Magical Fracas, Episode 5: New friends and enemies?

[Arhra]

Ayame's Shining Gale scattered the darkness in a rush of shining wind.

The sight within the formerly darkness cloaked trees was a surprising one. There were mudmen there. A dozen, large ones. Lumpen, vaguely human forms, the two luminous circles that passed for eyes in the low domes of their heads were their only defining feature.

There were metallic creatures as well, serpentine creations made of flattened segments. There was a larger segment at the top, partially enclosing a blue globe. Two backswept modules like wings or flukes protruded from towards the back, six smaller, and whisker like rods at its front.

Two spinning circles of sickly green were on the ground, the glowing masses in the centre resolving into another two of the creatures. It was a casting array Ayame and Panko would recognise from the night of the Forced Activation Talisman. Transport magic.

The mudmen lurched into motion, the other creatures floating up in a swimming motion, beginning to draw together.

* * *

Mero gaped at Menarker as he struggled to free her, turning and racing along the edge of the barrier to keep pace with him. "You mega-retard! You're going over your head! How the heck did you even find me?"

There was a blur as something lunged at Mero from behind, the invisible attacker striking Mero with a disruptive burst of energy from contact with her rod-like weapon again.

"Weak and stupid? How remarkable!" the voice said happily. "I'll have to break you of a lot of bad habits, Kitty."

The voice sailed over Mero as it spoke, a flare of energy from appearing on the barrier as something hit it and kicked off again.

"A circle is a perfect shape, the energy in constant motion, no eddies to create a weak point. Any novice should know this." the voice said from midair, addressing Menarker as he dragged his blade along the barrier as he ran. The lightning linked object that had sprung up to activate the barrier trap had moved higher as they continued to spin around its perimeter, now a little above head height.

"You're a terrible teacher, Kitty!" she shouted, hitting Mero again.

"As for you, Worthless, you'll have to be punished."

Some distance behind Menarker, the array of another transport spell materialised.

The green blob of energy at the centre rose up into a roughly humanoid form. It looked skeletal, a blackened cage twisted about to contain burning energy within it. Batlike wings sprouted from its hunched back. They lacked any connecting membranes, just useless looking stubs. A lashing tail and a saurian skull completed a vaguely draconic appearance.

Head and shoulders taller than the mage, it lunged at him with a glowing claw.

* * *

Crimson bolts streaked at Mitsuko.

She held Bright Day out in front of her in a gesture of warding.

The pattern of her shield expanded, centred between where her two hands grabbed the spear's shaft. Magic struck and shattered.

Mitsuko gave a shout of defiance as she dropped it, the Centurions unable to press their attack as Shimizu clashed with them.

["Celestial Sphere."]

Adding her own efforts, Mitsuko split her volley, firing two pairs of her exploding orbs off at different angles. A Centurion dodged the first in a pair, but was caught by the second and crumpled, her second target clipped by the first sphere and spinning out of control.

"Something has to be in charge of all this." Mitsuko replied evenly to Shimizu.

["Aggressor Mode"] Bright Day chimed, reshaping into a naginata. Mitsuko leapt skywards with a flash of assistance from her Impulse Wings. Bright Day cleaved through the second Centurion as it recovered, the two halves exploding away from each other and crumbling apart as they fell. An Aerial Step swirled out before Mitsuko's toes and she balanced on it.

"You're right, we'll have to break through it." Mitsuko said. "I don't have anything as destructive as you two I can use, so I'll run distraction.

The next wave of Centurions was complete and Mitsuko lunged for them, dodging between their fire with little sideways bursts from her Impulse Wings.

Along with even more Centurions, something else was forming. These shapes were humanoid again but much slower to emerge.

[Overcast]

She found herself holding her hat and her skirt in conjunction as the rush of wind passed them by. She wasn't sure if the trajectory was right to give everyone a free look at her witchy lingerie but she was keen on not finding out the hard way. The wind rushed through and scattered the dark that seemed to rip away like black pudding. Underneath she caught her first glance of the awkwardness of magical creatures. Metallic snakes and humanoid mud creatures. It was all a it surreal at the time, and if they didn't start moving she might have stared at them a while. Once they did though she retreated back a bit throwing up her hands and opening the void,

"Love hurts mudboys."

And out came the the burning boys of passion, rushing in stalker style obsession toward the misshapen mudmen, in the hopes that Nicia had finally granted them somebody to love. She redirected her Furies and Michaelmas up, the little guys rushing in from above at the snakes as a bit of a test. The Furies in wait to see how the winged men turned out. She stared at the events as she tried to keep her head in order and her feet ready to run if a threat came too close. The plans were laid, all there was now was to wait and see.

[PhoenixFlame]

"Target the pillar... No, target the AGI! Target everything!"

Multiple boxes highlighted everything on Akari's AESA eyepiece, virtually obscuring any reasonable information. Crimson bolts shrouded in red boxes streaked towards Akari, whom wasn't able to see, nor evade them all. Glancing hits flickered across her sphere deflector, and cracks formed in the ward. Contact with the ancient enemies of the first Autekkans seemed to have rattled Ceres' judgement, something that despite her demenour, Akari was quickly becoming used to.

"Our shields have failed, we MUST withdraw!"

They'd have to talk about this again later... Akari blinked twice and cocked her head to the right, terminating her visor's HUD and retracting the eyepiece behind the side of her head. With a rapid pulse downwards, she touched down, immediately changing direction and skidding across the floor by her greaves with a shower of sparks. Sometimes, recent training didn't lend itself to a useful enviroment.

"What are you doing?! You've switched off your targetting systems!"

"I'm fine. You're not, just hang on..." Akari hissed under her breath, "I need a thrust burst when I signal." ... But you play with the hand you're delt.

"We have insufficient room to eva-!"

"We're not evading!"

"Pray, what then are you going to DO?!"

A pair of centurions had gone to ground with Akari, and a near one raised its hammerfist to strike at her face. The second raised its weapon to continue firing. Akari lept...

"NOW!" With a dutiful whine and a high intensity pulse of her azure wings, Akari rocketted forward and past the nearer opponent, its fist streaking just behind her and through the contrail of her motion. Sailing onwards, she kicked her legs forwards, using the maneuvering fins there to guide her barely controllable descent. With maniac eyes, she glared at the machine with its raised cannon.

CRUNCH!

Forward momentum transferred completely down the reinforcements to her legs created by the Eternity Seal's Barrier into the enemy, launching it backwards with equal force towards the wall. Akari kicked upwards, somersaulting through the air as she raised her bow, snapping onto the rapidly moving target and pulling off three arrows before landing into a roll. They nailed the being to the wall, where it twitched momentarially.

Shimizu and Mitsuko were talking, but Akari didn't have much time to pay attention. "Sorry, having some technical problems! We're gonna have to punch through the wall, aren't we?"

[PyrosNine]

Ashley chose to ride her bike. Since there was some difficulty with moving her ownership to Ikkywhatever, as the legal driving age was higher than back home, she opted to just ride her moped. It was nowhere near as hardcore or sexy as she'd hoped to always appear before others, but it got her from A to B. She was a bit miffed at the color. Her father had picked it out. Hot. Pink.

The ribbon said tracing a cell phone call was easy once you learned how to do it, and furthermore how to do it without another Intelligent device noticing. Ashley had no idea what an Intelligent device was, but was certain that if her ribbon was telling the truth that he wasn't really taking care of a sick mother, then it was well worth her time to catch him in the act. It wouldn't do to have to break up with the first boyfriend of the school year, and if she caught him, she could deal with him on her own terms, and lead to a successful negotiation.

But the ribbon said it lost track of his cellular signal after a certain point. Asheth was sure this meant it wasn't a particularly good technological ribbon, or that Ribbons were no where near as advanced as Japanese cell phones, but the Ribbon was sure there was some manner of magic preventing his signal from escaping.

The Ribbon would have also preferred to not be just called "Ribbon."

Ashley wasn't sure she liked the fact that, with the ribbon tied around her hair, it seemed to interject on her personal thoughts. Because of that, if she was ever forced to give it a name, she'd call it Ribby.

In Japanese, that name would essentially be "Libby."

That's a terrible name. Libby.

It's just as generic as "Ashley."

Not over here. She could count the number of Ashley's she knew now with one hand.

Libby was then, just as unique.

"But it's still just a terrible name!" Ashley griped, as she waited for a red light to turn green. It would take her roughly 10 minutes to get to wherever Kazunori had just been, but there was no guarantee he'd be close to that area when she got there.

She hoped there wouldn't be another girl.

The light turned green, and she scooted off.

[Teal Mage]

Mudmen!? Ayame's eyes widened in surprise, as she flinched back a step, still floating above the ground. Does that-then one in the school- Grimacing, she shook her head vigorously, Not the time! She concluded, thinking only to herself.

The mudmen were closing. They were moving quickly for such misshapen lumps.

Red light flowed out of her hand, taking the form of her Scared Bow. She dropped from the air, in time to avoid a short, poorly aimed, volley of mud balls. Not many were pausing to fire, but at their distance, Ayame doubted they would be able to hit her.

Still, the shrine maiden raised her bow and took aim. Two of the mudmen were near enough to one another that she'd be able to hit catch them both in one attack. A red arrow of light formed as she drew back the string, no need to stand still.

"Lotus Flash."

Her arrow flew, the pressure of the release stirring her hair and costume. A red trail of sparks followed the spell's flight, as it sped toward one of the mudmen's center.

It would explode on impact.

[Naqel]

As he wondered around the park, the calling sensation he had was suppressed by a wave of new ones. It felt like entering a battlefield, which he recognized as crossing the border of a Phantom Zone.

"Great... Nothing makes identifying and joining sides like a battle..." Before he finished his grumping a thought of hope appeared.
"What if they're just fighting some monsters?" He thought.
"'just' 'monsters'... How did I got involved... And why am I talking to myself... Yoshida are right, I am going nuts."

Using the fact that he didn't have to walk once inside the zone, he flew high enough to catch the flashes of magic being used, and headed that general direction...

Just in time to witness the results of the first few strikes against what appeared to be the enemies.

[OOC: Hopefully everything is fine with my post this time. With this I should get more active after the next post from Arhra.]

[Astral Harmony]

"Looks like they're moving to the next level in these automatons," Shimizu groaned, looking directly at the first defensive structure.
"Automata, paya." Ponpon said. "Automata is the plural of automaton."
"Whatever! Here I go!"

Shimizu waited for a lull in the attacks when Mitsuko met them in combat, then rushed the first structure. As she came within just seconds, she reared her right arm back and-

"Meteor Impact!"

-slammed the head of Ponpon up against the structure. The structure glowed rapidly before exploding into pieces. The force applied was so destructive that Shimizu was slammed down on her back and the whole factory shook from the resulting shockwave. Shimizu rose quickly, shook off the pain, and took cover again.
"How's your back doing, paya? That sounded quite painful, paya."
"I can't tell which is more painful, my back or my hand," Shimizu said through breaths. "But there's little for concern on either account. We've gotta shut down this factory before the automatons swarm us under."
"Automata, paya."
"Whatever, already!"

[Menarker]

"I'll have to break you of a lot of bad habits, Kitty."

The voice sailed over Mero, a flare of energy from appearing on the barrier as something struck it and kicked away. The familiar spun toward it, magical energy raging over her claws. She slashed at the flare’s source.

"Vorpal Claw!"

A vicious wave of cutting energy swept toward the barrier, and hopefully, the invisible enemy.

"A circle is a perfect shape, the energy in constant motion, no eddies to create a weak point. Any novice should know this." the voice, from midair, addressed Menarker as he dragged his blade along the barrier.

"You're a terrible teacher, Kitty!"

Guilt assailed the familiar, distracting her. Right before the invisible mage struck her hard, slamming her against the ground. Instincts flaring, she sprang back to her feet, darting off quickly. She needed to stay mobile and keep her back protected against the barrier.

Menarker took to the air, rising up to the top of the barrier in a surge of motion. With a deep breath, the youth struck at it in a flurry of blows. It didn’t seem to be breaking.

"As for you, Worthless, you'll have to be punished."

Some distance behind Menarker, the array of another transport spell materialized, and from is, a blackened skeletal draconian rose. It didn’t look happy.

"Shit." Mena breathed.

It lunged.

Menarker threw himself to the ground, narrowly avoiding its eerily glowing claw, and sliding between its huge legs. The creature reacted quickly, given its size, and began to stomp at the ground randomly and with excessive force that shook the ground. It was trying to trap the mage, and crush him beneath its skeletal limbs. Rolling to his feet, Mena dodged hazardously away from the creature’s steps.

I don't have time to fight! Mern thought desperately. But…

He dashed toward the tail, narrowly avoiding the stomping feet in a bid for escape.

But the creature had expected that. Even as Menarker escaped from beneath its legs, its flexible tail lashed out.

Crap! He threw up a barrier of magic around himself.

The tail’s strike shattered the defense spell, sending the mage flying with force that made him stumble backwards despite landing on his feet.

He righted himself quickly. "It doesn’t seem stupid, but…" Menarker thought, watching the creature turn toward him, "It just strikes randomly when it can’t follow me." An idea struck him, and he smiled inwardly for a moment. Then, he charged the monster.

The creature lashed out with a vicious and glowing, one-two punch. Menarker jumped the fists, which slammed into the ground where he’d been moments ago, and darted between its legs again.

"Your bony ass is mine!" Mena thought with payback in his head. He raised his arm.

"Savage Wind!"

Multiple blades of air swirled up around his upraised arm, forming into a clawed gauntlet of air. He leapt up as the foe lifted his foot in attack, and tore into the base of the skeletal draconian’s tail. Holding tightly, he jerked it downward with him as he doved back down, wrenching it painfully off balance. It stumbled back toward the barrier.

Damage inflicted, Menarker bolted toward the barrier, even as it regained its footing.

The monster lashed out with its tail.

And that tail struck the barrier, sending shivers throughout it. It didn’t even realize what it had done until after the second strike.

By then of course, it was too late.

"Cackling Roar!"

Currents of electricity surging over his gauntlet of air, Menarker slammed his fist into the weakened field. The barrier began to warp, and then distort.

"Out! Now!" He shouted.

Mero rushed toward him, claw extended to their fullest. She lunged; magical energy dancing over her claws, putting all her weight into shattering the barrier, and darting out some distance from the recovering skeletal tyrant with Mern.

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Teal took the time to do some style editing. A few tweaks and it looks good to me. Thanks. ^^

[DanteFalcon]

Virgil was in a tree, watching the majority of the Verda fighting the mudmen, Tsukino sitting on his shoulder and watching with them. He was using the foliage as cover but gauging their strength and the way the battle was going. They were speaking quietly to each other and using the noise of combat to cover their conversation

"Well Virgil what do you think?

"I think there currently doing just fine without my help."

"You can't just stay in the background forever kid. Especially if you intend to learn how to use this magic."

"Tsukino I don't want to get involved before I have to. I want to spend as much time with my family as possible and this isn't without it's dangers."

"Kid you need to get involved. If you try to later you may find yourself inadequate. Training is no substitute for combat."

"We'll see how there doing. If they need help I'll give it."

"Your just scared of those mudmen. At close range there deadly and at long range your weak without going all out."

"Your tactical analysis is much appreciated but unnecessary."

"Get over it kid. Your gonna face them eventually."

Virgil had no retort to that, returning to watching them and thinking, making sure to stay mostly behind the foliage so he couldn't be seen easily. They were both right. Virgil didn't want to get involved for his sister and because he'd be largely ineffective against the mudmen if his Fang Shot couldn't hurt them. He was scared and didn't want to admit it.

Tsukino could feel his fear and almost felt sorry for him but he knew he couldn't let up on the kid. If he kept trying to stay out it'd come back to haunt him later so it fell to his familiar to get him on his feet. He had trained the boy hard to make up for his lack of combat experience but he had to make sure the boy hit the ground running. He didn't have much more time to prepare.

[Arhra]

Moving to keep the factory spawned hordes busy, Mitsuko coiled her muscles and hurled herself from her Aerial Step at the nearest group. Tracing a long arc through the air, she rammed straight into a flying Centurion with her elbow, focusing her forearm mounted Impulse Wing into a cutting blade and raking it across the head and upper torso.

Her Impulse Wings flared to steady her as she continued the motion, dragging Bright Day around in a diagonal cut. The other two Centurions were moving, one to ram form the side, the other jetting back to fire.

A burning crescent flashed out from Bright Day's tip, cutting through the close on. The second fired off three shots before the expanding wave hit it too. Two went wide, the middle one a glancing hit, her Barrier Jacket flaring up in concentric pulses at the hit.

"This is madness." Mitsuko said to herself, landing with a stumble.

The first wave wasn't entirely eliminated and a second wave was coming already, the substance of the walls turning into even more behind them. The enigmatic profiles of a new unit type were still taking shape, massive swords in their hands.

Everything was out to get them.

If there no end to them? Have to keep them busy! Mitsuko thought. She touched down and assumed a braced stance, Bright Day shifting back into a spear. Aiming her device upwards at the second wave, she conjured her Celestial Sphere's sustained firing array, first sphere forming within the hollow inside the circular pattern. She launched it, second shell coalescing already. "You won't get close!" she told them defiantly.

"Meteor Impact!" Shimizu shouted, ramming Ponpon's barrel into the first blockade. The wall glowed and distorted like a squeezed balloon. The explosion tore it open, throwing Shimizu away and onto her back.

"Miyasaki!" Mitsuko shouted, glancing at the schoolgirl with alarm.

Shimizu was fine, clambering to her feet.

The ragged remains of the wall shuddered and then split open, damaged racks pulling apart at the point of damage. Further chunks of the material crumbled around the edges of the hole Shimizu had created as it jerked into motion.

Behind was four of a new type of automaton, cavities in the wall they had formed out of behind them. They were vaguely centaur-like, if centaurs were half spider. The torso was slender and pallid, looking almost like flesh. The faces were eerily human, if stylised: delicate, with almond shaped eyes and thin metallic wires for hair. The spidery portion was much more obviously artificial, with fat, armoured legs and a heavy abdomen.

They were hunched in a low crouch, legs spread and torso almost horizontal, arms held out sideways and slightly bowed, almost touching the ground. Lines of light glinted oddly in the open space around them. The abdomen was twisted up and over the thorax like a cannon, spinnerets pointed at the breach, spinning a fine, drifting cloud of glinting strands at Shimizu.

* * *

"Love hurts mudboys." Nicia proclaimed, throwing up her hands and opening the void.

Green fireballs with a goofy smile on their face flew out at the mudmen, having eyes only for the featureless, rounded profiles of the mudmen. Two Burning Desires passed too close and instantly fell for each other, the pair of green fireballs flying off randomly.

The mudmen did something unexpected. Long, rapier like claws stabbed out of their hands, edge glinting with orange light. They swiped them through the Desires, three clinging on for a while, mud bubbling at their touch but quickly getting reduced to wisps of hot gas.

"Lotus Flash." Ayame released an arrow of red magic, sparks lingering behind it as it thudded into a mudman and then exploded, catching another in the blast.

Red sparks floated down gently in the blast radius afterwards, the dark profiles of the two mudmen still intact. The one hit first was badly deteriorated. The mud was scooped off its front, the head lolling backwards, looking stunned. But inside was something composed of thin, blackened struts and hissing with orange energy, wearing the mudman like a jacket. The other had most of the muddy substance boiled off its left arm.

In both of them, the surviving parts of the madman were creeping back to cover the exposed portions again. The first one bent forwards again and two spindly appendages burst out of its back. Orange jets hissing form the trailing edge like wings of fire, it lunged into the air, jetting at Ayame.

Seven others copied it, fanning out to attack Nicia and Ayame. The remaining four loped along the ground, heading for Panko.

Nicia's little angels rained arrows down on where the snakes converged.

Three split off and docked their heads together, clinging together with the whisker-like appendages. This accomplished, they spun like a windmill, bodies trailing out like spiralling vanes.

Swirling blue energy created a force shield in front of them, the attacks of the Michaelmas pattering off it.

Behind it the ten other serpents contorted and tied themselves together into a one armed giant, about triple the height off the mages facing it but ground bound.

Their energy fluctuating from the sustained barrage, the shielding three broke up and joined the rest. One twisted its body around like it was wrapping an invisible cigar, the head section becoming a hand, the two fins straightening to act as fingers and the whiskers a thumb. The other two twisted about, becoming the upper arm and part of the shoulder.

The spindly, towering figure bellowed and like a disturbed flock of birds, more rushed into the air in the distance ahead, swarming towards the spindly giant. Perhaps twice again the number already composing it.

Clenched into a fist, it drew its hand back to punch. A vortex of blue energy wrapped around the forearm unspooled slightly, gaps opening between the tightly coiled tail as it spun up.

The creature punched, arm parting explosively from its body. The fist flew unerringly towards Nicia, the forearm spinning like a corkscrew behind it.

* * *

With Menarker and Mero dashing off, the skeletal creation halted. Its jaws gaped and a orange sphere formed, a band of runes materialising further out to focus the attack.

With a damped whomph, the energy was released, a fat orange beam slicing across Mero and Menarker's path to head them off.

The lightning linking the dark structures that had created the barrier together abruptly halted. Spinning like tops they flew after the pair in a zig-zagging line.