Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Chevaleresse]

Many emotions swirled through Miyuki as she saw this happen, Hitobosu falling away around her as she took this brief moment to watch and listen.

"Moralltach!?" She didn't know how she knew, but she did. Her sister was a Mirager now too; one of her worst fears, come to pass.

Fire bursts from her back as her wings flared to life, and she cut a burning streak through the air before she landed, wings outstretched, between the group of freshly minted combatants and the direction the Amanojaku had been tossed.

"Misaki. . ."

[SirAston]

"Oi..."

The accursed knife. It rescued his life, maybe, but it also put a heavy burden on his soul. He picks it up without hesitation.

"Didn't dropping you taught you a lesson?"
"... Yeah, didn't taught me anything either."

Seitaro holds the knife in front of his eyes.

"At the very least... Now I know your name. I can feel it. In my heart."

He smiles amidst all the chaos around him.

"Yeah, wouldn't be fair to not call you out now, would it. And in a way, I owe him, I have to admit..."
"But this is still my story, gotcha? The Seitaro way or the highway, knifey! ☆"

Then, his facial expression became serious and focused, as he allows his lips to be moved by the pulse of the rhythm, the beat of the melody, the song from the outside, the song from the inside.

"Agri etos, eton, Nyghthowl tchor..."

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[IamanElfCollaborator]

The Hitobosu backstage don't even know what hit them.

One is utterly and completely pulverised in a single charge, nothing but rapidly carbonising shards of rock remaining as Hagane's Mirage-boosted charge annihilates it, aided by Nagisa's song.

Another is knocked off balance by Briar's shot, before Abbie brings down her bow like a stave, cleaving the Hitobosu into two as it fades into black, sooty carbon.

The last tries to charge Nagisa but finds itself in the path of Kazuma's axe, as the titanic knight in blackened armor cleaves it in twain.

Several Hitobosu appear from around a corner, but are immediately themselves sliced in half by a shimmering silver blade. Haruka appears shortly after, her blade retracting back into position.

"I'm heading to grab Shirogane, Luna and Doctor Ormrsdottir. Kumon is protecting Kamisato out front."
"Damn. She's still singing out there? At a time like this? And producing Biorhythm...she's not a Mirager, is she?"
"No, but-."

A loud crack sounds deeper in the backstage, followed by a loud yell that Nagisa and Hagane recognise to be Javier's voice. Haruka peers towards it.
"Luna...Kazuma?"
"I'm on it. Some of you come with me, we'll grab him. The rest of you, go with Haruka to grab Shirogane and the Doctor."
...
The sheer force of Misaki and Seitaro's transformations actually stop the Amanojaku dead in its tracks, its descent slowing, then-

Hikari's form glows a pale white, as her clothes are replaced with a white and red dress, ribbons flowing behind the dress. Underneath, a leotard forms, of a similar material to the bodysuits the other Miragers are wearing beneath all their armor.

In her hand, a long, white staff forms, two prongs at the top with a golden orb of light forming between.

The Amanojaku flaps its wings, hovering in the air as it beholds three new Miragers.

Hikari begins to panic, looking at her new clothes and staff.
"E-eh? D-did I transform? That's..."

Tsubasa simply stares at Hikari.
"Minase...you're a Mirager?"
"Eh? That's what they're called?! Is this what Kumon-san does?!"
"Yeah, that's...that's her job. She's a Mirager. She fights the Amanojaku in between touring. But...the audition...it showed you couldn't be one."
"Wait, that's what it was for?!"
"They wanted to recruit new Miragers, so they checked your Biorhythm levels to see if you were capable of using a Mirage. That thing you have...it's Brisingamen, a Mirage. Normally, Mirages can't be used by someone under a certain level of Biorhythm, but..."
"Eh? Biorhythm? Mirages? I don't get it..."
"Neither do I, but we'll figure it out later! That thing is preparing to attack!"

Indeed, the Amanojaku goes back in for another dive.

But this time, they're ready for it.

[Twinwolf]

The beat didn't fade for a moment - but it wasn't so overpowering now. It was right to have that in the background. She started humming to herself - she had to let it out somehow. The light faded - revealing the changed outfit, with a few armor plates covering a new top and skirt, with a ribbon floating around her body as well.

"Well.. this is new." She said. "Not a bad feeling though~"

"Now, let's try this again."

Misaki extends a hand to her side, and a blade appears in it. She inspects it critically for a moment as the Amanojaku approaches.

"Pretty good... but I think a more personal touch is needed first."

She drops the sword, and her fists start to glow.

"There we go!"

She promptly slugs the incoming monster in the jaw.

[Solymr]

: That's Javi! Javi's in trouble! Araki turned to Nagisa. We gotta go help him!

[GreenKnight]

"Three or four should be good for helping out the old man, he's too tough to break that easy." Briar is confident enough to keep his head on straight, and he rolls over to Haruka before he gets too far into the music to do anything but groove. "Conquest, Siren, pick your spots. I'll help get the science nerds out of the danger zone."

[Chevaleresse]

Miyuki sweeps upward to gain some height again. There her sister was, immediately going to punch the giant monster in the face - as Miyuki thought she would. With a shout, she turns over in the air and rockets downward, heading toward the Amanojaku foot-first.

[LyfeldLesk]

Conquest swings back after vanquishing the Hitobosu, laughing maniacally as they look for a new target to hunt - and then the silver strike comes into action. Hearing the distress yelps of Metal, Conquest grins with a mix of frustration and pride on their expression, backing out upon the sight of all the Hitobosu there being split in silver.

"Hah. That's a good warm-up! Who's next!?" Conquest, atop the horse, trotted towards Reaper and Silver, twirling their bow before placing it behind their back, riding past Beat.

"Hah - one ride atop the Conquest express to save the geezer coming up! If that guy is struggling then glory is at my doorstep!" Conquest was ready to rush towards the source of the scream, barely keeping their - and the artificial mount's - excitement.

[SeriousConcentrate]

Nagisa nodded in response.

"The rest have the situation in hand; Metal and I have your back, Reaper. Let's go."

He turned to move towards where he had heard Javier.

[rustytengo]

Momiji kept herself busy by "squishing" many of beetle creatures, into each other, into the walls, under her feet or just smashing them into the floor. Slamming one more into the nearby wall she looks over towards the sudden burst of energy watching as the Amanojaku descend onto the newly transformed Mirager's and Misaki's punch.

This girl is feisty. she mused to her self as she watched.

[SirAston]

After his dramatic transformation, Seitaro stands in some sort of fantasy-inspired armor with some cloth added for flair. Rather dandy. Even the single pauldron adds fashionable asymmetry to his spontaneous ensemble. As he held the knife, air-filled bubbles emerge from the pauldron, hovering across it.

"Hmmm... Gotta say, knifey, you have taste. Guess we are compatible so far."

Driven by a spontaneous feeling, he casually opens his main hand to let loose of the knife. It immediately flies into a gap at the back of the pauldron, keeping his hands free as the bubbles increase in amount and density. A more playful side of his wanted to burst one of the bubbles with his finger, but he immediately threw that thought aside. There is a danger situation right now. He looks at the two sisters starting to slug it out. Miyuki undoubtedly is the more experienced one, so that much is good to know. He needs the time right now.

"Alright, ladies, give me a moment to get it..."

As he was talking, he starts hovering over the ground. His instinct was to flail around to keep his balance, but he surpresses that reaction and remains stable, upright. Wait. He is flying? Amazing!

"Okay, TERRIBLE timing, but this is so cool! Aw dear, I could do this for hours!"

Getting accustomed to the hovering, he stretches out one of his hands to get a feel for balance. In that moment, the bubbles circle around the outstretched hand. Curiously, he clenches the hand to a fist and the bubbles pop, air swirling around his hand at high velocity. He can feel - and hear - a low-pitch buzz from it. Air at high velocity. Even he knows what wind is capable of at such speeds. Seitaro aims the fist towards the Amanojaku, but with the sisters going into melee, he was worried about drawing friendly fire.
But the voice of Nyghthowl that only he could hear assured him to open his hand. So he does and the air flies forward at incredible speed, short-lived blurred lines of pale green shooting forwards, avoiding Misaki and Miyuki at sharp angles before taking aim at the enemy. It was still an unrefined attack, unsurprising considering he basically just learned what can only be described as "magic". Still...

"Scratch hours. This one's a keeper!"

[IamanElfCollaborator]

"Wait. We can't all go for Luna. "
A loud thud, followed by another yelp, this time more feminine.
...
The Amanojaku swoops down towards Hikari, but the others are ready.

The first blow comes from Miyuki; Misaki was closer, but Miyuki was faster, far faster. Her foot lands squarely into the Amanojaku's back, causing a screech as it is knocked away from Hikari. It tries to pivot around in the air to attack her, but Misaki's fist smashes into the beast's face, the force pushing it up and away.

Misaki and Miyuki feel their Mirages...do something. It is hard to describe, but they both glow as they are brought within proximity of each other. As if this was where they belonged.

The wind slices through the Amanojaku as Seitaro joins in, airborne. The Amanojaku seems to shrug off the gale entirely, barely feeling it.

"Koi toka yume toka, dare demo shinjiru kedo..."

It does not, however, shrug off the follow-up.

A beam of light, almost solid, blasts through the Amanojaku, the brief distraction by Seitaro opening it up, as Hikari joins in, her staff gleaming with light.

The Amanojaku seizes, before its vibrant coat turns to black, and it crumbles away into nothing. Hikari stares at her staff, shocked.
"How did I..."

This brief moment of respite ends when another bat-like Amanojaku appears, smashing its talons into the walkway. The walkway crumbles and collapses beneath Hikari's feet, as she yelps, carried downwards by the fall.
"Ah!"
...
The world slowed to almost nothing in front of Tsubasa.

The beat had been pounding in his skull for the past few minutes now. The Mirage he carried in his pocket was getting hotter by the minute. And now Hikari was fighting with the others. He had his hand on Fragarach the whole time.

This wasn't right. He didn't want to fight. Her words had resonated with him.

But he wanted to fly. To soar. The wanderlust in his heart couldn't be tied down. He was meant to fly.

And then the floor crumbled from under Hikari, and he understood. He wasn't sure if he'd yelled Hikari's name out loud, or if he'd thought it, but he wasn't letting her time in the light end so quickly.
"Minase!"

Without a word, without thinking, he leapt off after her, his hand pulling out Fragarach - no, his Mirage.
"Zwiscell Fragarach mil tron...!"

The debris shields Tsubasa and Hikari from the view of those above as a blue light surrounds his form, the Amanojaku diving after them to finish the job.
"Sokosoko semenakya tsumanai yo...!"

[Chevaleresse]

"Misaki, be careful!" A part of her was happy, overjoyed even, to be able to share this part of her life after so long dancing around it, but that didn't exactly make her concerns vanish. Alighting next to her sister, she pulled both halves of Beagalltach up as their forms shifted. Without hesitation, she blasted away at the diving Amanojaku with rapid-fire bursts.

[SirAston]

"Oh you piece of...!"

The ambush of yet another Amanojaku caught them off-guard and peach girl is plunging downwards. No time getting used more to this new form of his. He gotta do something, and do something now. From the corners of his eyes he can see that Miyuki already moved towards attacking. Guess he'll do rescue duty then.
Wait, did blueberry just jump after peach girl? Damnit, feeling like a hero just now? Without any pow- What is he chanting now? Damn, dude. No time to hesitate. Even if blueberry suddenly becomes a Mirager, no guarantee he'll be a flier like him. While still hearing the song of Kamisato reverberating through the arena, a moment of bygone days flashes in Seitaro's mind.

"Run or sing."

Seitaro focuses on Kamisato's song, while letting his lips move on their own. The same song he sung back then.
"Banjou ni tatteita chikuri..."
He deftly avoids the Amanojaku as he soars through the sky. The same song as back then.
"Toge wo sasu you a kono itami nado..."
A blue light blinds Seitaro for the fraction of a second. He soon realizes that was blueberry. So he's a Mirager as well. Okay, questions later. He sung back then.
"Shousou no shoutai ni yume..."
Wait, isn't that like one of those American comics he tended to totally legally read in those two years where he primarily found shelter in an internet cafe? Back then.
"To kanchigai shitaku naru kokoro moyou..."
Yeah, what was his name again? Some dude with spider powers in a red-blue suit. And he was trying to save someone. A girl. But... Suddenly, the song on his lips stops. Memories of back then he kept at bay finally crashed into his mind.

He slows down. Seitaro stretches out his hand towards peach girl, but he's unsure if he can bridge the gap in time. If he can save her. If him catching her might actually harm her. Why is he trying to be a hero now, despite all the lessons he learned from this world? His fight against an Amanojaku back then... Just mere luck. Absolute bonkers luck. And now he's standing here like he's hot shit after his transformation? He knew nothing. He knows nothing.
His hand is still outstretched, but his face was not one of confidence.
"MINASE!"
It was one of terror, the price of getting cocky earlier, allowing the past memories to build up and overwhelm him at the worst moment. The stream of bubbles becomes chaotic and scatters all around, instead of steadily rising upwards.
There is no result yet, but Seitaro already feels like he has lost. He slows down even further. The song is not returning to his lips. Right now, he can only pray that blueberry will be a hero in his stead.

Because he is not a hero.

[Twinwolf]

Misaki jumped back as part of the walkway fell, managing to keep her footing. She felt her heart racing, adrenaline pumping through her body. It was right, and it seemed her weapon agreed.

”Miyuki, you should know by now that I’m not the one you need to worry about when it comes to this~” Misaki said with an almost manic grin. ”Hey, bat-face, who said you could ignore me!?”

While Miyuki performed covering fire, Misaki took the direct approach - leaping off the walkway and down towards the bug, blade forming in her hands as she made to slice right through it.