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Hiromi	Invitations have been sent out, promising some social occasion, hosted by Hiromi, with a mix of welcoming and threatening language. It's a test, a feast, a challenge, or a party. Maybe it's all at once. Directions are provided to a particular warp gate.     This side of the gate shows it as an array of standing stones near the edge of an island. A mountain near entirely of solid rock towers above, blocking the northern view. The sun is low in the west. Other islands can be seen, not so far off that even the usual dangers of the Great Ocean would prevent travel, without the gates, but they're not important now. An opening has been carved into the mountain up a short ramp, showing a smooth, stone floor into what must be a structure, though the visible stone may as well be a solid mass untouched by mason's level.     The interior is less cave-like than one might expect. The whole of the place has been hollowed out, replaced by multiple levels, mezzanines, stairs, and columns. Windows, long openings in the stone, allow sunlight in from one side. Lanterns hang from stone columns and rafters. A multitude of fur and cloth rugs cover much of the floor, wooden tables, benches and chairs are lined in rows high and low, and everywhere can be seen the promised feast.     The men and women in rough-spun gray-black attire are probably the ones who prepared it. If accosted, they perform a salute, flat palm to fist, but are reluctant to speak, and quite busy ensuring that no one will need to do more than sit down to have a hot, fresh meal. Much of the drink is alcoholic, and someone may recognize that the most plentiful available, some white-clouded drink in small bowls, as nigorizake. Cooked meat is piled high, some on grills over still-hot basins of coals. The focus on seafood suggests local sourcing, both fishing and clam-diving. Rice, packed on its own or in cakes or crackers, is abundant, and vegetables are of similar variety.     But all of that is overshadowed by the one waiting near the center of the room. She has no throne, but a stone dais, on which she sits, cross-legged. There's a small pile of bones to one side of her, and to the other the emptied shell of what is probably two meters of crab leg. When she stands, she dwarfs even that. 'A tanned woman, with a wolf's ears and tail the same dark color as her hair' is a trite and inadequate description for even her physical presence, and most of her isn't. To those sensitive to such things, her spirit seems fills the mountain-hall. To those not, the feeling of there being 'something there' is still nearly impossible to ignore.     All the more so when she opens her mouth. "I am," is understandable enough, nothing strange but for that she says it as if the words were awkward shapes on her tongue, but "Hiromi," hits anyone not a psychic blank with every layer of its meaning at once. It's the wordless, pictureless equivalent of seeing blazing letters in the top of one's vision, with a silent gong of entry, and every subtitle at once. 'The Archwolf.' 'The Beautiful Wolf Empress.' 'The Last Hunter.' They aren't even truly words, but concepts understood before reaching that point of the mind, that one must then interpret in language, only after the fact.     The sound she makes after that isn't a word in any sense. It's a howl, but it carries that same layered, perfectly understandable meaning. 'Welcome.' 'Welcome to my home.' 'Enjoy yourself here.' It doesn't make mention of a challenge, nor a test.     There's at least thirty seconds still to go, for that, but not much more.
Silver Carnation	Silver Carnation never once touches the ground on her way through the warpgate. She's speedily flying into the cave-dinnerhall, waving at the cool packmembers and moving to take a seat once she's allowed to. But as she starts scooping rice and fish, dressed in her naval-tasseled uniform with a silver carnation on it, a cap, and little boots, the 5'0 tall teenager turns towards Hiromi. She's unmistakeable. And as she speaks, Silver remembers something about a test. So, she starts eating like a goblin, trying to get as much fish and rice in her mouth, as she can, swallow, and then wait for something to happen, bringing her wand to hand on her lap. She's on guard. "I am Silver Carnation! We've spoken! Good fish. Really like the fish-y flavors." With things that feel like this, you can never let your guard down! Sadly she didn't think about poison. Would a Concord member poison their own?
Cordelay Levail	Cordelay enters with an air of confidence around her, excited by the challenging wording of the invitation. The light from the lanterns makes her golden hair seem to shimmer as her emerald eyes survey the room before landing on the hostess. "I thank you for your invitation, Lady Hiromi." She intones formally. "Whether you called us here for a banquet or a battle, I, Cordelay Levail, the daughter of the Dragon, never back down from a challenge." Cordelay takes a piece of fish from a nearby table and consumes it with the utmost elegance, but her eyes remain fixed on the Archwolf and her body is tense and ready to spring into action. She moves with the deadly grace of one who has spent their life on the battlefield, prepared for combat at any moment.
Utsuho Reiuji	Utsuho Reiuji can count the number of personal invitations she has gotten on the fingers of one hand (which is convenient, because she doesn't have a second). When she got this one, whether she would show up or not wasn't in question; the only question was whether she would show up in time. This time, she did. She flew in from the gate because she can do that. Parts of the interior are familiar to her in a weird way. Cave-like but not - it's like home, as Utsuho spent almost all of her life in the Underworld, and there are places down near the Former Capital where they built into rock like this. She strides in like she owns it, and slows down only when she sees Hitomi. The words (maybe the not-words) hit her like a battering ram, but Utsuho gets the impression anyway. "My name is Utsuho Reiuji! The Scorching Divine Flame! Sun of the Underworld! It's good to meet you. I always take challenges! And, if you're okay with it..." Utsuho does not eat like a gremlin. Utsuho eats like a raven: without a whole lot of discrimination. She wants some of that meat. And the rice. And the fish. And the sake. She might be a little distracted.
Kaito Kumon	A young man arrives. He's new. This is the first time he's been seen outside of the Concord's member dossier, where he's borne the same neutral expression - and the same red-and-black outfit. He bears no weapons, or means of combat, or anything out of the ordinary besides the outfit, really. "Impressive," he says, shortly, looking from the spread to the servants to the one up on the dias. "An impressive showing of all things. Power, abilities, resources, generosity." He starts loading up a plate - some fruit, but mostly meat, and goes to sit and eat calmly and neatly. The invitation mentioned a challenge, after all - and it wouldn't do to fight on an empty stomach.
Okada Izou	An odd stone structure that feels both natural and unnatural at the same time. A bunch of stairs and windows and lanterns and all kinds of homey shit all over the place. A bunch of grey-robed silenced people who don't speak. Meat and booze all over the place, more than most people will ever see in their lives.      And also the *giant wolf-god thing*.      As the last bit of sound and sense echoes and fades from the mind and the words, as reeling is done and headaches are born, there is the sound of a popping cork from a jug, and then the sound of someone downing the whole thing at once, and then the sound of someone wiping their mouth with their sleeve, and then, at last, spoken words.      "This," Okada Izou finally decides, "Is fuckin' *weird*."      Then, he stands up and disappears.      When he reappears it's directly in front of Hiromi. The blade's already flashing out of his scabbard at ridiculous speed, sparks grinding from the weapon, steel glimmering in the light of the grills. Izou does not stop long enough to let The Archwolf just eat him - he goes right past, skidding to the edge of the dais and shouldering the blade.      "True Name, Okada Izou. Class, Manslayer."      "I ain't really the type, normally, but since you asked so nicely..."      "Challenge accepted."
Kukuru	Following the invitation from Hiromi, Kukuru's made sure to prepare well for today's meeting. She's slept well, taking a nice long rest until about an hour ago to give herself ample time to get dressed, prepare some welcoming snacks, and catch another nap before the whole thing. Alas, that nap's made a mess of her hair, but her stuff's already laid out well enough that, once it is time to arrive, she just takes another look at the directions and grabs her stuff. Moments later, she's no longer in her room, but at the entrance to the carved mountain cave as a dark cloud appears with some vaguely generic energy noises, followed by Kukuru stepping out of it. Her snack preparation proves to be unnecessary when she sees the outright meals and drinks provided. She behaves, though, even greeting the attendants with light waves and asking them if they need anything while they're there. Upon spotting Hiromi, Kukuru peers upwards at her while she introduces herself with that awkward intonation and that mental subtitling. She stands there for a few moments, looking almost puzzled before smiling brightly and thrusting her hand forward with her thumb pointed upwards. "You're doing great. Keep it up." She speaks with genuine encouragement, beaming even while finally moving to get some food for herself. "My name's Kukuru. Ku-ku-ru. Nice to meet you... You've got a really nice place here. And so many friends already... Thanks for inviting us." A beat as she samples some of the meat. "I brought some stuff, if you wanna eat any of that. Now or later, either's fine."  She also speaks as though she doesn't have her guard up at all, as if she's completely unaware of what was in that invitation to begin with. A quick probe of her mind, however, would reveal that she's completely aware of it. She's just not worried about actually keeping her guard up. It'll happen when it happens.
Staren	Staren flies in like Silver Carnation, except she's riding a flying broom sidesaddle. The labcoat is closed, with some sort of harness over it with technical gizmos attached that look like they enhance the wearer in some way. She lands by the tables, putting away the broom in a bag too small for it to logically fit. "Staren Wiremu. Nice to make your acquaintance." She starts gathering a plate, assuming this is a buffet. "Ooh, I love seafood! ...Wait, are we eating first or fighting first? It's probably not good to fight on a full stomach." She sets the plate down, looking uncertain. "Um... are you going to say anything, or...?"
Undivided Queens	Evidently, this is where the new pair had been going when all that radio business started. A quaint little island in the middle of an endless ocean that the Empress had insisted on seeing and the Queen didn't believe existed until they got there. One spending time taking in the landscape, the other away for a while to surveill the ocean waters themselves, as if to ascertain their reality.     The two arrive at once, and their combined presence expands through the carven halls like a low pressure explosion. They are at once, so opposite that they cannot mingle together, rebounding off one another in distinct directions, and yet so complementary that they almost go together like wine.     Seilatiya is obvious the moment she enters, as a woman as such overwhelmingly sublime beauty that it can only be described as 'dazzling', impossible to take in all at once, like appreciation for the whole can't all fit in the brain at once. Only a long, long list of all the most appealing aspects, of which there are many, no matter what one would normally think. With perfectly fair skin and pale pink hair worn in the longest and most voluminous of what many would call 'hime-style', and a layered, free-flowing outfit of white and red spangled in gold, her appearance brings to mind, simultaneously, opulent Rome and the imperial East's artworks. The only things at odds with her red eyeliner and glittering hair comb are a number of braids pulled around the back of her head and a bracelet of beads and tiny white carvings.     Isahane by comparison radiates an aura of vast, irrepressible confidence, both in the form of obvious, rippling might, and in an uncanny sense of palpable disinterest in any kind of problem; an irrepressible air of total liberation; a woman incapable of second guessing. She is nearly two feet taller than her compatriot, with tanned skin, and silver-white hair, the former crossed in faint scars in places, and the latter freely spilling over shoulders and back, bound together only at the bottom with a heavy metallic band, yet partially shortened by an out of place, incredibly elaborate high knot. She is dressed, for the moment, in a slightly too-short folded green and violet-dyed sleeveless top and slitted pants, braided rope hung with charms, and same-coloured woven waist-shawl, woven with geometric designs of some ethnic significance, along with gunmetal grey boots that match the conspicuous, flanged and sharply angled horns on her head.     Seemingly satisfied with the outside, Seilatiya makes it her business to immediately find the coziest, most conspicuously important place at the table, and begin digging right in with what look more or less like chopsticks, waving the staff over with cheerful, casual abandon, easy smiles and sultry winks so that she need not reach for anything.     Isahane, instead, steps up to the center with Hiromi. There are some similarities in their overall presentation, but Isahane looks the more 'culturally centered', like she would belong in a larger group. Certainly no court or ballroom, however; Hiromi can smell salt and leaves and earth and blood on her. She must have eaten before arriving.     "So you're that one so bold as to challenge so many strangers." she says, making no effort at hiding her looks up and down Hiromi. Her teeth are slightly sharp when she smiles. "This one is not bad at all. I am bored of such minor skirmishes. I may even rust. May I sharpen myself against you?"     And yet, though she speaks in terms of blades, when Okada makes the first move, she immediately capitalizes without a word, or even a thought, of hesitation, by maneuvering into something that *resembles* a rooted, martial artist's 'power stance', without actually being one, and swinging such a tremendous uppercut for the wolf queen that a ring of air booms around her fist.
Hiromi	Nothing here is poisoned. It's all carefully prepared by people who really know their way around the ingredients, though whether it's 'good' is still a matter of opinion. If you like steamed food, there's no end to it. Everything is ready and waiting.     The attendants can speak, as any who press find. They just give short answers. No, they don't need any help. They're just about done, because things are starting. Several of them are perfectly happy to wait on Seilatiya     Staren wants more words, but he's too slow. That's fair, since most people are slower than a Man Slayer rushing in for the kill. Hiromi's eyes track Okada, but only when he stops. If she can react to his speed with anything but a wickedly sharp-toothed grin, she doesn't show it. He strikes, and keeps moving. She's wearing no armor, and even if what she does have on was tremendously, mythically magical, it's easy to find a spot to strike. The only problem is that it's like trying to slice a statue, as hard as the stone beneath them. It takes tremendous effort, not just a sharp sword, to make her bleed. His habit of wrecking blades is likely to continue.     Isahane gets a response, a simple motion of Hiromi's hand, taking that tremendous force and raising with it, along with widening eyes of surprise, if not shock. It can't be shocking, because, "Your aura. I like it." Those aren't the words she says, because she didn't say any words. It's just like before. That same howl repeats. "Yes! Welcome! Enjoy yourself!" That's Isahane's answer.     Anyone who wished for more time to eat can blame Okada for any imminent interruptions. He did, in that immediately literal sense, start it. Hiromi's activation, the sudden and oppressive sense of her presence, the (fortunately imaginary) crushing sensation of violent mania, was slowed only by Isahane's follow-up. Those serving the food make sure to remove themselves from the paths of fire ahead of time, knowing how this works. Being seated may avoid becoming a target, though it's difficult to remain so when the attention turns in one's direction.     The two closest share the immediate counter. Hiromi's foot comes down on the ground, but it's not that same power stance, not a preparation for a strike of her body. Her foot sinks into the stone dais with a loud impact, and then the stone blossoms around her, reforming itself like a flower, striking in all directions with crushing force and a not-insignificant risk of trapping someone between or beneath its petals. It flows better than concrete, but even that is an illusion. It's a solid in motion.     With the Man Slayer behind her, it's Isahane who gets one follow up strike as Hiromi steps in, with a simple bid to plant her foot on her opponent and spin, with more than enough force to knock her clear to the second floor. Right afterward, she leaps from the room's center, targeting each of her guests in turn. There's a reason for that, why it has to be everyone, but she's not saying just now what that is.     She carriers no weapons, but neither does she need any. Utsuho is the first to face her, with a flying kick that will upend the table behind her in multiple pieces if she avoids it. Kaito is next, reached by another single bound, and a dropping heel that's dangerous even with the shockwave from where it hits the stone. Another moment, and then she's in front of Cordelay, crouching low to aim an uppercut at her much shorter opponent. Silver receives the opposite, as Hiromi leaps high, and kicks off a rafter to accelerate nearly straight down at her, absolutely wrecking that table, and grabbing a few flying table knives in the process. When these are flung at Staren and Kukuru, they're not just knives anymore, but what are most succinctly described as divinely empowered throwing weapons.
Hiromi	There's no gentleness. It's might be a test, but the killing intent is there. Every blow is made to maim or kill, either by the design of its form or the unstoppable force behind it. This isn't what most could imagine 'sparring' to mean. But there's probably a reason for that, too.
Cordelay Levail	As Hiromi begins her assault, Cordelay's battle-honed reflexes come into play. She throws herself backward as the Archwolf unleashes her uppercut, rolling backward before flashing a wide smile. "Excellent, excellent! I have never faced someone like you before!" Cordelay recovers gracefully from her roll, quickly pinpointing Hiromi's location near the wrecked table and drawing her twin short swords. Grasping one of them by the chain attached to the hilt, she swings the blade at Hiromi like an edged flail, attempting to use her speed and the distraction of the environment to land a telling blow.
Kukuru	The battle is on without further ado, and Kukuru finds her eating interrupted by way of knives being flung around, tables being smashed, faces getting punched in, weapons being thrashed about, and so on. Kukuru, for her part, remains in place as she raises a hand towards the knives, flinching visibly when they rip right into her hand and face. Yanking the knives out with a pained noise, she sets them onto one of the already-used plates before turning to the attendants while staining her shirt with blood (again). "Thanks for the food. You should probably go." She warns them while her wounds close back up, but not without some visible strain and lingering pinkness from that freshly healed flesh. Watching Hiromi's movements and vaguely aware of what she's capable of, the green-haired whatever Kukuru is lets out a long exhale as she disappears into another flash of darkness only to appear above the Archwolf seconds later. There's a glint of metal as her hands, covered by massive claws, emerge from that darkness as she falls headfirst. As she does, she reaches for Hiromi, swinging her claws downwards. Kukuru doesn't swing them like she's trying to cut into her, however, but swings them more like oversized fists as if trying to just plow them right into-or through-the warrior's upper body wholesale. It's not a particularly flashy or finesse-heavy maneuver, although it doesn't seem like Kukuru intends to even bother with maintaining those kinds of appearances in favor of just swinging harder.
Okada Izou	Ah, of course it doesn't do anything. Of course it doesn't do anything at all. Why would it? The horse demon. The weird goo monster. Now this. Of course the sword doesn't do anything meaningful.      And then the concrete.      As usual, Izou is completely out of his depth. The concrete hits him dead-on, entirely. With no idea what to expect and no idea how to react, Izou eats it directly in the chest. The 'solid in motion' smashes him backwards and it's *only* the fact that it doesn't roll directly over him that gives him a chance to keep himself on his feet.      Said feet hit the wall of the cave. Said feet flip forward onto the concrete. And then he's gone.      He's fast. He's ludicrously fast. When he was a human he was swift and powerful as a falcon - as a Servant he's much, much faster. The sound of wind doesn't even precede him - it follows behind him, not an indicator of his location but a trail.      And then it disappears.      Izou himself has vanished utterly, from all senses. Mental. Physical. Spiritual.      He's waiting.      He's waiting for that precise moment. That precise second. That precise instant where everything slows down, where, between all other attacks, he can move.      And then it comes.      It comes in the chaos. It comes in the storm. It comes in the whirling madness of the combat, in between the seconds. It is a single perfect moment.      Okada Izou reappears, the blade clicking back into place from a draw too fast to see.
Silver Carnation	The downwards kick off a rafter should just destroy Silver. It's not something to expect with her speed and unpredictability, but Silver was expecting it anyways. The wand is held tightly... And three transluscent copies, all silver, appear in place of the magical girl. One moves to slide across the table, which is destroyed in the blow, causing tablewear to batter her barrier. No go, and it fades away. One, still sitting, is crushed. Bruises appear all over her body as she's sent sliding. No go, and it fades away. One kicks off the table with her chair, nearly dodging the attack besides the sheer force of the blow causing her to topple to the side, lightly bruised. That sounds good. <Execute> The copy that kicked off the table with the chair suddenly becomes the Real Silver, pointing the wand at Hiromi's center mass and firing silvered bursts of magical girl energy. They do not kill, under any circumstances, but they're highly damaging! They just get a glancing blow, though, so Silver prepares her real attack. Flying upwards, she once again splits into copies. Each tries to hit Hiromi, and whichever one is most successful is the one that is 'real.' The first copy tries to shoot an SMG barrage of close-ranged inaccurate bursts straight for her face. The second pulls down her shimmer barrier and moves for her back, trying to punch her over and over with superpowered fists and good punching skill. And the third flies straight up, starts flying over Hiromi, and starts firing from above, shooting blasts to scatter all around her and the table and hopefully do some real damage! Whichever copy works, that's also where Silver ends up, positionally. "You're real strong! But I've got some skill of my own, got it~?"
Utsuho Reiuji	Utsuho gives some of the people she recognizes a little wave with her rod arm as they ener. She spends a long moment looking at the Queens, chewing absently, before she shakes her head - possibly to clear it. She's a little distracted. With what, you ask? Utsuho was busy trying to try as much of the feast as possible before she inevitably got removed. She is thinking back to a day when she got physically picked up and locked out of the room from one of the few times Satori had a guest, back before she could turn into a person, because she wouldn't stop trying to steal the nuts. Not that she's going to admit that. But what it means is that when Hiromi attacks, Utsuho is just sitting there, chewing on some fish. She doesn't really try to get out of the way; the kick comes in, smashing her into the table, and while Hiromi doesn't upend it because she's hit Utsuho instead, Utsuho manages to roll across it and knock off every plate in her path without letting go of the fish. A spray of little energy pellets goes every which way as she fires wildly and blindly, midroll. "...ow." Dizzy, Utsuho sits up, and then springs up, standing on the tabletop. "I thought we were going to have a danmaku duel or something! But if you want to go full on I'm already ready! I'm always ready!" Heat builds up around Utsuho as she raises a hand into the air, and a sphere of black energy lifts up, a shimmering corona around her. It rises up about twenty feet before it ignites, blooming into a sphere of white-hot flame bigger than a person - it itself is at least ten feet across, Utsuho is only barely underneath it. She makes a chopping motion with her rod, and the thing descends at Hiromi, slamming into the floor and sitting there like... Well, a rough hemisphere of solar flame, roiling as it refuses to immediately go out. There's not much it can be other than what it is. Utsuho is being polite, though; though it is absolutely hot enough to reduce a table to nothing but char, it is not hot enough to melt the floor and will not leave a crater, just scorch marks. That's politeness from her.
Undivided Queens	Instantly, upon the clash of Isahane's hand to Hiromi's, Seilatiya's eyes widen completely in the metaphorical stands. She goes from just the most relaxed posture at the head of a banquet table for drinking, to eagerly leaning forward, fingers laced beneath her chin, bright eyes now taking in every inch of the wolf queen's straining muscles. And she says "Hey, Isahane. She's actually really really strong, yes? I mean, strong in *that* way. She's a wolf, isn't she? Are wolves normally really skilled in fighting like that? I've never seen someone absorb even one of your punches like that, never mind that fighting style."     Isahane is currently preoccupied. Evidently she was also not expecting Hiromi to actually take that blow head on. Silent shock, up close for Hiromi, appears in her eyes, and yet nowhere else. Her pupils, slightly slitted, dilate to absorb everything happening. Even Okada behind her, taking measure of his speed. Like a wolf repelled by fire on its first attempted lunge, now suddenly planning a new opening.     She manages to guard herself from the ground strike with impressive speed. Instead of just protecting her vitals as best she can from the wave of spearing stone, she defies expectations by taking the absurdly bold move of leaning into it, securing her root and meeting its force as if she were crashing into the ground from on high, horizontally. Broken earth rolls off her scarred arms like a parted wave, tearing into her pants and denting her boots, and yet somehow absorbed and diverted by her weight and fortitude.     "I will be fine." she then, finally, responds to Seilatia. "This proves that my time is not wasted here. I expected a warm up, but now perhaps I should have warmed up before coming." a grim, yet irrepressibly excited smile, exposes those teeth again. "O~kay. If you say so." coos Seilatiya. "But you should really use your Runestone. I don't know what her special technique is, but I don't think even you can batter through it easily. Look! That man-loving guy couldn't even slice into her with his sword! And he looks really skilled too!"     What that means is answered shortly when Isahane reaches out her arm, as if intending to grab something next to her, and from the stands, something like a twelve-sided crystal, flawless and prismatic, the size of a softball flies out to meet her. A fan of silver blade-petals unfurls from around it, and creates a rippled ring of rose-shaped patterns. Light shines from within its core, and illuminates inscrutable symbols on each surface. The next instant, a shimmering snowfall of glowing white motes coalesces into her outstretched palm, and her fingers clench shut around it.
Undivided Queens	It is also a sword. However, far unlike Okada's, her blade is easily seven feet long, thick and double-edged, with something more like an axe head than a point, engraved in repeating circuits of fullers and geometric embellishments. She swings it around her and up over her shoulder with the ease of a wooden bat, and then chases Hiromi not by running after her, but by kick-leaping from the wall of one stone protrusion to balance atop another one, then snap it in half under the force of her explosive jump, dangerously horizontal.     Instead of just trying to get right next to Hiromi, she puts her entire weight --every muscle in her body-- into a massive, turning strike with the whole edge of the great sword, immensely powerful in the way of a champion heavyweight boxer's strongest haymaker, yet still oddly graceful in the way that her supreme kinesthetic sense involves every sinew that could possibly contribute to the effort all at once. Not content with just the single swing however, she slams the curved 'tip' of the blade into the ground, then allows her momentum to carry her over it like a pole jump, landing on its other side with the flat supported across both shoulders, and then spinning all the way around again for two full revolutions of immense, cleaving slashes, turned into one final advancing-stomp and over-the-shoulder vertical finisher.
Kaito Kumon	Kaito has a mouthful of food when Okada starts attacking. He hurriedly starts clearing it, chewing furiously and then grabbing some water to wash it down as Hiromi starts her response, and then going to stand up. He doesn't *quite* make it. SHe leaps over his table as he pushes his chair out and stands up, and he looks to be in a helpless predicament, caught with his guard down and no weapons close at hand... His hand lashes out as her foot comes down - throwing something at close range, trying and failing to deter the strike, but the attempt still connecting. The object, produced seemingly out of nowhere, lands nearby - a playing card. Kaito falls back, ducking and rolling beneath the table to get some space. "We're starting, then," he says, rubbing his bruise. "Sooner than expected, but not sooner than anticipated." He reaches into his vest, and pulls a pair of objects out - a large belt buckle with a knife ornament, and a padlock. The belt goes on his waist, and the padlock is held out in front of himself. "Henshin," he states, calmly, as he clicks it open.                                     BANANA!                                     And then part of the ceiling unzips. Literally: a giant zipper appears, opening up a hole into somewhere else - from which a giant metallic BANANA appears, floating down slowly towards Kaito as he slams the padlock into the slot on his belt and cuts it open with the knife.                              COME ON! BANANA ARMS!                               The giant BANANA latches onto Kaito's head, and unfolds - forming armor plates and pauldrons and a helmet, while in his hands a short lance - in the distinct shape of a peeled BANANA - appears. "Know that you face Kamen Rider Baron," says the helmeted Kaito, bringing up the lance and pointing it at Hiromi. "And if it is a challenge that you seek, you shall find me far from wanting." And with that out of the way, he runs forward, vaulting off of the table at her, brandishing the lance!
Staren	Staren jumps when Hiromi's foot starts reshaping the ground. Magic activates at some hidden trigger for those who can sense it, and the discs on that harness light up and project a fuzzy field around her, which flashes and sputters a bit as the knives hit it, Staren stumbling back from the impact then arresting her movement with the flight spell she just activated. She holds out her right arm, hand clenched in a fist, but nothing happens. Oops, right, that weapon isn't equipped right now. Her eyes dart around at the attacks, watching how Hiromi is fighting. Staren smiles, slightly, ears perking up and tail twitching.     "I see. You won't insult us by going easy. Then neither shall I." Coconut-sized metal spheres warp in around her and hover in the air, spreading out to get redundant sensor coverage of the whole chamber. The catgirl flies up to the mezzanine, with one hand reaching into her bag, and then turns and drops prone, sighting through what anyone with minimal exposure to technological weapons would identify as 'some kind of sniper energy rifle', but... against a target the size of Hiromi, at this range, careful aim isn't exactly required.     It fires three laser pulses in a fraction of a second, each imparting more than enough energy to flash-fry an unprotected target, though against this one, who can say whether it will burn, ablate and explode a tiny fleck of flesh, or something stranger.     That's it. No fancy trick, just shooting. Need to establish a baseline of effectiveness and see what she's fighting.
Staren	Staren *winces* when she sees how much food has been destroyed already "You do realize most people can't use danmaku, right??" she calls out to Utsuho... although she isn't COMPLETELY certain she won't get a response like 'Oh didn't you hear, everyone can do danmaku now, you just...'     At Seilatia's voice, her ears turn and she looks at the empress for a moment, taking note of the appearance that goes with the voice.     And then just stares at IS THAT MAN FIGHTING WITH A GIANT BANANA. What.
Utsuho Reiuji	"That's why I said 'or something'!" Utsuho calls back at Staren, which is probably slightly better to hear. But something else catches her attention. Something unmistakable. Something... fruity. ... "Don't you mean Kamen Rider Banana?"
Kaito Kumon	"No!" says Kaito, pausing his assault to snap his head towards Utsuho. "It's BARON!"
Hiromi	There's an approving grunt when Cordelay avoids the blow, both combatants showing a perfect recovery, despite how heavily into the follow-through it seemed Hiromi had been leaning. An instant rejudgment, the acknowledgement that she'll have to try harder to land that hit. While earning respect in a new social situation is rarely a bad thing, Hiromi's is delivered with exacting violence. First, with her back still turned, she tears a lantern off the column. It's casually tossed into Cordelay's face midattack, followed by Hiromi grabbing for the blade, then yanking it to her, all just to be that much more careful about leaving nowhere to avoid her opposite fist, aimed for center-of-mass. The damage that must be occurring to her hand is ignored.     Kukuru gets a couple of those martial arts salutes as the servants(?) leave. Her teleport doesn't quite catch Hiromi unawares, but it does let her land her hits, finding the same incredibly hard body that Okada's blade did. Attacking becomes more difficult when Hiromi drops with her hands to the ground, then launches feet-first, not aiming a kick this time, but to grab Kukuru between them and bring her to the ground with a quick twist of her legs.     No ground-and-pound has much time to continue past that, because now Silver is back on her feet and firing back. The nearby table is kicked up into the air when Hiromi slams her foot on stone, intercepting fire (far more than thin wood should take) from one direction, then tossed at the flying Silver-copy to take another, but it's the close-in blows that end up landing anyway. "'Skills'!" Hiromi shouts, happily agreeing. "How interesting!" This is followed by a clap of her hands. "'Demonstration'!" So enthused, the stone rises up right under her, a solid pillar, which she drops off of, only to aim a leg blow that crushes it into a thousand pieces, aimed to make anything remotely near Silver have a very bad time.     Isahane reaches her next. (Seilatiya is safely away in the stands.) There's a look in Hiromi's eyes as that blade approaches. Calculating Far too intelligent to make one think of a wolf, but hardly sane. A sane person wouldn't be making the judgment of whether to take that sword, just to see whether she can. Her indecision lasts a moment too long, and only her head moves out of the way. It's a deep, deep cut into her shoulder. Her left arm should be useless, even before the follow-up swings happen. So much blood, and yet she grins. The flesh comes back together on its own, her body refusing to remain unwhole, at the same time as she leaps over the spinning strikes, placing one hand on the blade's flat, and vaulting into a straight kick with her heel to Isahane's face.     "Good!" It's still not a word. Just a concept, like agreement, fulfillment, satisfaction, but that's how a human-like mind, any that has grown with the concept of languages, can most easily interpret it. "Show your strength! Prove your claws can reach an Archwolf. Not many come close."
Hiromi	Utsuho sends food everywhere. This is actually fine, because there's way more food in this hall than the guests could ever eat. Interrupting Hiromi spending time with Isahane's giant sword is less fine, but it's the nature of the fight that it has to happen. The descending sun is among the easier attacks to see coming, and the harder of attacks to see cleanly blocking, without ever having seen that magic before. Split-second decisions lead to Hiromi dashing back away and out, letting Isahane deal with Utsuho's sun on her own, as the Raven gets a single fastball chunk of human-sized stone, freshly broken from someone else breaking a pillar, for her trouble.     Kaito's attack is refreshingly straightforward. He attacks with a lance, she catches its tip with a discarded drinking bowl from the nearest table. She looks surprised when this fails to work, despite not being something that should have. His weapon actually finds its mark, though it meets the same difficulty in sinking far into her as every other weapon yet. Still, that could have been fatal, if it weren't already closing. And having not slowed from their mutual advance at all, she adds his momentum to her own as she takes the clay shards of the sake cup between her fingers and aims her strike at his neck.     Staren fires. The first one hits. That, too, would kill someone. "You'll learn if you try. If you don't try hard, you can't learn. Always act like your life depends on it. Survive." Staren's exposure is low, but that makes less difference if Hiromi avoids her final shot by charging directly under her in the structure, taking it in two steps, and aims a crating strike directly upward, to destroy everything in that general area.     Okada waited. Naturally, he only reaches her after all this time. All these... few seconds of rapid, violent destruction since the battle had begun. The feast would have barely begun. The one guest still eating hasn't had time to finish a full course. This time, finding her while she's still focused on someone else, her stone-like skin already broken, he lands a blow that feels solid, that will spill her guts to the floor. If he looks back, he'll see the blood, the slowly closing wound, the exposed organs retreating, and the look she gives him. "You understand, too. Always taking things seriously. I'll take this seriously, too." The drop into stance is for real, this time. She's too far away to hit him. But that single, launching step takes her on a course for him, anyway, ready to crush everything in the way. The best that could happen, to someone taking that head on, is the hope that they make a water landing.
Cordelay Levail	Cordelay's expression is a stoic mask as Hiromi catches her attack and pulls her forward by the chain of her own sword. The lantern flies toward her as she flies through the air and, faced with a bone-shattering impact, Cordelay shows the true extent of her agility. Reaching out to the incoming lantern, Cordelay pushes off the top of it before it can strike her. The shift in position causes the projectile to pass harmlessly beneath her as she's pulled toward Hiromi and twists in midair, attempting to wrap the chain she's still holding around the Archwolf's neck while thrusting her other sword toward the base of her skull, matching Hiromi's ferocity with her own.
Silver Carnation	A close-ranged punch. Both good, because it worked, and bad, because it leaves her in range of the Arch-Wolf. AS the stone pillar rises and is crushed, Silver's summoning more copies. One tries to fly above the pillar, but the shards go up, too. She gets impaled and torn to pieces. Another flies backwards, or another flies to the side, and is also shredded up. No good. Only one strategy works. Turning back on the damn Shimmer Aura to full, and flying backwards with a kick off the ground for as much mobility as possible. Shards still hit Silver, but they glance off her Shimmer Aura, leaving bruises and scrapes where she should be, logically, dead without it. It's a lot of damage for a glancing blow, though. "When you hit like that...man, I'm glad you're with us! Let's make things worse for you." Silver's copies split off once more, this time a lot more of them. They start surrounding Hiromi, all firing the Purifier Beam up close. Hiromi can easily knock them all back, but the number is the problem...and so is the distraction of them. One more Silver goes up high, and moves to start divebomb firing again, since the table is in a bad position to be thrown at her again. She's being fired on by all sides, and hopefully, one of them will hit her where it hurts.
Kukuru	Dodging certainly doesn't appear to be in the forefront of Kukuru's mind compared, as her strategy seems to be just sticking to close range so she can take full advantage of those giant claws. That also works against her, of course, as Hiromi manages to draw her into grappling range with those mighty legs and has little trouble yanking Kukuru out of the air to slam her right into the ground. There's a rather sickening crack on that impact, followed by an incredibly brief gasp of pain, and that's followed by a whole lot of no movement. It'd almost be worrying if not for the fact that Kukuru's still moving. She's wheezing and looks like she should be in a hospital already, but she's moving and seems wholly conscious as she starts showing off her healing prowess. Bones audibly set themselves back where they should be, bruises stop showing weird indentations or pumps (although they remain firmly purple), and the self-healer even manages to pick herself back up once she gets her bearings straight again and tosses those busted glasses aside where they won't get embedded into her face. "Claws...? Hehe. That's a good one." Despite the evident pain, she still laughs. It's not a derisive or bitter one in the slightest, though; it's mirthful, one of someone that's pleased by what she's seeing even though the mounting pain is rather obvious. She takes a moment to tug her arm back into place, then to survey the damage as Hiromi just goes absolutely apeshit on everyone. "No wonder you issued this sort of challenge... It'd be pretty disappointing for you if you just fought one of us at a time, huh?" Another chuckle, and Kukuru starts advancing once more. "This is good, then... This is how we'll learn how to work together better later. Our strengths, our... Uh. You know. Something inspiring and sounds like team-building talk." As she approaches Hiromi once more (by actually walking, even), Kukuru spreads her arms out while a faint fog starts to spread from her. As the cloud of healing nanites spreads, it homes in on everyone that isn't Hiromi, swirling around their injuries and almost appearing to 'fill them in' as the countless bits work to mend those wounds. They're working quickly to close up surface wounds and bleeding, though they'll need actual time after the fight for the serious stuff. For now.they linger around each person to help them maintain their focus on the fight just a little bit more. Eventually, Kukuru does actually move slower than at walking pace, digging her hands into the cave floor. There's a brief moment of hesitation as she glances at the actual floor, then beats that back and promptly tears out a chunk of it larger than herself. She shove-tosses it forward at Hiromi, not unlike someone passing a basketball if the basketball was the size of a small car. She flings herself forwards after that, rearing her arms back briefly before slamming them forward on where she expects Hiromi to be, then flips herself and the claws backwards in a maneuver vaguely similar to what Hiromi did to her earlier.
Okada Izou	There's a low 'tch' when the attack doesn't clean up. Izou turns around.      There's a wild, satisfied grin on his face.      "Somebody who don't take thngs seriously against any threat...is somebody who's dead. I learned that on the streets of Edo a long time ago."      "Play-fighting ain't even close to the kinda fighting I do!"      He turns. Both sheaths come snapping up to protect himself as Hiromi goes flying forward.      It is a pulse too late, a beat between seconds, that he realizes exactly how deadly this is. The swords are already being drawn from their sheaths - the grinding of sparks to speed them up just enough.      She hits two swords being drawn.      She goes clean through them, and the best Okada Izou can do is springboard off the fragmenting swords to lessen the blow from a totally lethal one to...well...      A water landing.      He hits the water, struggles for a second, and then starts doggy-paddling for shore with a great deal of irritation.
Kaito Kumon	Kamen Rider Baron's attack is indeed refreshingly straightforward. He's running forward, piercing straight through with his lance, and bananas are refreshing. The clay shards are flung at his neck - but even as Hiromi makes the motion, the lance is already moving. It's as if the lance is moving on its own to block the shards and protect Baron's vulnerable areas from being hit, or if not the lance then some other force guiding his hands. Kaito is just a kid off the streets - athletic, and can hold his own in a brawl, but if Hiromi had taken his measure at all prior to his transformation this is at a whole other level. He pursues and as he does, he reaches down with his offhand and slams the knife ornament on his belt a few times.                             COME ON! BANANA AU LAIT!                             Energy grows in his lance as he pursues Hiromi, and as he runs at her he brings the banana lance up and swings it down- - and as he swings, a humongous solid-energy mass in the shape of a BANANA appears and crashes down at her, trying to crush her!
Utsuho Reiuji	The small sun sits there to menace in place. The ... matter? Energy? that makes it up seems to churn internally with a slow rotation, but it doesn't really get that much smaller once it's contracted down a couple feet on landing. "Banana, banana~ - oh..." Utsuho is slightly disappointed by the fact that he *has* to be Kamen Rider Baron, but she doesn't argue the point - he can be called whatever he wants. She just likes bananas. But she can be disappointed. Speaking of disappointed, Utsuho's power has left Hiromi untouched. Utsuho's fist clenches, balled so tight her knuckles turn white in a sudden surge of frustration. She could stand a lot of things but just... failing is not one of them. Which is why she suddenly flares with power. The heat around her intensifies, as does the red glow from the third eye in her chest. It starts to move, stirring slightly from staring sightlessly ahead, the pupil moving a little left and right before stilling again. A bubble of flame forms around her, scorching the table she's standing on. Utsuho has to focus it forward when the giant rock comes at her, forming a nearly pure white wall of flame. The rock hits it and *vaporizes* - not completely, as Utsuho is showered with a concussive wave from the detonating stone, but enough that she isn't bowled over this time; thrown backwards several yards, she finds herself over air and takes off, wings beating as she rises up, focusing the white barrier of flame on the tip of her rod into a pure white light, the prongs spread - Then something occurs to her. It would be really rude to wreck Hiromi's house. Especially with other Concord members in it. "Agh! This would be so much easier if everything could just burn up!!" Utsuho concentrates the ball of flame even tighter, making a softball-sized point that's so bright it hurts to look at, shedding sharp shadows across the feast hall. And then she fires it, a steady stream of energy that goes on and on. Not at Hiromi. But at her still-standing miniature sun. The sphere billows out another few feet before beginning to spray its own tinier balls of flame outward. These don't linger when they impact, exploding in tiny fireballs, but they go *everywhere*; once again the area's stability isn't going to be too damaged but a whole bunch of random things are likely to be slightly to extremely on fire. The other Concord members are also going to have to dodge Utsuho's sphere's random fire while she's supercharging it with the sustained beam, though she's only aiming at Hiromi; the fireballs fire more rapidly and more tightly in her direction than anywhere else.
Staren	Staren watches. Hmm. Her body was reacting like stone until it wasn't. Isahane's sword must be special. Staren sucks in air through her teeth when she sees that immediate regeneration. Still, she's got to wear down eventually, right?     "I do..." Staren answers, sighting the weapon again... and then Hiromi runs out of view. What...?     The catgirl's eyes widen as she realizes at the same time as the cameras confirm. She braces for impact, jarred slightly less than she otherwise would be as Hiromi uppercuts THROUGH the mezzanine and sends Staren, forcefield and all, smashing into the ceiling, cracking the stone on impact. "Oof!"     The field is looking very flickery now, and that impact dazed Staren a little. The flight spell keeps her from just falling right back down into melee though. She shakes her head a bit and one-handed fires the underbarrel grenade launcher down, not caring all that much whether it hits straight on. "Alright. Let's see how you do against THESE claws!" She sweeps her arm around for dramatic effect, as a half-dozen anti-tank missiles wink into existance around her and then streak downwards to stabilize themselves, airbursting a fraction of a second later to try and impale Hiromi on ephemeral lucent lances of high-energy physics!
Undivided Queens	Whether or not there is more food, Utsuho's wanton waste and the subsequent use of furniture of projectile weapons is something that it seems Seilatia cannot entirely abide. At least not without meddling a bit. While everyone is focused on the fighting --they have to be or else Hiromi will certainly turn them into a smear in moments-- it isn't exactly clear how, but they next time they glance the Imperial Princess in the whirling maelstrom of combat, an entire baroquely engraved and varnished table is all hers again, with its own, completely different, lavish sets of wines and teas, no doubt far too much for her alone. She's still sipping on it.     "Isa! Look! That one is fighting with a banana!" "I know." "And that one made a little star! It's so cute~!" "I see it." "Do you know what the extra cute one is doing? There's so many of her!" "Yes. I will explain later." "But it's hard to follow! And-- Ooh, oh no, the poor Manslayer!" "Not concerned." "Well, I'm a little concerned for *you*! Please take this more seriously, Isa!" "You're one to talk."     Nevertheless, though there is an evident, smouldering huff at satisfaction at being the one to draw substantial blood from Hiromi with her strike, Isahane's time to enjoy the triumph is short-lived. The Wolf Queen rebounds from the broad side of her blade with balance and agility known to few animals indeed, and none of them wolves. Though Hiromi's weight is added to that of the sword, Isahane is still able to handle its tremendous size and momentum with such expertise that she just barely fits in the time to raise its angle, push Hiromi down its length, and block the point of her heel with the strong of its flat, albeit even then, the metal crashes straight into her head. It's her feet that leave the ground before her neck would snap back, but blood trickles from a point on her forehead, staining some of her hair. Rather than wiping her own away, however, Isahane runs two fingers down the edge of her blade, and draws back a smear of Hiromi's, weirdly tasting a fingertip between her lips.     "That settles it." she says, coming to some abrupt, yet hoarsely authoritative conclusion. The floating stone following her movements glows brightly once again, now taking on a sustained shine as its floating metal bits unfurl further, and it spins in rapid orbits around her body, cloaking her from neck to toe in that same, effervescent light, even including her sword. Isahane shouts without explanation, as if the words stand alone by their own merit."I take the name of the War-Queen; Steel Dragon of the Earth!"     The light bursts off of her like the embers of a scattered fire. In its place, layers of burnished gunmetal plates, linked into articulated joints and skirts, and fastened into finely woven metallic meshes, cover her body, too heavy by far for a human being to wear, and engraved with almost recursive swirls of right-angled lines that altogether conjure up the image of numerous predatory beasts. Her sword is longer and brighter, with added flukes, a long guard, and a blunt, executioner's end. Metallic cladding descends between her horns, and a visor snaps down over her eyes, yellow glow still burning through the slits.
Undivided Queens	It leaves her lower face exposed, however. A strange exclusion, for only a moment. Isahane sucks in a deep breath as Hiromi breaks off, taking in a huge lungful of air, then more, and more, and somehow more, sparkling something condensing out of the atmosphere itself, until a glow issues from the back of her throat. Waiting for just the perfect time, she then exhales all of it at once, and a stream of fire comes so swift and hot that it is more of a blue laser beam for half of the room before it finally blossoms into a searing red plume, which she sweeps to follow after Hiromi until all of her breath peters out.     Even then, she remains on the offensive. Solid stone is gouged and churned under the metal-shod impacts of her heels when Isahane chases the stream of her fire with a terrifying lunge, aiming to catch Hiromi in the midriff with the broad end of her sword and slam her into the wall, where she can follow up with another point blank hosing of flame. If she dodges to either side, a metallic clatter and stony crunch follows, wherein Isahane expertly adjusts her grip and torque on the blade's handle, and maneuvers herself around an outside circle to turn its edge into an arc in that direction, chasing the Archwolf with a brutal, leg-hewing chop without a moment's warning.
Hiromi	Okada sails all the way up through one of the stone hall's windows, itself nothing but an opening in the mountain that lets in light. And in this case, lets him on his way to the ocean. He'll make it back. Probably safely. The sea serpents don't usually get that close to shore.     Cordelay goes in for a brutal strike, but graceful as she is, she didn't count on Hiromi's similar mobility. It's close, the blade scrapes her, but not enough for the kill--assuming such a thing could kill Hiromi, which seems questionable at this point. It's enough that she's still there when Kaito slams his banana down, making a strong, solid, if visually peculiar hit. There's no new wound, but it holds Hiromi just a moment. In that, Kukuru charges in, and though her rock distraction is pulverized, her claws find purchase, there amongst the wounds increasingly covering Hiromi's body, the blood reaching her hair, and she flips back away.     Dealing with all three of them at once would be difficult for anyone. If it wasn't difficult, it wouldn't be worth doing. Hiromi lets out a roaring shout, but the meaning of it can barely be articulated. It's repetition of her self-identity, her claim to be Hiromi, and all that entails, the many layers of individual meaning that make up her person. And among those, the claim to be the measure by which all strength is compared. Stone warps at her feet. She laughs, knocking aside a falling grenade.     Another table explodes, though far from Seilatia. Apart from those near her, all the other servants of the Archwolf seem to have disappeared. They probably don't have the kind of abilities that would protect them in this situation, though if she bothers to look closely, they don't seem to be concerned for themselves, either. One young woman even looks relieved.     There's little explanation for where the surge of strength comes from, the will that only grows stronger as she's beaten down. Only the result, the burst of movement that takes her between a ground-cratering stomp and deadly burst of stone spikes underneath her feet, to a straightforward collission with Kaito's weapon, as if to knock both it and him into the opposite wall hard enough to crack it, to a meeting of Kukuru's claws with her own. They weren't there a moment ago, but now there are bony claws emerging from her skin, slick with *someone's* blood, aiming to give a lethally bad time. But the healer can heal herself, can't she?     All the while, and out loud this time, she laughs. "Yes, this! It HAS been... since long ago, it has not happened." Silver surrounds her on all sides, and another stomp raises a shield of stone. It's one of the Silver-copies in the opening left at her side that gets her, then. "I understand, how interesting!" But when Silver 'decides' which one is real, after taking the hits, that still leaves her there for Hiromi to charge through and grab. Being grappled by Hiromi without anyone around to help would be very, very bad, but with the danmaku pattern starting, the worst that'll happen to Silver is being thrown directly into Utsuho's sun.     Not that Hiromi escapes unscathed from that. The curious method of combat most familiar to Gensokyo natives is still, somehow, entirely foreign to her. Her flesh burns away from repeated attacks while she watches and studies the thing. She's still grinning when her shielding hand falls off near the elbow. "Hah!" And then, bone and muscle and skin reknitting in moments, it's back again, only looking badly burned.
Hiromi	Hiromi looks up toward Utsuho, and down come Staren's tankbusters. Weapons made for hardened targets were obviously the right choice here. Even with those coming down at her, Hiromi barely moves to avoid them, instead clapping her hands hard enough to release a boom that breaks glass throughout the hall, detonating the missiles just before they'd reached her, washing her in explosive force.     All of the provided dishes are stoneware, so they are largely unaffected.     Reaching four stories up is a matter of jumping, avoiding the continued danmaku in the process but, more importantly, catching up to first Staren, and then aiming a kick to knock her into Utsuho, launching herself off the wall and, if neither avoids it, reaching them at the same time to drag all the way down that rough stone wall and into some fresh craters at the bottom.     Finally, the War-Queen. "I hear and know you," comes back the rote response. A name was given, and understood. Hiromi's body is still pulling itself back together, but at no point has she fallen, and it's with respect for its force that Hiromi ducks beneath the stream, weaving and kicking between pillars to acclerate instantaneously in unpredictable directions. She grabs a long table mid-leap, tossing it in Isahane's way, and for a long, decisive moment, the blue-hot breath fails to penetrate the wood. It's on the list of things that shouldn't be possible.     Hiromi's eyes narrow when she says, "Dragon," but the reason for her to fixate on that isn't stated. Now they're close, and the enormous sword hits her mid-air, preventing her from anchoring against the blow. She strikes the wall, but the wall itself ripples, throwing her out of the way of the continued dragon's breath. Only that last chop reaches her leg, reaching bone.     "You're strong, but not your sister-queen? No, your mate?" A quizzical look, as her leg fully reattaches, in time for her to rush forward. "We'll talk more another time." Impossibly perfectly understandable growling is a very time-efficient form of communication. She'd armored herself, but that just means Hiromi once more goes for the grapple, followed this time by crunching, crushing force before another toss toward the sun, if not avoided.
Silver Carnation	Silver manages another hit! And now Hiromi knows how her powers work. She's caught, grabbed, and tossed into the sun. This looks very bad. But not all magical girls need to worry about positioning when they fly. As she goes flying, she suddenly reorients her body into as much of a ball as she can make it, while reorienting her body to lean away from Utsuho's sun. She sails right past it, heat diffusing off her Shimmer Aura as she unrolls right before she impacts with the ceiling, feet crunching against it and causing bits of cave to fall to the floor. And then, she bursts off it, with a noticeable *crack*, as she launches herself as fast as she can go. It is not the fastest, but it'd beat any sports car easily. "Take this! We called this move..." THREE YEARS AGO "So, Agnes, are you ever going to come up with a name for that move?" The girl with the blonde hair asked her, as the black-haired girl in glasses drank her Sprite. Agnes' favorite soda. "Which move?" "You know...the one where you're stupid and turn off your aura to punch Endlings. That one. If you're gonna be so reckless, you need a move name!" Despite her worry, the blonde was always so sweet to her. Agnes twisted her finger around her hair, as she considered, and then nodded. "Alright! I've decided. It's called..." NOW "SHIMMER BREAK!" Her Shimmer Aura is focused completely around her fists, like earlier. Unlike earlier, she's exerting *much* more force. Earlier, she was testing limits. Hiromi has no limits. Anything goes. The one-fisted punch moves to slam straight into Hiromi's face, if Silver can line it right, and hopefully earn her respect. Personally, she wants to break her nose. That is *probably* unlikely to happen.
Kukuru	As the fight goes on, there's a distinct danger Kukuru can feel in the back of her neck that isn't quite the same as what she's felt before. Although she's only met Hiromi a few minutes ago, she can already feel that they're in different leagues entirely both in both power and physical size.  Her claws are strong, but even they can only shield Kukuru from so much, and when the Archwolf brings out her own bloody claws to meet the healer's... That doesn't quite go so well for Kukuru at all. She does have enough time to marvel at the sight of those things as they appear out of seemingly nowhere, and there's even a moment where she contends claw-to-claw to see just how different they are in the middle of a bloody brawl. That truly is just a moment, though, before she gets shredded up like something best left to the imagination, staggering back and bleeding all over the place. She wheezes again as she props herself up on a claw, the healing nanites working overtime to keep her from tipping over and faceplanting right there. Which she does after a few more heavy, pained gasps. A dark light surrounds Kukuru as she fades into it, the torn-up and bloodstained claws left behind. She doesn't go very far, though, apparently having one more ace up her sleeve! Mostly by teleporting herself up to the ceiling of the cave. She falls a few feet, then teleports herself right back up. She keeps doing this several times in a row, building up speed and momentum while not letting herself fall too far each time so as to try and hide her presence at least a little (even if the blood falling from the same spot might give her away fairly easily). Once she's built up a rather ludicrous amount of speed and also given herself enough time to actually fix her hands enough, she finally speaks up. "It's a good thing you're on our side, Hiromi. That power, using so much of everything as a weapon... I bet a bunch of us would be in real trouble if you were our enemy on the field. But you're not, so... I'm glad to have you here. I'm gonna put everything into trying to hit you from the front, okay?" She speaks the truth. Once she finishes that sentence, the same dark cloud signaling Kukuru's teleportation appears a few feet ahead of where Hiromi's facing, giving her a clear view of the previously claw-wielding healer coming straight at her with her right arm reared back for a highly telegraphed, but stupidly fast flying haymaker/full body charge that's relying more on power and built up speed than actual technique. This will very likely do quite a number on Kukuru's body, but she'll be fine sooner or later. She's a healer, after all! It just might take a while for her to wake up after this gambit.
Kaito Kumon	Kamen Rider Baron gets slammed all the way back into the far wall, with a rather unfortunate sounding crunch. "- Ugh..." He slumps to the ground, kneeling, trying to clear his head. It feels like he broke something... ... But no. Can't be seen to be weak. Can't be seen to be injured. He struggles back up to his feet - he'll deal with the injury later. Right now, he needs to end this. This may not be a duel to the death, but there's something just as important as his life at stake here - his first impression on the rest of the Concord. Win or lose, he has to make a strong showing. Hesitantly, he reaches down to his belt, chopping the knife once, twice, thrice.                                     COME ON!                                     And he runs forward - fortunately for this, he doesn't have to go far, on muscles and bones that both complain harshly at him, before he gets in range - a few meters away from Hiromi, when he slams the point of his lance into the ground!                                BANANA SPARKING!]                                 The energy releases - flowing from the lance, into the ground, and emerging at Hitomi's location - a rapid-fire assault of curved BANANAS erupting from the ground, one after the other after the other!
Cordelay Levail	The sharp spikes erupting from the floor nearly skewer Cordelay, her quick reflexes barely saving her as she vaults off one of the first spikes to emerge. Hiromi's strength, speed and incredible toughness are certainly posing a problem for her, but her allies are continuing the assault - which provides an opening. Cordelay's following attacks are conservative yet hopefully distracting as she acrobatically flips and twirls around the Archwolf, constantly probing and worrying at her defense in time with her remaining allies, just waiting for her moment.
Staren	Staren's eyes widen in alarm as HIROMI IS COMING FOR MELEE OH FCK she takes a defensive stance in the air, but it doesn't really help all that much -- being smashed into Utsuho and the mountain breaks through the shield, and only a protective spell on the coat itself keeps Staren from being completely crushed through it as they're scraped down the side of the tunnel, the coat becoming frayed and Staren getting bruised and battered by all this rough movement. With a groan, she lifts the rifle and fires wildly, just trying to get Hiromi to give her space long enough to stand up...
Utsuho Reiuji	"Ha ha! Burn, burn!" Eventually even Utsuho's beam starts to lag. Not because she's completely out of power but because that's as much as she focused as intensely as she did; the beam becomes more diffuse, less focused, and that means the sunlight sphere stops spitting out fireballs as rapidly or violently. So she quits it, letting it fade, and without being fed by the constant stream of energy the solar sphere on the ground also begins to die away; it starts to contract, changing colour from yellow-red to an almost wispy white, and pretty soon it won't be there at all; until then it is a hazard to run into (or be thrown into) but it isn't actively attacking any longer. Unfortunately for Utsuho, the flaw in her plan becomes clear: she just shot all the energy making up her barrier. Staren slams into her without any real protection at all, and somehow Utsuho is a lot more awkward when she's being tackled, voluntarily or otherfwise; she manages to accidentally clonk Staren with the control rod *and* kick with her encased foot as she half-loses control of her flight, only to lose the rest of it when Hiromi drags her down the goddamn mountain. At least she isn't superheated anymore. Staren's only likely to get slightly scorched. It's just everything else she needs to worry about. Utsuho does need to be dragged, because as soon as Hiromi releases her, she breaks into flight again, making a wide bank. She has forgotten to ask if Staren needs a lift as she rockets back up, trailing a streak of flame like a flight booster that comes from somewhere between her wings. "Don't insult me like that!!" Utsuho shouts as she blasts back toward the battlefield. The thruster-like flame is starting to surround her in a corona as she flies, looking more like a comet-tail than a rocket thruster now. "Throwing me down the mountain... if you're going to fight me, fight me yourself! Hit me, cast a spell, but never, NEVER just throw me away!" Utsuho dives, surrounded by flames that spread behind her like wings as she slams toward Hiromi. She turns sharply at the end of her flight, nearly slamming into a wall as she reorients and rockets back the other way, just as needlessly fast.
Undivided Queens	Isahane remains as hot on Hiromi's heels as is possible while (literally) firing. The focus needed to maintain the constant blasting that leaves lava and slag behind it is enough that she can't move tremendously quickly, and there even seems to be quite a bit of recoil to it, but she does, eventually, finally get an extra solid hit in.     And still, that question catches her a little off guard. Somehow, despite the intimately violent closeness of the two women, each withing each other's devastating reach, she finds the wherewithal to pause and think on it, for just a second. "Seilatiya is strong." she decides on. "I would not respect her as much otherwise. But she dislikes fighting in this way, and so I respect her wish to only watch for now."     The time, Hiromi actually catches Isahane, as she makes the barest mistake of trying to wrench her sword free of the terrain first, and is just slightly too slow. One Hiromi has her, there's simply no escaping that grab, and she goes flying right into Utsuho's ill-placed sun.     One would expect the radiantly, even overly beautiful 'Princess' in the stands to panic. For some reason, she does not. And then several seconds later, Isahane reappears from the fiery star's pull one stomping, dragging step at a time. Much of her Steel Dragon form has melted and peeled away all across its surface, some globs of molten metal sticking to burnt skin, no doubt excruciatingly painful for a normal person. The visor cracks and falls away from her face from thermal expansion, revealing wild eyes and an almost manic grin, even with the tips of her horns glowing with heat.     Also, the entire probably-quarter-ton length of her blade is now not only white hot, but actively limmed with some kind of warm, unnatural light, effusing from its interlocking grooves and running along its edges. Crouching down, building up power, with gushes of steam venting from her armour, woven metal strains and bursts in places under the tensing of the Dragon-Eater's muscles, and then she blasts herself right back into Hiromi at top speed. She barely needs to lean back and tap her heel against the ground to cause an explosion of sparks, and give her all the leverage she needs to turn herself into an incandescent, flaming whirlwind of superheated metal and ominous martial energy, almost twenty feet in radius. She won't make the mistake of letting Hiromi simply jump over her; her sword criscrosses various X-shaped orbits without unbalancing her in the slightest, and she is prepared to pivot and leap wherever Hiromi springs to.     Specifically, though it may go unnoticed, she is leading with the edge that cut Hiromi first, now brightest with that fiery aura. Having tasted blood once before, it's as if the blade has acclimated to her, and learned how to better cut into the Wolf Queen's flesh, and even into her divine power; if only for now, while the technique lasts.
Hiromi	Hiromi is, over the course of a short time, shot by Staren, stabbed by Cordelay, slammed by a flaming Utsuho, assaulted by bananas (which she suspects are not actually bananas, but some manner of fruity magic), hit by Kukuru's whole body, punched in the face by Silver, and slashed by the burning, swinging blade of Isahane.     The more she's struck, the less each blow seems to affect her, but the wounds stack up. They heal, but not all the way. 'Just enough.' Their raw remains don't have the same stopping power as she'd had at the start of the fight, that stone-like body, but that's not the only difference.     She's stopped attacking. Those last few moments are spent purely defensively, watching each incoming attack and absorbing it. She's burned, hit, and slashed, more than once each, studying, watching, and finally kicking up a chair into her hands to take the white-hot blade between its legs, rather than try to jump over it. That's another thing that looks like it shouldn't work. But it does, because she did it, apart from how it then bites into her shoulder on the backswing.     And then it's Hiromi's turn and, looking no better than moments ago, looking, in fact, like she shouldn't be able to stand, she brings up her right fist, the skin regrowing as if it hadn't just spent the evening catching blades and fireballs, and brings it to her left palm. Standing straight, she salutes in the same manner as her people had. "I have seen your strength. I am pleased." She waves a hand over the remains of the feasting hall. Some areas, at least, aren't trashed. "You can have this place. I will see you soon."