"There's gotta be a way to stop it, there's just gotta be."

Shimizu's Star Brand was primed to unleash the next attacks, but she didn't know what to do. Her Star Bolts left little to show as far as damage went, and dismembering it was rendered pointless the moment the body and limb merged again. She had to come up with a new strategy. Thinking about it, she looked at Ponpon. "Ponpon, I can't understand a word you're saying but I know you can understand me. I think I can beat it if we can convert my star energy into...I dunno, maybe some kind of flamethrower?"

The Mudmerged drew closer. Shimizu could feel Ponpon moving, turning into what Shimizu would need to do an attack exactly like that. Shimizu raised the armcannon and waited. She wanted that thing close. The Mudmerged reared back one of its armblades and swung it in a broad, overextended arc. Shimizu ducked and-

"Flare Tongue!"

Opened fire on her target. What came out was a cone of red light and heat. Her plan was working! The Mudmerged was drying out, crackling into dust. She couldn't finish it in one blast because use of the Flare Tongue made her Star Brand burn, but by the end of the second burst, the Mudmerged was just a huge clump of dirt. "Awesome, it worked! I can defeat them now!"

The scanner picked up hostile signals in the direction of the park. Shimizu wanted to consider her fighting done, but knew she couldn't just go home yet, no matter how late it was getting. She hurried back to the park to see if Mitsuko and Akari were all right.

"Who are you?!" The spear wielding woman had demanded, but, as Rei was about to attempt some sort of kamen-esque introduction, he was interrupted.

'Hostile energy source detected' The words flashed brightly across Rei's field of vision directing him to turn toward the mudman being summoned to his side atop a green disc in mid air.

Thinking quickly on all the various media sources he had seen throughout his years as a lone outcast whose only friend loved anime women, Rei pulled upon a reply as he landed on a nearby branch of the tree, "I am afraid we have more important things to concern ourselves with than introductions." Of course, the fact that he hadn't really thought of a 'cool' kamen name yet was a large part of his answer.

He didn't have time to ponder his lack of a proper name, however, as he launched himself at the mudman, trusting the strange spear wielding girl to deal with the one summoned near her. The creature had just finished coming fully into existence as the silver rapier cut cleanly through it's body, leaving two halves to fall toward the ground, struggling to reunite themselves.

"Huh, it didn't die like the last one..."

'You did not put as much energy into your blade. It was merely cut apart, and not burned away.'

"Well... I guess I should fini..."

Before Rei could finish his thought, an streaking arrow of light drew his eyes downward to where the lurker was leaping from the darkness, void circles appearing all about him. The HUD of his mask seemed to go haywire for a moment as well, multiple large energy readouts appearing on the edges of his lower compass, informing him of magical energies behind him. They came without the klaxon warning of before, however--being both further away and non-hostile to himself. All the same, he spun in mid-air, still falling, his eyes alighting upon the girl from before. The circles were surrounding her, scythes beginning to move out.

Rei knew he had to save her. Or, well, thought he did anyway. That was how these things always went on the television, wasn't it?

'The guardian is distracted. Do as I tell you. Thrust your left arm out, and reach backwards from the shoulder, while rotating your chest to the left along with it and pulling your right arm into your body, then bend your lumbar to the left as well, while contracting your right hip slightly and both your knees. Good, now contract your left hip alongside your right, contract your abs... and focus on jumping, drawing energy into your feet, and extend your body toward the Guardian like an arrow.'

The commands came faster and clearer through the telepathic connection than was possible for spoken language, and Rei obeyed. To the onlookers it appeared as though the masked man was a much more practiced warrior than he really was. His entire body worked in concert to twist his center of gravity and spin him around in mid air, until he was poised as though to leap off of nothing toward the director that was behind him and was now still below him. And then he did.

His feet glowed brightly, like a pair of miniature suns for just a moment as it happened, the kamen leaping down toward the director, his sword moving into position for a powerful cross body slash once he came into range.

'Remember the mudman. This one is far more resilient, we will need more power for this to work.

And then the silver rapier seemed to explode, becoming a large sword of purest white flame. If nothing else, the clash would be showy.

Akari peered down at the darkness as her arrow lit towards it, only to see the director leap out from obscurity in response. Reaching to draw Ceres again, she once again took aim, only to find the same discs from before open around her, and much more rapidly this time.

"Ack, it's those same things again!" She yelps, shifting her stance and sliding her right foot down, zipping low as the discs trailed behind with her.

"No, random evasion! Don't let it predict your movements!" Ceres spoke direly within Akari's head, only a moment before a window ballooned out beneath her, the director's scything talon shooting up toward her. Akari jinked left, just barely, causing the scythe to slide inches from her body, scraping against the deflector shield that invisibly protected her. Though the rippling blue, Akari caught an image of the surface as the scythe retracted, monochromatic and murky but recognizable as the disc contracted back into nothingness. Before she could understand what'd happened, a second scythe whizzed toward her head, connecting with Ceres' upper arm and throwing her off balance, barely missing her body.

There was a shattering sound, but Akari wasn't nearly as concerned as she should have been.

"AKARI!" Ceres yelled, but she slid her left leg out to recover her balance, jinking right and vertically with her other limbs, while sweeping her weapon down towards the trailing discs. "Listen to me!"

"I know what he's doing!" She replied, clenching her teeth in concentration as her AESA reticule frantically tried to keep up with her movements, lagging just behind the weapon's rails as she pivoted. "Starry..." She began to say, recalling the advice Ceres had given her the first time she cast the spell. A disc opened fully in front of her...

"SKY!" She yelled, snapping the string once, twice, and again, suprised at the effortlessness she needed to launch the weaker arrows as she aimed them right into the scythe's aperture point, intending to ram them down the spider-beast's throat before it was able to strike.

OOC: Sorry about the delay. And I'm not done with my battle with the monster I was fighting, so I'll include it as a flash-back or mixed into a conversation with a partner.
-----------------
*Time passes after the initial encounter with the monster...*

*The monster crash-landed against a tree and convulsed as its limbs melted off from its utterly damaged body as it flailed pathetically to a still... and shot green light impressively toward the sky, but for a mere moment before it purged its energy. Menarker glanced ponderously for a few moments before he rejoined his familiar, which was grinning from ear to ear, which reminded the lad of that neurotic grinning cat from “Alice in Wonderland”. He sighed and took a deep breath and then stared surprised as his barrier jacket turned into a hoodie instead of a shirt. Mern decided to ignore it as the cat’s amused expression oddly enough reassured him.*

“Mena-kun, the hoodie is just an energy regeneration phase for it, more like a side effect for not flexing it like a weapon. Nothing to worry about and you can summon it as you wish. As for that device, I dunno what it is supposed to do, but I guess it could be useful. I reckon you created it from your magic in some way?”
“Oh, I see… wait…Mena-kun?” *Menarker stared at the feline kinda shocked and perplexed.*
“Aye, that’s going to be your nickname…”
“Oh, I feel SO excited to get a feminine name. Mero, I understand that the growth of mages can be a great thing, but is there a particular reason why more is needed?"
*Mero said nothing, briefly dazed, Menarker feeling her sense of fatigue.*

"Why don't you hop in and rest for a little bit?"
*Menarker pointed at his hood and Mero's battered body shrunk to its normal kitty form and eagerly clambered upward Mern's torso and shoulder using her claws for it. Once confident that his partner was secure, Menarker shot out toward their original destination, using his barrier jacket to glide him along the ground. Mero mused to herself about the answer, laid prone and comfortable inside Menarker's hood.*

"I think deep down, most Verdas believe that magic isn't exactly a limited resource, that it could renew itself so long as an appropriate container could be found, regardless of the outcome on everything else. In the past, magic was more plentiful, and there was more mages in both factions. Sure, we may have fought each other over our principles, but if the need was there to fight a 3rd party, like these mudmen or a deeper threat, there was hope that someone on either side could deal with it. But with the decreasing number of mages, especially talented ones, I in particular find it vital that whatever be releasing this energy be controlled and used. Because the results otherwise... is that magic will sprout up somewhere else in the hands of a malevolent form more powerful than a handful of inexperienced mages can handle, and that evil would spread its influence and soon. In that case, even if the Auetekka WANTED to stop them, the moment ANYONE is remotely attuned to magic, they will become the target of the forces of this malefactor..."

"Like a group of well-prepared snipers and turrets camping the only respawn point in Counterstrike? ... ucking campers..."
"... Let's pretend that I understood what the heck you're talking about and say yes."

"Mero... what's that over there?" *Menarker pointed at the form of something small which could not be easily identified moving around in the dark*

"... I don't know... but mind you, it may had come seeking you due to the light and energy of your effective and showy technique."
----------------------
OOC: Menarker improved Psychup (Can copy buffs from foes, but not steal at the moment) and Surge Vacuum, and learned Storm Crest.
Phil: If you want to appear at this point, go ahead. Otherwise, I'll just excuse it as some odd movement of branches in the wind. =P
Since my character used the Psychup to copy the “Ocular Ride” attachment from the monster, he should be buffed for the next 10 minutes, assuming he renewed its duration from that killing blow.

(OOC: Previously, on last week's episode that was delayed due to lazy person...)

The feline hissed at the approaching being and hopped backwards to secure enough distance for the magic that was about to take place. A white disc appeared in the air, seemingly made of light itself and situated in front of Glint. It revolved slightly, intricacies of the circle clearly seeable as it did so. It seemed to glow brighter as the cat bristled, fur on end, and raised a call to the heavens: "Crystal Laser!" The circle filled in as if turned to liquid and held upright before giving an almighty gleam and launching itself out at the offending monster. It tore straight through the mudman and further dispelled some of the unnatural darkness in the area.

Celebration was premature, however, as the creature just sludged on. The sizzling hole through it just filled and the mudman became slightly shorter. Ears flattened, the familiar prepared a second dose of light, and not lightly, either. While not the brightest of beings, the mudman seemed to have enough pattern recognition, as it reared back slightly and punched. Or rather, it launched its muddy fist forward, completely separating itself from its arm as it soared.

"No!" Javier threw himself in the way to intercept the improvised projectile, arms thrown towards it. A wintry spray burst out his hands, freezing the flung mud on contact as it gushed. It was entirely ice by the time it finally reached the mage, where it shattered into pieces onto the pavement. That, Javier thought, was probably incredibly unnecessary... What was a little bit of mud going to do...? Regardless, it was magical mud, so it is prudent to take caution... The mage now turned the same white flood onto the actual mudman. It took longer as its larger mass might make one suspect, but a chunk of ice was all that remained of the guardian. Javier kicked its head off for good measure.

Levitating higher into the air and moving towards the others, Javier prepared himself for the real battle. His mind felt cold, and so did his hands. Far from being eerie, it was comforting; he was the cold. Below, Glint pounced into the fray, indecisive as to where to start next; it wasn't just the mage's first battle. The decision came quickly when the Director started up the laser attack it had tried earlier. Another white circle adorned the air with a different pattern this time, multiple triangles visible in the design. It grew more luminous for a moment before morphing to command: "Prism Mirror!" The lines folded at seeming light speed and became a well-defined prism that hung in the air between the Verdans and the Director, where it should intercept the energy ray.

About ten above the rest, Javier had an idea. He knew what his familiar was doing from the limited mental contact the pair possessed and intended to use the following moments to press an attack. It was a story oft repeated in mythology, and seeing as monsters were indeed real, perhaps it had some basis in reality. With this in mind, he focused on the cold he felt within himself; his aura, the word coming out of nowhere. Build it up, force it out, control it, he knew. As the shards of ice began forming all around him, he focused through his visor on the spot he wanted the target. As in recognition of his will, the tiny pieces hurled themselves at it as his masked gaze never left it.

The eye of the Director.

So that's his familiar. Miranda whispered softly, A shield...interesting.

A Prism refracts light, right? Alex asked her, wondering what the barrier would do.

I suppose. Miranda replied with a mental shrug. But, this is magic. Most of the time the name has some impact, but don't get too caught up in it.

Alex turned his now green, and slightly glowing, gaze to Demi. Now sitting on the ground from the spider's trip. I should get her-

You aren't that fast. Miranda interrupted.

Alex gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. Then I guess its magic. His eyes went to the barely visible red line, and then to the black threads. Connections...magic, work with me. He willed himself to be able to reach, to catch her before the girl was killed...

The words formed on his lips unbidden, as he expected, "Ties that Bind!" He cut his hand through the air in front of him, and a swirling ribbon of red cloth appeared formed around Demi, running back to his hand.

He willed it to tighten, and pulled, hoping it would wrap around her, and draw her back here, hopefully to safely. Please...

Demi fell backwards, completely caught off guard and still petrified by the blades coming within inches of her face. The falling on her ass really shut her up with the screaming, and she simply stared at it for a moment as it staggered back, and slowly recovered from the light above. Seeing it really didn't calm her nerves though, but time did. Not really, but enough for her to actually begin coming out of pure shock and start hearing Mogura and her familiar screaming at her as best they could. "~DEMI!~" "Whaaat?" "~Ok, good. You aren't comatose anymore. Listen, get back farther and counter attack more! Theres no time to stall!~" The thing sowly began making its way back to her.

"The strings are useless!" She whimpered, slowly backing away but not really thinking to get up onto her feet. "~Thats because you didn't focus. Randomly streaming them doesn't do anything if you don't mentally latch the strand to the target. Unless you're paying attention it just string!~" She panicked, thinking rapidly and almost babbling by this point. "But-but-but.. isn't there anything else I could try!" "~... There is, but you should fir-~" And around that point, something latched around them. Demi freaked out, but the familiar knew it wasn't harmful, and simply tried to hum and get Demi to calm down on her own.

She was being pulled away form the giant spider creature quickly, but was too preoccupied with being told to take deep breaths, collect more magic, and such than to actually do anything useful. "What about that orb thingie?" "Too easy to get rid of..." "~Only because you put nothing in it. It was like breaking a hollow object as opposed to a filled one. Yeah, create the star, and I'll show you some refined techniques for using it.~" "Right." She concentrated, and closed her eyes while being drug, taking in magic and forming the sphere, while her familiar took a check on just who was rescuing them.

Alex let out a sigh of relief as Demi landed beside him. He forced the ribbon to untangle itself, and drew it back to himself, to his surprise, it settled around his arms and back. Floating there like he'd seen it do with dancers in cartoons and video games.

He kept his gaze on the guardian's charging eye beam however, remembering the need to keep his face hidden, or at least not face her directly. He ran a hand through his hair, flipping it in frustration as his feelings of relief vanished.

"You need to stop making me save you." He said with a sigh, exasperation in his feminine voice. "It's getting old."

Rei pulled upon a reply as he landed on a nearby branch of the tree, "I am afraid we have more important things to concern ourselves with than introductions."

"My name is Shimizu Mitsuko." Mitsuko snapped as he leapt away.

Akrai counterattacked though the Director's own Void Windows. The creature jerked, surprised by the unexpected assault. The first two arrows struck and were dissipated by its already stabbing scythe, others hitting its torso with bright flashes as it drew back its scythe to defend itself.

Below, Mitsuko ran forward and stabbed the reassembling mudman Rei had sliced in half, Bright Day's tip glowing, the strange substance of the creature quivering and melting away as it perished.

Howvering in the air for a moment, Rei's slender rapier suddenly exploded into an immense sword of white fire. His feet flashing for a second, he shot downwards, sword held to slice across the creature's body as he passed.

Unfazed, the guardian raised one of its energy scythes to block. It resisted for a second, dim cracks spreading through the scythe, and then it shattered into glittering green pieces.

Silverly flame blazed out of the long cut in its side as it started to fall, its Void Windows winking shut.

It hit the ground, right side first, limbs buckling beneath it.

["Celestial Sphere."]

"Shoot!"

A large crimson orb smashed into the Director from the front, the golden energy within exploding out.

A new shadow field started to appear, but then collapsed inwards, revealing the Director as it rose upwards, summoning its second wind. The collapsed field covered the Director with an whorled armoured layer, a dark haze rising off it. Inky darkness shifted over its damaged sections, steaming off.

The Director's dark bulk writhed and seemed to expand as sections of the shadow armour opened like eyelids, green orbs bursting to the surface as its entire reserve of Ocular Rides activated.

Flaring with energy, the Rides fired, a fusilade of energy bolts aimed at everyone present, including laser fire flying skywards like reversed rain.

Bright Day's core flashed. ["Wide Barrier"]

The transparent, curved wall of a crimson barrier appeared in front of Mitusko, curving up and over her and providing a refuge for anyone behind her. It sparked wherever a beam hit, rapidly weakening.

"How are we supposed to beat this thing?" Mitsuko yelled, fixed in place by the need to maintain her shield as the Director reignited its augmented Riot Scythes and began to advance on her, still firing from every Ride.

["Enemy activation level is not sustainable."]

* * *

Just before the Director fired, Alex called upon the magic joining him to Demi and pulled her free of its grasp and out of harm's way. The portals that had entrapped Demi's strings, now useless, blinked out of existence.

The energy ray shot from the the Director's single eye, Glint's Prism Mirror completely absorbing the sustained beam for the full second or so it fired, shinging birghtly as it did. The spell prism glittered as it released its trapped energy back outwards in a spray of energy a split second later, pointed squarely at the Director, colours refracted into rainbow hues.

Crablike, it scuttled sideways, the prismatic bolt of reflected energy catching only a glancing blow on its right limbs. Stumbling as it was struck, the bizarre looking enemy otherwise ignored the attack.

Following up the attack, Javier called upon the arctic element he felt such an affinity for. Summoning up a floating field of dagger-like shards of ice, his power flung them towards the glowing cycloptic eye of the Director.

Void Windows snapped open and closed in front of it like a cluster of blinking eyes, swallowing up most of the magically conjured ice shards. Those that got through caused an eruption of energy wherever they hit; the surface of the eye looking crazed, like cracks in a glaze. With its alien appearance and implacable nature, it was difficult to ascertain exactly how much damage had been done.

Seeming to consider options for a moment, the Director simply rushed forward at Alex and Demi, a slight limp in its stride. Its Riot Scythes waved like a thresher, intent on catching the pair with them.

Behind them, two summoning discs appeared, the Director calling on additional reinforcements.

Synopsis: Picky calls Panko a dirty word coming up with a pseudonym, Panko meets Menarker and blurts out her first name anyway.

"So, we're the guys who want to keep magic to protect the world, and they're the guys who want to destroy magic to protect the world?"

"Yeah, that's close enough for now."

Panko grinned at her familiar. "Aww, you actually explained something. Does this mean you're going to stop being mean to me?"

Picky sped up to smack her in the back of the head.

The two rushed through the park, Picky leading Panko toward where he had seen other Verda fighting. Suddenly, Picky seemed to realize something. "Panko, there's another mage, I think. Look."

Panko stopped and gazed through the trees. "So, wait, if there's somebody there, I gotta ask you for a favor, Picky. Help me come up with a fake name."

The pig gave her an annoyed look. "And, why, pray tell, are we now wasting time with this?"

"I can't let anybody know that the little girl in a kitty suit is...," she looked around to make sure no one was near, then leaned in and cupped her hand around her mouth and Picky's head, "me."

If Picky had thought balloons, this one would read. "…" possibly followed by "idiot." Collecting himself, he hissed, "Fine, whatever. I'll call you, hmm... **nko! How's that?"

"Be serious about this, please!"

"Fine, we've wasted enough time on dialogue as it is."

--

As Menarker peered through the darkness, a little girl in a cat suit pounced, landing in front of him. She smiled, but her thoughts were something like "Don't mess this up, don't mess this up, don't mess this up." She gave a big wave, grinned, and said, "Good evening! My name's Panko, and--!" She clapped her hands over her mouth, then realized how obvious that made it that she'd said something she shouldn't and threw them back down to her sides, laughing like an idiot. In the bushes, Picky regretted the time wasted coming up with "Amazing Animal Girl."