoka Yukishiro's Fade ability activates! Honoka Yukishiro's Flash ability activates! Tangle applied to Honoka Yukishiro! 


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

In spite of Alcyone's taunting, Fuu keeps heading for the exit as quickly as she can go - she knows that if she stays and tries to fight, odds are that she'll just wind up another casualty, whether she winds up as one more patient in a nearby emergency room, or a corpse waiting to be identified by tearful parents and sister. But that doesn't make it an easy decision, because Fuu still knows that behind her are people who must be defended - people who should be defended against the depredations of evil. Creatures that know only hunger, steered by those who can direct their instincts, or beings whose malice is backed and buttressed by intelligence, who know that they're hurting innocents and don't care enough to stop what they're doing - whatever their nature, Fuu knows that the Magic Knight of Wind SHOULD be joining the fight against them, against Alcyone, or Phantom, or proto-daimons, or whatever may crawl out of the shadows to strike out against the daylight and those who dwell in it.

But for all that Fuu still lives and moves of her own volition, the Magic Knight of Wind might as well be dead for all the good Fuu can do. And then she nearly dies anyway - or would have been in such danger, if not for the Fire Knight making a shield of herself to block Alcyone's attack.

It's Hikaru's call that brings Fuu to a brief halt, looking over her shoulder - at her red-haired friend, dauntless and brave in her fiery spirit, and at the darkly-clad ice witch, haughty and arrogant and still too strong to beat. Hikaru's fire magic is the best weapon against Alcyone's ice, and even the Fire Knight is hard-pressed; if it weren't for their allies ...

Fuu grits her teeth and starts moving again. "Don't let yourself be beaten, Hikaru-san," she whispers under her breath ... then raises her voice and calls out, "Hikaru-san! Don't lose to her!!"


COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has fully healed herself.


COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used A Silver Lining on Hikaru Shidou.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking. 


<Pose Tracker> Honoka Yukishiro [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

Alcyone's eyes narrow as the Midchildan starts trying to melt her ice crystal. The boiling water pours off the structure, making little divots where the sphere's force of impact was greatest. However, with him coming down from above, he's pretty far away from the students, who are many dozens of feet beneath the ice; it's easier to get at them from the side. The closest, the competitors who were on the outermost fencing strips, are six feet or less from the crystal's edge.

Also, up there near Alcyone, she can easily send her magic into his orbs -- they start freezing in midair, and then the shards they create on impact are redirected back at the other water mage. Her eyes glitter with cruel pleasure. "You think you can fight me with /water/? I'll make you rue your arrogance." WATER MAGE FIGHT!

She's been mostly ignoring La Sirene, and while she got away with it for a little while, she pays for it hard when the next barrage of darkness comes in while she's taunting Jad. For a moment her whole head is covered in that blinding unlight, and she curses the air blue -- literally -- which finally causes it to flake off and away from her. "You'll pay," she promises, before another massive spike tears through the air towards the maiden of storms.

Hikaru's comradely defense of Fuu draws a sneer, and when the Magic Knight of Fire comes back for more, Alcyone takes the time to conjure a blade of pure ice and use it to seemingly effortlessly parry her enemy's sword. "Can you really fight me /and/ save her?" she wonders, shaking her head with the answer before lunging forward to try to skewer the girl.

She can't cast and swordfight at the same time, though, because she's been doing all this with one hand behind her back, still clutching... something. It glimmers with the same purple light gradually tracing its way around the arena floor -- it's about a third of the way along now. And it seems she'd rather lose the sword than change that tactic, because she lets Eri entangle, then shatter, that sword. Once again she gestures with her newly free hand, allowing the shards to dance to her will, trying to torment the Puella Magi with the death of a thousand cuts. "You'll never know," she taunts.

"'Don't lose to her!!'" the sorceress repeats in a squeaky parody of Fuu's voice. "If you care so much, why aren't you joining in? Useless children should be seen and not heard." And with a final gesture, she summons an ice crystal around Fuu, trying to entomb her in a much smaller version of the massive crystal on the arena floor. There's a moment of warning, though, as first steam erupts all around the Magic Knight of Wind in an ominous cloud...


COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has used Fancy Magework on Jad Werke.


COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has used The Icewoman Cometh on La Sirene du Nord.
COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has used Mageblade on Hikaru Shidou.
COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has used Fancy Magework on Eri Shimanouchi.
COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has used Crystal Clear on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi narrowly braces Honoka Yukishiro's Fancy Magework, taking 6 Fatigue damage! Eri Shimanouchi's Block ability activates! Eri Shimanouchi's Parry ability activates!
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord narrowly counters Honoka Yukishiro's The Icewoman Cometh, taking 20 Fatigue damage! La Sirene du Nord is Quipped!
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord's counterattack, Les Mysteres, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Honoka Yukishiro!
COMBAT: Jad Werke narrowly counters Honoka Yukishiro's Fancy Magework, taking 6 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Jad Werke's counterattack, Reverse Tide, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Honoka Yukishiro!
COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou accepts Fuu Hououji's A Silver Lining, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Hikaru Shidou is Cheered!
COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou narrowly counters Honoka Yukishiro's Mageblade, taking 7 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!
COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou's counterattack, Flaming Slash, partially gets through, doing 8 Fatigue damage to Honoka Yukishiro!
COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi covers Fuu Hououji for Honoka Yukishiro's attack, Crystal Clear, taking it upon themselves instead!
COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi fails to dodge Honoka Yukishiro's Crystal Clear, taking 36 Fatigue damage! Trap applied to Eri Shimanouchi! 


<Pose Tracker> Jad Werke [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

"I'll fight you with other things besides water!" Jad states, even as a few of his orbs freeze in mid-air. He spins around, knocking one aside with a crushing backhand, splinters of ice flying off of the frozen sphere as it careens away, the blue orb slamming into another of his frozen spheres with a crunch and sending it spinning away. A third slams into his back, and Jad lets out an 'OOF!' as he staggers, sliding down the side of the dome on a torrent of hot water before he lands on the ground at the side.

Or maybe it was more of an 'ARF!' He doesn't keep track of all of the noises he makes when things are SWATTING HIM AROUND, leaving what could possibly be an impressive set of bruises along the water mage's back.

Shaking his head, with tiny bits of ice flying this way and that from his light blue hair, Jad just grins as he looks at Alcyone. "I also employ determination, grit, and HORRIBLE PUNS!"

With that, Jad hops back and employs his first tactic! Landing lightly on his feet, he holds out one hand and begins channeling magic once more. If she was going to try and freeze him out, then he'd just have to supplement his tactics. "Your plan seems pretty twisted and tangled, so I'm sure you won't mind if I try and tie up some loose ends!" Another orb of water gathers at the end of Jad's right hand, and he adds, "And... you're... um..." Pause. "Really not cool enough to beat me!"

Puns are a new weapon. Clearly he needs to practice more.

But Jad slams his hand into the ground, and in a zig-zag pattern leading towards the ice dome, a number of chains erupt from the ground. Each one lashes out, anchoring onto the side of the ice structure and pulling taunt, putting pressure onto it. And the pattern continues upwards as well, several of the chains lashing out to entangle Alcyone as well! Just to make her life a little bit harder with all the others gunning for her.

And Jad starts running *up* the bleachers, for some strange reason...


COMBAT: Jad Werke has used Tidal Bind on Honoka Yukishiro.


COMBAT: Jad Werke has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro narrowly braces Jad Werke's Tidal Bind, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Jad Werke is Psyched! Honoka Yukishiro's Block ability activates! Honoka Yukishiro's Parry ability activates! Trap applied to Honoka Yukishiro! 


<Pose Tracker> Eri Shimanouchi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

The dancing shards of a blade of ice that she shattered come at her, and Eri has to cease her offense abruptly to defense. It comes swooping in with a cut, while Eri is tugging back the whip. It's in her hand, and twisting, the sword cuts across her blouse. However, now that its in hand, she challenges that death by a thousand cuts by lashing out with her whip again and again repeatedly, becoming a blur of lengths and loops.

The air is alit in a prismatic play of light as green dances across each shard individually before breaking into even smaller shards, then motes, then nothing. The Puella Magi's breath fogs, the salt of a cold sweat on her brow hitting her nostrils. "Oh? Are you so sure about that?" But- she hears a familiar voice, and her eyes whip around at the Sorceress' rejoinder.

At first she looks unfazed, but then they widen in surprise at her observation. Eri starts running. Her pace quickens as she uses the little patches of ice on the floor that have formed from the battle to pick it up, skidding closer and closer to Fuu until... the Puella Magi's hand shoves out abruptly within the forming cloud of steam, knocking Fuu out of the way harshly, just as a pillar of ice forms around her.

She tried to avoid it but now she's sort of partially sticking out of it, a single arm, her head from the neck up, the rest of her encased within. She's trembling instantly, shivering from the abrupt chill, her expression red-cheeked and marred by anger, "Why aren't you transformed Hououji-san!?" She says at the sprawled out girl she'd just shoved out of the way

She uses her free hand to snap her whip at the icy tomb to try to slice into it and give her a little more breathing room, so her chest can rise and fall at least, but it's going to take her a while to free herself up "If you're not going to fight then /get out of here/! You're just getting in the way!"

She's still slicing, working at the tomb carefully so she won't hit herself, a piece falls out and the fingers of her opposite hand manage to stick out from the ice encasing her arm. She wiggles those fingers, then loops them around and... green motes of energy rise off them. From her position, there's a pulse which seems to reveal a network of spidery green veins beneath the arena floor.

But in truth, she'd just created them. They were her weapons to be wielded against her. With her eyes on the Sorceress, gnarled roots of black and brown burst out of the concrete in a cloud of mortar dust and ice, sharp tips trying to punch through her from several different directions. Moments later they vanish abruptly, the smell of sap lingering in the air as the only sign that they were ever there, minus any wounds.

And all the while she furiously continued slicing off pieces of the ice tomb, her eyes give Fuu an accusing glance, as if this were /her/ fault that she was in this situation.


COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi has used Jubokko's Sanguine Roots on Honoka Yukishiro.


COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro narrowly counters Eri Shimanouchi's Jubokko's Sanguine Roots, taking 14 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Honoka Yukishiro's Reverse ability activates! Honoka Yukishiro's Tactician ability activates!
COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro's counterattack, Polar Vortex, partially gets through, doing 28 Fatigue damage to Eri Shimanouchi! Critical Counterhit! Trap applied to Eri Shimanouchi! 


<Pose Tracker> La Sirene du Nord [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

"I never pay," la Sirene answers Alcyone on pure reflex. It is not the best comeback in history. Nor is her hasty effort to summon Les Mysteres -- which spell forms with perfect fluidity, but unfortunately, is accompanied by her slipping backwards far enough that la Sirene's effort to parry that incoming blast falls short and she is instead clipped, hard, in the shoulder, falling over with a "gkgh!!" and almost dropping the Pharos.

And now she's laying on the ice.

As she slides downwards, she wails in parting dismay, though her passage down towards the edge of the ice is stopped before she can ACTUALLY slide there. Rolling fully onto her back, she looks upwards even as the smell of sap and the oddly heartening outcry of horrid puns echoes outwards. Well, the promise of horrid puns, anyway.

Sucking in a breath, la Sirene levers herself upwards-- and the horrible thought occurs to her that she isn't moving that well and the next blast of horrid frigid ice could be coming towards her any moment. As such, her arisal - precarious as it is, at the edge of that dome - is accented by a gentler leak of that unlight, which clings around the edges of her and confuses casual glances as to just WHERE she is.

'In a jam.' That is where she is. "Oh," Batiste says, "I wish the other magic knight was here as well--" La Sirene is too busy trying to balance to reply, but her heart would concur quite firmly.


COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has used Vision Displace on La Sirene du Nord.


COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has finished attacking.
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord accepts La Sirene du Nord's Vision Displace, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Accelerate applied to La Sirene du Nord! 


<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Shidou [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Seeing that someone else has Fuu-chan covered gives the Fire Knight a chance to breathe a sigh of relief. Especially when her encouragement makes her smile a little more. She knows she can do this, but will she be able to fight still? Apparently so, as the Fire Knight adds some flame to her sword before going in to strike at Alcyone as she attacks.

The sword acts as a barrier against Alcyone's attack, but it doesn't do much defensively either, so it's kind of a flesh wound more than anything... albeit one that drops the Fire Knight to one knee for a moment while she catches her breath. "No, there are too many people depending on me! I can't give up!" She swings her sword again, this time attempting to strike even harder than before. "We can do this!"


COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou has used Sword Slash on Honoka Yukishiro.


COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro narrowly braces Hikaru Shidou's Sword Slash, taking 4 Fatigue damage! Hikaru Shidou is Psyched! Honoka Yukishiro's Block ability activates! Honoka Yukishiro's Parry ability activates! Stagger and Stun applied to Honoka Yukishiro! 


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

The rising mist was enough warning for Fuu to start scrambling faster out of the way - but it takes Eri's flying tackle to actually get her to safety. There's a brief yelp of pain as she collides with a railing, and then Fuu looks back at Eri. "I can't ... my magic doesn't work any more," she says, the pain in her quiet voice *not* just from getting a length of painted pipe across her ribcage (or vice versa, as the case may be). "When Phantom attacked the track meet -"

... She really can't just leave Eri like this, can she? Fuu pulls herself to her feet, looks at the nearby fixtures for a decent handhold that she can use for some leverage ... then starts trying to help kick at the ice around Eri, to help her break loose. It also gives her as convenient an excuse as any *not* to meet that accusatory gaze.

She should be able to do something, and she knows it. What she doesn't know is *why* she can't do anything, even when people need her particular set of abilities, her unique magics ... 


<Pose Tracker> Honoka Yukishiro [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

Those making inroads on the dome finally see success -- with Jad's chains applying pressure to the outside, Eri's whip is all the more successful at slicing away at the tense surface, and she manages to carve her way all the way to some helpless kid on the edge of the arena, and then another and then another, as she works her way around the outside. They have the sense to flee immediately, nursing minor wounds from the ice as they exit.

Alcyone does somewhat better contending with their actual offense, but she can't defend herself from Jad's chains -- bursting through the ones that touch her skin, then sending the full wrath of a winter storm at Eri's roots, withering them before the rest of the blast reaches the Puella Magi with considerable, chilling strength -- /and/ protect the ice crystal. At least, not with only one hand.

The purple line is now two-thirds of the way around the arena. And Jad and Eri's joint efforts have unearthed some of the floor beneath the ice; they can see that it's a pulsing line of arcane energy, with complex runes set along its length every few feet.

Her eyebrows snapping together into a furious frown, Alcyone lets Hikaru shatter another ice shield with her sword -- and this time the strength of the Magic Knight's swing sends some of the shards bursting back at her. She winces, and then, with a gesture, pulls them out. Dripping with her blood, they fly straight at Hikaru's face.

"Please. Without your team, you're nothing." Stepping around Hikaru, she sends more of that awful winter storm at Jad and Eri, trying to blast them away from the gap that they've made. She takes particular pleasure in focusing the ice on Eri, who defended Fuu.

"/I/ know why your magic isn't working," she smirks at the helpless girl. "By all the gods -- Clef must be slipping, if you don't understand even the most basic principles of your magic. That's not my problem, though, you weak little worm. And it's not going to be your problem anymore, not if you're dead!"

Along with her words, she sends hastily conjured icy daggers straight towards the Magic Knight of Wind -- daggers which curl around in midair to try to strike her in the back.


COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has used Red Ice on Hikaru Shidou.


COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has used Polar Vortex on Jad Werke.
COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has used Polar Vortex on Eri Shimanouchi.
COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has used Brrilliant Brrilliant Brrilliant on Honoka Yukishiro.
COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro accepts Honoka Yukishiro's Brrilliant Brrilliant Brrilliant, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Empower and Surge applied to Honoka Yukishiro!
COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has used Ice Daggers on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi narrowly braces Honoka Yukishiro's Polar Vortex, taking 18 Fatigue damage! Eri Shimanouchi's Block ability activates! Eri Shimanouchi's Parry ability activates! Trap applied to Eri Shimanouchi!
COMBAT: Jad Werke narrowly braces Honoka Yukishiro's Polar Vortex, taking 24 Fatigue damage! Jad Werke's Block ability activates! Jad Werke's Parry ability activates! Trap applied to Jad Werke!
COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou perfectly dodges Honoka Yukishiro's Red Ice, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Dodge!
COMBAT: Garnet transforms into Garnet's Got Gauntlets!
COMBAT: Garnet has fully healed herself.
COMBAT: Garnet covers Fuu Hououji for Honoka Yukishiro's attack, Ice Daggers, taking it upon themselves instead!
COMBAT: Garnet narrowly braces Honoka Yukishiro's Ice Daggers, taking 13 Fatigue damage! 


<Pose Tracker> Jad Werke [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

The blast of winter is enough to push Jad all the way to his destination. He snaps one arm out in front of him as the freezing wave rushes at him, and his device speaks, a triangular symbol appearing within a rotating magic circle as he raises his defenses. <BASTION PLUS!> Schwartz intones, and the worst of the blast of freezing cold slams into the magical defense.

What does get through pushes Jad back up the bleachers, his feet scrambling as he tries to keep his footing. Shards of ice form across his body, large chunks clinging to his barrier jacket and armor as he finally manages to skid to a halt. He pants for a moment, flexing his arms. Chunks of ice fall off, but the magical cold sapping at his strength isn't going to go away that quickly.

"Schwartz, full exterior charge!" Jad shouts as he finally staggers up to the top step of the bleachers. And then he drops down, hanging by one hand as he puts one hand against the back wall. His hand presses against the plaster and paint, instilling magic in the form of an expanding circle. Alcyone's power seems to be stronger than his, so he needs an intermediary - using something solid that she can't easily freeze.

This should do.

Jad grunts, and suddenly there is a SURGE of water that erupts from behind the stands, pushing them upwards into the air. The sound of metal groaning loudly fills the gym, and Jad shouts, "LOOK OUT BELOW! INCOMING! BANZAI! AND THAT SORT OF THING!"

The jet of water unleashed from the circle he had charged into the wall lifts the seats up into the air, bringing them up and over as they pivot, guided by Jad's magic... and then he unleashes a second burst of water, pushing the entire mass forward.

The mass of metal comes rumbling down, aiming at the broken section and hopefully breaking another chunk off and allowing more of the trapped students to escape! Maybe even some additional fractures that will help the others carve off more of the structure! Jad angles it so that the bleachers will slid down an unbroken section of the ice dome, hopefully giving the students some cover if Alcyone tries to be vindictive at their escape.

Maybe he'll get lucky and hit the ice witch with it as well while she's dodging around!


COMBAT: Jad Werke has used Geyser Launcher on Honoka Yukishiro.


COMBAT: Jad Werke has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro perfectly dodges Jad Werke's Geyser Launcher, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Dodge! Honoka Yukishiro's Fade ability activates! Honoka Yukishiro's Flash ability activates! 


<Pose Tracker> Eri Shimanouchi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

She can't transform? Fuu is kicking the ice and while part of her appreciates the gesture, "Didn't I t-tell you to g-g-get out of h-here-gck!" That's just as her magical roots are withered, a winter storm blasting over them onto her, adding new layers to frost and rime over her. "Y-You're useless l-like this!" And she's already aiming another blast her way.

It's not easy using a whip with her arm caught, with only the motion of her wrists and her fingers. But she tries anyhow. She flicks her fingers underneath, and then upwards into a lash that splits some of the blustery storm of wind and ice just as it's about to reach her. The shards spread every which way around her, making it tougher to even move but...

Abruptly she changes her thinking...

Within the ice itself covering just her body something green is glowing twisting throughout it like foliage growing around the edges of a craggy cliff face, making it's slow burrow until... spidery cracks start to form from it as it starts to compromise it from within.

Flexing her arm, she bursts out, just as a brightly glowing green vine shoots out of her back to snap against the Sorceress that formed it in the first place.

She takes a few choking, desperate gasps, as she falls down to her knees out of the shattered mass of ice that held her, shivering almost uncontrollably as she pats down her body with crossed arms. The vine that she'd created for that purpose vanishes abruptly in a sparkly cloud. Maybe she's using this sudden moment considering her life choices yet /again/. She considered herself a survivor but her behavior today hadn't exactly been conducive to survival.

But mostly she's just trying to stay warm.


COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi has used Whispers of the Kodama on Honoka Yukishiro.


COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro fails to brace Eri Shimanouchi's Whispers of the Kodama, taking 14 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Bind Break! All of Eri Shimanouchi's debuffs are cleared! 


<Pose Tracker> La Sirene du Nord [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

At THIS point La Sirene notices that trailing purple light, though she has no further reference for it.

Having spotted this and the loop it has made, la Sirene looks back up -- just in time to see a barrage of daggers being sent towards a particular target. She does not spot out Fuu at this distance, though the address is hard to miss. Her cheeks puff out with determination.

Her left hand comes up, index and pinky fingers raised upwards as she takes the moment to center herself. La Sirene steps forwards then, one step, then two, moving carefully, trusting perhaps for the light to hide her - for it is not something unnatural, merely something foreign. Her eyes cut momentarily towards Jad as he starts dropping down the bleachers, and she raises her right hand swiftly.

"Les Mysteres," la Sirene says as she lines it up, her perspective showing Alcyone standing (floating? she can't quite tell) between her upraised fingers.

"COME" la Sirene concludes, striking down as the magic erupts. Gathered with a moment of leisure, the silvery veves of light trail out behind her again, thickly refracted in the glacial dome beneath her. As the burst of darkness limned with silver streaks out towards Alcyone, la Sirene raises her voice, crying out, "Don't think that you can do as you please!!"

It is the best she can manage for she too is shivering, if less, no doubt, than Eri in this moment.


COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has used Les Mysteres on Honoka Yukishiro.


COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro perfectly counters La Sirene du Nord's Les Mysteres, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter! Honoka Yukishiro's Reverse ability activates! Honoka Yukishiro's Tactician ability activates!
COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro's counterattack, Polar Vortex, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to La Sirene du Nord! 


<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Shidou [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Even in her weakened state, the Fire Knight still has some adrenaline left within her. She sees the incoming attack and feels like she's got the timing down on this. And she does have it. She perfectly dodges the incoming attack, finding herself unharmed and grinning about it. "That's it! I can do this!" The Fire Knight thinks to herself. She looks at Ayclone and shakes her head. "You haven't won yet!" An evil grin forms on her face. "I'm just getting started!"

Running in quickly, the Fire Knight readies her sword and attempts to strike in a right to left motion quickly, before pulling back, in hopes of landing a hit-and-run style attack.


COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou has used Horizontal Slash on Honoka Yukishiro.


COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Honoka Yukishiro narrowly dodges Hikaru Shidou's Horizontal Slash, taking 8 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Honoka Yukishiro's Fade ability activates! Honoka Yukishiro's Flash ability activates! 


<Pose Tracker> Garnet [None] has posed.

The daggers head towards Fuu seem to connect with a crash! Their shattered moisture kicking up a small fog that lingers for a moment, leaving Fuu's fate momentarily uncertain, and from the fog steps the shadow of a figure far taller than the Magic Knight of Wind...

The silent figure walks forward, knives of ice embedded in its chest, and arms, sticking out through its maroon and black body suit, and a pair of gleaming armored gauntlets.

Garnet looks sternly at the situation, and though the ice has done some visible slashing damage she brushes them off with her mighty fists, perhaps to demoralize the foe that would dare lay a hand on her friend.

The light reflects off of a pair of peach shades that obscure her eyes, and she stands at the ready.

Standing in front of Fuu still, Garnet speaks to Hikaru.

"You heard her Hikaru. Don't lose to her."


COMBAT: Garnet has used Real Talk on Hikaru Shidou.


COMBAT: Garnet has finished attacking. 


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

Fuu glances up briefly at Alcyone claiming she knows what's wrong with her magic; that moment of distraction is roughly when Eri finally breaks free - and whatever Fuu *might* have said back to Alcyone is torn up by the roots before it can even bud, much less bloom. She's vaguely aware of the icy blades which Alcyone conjured and launched at her, but with her spirit practically hamstrung by Eri's words, the will to even protect herself is weaker than before.

The ice daggers don't even land, thanks to a certain jewel of a woman.

Fuu looks up at Garnet's arrival, inclining her head in silent thanks for the save. She'll put her gratitude into words later.

Right now, she needs to run. And she does. There really *isn't* anything she can do to help. If she had a bow and some arrows, maybe she could at least force Alcyone to spread her attention further, maybe distract her enough for one of her allies to land a telling strike ... but for now, the evacuation has largely thinned out, and there's a fairly clear stretch from Fuu to the nearest exit.

So long as Alcyone doesn't trap her, anyway. 


<Pose Tracker> Honoka Yukishiro [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

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

The fracas continues at higher and higher intensity. Alcyone is beset on all sides; too busy intercepting La Sirene's grand, silvery invocation with her own precisely applied chunk of storm to stop Eri from smacking her in the back with a magical vine; too busy ducking away from Hikaru's strike to stop Garnet from intercepting her ice knives. And much too busy to stop Jad's considerable gambit from reaching its tipping point.

The bleachers plunge towards the ice dome, and when they hit, it is with a colossal shattering sound. At first, demoralizingly, it looks like it's mostly the bleachers that shattered.

But then a crack appears in the dome, and snakes its way along, multiplying a thousandfold... and a huge portion of the dome disappears, three quarters of it really, leaving only a single wedge left, on the opposite side of where the impact occurred.

The magical girls freed do their level best to cover the other students from falling chunks of ice, and largely succeed -- it's suddenly raining students in white fencing uniforms, as they run, leap, or are flown out of the field of battle in a matter of moments.

But just when things are starting to finally look up, Alcyone's howl of rage turns into a sickening grin of triumph. "Maybe if the Magic Knight of Wind had extracted her head from her bottom and helped, you would have made it in time! Ahahahaha!"

The purple circle on the ground connects itself, and then blazes with light -- a spell's conclusion, made manifest. The sorceress cackles as she throws the crystal she was holding in her left hand into the air, and shouts: "TO CEPHIRO!"

And then, as the area explodes into a column of purple light, she soars into it -- and afterwards, everyone and everything is gone. A good dozen competitors were still trapped in that wedge...

...and it becomes quickly apparent that Umi Ryuuzaki was one of them. Indeed, as another voice rumbles through the arena, it becomes quickly apparent that that was the entire purpose of this evening's events.

"So. One of your comrades lies helpless within my dungeons, while the other is helpless against her own cowardice. You stand alone, now, Magic Knight of Fire."

The voice is a rich baritone, cultured, and dark as chocolate so bittersweet it brings tears of joy and pain to the eyes at the same time.

"Come save them... if you dare."

And then, as his immensely powerful presence fades, the mostly empty arena rushes back into place, the wounded floor and seats and tables restored in a shower of silvery sparkles -- the last vestiges of La Sirene's deflected magic working itself upon the scene, now that Alcyone does not stand to oppose her.

If only it were so easy to free the imprisoned students.

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