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Amaterasu      LAST TIME ON TOUHOU BALL Z: Faced with the illusion of a village of fairies, our heroes tried to gain new information, only to be led into a trap by master of magic and jewels. After a brief struggled, the master mind, Amenohohi revealed himself and in the interest of avoiding further combat with opponents out of his league, he explained what he could of the situation.

     Now. The time has come to press onward. The return to Takamagahara is uncontested. The plains and the ruined city are passed over. Akiyama and Haruyama are still being held in the Human Village, and Amenohohi does not come out of his hidden library to greet them. It is silent, and yet still, there is a tension in the air.

     Past the city lost to time, whether approaching by land, or approaching by air, the path, hugged by foilage on both sides, eventually widened out into an incredibly wide staircase. One that extended ever upward. There was no resistance. No one there to greet them. No annoying twins bursting out of the ground and calling themselves Masters of the Universe.

     Just the faint whistle of the wind, and the rustle of the trees below.

     It was time to press onward.
Yuna Kagurazaka After having been present for the fight with the twin brothers, Yuna missed the second venture into Takamagahara - but she's back with the group this time, and hopefully somebody's been in a position to bring her up to speed. With or without a recap, though, Yuna's back in Flight Form with Elner tagging along next to her, and they join the others on their way up the stairs.

... and Yuna is indeed airborne. Flight Form's boots aren't exactly made for easy walking, although they could be worse. A lot worse, really. She's staying alert for signs of potential trouble, but she hasn't produced any weapons yet.

"I wonder how far up this staircase goes?" Yuna wonders idly; something about it reminds her of another incredibly long stair - although that one was more or less a spiral, and there had been plenty of warnings about stairs in that case.
Sanae Kochiya     It had been some time, since Sanae made her first approach to the island. That had ended in a quite curious encounter with those two bratty kids, though speaking of having to take care of troublesome duos, she had also returned home to the shrine to make certain that Suwako and Kanako were safe (and staying out of trouble). With that out of the way, she has returned, a bit better prepared this time with several freshly enchanted talismans stowed in either sleeve, and her wand already at the ready. She mostly skips over the areas where she encounters no resistance, besides to snap a few photographs with a camera on her phone, for later reference.

    The obvious path leads to the stairs, in any case, and though she had drifted all the way here, carried by a gentle breeze of her own, when it comes time to face the steep climb, she actually places her feet firmly on the ground. Or, as firm as ground gets with a floating land mass. Whomever built or conjured the island obviously went to a lot of trouble to make these steps, so it is only sporting to use them! "Hmmm," she ponders, settling down adjacent to Yuna, whom for once she will not pester for an autograph. Her eyes are trained firmly upward, at that slope, "Hard to say. We'd best get climbing, then!" Without any trace of hesitation, she is already practically dancing up, footsteps light.

    Her charge ahead does not mean she is being completely careless, though. "Keep on your toes. There might be fairies planning an ambush. They love to do that kind of thing!" They're just fairies, though, probably the kind you'd find anywhere else.
Sarah Parsle Sarah missed the last one. Blame stairs. And elves. Probably both.

But she's back, looking through the ridiculous heat-wavey area as she gets a nice recap from the others. "This is stupid." She summarizes, slurping loudly again, this time just to punctuate things instead of to piss off small childish immortals. The power of the crazy straw sippyhat is an intense conversational tool, and Sarah seems to unleash it in an even-handed manner.

More importantly, there's a big damn staircase. She looks up, up, and more up. "Do they seriously expect us to climb this?" She asks. "Stairs are ridiculously dangerous."

She sighs, and then mounts them, warnings to be unheeded. No one ever listens anyway. She'll be trudging for a while. And catch up soon.
Kotone Yamakawa So here Kotone is again she's got her stealth gear on for really what good will heavy armor do her? She seemd to be cotent to sprint as she had no inate way of flying unless someone lended her a hand with magic or technology. She's kind of jelous of those who are just flying in, but she's making for the stairs.

"I know Sanae, keeping on my toes is formost on my mind!"

She also takes a look at Sarah pausing looking at her.

"What's so bad about stairs?"
Kirito     Keeping pace with Yuna, Kirito's - seemingly the only male of this bunch?! - ascends towards the heavens on fairy wings, keeping pace with the rest of the group pretty easily.

    "Arthur's always saying that same thing!" He idly comments. Doesn't get it himself. The boy gives Sarah a quizzical glance over his shoulder. Yui, also curious, peeks her her head out of Kirito's front pocket! She's using the flap as a shield from the wind...
Amaterasu      Really, what /is/ so bad about stairs anyway? Other than the fact that if you trip, you'll probably break every bone in your body on the way down. And the fact that climbing a ton of them was a chore and half...

     ...And the fact that people set traps on them!

     After some time of extended flight and climbing with no real obstacle, once they pass a certain point, there are several bursts of light, as paper ofuda blink into existence. Each of them has the character for 'Guardian' written on it in red ink. Eight in total, four lining each side of the staircase from above and essentially flanking them.

     Each one off those talismans promptly burst into flame and then began spewing waves of fire danmaku outwards. Unlike the rest of what's been thrown at the group thus far, this was...surprisingly Gensokyo-like. Yeah, it would burn like hell and damage clothing if it struck, but it ultimately wasn't lethal.

     The bullet spreads fanned out from each guardian seal in a uniform manner, allowing for pattern recognition and evasion, once said pattern was recognized.

     Well, looks like whoever's behind this nonsense decided that it was time to keep the island's intruders away.

     Maybe.
Sanae Kochiya     "Come on, it's just some stone slabs," the green-haired girl calls back encouragingly! Stairs don't kill people, it's the sudden stop at the bottom. There is also a follow-up to her warnings, "Well, not only fairies--" There is just a faint flicker of recognition in Sanae's eyes, as the group continues their climb, or in some cases, flight. There weren't any fairies around, which was quite helpful on the march up, but something still felt a bit off. When the guard seals light up, the light bulb finally goes on. "...warning shots!" They were actually a quite common thing in Gensokyo, when you're getting close to a boss's turf. A combination of gauging the challenger, and for the opponent, a wake up call to get on their toes. Normally, this sort of thing would be dealt with while airborne, which gives the best maneuverability. Sanae, however...had oh so wisely decided to hoof it up. So, problem.

    With a sudden gust of wind, her feet leave the ground, in an attempt to evade the worst of it! These floating island people definitely like their intensified natural elements, not that she can complain, herself. It's still a close enough shave that some slight scorch marks can be seen marking her thankfully enchanted robes' skirt, as well as some of her leg. "Ow," she grunts, but doesn't seem to be too bad off from just that, and now that she's in the air and the attack vector is more obvious, she lightly grazes around the remainder of it that had come in her direction. If it's really a warning shot, there's not anything to retaliate against here, though, so, "The boss is probably just ahead. Let's go!" No time for even for a BURN HEAL.
Yuna Kagurazaka Fortunately, it's a fairly wide staircase, so the ofuda aren't THAT close when they blink into existence and start dispensing fiery 'bullets'. Yuna lets out a brief yelp, and starts dodging, weaving through gaps between the bullets. It's Elner who has to call her attention to the fact that there *is* a pattern ...

And once Yuna gets her brain working on it, the pattern isn't *that* hard to sort out, even without Elner's secondary perspective on the matter. Not that the robo-faerie is helping Yuna out *that* much - Elner's not about to let Yuna rely on it when she can sort something out on her own.

Yuna winds up getting singed a bit, but her Light Suit holds together (for now at least) as she figures out the safe pattern. "Everyone else okay?" she calls out to the others on the investigation crew. If the pattern doesn't change up too much, they should be able to pick their way through the danmaku and keep advancing ...
Kirito     Fortunately or maybe unfortunately, Kirito is completely unfamiliar with Gensokyo.

    But on the other hand, he's a gamer.

    Although he's engulfed in fire bullets and blasts that slam into his clothing and pelt him enough to slowly whittle down his HP, his keen eyes spot the patterns in no time. With a few tweaks to his flight path he's carving a path between the streams, teeth clenched and white faced. "Where'd THAT come from?!"

    And more importantly: BULLET HELL?! Is he recognizingg this right?!
Sarah Parsle "That's because Mr. Lowell is smart and people should listen to him." Sarah replies to Kirito. The child is probably biased though, being from Afterus... And what with Arthur being one of the more respectable members of the pantheon.

... Afterus has a bit of a pantheon problem.

The fun starts, and Sarah blinks, holding back and watching the way the spray fans out. "Well, this is more like it." She says. She inches about a foot to the left, and the initial fire spray grazes past her, leaving a scorchmark across her clothing but little more. Then she moves a foot t othe right, and the same thing happens on the other side.

This repeats for a bit as Sarah works her way forward. "Toasty." She summarizes. "We'll see if things keep up like this ahead."
Kotone Yamakawa Kotone Yamakawa is heading up the stairs, she's not sure why Sarah is so worried about them. She pauses at Kirito and replies.

"You know, your right he does. He does so quite often about it."

She has no issues climbing the stairs, they. Still things feel strange to her something seems to be off nd well her hunch was right as they come under attack? She's now trying to move and e3vade the talismans

"Oh you have got to be kidding me? Wait boss like in an MMORPG? Also Sarah You have a point about the stairs!"
Amaterasu      Try not to fall~

     Once the spray of danmaku putters out into nothing, the last bit of fireballs dissipating into the distance, the eight ofuda all burn up into nothing, their ashes carried on the wind. Nothing else came out to stop them. They were free to head forward without any further resistance. Was that a test? or just a distraction? Who knew.

     MEANWHILE

     Some distance up ahead, two figures were. One was seated on the stairs, an overly large blade hefted onto their shoulders. "I already told you, I don't need no help. Why th'hell didja have to go and do that for? I hate that crap!" The other floated just above the stairs, dressed in a set of red miko's robes. She held a single talisman, seeming to be staring into it as if she were seeing something happening elsewhere. On it, was the character for 'Sight'. At the seated figure's answer, she gave them a glance. "...Whatever the case is, we need more time."

     The talisman between her fingers caught fire and burned up then, and she turned away. "They're coming. Make sure you stall them for as long as possible." And with that, she flew off into the distance, towards a golden castle. A moment later, there was a shimmer and an illusion covered the sight. An illusion of more sky and clouds obscuring the distant structure.

     The seated figure waved a hand lazily. "Whatever. Tch... Damn girl. I do things my way." And with that, their gaze turned to the stairs leading down. "Any minute now..."
Sanae Kochiya     She's not falling for that trick again! Though she wills the wind gathered around her to a less cuttingly intense amount, she's still in the air, and hovering forward a meter off the slope. "Oh, you play MMORPGs," Sanae wonders to Kotone, as a matter of conversation as she continues on her way? "The internet access in Gensokyo isn't that great, so it's been a while. But, yes, kind of like that." Drawing some card-like talismans of her own from within her sleeves, to have them at the ready, she explains, "Usually there are a lot of fairies in the way, but I guess they didn't come out to play, today. Then, you fight your way to the person that's responsible. ...usually they grow more helpful as you go on." She's been through enough Incidents by now to know how this goes: Even if this one has broken the formula in a few spaces, she fully expects that is how it will go.

    With that out of the way, she picks up her speed, feeling emboldened by the lack of further resistance. That might bother more cautious people, but it's just a green light for this priestess. Nonetheless, the length of the trip, without anything to really break the scenery besides that 'warning shot' earlier, is beginning to puzzle even her. "Hello! Is there any boss here," she calls out ahead, as though she actually might expect someone to reply to that! "We've only come to challenge you, and figure out what's going on, so you can stop hiding if you're scared!" Something else worms its way into her consciousness, while she's waiting, and she once again glances back to Sarah, "There are always patterns, but bosses tend to use far flashier ones than that." Nonetheless, they are still there -- provided you can survive long enough to puzzle them out and find the room to maneuver.
Yuna Kagurazaka The fire-danmaku 'trap' didn't feel like much of a test to Yuna; if it WAS a test, what was it meant to test in the first place? For that matter, it didn't feel much like a boss or even a mini-boss, just a random surprise attack, and nothing to shoot back at to get out of it - all they had to do was keep flying more or less forward, maneuvering to avoid getting roasted away entirely by the patterns of fireballs.

"I wouldn't compare it to an MMORPG so much as ... I dunno, an adventure action game or something? Or more of an arcade game of some kind," Yuna shrugs. Sanae actively calling out for the boss draws a slight wince, but ... well, that *is* kind of the way things go, as she just commented on radio.

"Alternatively," Yuna calls out, "we could just ask questions and get answers, and be on our way without having to shoot at each other and dodge each other's barrages, but if you WANT a fight, we can probably provide an interesting challenge ..."
Kotone Yamakawa Kotone Yamakawa is now dodging and blurring a bit as she does so she bounds about, to the left and right and she's totally trying to not fall. Once the Danmaku phases out she's going to be a bit more stable. She's however tense and worries about this as she presses onwards with her companions.

"I do sometimes but I feel like I'm living one since I left my world for the first time. I'll get some cameras up then."

Kotone deploys a few small drones which fly ahead of the party and she looks to Yuna for a moment and makes an amused face at hrr but focus on the way ahead.

"Kirito hurry up slow poke!"
Kirito     Kirito's not too concerned about fireballs! Not when they're barely able to inflict any injury. Although he's no idiot. That trap was... a warning. 'I am ahead of you, I am very skilled. Approach if you dare' is the message he gleaned from it.

    And he'll dare.

    So he redoubles his efforts to ascend on wings of black light, ignoring the stairs themselves.

    This gives him plenty of opportunity to catch some glimpses of SOMETHING up above. He blinks, unsure of just what he saw or didn't see at this distance. People flying? one flying off maybe? But where did that one go?

    He's distracted by people nearby taking his commentary WAY too seriously.

    "Geeze. Life isn't a game! ... Even when it looks like one!"

    Spurred on by Kotone, he cranks out AERIAL DRIVE and slams both wings tightly to his back, full vibration. Meaning... MAXIMUM THRUST. WHOOOSH. He's now ascending at over a hundred miles an hour, straight for the distant figure!
Sarah Parsle Sarah finally gets up to the top, huffing slightly with exertion. Look, she's not THAT fit. She looks around at the surroundings at the top of the stairway and adopts an irritated stance. "Well, at least we didn't fall down." She shrugs to Yuna, though. "Patterns are patterns. If you can read them then getting through them is going to happen. If there's a pattern, there is a solution for it. That's how it works."

She doesn't wait around long. "Okay, let's just go. If someone wants to ambush us they'll get in the way. Move." She walks forward, expecting lasers or fire or flying death frogs or something. Who knows, Gensokyo is weird.
Amaterasu      Up ahead, the figure grinned at the approach of Kotone's drones, as well as the investigation crew after, several calling out challenges and such. Really? Scared? Tell them what was going on? Hah! These people had funny ideas.

     Funny ideas like the black figure that just whizzed above at high speed. "...Tch, I'll let her handle that one."

     With a shake of the head, he ignored Kirito and turned to face ahead. "Looks like it's time to see what they're made of." And without an ounce of hesitation, they proceeded to jump, sailing through the air and down the stairs for several meters, before landing in a crouch in the crew's sight.

     Dust and air kicked up upon landing, and they straightened up, revealing a tall, well toned, young man. He wore a strange mix consisting of a blue kimono, and baggy pants, ending in a pair of black shoes. On his shoulders, a red overcoat fluttered in the wind loosely. His hair was long and black, with a pair of animal ears atop his head, along with what appeared to be three black tails.

     "Yo." He grinned after giving his simple greeting. "So you guys are the ones who've been barreling through his place, eh?" In one hand, an overlong katana was held, and then lifted onto his shoulder casually. "I've been waiting for ya." With his free hand, he gestured to them all. "The one's who've been said to be pretty damn strong." And he gestured to himself. "The name's Kumanokusubi. The Azure Blade."

     Well, this one was simple. No tricks or other nonsense. "I ain't about all that complicated stuff. So let's keep this simple. You wanna pass? Then you gotta defeat me. I wanna see this strength for myself! Got it?"
Amaterasu      KIRITO

     The black swordsman blazed through the air, skipping the figure waiting below and just barely catching the one flying off. ".....?" The miko stopped and turned to look, seeing the swordsman approaching. "....!" Crap. Did he see her before the illusion came back up?

     Immediately, she produced several ofuda, ten in total, before tossing them out and at Kirito. Once deployed, they hurtled through the air at high speed, homing in on the Avatar. On each of them, the character for 'explosion' was written.

     It wasn't hard to guess what would happen if they made contact, now was it?
Yuna Kagurazaka Yuna comes to a halt as Kumanokusubi arrives, and bows politely, admittedly while hovering. "We're sorry to have kept you waiting, then," she says, smiling as she straightens up from the bow. "Were you expecting us to take you on in melee, though? Because I didn't really come geared for that ..."

She glances around at her allies, wincing as she spots Kirito zipping on ahead with no regard for protocol. (If she hears any explosions going off, she'll wince again, possibly harder.) Then she poitns her arms towards Kumanokusubi; her vambraces open, and the pulse blasters hidden inside the armor begin launching a barrage of focused energy bolts at and around the three-tailed swordsman.
Sanae Kochiya     More alarming than the guardian seals earlier, is that blur that is Kirito rushing on ahead of the presumed opponent. Sanae slows down in her own comparitively leisurely pace, for just a moment, her eyebrows quirking. "...wait, that's allowed? You can just do that?" She admittedly never really thought about breaking protocols. If he gets punished for it, though, then it's completely on him. Especially since, while she can make good time when she summons enough wind, she likely wouldn't be able to keep up with that rate. "Hmm, well...maybe he'll find something interesting!" More importantly, now that the distance is closing, she can see that mysterious, dark figure more clearly on her own. A faint glimmer comes to her eyes -- this time she gets to go all out!

    While she doesn't surge ahead of the other presumed intruders like Kirito, her speed definitely picks up just enough to properly meet this new face. When the literal dust settles, she stops and comes to a landing, and she sizes up this newcomer. "Huh, this one looks kind of cool," comes the priestess' appraisal, with no hint of subtlety or restraint. She's all for presentation. "A lot cooler than those kids were. That must mean we're getting closer!" She gives a glance at the others, then back to their animal-eared barrier. "Well then, Mister Kumanokusubi," she continues, rolling up a sleeve, "We'll accept your challenge." Yeah, she just up and spoke for everyone -- feel free to disassociate with her! She gives a grin over to Yuna, in particular, "Don't worry, Miss Yuna! This is still Gensokyo, after all." Maybe it'll be like some kind of melee rhythm game. ...not that the idol seems to be having any hesitation, in the end!

    "Then, after we beat you," she turns back to the man. "I'm going to judge that tail of yours for myself." Such a strange demand, but she can't help it. It looks super fluffy.
Kirito     Were it any other non-Gensokyan charging straight at a flying Miko, they probably wouldn't consider THROWN PAPER with kanji on it a threat. But this Kirito is an extreme gamer who's been in the Multiverse for over a year now.

    Not only do his eyes go wide the instant he sees those papers flying at him...

    He gulps.

    Panics a little.

    AND REACTS!

    Instead of drawing his sword he reaches his right hand into his left sleeve. Pulls out a handful of throwing picks! Which are basically... just metal throwing needles. But there's only six of them! And NO TIME to trigger the throwing Sword Skill he actually prefers. So, trusting his instincts...

    The boy ditches all reliance on System Assist and just hurls the picks!

    ...Not for the distant Miko. For the explosive ofuda.

    Metal blades penetrate empowered paper easily, triggering DETONATIONS in the sky. A series of four of those six go off nearly simultaneously while 2 of the picks miss their targets. Only a scant few of the homing tags make it through Kirito's defense and slam against him. KABOOOOM!!

    Yet after a few seconds...

    The boy's coughs are the first thing to escape the ensuing smoke cloud. Then his injured avatar floats forward and upward, out of the cloud. He's got a hand on the sword grip behind his head but seems reluctant to draw it. Instead he rubs his forehead and eyes with his free hand while held aloft by the ever-vibrating fairy wings.

    In truth he did see SOMETHING, but other than flying in that direction on a hunch... he didn't actually see through any illusion.

    He took some nasty 'injuries' from those explosions. It's rendered... weirdly. Instead of missing chunks of clothing or being singed, his sides are covered in GIANT RED GLOWING MARKS that slowly fade. And if the Miko's staring at him... his HP meter does indeed appear near his head, reduced to 2/3rds capacity.

    The boy coughs through the smoke cloud, still not drawing that sword.

    "You've got a pretty violent idea of greeting people, miss shrine maiden." The Spriggan announces, voice full of exasperation and frustration. THAT HURT, it did.

    Kinda.

    Now that he gets a good look at her though...

    "Hrm. I'd heard one of Gensokyo's heroes was a shrine maiden..." Is this her? He's not sure.

    Whatever the case, Kirito's not yet drawn his sword.

    The reason why would be obvious for anyone who knows him well enough.
Kotone Yamakawa Kotone Yamakawa is getting the camera feed from her frone and she does pauyses for a moment. 5R
"We have someona ahead."

She doesn't say more till she catches up with the person her drones spotted. She doesn't make a hotile act she keeps a relaxed posture as she listens to them for a moment.

"So you are looking for a fight?"

Kotone sighs inwardly it seems they really do want a fight but she's not happy about that. She does see Kirito skip ahead due to his flight, that does amuse her. Yet they don't have his sword arm for this which could prove to be problematic.

"I don';t fight in melee I'm afraid."
Sarah Parsle The arrival of the boss-type causes Sarah to look up and sigh. "Oh look, more of this. I'm Sarah Parsle, ecto-youth from Afterus, member of the Predestination Academy for Gifted Ecto-Youths. AKA Death Game High. I'm not too strong so I'm just going to keep going that way if it's okay." She points into the distance, where the illusion is no doubt obscuring things.

She doesn't wait for him to answer, continuing to stroll on. "The other guys are pretty strong. Have fun with them."
Amaterasu      Disappointment from Kotone.

     "Really? NONE of you are melee fighters? Aw c'mon! What happened to those reports from before? I heard all this amazing stuff and-WHOA!" HERE COMES YUNA! With one blast streaking past his side, Kumanokusubi leapt aside. "Okay, if we're gonna do it like this then..." He took a stance, blade lifted off his shoulder and held aside, as if it were sheathed. He looked incredibly focused. ...An then Sarah walked by. "......'ey yo. You can't just-" Ah crap, no time to stop the shortstack.

     "-Ah screw it! Hidden Sun Style, Form One: Slash of Vanishing Origin!"

     And with a blur, the blade was swung. The swing was so fast that the air seemed to curve inwards, rolling itself into some kind of void that drew in the rest of Yuna's shots. Once they were all drawn in, the voice vanished into nothing.

     "Heh. Gonna have to try a little harder than that! C'mon! Show me that strength! I wanna see what's so great about you people!"
Amaterasu      KIRITO

     "....." The miko just watched Kirito's reaction blandly, as the needles shot down several of her talismans. The rest got through and she shielded her eyes from the explosion. "....." Once it cleared, she was a bit surprised to see that his body wasn't wounded in any traditional way. It was just...spots of weird red glow all over him? Must be another Multiverse thing.

     "You're not one to speak of manners, desecrating a holy land as you did." Her eyes narrowed, and with a wave of her arm, several more ofuda formed, two rings revolving around her in a circular cross. "Turn around. Now." And with her other arm raised, a golden staff blinked into existence. The rings on it creating a jangling through the air between the two.

     Shrine Maiden is not pleased.
Kotone Yamakawa Kotone Yamakawa says "I hate to say it but he skipped past you. He just kept flying on to go ahead."

She's being honest and that might distract him, she's not thinking about the long term fall out that Kirito might sufrer from this.

"It's true he does exit...."
Kotone is moving to try and catch uyp but she's a moment oo late as the blade comes and the crazy sword manouvers that are honestly? Just fiction back hom for her, where she is now?

She does however pull her blasters, why blasters? They have a stun setting which she's darn well going to put to use as blue bolts of stunner fire are going the way of the strange swordsman! Kirito so is going to get an earfull about running on ahead alone.
Sanae Kochiya     He's got some substance behind the flashiness, then. Sanae does hesitate, just a moment longer, to watch as Sarah just...kind of moseys on along. What is it with people just up and skipping boss encounters, today!? Are they staging a protest because of the somewhat peculiar male boss ratios on this island? After a light scratch to the back of her head and a helpless shrug, Sanae refocuses on the opponent that is in front of her. "Well, if it's a melee fight you want, I guess I can improvise!" Clasping her hands around that wand of hers, which looks more like a cardboard fly swatter than anything, she begins channeling her divine power, to some end. She's about to produce, a MIRACLE. The wind whips around her, causing the more billowy parts of her robes to catch in the gusts, as she is enveloped in a glow.

    If left otherwise unstopped, she proclaims, "I will perform the miracle, of the cutting paper!" With this, the energy focuses into that wand of hers, which she draws out into one hand. The wand's card end appears to elongate into a broadsword's size, as the wooden stick portion grows into a thickness suitable for a grip. All the while, wind whips around the edge of it, harshly. Opening her eyes again, she strikes a brief pose with her new 'blade' held dramatically, and then barrels in like a hurricane, cutting with a cross-pattern of surprisingly energetic strikes. Since he seems to be into it, she'll make up her own stuff on the fly, too: "Kochiya Style: Kamaitachi Sickle!" The concentrated air around the edges makes the 'cutting' edge of it just a narrow margin larger than is visible. "We'll give you a taste -- and then you'll come hang out with us later, Mister Kuma!" Promise her! "With Miss Yuna and Miss Kotone, there's no way we'll lose!" Well, she's spirited, at least.
Kirito     Touchy, touchy. Kirito makes a somewhat disbelieving face. He cannot believe anyone is capable of such a poor reception, even if he's being a bit cheeky. 'Oh come on now' is written all over his face, but the expression hardens considerably when the unknown miko starts wielding her spiritual powers again. The hand gripping his sword tightens for a moment... one critical moment of decision.

    Were this Alfheim Online, he'd hop to this challenge. An aerial battle with an interesting, even pretty opponent was pretty enticing!

    But this is not Alfheim Online.

    Kirito the Swordsman isn't about to cut up a girl he's just met. Or pick a fight with a completely unknown enemy... when he has nothing obvious to gain from it.

    Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.

    Instead of drawing his sword, the hand cleanly releases the grip and drops down to his sides. "A holy land? Sorry to say I'm pretty ignorant of the local customs. I have a hunch we'll be meeting again soon. When we do... my name is Kirito. A wandering swordsman!"

    He slowly turns, keeping his head towards the shrine maiden though... expecting maybe a name drop or something. But whatever the response is - a name, or more violence, he WILl enter a steep dive and retreat shortly.
Yuna Kagurazaka Well, at least her barrage did *something* resembling good, Yuna thinks as Kumanokusubi just vacuums about half of her barrage into nothingness. "You do seem awfully focused on melee, so I guess I should be so kind as to oblige you ... but you should remember this saying we've got in the mortal world! 'Be careful what you wish for ...'"

As Yuna quotes the old saying, her vambraces snap closed and the Matrix Divider materializes in her hands, taking hold of it with the grip she uses for sword mode.

"'... because you might get it!'" finishes Yuna - and as the Matrix Divider flares with power, she goes into a powerdive at Kumanokusubi, drawing back as she visibly winds up for the strike. Sanae gets into melee range ahead of her, but that's not a problem; Yuna's path hooks around to come in from one of his back flanks, and she swings at Kumanokusubi's back - with the power focused into her weapon being released a split-second BEFORE contact, to act as a cushion. Sort of.

She doesn't want to HURT the guy, just to give him a good solid whack - hopefully while he's busy parrying Sanae's strike. (This also potentially lets her observe his tail up close, but that's not her focus. Really, it isn't.)

(... okay, she might want to pet it later to help make up for the beating she has to help give him, *but still*.)
Amaterasu      And then Sanae goes and does SANAE THINGS. It's a good thing this guy is a total loser because he grins like a maniac and cheers. "Yes! This is what I was talkin' about!" he met those two slashes with two of his own, creating a pair of clashes. Just in time for Kotone's energy bolts to fly his way. "Tch-! Not happenin'!"

     And with a whirl, he forced Sanae back and let loose a horizontal slash on the bolts, taking out several, but allowing a few to pass by and hit. Upon contact, he can feel a tingling sensation that throws him off just enough to give Yuna the opening needed to come at him from behind. He's struck in the back and hurtles forward...less than he would have if she actually kept the power on. "Gah!"

     He recovered quickly enough and then turned to face the three girls. "Whoa hey! Hold up a sec!" He raised a hand indignantly. Was he going to give up!? "...Who the hell's Mr. Kuma!?" Ah, that was it. Of course it was. And then he pointed at Sanae belatedly, "And no touchin' the tail! The tail's off limits, ya hear? Off limits!" ....All three of them kind of wagged though. "Dammit! Now I'm distracted! Time to turn things up a notch!" Gripping the sword handle with both hands, he raised his weapon high above.

     Hidden Sun Style, Form Two: Slash of Shimmering Prominence!"

     And immediately, the weapon burst to life with blue flames. Kumanokusubi swung downward, sending out a wave of fire that swirled around, growing bigger and bigger as it became a veritable flaming tornado of blue. And it was barreling right for the three girls. ...That didn't look like danmaku.

     That's because it wasn't.
Amaterasu      KIRITO

     ...Actually backs down? The miko seemed disbelieving for a moment, blinking several times while staring at him. ...People are capable of actually giving up and backing down? That's a thing? A real thing? "Um..." Clearly she was caught off guard because she had no idea how to response.

     The ofuda revolving around her all begin to burn up one after the other, no longer needed, and the staff she held offensively was lowered to her side. ".....Kirito-san." She repeated his name. At his look, she blinked again. Did he want her name? "....." Well, not like certain people didn't already have their suspicions, she bet.

     "...Konoe." And with that, she let the swordsman go, not giving chase. The fact that he didn't press the matter was still being processed in her mind.
Sarah Parsle Sarah did in fact just walk off and leave everyone else to deal with the boss. Take that, fox guy who can't be in multiple places at once!

Instead, she's walking ahead, simply moving ahead and letting them befriend the fighty swordfox while she pokes around, looking for more hints in the area on where they're supposed to go next.
Kirito     Kirito's response to hearing the name, just before he turns his gaze to his path, is to show Konoe a friendly, if slightly mischevious smile. As if forgiving the fact that she almost blew him up.

    Then he flips around in midair, ending with head towards the ground and legs pointing skyward... and cranks on the speed again. WHOOOOOOOSH!

    A 'fake' sonic boom's the signature of his departure, the air shimmering in a weird ripple akin to bowshock.

    Dratted Alfheim programmers and their exaggerated speed effects!

    Which ends up with Kirito now descending towards the MAIN BATTLE!

    The first thing to assault his senses is the sight of this MASSIVE BLUE FIREBALL. But he's too darned far away to drop in... and isn't sure if the fight's making use of those duel rules the locals mentioned.

    He slows down just a tad and decides to get a good view of the participants to see who's injured, how serious they're going at it, and so on... it'll delay his arrival a bit.
Yuna Kagurazaka Giant flaming tornado? The color doesn't matter; Yuna just takes to the air again and flies to one side of the staircase. IF the tornado FOLLOWS her, she'll have to try and disrupt it or dodge it somehow - although if it follows her on the first dodge, it's probably going to keep homing in on her. Anyway, there are two other girls it could potentially home in on if it's going to home in on anyone, so ... technically the odds aren't that bad that she can dodge it.

And once she's clear, she checks Kumanokusubi's vicinity - making sure he's far enough away from the tornado for safety - before homing back in, Matrix Divider flaring up again, even brighter this time. "You said 'the tail is off limits,' but WHICH tail? You've got more than one! TAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

She does not aim for the tail(s), as curious as she is about how much of a weak spot they constitute. Instead, she's trying to just bring her weapon down on his face, kendo-style.

The bad news for her is, she telegraphed that practically via Western Union, and the manner of her approach means she's WIDE open for a counter, or a parry. Hopefully one of her allies is ready to capitalize on the opening, the way she took advantage when Sanae attacked first a moment ago!
Amaterasu      SARAH

     Being completely unmolested, she is free to plod up the staircase.

     ...It looked like it extended forever, but if she had any sort ofknack for noticing details, she'd notice after a minute or two of climbing that the scenery just repeated itself.

     One side of the stairs, where a fireball must have errantly struck beforehand some distance back, was now ahead of her again. And yet, the rest of the group was definitely back there fighting. She could hear an see the battle.

     There had to be a good explanation for this.
Kotone Yamakawa Kotone Yamakawa is starting to bound about and use her agility to it's fullest though her impacts with floor? Would prove that she's quite heavier than she looks. Like a lot heavier. She's stil wuite fast anf she keeps shooting not stopping the barrage of fire at least until the tail gets napped.

"So a tail raising experiance?"

She's sitll shooting but now comes something else, crazy blue flaming torndo.

"Wait what kind of magic is this?!"

she's trying with everything she can muster to keep away from that fire tornado.
Sanae Kochiya     Even though she's pushed back for the moment, Sanae seems to be in a good mood. Her shoes dig into the turf, as she comes to a sliding stop, but still on-balance. The wind reinforcing her blade seems to be enough so that it isn't damaged, even going against the real thing. She laughs a bit, as the teasing (or is it) is well-received, though then looks a bit disappointed when he insists that there will be no tail touching today. "C'mon! I never get to touch any of them." Kanako won't let her touch white wolf tengu in fear that it would be ill-met. And most of the busy tails around would probably be more trouble then they're worth. Yet, if he really doesn't want it, then it is her duty, as a Good Girl, to not force the issue. "We'll have plenty of time to convince you after this--hmm?"

    It seems that he's done playing around, now that his attackers are. Sanae lifts her feet off the ground as the energy, and fire, begin to build up -- and continue to do so, right in their direction. It's kind of hard to 'dodge' what is practically a wall of flame, so the best she aims for is to keep out of the hottest of it, still close enough to feel a little sweat begin to bead up on her forehead. "I guess you're worked up, huh--" Then she hesitates, as something that comes through her cell phone's radio app completely blindsides her, "Konoe?" Maybe the name was a coincidence, but that it was also a shrine maiden. ...this was definitely no time to be thinking about that, as is evidenced as Sanae gives out a yelp, right before one particularly roiling burst almost seems to consume her!

    It's definitely not danmaku, no. Maybe not quite as dangerous as it looks, but not the 'ha ha, now I've got hash marks, laugh it off' sort of deal. When she emerges her robes are more than a little burnt, and have some (tasteful) holes in them, but the magic wards that bind them keep them mostly intact, as well as their wearer. She's just a little sooty, is all. "Ugh...I got distracted," she coughs, her normally even and controlled hovering a bit more wavering, but then she levels her sword/wand anew, flying over the next crest of flame and then diving down, opposite Yuna's approach, at 'Mister Kuma' from above. The 'blade' of it's barrier of wind begins rotating in a cyclone action of its own, around the edges, making a good approximation of, "Unsealed Technique: Chainsaw Dive Bomber!" Yeah, that works.
Amaterasu      And here it was. The moment of truth. With Yuna and Sanae coming at him from above on both sides, and Kotone strafing the stairwell and letting loose those energy bolts, Kuma closed his eyes and brought his sword down and around, as if it were sheathed again. In his mind, time had slowed down, and everything was still.

     A droplet of water lands on the surface, creating a ripple.

     He opens his eyes and calls out. "Hidden Sun Style, Form Three: Slash of Dividing Heaven And Earth!"

     And he let loose an instantaneous slash, not aimed for any one person or thing. Sanae and Yuna would land after their swings soon after, and Kotone's shots were lost somewhere in the moment. A second passed. The horizon seemed to split into two, slowly sliding apart. ...No wait, that was a trick of the eye.

     "Heh. Not bad. You people live up to the reports after all."

     And then he dropped to one knee.

     Wait, what actually happened here?

     LET'S REWIND

     'Slash of Dividing Heaven And Earth!'

     He drew the sword and swung horizontally, unleashing a cutting projectile that hurtled towards Kotone. And then an uppercut slash, sending another cutting wave up at Sanae head on, followed by a spinning slash, sending one last wave at Yuna from behind, the turn returning him to his original drawn position. Sanae and Yuna's attacks, as well as Kotone's shots all landed in that moment.

     BACK TO THE PRESENT

     Konoe saw as this happened, after giving Kirito a frown. And with a shake of her head, she flew off, disappearing beyond the illusion of the endless staircase. One more was defeated. This was a problem.
Yuna Kagurazaka Yuna lands (sort of) from her attack on Kumanokusubi, turning to see how badly she hit him. She felt it hit, but --

"GYAH!!!" Her armor abruptly sparks violently, just as she twists to a certain distance, and a piece of it explodes hard enough to fling her off her feet. She tumbles down the stairs a little, but her flight pack's wings keep her from rolling too far, and although Yuna is wincing in pain, she takes to the air again, just so gravity can't have her ENTIRELY at its lack of mercy. "Owie ..." She winces, pain visible on her face. "And you live up to your position, warrior ... have we impressed you ... enough to earn passage ... further up ... ?"
Sanae Kochiya     The boundary of Earth and Heaven is Kanako's kind of portfolio! Were these invaders intending to replace the Gods of the Moriya Shrine? ...probably not, and Sanae will have other things on her mind, after that momentary thought and nearly instant dismissal. She feels her mystically reinforced cardboard connect solidly. Yet, for a crazy instant, that is practically ALL she feels. It happens in an eye blink, far faster than she can consciously process, but it ends up with her being thrown clear immediately after: Solidly struck by the rising slash. Being able to fly doesn't help when raw physics is working against your will. It is for that reason, when time seems in her wakeful mind to flow 'normally' again, that Sanae is already sliding along the ground, tumbling a few times for good measure.

    She does finally come to a stop, though. Dirty and scuffed up, with scorch marks...it looks thoroughly like she's the boss that just got beat up. Yet, seeing their opponent go down onto one knee, it seems like that was enough, for now. The enlarged cardboard and stick still held in her hand, pristine despite how the rest of its wielder looks, shrinks back down to size, and she shakily stands up, shaking a few half-burnt frog and snake talismans from one of her sleeves. "You're pretty good," she comments. "For that, I'll honor your request not to touch your tail." It's kind of hard to appreciate when she's a bit bruised and aching, anyway. "Ah, yes...there is that, Mister Kuma. If we've satisfied your curiosity, then we'd like for you to do the same. And...there is one other thing."

    "After this is over, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine. I think you two would get along, since she's a strong sword fighter, too!" Is she playing matchmaker here? It's hard to tell, she could just be innocently honest. Regardless of that outcome, though, she lifts into the air, "...ugh, I'm beat, though. I'm not in any shape to face the final boss like this."
Amaterasu      'Kuma' chuckled and then flopped back, sitting onto the stairs lazily. "Yeah, sure. Fine with me. I'm satisfied." He waved a hand dismissively, setting his far too long sword down onto the step below. "I'm good. Ya'll wanna go on? Go on. I did my part in this mess." He pat the stairs, and immediately, the illusion dispelled. It all looked the same as before, except above, where there was once sky and stairs, was now the sight of an ancient golden palace in the distance.

     Thankfully Sanae wouldn't try to touch his tails. NOT THE TAILS. ...But the mention of a strong sword fighter suddenly makes them wag again. "Really!? A strong swordsman!?" ....Some people...or gods, are so simple. So very simple.

     But at the very least, it seemed like they would be allowed to pass now.

     That's what mattered here.
Kotone Yamakawa Kotone Yamakawa isn't sure just what happened there he does however stop her firing for a momnet. She's still a bit conused but it looks like things have well ended well enough. She lowers her weapons moving to hoslter them. She shakes her head a little bit then looks at the man for a moment.

"I didn't know swords /could/ do things like that."

She gets he was the gate keeper and looking to test himself after all she doesn't hold any bad blood over this.

"I admit I'm not overly fond of stuff like this but you were pretty good and showy."