View source for 4320/Quest: Great Poochooze

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/07/14
|Location=The System <TS>
|Synopsis=Poochooze are low-level viruses, most people can take care of them. This one isn't. Most people can't. Find it in the Duty Space and eliminate it.
|Cast of Characters=619, 953, 982, 989, 998
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The indicated meeting point for this particular Quest is not within Britannica, but rather the System itself. In the techno-utopian digital city hub that acts as the center of the System and its Drives. The specific location indicated is ... completely innocuous, honestly. It's merely a convergence point of several of those glowing lines that run throughout the System, currently a vibrant purple color. This particular place features lines converging from five directions into a large circle-shaped design, with a thicker band running in a sixth direction towards the central tower.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Standing here, waiting patiently, is a young woman in a red and white maid-styled outfit. Her hands are folded primly, patiently, and she is not alone. There's a rather large glass jar sitting next to her, minus the lid. It's filled with blue goo, with brown dog ears sticking out the top. The face squished up against the glass suggests whatever it is, at least, is in a good mood about its confinement.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Given the color, it's clear Lexicon isn't holding the System Hub right now, though the clashes of purple and white around the spire in the distance suggest she's attending to that even now.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:989|Raquna Sheldon (989)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span> It's time to be a tourist again! Raquna's looking ready for a fight as much as she's ready to sight see, clad in her usual adventuring gear and armor along with a cap. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; It has Britannica's logo on it. She's not going to pass up a chance to add another hat to her collection! Lowering the shield at her side, the redhead raises her free hand in a light wave towards Lexicon while peering at the jar of blue... Thing. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Hi there! Are you Lexicon?" She snaps her hand to her head in a quick salute while offering her a cofident smile. "Raquna Sheldon, Midgard Library. I'm here to help with the Poochooze~"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:619|Sanae Kochiya (619)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>When in unfamiliar territory, it's quite helpful to be able to fly under your own power. At least, when the local physics cooperate. Thankfully, no matter the case, a certain wind priestess is well-prepared for navigating this kind of landscape, from her days of...watching her friends play video games, yes. So many friends. It is precisely how she imagines a world abstracted within a computer to appear, honestly! And as the third fall back, there's the GPS app on her outdated phone, keyed in information straight from the Syndicate data feed. So, yeah. She has no trouble finding the rendezvous point.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Dressed in the stain-resistant form of her normal robes, Sanae Kochiya sets down closeby. Filing her phone away for the moment within the clothing, she soon fixates on whom is likely the contact point for the board posting. She bows at the waist, at first, then begins circling around the quasi-maid, as though scanning her from every angle. Just what is that about? She repeats this process with Raquna, not certain whether she's a native to this place or not. After she's had her appraisal, she says simply: "Neat!"<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Stepping back, then, she gives a nod of her head, and beams a broad smile, "Pleased to meet you. I am the wind priestess, Sanae Kochiya. I've come to assist you in the matter of the...Poo-chooze." She assumes that's what the sample there is about, and she fidgets for a moment, as she musters her strength not to poke at the side of the jar. It's gross and gelatinous, just like she figured, which was why she opted for the stain-proof robes. Yet, it's also kind of cute despite that, like so many other lower-level, newbie-friendly creatures.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:982|Mitsu Mirage (982)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Already transformed, Mitsu's following along the group at a steady pace, keeping herself hidden from everyone today... taking buildings and rooftops as her way to get around. "Hehe, they're not gonna expect this." she mutters to herself to which Kratzenfaust dings its reply. "I knew you thought so, Kratzenfaust." with a giggle, she's back to bounding here and there and everywhere, just trying to keep herself hidden while keeping track.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Stealth wasn't her forte so those who COULD detect magic, could probably sense her as she literally bunnyhops here and there to keep up. "Maybe two by four will be there."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Ah, no," the girl raises her hands in a sort of 'whoa there' gesture, "My name is Stylono, head priestess of the Silver Cathoderal." Her hands fold once more and she bows slightly, "I serve Lady Silver Soul, the one you call Lexicon. She is presently busy and has tasked me with directing those who have accepted this quest." The bow is returned to Sanae as well, though as the priestess circles, she follows the green-haired girl's movements, "--Um..?"<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Shaking off the unease from being examined such, Stylono crouches and places her hands around the jar. It is lifted as she stands, and she upends it. The goo inside purrs in response, and she gives it a shake. When it refuses to move, the priestess shakes it more vigorously. It's only when she tucks it under one arm and starts smacking the bottom that the creature inside relents and spills out, splatting on the ground in a blue mess.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;After a few seconds, the face reconstructs on the top of the puddle and the critter reforms itself into a vaguely teardrop shape, with brown (still slime) dog ears and tail, snout, tongue, and beady black and ultimately harmless eyes. Left to its own devices, the virus bounces in place, turning to each hunter in turn.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"This," Stylono says with some exasperation, "Is a Poochooze. They're very low-order viruses, pretty harmless, honestly." She shifts the jar to more comfortably rest under her arm, "Most people around here can dispatch them. Some even keep them as pets. I brought one so you'd know what you were looking for." Her free hand reaches out, pointing down at the bubbly creature, "...It's this, but much bigger. When they get that big, they get dangerous. So it should be deleted before it can cause any real damage."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:989|Raquna Sheldon (989)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span> "Sanae and Stylono? Ah, sorry. No harm done, eh? So that's what we'll be hunting, then..." Raquna doesn't seem to notice Mitsu yet, preoccupied with looking the two women and the blue dogslime over a few times. Despite the seemingly harmless appearance of the creature, she still makes sure to keep a firm grip on her shield even while moving over to give the creature a gentle nudge. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Cute...~ Do the big ones look like a bunch of these piled together, or just... Bigger?" She gestures with her free hand, raising it upwards and making a sort of round shape at the side. "And do they have any weaknesses or attack methods we should watch out for? I got a sword and a gun, but if those won't work..." <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Raquna raps a knuckle against her shield. "I can keep you gals covered, if nothing else."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:619|Sanae Kochiya (619)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Of course, she hadn't meant anything by the close examination, either of the world or its inhabitants. It's just not every day that you get to step inside a digital world. For only a few moments, the priestess wonders if one of the friends she hasn't seen in a while, a Digimon, lived in one somewhat like this. That is, before she quickly snaps back to the current reality, with the slapping of the jar like one would a stubborn bottle of ketchup. The poochooze certainly seemed comfortable where it was at, so it's little wonder. Sanae clasps her hands as it once again takes its default shape, "I bet they make great pets, when they're this size!" Did she even hear the VIRUS part?<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;However, despite that front of hers, she knows all about normally harmless things that can become dangerous, when allowed to go unchecked. Her smile doesn't fade, but somehow her tone gets a bit more serious, as she puts forward, "By deleted, you mean kill it, right?" There's not quite the amount of hesitation in her voice that she disagrees with it, though it does seem quite a waste, when they're so cute in this particular format. "I suppose, if it could harm anyone, it would be for the best."<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Raquna is turned to again, her smile growing more warm. "So, are you a native? You look like some kind of character out of a fantasy game. Ah...no offense!" Her patron-imparted snake sense also vaguely tingles at being tracked by Mitsu through the city, to this point, but heck if she knows if that's normal for this world or not, so she doesn't raise any alarms about it. That is, besides to cast a glance vaguely backward and upward. "Well then," she exhales a puff of air, and rolls up a detached sleeve -- which promptly just falls back down, "Let's get to it!" She also lowers herself down at the sample poochooze, and very hesitantly reaches to give a pat to its head...body. "You better not grow too big, or you might be next," she warns.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:953|Kutsuuko Shiratori (953)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;So with her most recent cash cow of 'guy who mysteriously pays her in gold bars' current incommunicado, and still needing to keep up an appearance of unaffiliated mercenary income, Kutsuuko has turned to probably the thing she does best: giant monster extermination. She's never seen Reboot or The Matrix or anything like that, but being from seventy years after they were originally aired, the basic aspects and buzzwords of the computer world are all thankfully very familiar.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;So the surprise mostly just comes from seeing the Virus itself. Dressed for field ops, folded God-Arc in its canvas wrapped storage lattice carried over her back, and gears visibly ticking, Kutsuuko leans over to look down at the peppy little bouncing slime, before finally uttering: "Oh Dammit I get it now. Pooch-ooze. That's so . . . uuuugh." She straightens up with the face of someone who has just been punned on. "I hope she does." She says to Sanae. "It's not like I have a keyboard and a pair of hacker glasses on me. More importantly, I'm going to ask if we know where the thing is. I'm not even sure how you'd begin to go around tracking something in this place."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:982|Mitsu Mirage (982)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Fortunately, Mitsu's close enough to hear this. So it's a virus? And this is some sort of system... "Hmm, are you recording this, Kratzenfaust?" ~<span style="color:red">Yes, Master. Recording started as soon as we entered the location.</span>~ "Good." with this, she slips slightly closer, wanting to make sure that she could hear and see everything. Though, it looks like they might be moving soon. Mitsu uses this time... to bounce ahead of the gang.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Okay, here's our plan. Or what might be just words haphazardly put together in some sort of semblence of coherent strategy..." comes a small laugh from the device user, "We just let the virus go on its rampage and beat the crap out of everyone who tries to defeat it. It's that simple." a pause, "I didn't see short stack there either... so this will go swimmingly! Now let's hop to it." ~<span style="color:red">Understood. Wild Striker Form engaged, cartridges loaded.</span>~<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Oh Mitsu was smiling ear to ear and she's going to have some fun with this. More so, she's in the system where Silver Soul is, at least, she thinks she is. Oh well, just more destruction and broken buildings soon...<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"No offense taken, miss Raquna," Stylono nods briefly. In response to the adventurer's question, she nods a second time, "It looks the same, simply larger." To Sanae, she cants her head, but nods briefly, "That is right. It's simply our terminology conflicting with yours, I suppose. Virus extermination is, however, an important and appreciated task in the System." Her eyes close, "Poochooze aren't as dangerous to normal operations as Malvaders, to be fair. It's only when they get so large that they become a problem."<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Eyes opening again, she places the jar at her feet and then claps her hands together as she responds to Kutsuuko, "The Great Poochooze was last seen in the Duty Space, at the very deepest parts of the System. If you're unaccustomed to our world, then it may be disorienting, but I will make sure I place the exit point close to the creature's last known sighting." Her hands spread apart and a ring of digitized code spreads out around her feet.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The circle formed by the converging lines suddenly pulses white. A point appears in the center and then spreads out to the edges, forming a swirling, pixellated vortex, "...This should suffice." Hands lowering, the priestess adds, "This will act as a two-way transit into the Duty Space. You should find the virus there."<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;With its jar set down, the wandering Poochooze bounces towards it. With a particularly strong boing, it shlorps its way back into the jar and nestles down inside with a pleased noise. Apparently Sanae was right-- it's rather comfortable in there.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:989|Raquna Sheldon (989)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span> "You never know with dangerous things. They might look all cute and squishy now, but even the cute ones can be hiding all sorts of claws and poisons under that." Raquna speaks with some confidence, almost as if she's run into that sort of thing before. Turning from the Poochooze to Sanae, she laughs and shakes her head. "Not at all! I just heard there was a call for assistance, and I wanted to see what this place was like. Nothing to do with those spaceship games~" <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A wink, and then her attention is on Kutsuuko next! The redhead looks her over, then laughs again at her reaction to the punny name. "You're coming with us, too? Good to meet you. Raquna Sheldon, Midgard Library. I'll be on defense duty, so you two can feel free to stick behind me and go wild~" <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; With her second introduction out of the way, it's time to head into the vortex! Raquna snaps one more salute to Stylono, then steps into the swirling space with her shield ready!<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:619|Sanae Kochiya (619)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>There is a light laugh, more of a stifled giggle, from Sanae. It's not at the expense of this world, more of the appreciative 'how cool is this' sort. She realizes how that must have sounded, after the fact, and gives another bow of her head, apologetically, "Ah...yes, the Duty Space!" She tries to sound confident about it, but in truth she has no clue about it. The name alone probably says plenty, though. With Stylono being a good deal shorter than her, it's likewise hard to resist giving her a reassuring head pat, as well, which is probably for the best, since the hand she hesitates with is the one that just brushed with the poochooze. "Don't worry, we'll be sure to get this finished, quickly!" It's just a slime, right? A bigger one, but still your basic experience provider.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Hmm...going wild, I'll try to leave that as a last resort," she half-jokes back to Raquna. No, seriously, that could make a real mess of things. "But -- I will take you up on that offer, Miss Sheldon!" As she paces toward the portal, to Mitsu's senses seemingly unaware of her presence, she also glances toward Kutsuuko, with the same broad smile she's welcomed the others with, "Don't worry about that. Worlds like this present the information in a way it can be interpreted easily. It's kind of like the user interface, I guess?" She is speaking completely out of her area of expertise, especially for a world she's been in for maybe half an hour. Stylono is free to frown at her assumptions. "I mean...things will probably look super abstract at times, but it'll be obvious enough."<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;With that, she follows closely behind. Though something about the small one and its jar has stuck in her mind, and she wonders as they traverse to the Duty Space. "If they can squeeze into things that easily, and like doing so, we'd best be ready to look everywhere." Or be prepared to be attacked from anywhere. And, even now, she's still glancing around, every so often. Almost as though she expects someone to appear, before quickly re-focusing.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:953|Kutsuuko Shiratori (953)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I'm pretty sure any kind of animal can be dangerous once it gets big enough. That goes triple for monsters . . . or viruses, or whatever. Don't sweat it." Kutsuuko does have to look a little leerily at the portal that comes next though. As cool as it all looks, and as much as she knows that it shouldn't correspond to any physical danger in of itself (who ever heard of drowning in code?), by now, it's something of a reflex not to jump down things without paying attention; or take any blind corners like that really.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Instead she looks at Raquna. "Hey shorty." She replies very much deliberately. "I think I'll hurt my back if I try to crouch low enough to hide behind you, so I'll take my chances~" She then ditches the canvas, shrugs off the straps, and lets the heavy pneumatic lattice clatter to the ground, swinging Scarlet Symphony up over her shoulder and then down to waist level in front of her, black, amber and gold mechanical parts rapidly shifting into the God Arc's assault cannon configuration, in ways that don't suggest tracks, hinges or bolts, and sound weirdly fluid because the louder mechanical noises. "Kutsuuko Shiratori, and unironically, I'll listen to what you have to say if you know more than I do." Only properly armed does she then take the code portal.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;SPEAKING OF ABSTRACT<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The portal's exit point places the trio on a translucent blue platform within a space that is black in all directions. Ribbons of yellow code ring it, feeling solid, acting as guard rails-- but the numerical code sliding along them at high speeds suggests they serve other purposes as well. In the distant blackness, lines of code and flashes of colors-- white, purple, green, and black, as one might expect. But there are also hints of other shades-- blue flickers far less frequently, as do yellow and red. But what could those represent, amidst this digital tapestry of colors and numbers?<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The platform is fairly small, though it's connected to a large obviously-an-arena platform by a narrow causeway.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Poochooze bounce around here and there, less than a dozen of them. The little blue slimeballs are just kind of milling around aimlessly across the larger arena-like platform. What really grabs the eye is the massive pile of slime in the center. It appears to be facing the other direction, and isn't bouncing, but the fact that it has a huge brown slimey dog tail gives it away. That most definitely is Great Poochooze, ruler of its (?) kingdom. It also doesn't seem to have noticed the arrival of meddlers.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;This is no dungeon crawl, the Quest target is right there!<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Outside the portal's entrance in the System, Stylono lets out a relieved sound as the trio ventures forth to challenge the virus beyond. Satisfied, she turns towards the central tower, eyes following the flashes of purple and white light in the distance as two DCCs clash for control of the Hub. In this moment of distraction, the entrance to the Duty Space is unguarded..!<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:982|Mitsu Mirage (982)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Once everyone's pretty much through... or turned around... Mitsu will take this as her time to hop right through where she's hiding and to the Duty Space where this Great Poochooze is, after all, she's here to /help/ the Viruses and herself and soon, making herself hidden once more where she can. She doesn't want to make herself known until AFTER they've engaged. After all, it's more fun that way. And a lot more damaging.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Here, she lays low for a bit, just watching and waiting while Kratzenfaust starts to ready up something. Maybe she'll make a barrier again, but that might attract a certain woman... and that's something she does /not/ want at the moment.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Choices, choices..."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:989|Raquna Sheldon (989)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span> "'Shorty'? That's not very nice." Raquna still laughs at that, so it probably doesn't bother her too much! "Your call. Just don't start whining if it starts beating on you too hard~" She flashes the black-haired lady a grin, eyeing her God Arc before glancing over at Sanae. "Looks like we got a good mix of colors today, eh? Now..." <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; She peers at the expanse of abstract computer-y stuff in front of them, not noticing the arrival of their unknown guest as she draws her long sword. "That's a lot of Poochooze. You think they'll give us trouble if we start pounding on the big one?" As she says that, she's already starting to approach the largest slime mass in the center, her gaze slowly drifting towards the Poochooze off to the side. "Looks like they're not going too nuts yet, but... How do you gals want to do this?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:619|Sanae Kochiya (619)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Even with her extensive experience with this sort of thing, or what she would describe as such, a world of pure light and color is still relatively disorienting to someone that's from a dirt and rock Earth. Sanae doesn't quite stumble around and wobble into the guard rail slash data conduits, but her steps do seem a bit measured once she's on the other side, even hovering over the floor a couple of inches at first, if one is really observant. "So this is the Duty Space," she ponders, poking thoughtfully at her own cheek. It would probably be easy to get lost in here without a map or guide...if the objective before them weren't so obvious.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It's a bit strange, though, even to her standards of what a computer abstracted world should be like. The overall architecture of the Duty Space is about how she would expect, but why is it set up, complete with semi-obvious gathering points for the virus to gather? This is most inefficient! She ponders this further for a few moments, before her eyes practicaly glow with self-realization. "I think I read this in a sci-fi novel once! The aliens didn't invade Earth directly, they sent their spores first, to terraform the planet. The viruses must be doing the same!" Yeah, she is likely completely wrong, but now she has her purpose, given that to this point the poochoozes over there didn't really seem to be bothering or hurting anyone, even the rather large one, that seems to be -- resting?<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Responding to Raquna before continuing, she grins a bit, "Well, this seems to be a quite colorful sort of world, so it only makes sense. I feel right at home, myself." Her focus then shifts to Kutsuuko, whom makes the normally appropriate appraisal that hiding behind something smaller isn't the best. She once again steps right into her element on this topic, "Defense is more than just size, though. It's about keeping the enemy distracted and focused on you. I'll trust in Miss Sheldon's abilities, for now!" As for the poochooze, itself...themselves, she figures, "The small ones are supposed to be harmless, right? We can probably go straight for the big one, but, given what this place is -- watch for if the small ones 'buff' or 'heal' the big one. That'd be trouble." She wouldn't put it past them to absorb one another to restore damage or something.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;With the strategy set, she once again steps forward. It's just a big slime, after all. What trouble could it be? "Since you're our tank," she laughs gently again at using the term straight, "I'll follow your lead, Miss Sheldon." She is already retrieving some items from within her robes, though. A wand with a piece of trapezoidal paper on one end, and some folded card-like pieces of paper is places between the fingers of her other hand.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:953|Kutsuuko Shiratori (953)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Well, she wasn't kidding, that's for sure." Kutsuuko drily, though not disapprovingly, remarks when the virus busters are dropped practically right next to their quarry. This particular space she has less of a handle on what it symbolizes, other than indistinctly hoping that the platform over blackness indicates that the virus is currently quarantined and can't or won't run away to different parts of the system. That'd make everyone's job easier, though it'd make keeping someone alive a lot harder if they messed up badly enough that they'd need to escape. The little weenie entry platform they have isn't a great position.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;So she rolls a few kinks out of her wrist, hits the display triggers on the base of her God Arc, and cycles through an incomprehensible scroll menu before settling on something with a brief glow of the weapon's control core. "Don't even worry about those. You're trying to grab the attention of the big one, right? I wouldn't even be qualified to pick this job up if I couldn't work with a plan that simple." She then starts off from the platform immediately, expecting it to probably disappear once it is no longer in use. She jumps the edge of the walkway halfway across, so that she can avoid the point where it directly connects to the arena and start along its right edge instead, going counter-clockwise along it.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The oversized barrel assembly on her God Arc quickly spins up with a strangely tuneful whine, and then begins spitting out a barrage of pale fire that breaks up into swarms of jagged white shards of light, and sounds like never-ending sequence of shattering glass. She doesn't aim for any individual target, simply keeping the barrel pointed upward and vaguely in the crowd's direction, and the colourless energy shards swerve and dive in on the smaller poochooze to slash them to pieces automatically.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Something extra passes through the portal, which prompts Stylono's face to one of confusion. Turning around, she glances over the portal with a little 'huh?' sort of sound. Spotting nothing out of the ordinary, the priestess glances back towards the tower in the distance.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Great Poochooze remains idle in the center of the arena, tail swinging from side to side. The smaller Poochooze milling around are likewise oblivious, though a pair of the closer ones swivel towards the entrance as Kutsuuko enters the arena-like space. When Raquna approaches the bigger slime more directly, a larger number of the little ones take note, bouncing in place. The first pair bark out, "Poochoo, Poochoo!" which is echoed by the others who'd noticed.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;This resounds through the arena, drawing the attention of the other slimeballs, each one swinging around to note the trio of intruders. As their squeaky, weirdly cute voices sound out through the Duty Space, the huge mass of blue slime in the center ripples and rises up. The tail swings to one side as the slime turns around-- and it really is exactly like the little ones in appearance, just the size of an SUV. It bounces up once, and upon landing, barks out its own cry, "POOCHOO~!"<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;wow okay that one doesn't sound quite as cute as the little guys.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Great Poochooze's attention is focused on Raquna, who is closest by the time it's turned around. However it's Kutsuuko who makes the first attack with a rain of energy shots that pops the smaller Poochooze creatures like balloons. Rather than splatter hideous blue slime all over, though, they dissolve into digitized particles. As the bigger monster is struck, though, it does shed off globules of blue slime, splattering across the arena in gross blobs that serve no immediate purpose, though stick to anyone who steps in them, at least.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:989|Raquna Sheldon (989)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span> "Your place is like this? Cool! I should take a look over there sometime, then." Raquna grins at Sanae and consideres... Nah. Not here. Maybe after showing off a bit in taking down the Great Poochooze. She raises an eyebrow at the strange terminology being thrown around by the green-haired one, but she doesn't seem to mind it too much. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Kutsuuko, meanwhile, draws an impressed whistle from the redhead with that flashy barrage of hers. It certainly helps to take her mind off the issue of reinforcements, at least, although the splattering of blue goop isn't all that pleasant. "...Oh, ew. Well, let's get to work, then!" <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; With sword drawn and shield raised, Raquna charges in! She rushes in with a big stab at the massive creature (with a bit of twisting, too) while magical energy channels outward from her shield, glowing as if trying to make its bearer even harder to ignore. "Come on, big guy! I know you want some o' this!"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:619|Sanae Kochiya (619)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>She was resolute about this. Sanae absolutely wasn't going to let the fact that the small ones are disgustingly adorable get in the way of the job that must be done. These are still dangers to this world, even if low level ones. Removing them would perhaps plant the seed of faith in the local population. It's all part of Lady Kanako's master plan. But when the God Arc engages and begins laying waste to the poochoozes that, only moments earlier, were barking out heart-melting 'poochoo, poochoo' sounds, she can't help but feel just that brief moment of apprehension. Fortunately, as low level monsters, any morale quandry soon dies with them, leaving only the enormous one left. One large enough that you'd almost expect to see it giving elementary school kids rides in some world or another.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Ah...wow, it's a lot bigger than it seemed, when it was a puddle," she says, not shaken about it, but nonetheless a bit more appreciative of why it was such a problem. Especially in the miniscule chance her guesses were correct, and they can change the nature of this world to suit their needs, damaging it in the process. That's what computer viruses do, right? After her hair settles back into place from the thunderous 'POOCHOO~', she wastes no further time, nor Raquna's willing job of drawing the ire of the blob. Instinctively drawing the air around her, she moves to a hover a few inches over the arena's floor, and releases her own first volley: The cards she had held in her hand, four in total, glow with magical energy in mid-flight, transforming into what looks like origami frogs. These continue blazing forward, charged with divine power, angled to avoid her allies, but to present as much of a problem avoiding them as possible for the Grand Pooch.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The globs that splinter off the main mass, which she half-expected, nonetheless do not instantly reform into smaller poochoozes -- that would be the other half of the expectation. So, that's a relief. A flying blob of it does plop across the sleeve of Sanae's wand-holding hand, though, weighing it down for a moment as she tries to shake it loose. The grime-resistant coating Tomoyo applied is coming in handy with this, but whatever the poochooze is made of certainly isn't making it easy. "Eww, it's so squishy," she complains, even though that particular property is obvious. "It's pretty resilient, too! Keep up the good work, Miss Sheldon!"<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She does pause, though, at a misunderstanding, once she has mostly wrested it loose, "Ah? Oh, not like this, at least, not most bits of it." She'd heard stories of some really weird places in Makai, though, that might be the rival of Duty Space. "But you're welcome to visit sometime!" When a giant jello blob isn't rampaging in front of them.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:953|Kutsuuko Shiratori (953)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;'Cute' may not be much of a concept with Kutsuuko; at least when it comes to monsters. Once her God Arc is loaded and she's synchronzied with the CNS, thousands of hours of routine kick in, and not one of them has been either adorable or harmless. If that's too grim to psychoanalyze, the others can consider her utter disregard for first level XP farm charm to be based in being really mad at that terrible pun someone chose for their name. Either one accomplishes the task of mowing through the small fry and leaving Raquna and Sanae set up to do their respective things in short order.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;So around the opposite end of the platform, where the bulk of the giant blob is interposed between herself and her allies, Kutsuuko skids to a stop just short of an especially thick cerulean glob splattering her way, not wanting to test her boots on this weird digital platform freshly covered in slime. Instead she drops into a crouch, setting the barrel of her weapon across her knee and bracing the back end against the floor by extending the shield pylons.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She cycles through the same menu much quicker this time, aligning on a new setup with a digital click, and translates that into a crackling hiss, followed by a shrill booming scream from the muzzle, which erupts into a geyser of blue-white steam, and launches a chest sized projectile of the same hue at the great poochooze's back. The shot has enough recoil the kick the extremely heavy weapon back in Kutsuuko's arms, but isn't a physical one. Instead, it should detonate on the target in such a way as to destroy it through massive freezing stress. Since the ooze doesn't seem to have any organs or armour or . . . anything but ooze, really, she doubts it'll actually kill it, but the liquid appearance leads her to believe that she should be able to flash freeze its exterior and stop more slime from splitting off.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:982|Mitsu Mirage (982)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It's roughly about this point, there's a loud yell, a shotgun reloading and some very loud words being spoken. "Blue Lightning Claw!" oh, also, there's six blades of blue lightning being launched from behind the group, but hey, there's also that big Poochooze in front of them. "Yeah, no. I can't let you guys do that you know." she grinned, landing on the ground from that. The girl's large gauntlets with blue sparking claws are the most prominient feature to those if they turn around.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;~<span style="color:red">Loading shells.</span>~ It doesn't take too much longer before that shotgun sound is made again and she kicks off whatever is nearby, hurdling herself towards whomever is the closest to her at the moment. Which seems to be Kutsuuko! "Kyaaaa, here we go! I ain't lettin' you three destroy that thing, it's so adorable!" More blasts of energy come from Mitsu's gauntlets and soon her hand rears back... and thrusts forward, launching her even faster towards Kutsuuko to try and ram into her now!<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"The Rabbit's here to take care of you three!"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Magical frogs dashing across the arena are avoided when the Great Poochooze springs backwards-- but as the shrine maiden's shots travel around the arena, the monster slime's movements are restricted if it wants to avoid further damage. However, Raquna's taunting and posturing gets its attention and it jumps forward again with a rumbling "POOCHOO!" in an attempt to slam into the adventurer head-on. This makes it an easy target for magical frog bullets, shearing off more globs of the slime's mass.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The scattering of slime is brought to a halt when a freezing shot explodes against it with a sound like shattering glass. Ice crystals scatter across the Great Poochooze's surface, and pieces are broken off and shattering rather than scattering more globs when it's damaged.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Someone called this before it became apparent.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The first cluster of globules shed off of Great Poochooze begin sprouting ears and tails, announcing themselves with a cacophony of "Poochoo! Poochoo!" Exactly as Sanae was predicting, it just took longer than she apparently expected. Even the little dabs become equally little Poochoozes, like the fist-size clump stuck to the shrine maiden's sleeve, which is now barking at her and biting her sleeve with a little 'rrrrr' sound.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:989|Raquna Sheldon (989)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span> "... Are those frogs?" Those are definitely frogs that Sanae just launched. Raquna probably shouldn't be too surprised, though, considering she's trying to stab a giant slimy dog thing screaming its own name while Kutsuuko's using a giant transforming gun with shields attached to it and getting attacked by a THIRD person with lightning gloves. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Who..? Hey,what do you think you're...?" And then there's still the Great Poochooze itself trying to barrel right into her. Raquna can't afford to take her eyes off the massive creature as it draws closer, stepping back herself to try and keep its back turned towards Sanae and Kutsuuko while she keeps swiping at it. It's still moving too fast for her to avoid, though, and she's forced to just dig in with her glowy shield propped up in front of her! <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; She's going to need the biggest bath later. Raquna crouches a fair amount as she pushes back against that big blue blow, straining to keep it from pusing her back too much. "... What's a cute girl like you even getting from this, anyway?" She thrusts her sword in again as she calls out to Mitsu, totally not trying to throw her off guard or anything with that.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:619|Sanae Kochiya (619)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Cell division!" That's the only thing that Sanae manages to get out, as she's trying to concentrate on her frog shots. That she was right is secondary, to dealing with yet more of the smaller poochoozes that have fissioned off, that is. Especially this one that is currently latched onto her sleeve, having formed from that very sticky globule from before, and is now growling with as much ferocity as it can muster. It...well, it's probably safe to ignore it for now, right? As long as it's transfixed on her sleeve, and not her arm beneath it. It's going to make tracing spell shapes a bit awkward, though, if she finds it necessary.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Speaking of, it suddenly becomes necessary! Her normally practiced and fluid movements hampered by the latched-on poochooze, she just barely manages to spin around at the oncoming electricity and trace the outline of a five-pointed star in the air, which then glows and forms a complete, encircled sigil of itself. Yet, it is imperfect, given the chaos, and rather than absorbing the brunt completely, a good deal still leeches through, after a visible fracture appears on the hovering seal. The good news is that her robes are magically reinforced, as well, or she might suffer a lot worse than the light burns and scorch marks that are on her skin and clothing, now, enduring the worst of it. ...was she reflexively shielding the latched on poochooze from it?<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"A girl virus," Sanae wonders, completely misreading the situation!? "--well, I do agree that they're cute, but they're causing trouble for the people here. So they have to be removed!" And assuming they're quite comfortable in their little habitat here, then there's likely no chance to simply drive them away. She keeps a wary eye trained on the newcomer, but the Great Poochooze remains their primary objective, and that's what she's going to go after. Dispeling the guard seal from earlier, she instead uses her power to focus the air around her, it quickly builds up into more like a barely constrained tornado. This is then unleashed in a series of biting cuts of intense air pressure at the biggun. Specifically aimed to try and give Raquna some breathing room to work with, instead of being bulldozed by its blue bulk.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:953|Kutsuuko Shiratori (953)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Maybe anticipating something similar to Sanae, or more likely, something less videogamey but equally hazardous, Kutsuuko is briefly intensely self-satisfied with seeing precisely the effect she had hoped to achieve on the virus, and then very much less happy with a tiny girl rocketing at her from behind and trying to shotgun punch her in the back of the head at some excessively ridiculous velocity.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She's just finished cycling reserve cells in her God Arc when she hears the sounds of more conventional gunfire and a whole lot of pint sized screaming, and turns around just in time to get out "What the fuck is-" before being blasted halfway across the floating arena. Fortunately, her biologically enhanced reflexes run significantly faster than her mouth, and she successfully deploys her God Arc's guard mode a fraction of an instant before suffering severe physical trauma, but she has no time to do anything more sophisticated than 'put shield in way of fist'; as demonstrated by the distance she flies without proper footing, and the huge chunk of shield energy eaten up with the commensurately impressive light show.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Is that what that thing is?!" Kutsuuko points wildly towards Mitsu in response to Sanae, that is after she's sprung back to her feet and wiped the floor slime off of her face. "What kind of bastard sits down and deliberately codes up a virus to be that tiny and obnoxious?" she then asks almost in despair. "Right, whatever. It's getting deleted too!" Since the others seem to be busy with what they're getting paid for, the God Eater makes it her job to tie up 'The Rabbit' for a while, Scarlet Symphony's barrel blazing again as it unleashes a third bullet configuration in the form of shotgun sprays of glowing, fiery orbs that quickly fill the space between Mitsu and everyone else, and then stop to float in a dense and foreboding field. Are they mines or something?<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:982|Mitsu Mirage (982)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Punch, meet shield. Shield, meet claws. They said hello. Seeing the skidding, Mitsu bounces up and down happily, "Well, this is going to be fun now isn't it?" wait, did they just call /her/ a virus? Well, she might be. "Shall we?" she grins, but as soon as that gun is shown, she throws out her Lost Logia, the Rabbit Hole and right in front of her, and BEHIND Kutsuuko, are tiny little black holes... inconspicious things but definitely noticable! Wonder why that's there.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Oh yeah, that's right. Shotgun blast. Mitsu hops up, catching some of the shell into her side, the sound of purchase ripping some of the bodysuit and letting it rain a bit of blood there. Barrier jackets are so nice, aren't they? However, as some of that shotgun blast enters the black hole, it gets fired right out of the other end and straight towards Kutsuuko! "Surprise!"<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Landing with a wince... the spry little 'rabbit' bounces in place, then kicks off to launch herself at Kutsuuko again, this time, swinging her arms wide to let electrified whip blades, those same claws at the end of her gauntlets, out towards the God Eater, hoping to wrap that around her and give her a nice volt. "Hey, time for a shock now isn't it?" ~<span style="color:red">Master, please stop with the puns...</span>~<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"POOCHOO!" Half-frozen, the Great Poochooze wobbles as if staggered by Raquna's resistance to its attack. It seems to rear up in place, preparing to slam into that shield again, when a blast of wind hits it from above. Being a gelatenous glob of living goo, the airblast simply compresses it down into the floor, spreading the Great Poochooze out over a wider area at the same time. This doesn't work well when a large part of it is frozen, however. A significant portion of the Great Poochooze literally breaks off from the central mass, unable to flex with the rest of its body. This falls back, shattering and dissolving like the smaller Poochooze before.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The big blue thing rears back up, though it's remarkably about half its original size, after all this damage. Smaller Poochooze dash around, trying to stick to limbs with teeth or by virtue of being slimes. They're pretty incapable of doing any actual damage (Their teeth are, after all, also goo) but their stickiness and weight could be a problem. Several of them inadvertently set off the lower placed mines in Kutsuuko's barrier, giving an inadvertant demonstration of what those orbs do.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Great Poochooze, recovering from the airblast, surges forward into Raquna's shield with all its (remaining) mass, but then promptly whirls around after the impact, fixing its big, blank black eyes on Sanae, "POOCHOO!"<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It either doesn't mind, hasn't noticed, or doesn't care that some other virus (?) has lept to its defense. Given the simplistic behavior of this particular virus, as demonstrated by the little ones dashing about, Great Poochooze probably hasn't even realized Mitsu is present.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:619|Sanae Kochiya (619)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Kutsuuko is keeping that self-professed rabbit busy, for the moment. Sanae can't quite keep one whole eye on the goings on over there, for the moment, but is doing her best to divide just enough attention that, if it comes to it, she can try to whisk her allies out of here before it can get, believe it or not, life-threatening. Girl viruses weren't part of the mission parameters! "I don't know," the priestess admits, for once! "But why else would she be wanting to help the virus?" Besides finding it cute, that is.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;With that said, it seems their one-woman defensive line has been broken through, and the Grand Poochooze now turns its eyes toward its next target. Whatever simplistic processes have targetted her, she can only guess at. Probably just whichever has made it the most immediately angry. "Hmmm...then I guess this is up to me! I won't forget what Miss Sheldon and Miss Shiratori have sacrificed, to get us this far!" But...they're still alive, Sanae. Evading the little nibblers and adherers as best she can, which is mostly by gliding just barely above the floor of the arena, she seems to aim to take the still-massive critter head on!<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It's not quite perfect, though -- every so often, she still has to give a light kick of her leg to jar a small one loose. The one on her sleeve is still there.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;This time, the wand comes into play as more than simply an instrument for tracing magical seals and casting spells. It is instead a magical conduit for her ability to focus and control the wind around her. Where the cardboard 'blade' of the wand ends, the air gains a strange property to it, perhaps not unlike the miniature black holes that Mitsu is deploying. Rather than light being bent by singularities, though, it's simply being refracted by the intensely compressed air that she's gathered there, as an improvised blade. With this, she flies forward, her speed reduced somewhat by all the clingers-on, but at this rate she's just going to have to deal with it. There's too many, and she doesn't want to use one of Lady Kanako's precious bombs on a...slime.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The poochoozes are basically a liquid, right? Well...fluid, gelatin, suspension. She lifts her wand overhead, drawing it low, as though it were a chainsaw being brought to bear on a log: "I will perform the miracle of parting the sea!"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:953|Kutsuuko Shiratori (953)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Kutsuuko's link to Scarlet Symphony tells her precisely the moment she's emptied the third o-tank firing off scattershot mines everywhere, after she'd used the first on the homing shrapnel and the second all on the one giant freeze bullet. Reloading manually doesn't seem to be something she'll have the time to do, and so she decides to conserve the remaining half of her weapon energy for the time being, and drops her firing stance. Seeing the black holes in action, rolling over her gunfire like an old videogame screen transition, makes her a glad that she'd stuck to defensive ammunition, and glad that she'd stopped shooting when she did, because though the mines drift to a stop before they can actually hit their own launcher, if they were any more dense, she wouldn't be able to back up through them.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Because backing up is exactly her plan. Seeing Mitsu Mirage flying at her face again, Kutsuuko mainly focuses on the fact that it is /away/ from Sanae doing battle with the badly damaged virus, and wants to keep it that way. She dashes backwards with a series of clean and agile zigzags, keeping her distance from those claws until the Mage launches them out as whips, which necessitates sweeping them through the minefield. Inevitably, one of several charged cable catches one of the many, densely scattered orbs, and the whole thing blows up in a huge wall of chain explosions, screening Kutsuuko from the attack, and also from Mitsu for a few more seconds, unless she intends to dive face first into the fireball expanding in her direction.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Great Poochooze bounces once towards Sanae, just as she raises the wand. Right when it lands is when that wand comes down, and the creature pauses in place. The spell carries forth and the monster wobbles, letting out a bellowing "POO-" that cuts off. A division forms down the center and the creature splits into two wobbling halves, right down the middle. It stands there, stunned, like a jello snack that's been neatly divided to share between friends. The two eyes, one on each side, blink in sync. They blink again, one after the other.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The third time the eyes blink, as they open, there are two more eyes accompanying them. The dog snouts and tails likewise fill out fully, and Great Poochooze has become two Somewhat Big Poochooze. Each one, a quarter or less the size of the original article.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The two seem more stunned than anything, though. The action of being forcibly separated has more than confused them, and given how simple their processes are, they're still trying to figure out exactly what happened. The result is, the creatures are too shocked by Sanae's audacity to do anything about it.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The spell's also split any smaller Poochooze caught in the same 'line', though the result is the same, their smaller initial and resulting sizes make it a lot less dramatic. And that little blue tomato just refuses to let go of her sleeve despite being waved around so much. If nothing else, at least it's determined.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:982|Mitsu Mirage (982)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"You know, this is kinda fun. I like this." she comments, Mitsu bouncing again here and there before flying towards Kutsuuko again, fists out stretched. "Oh, so you figured out my Rabbit Hole already, that's upsetting, oh well... means I get to punch you more." a pause, "And do other things." during this 'flight', a ball of blue lightning starts growing in Mitsu's hand, chucking it... at Sanae... before continuing her quest to pummel the ever living crap out of Kutsuuko, because that's fun.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;At least until a wall of fire comes in her way. Welp, she's already going. "BANZAI!" she shouts, running RIGHT THROUGH that wall of fire. Singing everything on her body black and coming out of it lit on fire now. Because what's worse than a crazed device wielder? One that is also on fire running towards you, springing into the air to bring a pair of clawed fists down. "KYAAAAH!"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:619|Sanae Kochiya (619)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Well, what can be expected of this kind of creature, really? There might be some kind of distributed, rudimentary intelligence, but it's barely animal level. Sanae tries not to let her satisfaction show, as the Poochooze simply blinks in confusion as it becomes two Slimes of Unusual Size, though there might just be a momentary placement of her biter-afflicted wrist to her waist. "I didn't want to have to do this, but I suppose there's no other way to clean this up." She'll spare some of the smaller, harmless ones, maybe. The mission was only to deal with one big one, after all. That decided, she moves in to continue her attack. Drawing deep into her well of divine power, she calls forth on Kanako's blessings, such as they are.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;A white serpent that's a good portion of the size of the arena begins to form as an image directly around and behind her, before beginning to surge forward in a straight line. It won't do much to the Big Poochoozes, most likely, and most certainly not to Kutsuuko and Mitsu if they are somehow caught in it, but she's more trying to clear up the perhaps dozens of tiny poochoozes that are now interfering with getting clean shots, or even maneuvering. The 'bomb' attack, as it's known in her realm, continues to go off even if she were to suffer damage after. Fire and forget.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;That's a good thing, because those 0.3 eyes she was keeping on the other struggle come in handy. It's mostly low level observation, to try and tell if one side or the other is gaining a significant advantage. Belatedly, though, she notices something that had happened in plain sight. Funny how it's so easy to miss when you're looking for something else. "Eh?" The lightning ball is already on its way by the time she reacts, which is too late to draw a defensive seal, in any case. She instead has to rely on her robe's reinforcement, as she brings up the un-afflicted sleeve. The electricity crackles around her, and she actually grunts as it courses through her. What were minor burns on her robes are now outright tears, and it's going to take forever to fix her hair after this. Her flight, once she recovers, is also a bit more wobbly...but she's so close now.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I'll just have to...give it all I've got!" She pokes the wand's handle into the sleeve-nibbler's mouth, in a 'hold my beer' kind of moment, and withdraws a total of six of those cards from before. A slight shift of her fingers reveals they were doubled up, so more like twelve. This is the remainder of the shots of this kind she'd prepared. With her slowly lowering arm strength, she throws them much like before -- the cards folding and magically becoming frog-shaped in mid-flight. Each of the twin volley is aimed at an individual Dai-Poochooze. However...showing just a trace of a subconscious mean streak, one of a set of six veers off course and aims at the small of Mitsu's back. It was probably just a mis-fire!<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:953|Kutsuuko Shiratori (953)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Rabbit hole?" Kutsuuko blinks in disbelief for a few seconds at hearing this totally-a-virus has named that weird move, and trying to grapple with whether it was the reason to call herself Rabbit, whether she was called rabbit first and accidentally came up with an innuendo out of a lack of creavitity, or whether it is some kind of literary allusion because she's never read Alice in Wonderland. It's probably the most thought she's put into this entire misadventure so far.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Hey hey, attacking the miko is off limits!" Kutsuuko then suddenly decides on instead, probably phrasing it so that it sounds less out of concern that Sanae is being the MVP and actually pushing the objective, and more out of concern for her wearing a cutesy outfit, on purpose. She goes to the fire selector to pick a different pattern, but seeing Mitsu charging head on into that exploding screen, the God Eater has to abandon shooting completely, engaging the mode change, but not in time. Unwilling to dive into the same cloud of fire to escape, where she might actually take more damage, she buys time by intercepting the claws with a backfist, or specifically back/wrist/, from the bulky and heavily armoured bracelet clamped below her right hand.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The fact that the bracelet seems to suffer no damage despite the coruscating fountain of electrical and friction sparks really says something, but it's clearly not meant to be used as a shield, and so the redirected blow tears through the inside of her arm, shredding her jacket sleeve and spraying her own blood across the glowing floor. It looks like the kind of injury that should have severed enough tendons to make her fingers useless, though the God Eater perplexingly makes almost no sound at the slashing pain ripping through her nerves, remaining dedicated to keeping Mitsu at bay with a medically unadvised followup punch of her own; disgustingly hard for her admittedly athletic but hardly burly frame.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;That's what she trades for the quarter second necessary for Scarlet Symphony to complete its bizarre transformation motions, becoming a flurry of fast-moving golden metal reconfiguring around flickers of oily black, and snapping together all at once to produce a six foot long, two foot wide blade that glows white hot along its entire, slightly curved edge. Despite its preposterous size, using her left hand alone appears to be enough to swing it around at Mitsu's head as a counterattack, fast enough to be an alarmingly immediate threat. She's probably dodged faster, but then it must have been a lot smaller.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:982|Mitsu Mirage (982)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Yes, rabbit hole." she replies without pause. Hey, she wasn't creative for that. Oh well, other people's problems. But when told that attacking the Miko is 'Off Limits', Mitsu gets this incredoulus look in her eye. "Nothing... is off limits to me, miss" then a quick smile... "Now, shall we finish this?" she takes a quick look at the Poochooze... and how it's now split into another. Okay, that was neat! "I should see how that does th..."<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;SCREEEECH... Kachunk... "Oh hey, blood. It's not mine." she tries tugging herself away from the now grasped on gauntlet but that punch of KUtsuuko's lands solidly upon her face and rings a few bells inside of her head, causing a wince of pain... and an angry look, "Oh, so that's how it is?" she wiggles her jaw as it resets... with another wince. "Now... get out of my way and I'm going to take care of that Miko!"<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Speaking of Miko's and Poochoozes, the Miko's own shots, at least one of them, crashes right into the unaware Mitsu and another loud wince of pain is given. "Nngh... Mikos... people like you... meh, you two are annoying!"<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Oh hey, sword. Large sword. Immediate threat detected! Mitsu takes her free arm... and PUNCHES it right in the blade, allowing the blade to slip between two of the clawed fingers... and cut right into the gauntlet, but not without a retaliation attack of her own by releasing pent up lightning magic into the blade, the sounds of shotgun shells pumping in more and more magic!<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Double Poochooze seem to recover from their confusion once they've finally processed what just happened, like an old computer finally loading the contents of a floppy disk. At last the program is done and the twin virii bounce towards the shrine maiden with as much menacing intent as a gelatenous dog can. Sanae's magical spell, the 'bomb', gives htem both pause though. It virtually obliterates the small fries bouncing around the arena, at least, which turns a minefield of sticky, squawking goo critters into a place that's far easier to travel around on.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The little one, distracted from its chewing by getting moved and then getting a wand stuck in its mouth, appears to have been spared. It just hangs where it was placed, chewing on the end of Sanae's wand instead, looking more perplexed than aggressive.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In the aftermath of the snake charm spell, the only remnants are the Poochooze of Unusual Size, which had paused to weather the spell's duration but don't seem much the worse for wear. The left one bounces higher, landing on top of the right one. In this moment, they both bounce as one, which hurls the top-most Poochooze right at Sanae like a projectile. It's not very solid, but it'll probably feel pretty gross.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Airborne Poochooze is fairly safe but, pinned in place by its launch maneuver, the second Poochooze is caught in crossfire from frog bullets. The initial hits split it four ways into ordinary-sized slime creatures, which are then destroyed by further criss-crossing bullets from the attack pattern. So it CAN be killed!<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:619|Sanae Kochiya (619)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>She is going to need more than a bath after this, more like the full spa experience. And it's about to get so much worse. Sanae used so much of her energy to reach this point that, when the frogs converge on the throwing Poochooze Brother, she really doesn't have much left to spare to will herself out of the way of the one that's now hurtling in her direction. While not quite as enormous as the single original, that angry puppy face on a blue gelatin blob is just suddenly so surreal, as it grows ever larger. She could probably avoid it, if she really threw all she has left into the maneuver, but she can already feel her ability to control the wind fading, so it seems there's only one thing left to do.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She's just going to make like Raquna and tank it. Not as elegantly as having a shield, mind you. No, with a discouraging *flumpf*, Sanae is completely bowled over by the still-considerable mass, even if it's horse scale rather than SUV scale. It feels gross and slimy and cold, and in that moment of contact she immediately regrets this course of action, but she's already committed. Conjuring up the last of her willpower, to overcome the revulsion of what she's about to do, rather than bounce off the Poochooze, she actually latches onto it. Or, rather, into it, if she can even vaguely hook her hands in. With this, she uses that last dose of wind she had saved up, while in close proximity; it's that same brisk breeze, that soon turns into a buzzsaw-like tornado around her.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Thankfully for it, the wand-nomming Poochooze is likely shielded by her now-ragged sleeve. She's just looking to tear it apart more personally, this time. She is absolutely Done playing nice, and if this doesn't finish it...well, that's pretty much it! Between having to dig deep, being zapped by lightning, and having to drag heavy slime and being sumo tackled by same slime, she is absolutely spent.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Being so close and already so heavily weakened by numerous attacks, the Less Great Poochooze is in no position to avoid a point blank wind spell. With a surprised sound, the slime creature is engulfed in a tornado, shredding through its defenses for several long seconds. It sustains enough damage to split again, as its brother had moments ago, but the duration of the whirlwind effect sees to it that the mitosed Poochooze are likewise damaged. Being as fragile as regular Poochooze, the new ones are likewise destroyed, their dispersing data scattered by the breeze.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class=" bold_fg_n bg_n ++ h">GREAT POOCHOOZE HAS FALLEN</span><br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Well now it's apparent why these things are considered such a menace, even when the little ones are so weak.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:953|Kutsuuko Shiratori (953)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Look who's talking you little brat!" Kutsuuko spits incredulously at Mitsu. "You're still going on and on! If you hate annoying things, then try jumping off the edge and save everyone else the trouble!" That irate tone ratchets up several decibels as the Mage decides to try and grab hold of her blade for the sole purpose electrocuting her through it. Whatever components it uses don't seem to be wired in nature, because the electricity doesn't cause anything to short out, but the angry scream coming from Kutsuuko as the lightning bolts lacerate her arm is proof enough that the current is running.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Unfortunately, Mitsu has made something of a miscalculation thinking that just because the blade is stopped, it isn't a threat. Not that she'd have any way of knowing, but the edge of the Fervore configuration is, in fact, completely blunt. What does the cutting, aside from the intense heat, is a layer of exposed Oracle Cells lined up along its edge, and even embedded in her gauntlet armour, they'll keep eating. Like the most heinously out of control acid or stupidly overpowered resonant knife imaginable, the blade works deeper seemingly on its own, starting to slide through those device knuckles at a rate that suggests Mitsu's hand will come off instantly once that armour is breached.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The God Eater seems to be intent to speed up the process, at least to break the electric circuit. Her ballistic-gloved finger manages to depress a mechanical trigger linked to the CNS, and the God Arc's Impulse Edge feature activates; a function she had selected that fires the gun components while folded into blade mode. Without a bullet configuration to focus it, the energy blast is not much more than a pillar of raw, white hot plasma, but it has enough force behind it to either accelerate the blade straight through the Rabbit, or alternatively blast her hard enough to launch her off the edge.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:982|Mitsu Mirage (982)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I tried." she replies, "I bounced and ran." she smirks, her voice filled with a slight bit of venom and playful nature. Oh she was going to enjoy this. At least... until Kratzenfaust chimes in. ~<span style="color:red">Master, the blade is cutting deeply. Disengage...</span>~ it sounds worried. Then again, how can a German voice sound worried. Either way, her eyes go to the cutting blade... and she has to make a decision quick or she risks her gauntlet... and her hand. And she wants to keep both.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Though, thankfully, she's given the option to disengage. With a quick turn around, hearing the trigger press that white hot plasma gets ejected from it and does launch her quite a ways, through the fire and flames again and into the air. This is all followed by a very pained scream, and some dripping blood from the wounds! Not to mention two more ball lightnings ejected towards the two as a final act of defiance, "I'm taking you to Hell with me!"<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Over the edge and she hits the ground hard, bouncing a couple of times before rolling to a stop... wincing heavily, "Nnngh... that... was the most fun... I've had. And that Miko reeked of magic... I" cough... "Gotta find out what she does with it more. or..." a bloodied cough this time, "how she uses it..."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Sourced elsewhere, a single round ocular marked with an artillery crosshair sweeps across the arena from a great distance. It follows the ejection of Mitsu and the destruction of Great Poochooze, at least. The crosshairs fix on Kutsuuko for a moment, then shift to follow Sanae's movements. After a hesitation, the view shifts upward to follow the ejection path that Mitsu took to escape.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;A great distance away across the Duty Space, a four-legged spider tank hisses. The coaxial scope rotates out of position alongside the rail cannon barrel, replaced by a shorter onboard sight without the telescoping mechanisms. At the front of the tank's chassis, small arms ending in pincer claws touch, rubbing together.<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Hmm, yes. That one shall be useful."<br /> <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Those arms disengage and spread out, opening a portal beneath the tank, which it promptly sinks into.<br> <br>
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