Scene #9669: The Sword of an Oath (Part 2)

Owner	Pose
Riku Asakura	Regardless of where you are before this... RE.M. alerts people first that a giant monster is trying to dig its way to the underground base. Thankfully, it's actually over where Nebula House is situated. An old observatory far away from the city. This monster is a bit weird, almost like it's a combination of several other monsters. Its hands, body, legs, and even head all seem out of place on it. On its hands, instead of hands, are a pick and a grappling hook. Riku, Laiha, and Leito head up first, with anyone who has decided to stay at Nebula house. Others will have to get their own way from the warp gate to out here. Riku, nodding to the others, pulls out the Fusion Riser. Moments later, Ultraman Geed was already attacking the monster, kicking it across the chest and attempting to grapple it to stop its digging. Of course, nothing ever stays easy. Miles away, in Mitsuse Foothills, another monster is detected. Its path takes it directly towards the observatory. RE.M. lets everyone know about the second monster, to which Leito looks troubled. A picture of it comes through the band, and for Leiha, her smartphone. It's the Red-Horned monster that was first spotted by authorities. The real difficult question is... which one of these is Kei? Is it both or just one? It's about this time Ultraman Geed is caught up in the first monster's fire-breathing attack. Zero takes over Leito's body, pulling out a pair of strange glasses that look more like a greeble than a functioning pair of glasses. Putting them over his eyes and pressing a button on the top of them, he starts to be covered in red and blue ribbons of light. Moments later, Leito transforms into Ultraman Zero and immediately brings up a shield to help Geed with the flames. "I am Zero. Ultraman Zero!" Zero declares to the monster. "And you're not laying a claw on Mayu!" Geed, at this time, turns towards Zero. "Handle this one. I'll handle the one with the Red Horns." With that, Geed immediately jumps into the air and takes flight towards the one with the Red Horns. Fortunately for everyone here, the elevator for Nebula House springs back up. It can take anyone who lacks a proper ride and who wants to fight the Red Horned monster over to the foothills. Over at the Foothills, Ultraman Geed falls from the sky, kneeing the monster across the chest and knocking it to the ground. Immediately, the battle seems to be like it's going to be a close-quarters one between the two giants.
Flamel Parsons	Flamel has been working to teach Riku all the essentials. Guitar. Food that isn't too great but also isn't too intolerable. And most importantly, the ins and outs of inspiring a child without achieving so much emotional proximity that Mayu is likely to substitute him for any existing figure, so he can be a larger-than-life one. Progress is surely good, and surely interrupted. --- Men in the Parsons Institute desperately scramble, collating data with screen-fulls of information. "Second anomaly, on-screen!" Shouts the Director as he strides into the command center, cane clacking hard. "Run records, now!" "Sir!" A technician shouts from a nearby console. "Possible match! Known form or associate of Kei Fukuide according to AIB records!" "And the other one?" "No match, or too many." "Send forces in close to anomaly two, and support UPE-2031, immediately." --- Flamel's surging through the brush of the foothills, two fingers on each temple to maintain his levitation. On approach, his bolts arc through the air, trying to pelt Red-Horns with impacts that are startlingly psychically disorienting. Given the giant mass and the clean, precise, stage-like combat of an Ultraman and a monster they're facing, it shouldn't be too difficult to charge and reload when Geed's the one in the foreground, and it certainly won't be hard to blast intensely when Red-Horns is in the foreground. At this scale, it really is a matter of composition! The bolts aren't just meant to disorieent, they're meant to crack any mental defenses quick, so that Flamel can get a read on which is which. He's gotta find Kei, and this one's the one who was being spotted near him, right...?
Sarracenia	Sarra certainly would have stayed at Nebula House! Not only are her newest friends living here, but there is a cute child who adores her! Sarra has spent much of her time helping to entertain Mayu, and the rest helping (or learning really) how to cook proper ramen. She might have researched the ingredients for the food delivery, but she's never cooked...well, anything really. She heads up with Riku and the others, and when he heads toward the red-horned monster she pulls out a cloud and hops on, following after him. "Is this the one you were talking about? The one that..." She doesn't finish the sentence since it could be hard for Riku. As she flies along beside him, Sarra reaches into her purse and pulls out...a cannon! She sets it down on her cloud and points it toward the Red-Horned monster before pointing. "Fire!" There is a bass-filled 'KATHOOM' as it launches a bob-omb. It arcs through the air to explode on the creature, followed only a few moments after by another. "Leave this place, monster! Your evil is not welcome here!" she declares.
Calvin Nash	Calvin had not stayed at Nebula House specifically, but had taken some time after the initial visit to drive around the surrounding area as a means of mapping it out on his COMP. When the call comes in, his truck comes tearing down the road, with Hell Biker riding alongside him. His right hand is not on the steering wheel, but on the receiver of a CB radio. "Nash here," he says urgently. "This ain't no accident. I mapped this place out the other day--based on where the second one's at, I figure they're tryin' to close in on Mayu from above and below. If Kei's one of them, he's the one up by the hills. From what I seen, he woulda had to call in the other one on foot, then transform." The back end of the truck swings around a corner as Hell Biker leans into it behind him, and the towering figure of the mismatched burrowing monster comes into view through the panorama of Calvin's windshield. His left hand darts out of the driver's side window, motioning for Hell Biker to overtake him. The growl of the bike's engine becomes a roar as he does, and Calvin leans out the window at-speed to throw a pearlescent rainbow-coated piece of candy after him. It impacts the back of Hell Biker's leather jacket, washing a polychromatic film of beneficial magical effects over his body (and down his bike.) "YEEHAW!" shouts Hell Biker, pulling even further ahead with a wheelie. Calvin's boot slams down on the gas, the truck lurching as the whine-snarl of its magnetite-conversion engine boils over into a roar of its own. Hell Biker pulls way ahead, leaving a trail of clinging flames in his wake, all the way up the monster's leg. He pulls the bike into a backflip, freefalling back down to the street below and peeling out. He clenches his fist in the air, and right as he pumps it, the trail of flames violently retracts towards the monster like the crack of a whip, striking it in the ribs and exploding. Calvin's truck arrives a second or two after, hauling off counterclockwise from Hell Biker. "Y'all keep it busy a second so I can get a read on it!"
UFO Gang	WHERE ARE GIRLS? They are Around. They start in Nebula House, where they had been conversing about the revelations of the previous evening. "Wow... I can't believe something like this happened to an innocent young girl," Minamitsu speaks to her colleague while adjusting the buttons on her blouse and checking her hat's alignment in a mirror. "Nothing's actually happened to her yet," Nazrin points out. "It's potentials. They're actually planning ahead. It's good for you." "But that's attachment to a possible future that might never come, sacrificing the ocean of reality in which we dwell inevitably!" Minamitsu counters. "'Ocean of reality'... where'd you hear that?" Nazrin says, concluding with grooming her ears and twitching them both. "From a book!" Minamitsu says proudly. Nazrin looks over and up with something like surprise and perhaps - the nature of being impressed? - and comments no further. Minamitsu does not mention it was an audiobook. And the conversation dies because IT'S TIME FOR AN ALERT! During the elevator up, Minamitsu - who has opted to take the field of battle against a giant monster, having psychologically prepared herself - remarks to Riku, "I have to say that at least you've got it in the open. I had to do a ton of underground fights at my part time job." She gives him a slightly glassy-eyed look. "It was--" Minamitsu blinks and considers. "I'm glad we did it, but I wish there'd been less cognitive stress," she concludes, before they reach the elevator. She encourages Riku with a wordless snap-to of the Don Shine Pose! After that, she watches the transformation while adjusting several things - the clip on her hat (so it doesn't fly off her head), the earpiece in her ear (so she can talk to people even if she's a kilometer away), the belt on her slacks (so they don't fall off). As she's girding her loins, FLamel gives some outliner tips and Minamitsu touches her ear to listen intently! She probably got most of that. Including... VALID TO CRUSH BUILDINGS. Minamitsu shakes her head once. Intrusive thought. After confirming things and getting an update, she lets out a huge breath - and flies! She follows Flamel on his right, though something like fifty meters behind and ten away. As she flies, she brings out her ladle, scooping and pouring out water from the depths of the accursed seas that drowned her, which is, fortunately, more or less ordinary water... And Ultraman Geed leaps into somewhere else! <"Gwack! Geed's leaving!?"> SAFE IN THE UNDERGROUND BASE WITH FEWER THAN TEN CURSED ARTIFACTS: Nazrin sips the tea she's found somewhere and messes with her earpiece. <"Second contact. They're gonna have to split up. That guy in the truck with the biker demon says he recognizes the pattern. It's a pincer attack."> <"Pincer??"> Nazrin loses the respect she gained for Minamitsu at the evidence of literacy. <"Like a beetle's jaws. You've got that one up there outnumbered. So believe in Ultraman Geed."> <"Got it!"> UP IN THE SKIES "It's got really big ears," Minamitsu muses to herself. The thought processes. She frowns... and then looks at the hundred or so gallons of water forming an orbital torus around her. The ladle is swept forwards and pointed... ... right at one of the Tyrant's big bat ears! The water follows, a glittering serpentine in the skies. High pressure, high impact, and if it is an ear and not some kind of display frill, maybe it'll hate it.
Angela	Malkuth brought her EGO to fight but she's still, like, a researcher before she is a warrior and definitely not going to go out and fight something that's giant. And frankly, Roland is not really super inclined to fight a giant kaiju monster either but, well, worst case he gets killed and wakes up whenever Angela wakes up and gets him up on his feet again, he supposes. He isn't much of a smoker, he's more of a drinker, but he does sort of wish he had a cigarette on him right now to calm his nerves. Once he's set down by the observatory, Roland considers his options. He's got some options in his pages, but nothing that really feels like it'll settle anything. But he does have that one page that was taken from Wrath. He takes a page and squeezes it and it bursts into light--solidifying into the form of a bat that he swings once, unleashing a swath of wind that aims to batter the mix-and-match monster about! "Please don't let it step on me." He says, sighing to the universe.
Riku Asakura	FOOTHILLS Ultraman Geed is finally pushed away from the Red-Horned monster, forced to roll away to regain his footing. It's an excellent time for people to attack. Flamel's bolts slam into the monster's body, but also try to get into its mind. The one thing Flamel will notice is that the mental defenses of this monster are /extremely/ high. However, he can get a glimpse of something below the surface. Red-Horned monster reals from the blast, looking around dangerously for the source. Inside the monster seemed to be a space of energy. Crackling with two different energies. Inside this storm of energies lies a single person, but it's hard to actually get a glimpse of the person. Sarracenia covers Flamel's attack very well; cannonballs hit the side of the monster viciously. Enough to knock it back a few steps and to cause it to swipe ineffectively at the balls themself. Stomping its foot on the ground, the Red Horned Monster crackles with electricity. This energy is red in color, matching the color of its horns. It crackles between said horns and various spikes on its body, before releasing the energy in a wide area burst around itself. Not only smashing into Geed, but trying to make things deadly for the elites sent to fight it off. Geed himself rolls around the beast; he can't quite avoid the crackle of electricity, but he does manage to grab its tail and yank it. The beast is momentarily disoriented and falls face-first into the ground, giving people another good shot at it.
Riku Asakura	Japanese streets are probably a little small for Calvin's truck, but that isn't a problem this far out from the city. The very confused monster barely has time to even consider smaller elites as a problem before Hell Biker drives up its leg, leaving a trail of flame. This seems less of a problem for it until it turns into a whip crack of flame, striking the beast across the chest with enough force to cause it to stagger. Large as it was, toughness wasn't its most noted feature... which probably means it's likely very dangerously destructive. This is in match with Minamitsu's storm of water that had been growing in the sky. Fortunately for her, the things on its head ARE ears and not just frills. The water entering its ear is distressing, because it's not really a water beast, but more a digging one! Its 'hands' immediately draw up to its ears, trying to unclog them. This is enough of a problem that it doesn't notice Roland and his giant bat. The gust of wind is enough to start blowing it backwards, and eventually cause it to tumble against the ground. For a moment, it looks confused and very much like a turtle on its backside. The confusion was just a momentary problem; it rolled to one side and then back onto its feet. With a high-pitched roar, it swings its awful hands at the various defenders of Mayu. The baraba hand of the monster whips out, swinging in a wide arch to try to catch Minamitsu and Roland. On the other hand, the pickaxe hand comes swinging down at Hell Biker, trying to get some revenge for that powerful blow. Zero, smacked with the baraba himself, dances backwards from the blow, before rolling closer. He quickly comes back up into a fighting stance and then immediately chops the beast across the neck, staggering it and causing it to stumble. Once more, trying to gain its attention and focus, to give his allies some relief from its wrath.
Riku Asakura	NEBULA HOUSE Pega and Mayu watch the screen, the split fight between the two monsters that are trying to get at her Little Star. Mayu looks a little worried, but not panicking. Likely, being surrounded by Pega, Nazrin, and Malkuth. RE.M. speaks up at this point, "Laiha has taken an elevator to the Mitsuse Foothills." Pega sounds a bit confused, "Why does she think that is where Kei is..?" Pega asks, not understanding the decision. "No!" Mayu exclaims. Almost immediately, another portal opens up, and she runs through it. -------------- MITSUSE FOOTHILLS Laiha arrives nearby, though not close enough to get directly caught in the fight between the elites and Ultraman Geed, she watches. She, apparently, also came ready. Sword on her back, wrapped up but not unready to be drawn. It's about this time that Mayu comes through a portal close to Laiha. Surprised by this, Laiha immediately spins towards her, kneeling and grabbing her arms. "Mayu... why?" "Because..." "I told you about the Little Stars, right? The Monsters that come after you. It's dangerous for you to be here." "That goes for you, too! What are you gonna do here?" To this, Laiha doesn't answer right away, looking down and troubled. Mayu continues, "Let's go back! Come on, let's go!"
Flamel Parsons	Flamel has to weave between bolts, he has to get to more insulated segments of the hill, he has to duck around and under trees that can act as lightning rods! Dammit, he's so used to invisibility being his advantage, but at this scale, and with a foe so used to wide-area attacks, he has to depend on novel, creative evasion! ...Good thing he's so good at novel, creative evasion! Nobody's as evasive as Flamel is. The man has never confronted anything directly in his life! He's also decent at dodging! He's tensely thinking, checking over data from Calvin's analysis, <Ghh! Too much synaptic activity! Gah... My sources said Fukuide has been spotted in the same place as the Red-Horned monster that's in the foothills, so your mapping's probably right. But if it is, then something about this form might be giving him intense mental defenses!> Then, the ground rumbles powerfully, as the monster is tripped, facefirst into the dirt! His levitation gives him the shock absorption he needs to retain his speed, but he struggles a moment. Then, encouragingly, <Geed's got the head down! Get that noggin, Sarra!> That's his plan too. Bombs or not, he can get in close... He can't summon the power of a giant of light, but he can summon two luminous fists. He gets a good run up one of the hills to get a good bit of momentum, lands down another and builds more, launches up, then descends... Two huge telekinetic hands clasp together into one fist, aiming for something to match the sweeping massive attacks that Ultramen use, but far more american, like something from some babyfaced starship captain fistfighting in a hallway in the sixties. Two hands tightly clasped, they both come down at the head to pound it into the ground! --- Samples of two energies are examined in a laboratory. Technicians try to replicate them for study in huge chambers with vast machines. Men in hazardous environment gear make excursions, and return scarred and scared. The Director calls off a breach like this, it's not going to work. It's all too dangerous. "It's potentially been reinforced since our last breach." He mutters to one of his scientists. "That force... the one we saw in contact, with all that psychic power..." "'Belial.' It must be responsible."
Angela	NEBULA HOUSE "What! No!!" Malkuth tries to chase after Mayu so she doesn't, like, run into the middle of a battle with giant monsters trying to kill her or something. Why is she trying to run away now of all times?? Gaaaahhhh she thought they figured this whole thing out! ROLAND Roland's bat isn't actually a giant bat, it's just a bat. Roland can only swing bats that are more or less sized for Roland. But it does summon impressive amounts of wind for sure! If Roland gets caught by the giant monster too, he'll just be, like, dead. Totally dead. Or at least book-dead and it's still not a pleasant experience to undergo so he's not exactly so eager to tempt fight just because it's reasonably safe for him. He instead swings the burst of wind down, catapulting himself over the hand and swinging Durandal down into one of the fingers, intending to slice it off, before landing behind it. Yeah, his time with Mario Powers, he thinks, is starting to pay off! "Nice try, bud..." He says. "You can stop trying any minute now."
Flamel Parsons	Regardless of where that blow lands, Flamel does startle in the middle of things. His psychic senses are picking up Mayu and Laiha, too close! <Geed! Geed!!> He tele-shouts. <The Little Star, she's too close! Do not drop your guard, he might make a break for her! Remember, you're her counselor! And when she's away from her parents you're the only one who can keep her safe!!>
UFO Gang	"Heh heh!" says Minamitsu as her water does seem to hit the thing in an actual ear, not just bobble its head around. "Take that, kaiju! The ocean itself is greater than you!" After that, a sudden burst of howling wind is sent forth and she turns her head to see... ... on the ground ... Roland! She wave-waves at him, being, you know, in the air. Which means she isn't looking at the kaiju. <"I wonder how come he's not flying,"> Minamitsu muses into her earpiece. IN THE UNDERGROUND BASE <"He probably can't,"> says Nazrin as she slurps her tea. She glances at the others, and feeling a certain obligation to be supportive to Mayu, raises it to her. See, the mouse girl believes in you despite having a sour face. IN THE SKY <"He can't?"> Minamitsu says, before a shadow falls on her. Minamitsu turns around. MENTAL CHART: (INCOMING DEATH BLOW) ------> (minamitsu (me!)) -----> (Roland (just a man with a job!)) For a few milliseconds Minamitsu doesn't think of anything at all. Then she brings the ladle around. It begins to spray out water in a sudden torrent, an immense blast stronger than ten firehoses. For a fleeting second Minamitsu thinks - am I really gonna counter it?! NO. However, she did take the edge off of its brutal forward momentum. Or moved it. Or the kaiju messed up. It's a complex thing, but it means she doesn't get swatted out of the air entirely! No, it glances against her (while being something like a thousand times her mass), which sends her flying towards the ground, spinning vigorously! There is a SPLUMP as she hits the soil and rebounds up into the air, still tumbling. She must be gaining some attitude control because she doesn't go more than about ten feet back up before the rotation finally stops and she pivots back around. The hat is unmoved. A true miracle! Her head turns as she sees Roland go from Bat to Sword and start aiming to cut what he will. "Cut it all!" She swings the ladle around to hurl more sorcerous yet squamous shots at the kaiju even as it rears up to address the real big problem in the room: Ultraman Zero! "Aim for the ears! Hah! Yeah! Mess 'im up! That'll teach him to try to chase Mayu! No matter what, we're gonna keep her safe!!" BACK UNDERGROUND Mayu is leaving. Nazrin finishes off her tea and her eyes turn around the room for a moment as if she's feeling the mood. Maybe it's okay? It's not okay: she follows after Malkuth, grinding her teeth as they move! Depending on how fast the portal closes, she may hit a wall.
Sarracenia	Sarra has little to no way to defend against a shockwave, and when it hits she is knocked off her cloud! She cries out from the hit and falls a short distance before she is able to recover. She finally pulls out a Bullet Bill power-up and smirks. "So, you like to play rough?" she says before she is engulfed in an explosion. A Bullet Bill the size of a small car comes rocketing out of it and right toward the aforementioned noggin'. It hits like a train, then explodes, sending Sarra spiraling up into the air above the monster. She thrusts a hand out to her side, and her Silver hammer flows into her hand before she comes somersaulting down, aiming a hammer blow right at the top of that big noggin! And for some reason, as Roland does his thing, he finds that Mario Power-ups drift down toward him. Surely Sarra wouldn't help Roland, though.
Calvin Nash	Hell Biker's clockwise strafe around the monster keeps him in motion. His supernatural bike is faster than most any a mortal might command, but with the support effects from Calvin's item, his reaction time is higher than normal and the bike's frame is sturdier. When the monster's hand comes crashing down, Hell Biker brakes, for only a split second--then he leans into a turn and guns the accelerator, threading through the spines just below the hooked tip of its hand. The screech of metal and the fly of sparks signal it wasn't a clean miss, and he readjusts on the seat after taking part of that impact himself. Presuming that there's a guy in there (or watching), he throws out a near-universally undersood turn signal, middle finger extended as he passes. While the monster's occupied with the others, Calvin's knee takes the job of his left hand, and his left index finger flies across the keyboard of his COMP as he keeps the wrist-computer tracked on the monster. .load analyze Analyze v. 2.3.2 developed by Trina McElwain 'Tyrant' Affinity: Fire Threat: Moderate Notable Techniques: Fire Breath, Ear Beam Observations: Effective with the weapons on its hands. Can't take much punishment, but can deal out quite a lot. "Got it." Hand back on the wheel just in time to swerve around the baraba hand as Tyrant picks it back up, he feathers the brake to send the truck into a controlled spin. Passing Hell Biker, he shouts, "Media!" sending a ray of restorative blue light to wash over his partner. Hell Biker keeps his middle finger extended as he disappears out of Calvin's view on the other side of Tyrant. Shaking his head, Calvin throws the truck into reverse, hammers back down on the gas and whips it facing forward again, right hand quickly working the gearstick into the right gear based purely on the growl of the truck at-speed. Before the stick has even stopped shaking from his urgent shift, his hand finds the CB receiver again. "If you're with me, listen up. He's got fire breath and he shoots lasers from out his ears. Keep to the side or in back of 'im if you ain't tough like Geed or Zero." Calvin drops the receiver back onto its hook, then watches the driver's side mirror for the shape of Tyrant as he circles it. At the point of his thumb, a baleful glowing bead forms, orange like the embers of a dying fire. Pointing it towards the monster, his eyes flick between the path in front of him and the mirror, until-- "Tarunda!" It thins out into a needle, darting towards the monster. Upon impact, the same aching-muscle network appears overlaid atop Tyrant's body, its physical attacks dampened in their ability to cause harm. As Calvin reaches Tyrant's back, Hell Biker circles back around in front of it again, weaving in between its stumbling legs after Zero's throat-chop. Turning hard and pulling into a nose-wheelie at the same time, he swings the bike so fast that the flaming wheels near-completely occlude his figure, before slamming the rear wheel into Tyrant's leg mid-stumble.
Riku Asakura	FOOTHILLS The Red-Horned monster is face-first in the dirt. This is a boon for its enemies, as it starts to crawl back to its feet. Of course, this is until Flamel's giant psychic fist comes down from on high. The giant fist smashes its head, beating it back down into the dirt. It can feel the weight of Flamel's psychic abilities, grinding it deeper into the earth while it's unable to get up. With its head in the ground, this is when Sarracenia's bullet bill barrage hammers into the creature. Explosions and pain overtake the head of the giant monster, famed for its red horns. When the smoke clears, part of one horn is broken and damaged thanks to the powerful team-up between Sarracenia and Flamel's focused attack. Unfortunately, it was not out of energy yet. Pushing itself up and back to its feet, it seems ready to keep going. It's now that Flamel warns Geed that Mayu is out there and close by. Geed looks around, surprised by that information. The Red-horned monster takes advantage of this, throwing its body into Geed. It immediately turns towards Flamel and Sarracenia, its mouth starting to spew flames, before a giant fireball bellows out, trying to catch both of them in its inferno-like flames. ULTRAMAN GEED SOLID BURNING Geed used his moments wisely, immediately transforming into Solid Burning and drawing the Geed Claw. Dashing towards the monster before it could start marching towards Mayu, he collides with it, sending it a good distance in a different direction and on its back. Once more, put into a bad position for Flamel and Sarracenia to take advantage of.
Riku Asakura	OBSERVITORY Tyrant's hands don't have fingers; instead, they have a giant grappling hook hand that is dangerous, but also really weird. Roland gets into the air, managing to fly over the grappling hook hand. The bat comes down across the chain, and the grappling hook is attached to it. There is a moment where one wonders if the bat cut. Then the chain shatters. This causes MAJOR distress to the monster, who roars in pain and rears back. This gives Minamitsu an opening. Shots of water spray the monster, forcing it to try and shield itself with its pickaxe hand, and of course, the now mangled mace hand. Calvin's magic weakens the monster considerably. The monster recognizes that SOMETHING is wrong, but can't find the source of its distress in all of this fighting. This saves Calvin from being directly attacked. Hell Biker, on the other hand, goes right underfoot, where most Elites would rather not be, and smacks his bike right into the foot of the larger creature. This causes Tyrant to tumble and fall thanks to another throat chop from Zero. Tyrant was down, but not out. Back on its feet, it seemed to suck in a breath, using its whole body to do this. Rearing its head back, fire starts to glow from its mouth, just like it did when it attacked Geed earlier. This time, it lets out a huge stream of fire, aiming it wildly around itself. It aims to try and swallow up the elites fighting it, but then focuses its aim on Ultraman Zero. Zero tries to block but is being forced back by the powerful flames. Inside Zero, Leito exists in the energy and mental field that creates an Ultraman. He grabs a Fusion riser... Around Zero, the images of several Ultraman appear. Each one immediately merges into Ultraman Zero, before he changes form. Now, there is much more silver with purple highlights and several more blades for hair than before. The blades on his head pop out and immediately become a shield against the blades, before forming into a larger blade wielded by one hand. He slashes across the monster, forming a Z with several more slashes. He twists, aiming to trip the monster with the blades.
Riku Asakura	FOOTHILLS Farther away from the fight, Laiha kneels in front of Mayu. It's where Malkuth and Nazrin pop out, the portal being more Mayu's size than theirs, but it doesn't shut quickly enough for them not to come through. Laiha looks surprised by this and stands up. It is about this time when Geed was told by Flamel that Mayu was out here. When the Red-Horned monster marched towards them, Laiha looked ready to act. Fortunately, Geed's transformation and quick action with the Geed Claw knock the monster clear. Laiha looks towards Malkuth and Nazrin, "Please take her back to Nebula House." Mayu looks extremely unhappy with this, "No, you come back with us!" "I've been waiting for this chance... For so long." Laiha stands up and immediately starts running to the nearby bridge, seemingly having an idea where Kei will appear. Mayu tries to follow, but the ground is muddy and harder for a younger girl to traverse. She trips and falls, calling out for Laiha not to go.
Angela	Malkuth runs through the portal. She blinks when she sees where she is and she's from The City so she doesn't really censor herself when she says, "Aw crap." She doesn't want to be anywhere near this fight! She doesn't think she's a coward or anything, but she was dragged out here in the first place! And of course, there's a little problem with the fact this really annoying kid can just keep summoning portals out to keep chasing people so dragging her away is just going to result in her having to run through more portals and through more mud. Her expression is not one of sympathy for the six year old here. And Nazrin is someone who didn't immediately betray the Lobotomy Corp team so Malkuth actually likes Nazrin just fine! So she says, "Can you look after Laiha?" to her before approaching Mayu and aiming to pull her out of the mud and guide her away. "Nazrin will look after her. She's a perfectly adequate employee. She'll be fine." Like, probably, but she'd feel like the worst person ever if she lets a child run around into a robot fight. This isn't like with Faye, they could just squish her! And this isn't a war! "What's your dad going to think if you get killed running around out here? Even Roland will be miserable about it, not to say everyone you love." MEANWHILE Roland is willing to accept the mushroom that makes you bigger and jump slightly higher. He grows about to twice his size after catching the mushroom but you better believe he doesn't even give Sarracenia a thank you about it! How ungrateful! But he doesn't shoot her a nasty look or anything. Maybe thoughts are happening or he's willing to set his vengeance(?) aside for the sake of children not getting squished. More comfortable now that he is closer to the size of the monster, Roland ... waves at Minamitsu, briefly, even though this is very surrreal to him. "Uh." He says to the spirit. "Hey." He swings his bat up, sending another wave of air that spreads SOME of the fire around him but the heat enough is to burn his arms and get him to let out a pained cry. "Frrucucccckk!" He says before darting forward and just going to town on the monster with the bat with adrenaline boosted fury, ignoring the pain until his arms get too tired to swing.
Calvin Nash	Hell Biker would grin from ear to ear at the mention of fire breath, if he had any skin or muscles on his face. That isn't to say that there isn't always the suggestion of one, owing to the particular shape of his skull. He touches the back wheel down masterfully after his spin attack, gearing himself up for what he sees as an inevitable 'gotcha' moment. Many a demon has counted on their inherent defenses only to find that their enenmies have more than enough means of attack to deal with opponents who don't take them seriously. In this case, it's bad luck--using the crater from a previous impact of Tyrant's baraba hand to try and launch himself into its field of vision, he instead launches himself directly into its foot as it steps back to wind up for the fire breath. "MOTHERFUCKER!" Sideswiped by the monster, his bike crashes to the ground and he's flung across the asphalt in a high-speed tumble that'd be lethal for someone without his unnatural resilience. Even then, he's winded, and the satisfaction of drawing strength from fire is all but obliterated by the fact that it mostly serves to get him back on his feet from being laid out. While Hell Biker starts up his bike again, Calvin brakes hard, grabbing his shotgun from the rack over his head as the windshield displays a panorama of Ultraman Zero shielding against Tyrant's fiery breath. Stepping out of the truck, he balances the long gun on its butt against the inside of his elbow, then hurriedly taps in another command. .get slug 10C 1 A blue shot cartridge with a rim bearing elaborate inscriptions from a hodgepodge of arcane traditions materializes from a cloud of green data artifacts and binary, dropping into Calvin's left palm. No sooner does it land than does he lower the gun, slide the shell into the breech and rack the pump, taking a knee and shouldering the gun. With the ironsights on Tyrant, he fires. At first, there's just the loud crack of the gun, and nothing seems to happen. A second passes, and a white mote almost like a snowflake flickers before the end of the barrel. It drifts forward, towards Tyrant, as if a sudden wind picked up. Then another forms, and a third, picking up speed until, in an instant, a howling pillar of sheer cold erupts, bucking the gun in Calvin's arms and setting his biceps to straining from keeping it on-target. The concentrated beam of bitter, freezing cold slams into Tyrant from afar as Calvin holds down the trigger, gnawing, stabbing sheets of ice working their way into its tough hide and spreading from the point of impact.
UFO Gang	Minamitsu's ears perk (metaphorically, in her case) as Calvin gives them feedback. He's got fire breath and shoots lasers out of his ears. Lasers out of his ears, thinks Minamitsu. Ears, Minamitsu thinks further. Is water good for lasers? She doesn't know, though she watches Hell Biker collide and Zero move in for, is it the kill, the finisher? Is it about to be a Shine-worthy victory? NO! Not quite yet: she does wave back to Roland, but it's brief. There is a threat. "Hey! If it gets really bad, want me to carry you -" Fire is glowing in its mouth like a dragon and Minamitsu looks over towards Tyrant. The fire streaks and screams outwards. It's aiming away from Ultraman Zero, thinks Minamitsu, and her eyes go wider. The dipper is held more daintily and as the fire washes over her -- -- wow it hurts -- and singed, smouldering, slightly roasted and with most of that sensible officewear sensibly ruined, Minamitsu still burns with an eerie green flame for a moment. She rises, and swings the ladle: this time the water doesn't come in demure three-gallon bursts but in the torrent of a breached water main. Streak left as she rises. Streak right as she rises. A veritable storm surge, and while a lot of it is coming down as something similar to a torrential rain, that might be preferable to being on fire. (Especially for Roland.) BUT MEANWHILE, THROUGH THE FELL PORTAL OF MAYU Out they go, directly into a space where there are not thousands of yards of dirt and stone (Nazrin may overestimate the depth of the secret base) between them and kaijus. Nazrin's teeth grind again, even harder. She looks tense, but she has cause. Maybe, thinks Nazrin, I can just jump back through - Interrupted by Malkuth!? Nazrin plans to run, possibly away, are skewed as her head swivels over towards one of the strongest library workers. "Uh," she says, before taking a look at Mayu. A tiny emanation of the mercy of Bishamonten touches Nazrin's heart, and she says, "... Yeah," with a nod. "I'm a born survivor. We'll get out of whatever happens. I guarantee." Thumbs up. "You can trust Malkuth, she's A-class." At which point - despite every bone in her body screaming to run - Nazrin scampers after Laiha. "You better have a plan!"
Flamel Parsons	Never thought we'd see the day Flamel's more eager to bring in a hammerblow than Sarracenia. Unfortunately, a beast like this is more about the back-and-forth, which means Flamel winds up forced back when it shoves to its feet! And then it takes advantage of Geed's distraction! Or... That's not quite true. Geed didn't have the opportunity to find Mayu, but that doesn't mean his sweeping glances were for naught. Sure, he was distracted, but that assumes his only goal was fighting his foe, not saving Mayu. The Red-Horn might be too psychically resistant for Flamel, but Geed's mind has no such limit. Before the sights that Geed took in at that height can whisk out of the short-term memory or be muddled by recollection, Flamel yanks them directly out of a telepathic link and runs intensive analysis. --- A smoking technician runs through the footage. Frame by frame by frame. He takes a long drag of his cigarette in the hazy projection room, turning the crank slowly, slowly, watching the world through Geed's eyes in slow motion, finally... seeing her. But his focus is broken, when an alarm goes off. There's more spoke here than just his own, and that's not good. --- Flamel's distraction is what left him vulnerable to the heat and fire. His yelp of searing pain comes with an immediate lift on his levitation suspension, as he mitigates the pressure of the strike with a shield but can't mitigate the heat. But, now Flamel's got data about what Geed could see, and through analysis, Mayu's location. And there she is, near that bridge... Alone, with her guardian moving to defend her. He's making a break for her. "GEED!" He's shouting, now more physically. "SHE'S ALONE, GEED!!" Right in earshot of her... Surely she won't like that. It'd give her the wrong idea of her own helplessness... --- "Selective misinformation." The Director says. "Lies." Says the titanic UPE-2031 mask in the chamber. "You can be dedicated to the truth, or--" "Deception is evil." The fragment in the chamber rumbles. "Deception is a knife. It cuts." "It destroys." "Strictly, yes." "And that is evil." The light in the mask is sharp. "Flexibly, no. You can cut to create." "And what are you creating?" "Opportunity. For safety." The Director's hand tightens around his cane. "And you'd make her miserable? Make her feel alone?" "Isolation is a transformative place." "Is that 'counselor' or 'operative'?" "It is a synthesis." --- Flamel yells what he hopes will most make Mayu yearn for Geed's aid. And to give the Ultraman a little slack, he goes for stalling maneuvers. Heavy rocks, thick clusters of horrible mud, are gathered in telekinetic hands and slammed towards the Red-Horned monster's face while it's on its back, and once it's on its way back to its feet, he immediately swaps tactics to yank at the ankle right as it tries to rise, to destabilize resurgent uprightness and make sure Geed can get to Mayu first. Don't let it move. Let the isolation resolve the way it has to.
Sarracenia	Sarra lands atop that giant head after the hammer hit and grins. "Hah! That is what happens when you oppose the heroes!" she declares...just before it gets back up. She loses her footing and falls off, and right into that giant fireball. She cries out as she is engulfed, disappearing in the flames. When she finally emerges...she is freefalling, feeling like she did after the Lambent Dragon incident. Luckily, they aren't too far off the ground at that point. She lands with an 'oof' and just lies there for a few moments, her clothes, hair, and even skin smoldering. A trembling hand reaches toward her purse and pulls out a green mushroom, then shakily moves it to her mouth. That healing green light flows over her, and she staggers back to her feet. She's still smoldering, but at least she isn't almost dead. Seeing Big Roland is a bit surprising, but Sarra was expecting him to be completely ungrateful. She was not expecting the lack of hateful glare, so she doesn't even give him an annoyed huff. They have more important things to do! Like keep this monster from getting to Mayu! Who is apparently over there with Laiha?! "H-hey! What are you two doing out here right now?! Mayu, please get back inside! You too, Laiha!" Sarra calls out to them, though she might be too far for them to hear her. Sarra turns back toward the Red-Horned monster. "Okay, that is enough! Whatever or whoever you are, you are not getting to Mayu!" she exclaims as she reaches into her purse and pulls out...a tanuki suit! She uses the power-up, giving herself a full body tanuki fur suit that covers everything but her face. She takes off from the ground and flies up over the monster again, then curls up... And turns into a Sarra statue! She plummets like a cartoon anvil right at the top of that Red-Horned head!
Riku Asakura	FOOTHILLS Flamel launches the very forest at the Red-Horned monster, it roars and shakes back and forth, trying to shake off all of the debris firmly being thrown at it. Trees, rocks, and dirt keep it down, suppressing its ability to get back on its feet. This is bad for it, because if it can't rise again, it's a sitting duck for both Sarracenia and Geed. Sarracenia turns into a tanuki! These off-world powers are starting to get out of control for our villains, it seems! Turning into a statue, she falls straight down on the monster's head. There is a very loud frying pan sound effect, and the feeling of Red-Horn's skull shattering from the blow. It's at this time that Geed, with the Geed Claw, turns into a tornado of energy, flying right at the belly of the beast. He drives into the creature before bouncing off of it and landing on his feet. The Red-Horned creature, overwhelmed and unable to keep up the fight any longer, explodes into a fireball. Geed himself is shaken by Flamel's words and starts immediately looking for Mayu.
Riku Asakura	OBSERVITORY The fire seemed to go well for Tyrant! People were cooked, and even Zero seemed on the back foot, until it was slashed and then tripped. Pushing itself up to get control of the situation it finds itself in, it's now approached by a very large Roland. This probably confuses it more than anything! Of course, it's less confusing when Roland starts swinging that bat like crazy. Sparks rain out all across the creature as it's forced back, staggered by the giant man. It looks like it's about to drop at this point, its defenses overwhelmed by too many giant men, only one of which is an Ultraman! This puts Tyrant in line for Calvin's shot. At first, nothing seems to happen, and the monster starts to turn back towards Ultraman Zero. But then the motes of ice form. Then comes the howling beam of winter itself. Smashing into the monster directly and causing it to roar in pain and terror. Its hands wave, trying to brace itself against the cold, even as sheets of ice form across its scaled hide. The bitter cold and numbness that follows is too much for it, and it even starts to feel itself freeze. This is made incrementally worse when the storm surge created by Minamitsu comes crashing down on the monster. If it wasn't freezing before... well, now it's a literal block of ice. The cold has gripped it so thoroughly that it's unable to move. This opens up Zero to bring his arms up, forming an L-shape with them. "WIDE BEYOND SHOT!" Zero yells before a beam of energy tears through the frozen monster. Zero, ever the arrogant Ultraman, turns from the now exploding Tyrant, and makes a peace sign. "Mess with my daughter? Try again in twenty thousand years," Zero quips. Leito, however, speaks up from inside Zero. "Mayu is my daughter." "Oh, you know what I mean..." he complains to his partner.
Riku Asakura	FOOTHILLS Laiha is gone; the bridge she seems to be heading towards is still a hike and a half away, but not unreasonably so. Malkuth pulls Mayu from the mud. She can't help but wrap her arms around the adult because she's extremely worried about Laiha and her quest for vengeance. The little girl just doesn't understand. Maybe when she is older, she could understand. She doesn't understand why people would ever want to hurt each other. More than that, she hears Flamel tell Geed she's alone. Mayu misunderstands this. She thinks Flamel is referring to Laiha, not herself. Those words get into her mind, and even as she's safe for the moment... well, not completely safe but being taken somewhere safe... "Please, Geed! Please stop her! Help her!" Her chest starts to glow with a strange light. A yellow and blue light forms, seemingly coming from her chest, before forming into a ball of light. It raises, floating towards Ultraman Geed, and then flows into his chest gem. This isn't probably how Flamel had planned things, but it got the same results. Inside Geed, Riku stands in the blue and white light of his Ultraman form. The light of the Little Star floats towards him, and eventually into one of the empty capsules he keeps in his capsule holder. He pulls it out, as it solidifies into a single Ultraman. Ultraman Zero.
Riku Asakura	On the suspension bridge near the fighting, Kei Fukuide is on the bridge. In his hands are two monster capsules. They are smoking, as if they overheated. He looks annoyed, but before he can move on... Laiha confronts him on the bridge. Strangely, he smiles at this, surprised, but it's not an unwelcome one. "I'm impressed. You knew I'd be here." Laiha pulls off the cloth that holds her blade and grips it in her hands. She spares Nazrin a look, and it's easy to see that there are a lot of emotions in Laiha's eyes now. Mostly, however, anger and hate. Not for Nazrin, but probably for the man who stands before her. "Don't interfere." "Because I saw, back then..." Laiha seems to answer the unasked question from Fukuide. "I was surprised, though, I thought this was about luring out Zero. That you were going to attack Mr. Leito again." "It's not worth the risk of losing a Little Star... Like what happened with you." Those words, poorly chosen or perhaps purposely said to provoke Laiha, cause the young woman to charge Fukuide.
Sarracenia	Red-Horn explodes, and the Sarra statue is revealed in the smoke after. She finally releases it and stumbles a bit dazedly. Even as a statue it rings her bell to hit like that. But, with the monsters gone, that means they can focus on the other issue at hand! "Laihaaaaaaaaaa!" Fukuide and Laiha can probably hear the building voice as Sarra flies toward them as a fluffy tanuki as fast as she can. The tanuki suit isn't the fastest, unfortunately. Sarra blinks in surprise as that light orb flies from Mayu to Geed. She watches it for a moment, then blinks again. "Wait, was that the thing? The Little Star?" she asks. There is no time for that, though! Laiha is at risk of doing the very thing Sarra asked her not to do! Of course, Sarra is actively doing the thing that Laiha asked -her- not to do! She knows that Laiha wants to defeat Fukuide alone, but Fukuide was much stronger than Sarra had initially thought! He evaded several elites and called monsters! Sarra arrives quickly enough, but is torn between helping one of her newest friends and respecting that friend's request. She finally chooses the latter. Matters of honor have become important to Sarra over the years, and this seems like one of those. She doesn't want another Ceri situation on her hands, where trying to help someone who doesn't want help ends up with them trying to kill her. Although, that was a bit different. Ceri already wanted to kill her. "Kick his evil butt, Laiha!" Sarra settles on cheering for now, letting Fukuide know they are not alone without actually interfering in the honor duel.
UFO Gang	The surging water is sent forwards, and Minamitsu comes back to herself a little more, floating in the air as the green light fades. The cold... Where did the cold come from? No, she thinks, turning her head towards -- Calvin? She's not sure what he did, but it clearly worked. And the ice is accumulating additional weight and mass as, instead of freezing frost out of the atmosphere, it gets... ice! Great glossy icicles of strange shape freeze into place, growing and sprouting and growing from clear to shaded. "Woah," Minamitsu says, sinking downwards more gradually. Even as Ultraman Zero's doing a shape. It's not the Don Shine, but it's something almost -- no, Minamitsu thinks as her eyes bug out, it's even BETTER than Don Shine, because now it's in gorgeous total reality! In that moment of focused awareness, something in her mind is screaming with delight, even when Zero throws a peace sign and a flying lick of explosion stirs her hair. BUT IN THE FOOTHILLS Nazrin is huffing for breath by the time she's caught up enough for Laiha to perceive her. When Laiha shoots her that look and gives her that warning, Nazrin returns the look for a single critical second. Nazrin gives her an affirmative nod and steps to the side, to press her small form behind a pillar. She's definitely going to report back the details of what's going to be a juicy, extended conver... ... She's charging him. Oh, Nazrin sees the sword, NOW this is getting much better. No - it's getting much worse. Her teeth grind in tension at the prospect -- ngh!! Who can she turn to here. She could hook Laiha on a dowsing rod and -- and then if Fukuide decides to jump them both -- ngh!! Nazrin turns her head to look behind her. There is a single brown mouse looking out. There have been mice trailing Nazrin all along, but being mice, they're easy to overlook. Nazrin gestures at the mouse; the mouse seems to get the picture and runs over the side of the bridge -- except for a mouse, this means shifting down to another little area and running dutifully along. A half-dozen other mice emerge and move in the same direction. The mice are on a mission. They're only mice, ultimately, if intelligent and well-trained ones. Intelligent enough to get Nazrin's idea - crawl down and then jump up and get up his legs - and well-trained enough to do it, despite the fact that aggressing on a human sized being that isn't already in your face is a bad idea for a mouse. A small thing. Perhaps a crucial thing, if it gives Laiha an opening, or throws Fukuide off balance before he can pull the Evil Device out and blow up the city. (Nazrin has seen the kind of shit weird objects can do.) And perhaps most importantly to Nazrin, a deniable thing, especially since Sarra is sweeping in and making more noise. Hidden from Fukuide's angle, but not Sarracenia, she gives her a thumbs up.
Flamel Parsons	Flamel can't focus on dramatically keeping his back on the huge explosion, he has to run away from it to get to Kei! Fukuide is still an AIB most-wanted for a lot of reasons, and he still has a psychic link to Belial! --- "Fuck it, close enough." "It worked out!" A technician calls out, still focused on his panel. "Go to the next phase now." The Director says to the technician, tensely. --- Flamel's mad dash at Kei halts at the edge of the battle. But now, it's a matter of figuring out a way to get in there. With Belial's local power hopefully lessened by the destruction of the monsters, is there a chance Flamel can get in there? It'll be a hell of an astral projection to get in around that duel, but if he can manage it, he'll try to sneak it in there -- unable, or maybe unwilling, to risk third-partying the battle, he has to sneak into the non-combat areas of Fukuide mind, if he can get anywhere. He's got memories. Bits and fragments. Old things said to Belial. Bits of footage of Fukuide's contact with him. Is it enough to target the language center? He's a writer, despite the disguise, so he has to have a well-developed language center that's close to his visualization and imagination. And that means that Flamel ought to be able to sneak in through his currently less-active imagination, maneuver through the linguistics, and find whatever he's contacting Belial with. If he could bring a code, a frequency, any fragment of data back to the AIB, he'll be able to pin a lead on Belial. But he can't help Laiha while he does.
Angela	Malkuth doesn't understand either. She just knows she can't let a child die in front of her even if the child is really putting themselves in danger in the first place. There's a brief memory that flickers in her head about a young boy with brown hair and a bored expression. Who seemed almost excited to volunteer himself for an experiment but he was young, did he really understand? Or did they just take advantage of a kid who didn't understand but wanted to be useful. Like this girl. "Sometimes adults have to do things you shouldn't be in a rush to join in on." She says, simply enough.
Calvin Nash	Calvin turns around the moment that Tyrant is defeated, hurriedly placing the gun back onto the rack. Hustling around the cab back to the driver's side, he climbs into the seat and shuts the door firmly after him, reaching for the radio receiver in the same motion. <J-IC-Scene> Calvin Nash says, "One down. How 'bout the other?" <J-IC-Scene> Sarracenia says, "Also down!" Calvin nods, brow furrowed. His immediate next concern is... <J-IC-Scene> Calvin Nash says, "Where's Mayu?" <J-IC-Scene> Sarracenia says, "She is with Malkuth, I think! But...if I saw what I think I saw the long term protection measures may not be needed." <J-IC-Scene> Riku Asakura says, "The Little Star went into the Ultracapsule. I'm trying to find Laiha right now!" <J-IC-Scene> Riku Asakura says, "She went after Fukuide on her own." Something about the responses he gets frustrates him, and he fumes for a moment before replying tersely. <J-IC-Scene> Calvin Nash says, "That means the monsters won't go after her. It don't mean he won't, if she's in arm's reach. Malkuth, she with you?" <J-IC-Scene> Sarracenia says, "Er...no. I flew by looking for Laiha." <J-IC-Scene> Nazrin says in a very quiet but very close to the mic voice, "She's going after him with a sword. I've got people on it, but......" Calvin pounds a fist against the dashboard. "Dammit," he says to himself. "I know y'all're gonna jump in the middle of his shit if Laiha even looks like she's losin'. I'm worried about--" <J-IC-Scene> Malkuth says, "Yeah. She's with me. She just wanted to help." <J-IC-Scene> Malkuth says, "You shouldn't ... let kida linger in a place like this for long." He sighs. "Finally." His finger presses the button on the receiver. <J-IC-Scene> Calvin Nash says, "You up in them hills?" <J-IC-Scene> Roland says, "Thinking about Enoch?" <J-IC-Scene> Malkuth says, "Yeah I mean before my time but." to Calvin. "Yes. We had to get in the mud." <J-IC-Scene> Calvin Nash says, "I'm comin'." With the truck still running, it's easy to get it rolling again. As Calvin passes Hell Biker, sat astride the bike and rolling his neck with a pop-pop-pop, he taps in a command into his COMP. .dismiss 3 Hell Biker disappears in a cloud of greenscale data artifacts and binary, mid-neck-pop. Shortly thereafter, Calvin pulls up into the mud, the truck's four-wheel drive having no trouble with it. Leaning over in his seat, he opens the door for Malkuth and Mayu. "Mayu," he says, "Ms. Laiha and that man are real upset about a coupla things, and they're about to get into an argument. Your daddy's friends're gonna make sure they can get them feelings out without anyone doin' somethin' they can't take back, but it's gonna be hard, on account of how long them two been upset. Right now, the best thing you can do to help is come with me and Miss Malkuth."
Riku Asakura	Malkuth takes Mayu away, back to Nebula House. Her words sink into Mayu as they walk away. Mayu can only nod, a tear running down her face, because she's afraid for Laiha. Calvin pulls up in the truck, something she's never seen before, and looks up at Calvin. She doesn't quite understand. All she knows is that the man is a monster, like Laiha said. She nods, agreeing to come back with Malkuth and Calvin. Thankfully, she can't create teleporting holes anymore. Laiha doesn't let anything distract her in this critical moment in her life. Sword swinging as she meets Fukuide on even footing. Her blade versus his cane, and despite the desperate difference in strength between them, Laiha's training seems actually to be letting her hold her own. At one point, Kei releases a wave of energy from his hand, aiming to blast her back. Despite this difference in ability, Laiha uses the sword to deflect those same waves of energy away from her. While she doesn't gain any ground, she doesn't lose any ground either. She closes the distance with another slash, and Kei blocks with his sword. "Now this sort of twist I actually don't mind at all," He says, perhaps taunting her. He pushes back with his superior strength, flinging her a step or two backwards while she is forced to reset her footing from the sheer strength of her opponent. She comes back with several focused strikes, but Fukuide manages to block each one. Eventually, he gets the upper hand on the last blow, managing to position his cane in just a way that he knocks the sword from her hand. On the back foot, Leiha flips backwards a few times, trying to put distance between herself and the armed Fukuide. Fukuide approaches with the cadence of a serial murderer in a movie. Leiha, however, manages to grab the discarded scabbard. She uses the makeshift weapon like a blade. However, Kei had the advantage now. He swung the weapon several more times before managing to knock it out of her hand, too. He brings the head of the cane into her stomach, knocking her over and making her crumble to the ground. It was at this opportune moment that the mice under the command of Nazrin climbed up the leg of Fukuide.
Riku Asakura	He feels the uncomfortable feeling of mice, and kicks his leg a few times trying to dislodge them. This single moment gives Laiha an opening and throws the cloth that wraps the sword at Fukuide, aiming to wrap around the cane and knock it from his hands. She follows it up with a punch to the gut. The now staggered Fukuide stumbles for a moment. Laiha is back on her feet first and grabs her blade. By the time Fukuide recovers from the blow to the stomach, Laiha has the blade pointed at his neck. He's fully distracted, and that's enough for Flamel to get a second shot at his mind without the risk of a containment breach again. With just this small amount of time, and connection to him... He sees this same place, a long time ago. He sees the perspective of Fukuide inside the Red-Horned monster. It seems to be searching for something. That something... is a group of people. Two adults and one child. The child is the real goal, as Flamel can see a brilliant light, gold and blue, shining from the child. It's a Little Star. Kei, in his cold ruthlessness, grabs part of the mountain and chucks it towards the group. The two older people push the younger one back and away from the falling rocks. In moments, nothing is there except rocks... the two adults were buried underneath the rubble. Flamel can see that the young one, crying out for her lost parents, manifests the Little Star. It starts to float away from her, and it goes closer to him... Until it shatters. Dispersing over the area. What he sees next is Kei Fukuide giving a report to Belial, informing him of the loss of the Little Star. Informing him, they'll have to rely on their original plan of waiting for their Ultraman to grow into his own. The only way to collect the Little Stars is for them to be given to a specific Ultraman. It's now that Flamel can see the connection to Belial. Strangely, he can get coordinates. He's not on Earth; he's somewhere out in space, but he has a good mental image of that place. Surely the AIB can provide him with something to cross-reference. It was about this time that Riku ran up to the bridge. "Laiha!" he calls out to her, concerned, but it seems that... well, she has it under control. "How'd you beat me?" A surprised Fukuide says. "I wanted to win more," Laiha says, tense. The blade does not drop, not even for a moment. While the others might want to capture Kei for information on Belial and what he was doing on Earth... she is clearly here for vengeance. "Because of me, people I cared about died. I couldn't protect them. The pain I felt these six years... the frustration... can you understand them?"
Riku Asakura	A corner of Kei's mouth twitches, not a smirk but more a dismissive scoff. "How asinine." "I figured you'd say that. But these asinine feelings are the difference between you and I!" For the first time, Fukuide looks concerned that she will actually cut his throat out. In fact, at this moment, Laiha starts to spin the blade, and it starts to swing towards Kei's neck... Then there is a golden glow. It's all encompassing, both coming from the area, but also from Leiha herself. The voice of a refined individual is heard, speaking softly to Laiha. For Flamel, he can recognize this light. It's a Little Star... the voice on the other hand is new to him. For those psychically inclined, the voice is refined and distinguished, kind and soft spoken. 'Stop. This isn't something you should do.' Overcome with emotion, or perhaps her fires of vengeance were suppressed by the mysterious light and voice...she lowers the blade, without cutting into Kei Fukuide. Kei Fukuide, not one to question his fortune, immediately pulls away from Laiha, walking across the bridge away from the amassing Elites. None the wiser, that Flamel has gotten into his mind and gotten secrets. A hexagonal barrier is raised between them and him. He won't take any other chances, not today, not as close to death as he was. Instead, he starts to fade away, teleporting away from Laiha, Riku, and the other Elites.