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]

[You can bet a light show like that hasn't escaped the notice of this guy. He'd been on an afternoon physical training regimen in his recruit gear—though this time he does have his big honkin' AFS pistol with him, as well as the shotgun he borrowed from RED Sniper in a shoulder sling.]

[The shotgun is what's currently in his hands as he jogs to within shouting distance of Utsuho. She looks like she's completely lost it—exactly what he feared ... as much as he wants to hit her with a surprise attack and bring her down before she kills somebody, he does see that she's mostly just firing up at the sky. And, he remembers Satori's request ... not that he knows she's been droned. Besides, Balin still doesn't have his armor or his own nuclear powers yet.]

[So for now, he's going to try and talk her down.]

Yo!

[idkmybfforin]

[A voice.

But not Orin's voice; not Satori or Koishi or Enkidu's voice, either

Utsuho spins around and blasts at the source without much thought processed beyond that.


...granted, she wasn't really aiming either. But it's the (astounding lack of) thought that counts!]

[spinningorange]

(While definitely not Orin, there is another Gensokyo cat present for this. Noticing that the sky is being barraged by powerful suns, Chen for once decides to stay a bit closer to the ground.

Frankly, she's scared; she never met anyone this powerful before. Anyone that could throw stars around like that was definitely beyond Chen's capabilities! But she had her own spellcards, so if the time really called for them, she'd use them...but for now, she was going for a less violent approach.)

Hey! You could've shot me! Or the other people in town!

[idkmybfforin]

[...was that Orin?

No, no it couldn't be.

When Utsuho spoke, there was a metallic echo to her voice.]

Excuse me?

[Oh boy she's getting closer.]

This is such a great way for these two to meet. <3

[paradisemiko]

(Wow, there were a lot more suns than usual in the sky today...)

...crap.

(The unfortunately powerless Reimu can only watch from the streets as Utsuho rained hell from the sky...this was all too familiar. It's almost good that she doesn't have her usual miko outfit; Okuu might recognize her and take out whatever frustrations she had on her instead! This wasn't going to be smart, but she had to do something...)

Utsuho!

1/2

[walking_nuke]

Holy sh—

[Suffice to say, Balin instantly regrets trying to call Utsuho out first. He's got pretty good combat reflexes, though, so the moment that blast registers in his mind, he sprints forward (having enough adrenaline in his body to actually use Sprint), then performs a leaping roll behind a car.

[For the brief moment he had Sprint active, his feet were glowing bright red and trailing some sort of motes of light.]

[spinningorange]

(Why yes, you are very intimidating, Okuu. So much that Chen is kind of twiddling her fingers at this moment. The only thing she might have on the hell raven is speed.)

You're putting a lot of people in danger...and that's bad! Very bad!

ohai Reimu :D

[idkmybfforin]

[That was her name. A challenge? It must be!

So said a mind devoid of almost every bit of reason.

Utsuho turned abruptly, doubling back on herself to find the source of that noise.

There was a figure down there, but she didn't recognize it. Who had called her name?]

2/2

[walking_nuke]

[Well. If she's going to attack anyone who talks to her unprovoked, she's a clear and present danger to the whole town.]

Ahright'en, bitch. No Mr. Nice Guy today.

[Rising from his cover, Balin manifests his Tabula in one swift motion of his hand. The glowing, almost holographic "tablet" has one big element flickering and shimmering on it:]



[Balin punches his Tabula-armed hand out toward Utsuho. For a brief moment, the air around Balin (and Utusuho) changes, as if it were full of static electricity. And then, a thick bolt of Lightning shoots out of Balin's hand, right for the hell raven—with a thunderclap loud enough to stun even non-human creatures.]

[idkmybfforin]

[The hell raven continued her circling, coming closer and closer until she was so close to the ground her wingtips brushed the pavement. She won't stop staring at Chen.]

...out of the way.

[And suddenly she breaks off, sailing by over Chen's head closely--but without incident. Particularly the flaming burning kind. The air around her still smoldered, though.]

[spinningorange]

(Likewise, Chen couldn't look away from Utsuho, as if glancing away for even a second would mean she would strike. She held her ground...at least, until she flew past her like that.)

Unyaaaaaa!

(Hot! Too hot! Flying away from the hot! Chen does not like nearly being a roasted cat, and though her mind tells her she should run, Chen starts flying after Okuu. Ideally, she flies just fast enough to cut her off.)

No! I can't let you do this!

Haiii~

[paradisemiko]

(Not even Reimu was sure if this was a challenge, but she managed to have some sort of effect. Normally she wouldn't be against name-calling, but with no divine power or spellcards for deathbombing, she just called her again. Yep, it's from that random, yet slightly familiar girl down below.)

Utsuho Reiuji!

[idkmybfforin]

[Challenge gone, already?

--no, no it wasn't. There was something that itched at the corners of her mind still, something else.

Then something very real crackled in the air around here, warping the atmosphere into something that smelled of ozone and made her smallest feathers stand on end.

Then, only light--bright, white light, far too fast for her to even think of dodging. The sound and force struck her head-on, knocking the hell raven out of the air like a stone.]

[idkmybfforin]

[That was that, or so Okuu thought.

She hadn't moved more than a few wingbeats away before that cat was there again--almost in her face.]

Out of the way!

[Utsuho's voice is a bellow this time, as much force as sound.]

[walking_nuke]

[After throwing that bolt out at Utsuho, Balin tensed up immediately in anticipation of a counterattack, or something—so seeing the youkai fall out of the sky like a game of Duck Hunt makes Balin stare in wonder, for just a moment. Did he really just off this chick?]

[Balin thinks back to when Keine—at least, thinking back on it he's pretty sure it was Keine—went nuts and attacked him that one night, with a more beastly appearance. She was tough as nails. And having seen Utsuho devour cannibals fast enough to win any eating contest among humans, well—Balin's brief wondering wears off quickly.]

[He briskly walks up to where Utsuho landed. If Utsuho's fallen on her stomach, he's going to nudge her over into back with a boot. Either way, though, he's going to be planting one boot on her stomach, and the other on one of her arms—while holding the shotgun's muzzle right against the crook of her control rod-laden elbow. His finger isn't on the trigger, but ideally he's put himself in a good position to blow her arm off if he has to.]

Wake up, sunshine.

[That would have been a friendly joke to anyone else, but there is no friendliness in Balin's voice right now.]

[spinningorange]

(The force is enough to make her willingly fly back, but not enough to make her run away. If Chen could stand up to Reimu and Marisa, then surely she could stand up to this bird.)

Not until you stop attacking everything!

[idkmybfforin]

[Realization dawns on her but slowly, but when it does--]

You!

[Insert the Skyrim trailer's tagline

Utsuho's form seethes, and she snaps her wings closed to drive straight at Reimu.

She was never the most maneuverable of creatures, but there was an awful lot of mass flying thisaway.]

[paradisemiko]

(And when the truth finally dawns...it dawns in FIRE! Why yes the exchange of quotes from the trailer should continue

The truth is, Reimu will die in a fire unless she gets the hell out of the way, so that's exactly what she does! Man, she was wishing for a stick to be conveniently nearby so she could at leave have something to whack Okuu with, even if she'd never get that close.)

You're trying to take over the world again, aren't you!?

[idkmybfforin]

[It's the eye that stirs first, the slit pupil seeming to look directly at Balin--dilating and narrowing as if focusing on something particularly interesting.

The rest of Utsuho is slower on the uptake; full of jerking convulsions and lacking any sort of control initially.

But recover she did--and when her proper eyes could focus on him again, she all but lunged at his face with a snarl.

...that gun barrel pressed against her arm would probably have been noticed in any other case, just not this one. IT'S KIND OF SLIGHTLY IMPORTANT.]

[idkmybfforin]

...then give it back.

[Utsuho's wingbeats increase in speed, driving the hell raven forward like great oars.]

Give it back!

[idkmybfforin]

[/AWESOME

The hell raven goes rushing by overhead in a clean miss and a fit anger--made all the more furious by what meaning she could still pick out from the words.]

I hate this place!

[Her voice is a bellowing snarl.]

[spinningorange]

(At first, Chen just tilted her head. She wasn't sure what Okuu was referring to, but she hasn't stolen anything since coming to Mayfield. Honest!

It was definitely brave of the neko to be face-to-face with Utsuho when she's like this, but she can only keep at this by circling her. Probably wouldn't be best to get close.)

Give what back? I didn't steal anything!

[walking_nuke]

[Well hello there Okuuboobs. That the eye seems to be acting like a real eye piques Balin's own curiosity, for the moments that Utsuho is not fully awake. That he didn't see it on her body the past few times he's met the hell raven is ... troubling.]

[Any further thoughts on that, though, are cut off by a snarling hell raven coming to her senses. Utsuho's pretty damn strong, enough that it's almost enough to cause him to stumble off the hell raven's body—but he redoubles his effort to keep her pinned down, pushing down harder on her stomach and more forcefully shoving the shotgun's muzzle into her elbow.]

You so much as fuckin' spit at me an' you're gonna be missin' an arm.

[His finger is actually touching the trigger now, if only because he's not sure he can match Utsuho's strength. Not with what he's seen her do.]

[paradisemiko]

(If that was how she would react to being uncomfortable in Mayfield, then Reimu could only imagine what would happen if Okuu lost her master OH WAIT A MINUTE)

So do I, but this place won't let you just blow everything up! I asked Marisa; she told me that.

[reflames]

[Oh. Hey. It's that bird from Trapkidu's house. And then Mokou was the mellow one and the five horseman came--]

Reiuji! Reiuji!