lunaecalamitas | this day should be for me

[Yodarha flies back from the blow of the mechanical punch, but manages to flip himself midair and land on his feet, skidding to a stop several dozen feet away. He staggers, but manages to stay standing thanks to both his partner spell and his armor's heal-over-time both working passively to keep him in the fight.]

Alright... How 'bout we give you a return trip!

[Holding his focus high in the air, he imagines the atmosphere of Tycho Lake in the South. The breeze blowing through his hair, the water passing between his toes as he soaks his feet in the water... Then he imagines a swirl of water forming in the center of the lake, a raging cylinder that rises high into the sky and ZOOMS in the direction of the academy!

Crouching down as low as he can, Yodarha leaps high into the air. Just as the torrent of water makes its way to his current location, he shouts:]

Ougi!! Focused Deluge!!

[Using his focus, he twists the stream of water and blasts it at the mech, super-heating it in the process! (11)]

Edited 2024-06-23 07:45 (UTC)

[ The flurry of darkness seems to successfully stagger the mech, as its large, clunky feet step back a few steps, its torso leaning awkwardly to the side. But it manages to stay upright... Even though it's got nice-looking dents in its chassis now. ✨Good job!✨

Malice and Phil are out here doing their best, their elemental spells flying past the mech's limbs as it teeters. Urianger's celestial energy connects with the window with a dull thunk, but it does not break. ]

Rrraaaghhh! [ The man roars, recognizing Ahito immediately, so that's who he replies to. ] It's you and all your kind that cost me my job! You cost me my job!

[ He swings for another punch, sailing past Ahito (unfortunately for his pride), but connecting with Kiryu (11) and Urianger (16).

It's then that Yodarha's boiling water jets right out at the mech's arm with a furious sizz.

He yells in frustration, ] Stop, stop, stop!

[ Suddenly, a small door beneath the window slides open, and a small lava lamp-like contraption jets out. Colors radiate from it, before eventually settling on green, and it beams straight at Yodarha. Yodarha will feel all his own magic, including outfit passives, any spells he has cast on himself or others, go muted. Yodarha has been silenced, and will be unable to cast magic the next turn. All passive effects will resume the turn after when he can cast magic again.

And just as suddenly as it appeared, the lap is pulled back into the chassis, the door sliding shut and concealing it again. ]

[The beam manages to catch Yodarha as he lands back on the ground from his attack, causing him to stagger back from the impact of the blow. Though he's a bit surprised he didn't suffer any damage from the attack, he's much more surprised when his focus disappears and he can't form any words!

With nothing else he can really do, he unsheathes both of his swords and dashes forward, attempting to clobber the mech with the blades! Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be doing much at the moment (10).]

That's not our problem, sir.

[ JUST SAYING. SKILL ISSUE.

Anyway, Yamato looks over at Malice, and will go ahead and honor his attempt to blast the mech. Yamato generates his own fireball and launches it at the mech (18). Truly...this guy should be the one being silenced, not poor Yodarha.... ]

[Kiryu got absolutely bodied by a mechanic fist, bam. He holds onto the fist at the last second, though!

The dual attack with Yamato helped empower Kiryu. With his magical fists, Kiryu holds onto the fist and begins slamming his own onto it, to break and ruin it!

It's a work in progress, given the roll of 4. Making progress will a take a bit of time, whooops

[Seems like that lamp is going to be a problem... But at least Yodarha is fine for now. Can't exactly say the same for poor Kiryu and Urianger... But at least one of them seems to be holding up (goood luck, Urianger).

Provoking isn't going to work while this guy's stuck blaming Ahito, so instead Malice uses that opportunity to zip around behind the mech, blasting another firebolt at the back of the window (17).]

[Urianger is but a squishy healer, so that punch hurts. It sends him flying, knocking the wind right out of him. He rolls onto the ground in a heap, and it takes him a few moments to collect himself. As he's trying to get to his feet, he witnesses Yodarha being blasted with some kind of beam.]

Yodarha--!

[He can feel the disturbance in their pair spell- Yodarha's magical signature has temporarily vanished. The realization makes him gasp. Khun had mentioned something like this was in development.]

So they finally finished it... [A magical nullifier... This is bad. He attempts illusion magic to prevent the man from hearing what he's about to tell the others (2).] We must needs eliminate that device as quickly as possible! Watch for the next opening!

Edited (very important minor edit) 2024-06-23 18:10 (UTC)

[Here comes Ithaqua, literally crashing into the fun. He comes right out of the sky, using gravity to his advantage as he drives a spear-shaped icicle into one of the mech's joints. (20). Hey guys what's happening--

He's unmasked due to wearing the outfit the spirits had given him, though it's seen better days. Blood has dried all over its front, and a charred hole can be found in the side, where his skin is red, recovering from a burn that's just closed up thanks to magic and a lot of mana stones. But more than that, his antlers have grown a little, already bearing an extra point each and ready to branch off in the future.

Ithaqua lands several feet away from the mech after delivering his little "gift", and flips his unruly hair out of his face.]

Edited 2024-06-23 18:11 (UTC)

Ithaqua!

[Urianger calls in surprise as he staggers to his feet. He’s torn between “wow, hot” at the dramatic entrance and concern over what sort of trouble Ithaqua ran into beforehand. But he seems okay, so he must have been successful. Good.]

[It takes Phil a few moments to realize that the bracelet Day had given him earlier before the mission to the East has activated, but once he does, he suddenly understands how he's still even standing.

Well. He'll just have to take advantage of this fact for as long as it holds.

An orb of light appears above the mech, glowing brightly, and suddenly the mech will be surrounded by a group of what appear to be some sort of transparent purple shields, all of which suddenly flash with a brilliant light as they each fire a beam right into the mech.]

Divine Mirrage!

[With a single gesture on Phil's end, the orb's glow intensifies just a moment before detonating, the purple shields all shattering into transparent fragments to strike the mech at the same time (20).]

Did we? Care to explain how that happened? In full detail this time, please.

[Though in the meantime he's slinging a healing spell on Urianger, gotta keep the healing team on their feet.]

I hate magic too, you know. If your story's convincing enough, I might even agree.

After all, even my own parents saw me as no more than a guinnea pig for their magical experiments. If anyone's going to believe you, it'll be me.

[And - well, it's true. He does hate magic, for a variety of reasons.

...But mostly he's hoping laying a bit of bait will be enough to get this idiot to spill the beans.]

[The joint Ithaqua targets seems damaged and with how much of the mech seems to be retrofitted from other machines it would be safe to assume that would destroy the joint entirely and render the limb useless... but this is a final boss. The mech is much sturdier than you would think, so it's not disabled yet. The dual fire bolts scorch the surface of it, and Phil's explosion leave chips in the exterior... Their magic is wearing away at it, and its leaning a bit with one leg much weaker now, but it's still standing.

Its undamaged leg stomps down, a shockwave catching Kiryu (17) and Yodarha (19) with how close they are to it.]

Wizards think their magic makes them special, makes them better than humans! Just because it's the wizards who face the Great Calamity we have to bow down to their whims and deal with their unnatural existences!

[More wild punches that miss, his anger and the damage to the mech meaning he overcorrects his swings and goes wide and high. The fiery gays get to live this round, and so do Phil, Ahito, and Urianger]

All of my achievements written off just because wizards could do the very same thing I could! Even though wizards are greedy, and selfish, and don't care at all about humans and what they're doing to us!

[He needs to get more control of this nightmare, and with more wizards showing up with powerful magic... He has to thin the herd.

He swings a fist at Ithaqua (20), sending him flying several feet. Ithaqua lands heavily, and he doesn't get back up.]

I thank thee, Ahito--

[Urianger has just barely gotten his thanks for the healing out when The Drama goes down. He manages to avoid another punch in his dash to provide additional healing for Kiryu and Yodarha, but comes to a freezing halt when he witnesses the fist collide into Ithaqua with a sickening crack.]

Ithaqua!

[Oh gods, he's not moving. It takes all of his willpower to not lose control of his emotions as he rushes to his fallen boyfriend's side to protect him from additional harm. Mercifully, Ithaqua just seems to be unconscious for the moment.

Urianger hasn't forgotten his duty to the rest of the group, though. He commits to his initial plan of casting a potent AOE healing spell for everyone on top of the regen provided by his pair spell. A small, personal circle of shimmering stars surrounds each wizard on the field for a singular burst of healing.

Anything the man is ranting about right now doesn't even register in Urianger's mind. He's too locked in.]

[His gaze flickers briefly to Ithaqua as he takes that punishing hit, but he forces his gaze back onto the Western man and machine in front of them, fighting to keep his expression cool and even, if annoyed. It's hard not to be, when one is a teenager putting in all the effort of staying in control for a grownass adult who refuses to.]

...So you're jealous, and you're making it our problem. You're telling me you're the only guy without an inkling of magic who was in a position like yours?

[Very casually, he'll toss a heal at Itha, too - Urianger's on it, but a healing spell that covers so much ground probably affected the potency, so a little more won't hurt, he assumes. Plus, maybe the more he avoids actual conflict, the more weight his words have?

It's kind of a race to see what snaps first, the guy actually explaining anything significant, or Ahito's patience.]

And your great plan for dealing with the moon is... what? Harvest our mana stones and fit it into your crumbling machine to fight it off yourself?

Even if it works, what about next year? And the year after, and the year after that? If you keep harvesting magic users for your machines, you're going to run out eventually. And who'll be to blame for the calamity then?

And all of that's assuming they welcome you back. That looks like military grade machinery to me. If you lost your job, wouldn't that mean you stole it to begin with?

You're taking some big risks on this

[The shockwave forces Kiryu to let go of the fist he was punching! Kiryu stumbles back, and the shock was strong enough to make him have to take a moment. He has to change strategies and retreat a little, perhaps find a good angle of attack!

So he begins circling around the mech. He doesn't even bother to reply to this man, Kiryu is focused in fighting.

No attack done this turn (rolled a 4, turn wasted!)]

[ So this guy's jealous and making it their problem, like Ahito's said. Pathetic. Yamato wastes no more of his breath on this man because it's simply not worth his time. He'll let Ahito tear this guy a new one and instead focus on taking out the mech. Urianger's tending to Ithaqua, and the healing spell will hopefully help Kiryu and Yodarha get back on their feet as well.

Hmmm. Yamato has copied a bunch of spells, but what about one of his own? He'll pay homage to one of the first offensive spells he's ever used, and charge at the mech's arm. Yamato summons dual blades made of darkness, and his swords bash into the metal (14). ]

[Okay, so something needs to be done to get this thing's attention off of Ithaqua so the others can heal him and hopefully keep him safe. (Assuming that didn't kill him...)

So Malice circles around in front of the mech, landing on top of it and casting a spell to set his claws alight with his fire magic, aiming to destroy the window (13). Even if it doesn't work - and he half-expects it won't, given the strength of this machine so far - it'll force the guy to focus on him, right?]

Ithaqua!

[Oh, this means war. How dare you hurt his creature buddy??? But Phil's no healer and he knows it, so he's just going to let Urianger attend to that part since the Elezen is already on it and racing to Ithaqua's side. Ahito seems to be doing a good job keeping the attention of the man piloting the mech as well, meaning he isn't going to attempt to interfere on that front either.

Instead, he sees that one damaged leg, notes the way that the mech is leaning to that side, and calls out to the others:]

Aim for the damaged leg!

[And then he's immediately casting again, and circular blades of green wind slash at said leg (13).]

If wizards are so powerful, why haven't they taken care of the Calamity for good? Every year we have to rely on them because they're too selfish to actually do anything to stop it! But I could. Humans could! We actually know how to rely on each other, without ruining everything!

[Malice wanted his attention? Well, he's going to get it, a fist smashing into him with brutal force (20). His next few swings go wide, but some people need to be shut up. You would think it was Ahito, but he doesn't care that much what some idiot teen says. What he cares about is his mech, which means Phil (20) finds himself kicked by the undamaged leg. Goodbye, sir.

That's not the only trick up his sleeve, though. There's more rumbling and mechanical clicks and whirs, a hatch on the mech opening and releasing several drones which flit through the air, powered by mana stones. Those stones generate enough energy for them to shoot energy blasts at the wizards, hitting Kiryu (17), Ahito (16), and Urianger. There are ten drones in total.

At least Yodarha can use his magic again, at least for the time being.]

[This is what he gets for wanting aggro... The punch sends him flying, and it's sheer luck that Malice remembers to summon his broom (12) to slow his descent and touch down back on the ground.

He tries to summon a fire shield to protect him until he can get back to his feet, but with an 8, that isn't exactly working great right now.]

We're gonna need to take out those things fast or a lot more of us are gonna get injured!

[He points at the drones.]

[Urianger winces in pain as he takes a blow from one of those drones. At least he managed to prevent Ithaqua from getting hit.

Now they have to worry about a bunch of little projectiles too? This is quickly getting messy.]

Malice hath the right of it!

[To aid in the effort, Urianger sends out barriers to protect the DPSers (9). They're not very strong since he's extending his magic a bit, but they should hopefully absorb some of the damage from more energy blasts.]

Edited 2024-06-23 22:02 (UTC)

Am-!

[ His first instinct is to worry about Ametrine, but his partner is very good at recovering and he has to remember that. Poor Phil, though, is fragile and might not be doing so well...but with the continuous healing, maybe he'll be fine?

He grits his teeth, but he decides to focus on the drones instead. He is no good at splash damage so he'll give his all into taking out one of the drones by himself for now.

Yamato copies Ametrine's usage of fire and infuses his blades with fire magic instead, and he slashes at one of the drones (14). ]

[Nevermind, getting hit by the drone hurts like a bitch and now his patience is gone.]

Oh, sorry, I didn't realize you were stupid enough to think that us wizards want to deal with the moon every year!

Like the Calamity is the only reason you people rely on magic. Even your technology can't function without magic users - maybe you should've considered inventing something that doesn't, if you hate relying on them so much!

[He hears the calls for healing and for taking out the drones, which would be sound strategic choices, but also: he is an idiot teen, and a pissed off one at that.

The others will just have to deal in the meantime, because he's focusing his considerable energy into a jet of fire, aiming directly at that little door under the window with the magic nullifier (20). If he's lucky, it'll melt the damn thing shut for good. If he's even luckier, it'll destroy the contraption entirely.]

[Yodarha hears the call for healing and tries to bring his focus back into existence... Success!

Imagining a huge rain cloud over the battlefield, he raises his focus skyward and shouts:]

Ougi! Healing Rain!

[Healing water drenches the battlefield, providing succor to those injured! While not the strongest initial heal (7), he intends to concentrate on keeping this rain around for an extended period of time. Heal over time, baby!]

[You ever just had a tendril of shadow extend out of the ground to try and grab a robot leg and knock the whole machine over?

Well, I mean, this one fails (5). But maybe Solomon gave this poor lunatic a heart attack with how the space grows cold in warning.

He looks... a mess. Though his wounds have been healed at this point, blood and char still coats his outfit in scattered slashes and fraying of what was once a very beautiful outfit. But it doesn't stop his stance, flicking out his wand with a click of his tongue at the failed attempt.]

And what exactly would you plan to do? Have you thought through the consequences, when the Calamity is so big and unknowable that even wizards stumble at an iota of its power?

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