7th Protocol--[Action all over the place] ☢

[idkmybfforin]

[This wasn’t the first time someone precious to her had gone quiet. Orin had stopped talking right several days ago, but Okuu assumed she would come back to her senses soon.

But she didn’t.

She should have expected this; it happened to her master, her master’s sister…and now her best friend. For a brief, horrible moment, she felt like the only creature in all the world.

Then the yatagarasu had started whispering to her, and Utsuho knew she was not alone. The voice preached fire, unfettered burning destruction like a sun allowed too close to the earth. Normally, discipline kept the voice at bay—what little discipline could be forced into her head. It was easy to ignore the voice when one barely heard it.

…but this time, it was different. This time, that all sounded like a very, very good idea.

Utsuho shook out her wings and leapt into the air, heat shimmering at the edges of her feathers.]


[ACTIVE STUFF]

[The hell raven was moving fast this time; no lazy, mindless circling today. The heat gathering at her wings flickered into flames now, as if the air around her was catching light. More heat gathered into the octagonal cannon covering most of her arm until the light grew too bright to look at—and then tore free in a fiery beam that seared an ugly scar into the formerly pristine road below.

When Utsuho cast her other arm out, suns appeared at her fingertips—tiny, miniature suns that grew alarmingly and then sped away as if thrown, arcing out across the sky until they burned out the instant her focus went elsewhere. Some fell to the ground like stars and burn out in the grass there or hiss and spit clouds of steam when they sink into the pond; the hell raven wasn’t really paying attention. She wasn’t aiming at the ground for the most part, some small bit of her remaining conscience saying her master might be down there, her best friend, her master’s sister…most of her anger was directed at the sky, but engaging a challenge was not beyond her senses.

For all that could be said of Okuu’s lack of intelligence, there certainly wasn’t much remaining in her eyes now. She was angry, very angry, and wasn’t thinking and didn’t want to think.


It probably won’t be too long before she gets herself droned, but in the meantime.

For today’s forecast there is a chance of angry gods flying overhead. You know, the usual for Mayfield.]

Comments

[walking_nuke]

[For a moment, Balin wonders if she's had any sense knocked into her yet.]

[But that lasts only for a moment, given her animal-like snarling. At this point, she might only talk if she's been worn down almost completely.]

[Another Logos Element appears on the Tabula:]



[Yep, he's unleashing another bolt of lightning on Utsuho. This one isn't nearly as loud, but the bolt itself is still pretty strong. Less taxing on his mental stamina to use Discharge instead of the stronger flavors.]

1/2

[idkmybfforin]

[Utsuho...stops. For a short while she does. Her arms fall to her sides, and she looks at Chen before they come up again.

There is a glimmer of something salvageable in her eyes, briefly.

...then her eyes go glassy and blank, and her great wings fold up; useless.]

2/2

[idkmybfforin]

[Then she falls. The heat around her dissipates and her form shrinks. And shrinks and shrinks until she's even smaller than Chen; little more than a bird.

She's been droned. And pets didn't fly--at least not in Mayfield they didn't. Utsuho doesn't even try to correct her path straight for the ground.]

[spinningorange]

(At first, Chen returned the look with a warm smile and wide eyes. Did she finally get through to her? It looked that way, at least...

...but then she looked in horror as the life is almost sucked out of Okuu. She even transformed into a bird, but it wasn't flying. From this height, she could've been killed! That wasn't going to happen while Chen was here. She flew down after, catching the bird in her little hands and touching down on the ground. She examined the bird closely, wondering why the bird didn't try to fly.

...then she realized it. This bird was droned; she recognized that sort of look. Mayfield caught on and stopped from doing what she was doing. Chen didn't know where Okuu lived, so she began flying in the direction of her own home.)

...I'll take care of you until you're better.

[idkmybfforin]

[The raven croaked up at Chen, but even her voice sounded artificial and hollow. She is a fairly big bird! ...but she's not exactly struggling right now. Just occasionally waddling her feet in the air like a dog might and blinking stupidly at the world around her.]

[idkmybfforin]

[Well, it does bean her directly in the face!

Utsuho hisses like a steam kettle as her head snaps away--and she reflexively throws the fireball away from herself.

Coincidentally, at Reimu. Or not so coincidentally.]

[idkmybfforin]

[Utsuho was prepared this time--at least, a little bit. She still didn't get out of the way in time, but that prickling, burning light didn't put her out as much. It made the hell raven shudder, but not fall.

The fingers of her remaining hand dug into the metal even before the convulsions stopped. The instant they did, Okuu beat her wings to lift off again--and carried the car with her. With one arm.

And then she threw it at him. Also with one arm.]

[paradisemiko]

(Very coincidentally at Reimu. In fact, unluckily coincidentally at Reimu. She messed up that last somersault kick and was on the ground. By the time she looked up and saw that fireball going straight for her, it was too late.

Immediately engulfed in the flames, Reimu could barely manage a scream as her entire body was scorched and burned. With no magical resistances whatsoever, she felt every last bit of the attack.

All the way up to her death. The flames consumed her life and even her corpse; all that remained were red P-blocks the flames that lingered on the impact zone. The miko of Hakurei has been killed.)

[idkmybfforin]

[Target lost--seemingly--Okuu flapped her wings to crest the rooftop and get back at the easier cruising altitude.

But as she did so, she came up almost to eye-level to someone she did not expect at all. With a shout that was as startled as it was hostile, the hell raven lunged straight at her.]

[walking_nuke]

[Following the Discharge that Balin unleashed on Utsuho, Balin continues to back up and get distance between him and the rampaging youkai, keeping his shotgun trained on her center of mass as best as he can manage.]

[When she takes off, Balin tries to shoot her down with the remaining shotgun shells in the magazine—though the spread of lead shot and the car getting in the way probably kept Utsuho safe from getting hit. It's only after he's out of shells in the magazine that he takes a moment to be amazed that the youkai is flying while holding on to a car with one arm.]

[... Uh oh.]

[Balin triggers Sprint again and takes off running just as Utsuho throws the car at him—running toward Utsuho in hopes that'll keep him from getting crushed by heavy metal.]

[It works—to a degree. A piece of the car is snapped off by the impact and rebounds backwards, striking Balin in the back and causing him to tumble to the ground.]

—Ungh!

[He's still got enough adrenaline in his body to try and walk it off. He's staggering to his feet, having let go of the shotgun and letting it dangle freely by the sling while he reaches for that big ugly sidearm in his thigh holster.]

[answerer_sword]

[And that was the opening she needed. Bazett tosses one of her knives in the creature's general direction and then jumps off the roof to avoid the creature's charge.]

[The Berkana rune allowed the knife to follow the target, the Raidho rune increased the speed at which it moved, and the Thurisaz rune increased the knife's power and structural integrity. In other words, a simple kitchen knife had been turned into a tracking missile.]

[She chants a quick spell to slow her descent before she lands on the ground. Then, she dashes toward her front door.]

[reflames]

[How's it feel to have someone just stand there and let you fire at her without even flinching? Whatever happens, she's glad she has heatproof skin.]

Did you lose your mind? Burning down the town isn't going to solve anything! [BELIEVE HER, SHE'S TRIED]

[idkmybfforin]

[When the light fades and the smoke clears away--with the target utterly untouched--Utsuho snorts. If the fiery solution didn't work, then obviously brute force was the other option. She folds her wings halfway and dives straight at Mokou instead.

...apparently that answer would be "yes".]

[idkmybfforin]

[The hell raven sails by overhead, not paying any mind to all those fresh injuries that opened up on her wings and shoulders. Freed of the car's weight, she sails up above the roof of the nearest house, turns about in her hovering--and drops to the roof, wings resting on the eaves.

She doesn't launch st him again immediately; her arm was too busy glowing, reforming and regenerating the severed surface. It was much slower going than what it had been on her face, with the light a much duller, almost sickly looking rust color.

Instead she's just perched there, only a little ominously. She could stamp that life out whenever she liked, but...in a moment. When she caught her breath.]

[walking_nuke]

[Balin unholsters the pistol, holding it in both hands. His posture is a little hunched from having that piece of car whack him from behind, but he keeps an eye on Utsuho's movements, ready to move at the slightest hint of further aggression.]

[When it's clear she's preferred to back off for the moment, Balin carefully approaches the house where she's perched. He's aware she's trying to regenerate her wounds, but ... maybe she'll talk now.]

Had enough?

[idkmybfforin]

[Utsuho practically roared in anger--and then in agony. First because the target had eeled out of her fingers, and again when the knife buried itself up to the handle in her guts. It hit with enough force to knock her back in the air, and boy she was not too happy about that.

The hell raven's free hand scrabbles for the knife handle, instinctively trying to pull it free.]

[idkmybfforin]

[Utsuho snorts, disdainfully. When she speaks...her voice is a bit different. Mechanical, echoey; like something else was using the hell raven as a mouthpiece.]

What do humans know of anything, I wonder.

[The eye in her chest was focused on Balin very, very intently.]

[answerer_sword]

[Bazett had not stuck around to see the consequences. Instead, she had run into her house. Without even bothering to close the door, she starts to sketch runes into the walls of the living room, leaving only the wall with the door free. Her objective is not to keep anything from coming in...but from keeping things from getting out.]

[This done, she steps into the center of the living room, waiting for the creature to come at her.]

[walking_nuke]

[Wow, this was not how Utsuho talked the past two times that Balin encountered her. His expression softens a little, a testament to his surprise.]

Yeah, real cute. What is'ere to know about'a crazy bitch tryin'a repeat what she did back in'at Gensokyo place? Tryin'a kill anyone who so much as talks to her?

[For a moment, he wonders if bringing up what Satori once said to him would snap her out of this rampage—though he discards that thought when he recalls that Satori really doesn't care who lives or dies in this town.]

[idkmybfforin]

...you know nothing of pain.

[Utsuho lurches forward in an almost robotic fashion, wings spreading with an only stiff kind of grace. She sails at Balin...and then past him, turning stiffly to follow the street in an unnaturally straight line.

No sounds of destruction follow her--or much sound at all, even as her form shrinks and power fades to a grey nothing.]

1/2

[walking_nuke]

Oh fuck you! You wanna talk about pain? I lost my family, my friends, my planet to genocidal fucks like you! I fight on'a front lines every day! You don't see me tryin'a nuke everyone in'is town—

2/2

[walking_nuke]

[Indignant rant interrupted by incoming nukebird! At first, Balin raises his pistol as she flies at him, trying to sidestep away from her flight path. His aim slowly lowers, though, when he sees just how different Utsuho's behavior is now. He lowers the pistol entirely when, watching Utsuho fly past him, he can see her shapeshifting. Is she really retreating?]

[He watches her flight for a few moments more ... Then his gaze turns to look in the direction of the street, where he notices the black splotches of blood still on the street, as well as the hell raven's weapon. The amputated arm is probably still inside ... Or maybe it shifted into a tiny wing? Either way, he's walking over to go pick up and examine the arm cannon while holstering the pistol.]

[idkmybfforin]

[Nope, it's still an arm. And it flops partway out of the cannon like a dead and bloody fish as soon as Balin picks the thing up, revealing the nasty, charred burns on the skin. The burns seem to be old, however.

The cannon is carved with geometric glyphs at the near end, most not making any sort of sense. Some are simple lines, others more complex triangles.

On the opposite end is a ring of crooked rods that look for all the world like misshapen nails--and the barrel itself, which is dormant and quiet now.]

[idkmybfforin]

[Utsuho pulls the knife free with a snarl, hurling it away from herself like a hateful object.

Where had that human gone? It had disappeared again. She was getting tired of hunting.]

[answerer_sword]

[Bazett does not step out herself, but waits for her enemy to come inside. For her plan to work, she needs to be able to restrict her enemy's movement.]