destinystrings | (no subject)

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[action, June 28th, with Nano Shinonome]
[Well, something bizarre was happening in town again. From the reports coming in, the modus operandi this time around was harmless pranking - nothing to cause permanent damage or anything much more severe than acute embarrassment, but something of an inconvenience, still. On this day, as he has done the last few days, Atsuro wakes up and very carefully checks his room for traps and other such nefarious plots before declaring the coast clear.

The first order of business, of course, is to check the forums he frequents for updates. Atsuro logs on and happily begins to browse the web, somehow failing to notice an extra device stuck into his USB port that wasn't there the night before... A green light flashes on this foreign wireless communications device as the computer starts up.

...Whoa. 10 new responses. It was time, as it always was, to edumacate the masses with his wealth of knowledge. Atsuro clicks the Reply button on topics titled things like 'LF: Radishes, FT: Parsnips', 'how do u get the hammar?' and 'What do the gold tools do?']

Yeah, you have to catch a arapaima in the tropical region to unlock the gold fishing rod. It just gives you an extra bite at the line before the fish escapes.

Anyone want to trade something for daikon radishes? I don't know where all of these came from, but I'm running out of inventory space. I still need to get some arugula growing...

The hammer is kind of useless if you're not going to fight the optional tanuki boss. When he tries to make you pay your loans, you can refuse and fight him for a discount instead. Hammer the weak point for massive damage - or you can use the platinum shovel to create spiked pitfalls.

[TAB to the next screen TAB to the next screen TAB to the next screen....

And across town, whoever is talking to Nano may suddenly find themselves staring at Nano's arm. Which is now cake. Awkward.]

[action, June 30th, 13th Hour]
[Wow that fiasco with Nano had been horrifying to figure out probably the worst thing was that the cake had looked pretty delicious it was hard to problem solve when you kept thinking about taking a bite out of your good friend's cake hand. It is the 13th Hour now as Atsuro decides it is time to step away from his games for a night and actually do the job he was sent here to do. There's something off about Chouchin-obake; it had been impossible to fail to notice as it had grown stronger with repeated training. While the Persona was definitely improving attack-wise, something was... off. It wasn't like Enki, with whom he had felt more and more unified the stronger it had become. Or even Gates, with whom he had shared something of a definite camaraderie by the end.

No, Chouchin-obake just grew more and more ornery and more likely to set random things on fire of its own accord. ...Maybe it was time for a switch.

Caught up in these thoughts, Atsuro is slightly unprepared when he stumbles across the giant rock sitting smack dab in the middle of the Cancer district. He is even more unprepared when it sits up and punches him in the face without so much as a grunt to announce its presence.]

Ow!

[The Spriggan unfolds itself and lumbers towards the boy, whose immediate reaction is to thrust his hands into his pockets for his COMP which he had found sitting on his end table before he'd gone out.

...

OK let's try that again. Thrusting his hands into his pockets for his COMP. Thrusting his hands.... OK, thrusting his hands and he finds... his, uh... belt? And... six tiny red balls.............. what.]

Uh...

[He prods at one. It spits out an enormous bug. The bug promptly turns around and spits fire at Atsuro.]

What's going on?!

((The first response will probably actually be threads with Nano if anyone is interested in responding to that. The fairies have hooked it up so that every time Atsuro presses TAB, Nano spits out rollcake!

Additionally it is also cool to say that the faeries also hooked it up so that everything he types personally is broadcast to the public.))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Atsuro tries another ball. A small part of him is hoping he'll grab the one he poked earlier and unsummon the bug. Another part of him is hoping he'll grab something friendly. A third part of him just wants to see what kinds of awesome monsters are inside of this thing even if it's terribly stupid.

Well here comes a jackal the size of a man and it looks slightly more intelligent than the flaming bug this is promising maybe up until the point where it glares and assumes what is definitely a fighting position.

Back to fleeing for his life, then.

First rule of evil game consoles is DO NOT FIDDLE WITH THE EVIL GAME CONSOLE so Kotoha has left it alone.

Plus, you know. Being chased.

It doesn't take Kotoha long to burst in on the bizarre four-way battle going on, and it takes her even less time to decide what to do. It is, naturally, completely reckless: she pops a wheelie on her bike and smashes into the Spriggan's face, shouting desperately.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

Kotoha will have a few moments to process what's going on. Volcarona is vibrating its wings to send a Bug Buzz whirling in Spriggan's direction, the fae creature is rearing back for another Gigantic Fist, Atsuro is ducking a thrown Aura Sphere, and Enki stands in the middle releasing a flood of water in every direction at everything in sight.

Thankfully, Kotoha is here to save the day.

...Or something.

Her efforts do not meet with great success, but the distraction is enough to send the Spriggan's punch off-kilter, and it stumbles a bit as it leaves a crater in the ground. ...Everyone's attention turns now to the girl who had just tried to smash a rock monster by bashing it with her bike.

Spriggan punches again.

On the bright side, Arthur leaves off hurling Aura Spheres to dash in and take the hit for Kotoha.

Which, you know - good, because getting punched by that thing would have damn near killed her. She'll just take a second to summon Victini and bark out some orders.

"Quiver Dance! Calm Mind!"

With that, she quickly folds up her bicycle and stows it away while desperately scrambling away from the giant angry demon, yelling a question at Atsuro while she does so.

"Why do you have my pokemon?!"

"Your wha -- "

Atsuro cuts himself off as he spots the thing that has closely followed Kotoha into the fray as well.

" -- Why is Seiten Taisei chasing you?! ...Do you have my COMP?!"

Thankfully, the fire bug and the jackal-thing had stopped attacking him, and were apparently obeying commands from the kamikaze bike girl. Atsuro takes a breath to try and calm himself down to regain some control over the situation. There was always the slight - very slight - possibility that this was a wild Seiten Taisei, but...

"Seiten Taisei - Get to its rear and help out!"

And thankfully, the monkey demon does as it is told, ruling out that unfortunate possibility. They were both aware that Spriggan wasn't exactly vulnerable to physical attacks, but they would have to do their best with what they had.

Spriggan's Gigantic Fist hones in on the creatures that have arisen to face it. The first one is headed straight for Volcarona.

There's a saying, among those trainers that aren't well-versed in the whys and wherefores of the various elemental matchups between the various types of pokemon. A simple question that neatly encapsulates why Flying types are the bane of Fighting types.

'Have you ever tried to punch a bird?'

Solar Logos isn't a Flying type, but he is a flying pokemon - when the attack impacts against him, a flap of his six wings propels him backwards, turning a massive strike into a rough shove. Kotoha shoves her folded-up bicycle into her bag and directs her Persona to cast Diarama on the moth.

"Let's do this! Bug Buzz and Psychic!"

That was an impressive display of high speed minimization. Atsuro is too busy directing Seiten Taisei to watch Kotoha folding her bike, though, and as the Pokemon begin to ready their attacks, so too does the Monkey King heft the fabled jin gu bang.

From behind, the Spriggan receives a sound bashing from a Hassohappa; it half-turns and is immediately slammed from the front by the combined efforts of Bug Buzz and Psychic. While Bug Buzz is entirely ineffective and Hassohappa strongly resisted, Psychic strikes true. The creature lets loose a bellow of pain and slams its fist against the ground, forming, of all things, a massive jolt of electricity that lances towards its enemies.

Elec Dance will strike four times as the electricity darts around the field - twice against Volcarona, once against Lucario, and once against Seiten Taisei.

Upon seeing the attack connect, Kotoha responds instantly, casting another Diarama on Solar Logos.

"Solar Logos! Switch to Fiery Dance! Arthur, keep up with Psychic!"

With that out of the way, Kotoha scrambles over to Atsuro, holding out the COMP.

"Take it!"

"Oh -- Right!"

Atsuro pulls out the belt of red and white balls from his pocket as well, thrusting it to Kotoha at the same time that he grabs his COMP. ...Honestly, he had lived with it for so long now that there was an instant rush of intense relief the moment it came back into his hands. He would have to keep a closer eye on it in the future.

"Laksmi - Keep us well healed!"

The graceful goddess appears and in a single motion of her hands, restores Seiten Taisei and Atsuro back to full health with a minimal amount of effort. Unfortunately, it seems Kotoha and her Pokemon didn't count as part of the 'team', but the fight already seemed like it had become much more manageable.

With his COMP returned to him, Atsuro steps forth with Enki returned to his side.

"Subriguous Abzulution!"

A sharp crack sounds as shards of ice fly forth from out of nowhere to spear Spriggan with great force. The Fiery Dance and the Psychic are effective as well - the giant groans once more as it retaliates with another heavy burst of lightning, this one striking every combatant on the field.

Kotoha manages to grab her Pokeballs and release one more Pokemon before the Mazionga hits - Scorpina. The massive scorpion is unaffected by the lightning, but Kotoha staggers and falls to her knees at the blast. Her breath coming in ragged gasps, she pants out one more set of orders.

"Arthur, Solar Logos...keep on...Scorpina! Ice Fang!"

The Golden Mantis charm she got back on her first night here flashes, a burst of red light passing over her body as it casts Heat Riser. Pushing herself up, Kotoha casts Diarama again, this time on herself.

The Spriggan cannot keep up with a six-pronged assault. That last Mazionga had been its last resort. As the demons and the Pokemon and the Persona continue to hammer it, its eyes close, its mossy limbs slacken, and the great creature slowly begins to topple.

It collapses into some sort of dust before striking the ground, thankfully, and the whole thing vanishes in the space of a few moments. Sitting on the ground to reward them is...

"Macca? ...Really? I guess there's not much use for it here..."

Atsuro breathes a small sigh and steps forward to pick up a few coins from the ground.

Kotoha, her legs still shaking slightly, wobbles over to Solar Logos. Absently recalling Scorpina and Arthur, she collapses against the Volcarona.

"What even happened here?"

"Ah -- "

He had failed to recognize that not everyone was as resistant to demon attacks as he was. Especially demons from his world. With Harmonizer in hand, the Mazionga didn't afflict him quite as severely as it did an unprotected human. Atsuro breaks into a half-jog towards the girl he didn't know.

"Laksmi! Help her out."

The demon responds with a wave of healing again, this time directed at Kotoha and her team of Pokemon.

"...Are you OK? I have no idea how our stuff got swapped, but that was a Spriggan from my world."

Kotoha catches her breath and hauls herself up onto Solar Logos' back.

"I'm fine...barely."

There's a slight pause as she burrows into the moth's fluff and stares down at Atsuro.

"Uh, you're that guy from the haunted castle my first night here, right?"

((Whoops, aha!))

Atsuro blinks for a moment or two.

"Ah, right! You're the -- "

He wisely doesn't finish that sentence with the adjective he was thinking of.

"It's nice to see you again. Er. ...Probably would have been nicer if it weren't like this."

He pauses once more.

"Do you think you need to go to the hospital or anything? You're not used to being hit with high level spells, huh?

Kotoha hunches down a bit, burying her face in the white fluff between Solar Logos' wings.

"...I'll go in the morning. Right now I want to collapse."

"No, uh, I think that means this is the time when you need to go to the hospital actually." Atsuro is a little bit alarmed now as he reaches down towards her to... do something. Honestly, he had no idea what to do with someone who was feeling adverse effects after a demon attack if Mediarahan didn't help. He settles with trying to feel her forehead for a fever, which he recognizes as incredibly pointless the moment the movement is made.

"...Come on. You need to see someone. I can get you there pretty quickly. ...Laksmi, give her another Mediarahan."

If Atsuro looks closely enough, he'll see that Kotoha's hands are trembling violently and her eyes are wide with fear.

Well, no. He can see that if he looks at all. She's pretty obviously in shock.

"O...K. OK." A deep breath. "...OK."

Her monsters, whatever they were, certainly seemed to be much more used to taking attacks than Kotoha was. Atsuro exhales slightly and hopes he doesn't sound too insane as he leans down and addresses the giant bug.

"Hey! Er. I know we got off on the wrong foot, but we need to get your... master somewhere for medical treatment. I'm gonna summon one of my... friends - Can the two of you together carry her carefully and follow me?"

...did it even understand human speech...

The moth lets out a keening rumble of assent that easily drowns out Kotoha's feeble protests, her voice coming out muffled and indistinct.

"...no fair, going behind my back like that..."

"I'm standing right in front of you."

He says with a rather faint grin as Laksmi and Seiten Taisei vanish from sight. In their place, he calls forth...

"Thou hast need of my assistance, Son of Man...?"

The angel hovers in place and takes in the bizarre scene with an unusually calm expression. Granted, its expression almost never changed, anyway.

"I have need of your great feathery butt, yeah. Can you keep Kotoha from falling while I lead them to the hospital?"

He was surprised he had recalled her name out of the blue, but there it came.

"As you wish."

And the Power will attempt to scoop up both girl and moth alike in its arms.

Good luck with that - the moth is the same height and only slightly lighter than the girl, not to mention that the surface of his wings are at about the same temperature as a charcoal grill.

Kotoha isn't resisting being carried, at least.

Angels can be surprisingly tough and durable, especially ones made of metal. The problem that arises is not burning or the excess weight, but simply...

"...This would be easier if done alone."

Dexterity was somewhat lacking in a creature with gauntlets for hands. Power fumbles with trying to grasp them both without crushing them.

"...Er. ...Do you mind, um. ...Mr. Bug?"

Was it even a mister

Kotoha answers the question, since the moth can't...speak, for the most part.

"His name's Solar Logos. Y'don't need to carry him, he can keep up..."

"R-Right."

The Power complies and unceremoniously attempts to dump the bug while still keeping hold of the girl. He could stand to be a little bit more gentle, honestly, though it works out in the end.

"OK. Follow me, then."