Scene #7582: Sengoku Bancho: GUDAGUDA Beach Rumble!

Owner	Pose
Nobunaga	This time, the Shrine areas dedicated to Nobunaga's summer insanity are filled in with a mixture of realities, all merged together into one courtesy of a certain malicious-yet-humanity-loving AI. In this case it has manifested as a jubilant tropical island with a quaint little town on it. The most dominant structure is a huge Japanese-style high school with a big courtyard surrounded by the building's U-shaped structure. On the opposite side, the outer walls, all face sandy beaches with few rocks. It's a literal Summer Island School Paradise. Standing at the top of the steps leading to the school courtyard is the one and only Oda Nobunaga, clad in a fiery-themed red and black bikini. Over this she wears a long red coat with many golden chains and even epaulettes, clasped about her neck by a thicker chain. Of course she still wears her hat, worn off-kilter, with the sakura-sealed sunburst sigil over its military-style bill. One hand rests on her hip, the other holds the tongue of an enormous stylized guitar, and she chews on a bamboo skewer like an oversized toothpick. "Ladies! And! Gentlemen!" Her voice booms, amplified across the entire plaza amidst a shredding soundbite emitted by the guitar, "It is time; the time is now! Fight for the future of this fleeting summer celebration!" Her free hand raises, "Over the next several weeks, you are encouraged to fight! Establish your superiority! Gather your fame! Do you have what it takes to rise to the top as the one true summer school shogun? The one and only Sengoku Bancho!? This is the arena where you prove your might!"
Brooklynn Bailey	Brook was here, but not in a swimsuit or anything like that. What was a swimsuit anyway? Instead, she's dressed in her normal outfit, which was a sort of patched-together outfit, with an overcoat and hoodie to keep the sun off of her. Her legs are covered by look overall type pants, and boots on her feet. She looks completely out of place for a beach. Fighting for the fleeting summer, huh? Well, it sounds like a competition! She is sort of into competitions, and of course, fighting is what mercenaries are supposed to be good at. Of course, she at first misses a detail. "Wait summer school?"
Utsuho Reiuji	Things Utsuho does not know about: high schools of any nationality, towns that aren't an underground capital, tropical islands, and beaches. And swimsuits. She doesn't know about those either. Things Utsuho does know about: fighting, though not bancho brawling. She decided this wouldn't stand and would find out about some of the other things sooner or later. Utsuho is dressed as she always is except she's found her better cape. It would be too long for her except she can drape it over the first joint of her wings, and the inside part has a glittering starfield that moves. Please do not ask where she found the cloth for that, she doesn't remember. "Yaaaay," she calls out from the back, before firing a tiny spark into the air; it rises up and bursts like a miniature firework, though it's kind of hard to see because it's daytime. School time, of course, does not apply to Utsuho. She is sure of that.
Karlan Nobles	Joining the arrivals at the beachfront high school is someone that's never been to a high school or a beach prior to... Ever! Despite that, Pramanix has somehow decided that signing up for this thing is actually a good idea, and she shows up dressed appropriately for the weather! Maybe just not for a beach. She's wearing a wide-brimmed sunhat to keep herself covered from the sun, at least, but her outfit is less beach-and-bikinis and more deserts-and-hiking: A light vest and t-shirt, roomy pants with plenty of room and mesh lining to wick all the sweat off, and even a pack slung over her shoulder to carry all the water bottles she'll need to survive in the heat. From the looks of it, she's already having some trouble. "Can it be a... A little cooler, at least? I don't know how you have so much energy for all of this..." She dries her head off with a towel, then brings her tail around to wipe that off as well.
Theurgus	The Mad Magician doesn't really do swimsuits, but she's at least made an effort? Blue hair is still covered by the wide brimmed black hat with gears seemingly melded into it. Her outfit then consists of a tankini with a skirt, the colour pallette and pattern emulating her normal coat and robes. She walks up with her staff resting over her shoulder, listening to Nobunaga speak, she gets a smirk and brings her other hand up to cover over her face. "Kukukuku, WAHAHAHAHAH!" is all her reaction, a maniacal laugh that echos across the courtyard.
Muramasa	It was that time of the year again, when the heated spirit of summer is at its peak and the festivities begin -- And the golden gleam of a mask, shining in the summer sun. Standing with his muscled legs pushed together tightly as he perches back straight and shoulders squared upon the tippy top of a nearby telephone pole, the ever-present guardian spirit of summertime, Summer Island Mask, looms very purposefully against the breeze, so that his silk screen hawaiian shirt can flap listlessly in the wind. Ever prepared for his favorite time of year, he made sure to apply plenty of sunscreen and pick out his favorite wave-print tights, perfectly hydrodynamic for a superior swimming experience. "I am Summer Island Mask. If you look to claim this year's top spot, then look deep inside, and awaken the bancho within!"
Hibiki Tachibana	LIKE, A WEEK AGO: "What the heck was that supposed to be? Why's it--is that a pompadour?" "I think it's cute! Look at them go!" "They're not even really hurting each other..." "Oh! It's meant to be a summer event, Hibiki!" "What do banchos have to do with summer, exactly...?" "Why don't we go see what it's all about?" "...Eh? No way, that's not really my kind of--" NOW: HIBIKI TACHIBANA is being pulled in arm-in-arm by her roommate slash totally platonic best friend MIKU KOHINATA, and despite looking like she's having second thoughts about this, she's also not really fighting against it. At all. They're both in the summer version of their own school uniforms, which are short-sleeved black cardigans over a white blouse and gray plaid skirts--though Hibiki has tied her own cardigan around her waist rather than actually wearing it properly, both because of summer heat and a suggestion that it'd make her look 'a little more bancho-like!'. With her free hand, Miku is toting an obnoxiously large bag hat one can only assume is full of things befitting an island getaway. There's a lot of 'ooh'ing and 'aah'ing, and even Hibiki has to admit the place looks amazing. When it comes to Nobunaga's thunderous declaration as they reach the bottom of the stairway however, Hibiki squints a little as her mouth falls open. "...That's what she's like in person, huh?" This is followed by her straightening up some and actually tensing up some...in anticipation of what's to come, apparently, with those words apparently striking some kind of chord with her. Enough that the smallest of smiles comes to her face. "Well, since we already came the whole way here here...I might as well go all out with it!"
Staren	Staren steps into the arena... almost unrecognizable at a glance. After hearing what the theme was, they hurried to throw together a quickly-researched 'delinquent' cosplay, and, well... It does hopefully give off a vibe of SCIENCE DELINQUENT! Most immediately noticeable is the calf-length labcoat, of course, as well as a compact gasmask covering her nose and mouth which somehow doesn't muffle her voice, and goggles hanging around her neck, but beyond that she's sort of dressed like a schoolgirl: A light brown sweater vest worn over a white blouse with sea green neckerchief (Staren's usual scarf is tied into her hair at shoulder-height to keep it from getting in her face). A long, pleated dark blue skirt over black tights and sneakers completes the 'I'm so rebellious I break the school dress code but not rebellious enough to ditch the uniform and wear whatever' look. She's carrying a wooden bat that has some tech-looking greebles stuck to it. When Staren sees how Nobu is dressed they briefly look concerned, brow furrowing though the mask makes their expression hard to read. "Was... were we supposed to be doing a delinquent /swimwear/ thing?" She seems a bit relieved to see many others aren't. After Theurgus provides a dramatic laugh, though, she rallies, and points with the bat at Nobbu. "That's right! Prepare yourself, for today you face ME! They told me my experiments were UNSAFE! They said I was MAD! Just because I destroyed the science lab twice before they banned me from using it after school! Well now I'll show them! And I'll show you! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!" She really does have a decent Evil Cackle!
Nobunaga	"Wa ha ha ha!" Nobunaga's hand returns to her hip, throwing her head back with that powerful laugh, "That's the spirit! Though it looks like someone only got the 'desert' part of 'desert island', we'll overlook it!" One eye opens, "Most of you are registered already, it looks like. Theurgus, Staren; you didn't send ahead, but I'll consider this your registration now!" She swings her guitar up and around, then plants it at her feet. Her other hand raises, pointing across those gathered, "Your duty in this event is to climb the point ladder through battles! You will earn points not only for winning, but also for fighting at all; activity is encouraged! There is no wagering like last year; no way to lose progress. Buuuuut... testing all of you one by one would be a chore, so I'll test you all at once on this Summertime stage!" "Commence Summer Order! Sengoku Bancho: GUDAGUDA Beach Brawl!" The guitar is flipped up and Nobunaga raises her right hand. Bringing it down, she slashes across the strings, unleashing a sharp chord that vibrates through the courtyard pavers. A flame erupts behind her, spreading out and unfurling into a colossal flame-scorched skeleton wreathed in fire; at least, from the waist up. The Warlord herself bears a wide, mad grin, fire burning in those crimson eyes. The skeleton rears back briefly, then lurches forward, breathing out a gout of flame that it sweeps from one side of the courtyard to the other. Beneath it, Nobunaga laughs over the violent chords of her guitar.
Brooklynn Bailey	Fire goes out everywhere, and instead of burning the flesh of Brook, instead, she runs into it and arrives out the other side barely phased. She's not immune to it, but she is highly resistant...on top of being extremely tough. She jumps from her position on the beach, fueled by her flight. Moments later, she falls down, a flaming spear in hand to try and jam it into the giant skeleton. The spear is made on the fly as she attempts to ride the giant monster. "Excuse me, giant monster! We are currently being told how the rules work and you are being very rude!"
Karlan Nobles	That's roughly half and half with and without beach clothes. Making a mental note to try something different later, Pramanix half-waddles closer to the gathering while trying not to move too much herself. "Ugh... Is this really the kind of weather that's normal for a place like this? I can't begin to imagine trying to studying in this kind of weather... Never mind fighting or getting too.. Rumbling." She looks over at Theurgus, Staren, and Nobunaga in particular with their variably evil laughs and stares at them blankly for several moments. Eventually, though, Pramanix does manage to giggle herself, although it's heavily tempered by the heatsuck. "Point ladder...? As long as it doesn't involve actual climbing. That'd be..." The snow pope doesn't even finish that sentence, opting instead to keep on listening and then pulling her bell off her waist when combat looks like it's about to start. Instead of dreading those flames coming from Nobunaga, however, she actually looks pleased. "I'm not using it frivolously if it's in self-defense!" She announces her rules-lawyering intent as she starts ringing that bell rapidly, a localized snowstorm billowing behind her in short order. With the skeleton's flames coming her way, Pramanix shows off some fancy footwork to avoid being roasted alive and to keep that snow coming down, although she does have a notable jump in her step when she realizes part of her outfit and also her tail have caught on fire. Good thing the snow's there to put it out before it can get real bad. "But using fire in this weather... That should be illegal!" With a twirl, a hop, and a push with her hands, the wind surges towards Nobunaga and her skeleton, blowing towards them both with a nearly horizontal blanket of ice and sleet!
Utsuho Reiuji	Utsuho cranes her neck around to spot some of the others as they enter. There are fewer than she expected, though some of them are loud enough to make up for it. Which is fine! There's nothing wrong with small groups. Utsuho waves to Brooklynn, who she recognizes. "Hey, over here!" Then stares at Staren, because... entrance. "What's wrong?" she asks Pramanix, because Utsuho is from a literal flaming Hell with magma and isn't worried about a pleasant summer day, no matter what she's wearing (and Utsuho isn't that badly dressed for it anyway). She's still listening though. Nobunaga is talking and... okay, so maybe Utsuho wasn't listening to the part about people that weren't her not registering ahead of time. And only half-listening to the next part. She is entirely alert again at the flaming skeleton, though. Flame sweeps past Utsuho, but she doesn't really do much about it - heat doesn't worry her at all, flame isn't all that much more threatening when it's sweeping across a large area instead of focused straight at her. She uses her actual hand to use her cape to cover her face and that's about it. She drops it back down a moment later. "Eh? We're starting already?" yes, Utsuho Utsuho points her right arm - the one that's a rod - at Nobunaga, remembering to track it upward at the last moment so it's pointed at the skeleton. A sphere of blazing white forms at the tip of the rod, swelling out to about the size of a basketball before flying outward, detonating with a loud bang and a spray of smaller energy balls. It is, by Utsuho standards, very restrained.
Muramasa	"Heat, like the burning flame in your heart -- but to wield it so recklessly at the front step of schoolgrounds, the teachers oughta' scold you!" Kicking off of his palm tree as it gets, unfortunately, reduced to ashes in the blink of an eye, Summer Island Mask twirls through the air as he extends both hands out and apparates two large, bulbously leaf-shaped swords. "Toh!" To avoid being incinerated on a hot summer day like a poorly cooked treat cooked too high for too long, he slashes downwards and generates a fierce gust of air that gives him enough lift to soar higher into the air and yawing his body to glide in a right-leaning curve, circling around to get himself caught on the edge of Pramanix's counter attack so that he could use the two oddly shaped armaments to strengthen it with one swiping clockwise, and the other counter-clockwise to form a miniaturized tornado to funnel all of that icy-cold-clap-back into a battering ram of freezing winds, snow and sleet. "Instead, I'll just have to teach you the ABC's of justice!"
Hibiki Tachibana	A moment of silence is given towards Pramanix from Hibiki for her unfortunate choice in clothing. She sympathizes. But Nobunaga steals all attention again in short order, with Hibiki and Miku nodding in time to mention of the rules...despite Miku not actually being a combatant here. And as far as the former of the two is concerned, it doesn't get simpler than that. Fight, fight, fight, and maybe win. If she thinks of it like training, she can definitely throw herself completely into it. After a quick fist-pump on Hibiki's part, the two nod to each other. Indeed, Miku's plan to seize Hibiki for a fun island vacation has completely succeeded. Wait, that's a giant flaming skeleton summoned through the power of sick guitar riffs. "Looks like this is getting started sooner than I thought...alright! Get behind me, Miku! Balwisyall nescell Gungnir tron...!" Gripping onto the pendant hanging beneath her blouse's tie, a golden sphere surrounded by unreadable characters and musical charts overtakes her as she moves in front of the other girl. The flames part around the barrier, breaking apart into particles after the attack has passed to allow Hibiki to step forward, now clad in the armor of her Symphogear. The undersuit kind of looks like a swimsuit, and the flowing scarf poofing out into existence behind her debatably may or may not give extra bancho cred. "Then let's earn some early points! Hah!" An armored boot is smashed into the ground, hard enough to dislodge a large chunk of concrete...and then punted up the stairway, straight for Nobunaga! For a makeshift projectile, it was launched fast and hard, and Hibiki is already sprinting right behind it as Miku gives a few cheers from the backline, relocating to a good spot to watch that's not extra-flaming-summer-hot.
Theurgus	Theurgus throws her hand covering her face out to the side, unshouldering her staff as Nobunaga brings her guitar up and summons a flaming skeleton. "Ye lords. Masked in Bits and Code. Files and Freezes, ye who doth bear the name of Program. System Kernal, strike upon this corrupted base and unleash the full might of thine fury. Way of Destruction, Howling Blizzard!" As the gouts of fire come her way, a bubble of howling wind and biting ice forms around her, before shooting up to meet the flames, 'clashing' briefly to give the DCC some time to evade, similar to Pramanix's antics, though with less tail-on-fire. "Joining your games, Shogun, has always been amusing and a worthwhile diversion from life as a Drive Core Controller!" she shoots back at Nobunaga, clearly enjoying the thrill of battle.
Staren	"Wait, are we fighting you too or--" Staren turns and hits the deck, tucking herself under the labcoat as flame washes over them, scorching the back of the coat and making things EXTRA uncomfortably hot. "Of all the days not to bring a mecha... Okay... let's see..." She stands up and stares at something only she can see. She mutters, "Psicomms are working... wormhole link established..." Then smiles and announces, "Let's gather some data!" Spherical, coconut-size drones appear in her hands as she tosses them into the sky one after the other, little ion jets allowing them to hover as they spread out high above the battlefield. And then Staren grins even more behind the mask as someone else has an EXCELLENT idea to COOL DOWN. "Now THIS I like... let's see, if I want the breeze to cool just like that..." Hands and fingers fly over an interface only she can see, and then... "Got it! Let's try it... secondary wormhole online!" Soon, much like Pramanix and Theurgus, freezing winds begin to blow around Staren. "Haha, it works!" They're so happy about that, Staren forgot to attack! Whoops.
Nobunaga	First response goes to Brooklynn, whose leap carries her clear of the flame jet. When she lands on the skeletal familiar, it rears back, arms splitting into additional pairs which reach up towards her while she stabs into the skull. There's...nothing there, though it does make things convenient when the figure starts thrashing around in response to her presence. It lurches when peppered by Utsuho's shotgun blast of spheres, then leans forward when pounded by ice and snow and knives courtesy of Pramanix, Theurgus, and Sumemr Island Mask. The construct collapses at last when Hibiki's concrete block smashes through the ribcage, and the thing collapses, dissolving into dusty particles of spent magic. But that's not the actual fight. Through all the chaos Nobunaga dashed sidelong and away from it, letting the skeletal giant take the brunt of everyone's opening firepower. Her guitar swings up, resting over her shoulders while she points with her free hand, fingers spread, "Happy to oblige, but I won't make it easy-- Line up, take aim!" In flickers of golden light, a dozen or so old Tanegashima rifles materialize around her, swinging around to draw beads on various combatants; two guns to one target. Oh yeah. Summertime bancho wardrobe and guitar gimmick aside, this is still the Demon Archer. "FI-" "STOP!" "--Eh?" Nobunaga's roll is completely halted when a tiny girl in a billowing black outfit storms out of the school building. She hurridly collects all the guns. With them tucked under one arm, she shoots a dirty look at the Daimyo, "Auntie should know better than to depict guns in school. Chacha knows, this will cut off all our ad revenue." Eyes closing, the tiny girl adds, "Also it's not in very good taste." She then storms off, with all of Nobunaga's tanegashima in hand. "..What, wait, so fist fights and magic and explosions are fine, but that's where you draw the line?!" Twisting back to her accumulated foes, Nobunaga shrugs, raising her guitar again, "If it means not getting demonetized, I'll just have to adapt!" Raising her hand, she slashes out another shrieking riff, producing another colossal scorched skeleton behind herself. This time, Nobunaga kicks off, hurling herself into the melee with a good-natured roar, while the skeletal familiar lashes out with two pairs of arms at everyone who finds themself within reach.
Karlan Nobles	"How do people live in this weather? It's so... Stifling!" Pramanix answers Utsuho with a grimace, although she's looking better than before thanks to the fresh snow half-melting already in the summer heat. She takes a page from Hibiki's book, slipping the light jacket off and ties it around her waist so it doesn't get lost somewhere, then refocuses her efforts on the contest! Thankfully, it appears that the group's impromptu teamwork is paying dividends already. Pramanix manages to flash brief peace signs and thumbs ups at her new allies in-between steps of the snow-calling ritual. She raises an eyebrow at Theurgus' strange wording, but seems enthused by multiple fellow blizzard-callers in both her and Staren via wormholes that she doesn't quite understand (because science). She redoubles her own efforts, making sure to...! Hold her ritual when a strange, shorter girl appears and just takes all of those guns out of the air. It takes her a bit to understand, but she's soon nodding in agreement with Chacha. "No, no, that makes sense. Even with... No, especially with a publicized event like this, it's important for the hosts to keep appearances in mind." She gives Chacha a knowing nod and bow, then turns her attention back to Nobunaga and the giant punching skeleton. Alas, the snow saint's specialties do not lie in melee combat in the slightest, and she's yelping and tumbling around as she gets whacked around and has to take a dive just to get away from those flailing arms. Another ring of the bell, and she just barely manages to get herself out of further harm's way with a gust blasting her back some feet away! "I should have brought my lucky pipe..." Pramanix grumbles to herself, although it's a humored sort of grumble as she begins calling that snow and wind once more. Icicles start forming in front of her to provide some waist high cover/shin-stopping obstacles, and she even makes sure to start churning extra wind tunnels around the battlefield specifically for the purposes of giving Summer Island Mask, Brooklynn, and Hibiki yet more angles to hurl themselves back into the fray!
Staren	That's a lot of guns! Sensors tracing lines in her vision of where the guns are aimed, Staren scrambles to stay out of them... only for the guns to get confiscated. Well... okay then. Instead, she has to face Giant Skeleton Hands. "Woah!" She holds up the bat and a compartment opens, revealing a rocket engine which drags her free of the attack just in time. "Close one!" "Hey, Nobunaga!" Staren calls out, transferring the bat to their offhand, then reaching under their coat. "You know what ELSE is stupidly allowed when guns aren't?" She pulls out a double-barreled laser pistol and fires it at the Demon Archer. "LASERS!"
Utsuho Reiuji	Snow? SNOW? Utsuho has never actually seen snow before in person. She decides she doesn't like it as she watches it blow, taking off into the air with her wings spread wide when some of it starts to come her way. "Gah! I don't like that!" Utsuho summons a sphere of flame the size of a beach ball, but this one doesn't go flying; it floats just above her head, being aggressively warm. Now she has no fear of snow, because stray flakes melt before getting close enough to be cold. It's possible to feel the heat quite a ways out from her; the summer day is even hotter anywhere near Utsuho. "It's horrible! This is supposed to be summer! That's - that's not summer at all!" Then: guns! Or not? "...unyu?" Utsuho clearly does not understand the dangers of demonetization. She seems completely perplexed. Fortunately it doesn't seem to apply to her... And while she might have been unworried about the heat and flame, a giant skeleton arm is a whole different can of worms. Utsuho ducks a sweep, interposes the convenient mini-sun between her and the second; it catches the blow like a solid shield, but sends her and the orb flying back about thirty feet with a flash of light, tumbling end over end until she manages to straighten out her flight path. "There is way too much ICE here!" Utsuho declares, as she sends out the sphere of flame. As it flies, it grows bigger and bigger - far taller than she is, but becoming progressively paler and wispier as it swells, emitting its energy as solar bullets as it swoops this way and that. Pretty soon it's barely there, though she has simultaneously ensured no icicles are forming anywhere near her and possibly hit the skeleton in the bargain (Nobu herself, being small and in the melee, is a bit safer; Utsuho doesn't want to hit her teammates with the red giant).
Brooklynn Bailey	"...Together? I thought we were in competition?" Brooklynn asks the snowpope, before being smashed by the NEW Skellington. However, she flips mid-air, landing on all fours as she stops her momentum with friction. Cracking her neck, she stands up fully, as her own minor injuries start to fade away. "I see, so they're your minions," she says, before charging Nobu. She attempts to grapple the demon general, attempting to use her extreme levels of strength to attempt to keep her in check, while also attempting to place her in pain. "I have no idea why that girl took your arms, or what anything you said was...but I am all for engaging you in my specialty!" Which is apparently being WAY stronger than she looks.
Hibiki Tachibana	Though Hibiki doesn't really mind the heat herself, especially Gear'd up, the cool air weaponized against the fiery Archer is admittedly pretty good to feel. Pramanix and Theurgus make for a good combination! And now with Nobunaga out, it's time for the real fight to begin. Even in the face of a firing line of rifles, that won't stop her from-- "...Huh?" Hibiki stops mid-run to skid to a stop, almost freezing in place with a fist still primed back as Chacha walks out. Blinking a few times and squinting a bit, her head follows the small girl as she collects every last tanegashima and leaves as quickly as she came. In the background, Miku brings a finger to her chin thoughtfully. "Mhm, sponsors are important when it comes to hosting events like these. I don't think that commercial could have been aired if it had anything like firearms in it, and then we wouldn't even be here!" Makes sense to her. Important information for the viewers. Hibiki, shaking her head and returning to the action, immediately resorts to diving back in regardless of the second massive skeleton that their host summons up. This gets her full-body punched and sent flying backwards like a bullet, but she catches herself with her Symphogear's thrusters and the aid of one of Pramanix's wind currents, charging back in with a roar of her own! This time, her own blow meets the construct's with a resounding boom - she's actually going to trade blows with it every time it swings for her, one fist for another despite the difference in size. "You'll need better than that...!" The Gungnir girl grunts through arm strain from contesting with this thing, before pulling an arm back further than before. The piston in her gauntlet slides back simultaneously. "...If you really want to test us!" She swings forward to meet the next attack, and at the point they clash, the mechanism slams back forward to release a piercing shockwave that'll run down through the entire limb and roil through the main body.
Muramasa	As Chacha runs off with the tanegashima, Summer Island Mask chuckles, "Good. That much gunpowder, it's much better used for fireworks than for ruining this ferocious summertime atmosphere." Not only are guns noisy, the smoke and pungent gunpowder would overshadow the bright blue skies and the particular fragrance in the air of seawater, sweat, and sunblock. "Also, now that I think of it, aren't most of us just wearing mostly the same outfit as last year? This one was late, too .. have all those hits to your ad-money really made things that dire? I see ... yes, even I didn't get a new Summer Unit, just this quick and sloppy change to my outfit below the waist. That's so sad." Crossing the leaves in his hands, before he can open his mouth again, the guardian of summer finds himself getting run down by Nobunaga and her wicked guitar. "Oh no, Summer Island Mask dies in fire?!" A screaming, screeching blast of sparks explodes on contact as her guitar manages to break through and send him skidding back severa feet, the useless hilts disappearing from his grasp as he picks himself back up. " -- that was close. Is this what they call being 'power crept'?" Opening his hands wide, he apparates ... A Guitar?! At first, it appears identical to Nobunaga's, before clever and un-necessary use of Alteration changes its pallet to match Summer Island Mask's, along with the motiff swapping to a moral floral theme. Actually, now that he thinks of it, doesn't it look more like a ukulele at this point? Ah, well ... Shredding the cords identically to how she'd done before, "Let's get this summertime jam on a roll! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaave!" And instead of a ripping, roaring flame, a jet stream of water rushes out to meet Nobunaga head on. "The opening to whip this up won't go to waste!" he calls out, to Pramanix. And due to his careful aim -- (read:happenstance) -- it wasn't evaporated by Reiuji's sunny day.
Theurgus	Skidding to a stop as the firing line appears, the Mad Magician turns and erects a preemptive barrier of interlocking hexagonal light panels. Well, until the girl comes and confiscates all the guns. She blinks a few times, then shrugs a little and drops the Barrier, shifting instead to begin another chant as the skeleton titan is summoned once more. "Burst and shatter. Gust and Sunder. Move and become the One. Stop and become the Null. Spears rattle within the High Tower. Typhoon Impulse!" A grouping of cyclonic 'spears' appear around her, tracking Nobunaga's leap and firing off with resonant thuds, trying to impact the Demon Archer, while the Mad Magician shifts to run away from the melee fighter.
Nobunaga	"I'm not that hard up for cash!" Nobunaga objects to Summer Island Mask's observations, "Changing my spirit origin is a really obnoxious process and I didn't have time this year! It's because this was kinda rushed!" Brooklynn charges right at her, directly, and Nobunaga kicks back into a slide. Replacing her is the skeletal construct, meeting the grappler's hands with two of its own. Despite its size, though, it's clear that she has an advantage of strength on the skeleton. Especially when its other two arms are tied up trading blows with Hibiki. On both fronts, it's losing quickly, until the quartet of hands all break and the familiar disappears. Avoiding getting smashed into paste by Brooklynn, however, makes Nobunaga an easy target for Staren to shoot with rating-friendly lasers. Wind shoves her forward, before she is promplty blown off her feet by Theurgus and then washed across the courtyard by Summer Island Mask; while peppered with bullets from Utsuho. Several meters down the beach, Nobunaga washes to a stop, blowing a small geyser of water upward. Her guitar washes up beside her, and she grabs onto it as she gets back up, pouring water out of the case and giving the strings some tentative plucks. Satisfied, the summer warlord raises her hand and draws it down across the strings; this time producing a screech that transforms into an almost-evil hiss. As before, her skeletal familiar reconstitutes itself, unfurling its unnaturally large number of arms, wreathed in flame. But this time, the lower pair of arms thrust downward into the sand to Nobunaga's sides. When the skeleton draws those arms upward, each hand clutches the neck of an instrument, drawing forth a pair of colossal guitars. Twirling these around, the skeleton slams them together in a burst of flame, resulting in a double-necked guitar. Laughing, Nobunaga lays into her own guitar, thrumming out a bone-shaking bassline on the lower strings while her familiar's fingers dance across the frets of its own instrument, screeching out a pulse-pounding riff in time to flame geysers erupting in front of her.
Brooklynn Bailey	The SCREECHING tears through the Virtue, bones start to shake, rattle, and roll. Her teeth clatter painfully, even as she tries to push her way through the bones of the previous familiar, she keeps trying to get closer. When the sonic attack ends, she falls to her hands and knees as if she were swimming in jello up to a moment ago, and her gaze looks up. There is a burst of flame from her, and Utsuho will feel a strange power boost. Her own strength and endurance increased, her own raw flame-related powers are also augmented. Brook's body put itself back together better, and she attempts to charge Nobunaga down again. This time entering what one might remember from a horror movie. She's no longer moving at a speed measured in feet, but rather measured in a horror movie, as she puts herself back together after repeated blasts. She's attempting to draw the Demon Archer's attention.
Muramasa	Raising his arm with a small smile, "Did you enjoy going belly-up? Ah ha h -- hiiii?!" His smooth chuckle turns into a small bout of panic as Nobunaga THE Rock'n Roll summons her giant apparition of Owari, only, now sporting its own gruelling looking instruments, the strings releasing hateful hisses as they are tested with a small pluck. "Ech ... even if this is a battle of the bands, I'm just one front-man. Even so, I won't back down ... I'm Summer's Guardian Spirit, after all! I'll release everything I have in this all out-offensive, huoh!" "What comes next, I'll leave it to everyone else!" "Good music fits a beautiful sunny day. "But noise too painful to hear should just disappear!" With a softer strum than anything Nobunaga's melody was jiving to, he doesn't bother summoning opposing geysers of water to contest her flames, and instead focuses it into one shot. A gigantic sphere of water that swells high in the skyoverhead, until he finishes his riff, legs scissoring into a split that takes him to the ground with one final motion with his pick, "CANNONBALL!" And, the massive ball of magically charged water indeed does the cannonball, aimed right on top of where Nobunaga was positioned.
Karlan Nobles	"All this talk about spirit origins and summer units... Is that some kind of special wording for a wardrobe change?" Pramanix asks, glancing between Summer Island Mask and Nobunaga with a fairly calm tone despite all the fighting still going on between them and the skeleton thing. "If it means being able to deal with the heat easier, I wouldn't mind getting a summer unit myself..." She's looking more used to the sweating, at least, although it's mostly from that snow ritual letting her cheat quite a bit and tying the jacket up at her waist. Between Nobunaga's seemingly endles skeleton-generating power, though, Pramanix's snow-calling actually slows down a bit as she darts about to try and keep ahead of those erupting geysers. "What if-gyah! What if this... Fighting is a distraction?" She ponders aloud, scrambling over a bench and leaping past it into a clumsy roll, staying on the ground briefly to pat out another fire on her person. She rings her bell to blast her out of the path of another geyser with yet another gust, but takes note of those sick guitar riffs... And then Pramanix starts ringing the bell with more fervor and gusto than before. Instead of barraging the Demon General or her minion with snow, however, the snow gathers around Pramanix herself as it forms a steadily growing platform with herself in the center. The ringing becomes more rhythmic, following a beat that's actually matching what's being put out by the skeleton guitarist and the bassist general. The platform keeps growing even as the bottom keeps melting, steadily turning into a ramp aimed straight at Nobunaga and the skeleton. "I've always wanted to try this...!" Grinning excitedly, Pramanix tosses her bell into the air, letting it stay aloft through the wind churning around it from below to keep the ringing going. The snow leopard, meanwhile, goes right down that slide, barely able to control her movement with her shoes guiding her forward. She hits that ramp, shouting excitedly and only slightly regretting her life choices as she goes flying right towards Nobunaga! This can only end poorly for her.
Theurgus	After getting some clearance, thanks to the combo artes with Mask and Staren, the Mad Magician has some time to perform some more involved incantation. This one involves a physical dance-adjacent element. "Crack of thunder. Shudder of Lightning. Pulse and skitter." as she speaks she 'draw's symbols in the air from the tip of her staff, the marble at the head and the lines along its sides glowing a brilliant yellow and crackling with electricity. She gets hit by one of those flame geysers, sending her flying, though the symbol follows her. As she lands, she rolls back to her feet and continues to chant. "Diode and Transistor. March onwards to the east. Way of destruction, Blue Lightning Cannon!" As she finishes incanting, the symbol solidifies, then bursts forward with an electrical arc beam, the blue energy crackling as it lances out towards the Demon Archer. Don't mind that her hat's tip is smoking.
Hibiki Tachibana	"He can do guitars...?" Hibiki notes to herself in the direction of SUMMER ISLAND MASK (ft. ukelele) as their joint efforts of ice, water, grevious physical harm, and PG-13 lasers send their swimsuit-wearing foe packing again. Rolling her arms and brushing off any residual soreness from that fiery set of clashes, she bounds after the Archer as the fight is officially taken to the waterfront. As if her words themselves are cursed after that talk of beaches and guitars, Demon on the Beach Nobunaga is an imposing figure to face down after she rises back up and faces them down with her scorched skeleton for the third time, now with something to do with its hands other than throw them. "Wait, /it/ has guitars too!?" The resulting rock n' roll riffs resonating and roaring slow her down as she tries to close the distance again, sending vibrations through her body and making each movement a struggle. Which makes it really rough when she has to start sidestepping gouts of fire to get anywhere near Nobunaga. Leaping from side to side, she narrowly gets licked by them time and time again, seeming to be forced to go on the defensive under the heated assault. But she's actually just biding some time. "Ngh...! Actually, this beat is pretty good...! Alright!" After one last dodge, she tenses up. Between Nobunaga's shredding, her construct's even louder chords, and also Island Mask putting his everything behind his strumming...! The song-empowered Symphogear has absorbed just enough Phonic Gai--SUMMERTIME SPIRIT to put into something special. "Time to cool DOWN!" Energy gathers in her right hand, along with the piston rearing back again--and she punches straight down into the ground beneath her feet. The loose earth is pummeled down into a deep hole from the force...before it comes up as a great wave of sand that briefly blocks out the sun before it comes straight down on Nobunaga to bury her and her fire beneath it. Inexplicably, after it all settles, it'll be in the very messy and vague shape of a sandcastle. She tried.
Staren	Staren kind of expects the taunt to get tremendous retaliation, but... nothing. Nobunaga seems to take it good-naturedly. After taking a defensive stance, she tries to draw a bead on the Archer again... only for her to start up some music. Staren... kind of wishes they'd learned how to do something musical. It never seemed like it would be productive for solving the Multiverse's problems, but... ...Not everything has to be, right? Staren can do things for themself, too. Especially when they have plenty of time, expecting to live forever. The train of thought is interrupted by FIRE GEYSERS. "Gah!" Staren hops out of the fire, only somewhat protected by the freezing cold air. She has her computer analyze the pattern but there's NOTHING. "Why! Ow! How do we stop this! Agh!"
Utsuho Reiuji	Utsuho Reiuji makes no particular attempt to evaporate (or boil) water that isn't actually aimed at her. Keep that water gun pointed at Nobunaga and it's all good! Flying in the air on a summer's day, Utsuho feels in her element. She might be from the underground, but this is how it should be. It's like she said: she loves the sun, and the sun loves her. It's - Oh, wait. That's not all her. Brooklynn's energizing flame is there, too. Well, good enough. "Ha ha ha! Sun and sand and water... I feel the power of summer! C'mon, I've just come up with a new spell! Give me a moment, and... let's show you some danmaku!" Utsuho's particular iteration of Gensokyo doesn't always play by the same spellcard rules as everywhere else, but that doesn't mean she can't, and it seems more appropriate for fun then just blowing everything up would be. -- Explosion Sign 'Micro Flare' -- Utsuho flies up higher - well, half flies, half is thrown by one of the flame geysers and spreads her arms. A series of spheres of light about five feet across, white-yellow like looking at a drawing of the sun, begin to form around her; they descend, showering down pretty erratically and trailing smaller sparks of light. As they descend, they shrink. Utsuho isn't really aiming, which means both that nobody is safe and that they're not too hard to dodge if you pay attention to them - but having one land in the middle of your musical number probably sucks! Between that and the flame geysers, it's getting hot (again), and also they're taking up a lot of the free space with attacks. Such is life.
Nobunaga	After a few beats of randomized geysers, Nobunaga's attention is drawn to Brooklynn's ceaseless approach. Her stance shifts and she calls up a flame jet right under the girl's feet. When she is nonplussed by it and keeps approaching, regenerating from the damage, the warlord tries it again. When that has the same result, she adjusts her stance and the randomly exploding geysers of flame cease. Instead, in time to the thrashing guitars of herself and her familiar, she focuses repeated explosions on the approaching woman, seemingly enthralled by how she keeps regenerating from it. The distraction doesn't last very long, but it doesn't have to. She wrenches her attention from Bailey when a woman shouts, laying eyes on a now-airborne Pramanix and with far too little time to do anything about it. The surprise on her face is candid-photo-worthy in the split second between realization and snow leopard plancha. This knocks her right off her feet and into her skeletal familiar, interrupting the malicious melody in a screech of tortured strings. Staggered but still standing with Pramanix bouncing away (probably), Nobunaga reaches up, adjusting her cap and raising her guitar again. When she raises it up, her familiar does the same-- and is quite suddenly struck by Theurgus' lightning with a thundrous CRACK. A heartbeat later, Summer Island Mask's cannonball of water crashes down on top of her, laying the warlord out on her back. A shadow overtakes her, and she raises an arm to shield her eyes when Hibiki's sand piles up on top of her. And then Utsuho's solar fireball descends on the buried Servant in an almost comical level of overkill. The seared skeletal familiar is still there, but has stopped playing. One of its four arms reaches out, placing a tiny white flag on top of what remains of the sand pile burying Oda Nobunaga.
Brooklynn Bailey	After several direct hits Brook continues to walk like a monster in a horror movie. However, her trick seemed to work, providing the distraction that was needed to bring down Nobunaga. This, however, has the effect of dropping Brooklynn to her knees, as her body is now slowly regenerating herself. Forcing yourself to go through literal hell like that is tasking! Her clothing is likely tattered to hell, and she holds a hand up. "Thisty.." she says with a very ragged voice."
Theurgus	Theurgus huffs after her spell ends, and drops to her knees with her staff planted in the sand. She looks exhausted, as she reaches up to pinch out her smouldering hat. "I believe... we won?" she asks to noone in particular, summoning a can of DocP from her inventory and taking a long drink from it.
Karlan Nobles	Pramanix can take solace in the fact that the Shrine is a place of non-permanent injuries because she's pretty sure she just threw her back out with that maneuver. Notwithstanding the fact that she's never done this sort of thing before and she's never trained for this sort of thing before, crashing right into Nobunaga and landing some yards/meters/other fairly large distance away has her reeling. Despite that, she still manages to laugh. It's pained laughter, sure, but she's still able to drag herself over and ignore the heat at least a little bit thanks to the residual snow hitting her and her ice ramp melting steadily. "Hah! Oh, that was... Remind me never to do that again, friends. Oh... Oh, that hurt. Is everyone okay?" Once she's within a few more rolls' distance of the skeleton, Pramanix rolls onto her back and just rests there for the time being. She raises a hand to shield her eyes from the sun, then remembers that she has a hat to do that better and... Does that. "How did we do, General? It was a good jump start up this ladder, I hope..."
Hibiki Tachibana	It's a good thing there's a lot of beach here, because otherwise the string of wanton beach remodeling and other attacks might not leave a lot left to enjoy after. If Nobunaga wasn't as fire-centric as she was, she'd be more worried about Utsuho's sunny attack scorching down onto the beach, but it looks like all's well that ends well. Mostly. Probably. "...Phew. I'm okay. That was a workout..." She didn't have it as rough as Brooklyn, or Pramanix after her improvised flying tackle, but some of the soreness from getting slammed, burnt, and rocked is sure hitting her now. But rather than letting herself get any rest just yet, she glances up as her crappy excuse for a sandcastle is topped off with a flag. The flag of surrender. A moment passes, and then Hibiki steps forward and crests up the simultaneously soggy and superheated bits of sandpile that are left over. The skeletal hand responsible is given a high five and a respectful nod.
Utsuho Reiuji	Utsuho, caught in spellcard hype (she never gets to declare them!) takes a moment to realize Nobu has gone down, which only means that a couple more of the falling mini-suns scatter across the battlefield. "...Oops." Utsuho lowers her arms, slowly descending. She's been tossed around a few times (getting hit by the skeleton did her no favors) but, given a lot of the assaults were fire, she's better off than she could be. And she didn't flying plancha anyone, so there's that. She doesn't even know what a plancha is. Utsuho lands next to the sand pile Nobunaga is in and prods it with her stone foot. Just to make sure she doesn't need to call Rin to hide a body. (It's the perfect crime...)
Muramasa	With the white flag planted on top of the sand pile, Summer Island Mask makes an easy smile, "Hup!", and recovers himself from his split to stand back to his full height. A small twirl by its neck rolls the ukulele to rest along his shoulder lengthways, "Ah ha ha, everyone sure did show their inner bancho ... no, more than that, their summer spirit, huh?" Looking to Pramanix, he nods his head, "Thank you for asking, but, I'm well. At any rate .. toh!" With a springy jump that takes him up a pole, and another to the veranda of the school looming over the beach, Summer Island Mask turns on his heel. "My job here is done. Farewell!" The back of his bright blue silk screen flaps, and exposes the eye-catching ARTS logo smeared across his back before he disappears, a litney of iced treats such as frozen watermelon, peaches, cherries, and other similar goodies falling back to the ground behind him for Hibiki, Staren, Pramanix, Hibiki, Brooklyn, Utsuho, and even the defeated, buried Nobunaga.
Staren	The random geysers FINALLY CEASE. Staren turns and trains her gun on Nobunaga... but hesitates. Even if this IS just a game, or perhaps ESPECIALLY because it is, it feels kind of cheap for him to do that and just spam lasers from a distance while Nobu is distracted. And then he loses the moment, eyes widening as... they don't actually have to look up. The cameras, at least the ones that HAVEN'T been destroyed by Utsuho's suns yet, are picking up that attack! Fortunately they can tell Staren where NOT TO STAND, so she hurries out of the way of the crashing suns. And also frantically records the data, because that just looks neat! After things are safe again, Staren approaches the white flag. "So... did we get a lot of points, then? And... how did you learn to play modern instruments, if I may ask?" Then Mask drops iced treats, and Staren dramatically reaches behind her head to catch it... and misses. She blinks. Oh right, shorter arms. She turns and squats to pick up the treat before turning back to Nobu, then pulls off her mask to enjoy it.
Nobunaga	It takes a few minutes for Nobunaga to emerge in a burst of sand, the little flag now stuck on top of her hat. She shoots a dirty look at the skeleton familiar, who simply raises its upper set of hands and then disappears to absolve itself of any wrongdoing. Eyes closed, she shakes sand out of her hair, "Well done, everyone. That's this bonus fight concluded and you did brilliantly." One eye opens, fixating on Staren, "Though some of us should pay more attention to what's going on in the moment." Reaching, she collects a couple of Summer Island Mask's discarded treats, then tosses a watermelon pop towards Brooklynn. Her own is unwrapped and shoved into her mouth, not that it stops her from talking. "This was a Bonus Fight. Points for everyone. Good work. From here on out, barring any more bonus fights, the best way to earn points is gonna be brutalizing each other."
Theurgus	Theurgus pushes herself back to her feet, dusts herself off then approaches the others. "This should be a very thrilling diversion." she announces to noone in particular. "Who wishes to face me first, since we should be very much in the spirit of this prestigious event?" she dismisses her staff and summons a small gleaming pearl which she places into her ear. "Yes Grimoire, what is it?" a pause. "My assistant can handle that, surely?" pause. "She will be fine, she has you there to help her." pause. "Oh, I am currently participating in a summer bancho fighting tournament. It seems to be rather energetic. I shall send you recordings of my bouts!" she then winces and pulls the pearl out. "Ah, I seem to be losing your signal!" paff, the pearl disappears.
Hibiki Tachibana	"Leaves just like that. He sure is a lot more animated than I'm used to hearing..." Hibiki mutters as Summer Island Mask makes his grand departure, blissfully ignorant of summers past. She trots back down the sandpile and snatches up a peach as her transformation poofs in a burst of light, leaving her back in her school uniform. Like Nobunaga herself, she also has no issues talking with her mouth full. "I'll be good to go a round with anyone, anytime. Right now though--" She glances around the messy beachscape. "...I'm gonna get back to Miku. I think we all could use five after that one." She gives Pramanix and Brooklyn a sympathetic look before getting to walking. And picking up as much food off the floor as she can carry as she goes. Shamelessly.
Karlan Nobles	Pramanix says, "That's wonderful to hear. Good work, everyone!" Pramanix lets out a pleasant little cheer as she sits up, moving with all the grace of a cat that has the grace of a klutz. She takes a bit longer to pull herself up, just in time to see Summer Island Mask making his exit with a dramatic jump and a rain of frozen snacks. "Oh. This is just perfect. A contest off to good start, icy snacks to eat, plenty of friends around..." Pramanix laughs and snags a frozen peach for herself to munch on, rubbing her chin at Theurgus' early boast. "Once I get something more fitting for this weather, I'll take you on! It should be a fun match~" She replies, although she's also looking Utsuho's way with an inquisitive glint in her eyes. "And a match between your fire and the snow of Karlan... That should be a good show, too." And then she turns to Nobunaga and Hibiki (and Miku if she happens to be nearby) as the defacto authorities on all things high school. "But before I forget... What do people normally eat in this sort of setting? It'll be my treat, just this once." She smiles softly as she says that, briefly flicking a credit card into view to show that she means what she says. An eagle-eyed observer, though, might notice that the credit card doesn't actually have her name on it."
Staren	Staren's cheeks redden a bit being called out at that. "This was my first field test of a new interface!" She tries to explain herself... then looks righteously indignant. "...W-wait a minute, those geysers were random, weren't they? My computers couldn't find any pattern!"
Brooklynn Bailey	After five minutes of drinking, Brook looks refreshed and now healing much faster. She looks over at Staren, "Uh...no, she directed them right at me at the end there."
Utsuho Reiuji	Utsuho has had ice cream exactly once in her life. Twice now, judging by how fast she jammed one of those in her mouth. She has an excuse; if she doesn't eat it quickly, it is going to melt, given... Utsuho. "Mph?" she says, around one of the frozen treats, at Pramanix. She attempts to give a thumbs up but reflexively tries to use her right hand first, which isn't there, so she just kind of waves the rod around for a moment until she switches hands. "...wait, there's MORE food?"
Hibiki Tachibana	'It'll be my treat, just this once.' Hibiki stops mid-step. And turns around. There's a long moment of thought where she decides on whether to take her up on the offer, thinks about it, but Miku finishes bounding down the beach and leans in over her shoulder before she can say anything herself. "How about shaved ice? It's the perfect thing for this kind of heat! You'd probably love it if you've never had any before." Not missing a beat, maybe because she'd also go for that without a second thought, Hibiki nods. "Getting a chance to eat together before all the fighting starts...might not be a bad way to wind down."