Scene #9047: 3AM Throwdown

Owner	Pose
Futaba Nuki	At this time of late night/early morning, there usually isn't much going on in Sotenbori. The all-day convenience stores' lights are still on, the late night bars' lights are about to go out, and the occasional flicker of a phone screen barely illuminates the faces of the groggy workers finding their way back home. THe bridge connecting two sides of Sotenbori over a wide river barely has any traffic going over it, but it remains lit up to ensure that those workers don't take an accidental tumble over on their way. The coming day leading to the latter half of the work week should be a quiet one, but today happens to be one of those rare nights something just has to go wrong. Anyone hoping to get back home crossing the bridge is going to have to find a detour, as the loud crashing noises and monstrous figure crawling across it make the usual shortcut far less convenient than it would normally be. An indoor bench flies across one end of the bridge to the other and collides with the railing, shattering the seat into multiple pieces and warping the metal. The culprit is some kind of demon resembling a wall more than anything else, with a skeletal face contorted in rage and mangled arms constantly clenching and releasing as though they're squeezing the life out of something. It leaves deep divots in the ground on each side of itself as it drags itself along slowly, pausing only the hurl more benches, lockers, and vending machines. The call for help comes a little later than it normally would, but not just because it's coming at such an early hour. It's also because there's already someone responding to it. The demon isn't just hurling things wildly, after all, as it has a target: A tall figure in imposing red armor resembling the o-yoroi of a samurai from centuries ago, leaping from side to side to avoid getting pulverized by the projectiles hurled their way. A closer look reveals that their armor is far more modern in make than the traditional samurai's, however, with wires and tubes running between the joints along with a glowing visor of indeterminate purpose. The tubes and wires clearly have a purpose, at least, as the demon hurls another vending machine at the samurai the moment they're backed up against the bridge railing. Drawing a katana out of a similarly modern-looking sheathe, the tubes start to pulse and the wires start to shine as the samurai swings upwards at the oncoming food dispenser, cleaving it in half before taking out a clunky-looking handgun and firing a single exploding shot at the demon wall's center mass that sounds as though it came out of a cannon rather than a pistol. With neither combatant gaining ground on the other and the damage spreading, it becomes fairly apparent upon arriving why the call for assistance from Elites was made: At this rate, the bridge itself could end up collapsing!
Merelisa Shaynore	Why is Merelisa awake at 3 AM? None of your business. The blue glare of her computer screens in the dark room bleaches the color from her face, punctuated by nothing but the sound of occasional clicking and muted music leaking through her earbuds, until a new color pops up of its own accord, instantly snapping her eyes over to it. She scans the notice, and before she's even reached the last sentence, she shoves her chair back and spins away from her desk. A quick response time comes with some necessary compromises. Leggings-as-pants is too low to stoop even for 3 in the morning, but with the casual tunic top and short dark red and white skirt she has to pair with it, it only feels one step removed-- they're easy to throw on and get out the door! The leggings have knee armor built into them, to set them apart from a Walmart run, matched by the elbow length combat gloves she's pulled on. The golden earrings never came out, and she doesn't look tired at all, so all things considered, she's still likely one of the best dressed wanderers of the night. More strikingly than her outfit, is the method of her arrival. A comet-trail of glittering magic dust hangs behind her in a brief arc as she leaps from the final rooftop across half a block, to land on the bridge with two clack-clacks from her flats. Her massive red-gold sword is already in her hands, crunching a vending machine into flat scrap against the stone and biting an inch into it when one comes flying near, then she spins it around one-handedly and swings it up onto her shoulder. Sky blue eyes assess the situation in a moment, buzzing with energy for the fight. "Sir, if you're wounded, please take this opportunity to back off and rest. I've got it from here. Are there any more of them?" Merelisa's heels scrape across the stone as she dashes in front of the monster, intercepting between it and the samurai. With a blue digital distortion over each of her shoulders, two massive mechanical arms beam into existence, each longer than she is tall, and their hydraulic-articulated fingers wrap around the demon's own hands with crushing force, holding them back strength-to-strength. Straining, despite the fact that the shoulder joints of the mecha arms are disjointed from her own by a foot of air, Merelisa whirls around her greatsword to interpose it between herself and the wall, intending to overpower it into stopping by sheer force. When the other Elites arrive, Merelisa glances over, entirely comfortable with taking her eyes off the enemy. "Oh! Hey, are you all responding to the alert too? I'm surprised at how many did, at this hour, haha." Merelisa hesitates, then lets her sword droop by letting go of it with one hand. She reaches up and pulls the curling hairband our from her red hair, shaking it to let it fall loose halfway down her back. Now she doesn't look like she just got interrupted from a bedtime routine.
Calvin Nash	A matte white truck speeds through Sotenbori. Streetlights illuminate the stenciled livery on the side: an inverted pentacle. Above it, "OSSABAW ISLAND," beneath, "DEMON MARSHAL." In the cabin, Calvin keeps one hand on the wheel and another on a mason jar of coffee--he's about halfway through it and taking generous swigs, the dwindling supply rippling as the tires grip the pavement tightly. Behind him, an old pump action, breech loading shotgun rests at the ready on a rack. If someone somehow managed to miss the growl-whine of its engine, or the distinctly purple smoke from the tailpipe, it would take some kind of miracle to miss the truck's brights--or the four bright lights atop its sturdy black roll bar, illuminating a cone of road before it. Tearing down the bridge, Calvin weaves the truck through thrown and flying scenery alike, the nimble light pickup bouncing on its suspension as he finishes the coffee and tosses the jar into the back seat. His blonde brows arch downward as he narrows his blue eyes and stomping on the gas with one foot and the clutch with another as he shifts and darts ahead to clear a flung planter. The offroad tires squeal, leaving dark streaks on the road and spewing white smoke as he then downshifts, brakes and flicks the rear end outwards to slide past the falling bisected half of a locker. His seatbelt clicks, he whips it off and reaches behind for his shotgun, killing the ignition. He's out of the truck and taking cover in one fluid motion. From behind the cover of the front end, he rests the shotgun on his shoulder, flips open his COMP, and tap-tap-taps a command... .load *ana And points it at the wall-demon, bracing his wrist on the hood. Analyze v. 2.3.2 developed by Trina McElwain 'Ghost Wall' Affinity: Physical Threat: Inconclusive Data Techniques: Conjure - Summons detritus to throw at opponents. Strongly resists physical attacks. "You up there on the roof, with the fancy armor! You the one called us? Cavalry's here. Fill me in." First thing's first, though-- .load inv "Prolly don't give a shit 'bout Stone..." His brow raises as something catches his eye on the COMP's inventory manifest. .get slug 10A 1 .get slug 10B 3 Hey, are you all responding to the alert too? I'm surprised at how many did, at this hour, haha. "Just doin' my job. You got magic, miss? That'll do you better than arms 'n swords against this big sumbitch," Calvin calls back, before feeding four cartridges into the shotgun and racking the pump. Shouldering it and bracing the barrel against the truck, he pulls the trigger. The expected muzzle flash happens, but no solid projectile races from the muzzle to accompany it. Rather, a cloudy, hoary mist gathers, as if blown on the wind, passing harmlessly through the building and Merelisa, building mass the whole way. By the time it reaches the demon, the mist is a howling blizzard, whipping around the living wall and wrapping its body in icy, movement-restricting rime!
Natsuki Nuki	EARLIER THAT AFTERNOON, Stomping in through the kitchen back entrance of the Golden Caterpillar club and taking the office back stairs up to the higher floors, Natsuki Nuki burst in through the cherrywood office doors of her own office level and stormed up to the big desk in the center of the room. Gangsters in suits and office workers looked up and then pointedly got back to work or 'work', though the mistress of the club doesn't move her eyes off the rich-brown suited man in a black collared shirt and a red tie with a jade leaf tie bar with three crescented dots 'bitten' into it, with slicked back black hair and a darker 'mask' bridging his eyes subtly and his dress shoes up on the big wooden desk in front of him. "Oh, welcome back." Offhandedly states the desk-disrespecting man without looking up from his physical newspaper -- where he peers interestedly at the comics and enjoys a crossword with a dictionary open besides his propped-up feet. Moments later, a third floor window is smashed open as the whole desk is hurled out of it, tumbling through the air before splintering in a great crash on the street behind the club. Inside, Natsuki lifts the slicked back pit boss of a man, swelling arm popping out of shirt sleeve as she tenses it around his neck. "You didn't tell her. You didn't tell me. Takeshi you little shit, what do you have to say for yourself?" Natsuki demands, intense yokai-red slit eyes staring into the struggling and lifted man's eyes. Her arm tensed. Her claws closed tighter, little rivulets of blood dribbling down from where the sharp nails made contact with flesh. Takeshi Nuki, lifting an arm to pat the gorilla-thick forearm choking him out, manages to croak out a 'cho-king!' and earn a loosening of the vice about his windpipe. Making a show of righting his tie under the grip of his sister, Takeshi forces a smile. "Neither of you asked." Next, it was Takeshi who went out the same broken window, with a frustrated howl that split the sky with a dry and unseasonal peal of thunder following him out his defenestrated path. ---
Natsuki Nuki	LATER THAT EVENING, "So that's why," Takeshi explains, no worse for wear except for his general state of clothing-shredding - a torn brown jacket opened up to reveal clawed shirt and cut tie at the half mark. "I didn't tell you. I thought you knew!" He protests, and then, quieter. "And you scare me." Natsuki - appearing as a golden-tan skinned tall Japanese woman with a darker button nose and eye-'mask' bridging her eyes framed by mid-length white hair she has tied into a simple ponytail tied with a purple ribbon and dressed in a cream yellow sweater jacket, white top, black mid-thigh skirt that mixes 'just thrown on' and snappy street fashion at the same time by cut and style - squats at the riverside and stares at the water so she doesn't go back to slugging her brother in his greasy face. From beneath sweater and over skirt, a ground-coiled black serpent with red-pupiled black eyed head falls as a 'tail', staring hatefully at Takeshi. "You should be scared of fucking around like you did. I don't want to hear your excuses with a smile, I expect you to do better--" Natsuki growls, before looking up at her brother... With a big goofy satellite phone, taking a call instead of listening. It's almost the case that she hauls off and slugs him again, when there's a terrible rise of noise from the bridge nearby, shouting and smashing at 3 A.M., and the glittering fall of sparkles down from a rooftop to nearby. "Oh she just can't get enough, can she?" Natsuki asks, shoving her brother aside as she loops around to move after the falling sparkles at a sedate jog. "Is this more of your ninja trash, dear sister?!" Shouts Natsuki, starting at the edge of the bridge. 'Hey, are you all responding to the alert too? I'm surprised at how many did, at this hour, haha.' The angry Natsuki 'in disguise' stares at the pair of would-be '''heroes''' on the bridge squaring off against the armored samurai and the demon, and smacks a hand into her face and drags it down to an over-emphasized smear of her cheeks and rake down of her skin with black fingernails. "No. I live here." She answers flatly, before cupping her hands around her mouth and shouting. "Hey! Priest! Beat it!" Natsuki heckles the samurai. "You're making it *worse!"
Echolalia	Echolalia is still new to the multiverse and hella hype about it. But even after finding DYsnomia, she hasn't really been able to pin down Dysnomia long enough to actually have a talk in private or, really, a talk in public. She's not sure she really understands what's going on with Dysnomia either--even if she might know the root cause--but she can at least lend a hand here and there which fits her pathological need to be helpful to people or, more accuraetely, to feel like she's being helpful to people. ACtually helping people is a helpful way to feel helpful but there is some wiggleroom on that point and less on the other. She makes her way downtown, so to speak, and marvels at the samurai and the wall. The truth is, though, that yes--it might SEEM like the wall is the bad guy here, but you never know! You can't judge books by their covers. Maybe the demon wall has been hurt by others or is just defending itself from the myterious samurai? Maybe they're both causing trouble for everyone! Still, the fact that Calvin is there with THE TRUCK... "Calvin!" Echolalia says happily, throwing a wave to him and definitely not taking any cover herself. Instead she summons vines that groooow out of the ground to catch flung debris and send said debris flying back at the Wall causing the kerfuffle. She thinks this is a fair attribution of self defense even when she's not entirely sure what's going on. "Calvin why are they fighting? Are they just fighting for fun?" She sees Natsuki heckling a samurai and just upfront asks her, "O hey--do YOU know what's going on here?"
Sarracenia	Sarra is in fact -not- awake at this hour. Not at first anyway. But, she does have a piranha plant servant listening to the radio at all hours. Namely, her personal butler plant - Gregory! He carefully tries to awaken the princess, who is in bed with a bob-omb sleeping mask over her eyes (which means a black mask with cute bob-omb style eyes on it) and her hair all over the place. His careful attempts do not work though. "Princess. ...Princess. Princess Sarracenia. Princess!!" He sighs, then says, "Princess, we are under attack and you are about to be kidnapped." His tone is rather bored and not at all excited or fearful. Yet, Sarra springs upward. "H-wha? K-kidnapped?" she murmurs sleepily, then falls back into bed. Gregory pulls the sleeping mask upward and plays a radio report. "Oh, forgive me princess. I meant that we heard someone is under attack. As an aspiring hero, you should go help them." Gregory then quickly leaves the room as a bit of growling can be heard from within. A short time later, Sarracenia flies into the area from the nearest warpgate. She is not in her personal aircraft at least, but is half-asleep as she flies along with her raccoon ears and tail. Her haphazard path takes her generally toward the area under attack. Despite the hour and the quick response, she is still in her royal gown with hair quickly but still styled. Which gets a bit dirty when she ends up crashing into the dirt a short distance away from where the others have gathered. That wakes her up fully and abruptly, and the other can hear a very whiny "Aaa-haah-oooow..." before the princess makes her way toward them. She waves to Calvin as she sees him, then...gasp! Her new heroic potential best friend! "Merelisa!" Sarra exclaims in surprise, and quickly dusts herself off and gets her hair in order. "What a wonderful surprise seing you here~" she says with a smile before looking at the situation. "Oh. It seems we have no time to wait!" Sarra rushes in, ready to break the stalemate. Fixing bridges isn't really in her wheelhouse. She looks around for any civilians that might need assistance, but doesn't see any. So, she heads out onto the bridge and tosses up a few Bullet Bills in the process, then goes into a graceful twirl. As each person-sized bullet comes down it is hit on the flat by the hammer with a sound not unlike the mystery samurai's own shots. Three Bullet Bills go careening toward the demon wall like artillery fire, exploding on impact...and possibly not helping the bridge situation much.
Futaba Nuki	The battle between samurai and wall is one filled with sparks and screeching, metal clashing against metal and the greatest damage being suffered by the things being hurled around rather than the combatants themselves. When Merelisa interjects between the modern samurai and the demon wall, the armored figure gives her a brief once over before shaking their head. "I will be fine. This creature is working alone, but it is a persistent one." They explain without explaining much, speaking in a distorted tone that makes it clear that the helmet isn't just for decoration, but also for maintaining some kind of cover identity. Calvin's arrival, too, has the samurai pausing to size him up from behind that glowing visor, and then they fire off another explosive shot at the demon wall's skeletal face while Merelisa keeps it busy. "This demon has been returning to this bridge for weeks now. It terrorizes the people of this city, and it must be purged to ensure the safety of everyone living here." They explain, taking note of Calvin's explanation and sheathing the katana moments later. "Is that why it would not yield to my atacks? Understood. I will adjust my own strategies as well." The disguised Natsuki, upon calling the samurai 'Priest', actually gets them to look straight at her immediately without the once-over they gave Merelisa and Calvin. "And leave this town in the clutches of a foul spirit? Never. Now stay up there and-" The 'Priest' freezes, looking her over once and staring straight at the serpent's head that makes up her tail. Even though the visor blocks their eyes, there's a subtle shift in how their head moves as they almost seem to be looking down at Natsuki just by tilting their head back a little. "Oh. You're one of those invaders, too. Count your blessings that something more pressing has my attention right now. LEve now, or I'll be coming for you next!" They spit that out with open contempt, visibly resisting the temptation to snap at her further. Thanks to Natsuki, Echolalia's tree-y presence is almost missed by the samurai priest. When those vines start coming out of the bridge and yet another unfamiliar voice rings out, however, it doesn't take them long to figure out that she's an ally rather than another foe to contend with. "Do not heed that thing's foul words. Abominations such as that only know how to preserve their own lives!" Clearly, there's no love lost between them and Natsuki. Sarracenia looking for people, thankfully, reveals that there's not a lot of people around at all. It's 3AM, after all, and the few that aren't shitfaced are quick to get the ones that do out of harm's way. As the battle resumes in earnest, Merelisa contests its strength with her own. The demon lets out a wailing shriek as she rams her greatsword into it, not necessarily to attack her eardrums (although it's loud as hell), but merely as a show of just how angry it's getting at being forced to slow down. As it brings one of those mangled arms down to try and flatten her against itself, the swing slows down before stopping entirely as Calvin's mist freezes that arm entirely. With the wall's advance momentarily halted, that gives Sarracenia an opportunity to blast it right in its giant face with those Bullet Bills. Combined, that's enough to force the demon wall to actually start backing up, and that draws another raor out of it. With one of its arms not functioning quite as well as before, the samurai capitalizes and comes at it from the other sid with a miniature flamethrower shaped like a dragon's head, causing the wall to start circling around and thrashing with its free arm. With so many targets in different areas, however, it eventually switches to a new strategy: The skeletal mouth opens, and it starts spewing out bowling balls like a shotgun, scattering them all over the place to try and catch anyone and everyone with those heavy projectiles!
Futaba Nuki	-- MEANWHILE, AT A PALADINS FOOD COURT -- Futaba's already not feeling that great, and then she sneezes. She grimaces, then goes back to the fry counter to load up on another order of fries doused in cheese, ground meat, diced onions, pickled jalapenos, and sour cream. Enough of this stuff should take her mind off yesterday eventually, right? Probably not.
Merelisa Shaynore	"You got magic, miss? That'll do you better than arms 'n swords against this big sumbitch," "Mmm! Good idea!" The grunt of acknowledgement that Merelisa gives Calvin comes easily, like it's just natural. She shifts her grip on her sword to one hand, withdrawing a flickering red crystal with the other, and after a glow, it disintegrates into a glittering cloud of particles, swirling around to briefly form a symbol for fire before sweeping away into the sky. There's no immediate effect, but each motion of her sword leaves a echoing image made of fire, feeling like a hot gust of dry wind radiating out from her in the instant before the echo vanishes. "What a wonderful surprise seeing you here~" "Ah--! Prin-- Sarra!" Seeing a familiar face is a shock, but moreso than that, while she still wrestles with the arms of the wall, "You really respond to those kinds of alerts? I thought they would've been beneath you!" With a heave and a full-body motion, Merelisa's mecha arms dig into the side of the demon wall and lift it up, wrenching it to the side to place it fully in the path of Sarra's Bullet Bills, shielding the bridge from the worst of the explosions. When the bridge shudders with the impact of it dropping back down, Merelisa darts out from beneath its arm, zipping around to its back and leaping to land on top. Her sword drags up its back as she goes, fiery afterimage leaving scorch marks along its entire height. "Not that this isn't work worth doing, I mean! I just figured... well..." Merelisa huffs out a heavy breath from jumping around, then flashes a glowing smile at Sarracenia, before saying words Sarra's probably never heard before. "I guess I'm happy to see how seriously you take becoming a hero." "Hey! Priest! Beat it!" "You're one of those invaders, too. Count your blessings that something more pressing has my attention right now." Merelisa looks Natsuki up and down, lingering on the tail for a moment, but not overly long. "You're a local, right? How will fighting it make this worse? Assuming," Her eyes slide to glance to the samurai in her periphery, "that your idea of 'better' involves less people getting hurt, obviously." Wherever Merelisa moves, the massive mecha arms are soon to follow, dragged back towards her as if connected by an invisible rubberband. This wrenches the demon around to face her, when she kicks down to the ground, right before a torrent of bowling balls spews out of its now-very-near mouth. She can shield her face with her forearms-- sleeves tear away at the heavy impacts, exposing a crystal-studded metal lattice wrapped around her forearms like elaborate jewelry-- and the bowling balls bounce away with no problem, but others still strike her on the rest of her body and she grits her teeth and digs her heels into the ground to stay still. "A-ack--! Hey, you, the technomage--! Are you able to slow down what it's able to throw? Time manipulation, air density, anything?"
Calvin Nash	The brim of Calvin's hat dips in recognition of Sarracenia--a nod is the best he can manage in the current fracas! Calvin why are they fighting? Are they just fighting for fun? "Don't matter why," calls Calvin over the din of falling miscellany. "What matters is it's puttin' people in danger and shittin' up the bridge. Fella in the armor prolly put out the call when he figured he wasn't gettin' nowhere tryin' to stop the other one throwin' shit on his own." He's ready to believe that even if he doesn't know it for sure. You're one of those invaders, too. Count your blessings that something more pressing has my attention right now. Leave now, or I'll be coming for you next! "Sir," says Calvin, in an officiously chiding tone--one can all but imagine one hand on his waist and the other held palm-out towards the samurai. Abominations such as that only know how to preserve their own lives! "Sir." 'Drop it,' shortened to one word. "Ma'am," he says to Natsuki, "If you got the notion and the skill to help I ain't gonna stop you. If you don't, it's a damn sight safer inside right now." Just as he makes to move from cover to cover--well, that's when the bowling balls start coming. "SHIT fire and save matches," Calvin hisses as one crashes just shy of his ankle, cracking the pavement. Whipping the door to the truck open with one hand, he prepares a spell with the other. "Rakukaja!" His palm glows with purple light, flecked through with white sparks as he slams it into the passenger side door panel. A pillar of that same light erupts from the pavement beneath the truck, briefly enveloping it as it rains upwards, dissipating just ahead of the white sparks which accompany it. A bowling ball that'd otherwise smash straight through the windshield instead cracks and caves it, rolling sluggishly off from its spiderwebbed point of impact. Calvin is quick with another such spell, using the toe of his cowboy boot to catch the driver side door handle and slam it shut. Rolling into the driver's seat as another ball hits the hood and dents it slightly, he slides the rear window of the cabin open, reclines the driver's seat, and fires out the back window, lying near-prone. Boom! Click-click. Boom! Click-click. Boom! The cabin alights with the muzzle flash from each, casting Calvin's determined frown in sharp relief. Spent casings rain onto the stitched-together upholstery, bouncing and landing, two on the well-trafficked floorboard, one in the empty cupholder. Occult engravings on the brass rims catch the light as they tumble, and just like last time, the physical projectile is not the star attraction here. Each one frosts over as it travels, gaining mass until it takes on the form of a writhing frozen snake, fangs bared--and one by one, they home in on the wall ghost, jaws open wide. Their bites run deep, their 'venom' coming in the form of inverting their bodies into lances of piercing cold that stab further in from the points dug in by the bite.
Calvin Nash	Hey, you, the technomage--! Are you able to slow down what it's able to throw? Time manipulation, air density, anything? "No ma'am, but I can fuck with his aim," Calvin calls from the cabin, one hand cupped over his mouth. .get slug 11B Calvin catches the cartridge before it can roll down the reclined seat, feeding it into the long gun and racking the pump. Pulling the trigger before confirming whether that's actually good enough is essentially him--but if it's not, it's too late! This one gathers static charge as it flies, jagged ribbons of electricity and ionized air crackling to life and colluding to create the form of a pack of rats. They sprint towards the ghost wall and collide with it, discharging the built up energy into a shock-inducing blast. Lingering surges of electricity jolt at uneven intervals, inducing tremors that do precisely what Calvin said they would: interfering with aim by introducing sudden jarring and unpredictable involuntary motions!
Echolalia	''Abominations such as that only know how to preserve their own lives.'' "Uhhh??" Echolalia says. "That sounds a little bit like something a bad guy would say but maybe you're just trying to sound cool, which I totally get...." ''Don't matter why. What matters is it's puttin' people in danger and shittin' up the bridge.'' "Huh that's a good point." ECholalia says, having never had to worry about a destroyed bridge for very long in he life. She glances around a bit and sees that by and large everyone's vamooshed. She does quietly have a vine dragging a, yes, totally shitfaced drunk man out of the battlefield though once she actually spots him laying about. Ah! The SKELETAL WALLRIOR is opening its mouth for some kind of... Bowling ball? Echolalia tries to catch it with her hands and ends up getting hit in the chest and flung into a far wall as she fails to account for the bowling ball's actual weight. "Uggh..." She says, looking towards the SKELETAL WALLRIOR and trying to, well, peer into its mind. While having her vines fling the bowling ball right back at it! It might not matter, but she still wants to know the kind of entity she's dealing with here even as she's trying to defend herself. No reason she can't do both. She's blessed by a sun, after all, she reasons.
Natsuki Nuki	'O hey--do YOU know what's going on here?' Natsuki, who chose to heckle a samurai over doing anything about the Demon Wall, has a moment to answer. "Huh? No!" She gruff laugh of disbelief comes with a chirping hyoo as she exhales outward, before pointing a black-nailed finger at-- The Priest. "That idiot is out of his territory. And who're you calling foul, bastard?!" Taking a stompy-angry step forward, Natsuki closes her fist and unleashes a downright classic 'temeiii!' of severe displeasure. "This is my city! It's not some jumped up Meiji era Metal moron's turf, so shove off!" Shooing the priest with a sweep of the hand as if that will do something - clearly, Natsuki thinks it will - causes her immediate distraction with the rest of the group again. 'If you got the notion and the skill to help I ain't gonna stop you. If you don't, it's a damn sight safer inside right now.' From the back of the bridge, the gang can see an 'adult male' in shredded business suit and slicked back hair beating feet after tucking their very large satellite phone back into the ruins of a jacket inside pocket and then hustling while Natsuki isn't looking. Natsuki is captivated for a moment about how Calvin tries to defuse the situation with a Strongly Worded 'Sir', baffled by someone absolutely throwing the maximum 'another Religious Yankee Asshole in Japan' possible, and then shakes her head. "Look, I've already had it up to here with Metal Priests, they're roving assholes who don't listen. I'm not asking you to clear out, so just--" She doesn't finish, jumped into by someone else. 'You're a local, right? How will fighting it make this worse?' "Because he's going to be an asshole about it!" Natsuki turns, annoyed, and then-- 'Assuming, that your idea of 'better' involves less people getting hurt, obviously.' "My idea of better is territorial assholes not carving a claim with katanas because it got late at night!" She protests, clearly on some Turf War business and not actually the Demon at all. This might 'bite' her in the butt, but, thankfully it merely balls her in the chest, blasted full on by a skeleton bowlingball cannon and being rocked back . . . two paces, and a terrible rip of her sweater and top. From her back suddenly sprout arched and narrow chitinous black arachnid legs, stilting up and scraping the bridge as the disguised chimera-woman drops back on momentarily hovering shoed feet as the brace of spiderlegs lower her safely to the bridge. She makes a show of 'dusting off' the marked front of her outfit where the bowling ball struck, and frown as she inspects a misplaced button (having ripped the back of her sweater in eight new places), looking up. "I suppose getting across the city would be harder." Natsuki decides, rising up again just slightly on her spiderleg brace before toetip-hurtling herself into... the 'Metal Priest', arms and legs her post-spiderleap pivot to throw the heavy metal samurai right into the fray with a spinning toss. "Go ahead, human hero! Maybe your emperor will smile at you after!"
Sarracenia	'Calvin why are they fighting? Are they just fighting for fun?' Sarra blinks at this, then huffs. "If they are fighting for fun this is a terrible place to do so, which still means they need to be stopped. And I suspect the one -not- damaging the bridge is more likely to be the antagonist here." she says so Echololia. But, after a moment of thought the princess adds, "Still...perhaps we should try not to hurt him too badly until we can make sure. 'You really respond to those kinds of alerts? I thought they would've been beneath you!' For a moment Sarra looks -heavily- insulted. "What?!" she exclaims, her voice even higher pitched than usual. She huffs a few times, then takes a deep breath. "Why would such a call be-" She is clearly about to go on an angry rant. At least, until Merelisa gets to the second part of what she is saying. Sarra flusters by the end of it, her cheeks rosy red in response to that glowing smile. "W-well, of course I am serious about it! What kind of heroine would I be if I ignored calls like this? And what kind of people would adore a princess who did not care about the troubles of others?" She calms down a bit after that. "Not to mention that a hero can come from anywhere, so I will go anywhere to do heroic things and encounter other heroes! If we had not met at Rufus's home we may have met here~ I cannot afford to waste time on finding my hero, you know?" 'No. I live here.' Sarra raises an eyebrow at this. "You live here? And...you are just casually watching a fight between a kamen rider and a demon wall? Does this...sort of thing happen that often here?" she asks, then eeps as she looks toward Natsuki. "Um....!!! D-do not be alarmed, but there is a large snake! Do not worry! I will handle it!" Sarra pulls out a boomerang suit power-up, starts to put it on...and is flattened by a scattershot of bowling balls. The power-up goes flying as the princess is knocked into one of the railings, denting it outward before she tumbles over it and falls toward the water with a yelp. She only falls a short distance before she pulls out a cloud and hops onto it, flying back upward and over the bridge. She doesn't mind too much though. It means she is in a great spot to call out to Merelisa. "You have that magnificent sword -and- amazingly cool robot arms?! That is just so unfair!" the princess calls out in amazement and slight jealousy. She leaps down to join Merelisa in wrestling with the wall. And takes the opportunity to show of one of her newer powers! The princess touches the burgundy metal lotus in her hair, and liquid metal flows over the princess. Soon, she is a moving metal Sarra statue, adding plenty of weight and immovability to her. She brandishes her hammer and charges forward like a solid steel battering ram. 'You're one of those invaders, too. Count your blessings that something more pressing has my attention right now. Leave now, or I'll be coming for you next! Abominations such as that only know how to preserve their own lives!' "Wait...did you start this?!" Sarra exclaims toward the priest. "If you did, I may have to hammer you after this! If this creature did not initiate the attack, then -you- are the one that caused all the trouble! Not it!" She also hears someone talking in a tone and with course language not unlike someone the princess really REALLY dislikes. Sarra looks around quickly, then realizes it is the Japanese woman with the snake. She lets out an annoyed 'mmph', only to yelp and go wide-eyed when those spider legs sprout from Natsuki. Despite being in the Multiverse so long, there are still some things that Sarra has not seen before. She looks rather unsettled by the spider-snake-lady. And even moreso when she considers who that spider-snake-lady is reminding her of, though so far a much more mild version.
Futaba Nuki	As Calvin observes aloud, the battle is shitting up the bridge quite a bit! In addition to all the scrap metal and junk food being strewn about the surface, scorch marks are starting to spread from the samurai's flamethrower and various explosions, and dents and cracks are appearing all over the place with those bowling ball projectiles being hurled by the demon wall. He might also hear some warbling from behind the samurai priest's mask that almost sounds like grumbling at being told to cease, but at they're not saying anything further. A small victory, perhaps! At least until Merelisa brings up less people getting hurt. "Our objective here is to protect human life. This town was built by human hands, and it shall be protected by them!" The priest bellows at Echolalia and Natsuki alike, shooting a glare at the latter as she comes over. "Your city? Humans have been here since this city was founded, and YOU would do well to..." They look down at Natsuki's serpentine tail, then clicks their teeth audibly through the mask's voice-distorting speakers. "What kind of... Thing are you, even? A foul temperament, a foul form even for a beast, and your best imitation of us is to dress like those... Harpies in Harujuku?" Practically forgetting the fight against the demon wall for the time being, they scoff and lean forward into a near slouch of challenge towards Natsuki. "The Metal PRIESTS have been defending these streets since before you even formed, vile snake. Do not let her prattling lead you astray, Elites!" They let out a haughtier noise of 'disapproving 30-something', too, that doesn't quite match up with their body language directed at Natsuki, looking over at and shaking their head lightly like they're trying to correct her patiently instead of just snapping like they are with the elder Nuki. Sarracenia's question, too, has the Metal Priest shakingt heir head and almost sounding wearily exasperated instead of violently aggressive. "I would never do such a thing. The Metal Priests are sworn to protect human life no matter the cost, and demon invasions on this town are no exception!" They declare in return, perhaps not answering her as well as they sound like they think they might. The bowling balls interfere before the Priest can get too much more into Natsuki's face, forcing them to twist and smash their armored forearms into the first before side-stepping out of the way of a second. Wincing and shaking their arms off, they bring up the flamethrower again and let off a few more streams of fire at the demon wall while Calvin's magic-enhanced bullet-snakes come rushing in besides those flames. Calvin, along with everyone else, finds that there's a whole lot of surface area to aim at courtesy of the demon wall still being very wall-esque in size and providing a convenient target even while lying prone and firing out of a truck.
Futaba Nuki	The ice snakes sink their teeth in, and the wall doesn't react immediately as its attention is still being pulled every which way. Its movements are certainly getting more sluggish, though, as the ice starts to really grind it down, and that's before Merelisa comes in with even more flames. It is, after all, a wall, and walls are not immune to the same sort of reaction a plate might have to being microwaved after coming straight out of the freezer: Parts of it start to crack further with hairline fractures, and the raw physical force coming from Echolalia returning fire with its own bowling balls along with Sarracenia directly all that force into a single spot make those hairline fractures become easily visible fractures. The demon wall keeps getting pushed further and further back, both against the edge of the bridge rather than taking up the whole thing like it did earlier, and well past the center of the bridge to nearly a quarter of the way. It even has to contend with the Metal Priest getting hurled directly at it courtesy of Natsuki, granting the entire group the eerie noise of both a demonic wall and a legally distinct metal hero shrieking in harmony. The demon wall proves to actually have some tricks up its sleeve, though, as it takes advantage of all that fire spread by Merelisa's strikes and the Metal Priest's flamethrower continues to be an ever present thorn in its side even after they've been hurled aside by Natsuki for their own personal brawl. Reaching into its skeletal mouth, the demon pulls out an entire concession stand out of itself, cracks it open, then starts spraying oil and melted butter all over the place. It takes a few seconds before all that greasy stuff catches one of those lingering flames, threatening to consume everyone on the bridge in a sea of flames! Or river of flames, anyway. It's a wide bridge and too far to comfortably swim, but it's definitely not a sea of distance.
Futaba Nuki	The demon wall's mind is rough, to say the least. The thoughts do not come from someone of sound mind, but from a raging ghost, a spirit cursed to wander the earth, reliving its final moments in a wretched haze. Echolalia is able to grasp some of those hazy thoughts, but they come in seemingly at random with no clear actors, no clear voices, and no clear sequence of events. It's as though the ghost itself doesn't know what's even supposed to be happening with such a warped mind. 'I need to get out.' The entire city visible from a bridge. 'It smells in here.' A table full of paperwork. 'Just one more.' Sprinting through an alley. 'Where's the entrance?' Bowling pins crunching nearby. 'That's not enough!' A sudden downpour. 'I'll see you again.'
Calvin Nash	Look, I've already had it up to here with Metal Priests, they're roving assholes who don't listen. "Well." Well what? He doesn't specify or elaborate. He seems to think the word by itself is enough to express a thought; maybe something on the level of 'it is what it is.' Because he's going to be an asshole about it! "You might be right," calls Calvin from the cab, feeding a few more slugs into the breech. "But from where I'm standin', that big bastard up there'll throw shit at anybody, no matter where their 'turf' is, so maybe we oughta--" Then Natsuki chucks the priest. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, WHOA," shouts Calvin after Natsuki, two for the pick-up and two for the throw. The cadence, tone and duration all rather like someone trying to slow down a forklift technician taking a bit more than the tines can handle at an aggressive pace. "MA'AM! What in the hell about this sich'ation says 'fix it by throwin' 'im?'" Pushed as far back as it is, the demon is out of range of the special shot Calvin's got in store. Even if it weren't, the back window of his truck isn't sufficient clearance for the haymaker he has in store. "Never you mind," he calls as he rolls back upright, swings the door open and steps out. .load *ro .summon 1 A stream of half-legible numerals occluded by voxels spews from the COMP, swirling and green. It winds a serpentine tighter and tighter until nothing can be seen within its coils, rising like a waterspout and dissipating as quickly as it had appeared. Pabilsag--PB, for short, stands in the eye of the storm, so to speak, revealed as the stream of information dissipates beside Calvin. "Keep me and the rest of them patched up," says Calvin, racking the pump. "I'm usin' a C." The summoned demon nods, his inhuman green death's-head face bobbing in comprehension. The half-humanoid, half-scorpion figure readies his bow--the point of his stinger dips low to conjure a bright blue, sparkling arrow, nocked gracefully. "Y'all hit 'im with the good stuff--and watch out! This one don't turn off and it's colder'n a limp pecker in a snowstorm!" With that colorful comparison done, Calvin shoulders the shotgun and takes aim just as the ghost wall spews a concession stand forth. The bridge goes up, and Calvin's right in the line of fire, taking a direct hit from the explosion right after he pulls the trigger. The force knocks him onto his back--but PB looses his first arrow, and then another, putting out the flames on Calvin's person with the first and racing to reverse the burns he suffers with the second.
Calvin Nash	Calvin scrambles to take a knee, still aiming down the ironsights as the air before the shotgun's muzzle shimmers. At first, the white flecks before the muzzle could be taken as ashes or burnt-out cinders. But more and more appear, and the flames on the ground before Calvin first begin to bow, then to retreat and die out. As PB fires healing and extinguishing arrows across the battlefield at a rate more appropriate to a semiautomatic pistol than a hunting bow, the cooling air before Calvin picks up to a breeze, then a gust, then an icy gale. Calvin's biceps strain against his sleeves from the effort of holding the long gun still, his knuckles white from effort and a little pink from the cold's proximity. His back is ramrod straight, his knelt stance as much for stability as it is to keep a lower profile against hurled detritus. A pillar of freezing cold races across the bridge on a direct collision course with the ghost wall--visible as a near-contiguous, accusing white-blue finger. Icy needles and fist-sized clumps of hail mingle with suffocating snow and frost-inviting sleet, a veritable cross section of a furious arctic storm, narrowed down to a surgical beam concentrated on the ghost wall. Gritting his teeth with the effort of keeping that frozen beam steady, Calvin keeps his finger holding down the trigger until he's certain nothing else will fly down the bridge, and only when he releases the triggerpull does the roaring column of wintry wrath abate--and the tension and effort bound up in his body, too.
Echolalia	It seems that Natsuki is talking about territory and a bunch of other junk that Echolalia doesn't know about yet! Echolalia frowns in thought, but she ultimately ends up relying on what Calvin has to say. They are ''fucking up a bridge'' and Echolalia realizes, after a moment, that she can absolutely do something about that without needing to figure out about the ethics of the conflict first. But first she stares at the Demon Wall and-- Ah, she thinks, that was probably a bad idea. But it's a bad idea that's a good idea because she needs to UNDERSTAND that which she's fighting especially if their attacks include bowling balls because that says something about someone trying to hurt a lot of people. FIre is not great. It surges through her and Echolalia yelps, breaking the mental connection for the moment because fire and trees don't really mix and Echolalia has branches in her hair. Her body phases as it becomes a sort of green haze with a floral scent, throwing itself into the water to douse the flames, diving underneath before surfacing to say, "Geeze! I guess it was a person at some point? Or maybe people? It seems confused so..." She extends her hand the earth near the bridge surges upward to reinforce the bridge's support beams, filling in cracks and gaps. This means she's not fighting the Demon Wall, but she'd rather not let that bridge collapse either! Especially not while she's under it.
Natsuki Nuki	'Does this...sort of thing happen that often here?' The spider-snake-lady of coarse language and Harajuku style raises her voice to shout -- at the Metal Priest, in answer to Sarracenia's question. "It happens all the time when these idiots are involved! They're stray lunatics hunting for anything they can attack - and they love to attack me!" Natsuki 'explains', though anyone might trace the reason that a local toku exorcist might shout 'abomination!' and point at the chimeric woman's way. The lashing behind of her animated snake-tail sways as she moves, giving a long glare to Sarracenia as Natsuki maneuvers, both 'sets' of eyes - on tail, and set in 'masked' face clearly throwing loud messages of their own in crimson. "The only people they make things better for is the people too scared to live in the real world!" She carries on, shouting her case aggressively over the protests of the fighting metal warrior. 'Wait... did you start this?!' A moment of relenting slows the spiderleg-balanced woman, who was also attacked by the rampaging demon wall. "That's just a hungry ghost, a tortured spirit. It would have been handled like normal if some moron didn't try to purge it." And would it have hurt people? Maybe. The initial read - of an armored hero battling a demon, is not up for debate. That Natsuki, 'the local', is also some form of cursed being? Fairly obvious! And since she's throwing the samurai around like a bouncer at the club and not at all like an ally, everyone can basically tell what the allegiances are... if the trash talking doesn't explain it. 'What kind of... Thing are you, even? A foul temperament, a foul form even for a beast, and your best imitation of us is to dress like those... Harpies in Harujuku?' She shouts while he does, headed for the demon wall. "Before your knuckle dragging ancestors dragged their sorry asses along the coast and over the rivers, do you think this land was empty? Did you plant every tree? Idiot?! Ever take a HISTORY class?!? I did! The foxes were part of the forest before the hunters! The tanuki were tricking you before you finished putting your stuff down, and--" The insult to her fashion - and to the 'Harpies of Harajuku' - is a final straw, and she joins the Demon Wall and the Metal Priest in screaming-roaring. "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY LITTLE MAN? I'M GOING TO RIP YOUR FASHION-HATING HEART OUT AND EAT IT--" She carries on into the knightly man's arc, only stopped up by... 'Whoa, whoa, whoa, WHOA,' "WHAT?!" Natsuki asks, her state of pique peaking as she wholly turns around, dropping to her still-humanoid feet and marching back down the damaged bridge towards Calvin. "WOAH WHAT, ASS-HOLE, are you going to talk more trash about my fit? Huh? You have something against skirts, prefect? Are you a member of the disciplinary committee--?" Her roll is entirely turned away from the wave of fire that Merelisa levies down upon the demon, not even flinching as chains of flaming explosions and pyrotechnics go off. That's almost normal, and simmering under her unrestrained fury as she heads right for the Marshall. "Go on! Say something! Say some smart shit about my tail, huh? My eyes? My--" 'Never you mind,' Natsuki barely gets out a 'typical' before the bridge behind her, and the flaming balls of destruction, bowl her over completely, swamped in a sea of grease flame and immolated. For long seconds she staggers back and forth, visibly trying to scrape off the grease and heat in a 'dazed' sense, a silhouette aflame, and then she just stops in the middle of the bridge and raises a hand - or a fist, it's unclear.
Natsuki Nuki	The weather immediately turns to absolute shit. Dark clouds, which at 3am might be expected, press misting-close and fingering-down thick and then the sky opens up into a torrential downpour. This is, unfortunately, not actually a hundred percent useful at clearing out either magical fire OR grease fires, but it does slowly rinse the ruined clothes off of natsuki -- and a lot of her human disguise. Underneath she's both taller and broader, with arms like a gorilla and legs like a standing tiger, golden-orange fur tigerstriped, and a rich brown instead of inner-whites. Her face is a cross between a tiger's and a tanuki's, and the least changed, and underneath it all the purple hair ribbon she wore seems the least affected by the blaze as her broad black lips split open and she lifts her face to the rain and wipes out her eyes. From her back, the tigerstripes make a kind of spider pattern, where the arched arachnid legs emerge, and from the base of her spine the black serpent extends, stretching out and sloughing hot burning oil from scales far easier than her revealed form's fuzz. "And now I need a new outfit." Growls the revealed chimera, swinging down an arm in the pouring rain and glaring with two sets of hateful eyes at the Metal Priest and the Demon Wall, now, as a unit. Taking a step, the dark mist that's fallen on the still-grease-burning bridge rises up under her feet and is ridden - surfed, almost, but for the wave moving and the chimera mostly stationary - across the burning (and being repaired!) bridge. Crackling and rumbling in tune with the whole of the storm, Natsuki's mist-riding charge holds both her oversized arms in wreaths and rings and branching bolts of electricity before the whole of it comes down in a monstrous two-fisted overhead that strikes -- quite literally -- with a bolt of heaven-thunder from the darkened sky.
Sarracenia	Sarracenia looks a bit alarmed as the demon wall starts to fracture! They haven't found out if it is actually the one being wronged here yet! But...they can't let the bridge be destroyed, can they? That would inconvenience a lot of people and cost a lot of money! ...which she could just pay for because rich princess. She starts to say something but then...fire! Royal gowns really do not like fire! Neither does fair skin or styled hair! Sarra shrieks as she goes up in flames...and to make things worse it is an oil fire! You can't just pat those out! The princess pulls out a power up, following Calvin's icy example. It's an ice flower! In a poof of white smoke, the princess's metallic appearance is replaced by her normal one except in an icy blue dress, and she quickly sprays herself down with fire quenching frost, then starts doing the same with the area around her. "That does not answer the question, Priest! Was this demon already raging, or did you label it an 'invader' and attack it when it was perfectly happy to just...I dunno...be a wall or something? Not to mention...who uses fire to fight demons anyway? Everyone knows you fight demons with holy energy if anything!" Sarra blinks after that, then looks at Merelisa. "If you have the option, of course." she adds, not wanting to offend her new possible heroic friend. Natsuki's claims of a territory infringement seem kind of irrelevant to Sarra at this time. "How is fighting a demon carving a claim?" she asks...just before blinking as a metal priest bounces off the demon wall. 'Go ahead, human hero! Maybe your emperor will smile at you after!' "You are all too preoccupied with humans and non-humans!! Being a human or a demon or whatever does not matter!! Your appearance or bloodlines are not what make you a person! As a princess of a land full of creatures and people of all kinds, I would be happy to mediate! -After- we settle things down here!" Sarra yelps as those healing arrows hit, but after realizing they did not hurt her she waves a thank you to the scorpi-demon. 'Y'all hit 'im with the good stuff--and watch out! This one don't turn off and it's colder'n a limp pecker in a snowstorm!' It seems just about anytime they meet Calvin says something that makes Sarracenia turn bright red. And Calvin's mom isn't here this time to soften the blow! "W-what?! C-calvin!!" Sarra exclaims, flustered and embarrassed, almost dropping her hammer. It takes a moment for the princess to regroup after that one. It wasn't quite as bad as the -last- thing Calvin said that made Sarra turn red. She's still able to move and talk after this one. So, wanting to get the demon off the bridge as quickly as possible, she pulls out a mushroom that Mario uses quite often. A mega mushroom. The big yellow mushroom with the red spots. She squeezes it like a plushie and it disappears in a puff of white smoke...while Sarra grows to somewhere around 5 times her normal size! She rears back with her now equally oversized hammer. "You really need to stop now! I am sorry if you were the one who was attacked first!" she says to the demon wall, then with a powerful and mega-sized golf swing attempts to drive the demon out into the water. "FORE!"
Merelisa Shaynore	"No ma'am, but I can fuck with his aim," "You got it!" Merelisa calls out to Calvin, catching a bowling ball at an angle on the flat of her greatsword to deflect it. She side-eyes the ice snakes and clouds of frost magic that Calvin is putting out, pursing her lips while the cold air rushes past her to be replaced by the radiant heat of her sword. After splitting open a crack in the wall with her sword, Merelisa pulls back slightly, mechanical arms swinging wide out to either side with a wingspan beyond the edges of the bridge. With her sword withdrawn, the arms lunge forwards, digging their fingers in the hairline fracture made by her combined efforts with Calvin, and ripping it open. Merelisa stares into the fissue in the wall, distracted by something for a moment, and then gives the wall a hard shove backwards. "'Preciate the backup." Something's, obviously, on her mind, but it manifests as her slipping into a cruder way of speech for a sentence, rather than sounding ungrateful. "W-well, of course I am serious about it! What kind of heroine would I be if I ignored calls like this?" Merelisa waves her hands frantically in front of her, trying to diffuse the misunderstanding. Self-consciously, she rushes through words in her defense. "O-oh! Right, of course! I just meant, I've hardly ever known a princess who was willing to get her hands dirty like this; just one ever before you, so it came as a surprise! Not that I think that's a bad thing. It's a good thing! I think it's impressive!" Merelisa suddenly latches on to something in her second sentence, planting her sword in the ground and leaning on it, chin over hand over hand over pommel, with a grin. "'Your' hero?" "My idea of better is territorial assholes not carving a claim with katanas because it got late at night!" "Our objective here is to protect human life." Merelisa frowns at the two bickering locals, and while her own stance stays open, the mecha arms above her shoulders folder over each other and drums fingers on 'bicep'. "We can at least agree that protecting people's lives is the first priority, right? If this Metal Priest really just cares about that, instead of getting in on your territory, then he'll leave right after." She winces at his next line. "... But maybe cool it with that kind of supremacy rhetoric, please? We can talk it out afterwards." And then he's thrown, and after a shout and a started step forwards in case Natsuki follows up with more, Merelisa clenches her grip around her sword and points it threateningly between the two of them. Natsuki's transformation might mean that the sword tip stays aimed at her for a fraction longer, but it's warning rather than directly aggressive. "Hey--! Both of you! Don't escalate this any further, or whoever did is going to be the one causing problems for this city, alright?" Two oversized metal fingers reach down and pinch the back of the samurai's neck like the scruff of a kitten, lifting him out of the spreading flames. With the other hand, Merelisa swipes its palm in a wide arc across the bridge, sweeping away burning oil but getting some stuck to it when she does. "Alright, now, behave yourself, okay?"
Merelisa Shaynore	"You have that magnificent sword -and- amazingly cool robot arms?!" Merelisa smirks at the praise, doing a small wrist-flick flourish with one of the arms-- accidentally flinging the samurai a few feet across the stone ("Sorry!")-- and then raps a nail on the exposed crystal-metal lattice bracers she's wearing. "Made 'em myself, actually! But you should see all the other tricks I've picked up too--!" Merelisa takes out another sky-blue crystal, wraps it in her palm and closes her eyes to murmur a chant to herself. Motes of disintegrating crystal particles slip out between her fingers, picked up into a whirling cyclone around her that gradually compresses into a sheathe of wind just off the surface of her body. When she steps into the flames, they're whipped away before her feet can touch them, and within her little cocoon of wind, the heat and smoke are completely gone, and the sudden downpour doesn't even touch her freshly-done curls. She barges directly into the Demon Wall, shoulder checking it herself and lodging her mechanical hands beneath it. With a groan of effort, she pries the wall up, off the ground, lifted up length-wise above the bridge with two massive hands as support. With her own pair, she swings her sword around, angling it point-down above her head, and then slamming it into the bridge herself, where it buries into one of Echolalia's repairing vines. In the split between the plant matter and stone, the fire-imbued sword catches into a sudden inferno, roaring up brighter and hotter than the measly grease fires remaining. The pillar of flame climbs up and around the lifted Demon Wall while the supporting mecha creaks, taking it from frozen by Calvin's beam to being superheated in a matter of seconds, and then when it's as fragile as possible, Merelisa pulls her arms away. The full weight of the Demon Wall comes crashing down into the newly-repaired bridge, splitting under its own impact and fragility.
Futaba Nuki	"This ghastly wall's been terrorizing this area for weeks. Walls do not move and attack people trying to cross bridges!" The Metal Priest sounds like they're at their wits end answering Sarracenia, although a lot of that anger might be residuals from Natsuki existing. It's pretty obvious there's something more than just protecting humans in there, especially- "And why wouldn't we claim dominion of this land? You're a monster just like the one that started all this!" -when they shout back at Natsuki while fighting the demon wall from the ground, still not in quit e the best shape to get back up after being hurled directly at a wall and smashing right into it. "Dress yourself up all you like, but we see right through your parlor tricks. Even the blindest of humans aren't so blind as to miss an animal masquerading as...!" Fortunately for Merelisa, the supremacy rhethoric does cool down finally! Unfortunately, it's because the Metal Priest is trying not to get fried in their own suit rather than actually stopping willingly. Regardless, getting fried precludes them from commenting too much further about the rather obvious dispute they have with not just Natsuki, but nonhumans in general. Calvin's certainly right about the demon wall not caring who it's taking aim at, though, as the fire goes all over the place, and the Metal Priest seems sorely tempted to just stick close to that freezing beam of his just to cool that armor down. Instead, however, they get picked out Calvin's line of fire by Merelisa just pulling them right out. They don't say anything in response to her telling them to behave, although it's not clear if that's because of actual compliance or because of that weird hissing noise coming from inside the samurai's armor. Her timing couldn't be any better, too, as that beam-like barrage of icy wind and hail whizzes right by them and slams right into the demon wall, frosting it over along most of the surface and even providing a gleaming sheen in those fractures that had been forced open by all rapid freezing and reheating and brute-force trauma. It also means there's nowhere for it to run from the pouring rain Natsuki brings down upon it, nor can it really go anywhere when Merelisa picks it right up off the ground with her extra mechanical limbs and slams it right back down. There's not enough time to get back up, either, as Natsuki brings down the might of the heavens upon it with that lightning-bolstered smash. The frozen parts of the demon wall shatter outright, and wall remnants get blasted every which way by that thundering smash. Before the skeletal head even has an opportunity to hit the ground, Sarracenia is already on it, bludgeoning it and sending it flying far into the rive. The deformed thing raises above the water surface for a moment before disappearing beneath the waves.
Futaba Nuki	With the ghost wall gone, the Priest clicks their teeth in open frustration, then starts towards the opposite end of the bridge. Before getting all the way their, however, they turn to the group. "Thank you for your aid, Elites. And..." They pause, staring at Sarracenia and Merelisa in particular for a brief moment before letting out an irritated noise. "Do not let yourselves be led astray by the likes of those demons." They continue staring at Echolalia for a moment longer, then cast a more aggro-heavy glare at Natsuki afterwards even though the visor still blocks their eyes from being seen. "Don't think I'll forget what you did today, snake. We will meet again." With a sheathe of their katana, they raise two fingers in their free hand, then swipe downwards and prompt a big plume of smoke to burst out from beneath them. Seconds later, the smoke and the Metal Priest are also gone. This just leaves the issue of the bridge now. It's covered in the demon wall's debris, on fire in several places, and some of the cracks are starting to show all the way through to the river below. Miraculously, however, it hasn't crumbled yet, and Echolalia's structural support means it'll remain standing long enough for repair crews to fix it up in time for the next time this spot becomes relevant!
Calvin Nash	'Preciate the backup. "Yes ma'am." When the smoke clears, the Demon Marshal heaves a sigh and removes his hat, rising to his feet. Warning! The mullet is uncontained. Hat in hand, he approaches Natsuki and clears his throat. "I thought the outfit was real nice," Calvin says soberly, offering her a respectful, slight incline of his head. "Just wanted to get that out of the way. Now that's done..." Do not let yourselves be led astray by the likes of those demons. Calvin puts the hat back on and turns towards the departing samurai. "Hold up there, boss," he says to the samurai, one hand on his hip and the other extended, his fingers bending upwards twice in a beckoning gesture before that hand, too, rests on his hip. "When you get back home, you got a decision to make. You can keep pissin' into the wind and gettin' wet," Legs spaced apart like a state trooper presiding over a traffic stop, he bucks his head backwards, towards his parked truck. Towards the livery, specifically. And towards Pabilsag, his demon partner. He taps a few commands out on his COMP-- .load *inv .get ginger 1 A little snapped-off lump of ginger appears in his waiting palm after a green data-swirl. He pops it into his mouth and chews. "Or you can make your peace with which way it's blowin' like we did back home." Don't think I'll forget what you did today, snake. We will meet again. "Well. Life goes on," says Calvin flatly to the puff of smoke as it dissipates with the metal priest. "Ma'am," he says, turning to Natsuki, still chewing, "Don't think I introduced myself. Calvin Nash, Commonwealth Paladins." He extends a hand. "Think we got off on the wrong foot, but I just want you to know I ain't the same kinda 'hero of humanity' as that fella that just left. Me, I wanna be a hero of a humanity that's worth protectin'. So," he says, thumbs sliding into his beltloops, "You find yourself takin' care of some ghost or demon and you feel like you want some help--happy to do it." Pabilsag clears his throat, his lantern eyes fixed on Natsuki. "Should it interest you," he says, lipless green teeth forming the words with ease, "Marshal Nash is... better at peaceful solutions than his displayed skillset today might otherwise imply."
Sarracenia	''Your' hero?' Sarra eeps quietly and fidgets. "Oh, um...you know...e-every princess is supposed to have a hero, right? One who appreciates her and is devoted to her, and she to him...o-or her...in return?" Sarra says, stammery and shyly, in quite a bit of contrast to her usual loudness and bravado. Saying such a thing directly to a hero is difficult when most everyone you say it to makes fun of you! Especially a hero who has made such a good impression! And it probably looks extra silly with Sarra currently being so big. 'This ghastly wall's been terrorizing this area for weeks. Walls do not move and attack people trying to cross bridges!' "Well, as long as you did not incite it then it is fine." Sarra says, her tone instantly more amicable. "But, you should not be so sure about walls. I know plenty of walls that can move and attack people trying to cross things. We have an entire race of them on my world called Whomps. They love to leap at their enemies and smash them flat." The talk of monsters as if they are not people makes Sarra frown, and she is about to say something when the priest relents to Merelisa. Sarra smiles at that. "If you need help against such creatures again, we will still aid you. But, now that you are part of the Multiverse I would highly recommend you re-examine what it means to be a person. Do not let -yourself- be led astray by things that are simply accepted to be true. That is how one loses worlds out here." All of this is said while the princess is giant, so her voice carries a bit more weight than usual. She realizes it and shrinks back down quickly. "If you do ever require further assistance, I am Princess Sarracenia Sundew, aspiring hero! Oh, and Partner of the Concord!" She adds that last part after Calvin introduces himself. She looks toward Calvin after that and smiles. "Thank you for your assistance, Mister Nash!" She looks toward Echolalia. " And you as well, Miss...? Those vines are quite impressive!"
Natsuki Nuki	'Do not let yourselves be led astray by the likes of those demons.' Natsuki makes a yappy-mouth gesture with her right hand, clawed thumb tapping the base of outstretched fingers as the red-eyed chimera rolls her eyes and scoff-huffs at the Metal Priest. In time to her hand, swaying in the slowly thinning rain, is her tail -- with the mouth doing the same 'yap yap yapp' gesture with its yawning-open jaws before settling back as more-distinctly a tail and not a second turning head and set of yet-more-sinister black and red eyes. "Keep walking, Priest, and you might keep talking." She threatens, as her arm drops, but in a moment the priest makes his smokebomb escape and the tall tigerstriped yokai that remains slowly tenses and untenses her fists until the tension she feels ebbs away. The soup of rain and fog, of miserable weather, pours on her like a cleansing shower, black mist draping about her like a favorite cloak, and like a spigot slowly closed, the thunderstorm breaks, and 3am returns to its dreary, and now drenched, peace. 'Don't think I introduced myself.' "You didn't." Is the initial clipped response, but with a fist-release of tension, the showing-wicked claws of her pantherine hands retract and the bulk of the gorillaized arms deflates with the rest of her. The stormy mist that had swept over the heavily damaged (and structurally stabilized!) bridge clings tighter as she drops from the monstrous proportions of an amalgamated beast-that-walked back down into a more compact and street-sensitive shape. The wrap of her most-humanoid form doesn't come with fresh clothes, the arachnid legs on her back spinning a fresh black tank top and pair of shorts out of mist and dark silk that offer some small concession to modesty when that became a concern once more, though not the fashion she wore before. "The Lady Nue - Natsuki Nuki. But -" With soft-rounded gold furred ears poking out from her white hair ponytail, tied with purple ribbon, she turns, and points. "Natsuki is fine. Lady Nue, formally." She clearly takese umbrage with the family name, but she has said it anyway - this time. "Concord Partner." She adds, to the motions of allegiance. "I grew up right in this city, and this bridge has never been a spot for just humans. Pathetic losers..." She scoffs, then laughs, a hyoo-hyoo-hyoo throat-caught birdsong. "Pissing in the wind, huh? Well there's a lot of wind around here, and they insist on trying their 'own way'." She carries into a dark joke, dismissing the exit angle of the metal priest with a wave of a golden-tanned arm. "Choosy bastards when they want to be, and all too happy to let the Moon Rabbits save them when they can't do it themselves. They're probably still mad about that." There had been a complete shift in her attitude when Marshall Nash had complimented her outfit, but the real shift comes when Sarracenia introduces herself as a Concord Partner, and the deflated Natsuki stretches back when her spidersilk and smoke-mist outfit is completed, spindly legs retracting back into her back and sealing the tank top behind them. "Not my best showing..." Natsuki sighs, chirping with a 'dang, oh well' mutter-chuckle, and steps towards Nash and Pabilsag, extends a hand to accept the man's with a ginger (not the root) shake and a looking past of the man to eye the lantern-eyed skull snake. "A cutie like yourself doesn't need to worry too much. I've got eyes to see." Several sets, in fact, as shown, and more besides. "If I need help, I'll be sure to ask."
Natsuki Nuki	Pulling her hand back, she half-mirrors Calvin's beltloop posture with a firmly hip-planted hand, flashing a toothy smile around. "If you're looking for a good time, though, I am a local. I own the finest establishment in Osaka - my Golden Caterpillar. You can't miss it --- it's the tallest building in the city." Raising a hand to wave to the assembled heroes of the day against the BOWLING DEMON WALL (and the Metal Priest's rhetoric), Natsuki starts heading back the way she came, down the waterfront. "I'm going to get changed. I'm sure I'll see..." A shrug, and a hyooh of a sighing-singsong laughter. "... probably all of you again."