Scene #7738: Snacktime at the Shrine

Owner	Pose
Kukuru	As promised, Kukuru's already set up quite the spread just outside of the Shrine of Adversity. Folding tables are filled with trays of fresh baked potatoes (with cheese and butter on the side), crunchy battered shrimp cakes (with tartar sauce and lemon wedges on the side), and mixed vegetables for balance (with yet more cheese on the side). Another table holds all the pasta and rice dishes along with (storebought) bread, and a third table has all of the baked desserts laid around it with serving spoons and pre-cut cakes. A cooler fileld with ice, saltwater, and assorted cans of soda and beer is next to the tables, and there's plenty of plastic plates and utensils laid out. It's the fancy plates and plastic utensils, too. None of that shiny white break-in-your-mouth bullshit. The smell of grilled meat is also hanging in the air, although something smells and looks different about it the closer anyone gets to the grill that Kukuru's working at. She's dressed in a yellow sweater and sweatpants combo with a with a black apron over her front to keep all the blood and guts off herself, although she's not wearing gloves. There's a lot of blood on her hands, likely from the meat she's working with. The slabs of whatever meat she's using look like beef or chicken, but the shape is longer in several places as though they were cut from things not quite shaped like either of those animals. Kukuru's still hard at work preparing those for the grill, too, removing feathers from the beef-like meat and scales from the chicken-like meat.
Hesinca	Entre Hesinca. She's dressed in her business formal armor - which is basically armor that's had frilly business bits attached to it. It's stylish and functional! Perfect for your next hostile takeover. "Oh, great! There's food out already!" The demon snags a large plate and starts piling it high. "So, just wanted to make sure," she remarks to Kukuru. "This isn't an attempt to get people signed up to your multi-level marketing scheme, right?"
Tanya Degurechaff	Tanya von Degurechaff is a tiny waif of a person, and yet here she is. In the typical green and scarlet officer dress uniform she treats as casual clothes, the Major keeps her arms folded behind her back while striding alongside the first buffet assortment. By the end of it, she's acquired her own plate, balanced on one hand with a selection of cheeses that she eats using a toothpick. Small bites for small officers. "Doesn't strike me as her style," the girl comments, "It takes a certain personality to build and maintain a scam like that."
Staren	This is... a casual outing! Staren was told to maybe not wear the coat and scarf all the time, so that means it's fashion experimentation time again! ...Except, she just feels like being comfy today? So she's in a red sweatshirt and desaturated green sweatpants. And white-and-red sneakers. Actual normal sneakers for comfort not with thrusters built in or anything. And her hair is in twintails, or rather, it looks like someone decided to try that hairstyle, didn't actually know anything about fashion, and just went 'well I make two ponytails with scrunchies, right?' Anyway, if she was trying not to make a fashion statement she probably shouldn't have worn that OBNOXIOUSLY LONG RAINBOW SCARF. It's wrapped around her neck twice and still almost drags on the floor. Even if it IS pleasantly soft to the touch it's still. It's sure is a choice. Anyway, Staren is here! She smells the food as soon as she walks in and looks around hungrily, making a beeline for a plate and to try a little of everyth WAIT IS THAT SHRIMP? She takes a bit more of that. Actually she decides to make her meal mostly shrimp. "Ooh, thanks Kukuru!" she waves to the chef on her way to look for a place to sit. "Why would Kukuru do that?" She chimes in after Hesinca and Tanya. "I think she just likes to give people food... and even if it WERE some presentation, we could just leave after eating if we don't like it." Staren looks between them after chewing a bite of shrimp cake. "...I haven't seen you two in awhile. How have you been?"
Kukuru	Another wad of scales gets pried off, and the chicken-looking meat is thrown right on the grill! Kukuru laughs and shakes her head at Hesinca's question, although she does give the centaur demon a curious look moments later. "Is that... Um. A thing that people do? Does it work?" The seed of bad ideas has been planted. Luckily, Tanya and Staren are there to actually keep her on a (relatively) straight path. "Although... Yeah, I don't wanna fool people or anything. That's what grifters and scammers do, not the Concord. Besides, I get paid plenty, so I shouldn't need to do that kind of stuff just for money. But a little extra on the side is..." Kukuru doesn't finish that sentence. It's probably better that she doesn't. "I didn't know we had such big and small members here, though. Hehe.. It's good to meet you finally." She smiles pleasantly at Tanya and Hesinca, glancing back at the grill briefly to flip over the meat once it's nicely seared on one side. She raises an eyebrow when Staren says 'in a while'. "Ah.. You haven't been around here, either? Welcome back then. You're not injured or whatever, are you?"
Hesinca	"Okay, so multi-level marketing is a scam that doesn't work unless you're evil," says Hesinca. "I mean like, actually evil, not the sort of lay-person everyday pizza-boxes-in-the-recycling evil." "Which is to say that I've made bank a couple of times, but it's so much work even if you're taking the route of not being a punter, you know?" she says, regardless of Kukuru implying she's a grifter and a scammer. And then she sees Staren's scarf. "Hey. I want that scarf."
Tanya Degurechaff	"Busy," Tanya's answer to Staren is curt, but about what one would expect, "Make no mistake, I am still a Hand of the First and I have not been lax in those duties." Closing her eyes, she gestures with cheese on a stick, "There is a lot of paperwork behind what you do in the field. Appreciate that someone else takes care of it for you." That cheese is promptly eaten. "Frankly, multi-level marketing is ethically and legally questionable from the outset. It's simply too much trouble. Better to run a more legitimate business plan. Returns are lower but more consistent and far less risky." An eye opens, her gaze turned towards Kukuru in particular, "In matters of buisness, one must be aware of both the short-term and long-term results of their decisions. Losing sight of the big picture in pursuit of short-term gains is a recipe for disaster."
Persephone Kore	Persephone's presence is, as always, felt before it is seen. It's a gentle pull at the back of the mind, an atmosphere of warmth and care and ominously vast gentleness. Loose napkins flutter slightly under the psycho-gravitational tug. Drinks ripple, tilting subtly in their containers as if held at a false angle. The flames of the grill point towards her too, like the needle of a faithful compass. She comes into view a few seconds later, dressed in a simple ribbed keyhole sweater, a knitted scarf (far simpler than Staren's), and some comfy arm-warmers. It's her usual outfit, so I hope it's not too fancy for a cookout! I've never really been to one before, ahaha. You'll forgive me if I don't know the etiquette, right? Phony immediately finds a place to sit where she shouldn't: on top of one of the tables, with her legs crossed and feet resting in the seat of a chair. Folding tables really aren't designed to bear the weight of a whole person, but I don't want it to break, so it doesn't! That's just the way things work. "So," she says while plating herself up a shrimpcake, "can I interest any of you in some essential oils?" Her vexing Mona Lisa smile is completely unreadable, at least until she breaks down into giggling and stifles it only by stuffing her mouth with shrimpcake. "But you two must be Hesinca and Tanya, aren't yu? It's so wonderful to really meet you in person. I was looking forward so badly to feeling yor hearts, and now I finally get to!" They're both offered an armwarmer-clad handshake, if they come in range. Her expression falls just a little to something more serious and contemplative as she regards Staren. "Staaaar. Come here! I'll help you with your hair while you eat, okay?" True to her word, she does, albeit almost purely telekinetically. If Staren assents, the scrunchies are taken off to allow her hair to be neatly parted and then "combed" by impossibly dextrous invisible forces. A section of hair at the back is brought upwards and forwards to give the ponytails a little lift, and then the scrunchies are put on, twist-looped twice to hold the hair in place just a little more firmly. It looks significantly neater and fancier now! "It is cute," she muses to Hesinca during the hair-fixing process. "Not so much for the color, but being so big, it reminds me of how girls with too-long sleeves can be adorable. It's that kind of feeling."
Count Kord	Kord has been at the Shrine of Adversity getting some personal training in frequently enough. He can be spotted having snuck into the party -- stealthily -- and is now looming over the baked goods like some sort of angel of death. He is putting an enormous amount of carbs and sugar on his plate. He turns away and finds an out of the way spot to sit down, using a chair conjured of solid shadows. He idly smiles to himself as he gorges on his food. He lifts a hand to daintily wave at the others, but does his introvertive 'not quite close enough to join' thing for now, unless someone comes to bother him specifically. "That scarf is very loud!" he calls over to Staren. And gives a thumbsup. He likes it. He looks like a cosplayer, the way he's happily just enjoying the festivities.
Kukuru	"Oh. Sounds..." Kukuru glances between Hesinca and Tanya several times, swallowing lightly as a glazed look comes over her eyes from the explanation about what's needed for multi-level marketing. It's pretty obvious this all going in one ear and out the other, but not for a lack of trying to comprehend it. She just doesn't at all. "... Complicated. I was supposed to be good at thinking up stuff like that, too, but it didn't pan out. So... Yeah, I'll stick to what I'm good at. Moving stuff, fixing people, feeding everyone... Oh! Make sure to eat up enough, too. My fridge doesn't have room for too many leftovers." That's the closest Kord gets to a signal that she's probably okay with how much cake-loading he's doing. There's plenty there, anyway, and the frosting and decorations are homemade even if the cake substance itself is from a box. Kukuru feels Persephone's presence before sees her, meanwhile, humming softly and shaking her head with very clear indication that it's totally okay. The important thing is that you're comfortable and full before the night's over. Dig in! Kukuru also finally starts plating the meat that looks like but isn't chicken. More discerning palates (or anyone that just probes into her head) will realize that it's actually crocodile meat! It really does look like chicken both before and after cooking, though.
Swordbearing Pair	A pair of non-Concord end up late. They were seeing the sights a bit in Grand Dorado along the way, and accidentally spent their credits on souvenirs, and honestly, this city's a trap. It doesn't feel like hostile territory even if it's Concord-governed. When they finally arrive at the Shrine of Adversity, Rean Schwarzer's dressed in a puffy red jacket, while Laura S. Arseid in far more casual clothes, befitting a noble daughter. They're about eighteen years old, and Rean is hefting a bag of treasures, won fairly from the shopkeeps of the Grand Dorado. "Haha...this city's as amazing as I remember." Rean says to Laura, who nods with a pleasant smile. "Next time we visit, we should check out the smitheries. Perhaps their swords are as good as their trinkets." With the seafood cakes quickly being devoured, Rean snaps two up, passing one to Laura, before moving to introduce himself, a wave to Staren. "Rean Schwarzer, Paladins Chevalier. Thors Academy Class VII." Laura nods, and does the same. "Laura S. Arseid, Paladins Chevalier. Thors Academy Class VII. It's a pleasure." Rean turns to Kukuru, as she cooks. "Do you need any help with all this food? I'm not the best, but I'm just about average at everything I've tried making. Work well with a partner."
Hesinca	"Yep, Hesinca Disastre, and I guess I've got some pretty famous hearts then, huh?" FIRM HANDSHAKE! "Also, I wasn't saying it was cute," she mentions to Persephone. "I was saying I want it. Staren, give it to me." She holds out a hand expectantly towards her. And then Kord shows up, Staren gets elbowed. "That's that Korn guy you were talking about, right?" "He looks like he needs to get more sunlight." And then new arrivals. Hesinca sets aside Operation Steal Staren's Scarf, and goes over to confront the new arrivals. "Hey!" She thumbs at herself, looking down at them. "I'm Hesinca Disastre! Remember that name, because you're going to be writing it down a lot!" "On your mission reports." "Because I'm going to be causing a whole lot of trouble. And you'll have to do a ton of reports about it. Got it? And make sure you stretch your hands out first so you don't get carpal tunnel. You got that too?" she demands.
Kukuru	More new faces! Polite ones, too, as Kukuru chuckles lightly at Rean's and Laura's greetings before curtseying lightly to them. Never mind the fact that she's wearing sweatpants instead of a skirt and that her apron and hands are covered in (mostly dried) blood. "Nice to meetcha, Rean and Laura. My..." She pauses to yawn, covering her mouth briefly. "My name's Kukuru. Ku-ku-ru. I'm with the Concord, but it's good to meet you." She giggles, yawns again, then considers Rean's offer. "Actually... Hm... Yeah, if you wanna watch the meat on the grill. I still gotta finish cleaning off the ostrich." And without further ado, she gets right back to removing the feathers from the skin on the beef-looking meat, tearing them off with nothing more than her bare hands. She's pulling it off cleanly, too, although it doesn't look like she has a knife to separate any of it later. "I thought his name was Kord, not... Wait, is he the musical one?" She asks Hesinca, looking towards Kord moments later for confirmation.
Staren	"Oh. Uh, thanks..." Staren replies when Tanya says to be grateful for someone else pushing paper. "See, you say that, but in my experience people doing evil in the Multiverse basically never care about trying a less-bad plan even if it would be better for them in the long run... or even the short term..." And then: Persephone. A now-familiar feeling. One which Staren is already beginning to regard with fond familiarity. The offer of essential oils gets a blank stare. Is it some kind of skincare advice? But why suddenly here... OH! MLM reference. Right. Staren smiles as she gets the joke. "It's good to see you, Persephone!" And then looks a bit awkwardly uncertain at the comment about her hair. She holds a hand up to one of the scrunchies. "What's wrong with it...?" But, she approaches, pulled towards Persephone. The scrunchies were already double- or triple-looped, at least she knew that much! Persephone can see Staren recalling a pre-teen memory of tying h... er... their? hair into a different type of twintails, the hair then barely longer than shoulder-length and being tied off into two parts at about neck height. She's comparing the experience and trying to follow what Persephone is doing... Only to be brought out of her thoughts as she realizes Hesinca said something. "Huh?" She plays back the last few seconds of audio in her head, and her hands reflexively go to the scarf around her neck. "It was a Christmas present..." She doesn't actually remember getting it. It's from more than eight years ago, maybe much more -- before coming here, she was just looking for a neck accessory other than 'hero scarf' and saw the forgotten gift in the back of her closet. "Can't you get one just like it? I could print you one, even." It's not THAT sentimentally valuable (although, she sends a query to her computer at home to check records and see who this is from), but it's weird to just be asked to hand over a personal item like this and she has a slight general unwillingness to part with old gifts. She smiles at Kord's thumbs-up and gives him a thumbs-up in return. "Thanks?" She waves to Rean. "Oh hey Rean! Long time no see!" At Hesinca's repeated demand, she keeps one hand on the scarf and repeats, "I can make you a copy if you want..."
Count Kord	Okay, they are still butchering his identity, and that cannot stand. So, Kord puts on his best 'social party' smile, as is tradition for a noble of his world, and walks up to properly introduce himself. He gives a brief bow to both of them, while a shadow politely holds his plate and fork for him. "Count Kord of Dragoni, Scion of Yveltal. Charmed." He stands upright, and removes his helmet. He is a chiseled, just barely middle-aged romanian nobleman with red peach fuzz on his face and a lot of anime red hair. He's the definition of a masculine pretty boy, basically. Once the helmet is removed, he lets another shadowy hand grab that one as well, simply holding it nearby as if a servant were carrying it for him, and he grabs his cake to resume eating it, with a pleasant glow of happiness on his face. ... He awkwardly stands around, smiling to himself, because he doesn't know what to do with himself in social gatherings. He seems tense. At least he has cake.
Tanya Degurechaff	"As I said," Tanya waves Kukuru's response off, "Not really your style. That's perfectly fine. We are, after all, a wide variety of talents. We cover each others's shortcomings. That's what allies are for." Her eyes swing sidelong towards Hesinca when the centaurine demon starts waving her introductions around. She doesn't react terribly to the question, though. It seems like she's chosen not to engage with the demand at all; as her attention shifts across Rean and Laura to Persephone. Her heels click together, more out of habit than anything else. "Major Tanya von Degurechaff, Imperial Army Mage Corps and Hand of the Concord. Welcome to the social gathering organized by our own Kukuru, Schwerzer, Arseid," And a brief shift of her attention, "And Persephone." Her thoughts are not...ordinary. It's almost like reading a stream of seemingly basic thought-commands wrapped around complete ideas: Present, approachable, friendly. Social event, more casual. Military hero. Mingle, avoid touchy subjects that might break the atmosphere. Steer it away from pyramid schemes before the business demon overcommits. It isn't normal. She might be doing it on purpose.
Swordbearing Pair	As people start introducing themselves, Rean just rubs the back of his head at some of them. "Got it, Miss...do you spell Disaster as normal, or with a flair of some sort?" As Kukuru asks him to watch the meat, Rean smiles and nods, and moves over to do so, setting his bag down by his feet. "What...is this? It's not cattle or poultry, that's for sure." Laura, meanwhile, grabs a drink (non-alcoholic), some food, and glances to the military majors and nobles. It's Kord, specifically, who gets her attention. "Ah, what is Dragoni like? Yveltal must be...your family name, I presume?" An innocent misunderstanding.
Hesinca	Hesinca's thoughts are all surface level. She thinks 'I should bully Staren into giving me that scarf', or 'I should go be obnoxious to the newcomers', or 'I don't think much of Kord so I'm going to mispronounce his name'. There's no second level of complexity or any subtlety here. There's nothing much to narrate, in other words. Like right now: 'I have failed to get a rise out of the two newcomers, so I'm going to go mess with Kord'. "Hey, Korn!" She wheels around and faces him. "That's a heck of a lot of title. Do you have anything to back it up with, or did your ancestors just sit around and play mad libs to get it?"
Count Kord	"Dragoni is a grey land to the eastern edges of Bayern. It sits up against the mountain range that cuts a crescent along the continent," Kord explains, lifting a hand to make a crescent shape in the air with one finger. His hand gestures are very animated as he speaks along these lines. He seems happy to engage with the questions. "Primary exports are gems, foodstuffs, ore..." His brain lags. It isn't his job to keep track of trade, he has A Guy For That, so he waves it off. "Yveltal is my patron god. I am blessed with their power. My family name is Jakobson." He looks to Hesinca, who is being a rude little shit, as always. He only laughs, because it is incredibly dumb and presumptuous. He's being haughty, and he has to defend himself or look like a pushover. "I'm the first noble of my line. My country picks their leaders when Yveltal picks a new scion, or when some upstart tries to usurp power for themselves. I am the former, as already mentioned, because of a long history of coming to terms with my inheritance from the dark god." "What about you? Does your family come from dirt farmers, is that why you lack any official title to speak of?" he needles back, with an artificially friendly tone. A look of realization, and quieter, he muses, "I suppose 'Partner' counts." Munch munch on cake.
Kukuru	"Oh, right. Titles... Um. I'm a field medic." Kukuru announces plainly, seeming rather content with that little addition despite it not sounding fancy at all. She smiles again as Staren addresses Persephone, only then realizing that she herself hasn't actually said a thing to her yet. "Hey there, Phony. Would a chair be more comfortable?" Kukuru forgot to actually bring chairs. At least there's benches and stuff around the Shrine. "Count, Scion, Major, Mage... Oh, wow. I'm serving up some fancy company today, then. I should've prepared something more..." As with before, Kukuru doesn't finish that thought, although it's more from just forgetting to do so. Skinning meat properly takes concentration, after all, and she starts skinning the ostrich over what might as well be a portable bathtub full of meat so as to not stain the entire floor of the Shrine. Kukuru isn't using a knife for that, though. Instead, she's using a giant claw worn over one hand. Also, she's somehow managed to get a pair of torso-sized claws out from her pocket without so much as straining or looking like she even had those in there in the first place. "On the grill? Crocodile. This one was pretty feisty, but it was a big one. Worth it to get all this meat, right?" She answers Rean, then taps a (bloody) claw against her chin. "I think there's some places that sell this stuff, too, but hunting it is way cheaper. Same with the ostrich." She raises a cleaned-up slab of beef-looking meat, heading over to the grill and slicing it apart before layering it on as well. With Kord and Hesinca's barbs going around, meanwhile, Kukuru... Laughs? Yep, she's laughing. "It's a good thing we're doing this here, then. Make sure to head into the rings before duking it out!"
Hesinca	And then Hesinca's thought pattern shifts. It's a flare of yellow among the otherwise monochrome trails her thoughts leave. The short version is that she becomes Very Certain of some things, and starts channeling that certainty externally. ... To people who can't read minds, this isn't as apparent, though some might feel a general power flare coming from her. She grins at Kord, leaning in. "Oh? Actually I do have a title, a few of them actually, but the main one is Demon Lord..." "... And unlike your self-ascribed inherited titles, mine were earned, and they all have power behind them. For example..." She points a finger at Count Kord's face, and puts all of her certainty, her self-assurance, her personal guarantee - all of it gets put into her words. "Get punched]," she orders him, putting the full weight of her Demonic Authority behind the words. And then she pulls back her arm and tries to sucker-punch him in the face.
Staren	Hesinca stops asking about the scarf and leaves. Staren relaxes a little. The computer search comes back, the first mention of the scarf being in some inventory Staren took down in /AU15/. Which means this was a gift from Staren's very first Christmas in the Union! Before things got terrible... That makes it feel a little more special, actually. Uh oh. Kord insulted Hesinca. "Uhh, Kord?!" Staren calls out, with one hand cupped by her mouth. "Titles mean something extra special on her world, and I'm SURE she's got one!"
Count Kord	Kord's eyes cross at the finger that goes near his nose. His head lifts and he just kinda silently stands there, with that artificial smile, until he gets his block rocked hard enough to stagger backwards, the strength behind the punch sending him sliding, his tail grinding against the floor to prevent flipping head over heel. He has the presence of mind to try to avoid getting slammed through one of the tables or into Kukuru, because he WAS warned not let this disturb the whole shindig. Tanya said so. His own food ends up scattered on the floor, though, the impact having left it derelict. He grins through a very bloody nose. That's better. He can deal with violence and aggression. "I like these kinds of parties," he says, wildly, and his shadows put his helmet back on. He waves off Staren. He was bored anyways, and he does need to get his practice in. So, he lunges for Hesinca in return, and tries to slam the demon woman with a spinning SUZAKU KICK and a lifting blast of wind, to try to drive her AWAY from the food tables, aiming to bring their scuffle to a more clear area. He's gotta be polite, it's still a party. He doubts Hesinca's going to just go 'oh okay,' and step away from the smashables just because he asked, now that they're fighting. "Time to relocate!" he barks.
Hesinca	The demon digs in her hooves, getting battered by the wind but not moving an inch. Literally, not an inch, and not half of an inch, either. "Hah!" she calls. "You'll have to do better than that!" Demon relocation: failed. Still, digging her hooves in like this has slowed her down a bit. Two can play at the slowing-down game, though! "Prinny squad!" A stream of penguin things emerge from some hidden compartment in her vicinity. "Ready dood, Mistress Hesinca!" "Cake him!" she calls. The swarm of prinnies descend upon the food, scooping up all of the remaining cake, and rush at Count Cord with plates raised high - trying to simply smother him with the sweet confection!
Kukuru	Despite Kord's best efforts, some of that food does hit the ground. Kukuru inhales slowly as she finishes carving and laying her meat on the grill, then turns to Rean and Laura and Staren with a serene smile. "Just a second." She abruptly disappears in a swirl of dark energy, then reappears a few yards away besides Hesinca and Kord. "Hey. Remember to take it to the arenas if you're going to fight." She speaks with a pleasant tone, although it's not naturally pleasant like the tone she had spoken with earlier this night. Instead, it's the sort of overly forced pleasant tone, joined by a markedly different sort of smile. It's the type that suggests she's about to horribly maim someone. Or several someones.
Count Kord	Kord does not budge her as much as he was wanting to, but that is OK. He has fought sturdier, ruder opponents. What is more alarming is the host, who appears near him as he's getting pelted with cake and pretty humiliated. He frowns at the sight of her smile even as a cake goes SPLAT against the side of his head and he wipes it off with his claw-tipped gauntlet. Swipe swipe. "I'm trying," he hiss-whispers to her, frustrated with her impatience, with a gesture to Hesinca. He points to Hesinca, and tells her, "We're upsetting the host. Let's go." He points away from the ongoing festivities toward the nearest arena area. He does not launch another attack, not this time. He's got higher priorities just this second.
Hesinca	Hesince becomes aware of Kukuru hovering ominously. "... Yeah, um, let's go over there," she says. Demon relocation: Succeeded.
Count Kord	Smash cut to Kord and Hesinca in a more advantageous spot. Right. Once they've shaken off the post-Kukuru trauma -- and he's gotten his scythe so he can fight more properly -- he engages with Hesinca once more. The cue to start the fight is given when they're bother apparently ready, and he simply blasts a big shockwave of wind at her, displaying is power in a more... controlled manner. The arena's field hems in his attack, keeping it from blowing everything over, and the party-goers can enjoy to Concord members violently bickering -- with added snacks! He's still covered in smashed cake. He ignores that part.
Kukuru	With the battle successfully moved that-a-way with the audience and food-eaters still able to enjoy the battle from a safer distance, the air around Kukuru lightens almost immediately. "Good~ Now, have fun, and remember to make up with each other once you're finished!" She cheers up audibly and visibly, although... She does also reach for one of the Prinnies to scoop it right up. "I'll just take this one to help prepare some extra cake as a replacement." Her tone is genuinely pleasant, her demeanor is nice and loose, and her grip on that Prinny is like a hydraulic press in finger form. It doesn't seem like she's giving that one a choice in the matter.
Tanya Degurechaff	One creature of darkness has picked a fight with another creature of darkness. Tanya's eyebrows settle into a straight and bemused line. When the dessert table is mobbed and weaponized, she lets out a sigh, "What did I just say?" The latest cube of cheese is stuck in her mouth and the toothpick is left there, her newly freed hand going for the handgun resting at her hip, unfastening the buckle holding it in place with her thumb in a practiced motion. It doesn't leave the holster, though. Kukuru has already done her thing. Both belligerents are menaced sufficiently into taking their business to the proper locale. With a click, Tanya re-fastens her holster strap. "Thank you, Kukuru. My condolences. I know how much you dislike wasting food."
Hesinca	Hesinca fails to get blown around by the wind, yet again. She's taking some visible damage - some - but her hooves remain planted firmly in the ground despite everything Kord's thrown at her so far. "Okay! Prinny squad! Attack!" There's no answer. "... Prinny Squad?" None of them followed her into the arena. They're all gorging themselves on the food, back at the party. "... They'll pay for that later. I'll do it myself, then!" She charges at Kord, trying to just simply body-slam him up against one of the walls of the arena!
Count Kord	Kord is too busy laughing at Hesinca's failure to command her minions to pay attention. That's pretty good, especially after the demonic command she uses to force him to stand still for the punch that bloodied his nose. Oh, shit-- His eyes widen, and he puts up his scythe to try to stop the impact, but she hits him... but she doesn't pin him against the wall. He responds to the ache of his arms and the impending crash by extending his shadow up behind him and teleporting through it by sinking into it as she shoves him through it. The momentum launches him upwards into the air behind her, and he lifts his scythe overhead and tries to slam it down with a massive surge of destructive energy. He has a determined grimace on his face. A massive surge of black energy laced with red electricity is launched from his scythe. The artificial arena's wall holds it in -- somehow -- but the ground has a clean fan-shaped chunk ripped out of it and rendered to oblivion by the attack.
Kukuru	"Hm? Ah, you're welcome, Tan-ya. It's... Yeah, wasting food is pretty bad." Kukuru inhales again as she surveys the damage, sighing after a moment before reaching into her pockets. A moment later, she pulls out some wet wipes, then starts cleaning all that blood off herself finally. "I mean, food's supposed to bring joy, right? Or at least energy, even if it sucks. So when it's not used for either of those things, I just feel..." Another deep breath, and then she resumes wiping her hands off. The apron comes off after a bit, too, but that's more to not continue wearing a bloody covering now that all the meat-prep has been done. "It puts me in a bad mind place. But I think they know better now~" And then she's pulling small plastic containers full of yet more cakes out of her pockets. They're not quite as well decorated as the previous cakes, but they're actually made completely from scratch! The cake part might actually taste worse than the box mix from before.
Hesinca	"Alright, whatcha got next?!" Hesinca's next charge comes to a halt as she sees the massive surge of energy coming. "Ah." She braces- - When the energy fades, she's looking... pretty beat up. At least externally. She's not looking nearly as bad as the ground, to be sure, but that did a number on her. "... Pretty good," she says. "I take back... half the bad things I've said about you," she adds. "Only half. And nothing in the category about how your hat is stupid looking." She stretches - and then abruptly SLAMS a forehoof down. A maze of colored tiles spring up - ones glowing with a sort of energy that simply screams 'no entry', and indeed if tested they don't allow entry. Walking into one is like hitting a translucent wall... ... and, by sheer coincidence, cuts off a lot of escape routes Kord could have taken with Hesinca charging in at him again!
Hesinca	MEANWHILE The prinnies, who are currently picking over the chicken-like meat, slowly start realizing there's more cake. As Kukuru starts handing out the containers, they start gravitating towards her... ... There's a lot of prinnies. Will Kukuru have enough cake?
Staren	Staren is just chilling with Persephone, watching the fight. Until CAKES ARE WASTED. "Hey, wait! I didn't get to try that cake yet!" Staren objects. A whole plan forms in her head, of using a Shrine avatar so she doesn't mess up her hair, and joining the fight to help beat down Hesinca in revenge. But... is Petty Cake Revenge... just a toxic masculine thought? Or it it an everyone thought? In Persephone's presence, the negative emotion, which wasn't all that strong to begin with, slips away. Although once Kukuru brings out Replacement Cakes, Staren hurries over to try one before something happens. "Thanks, Kukuru!"
Count Kord	Kord is corralled between some strange magic, which definitely blocks him when he bonks backwards into it, his hands snapping out to touch at the invisible walls. He doesn't have enough time to destroy the tiles before the freight train called Hesinca choo-choos its way toward him. He doesn't have any shadows to retreat into this time, either. She slams into him full-force, and there's a sickening sound of metal crunching, bones cracking, and the air forced out of his lungs, a bit of blood spattering on Hesinca. When he slides off the tile-wall, he lands wobbly on his feet, and staggers to one knee. He waves and says, "I forfeit. You win." He knows she's won the battle of attrition, he's not going to prolong the point. "Uggggh Xerneas' rotten hooves..." he complains, as the phantom aches replace the very real agony of getting smashed by hundreds of pounds of angry demon lord. He sits on the floor, wheezes, then lays on his back in the arena. "Good fight," he breathes.
Kukuru	The prinnies approach as Kukuru finishes setting out her extra pocket cake across the table. Good as new! More or less. When she sees them coming closer, though, her head snaps in their direction with that same serene(ly murderous) smile on her face. "He-llo again... You've learned what not to do from before, right?" As she speaks with her usual friendly tone, there's a brief, but heavy clang of the giant claws as she sets them on the ground besides her. Is it a message? A warning? A coincidence? Probably a coincidence, as she sees the fight coming to a close. "Ah... You two are finished? Alright, come on back! I think the rest of the food's just about ready!"
Hesinca	The prinnies are sufficiently cowed, but they do still take a lot of cake. To eat, not to attack with. Though they are messy eaters, but that's more by accident than intention. In the arena, Hesinca stamps her hoof again, and the colored tiles disappear. "Yeah, good fight. Let's do it again sometime," she says. With the fight over, the Shrine does its thing, and it's like the battle damage never happened. "Alright - food time!" she says, heading back out of the arena, and going to load up another plate.