Nicia had underestimated the amount of moisture in those mudmen. She'd thought using the desires would have burnt them to regular dirt, but they could take much more and so a new plan was necessary. Though first she had a fist coming at her. She tried to coordinate orders as quick as she could in her head, first to summoning a new creature, out of the void came Scotty who's fin she already had a hand out to catch and pull her away, immediately after Scotty came rage who concentrated his anger at the nearest notable threat. The fist coming toward where he was now and so he yelled his big head off and rushed at the fist with gritted teeth.

She hadn't wanted to dodge the fist just so it could turn around and chase her so an explosive response seemed good to do. Just in case she sent out the thought to her companions,

Explosion imminent guys, watch out!

Scotty rushed them for cover while the Michaelmas suddenly dissipated, requiring too much thought to maintain if she was to continue to attack. She instructed the Furies to take on the Mudmen. They would first try to suck out their lifeforce, if that didn't work they would attempt to rip them apart the old fashioned way. The Furies were probably the toughest summon she had, in tests they would usually attack with mindless destructive force. Furies made sense. She only hoped it would matter against the muddy bastards.

Her Lotus Flash struck the mudman dead on; engulfing it and part of its companion in an explosion of red magic. Ayame allowed herself a smile of pride, that should-

The light faded, and amid the swirling flecks of red magic, Ayame realized this battle would be much harder then it had first appeared. The creatures appeared to be a blend of Autekkan and Verdan technology. Had the situation been different, the shrine maiden would have been ecstatic. Her suspicions about this enemy were correct.

But, that was small compensation when the mudmen spurted wings.

Ayame had to act fast.

A triangular casting array of red magic appeared beneath her stocking clad feet, rotating outward and enlarging. Her bow fell into a mass of red sparks as she whipped her hand, palm out, toward the charging mudman.

"Scarlet-"

A large, hollow, circle of red magic, like a significantly oversized disk shield, blossomed into existence between Ayame and the fast approaching mudmen.

They’d be on her in moments.

"-Bind!" A mass of red scarves shot out from the edges of the disk, crisscrossing as they filled the disk’s empty center. A net of magical fabric had been formed. And, at a quick gesture from the priestess, the fabric of that net flared with purifying light.

Ayame was torn between hoping they weren’t smart enough to go around it, and hoping the net could take the impacts. She knew they’d have a hard time clawing through the fabric, it was as magical as their own rapier-like weapons, and layered too.

Even so, the priestess held herself several feet back.

Synopsis: Cat's Call into Cutie Bubble combo on Panko's mudmen, then tactical retreat toward Alex. Now I gotta edit my sheet with new stuff.

"Panko, quit standing there and fight!"

Picky's bark brought Panko back to the scene. This was new, fighting a small army of monsters all at once. Not to downplay the situation Nicia and Alex were in, but having four Cyber-Mudmen charging you is a pretty scary sight.

Panko gripped her hands at her sides. "Cat's Call!" Panko screamed at her aggressors, her sonic attack stunning them briefly and causing them to stumble. It probably also had some effect on the other monsters in the area. Now faced with four mudmen about to fall on her instead of beat her up, Panko threw her hands forward and cast "Cutie Bubble." A large pink dome flashed over Panko, the mudmen colliding with it and bouncing off like a kid who runs headlong into the bouncy castle at a company picnic. Panko released the shield, which floated away as thousands of tiny bubbles, and backed away toward "Ayame." The mudmen were mostly unscathed and started to pull themselves back up.

The hidden pair watched the first exchange in silence, Tsukino turning his head to Virgil after it was finished

"Well?"

"I see your point."

Virgil got down from the tree and retreated a little further into the trees, taking a moment to compose himself before speaking

"Lunar Fur, Awaken!"

Tsukino took to the sky as he finished speaking the area around him darkened, a full moon appearing under his feet. A silver light moved up his body, his shoes immediately being stripped away and the silver socks forming first. The light continued moving farther up giving way to his dark blue pants, coat and gloves. Finally the moon seemed to brighten for a moment, the wolf's head forming on his chest and knees. With the final touch added the moon faded and the world returned.

He clenched his hands; Tsukino flying above him; as he raced back towards the fight.

"Remember, don't just rush in there. We don't know if these are the only opponents so you can't afford to waste magic needlessly."

Virgil nodded and relaxed his hands "Alpha Claws!" His magic covered his hands and arms as he stopped just outside the clearing and looked at the three fighters respective situations.

He decided the youngest kid needed the most help, whipping his claws over his head and slamming them down onto the two mudmen nearest him.

As the smoke and flashes wore off, Daichi could "identify" muddy shapeshifting monsters rushing in groups against the other mages and a swarm of metal snakes with fins and whiskers.

He kept floating for a while, watching the metalic flock forming a giant. As the spindly giant threw a punch, Daichi leaped forward at speed higher than he thought he could fly at, reaching a spot somewhere in the center of the battlefield.

"Taka Vorey Efa!" He shouted at the top of his lungs right as the giant fist flew over the place he stopped at. He aimed his hands at the giants chest, and hoped not to get hit in the back, while rapidly gathering heat of all the fiery explosions and other spells.

"C'mon, you've gotta be kidding me!" Shimizu cried, before aiming Ponpon at Spreiga. "Boom Burst Buckshot!"
Shimizu's Boom Burst struck Spreiga's input port, causing the Ponbit to shudder. Then Spriega glowed as it amplified, divided, and suddenly ejected the eight Boom Bursts at the-

"Arachnitaurs?" Shimizu tried to come up to identify them as her Boom Burst Buckshot rocketed at the four new Centurions. Shimizu attempted to dodge the string shot from those Centurions while ignoring the slight burning sensation of the Star Brand's heat. She couldn't hold back even if it did hurt.

The Centurions were growing too fast in number for her to slow down. She would have to work as fast as she could, shattering the defenses and destroying the control core or whatever had awakened the factory. "Maybe you can hold back and pray that the factory simply runs out of material, paya?" Ponpon suggested.
"No chance," Shimizu frowned. "Not only do we have to shut down this place permanently, but we can't let a single one of them escape from here, or who knows the kinds of trouble they'll inflict outside. They have to go down fast and furiously, and that means stopping their production five minutes ago."
"Be careful, paya."
"Relax, we won't lose. I'm not letting a bunch of soulless robots get the better of me."

With Menarker and Mero dashing off, the skeletal creation halted. Its jaws gaped and a orange sphere formed, a band of runes materialising further out to focus the attack.

Mero quickly turned her head back, completely suspecting the hidden antagonist to follow after her through the opening. Alarmed at the sight of the rapidly developing sphere, she shouted at Menarker who looked back once, instantly grasping the urgent warning.

With a damped whomph, the energy was released, a fat orange beam slicing across Mero and Menarker's path to head them off, although the two already dove to the ground assuming the worst, both their claws clenched deep. The dirt had a deep indentation that cleaved along the ground where the beam had impacted.

The lightning linking the dark structures that had created the barrier together abruptly halted. Spinning like tops they flew after the pair in a zig-zagging line. The two pushed themselves from the ground, Menarker's claws slashed with a force of slicing air that shredded head on, but harmlessly missed the discs as it chaotically darted in its wayward fashion. The skeletal foe made a drastic leap toward the two, leaping over the lightning disc with claws glowing.

Menarker leapt back and swiftly planted himself on Mero as she bolted off carrying him, keeping distance away from the monstrosity as it landed roughly and swiped viciously, the tops swept past along its sides effectively protecting its flank. The mage waved his arms back and forth in the ridiciously frantic pace, projectiles scattered toward the foes. Luckily, one of the air blades impacted one of the lightning pieces that zigged when it should have zagged with conclusive results. The bony behemoth was not as fazed as it darted in a chase, its jaw gaping slightly for a versatile use of lasers or biting.

"Mero. I'll tap my foot against you if I think you need to dodge in a particular direction, ok?" The lad shuffled his postion, sitting so as to face the pursuers behind.

"Understood. Watch my back."
She curved to the left, an occasional jolt to the right and left as she rushed along the earth. The school-boy observed the tops veering off course in an arc, perhaps in a pincer movement to approach from the front. As he sent another rushed wave of projectiles to his immediate foes behind, a few more scattered to the other side. A light prod of his ankle against Mero's right flank and she veered likewise as her rider released his held breath as another laser impacted in a spray of dirt and dust just left of the wildcat's forearm.

"I REALLY don't like this... That dragonoid and those electric things surrounding and no clue about where that invisible sadist is... Hell, it might even attack from above... But I can't afford to risk splitting up now. "

Menarker twisted his head back and forth as he tried to figure out which way Mero should go next, the electric disc's erratic patterns and spontaneous change of speed adding confusion admist the pressure of an impeding doom from behind and another hidden from sight. Mern scowled to himself with frustration and focused on Mero, trying to pull out the source of power he had been used to no avail.

"I might have been going about this the wrong way. I was assuming that Mero or I were having problems pulling out our abilities ourselves, but I wonder if something else is involved."

Menarker adjusted his position again, pressing his right palm against the back of Mero's scalp, as she reacted to shake her head back and forth. He gripped tightly nonetheless, a stern look on his face.

"What the hell, Mena!? I don't like how you're pointing that energy at me!"

"SUBMISSION"

A curious jolt of energy shot out backward, passing from inside Mero to Menarker, as he shook his head as if something foreign took residence inside him.

Faced with four rapidly approaching mudmen, Ayame... improvised.

The mudmen hit the trampoline-like disc at full speed, slashing out with their thin claws.

They literally bounced off, the red scarves flexing as they took the impact and hurling them back.

Panko gripped her hands at her sides and screamed at the approaching mudmen. Though they didn't appear to have ears, they obviously must have, staggering at Panko's screech and bouncing off her Cutie Bubble right before the little girl ran for it, headed back towards Ayame.

"Alpha Claws!" A newcomer entered the fray, arms glowing blue and tipped with long claws of light.

Slamming them down on two mudmen, Virgil's claws opened glowing gashes down to the metallic frame inside. A green array appeared and whisked one of the damaged mudmen away.

Coordination still shot, the remaining three lurched closed, raising their own claws to counterattack.

Faced with a rocket punch, Nicia formulated an answer as Scotty pulled back with her. A bald, knobbly looking old man shouted his anger and flew at the fist, the two colliding in an immense explosion.

Flipping head over heels, the rocket punch was flung out of the blast, flying out of control back and skywards.

The terrible trio of the Furies advanced to grapple with the flying mudmen and drain their sweet, sweet animating forces. The mudmen didn't seem to want to tango, splitting into pairs and diverging. One pair to chase Nicia, the other pair to occupy the Furies.
"Taka Vorey Efa!" Daichi shouted, aiming his hands at the giant's chest and releasing a tight beam of concentrated heat.

The giant raised its left hand in an authoritive stop gesture, a symbol shimmering in blue orb set in its palm. The tail composing the forearm opened up suddenly into a tight spiral disc, spinning rapidly. Like the previous shield, a defensive screen of swirling blue energy formed.

The heat ray struck and was halted, pancaked into a ruddy circle of magical energy on the shield's surface. When the ray cut off, the flattened blot remained stuck in the shield, spinning with increasing speed and spiralling in to the centre.

Reaching it, the heat ray fired again. Airborne mudmen suddenly dropping or ascending to get out of the way, it slashed across the distance, scything across the centre of Ayamae's Scarlet Bind and at Ayame herself behind it.

The giant lifted up its right arm and the lost fist jetted back in and reattached. Bellowing again, it charged forwards, stomping towards Panko and Ayame.

Synopsis: Panko knocks Alex out of harms way by going really fast.

The wizard guy's beam was blocked by the worm-bot and fired back at Ayame. Panko only noticed because she was also headed toward Ayame. In a rare case of non-Picky directed insight, it occurred to Panko that she was, at this moment a cat, and thus should not be running toward Ayame. She should have already reached Ayame and had time to get yelled at by Picky.

Panko's run transformed into a blind dash like she should have been doing since the battle began. Sliding under Ayame's web then tucking into a roll, Panko pounced into the miko, knocking her and Panko out of the path of the robot's heat slicer.

Of course, this also resulted in knocking them both to the ground, but it beat getting blasted. Hopping off of Ayame, Panko said, "Sorry, didn't want you to get hurt. You're the only familiar face here, ya know?" Well, besides her familiar, anyway.

The mudmen would find Nicia a bit more difficult to catch now that she was on her mount. Scotty rushed through the air with radical speed and agility while Nicia formulated a plan, the Furies could probably take care of these mudmen after they finished sucking the life out of the pair they were feasting from now. What seemed a bit more troublesome was the cretin rushing at her newfound buddies while they were tumbled on the ground. To be entirely honest Nicia wasn't sure what would work against the thing...

So of course she sent about everything. The void opened up and out came the burning heat of love keen on finding someone who cared this time. It was directed at the giant and rushed to fill it with passion...and plasma heat. A small swarm of Michaelmas rushed out after(since releasing them before was just asking for burnt feathers) and they rushed as a nuisance to the large creature. Shooting their arrows from afar and some even going in and trying to dismantle it with their flaming swords.

Up above she restrained from using the exploding bald man as of yet. The situation seemed a bit too hectic to rely on the angry old creature, and if she threw him off just to see him try to go after the mudmen chasing her and possibly blow her off course she would be notably pissed. But of course if all else failed something was going to go boom.

Summary: A complicated attack post. Daichi's laser sets Ayame's net on fire, and almost fries Ayame. Panko saves her, then Ayame sicks her burning Scarlet Bind on the Tapeworm Voltron, summons Miranda, and then double attacks a Mudman.

A white casting array expanded beneath Ayame's feet as she hovered inches above the ground, green eyes intent on her improvised defense. Four rapid impacts, then the net sprang back, throwing the mudmen away. Taking the cue, Ayame raised her arm, white magic ranging along it. Another triangular array blossomed before her palm. "Sacred-"

A heat ray scythed through her net. In its wake, the magical fabric burst into flames, links weakening and then snapping. Her spell collapsed into a mass of lank ribbons.

Eyes wide, an expression of horrified disbelief on her face, Ayame stared at the approaching spell. Too fast! She cut her casting off, dodging desperately-

And was tackled by a speeding cat-girl.

"Sorry," Panko said a moment later, hopping off her, "didn't want you to get hurt. You're the only familiar face here, ya know?"

Ayame pushed herself to her feet, idly dusting herself off. "Thanks Kid." The priestess said gratefully. Seriously, that was quick thinking. She telepathically added, before turning her attention to the immediate situation.

A charging giant was not what she wanted to see.

Better move. Miranda intoned, to both Panko and Ayame.

Ayame leapt to the side, flight magic boosting her jump. She gestured sweepingly toward the giant, as Nicia unloaded a salvo of her everso effective summons. Her ruined defense spell flashed, the fire at the ends flaring purifying white. The smoldering scarlet bind tensed, before springing like snakes to entangle the giant. Burning snakes that is.

A distance away, Ayame landed lightly, bow forming in her hand. She raised it, taking aim at the nearest mudman. Beneath her, a white cross shaped array expanded.

"Summoning," Ayame murmured, drawing back her bow's invisible string, "Miranda!"

Light exploded around the priestess, obscuring her from view. Then, a blurred shape burst out of the radiance, climbing high into the sky. Miranda unfurled her wings in a shower of white feathers, a bow of white flames crackling in her hand.

"Lotus-" An arrow of red magic appeared on Ayame's bow.

"-Arrow!" Miranda loosed her newly formed arrow of piercing white magic.

The twin arrows flew toward one unfortunate mudmen. If all went well, the red magic would blow apart its outer shell and reveal the vulnerable control unit beneath. And that was the target of Miranda's attack spell.

It'd be nice to kill one.

Something invisible slammed into Mero's side with all the force of a flying kick, knocking her and her rider down.

"Putting all that effort in to cast that on your familiar? Are you stupid or just... stupid?" the mocking voice demanded of Menarker.

"I'm going to say... stupid!"

Menarker felt a metallic rod smack into his torso, releasing an explosive burst of energy at the contact.

The bone-like construct leapt high into the air, thin jets of orange hissing from the frames of its wings. It's claws glowed orange and each digit turned into a long, slightly curved lance of burning light. It swept them inwards, stretching across the distance to rake across the pair.

The spindles were fanning out, lightning arcing between them again in a chain. They spun along, aiming to close the circle and trap all the combatants inside once more.

"Ugh!" Menarker bounced as he landed on the dirt. As he picked himself up and heard the sarcastically critical voice of the unseen target, he glances sideways to look for Mero only to feel the burst of energy that sent him sprawling again. Mero darted toward him, jaws clamped securely against his arm, dragging him inward as the lance of light hooked in their general direction, the distance between the foe closer than is entirely comfortable.

"Get up... We have to leave now."

Menarker stammered a slight as he braced himself up removing his arm from her mouth, but he stared intensely at the dragon imitation. Something tinged in his mind, almost haunting.

"... As long as you are alive I'll always be on your tracks! You and your friends will never be safe!"

"We can't run now."

Menarker dashed in sharp arc, barely questioning the mental knowledge that suddenly made itself known. His movement became slower but a sense of grace as if handguided by an experienced co-pilot with an unfamiliar tool. Mero trailed behind worried about this seemingly reckless behaviour.

"Left, right, dash again, Air Slash... " The lad moved as dictated, keeping out of reach with this safe ranged projectile approach. As he pulled his arm back, the feminine voice chided him as his movement jerked back. "No, stop that. Don't just count on your strength to hurl the air. Imagine your fingers scraping across the air to be a grindstone, make it sharp. Beckon that energy to stay near until that critical moment. You mustn't take shortcuts for the sake of shortcuts."


Menarker clenched his fingers, trapping the energy beneath their tips, his back stretched with effort as his arm lashed out, "SAVAGE WIND" the energy freeing themselves from his fingers, the full momentum of his body backing the force of its direct approach toward the beast. The lad tried to mentally ask how he did, but the voice continued on as if something like that was matter of fact.

Straight to your side, jerk sideways, abrupt stop and send a jet.
"A what?"

"Take your electricity, channel it to center within the inside of your palm. Tighten your fingers clenched as if they are prongs, directing your focus. Take your aim and fixate upon your foe, snap your fingers outward and send your energy out. It won't be that difficult. This energy wielding aspect between you and I, not much different."

The teenager's mind raced with questions to interrogate this phantom entity, answers streaming as swiftly as he thought of them, the essence willing to bare all her secrets just to get the confusion and hesitation over with. Mero bolted alongside him, a slight headbutt to his leg to jolt him to action as she darted off in another direction to watch his flank. Menarker weaved toward the beast, trying to analyse its melee range after a step-in. Mero jumped over her partner and whipped a scathing Vorpal Wind as Mern threw himself to his right side, one arm extended and clenched.

"Crackling Roar." A jet of voltage surged along his body shooting out into the space between himself and the bony dragon.

Virgil smiled wide at his success though he wondered where the mudman had gone as he retracted his arms to their normal length. Still no time to worry about it now, there was more still to fight. He broke from his cover, rushing into the clearing and closing to about 15 feet from the group of 3 mudmen and baring his claws.

Tsukino however was not pleased, flying high above him and immediately commenting on his change in tactics irritably.

"Are you always going to be this hasty?"

"Just be ready to hit them Tsukino. I'll probably need your help depending on how this attack goes."

"Bah.... You and me are gonna need to talk pup when we're done here about your tactics and lack of planning." Regardless the owl watched the mudmen and the rest of the battle from high above, calculating their odds and waiting for an opening to attack.

Virgil swung his arms wide, lengthening his arms again in an attempt to sandwich all three mudmen together, praying they weren't fast enough to hit him while his arms closed on them.